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    Our lesson tonight will begin with Ephesians 1, verses 19-21. The lesson is still the study of what we have in Christ where He is. This is the part of that prayer that "ye may know...what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places," or heavenly existence, as we have had in the second chapter and sixth verse. And that same thought is given in Phil. 3:8-10:

I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection.

That is the same thing that the Lord desires that we shall know, as recorded in the text, "That ye may know...what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead." Now says Paul, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection." That is, not His power alone in raising Paul from the dead after he had died and gone into the grave. That is not it. But it is to know the power of His resurrection now while we live;  that is, the power which is brought to us by Him, by which we are crucified with Him, and are dead with Him and buried with Him, and then made alive with Him and then raised with Him and seated with Him at the right hand of God in heaven. That is the power which He referred to.

Read on, and you will see that it is so:

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead [or out from among the dead].

He wants to know the power of Christ's resurrection in order to attain for Himself unto the resurrection out from among the dead. The man who in this life never knows the power of Christ's resurrection will never know it in the other life. True, He will be raised from the dead, but He will not know the power that raised from the dead, so that whoever does not get acquainted with the power of Christ's resurrection before He dies will never know the power of Christ's resurrection from that death.

There is the Lord's prayer, that I might know what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward the man that believes, according to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him there. In Him we know the power that raises us from deadness in trespasses and sins along with Him, and seats us with Him in the heavenly existence. Now Eph. 1:20, 21:

And set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come.

This power of God which raised us in Christ above all the principalities and powers and might and dominion that are in this world, is what we are studying tonight. Therefore we must study first what is the nature of these principalities and powers which are in this world. Before this, however, let us notice once more that there stands the fact that in Christ we have and are to know what is the power which raises us in Him and with Him, above all principalities and power and might and dominion that are in this world. There is a separation of church and state;  there is a separation from the world, that puts us in the place where we have better protection than from the powers of this world. There stands this fact of faith.

Now as to the nature of these powers, read right on into the second chapter for further connection:

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.

There is a spirit that works in this world in the children of disobedience and that spirit is the spirit of this prince of the power of the air. The German says, "after the prince that in the air rules; namely, after the spirit that to this time has worked in the children of unbelief."

Formerly, when we were dead in sins, we "walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the" world.

Now from that word "prince" comes the idea of principality. In monarchical forms of government there are principalities, dukedoms, kingdoms, and empires. A principality is the jurisdiction, the territory, or dominion, of a prince; a dukedom is the dominion of a duke; a kingdom, the dominion of a king; an empire, the dominion of an emperor. In the text Christ has raised us above all principality and power and so on, that is in this world and that is of this world. He has raised us above the rule of the spirit that rules in the children of disobedience.

We can be glad, therefore, and thank the Lord that in Christ we are raised above this prince and all his jurisdiction and all his power. That is the thought, for in Christ He has raised us far above all principality and power and might and dominion that are in this world.

Now the sixth chapter of Ephesians, beginning with the tenth verse:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Now who is it against whom the Christian is to contend in this world? As relates to the principalities and power and empires of this world, who is it with whom the Christian is to contend? The devil, "That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
 
Then when any government is set against any Christian and interferes with him and persecutes him, is the Christian wrestling with that government? Is he contending with it? No. He is wrestling with the devil. That is what we want to get our minds upon. We are to understand that when governments, kingdoms, emperors, and rulers persecute the Christian, persecute us, we have nothing to do with them as such. We are not warring against them. We are not wrestling with them. We are wrestling against the devil and warring against him.

And this suggests a testimony that came last spring in which it was stated that the ministers should never forget to hold before the people everywhere and all the time that the strifes and commotions and contentions and conflicts that are presented outwardly in this world do not come simply from this world and from the things that we see but they are only the result, the outward workings of the spiritual powers that are out of sight, that all these elements of evil that are working up and that we see coming so fast are simply the outworkings of that power, of that spirit, that is back of them. And the instrumentalities that we see spreading abroad the Lord's message and carrying forward his work, demonstrate on this side that these are simply the outward workings of the Spirit and power of God that is back of these. And the word is given that we ministers see to it that we call the attention of the people to the fact that all these commotions and conflicts and contentions between right and wrong are simply the contentions between Jesus Christ and Satan--that it is the great controversy of all the ages.

It is so easy for us to get our mind upon men and governments and powers and think we are contending with them. No. We have no contention with governments. We are not to do anything against governments, because it is written, "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers." We are not to contend against the government.  Every Christian will always be in harmony with any right law that any government can make. So he never raises any question with himself as to what law is going to be made, this way or the other, in this respect, so far as the government legislates within its own jurisdiction. He does not care what laws are made there, because his life as a Christian, in the fear of God, will never come into conflict with any right law that is made--with any law that Caesar may make within his own jurisdiction, which God has set to him.

When Caesar gets out of that place and gets beyond his jurisdiction into the kingdom of God, then of course every law he makes the Christian will be in conflict with, because he is right and the other thing is wrong. The Christian has not changed his attitude, but the other power has. Therefore, we are not to have our minds upon whether we are contending against the government or not. We have nothing to do with that. We are to have our minds upon the fact that if the government gets out of harmony with right and takes such a course that it conflicts with us, we are not then contending with it--we are always contending against the devil. We wrestle not with flesh and blood. Governments are flesh and blood. Men, courts, judges, legislators--they are flesh and blood.

We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high places (Marginal reading).

The margin is, "In heavenly places," which would refer to this heavenly jurisdiction in which Jesus Christ rules.  The verbal translation of this sixth chapter and twelfth verse runs thus, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood,  but against principalities, against authorities, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies." It is the same heavenlies in which God has raised us up with Him, and set us with Him in the heavenlies far above all principalities and power and might and dominion that are upon the earth. So that the marginal reading of that verse is the correct one. "Wicked spirits in heavenly places." Ours reads wicked spirits in high places.

The German reads fully as forcibly as the Greek there. Thus: "For we have not with flesh and blood to contend,  but with prince and power; namely, with the lord of the world." That is the God of this world--Satan. So then we have not to wrestle with flesh and blood but with the lord of the world: "Namely, with the lord of the world that in the darkness of this world rules, with the base spirits under heaven."

That is strong. That is forcible. We see who it is--it is the lord of this world; it is he against whom we wrestle--the one who rules in the darkness of this world--the prince of this world, that in the darkness of this world rules.

Now we know, or at least ought to know, that it is not going to be very long until every dominion of this earth is going to be under the rule of the lord of this world, who rules in the darkness and all are going to be bound in one and aimed at the truth of God and those in whom it is represented in this world. Now I wish all knew that we are going to be there soon. I wish that every Seventh-day Adventist knew that which is the fact, that we are at the point now where all the kingdoms and dominions of the earth are, as such, set against the truth of God. But if there be those (I do not say there are) who now do not know this, it will be but a very short time, in the way in which things have been going lately and are going now, before they will be forced to recognize it.

As I mentioned here once before, the United States has been held before the world and has always stood, as the very citadel of liberty of rights and of freedom of conscience and Switzerland was the one little country, the one little republic, in Europe where freedom was likewise most full. Yet Switzerland and the United States are the two countries now on earth that are doing most against the remnant and the seed of the church who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. And England has now actively joined these.  Now, when these countries which have been the exemplars of the world, of the rights of men and the freedom of conscience, set themselves up against God and against his truth--then isn't it time that we learned that all the world is now under the rule of Satan, ready to be swung against the truth of God and the power of Jesus Christ?

Yet in the face of it all, I say that in Christ we are all right, for in Him there works that power that raises us, with Him, from the dead, and that has seated us at the right hand of God in the heavenly existence, far above all the power and might and dominion and principalities that are upon earth and in the hand of Satan. And just now, as we are to be forced into that conflict, isn't it good that the Lord Jesus comes with His blessed truth to shine forth before us and to raise us to where He sits, so that we shall know that we are above all these things all the time and triumph over them?

Now we will study these things a little further; this is so much for the principality. But he says He has raised us far above all principality and power.

That word "power" you can look at the Greek word whenever you choose, yourself and you will see that the absolute meaning of the word is the power of authority that is exercised as of "might as against right." That is what the word means. The literal translation is authority. There are accommodated uses of the word, that is true,  aside from the absolute meaning. In accommodated uses, the character of the power is proved by the relationship in which it stands. For instance, if that word should be used of the power of Christ and the authority of the Lord, it would be proper and legitimate authority, of course, because it is the authority of the Lord. But when it is used of the powers of this world, in every instance it takes its associations from the nature of this world and the spirit that rules here and then it runs clear back to the absolute meaning, which is the authority and power of "might as against right."

Where did there start in this universe the assumption of any authority or power of might, as against right? It originated with the rebellion of Lucifer in that assumption of self, away back there. He brought that power into this world and fastened it upon this world by deception when he got possession of this world. Therefore that word is properly used to show that when God in Christ has lifted us above all the principality and power of this world, it is above this power of might as against right, which is the power of Satan, as he has brought it into this world and as he uses it in this world.

This simply emphasizes the thought we mentioned a moment ago, that our contest is simply the contest that has been waged from the beginning between the two spiritual powers, between the legal and the illegal powers,  between the power of right as against might, and the power of might as against right. The contest is between these two spiritual powers. We have been under the power of might as against right--the power of force. Jesus Christ brought to us the knowledge of right as against might--the power of love. We forsook the dominion and power of might as against right--the power of force, and have joined our allegiance to the power of right as against might--the power of love. And now the contest is between these two powers and concerning us. The contest is always between these spiritual powers. Whatever instruments may be employed in this world as the outward manifestation of that power, the contest is always between the two spiritual powers, Jesus Christ and the fallen prince.

Let us follow this, then, a little further, and see wherein we have the victory and wherein He has brought to us the victory over these illegal powers, this power of might as against right. Read in Colossians 2, beginning with the ninth verse.

In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. and you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him [Christ], having forgiven you all trespasses.

Made you alive together with Him. You see it is the same story we read in the second of Ephesians the other night--that he has made us alive and has raised us up with him from the dead and made us sit with him where He sits. But now here comes in the key of how this victory came to us in Him. "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it" or, as the margin and the German read,  "triumphing over them in himself." Col. 2:15. The word "power" here is the same word in the Greek that expresses this power of might as against right. I need not turn to the parable Jesus spake: "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him,  he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth the spoil." Satan was the one who originated the authority of might as against right. By deception he became the head of this world by becoming the controlling power or the head of him who was the head of the world. And having taken Adam and his dominion under his control, he became the head of this dominion, the head of this world, and the head of all principality and power in the world and of it.

But a stronger than he came into the world. We know He is stronger, because the battle has been fought and won. A second Adam came, not as the first Adam was but as the first Adam had caused his descendants to be at the time at which He came. The second Adam came at the point in the degeneracy of the race to which the race had come from the first Adam. That second Adam came thus and disputed the dominion of this one who had taken possession. The contest was between these two upon the earth. It was a contest as to whether the spoil should be divided or whether it should be kept intact in the hands of him who had taken it by might as against right. He who came into this rebellious dominion, proved to be stronger than he who had possession and He defeated him at every step while He lived. Then in order to show to the universe how completely more powerful He is than the other, Jesus not only defeated Satan at every step while He was alive, but after that He gave himself over, dead, into the hands, into the power, of this other one, who was in possession. And this one who was in possession shut Him up in his stronghold, dead, and even then He broke the power of Satan. Thus Christ has demonstrated that He is not only stronger than Satan when He is alive but that when dead He is stronger than Satan. When dead He was stronger than Satan, and therefore He came forth from the tomb and exclaimed before the universe, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." Very good! He is alive now, thank the Lord!

Well, then when a dead Christ is stronger than all the power of the devil, what can a living Christ not do, who sits at the right hand of God today? Is there any room for our being discouraged? Is there any room for fear,  even in the presence of all the principalities and powers and mights and dominions that the devil can muster on the earth? No. For He who is with us now alive, when dead was stronger than Satan with all his power. Now Jesus is alive forevermore; we are alive in Him; and His power is enlisted in our behalf--His living power. His dead power would be enough, wouldn't it? But He does not stop at that. It is living power. Be glad and rejoice and conquer in it.

Jesus came unto the dominion and at last entered into the very citadel of the stronghold and the stronghold of the citadel of this illegal power, of this one who held the power of this world of might as against right. This One that is stronger than he, entered in, and took possession and came forth, carrying the key, and He holds them still. Thank the Lord! Then if this illegal power should even get some of us into the same place, into the prisonhouse, it is all right. He cannot keep us there, for our Friend has the keys. When He wants us to come forth, the key is turned, the door is wide open, and out we come. And to show how completely He did have the keys, when He came forth He brought the keys and holds them yet and forever. For that reason it is written (Eph.  4:7, 8):

Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

He spoiled principalities and powers; He led a multitude of captives from this dominion of Satan and of death when He came forth. It is written in the twenty-seventh chapter of Matthew, verses 51-53, speaking of the time of the crucifixion of Christ:

And the earth did quake and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection.

The graves were opened at His crucifixion. When did they come out? After His resurrection. Assuredly. When He came forth, it is written, He divided the spoil. When He came forth, He led a multitude of captives, and when He ascended up on high, He led them on high in His train of captives recovered from the land of the enemy. That is the figure that is referred to here, in this having spoiled principalities and powers and made a show in a grand parade of them openly, triumphing over them in it. The word "triumph" here refers to the Roman triumph. The Roman triumph was granted to the Roman general who had gone into an enemy's country, fought the enemy,  taken spoil and captives from there, and brought them home to his own city. If any of the Roman citizens were captives in that land, he brought them home. And when his victory was complete and he had returned, the Senate granted him a triumph. In his triumph he was seated in a great and grand chariot, having six or more of the finest horses, of one color, and he, drawn by these, with all the spoil and the captives in his train, would parade up and down the streets of Rome, around about, everywhere--all the people out in the great gala-day, doing honor to him in his triumph.

Jesus Christ, our Conqueror, the conqueror in our behalf, came into this land of the enemy, fought our battles--we were prisoners, taken under the power of this illegal one; our Friend came here, our General fought our battles clear through; he went into the stronghold of the enemy and burst his bond and broke open the citadel. He brought the keys. He took the spoil. He brings forth the captives and leads them in triumph upon high to his own glorious city. Now "thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph" in Christ. In Him we triumph over this illegal power, this one whose is the power of might as against right. And in this triumph over Satan, there is displayed before the assembled universe the power of right as against might.

Now note: The power of right as against might can never use any might. Do you see that? Do you not see that in that lies the very spirit that is called of Christians, that is, the very Spirit of Jesus Christ, which is nonresistance?  Could Christ use might in demonstrating the power of right as against might? No.

To maintain the power of might as against right, might is to be used at every opportunity, because that is the only thing that can be used to win. In that cause the right has only a secondary consideration, if it has any consideration at all.

But on the other hand, the power of right as against might, is in the right, not in the might. The might is in the right itself. And he who is pledged to the principle of right as against might and in whom that is to be demonstrated can never appeal to any kind of might. He can never use any might whatever in defense of the power of right. He depends upon the power of the right itself to win, and to conquer all the power of might that may be brought against it. That is the secret.

Then don't you see that that explains in a word why it is that Christ was like a lamb in the presence of these powers and this might that was brought against Him? He had nothing to do with using any might in opposing them. When Peter drew the sword and would defend Him, He said, Put up your sword: he that taketh the sword shall perish by the sword.

When we get hold of that, all things will be explained as to what we shall do here, there, or the other place. We are pledged to allegiance to the power of right as against might--the power of love. And Jesus Christ died as a malefactor, abused, tossed about, mobbed, scoffed, spit upon, crowned with thorns, every conceivable contemptible thing put upon Him, and He died under it, in His appeal to the power of right as against might. And that power of right which He died in allegiance to has moved the world ever since, and it is to move the world in our day as it never has been moved before. Just as soon as God can get the people who are professedly pledged to the principle, to be pledged in heart to the principle and put the thought upon nothing at all and never expect to appeal to anything at all other than the absolute principle of the right and the power of it to which we are allied and to which we are pledged, then we shall see and the world shall see this power working as never before.
 
 

1895 G.C. Sermon #23

by A.T. Jones
 
 

I referred last night also to a Testimony on the thought as to this contest between the spiritual powers. I will read that at this point, because it touches not only that, but this thing that we have studied right here, as to our being absolutely dependent upon the power of right, itself, to win. We need not get stirred up, nor be abusive, nor anything of the kind, but just state the principle, and let it stand, trusting to itself to win.

In these times of special interest, the guardians of the flock of God should teach the people that the spiritual powers are in controversy; it is not human beings that are creating such intensity of feeling as now exists in the religious world. A power from Satan's spiritual synagogue is infusing the religious elements of the world,  arousing men to decided action to press the advantages Satan has gained, by leading the religious world in determined warfare against those who make the word of God their guide and the sole foundation of doctrine.  Satan's masterly efforts are now put forth to gather in every principle and every power that he can employ to controvert the binding claims of the law of Jehovah, especially the fourth commandment, that defines who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

The man of sin has thought to change times and laws; but has he done it? This is the great issue. Rome and all the churches that have drunk of her cup of iniquity, in thinking to change times and laws have exalted themselves above God, and torn down God's great memorial, the seventh-day Sabbath. The Sabbath was to stand representing God's power in his creation of the world in six days, and his resting upon the seventh day.  "Wherefore" He "blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it," because that in it he had rested from all his works which God created and made. The object of the masterly working of the great deceiver has been to supersede God. In his efforts to change times and laws, he has been working to maintain a power in opposition to God, and above him.

Here is the great issue. Here are the two great powers confronting each other--the Prince of God, Jesus Christ,  and the prince of darkness, Satan. Here comes the open conflict. There are but two classes in the world, and every human being will range under one of these two banners--the banner of the prince of darkness or the banner of Jesus Christ.

But to appeal to any kind of might in favor of the right, is to step on which side of the contest? It is instantly to put ourselves on the side of might as against right. And that is the wrong side and that puts us on the wrong side, whatever our profession may be. But to hold steadfastly to the principle of right as against might, right with the might within itself, to win--that is the side of divinity.

God will inspire his loyal and true children with his Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the representative of God and will be the mighty working agent in our world to bind the loyal and true into bundles for the Lord's garner. Satan is also with intense activity gathering together in bundles his tares from among the wheat.

The teaching of every true ambassador for Christ is a most solemn, serious matter now. We are engaged in a warfare which will never close until the final decision is made for all eternity. Let every disciple of Jesus be reminded that we "wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." O, there are eternal interests involved in this conflict, and there must be no surface work, no cheap experience, to meet this issue. "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished....Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord."

Here is the principle, you see, that we have no reproach, no railing accusation, to bring against anybody, or against any opposition anybody may make. We trust the truth which we preach. The power is in the thing, not in us. It is not only its own defense but it is our defense too. And we do not have to defend it by condemning others.

The Lord would have every human intelligence in his service withhold all severe accusations and railings. We are instructed to walk with wisdom toward them that are without. Leave with God the work of condemning and judging.

It is all the same story: the truth itself is to be its own defense; the right itself is to be its own support, and ours too.

Christ invites us, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Every one who heeds this invitation will yoke up with Christ. We are to manifest at all times and in all places the meekness and lowliness of Christ. Then the Lord will stand by his messengers, and will make them his mouthpieces, and he who is mouthpiece for God will never put into the lips of human beings words which the Majesty of heaven would not utter when contending with the devil. Our only safety is in receiving divine inspiration from heaven.  This alone can qualify men to be co-laborers with Christ.

Now we will study a little further along that line, in our study of the principle. The power of might as against right, we found in the previous lesson, had taken possession of this world by deceiving and bringing under his power the one into whose possession this world and the dominion of it had been put. Now the Lord, the God of heaven, did not propose to use any of the power of might, any kind of force, to take that dominion out of Satan's hands, even though it be true that he unjustly held it. There would have been no injustice in so taking it back.  But that is not God's way of working; that is what we are studying.

I will say this here and can think upon it to all eternity: The universe of God rests upon the principle of self-sacrifice. The support, the stay of the very universe itself, is the principle of sacrificing self to win; that is, to win by nonresistance--to win by the sheer principle of the power of right in itself. That is what holds the universe up. In that it consists. That is simply the gospel. It would be plain enough to say the gospel is that that holds up the universe, but the principle of the gospel is the principle of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and of God denying Himself and giving Himself in Him.

So the Lord, in recovering this lost dominion, would not use any might that is not right in itself. Therefore, when He wanted to recover this whole dominion and all of mankind, He went at it in such a way that Satan himself and all of his partisans can never say that it was not fairly done.

Now it was lost by man and it is regained by Man. That is what we had in the second of Hebrews when we began this study:

For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownest him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus.

We see Jesus in the place of the man and as the man. God has not put in subjection to the angels the world to come whereof we speak, but He has put it in subjection to man, and Jesus Christ is that Man. There is the second Adam. So that I say, by man it was lost, and by Man it is regained. By Adam it was lost, and by Adam it is regained. The Adam who regains it does so, not from the place at which the first Adam stood when he lost it but from the place which the first Adam's descendants had reached in degeneracy under the influence and power of sin at the time when He entered upon the field to contest the right of Satan.

I mean, when He entered upon the field in the open, bodily contest. Practically, He entered upon the field before the universe was made, and since man's sin He entered upon it also, but He had not taken flesh and entered upon the actual contest until He came into the world in human flesh. The Lord Jesus entered upon the open field in contest with Satan, in human flesh, at the point which human flesh had reached in degeneracy at the moment when He was born into the world. There, in the weakness of human nature as it was in the world when He came into the flesh, He fought the battle.

Human nature will never be any weaker, the world will never be any worse in itself, human nature will never reach any lower condition in itself, than it had reached when Jesus Christ came into the world. The only means by which human nature will be any worse is that the same stage of iniquity will be professing Christianity. Now a man may be just nothing but wickedness, as the world was when Christ was born into the world, yet if he makes no profession of Christianity, if he does not make any profession of the principles of the gospel, God can reach that man in his lost condition by the gospel and save him through it.

But let that man profess the gospel in his wickedness and use the profession of the gospel only as a form, as a cloak to cover his wickedness, then he takes out of the hand of God the only means the Lord has of saving man and perverts it to the support of his own iniquity. And that makes him worse in this respect in that he has cut himself off from salvation by taking God's means of salvation and making it a cloak for his iniquities and the support of his wickedness. In himself, in the flesh, his own practical fleshly wickedness is not any greater: only now he is a hypocrite as well as wicked. The world in the last days will not be any worse in itself than it was when Christ was born into the world. The only way in which it will be worse is that in having a form of godliness,  but denying the power thereof it uses the profession of Christianity to cover its ungodliness and so perverts God's only means of salvation as to destroy itself against all remedy.

Jesus Christ came into the world in that weakest stage of human flesh and in that flesh as a man He fought the battle with Satan.

Thus Satan himself can never find any fault with the way of salvation as being in any sense unfair. Satan deceived and overcame man, as the man stood in the glory and image of God with all the blessing and the power and the goodness of God on his side. Now when this second Adam comes into human flesh right at the point to which Satan had brought the whole race by sin and there in all this weakness enters upon the contest, Satan can never say that that is not fair. He can never say, "You have taken an unfair advantage. You have come here with too strong a panoply about you, with too many safeguards, for it to be a fair contest." He cannot do it, for there stood Christ in the very weakness of the flesh to which Satan himself had brought man. Christ came in the very weakness which Satan had brought upon the race; and in that weakness says, "Here we are for the conflict." and our Brother won it! He won it! Thank the Lord! and glory to His name!

Now another view or another phase of the same view: You remember in the Week of Prayer readings one of them was on the subject of loyalty to God and the passage in Job was considered relative to the sons of God which came before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.

The thought was presented that these sons of God were those from the other worlds--the different parts of the universe--corresponding to what Adam was as he stood at the head of this world when the world was made and put under his power and given to him as his dominion. The Scripture says Adam was the son of God. Now when Satan came into this world and took the dominion by taking under his power the head of this dominion, he then stood in the place in this world where Adam should have stood. Therefore when the sons of God from the other worlds came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan came also among them and presented himself before the Lord, as the representative of this world, which is under his dominion. I simply present this to call your attention to the thought for further study.

Now from Satan's dominion here, ever since he obtained it, God has been calling from this world people to Himself. Ever since the day that Satan obtained control of this world and God said, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed," God has been calling people from the ranks of Satan unto Himself and into His dominion. And many had been coming all the time. But all the time Satan had been making the charge that that was not fair. He was arguing, "These are my rightful conquest and you are leading them off to you. What have you done that, by right, you can do that, when I gained it here?" Thus he was always contesting the right of God to do this and was also accusing all those whom God called out of this world unto Himself. He was accusing them before God day and night. He declared, "These are my property. They are my rightful subjects. They are laden with sin and are altogether wicked. Yet you call them out and justify them and hold them before the universe, and propose to hold them up before the universe as though they had been good all the time. That is not fair. They are sinners; they are wicked. They are just like the rest of us over here."  Thus he is the accuser of the brethren, accusing before God day and night every one who had turned from his authority unto God's.

Now Jesus came into the world to demonstrate that He had the right to do all this and that it was fair. And He came at the point of weakness which we considered awhile ago and entered upon the contest with Satan to recover, by right, the headship of this lost dominion. Now notice: Satan had gained, not by right, but by might as against right, the headship of this dominion from the first Adam to whom it was rightfully given. The second Adam comes, not by might as against right, but by right against might and regains the headship of this world and all the dominion of it. Therefore, when He was raised from the dead, He was raised up to the headship of all principality and power and might and dominion, not only of this world but also of that which is to come.

Now turn to the twelfth chapter of Revelation. There is the passage from which is derived all this that I have been saying. When Christ was born into the world, the vision opens and there stood Satan ready to devour Christ as soon as he should be born. Seventh verse:

There was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.

Now the ninth verse:

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Now the word "accuser" there signifies in the Greek, "he who accuses another in a court"--that would correspond in our country to a prosecuting attorney. The German translation gives the same idea exactly. Our word "accuser" does not give it so clearly, because one man may accuse another falsely and tell lies about him and backbite as thousands of people do. That is following the same principle of Satan, of course, but that is not the thought here. Here this accuser is one who comes as a prosecuting attorney into a court. You see the situation: Here was Satan, who had this dominion, and God was calling and receiving those who would turn to Him from the power of Satan, but Satan claimed the right to all these subject. Now he would enter into the court of God and there as a prosecuting attorney he would prosecute all these, his subjects, as slave-holders used to do under the Fugitive Slave Law in the United States. He would prosecute all these in that court and demand that they should be given up once more to his authority and that it was not in justice or out of right that they should be taken thus away.

And, too, there was room for him to present that argument with an apparent shadow of right to it, because the contest had not yet been carried on, the battle had not been fought and the victory won so completely that his argument and his right as a prosecuting attorney should be annihilated. Now it is true that the promise was certain and the victory was certain and the promise of God secure but still it was yet to be tested in an open conflict in the flesh. So that when Christ came in the flesh there was just as much temptation upon Him through the power of Satan as though there never had been any promise of redemption. Or shall we say that much? Shall we say that when Christ did come in the flesh, there was as much temptation for Him to meet and it was as real a temptation as though no promise had ever been made of redemption? Assuredly. If not, then He was guarded against temptation and the conflict was not real but more imaginary than real.

He came into the world to demonstrate the unrighteousness of that argument that Satan was presenting in the courts of God, as the prosecuting attorney from this country. That is the thought; it is legal all the way through.  Jesus came here into Satan's territory and took human nature at the point to which Satan himself had brought it.  In this human nature He met Satan on his own ground and against all his own power defeated him merely by the power of trusting in right itself as against might. He exercised no shadow of right [sic.] Himself to do anything of Himself, to protect or help Himself. He trusted completely and fully in that divine power of right as against might and all that it can bring. And He conquered and thus became by right the head of this dominion again and of all who will be redeemed from it and of the redemption of the dominion itself.

And now that word also in the Greek which says that the accuser of our brethren "is cast down," conveys the idea of a prosecuting attorney who comes into court but he has no case any more. He is repudiated. He has no place for argument. Why? Because now we have an Advocate in the court, Jesus Christ the righteous. Yes.  Thank the Lord!

In the court, before Jesus Christ came in the flesh, there was the accuser of the brethren a prosecuting attorney,  pleading his legal rights to the subjects of his dominion, as they were leaving his dominion, and going over to the other. He could present that argument with the appearance of a shadow of right, because his dominion, his authority, had not yet been positively contested. But Christ came and did contest it righteously and fairly at every step of the way and so fairly that Satan himself cannot bring any charge of unfairness against it. And having won it, now Christ takes the place in court, not as a prosecuting attorney, but as an Advocate. And when He comes into court as Advocate by right, the other one, the accuser, the prosecuting attorney, is repudiated; he is shut out; he has no case at all against those whom he would accuse. That is good; that is good.

"These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. and if any man sin," there may be the accuser still. He may enter his plea as a prosecuting attorney, but now "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" and by His standing in court, that prosecuting attorney is repudiated, put out, and cast down. That is the story,  and I am glad of it. That is the value of our Advocate in the court. He shuts out the prosecuting attorney and takes away his case so that he has no place in court at all. Thank the Lord!

Now we come to another point. It is in answer to a query that has arisen in the minds of some upon the point that was made the other night, that the Lord Jesus in heaven will never be in all respects as He was before. The query is this: There stands the scripture--we read it that night--we took the text upon that, "Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." That will be done. That glory which He had before the world was, is His now, and will be His to all eternity. And so you look in the Bulletin, pages 331, 332, and you will see the Testimony which I read upon the humiliation of Christ. He who was born in the form of God took the form of man. "In the flesh he was all the while as God, but he did not appear as God." "He divested himself of the form of God, and in its stead took the form and fashion of man." "The glories of the form of God, He for awhile relinquished."

Note the difference: The glories of the form of God He for awhile relinquished. But the form of God itself, He to all eternity relinquished. That is the contrast that is in the Scriptures and in that contrast that is here. Being in the form of God, He took the form of man. Then, on page 382 of the Bulletin we read again from the Testimony this word: "Bearing our human form before the Father's throne and through eternal ages." Do you see? The difference is not in the glory. It is in the form upon which the glory rests and through which it is manifested and through which it is reflected.

Now there is something else in that that comes right along with the thought. He was in the form of God--He left that, He emptied Himself and the French version is translated "He annihilated himself," and it is none too strong for as to the form which He bore, He annihilated Himself and in that form He will never again appear. "Our human form" He bears "before the Father's throne and through eternal ages." And the glory of the form of God which He had when He was in the form of God--that glory He brings to our human form. "The glory which thou gavest me, I have given thee." He has given the glory of God everlastingly to us, to the human form, to human flesh.

Instead of Christ's being lowered, we are exalted. Instead of divinity's being lowered or lessened, humanity is exalted and glorified. Instead of bringing Him down to all eternity to where we are, it lifts us to all eternity to where He is. Instead of robbing Him of His glory and putting Him where we are, who have none, He laid aside this glory for a season and became ourselves and took our form forever in order that He in this form and we in Him shall be exalted to the glory which He had before the world was.

Now there is a little more in that yet. In what form was the contest carried on with Satan? In our human form, in my form, in my nature, in your nature. For how much of God's universe was that contest carried on? How much was involved in it? The whole of it. Then in this world and in our flesh and form there was carried on the contest,  there was fought the battle and there was gained the victory that involves the whole universe. In this contest the whole universe was involved, one way or the other, whichever way it should have turned.

Therefore, to carry out God's eternal purpose, He had to come into this world and to take our form and nature,  because in this world and in our form and nature is where that purpose was contested and where it all centered.  He who was one with God emptied Himself and took our form and nature and fought the battle in this form and nature and the battle was won in this form and nature. To what form and nature belongs the victory? To our form and nature belongs the victory. In the nature of things it is to our form and nature in Jesus Christ and joined with Jesus Christ that the victory belongs. So you see that this contest, this victory, not only carries us in the universe to where Adam was, nor only to where He would have been, but to where Jesus Christ, by divine right,  is. O, it is wonderful. That is so. and the best of all is that it is true.

We too often lose sight of the glory of this in looking only at the misfortune of the entrance of sin. It was a misfortune, it is true, that sin should enter the universe at all. And in that sense it was a misfortune that sin struck this world so that the battle had to be fought in this world for the universe. But having struck this world and involved this world, it involved you and me, so that here, in our nature, had to be fought the contest for the universe, and we can thank God that the victory is won and that we have a share in this victory for the universe.  Therefore it is not altogether a misfortune, you see, because God is able to turn our greatest misfortunes into the grandest victories. It would have been the greatest misfortune for us if there were no redemption. But when God puts His hand to a thing, He turns our greatest misfortunes into the grandest victories. And this greatest misfortune to the universe, God turns to the grandest victory for the universe. O, He makes it turn to the absolute and eternal triumph of the universe!

Christ did empty Himself of the form of God and take our human form. He did empty Himself of the nature of God and take our human nature. And in so doing He brought divinity to humanity. In so doing He caused humanity to conquer Satan and sin. Against all Satan's power, Christ won the victory in our human nature, and therefore He says not only, "Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was," but he says, further, "The glory which thou gavest me I have given them." Instead of bringing Him to all eternity to where we were, it takes us to all eternity to where He is.

"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." We have an Advocate in the heavenly court, who, by every conceivable right, stands there as our Advocate and shuts out the prosecuting attorney that would accuse us before God day and night. He wins our cases, because He has won them. And now being in the form of God, He emptied Himself and took the form of a servant. "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him [and he has exalted us in him], and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

We delight to bow our knees to Him now, in that day we shall rejoice to do it also, in His glory. Bu whether one does it now or not, in that day when Jesus Christ is crowned with His triumphal crown before the universe and for the universe, then every knee, from Lucifer unto the last man that has rejected Him, will also bow and will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and they will do it to the glory of God the Father. And in that day every tongue in the universe will confess the divinity of the truth and the everlasting righteousness of the principle of right as against might.