The declaration of the Scriptures is that the apostle Paul and his company purposed to go into Asia, but that under divine providence he seemed to be hindered from going there, and that then God specially directed him in a dream, and sent him into Europe with the message – sending him, not to barbarians, but to the most enlightened and most cultured people of the then civilized world, the people of Greece. (Acts 16:7-10.) And we remember that later on the Lord sent the Apostle to Rome, telling him in advance that this was his purpose, and seemingly in order to keep the Apostle in Rome he was sent there a prisoner, yet for three years was permitted to have full liberty to preach Christ to as many as had ears to hear. And let us not forget a circumstance which occurred in connection with the journey to Rome, when the Apostle was shipwrecked on the Island of Mileta. (Acts 28:1-10.) He found there a people who, so far as we are able to judge, were on the average better prepared for the truth than the Chinese, Malays, etc., and of these the record says, “The barbarians showed us no little kindness.” We might suppose that barbarians who were disposed to be kind and generous to people who were shipwrecked on their coast, would be a rather more favorable class to approach with the gospel of Christ than cannibals, to whom missionaries of to-day frequently go.

And yet what do we find as the result of the Apostle’s stay in the midst of that people all that winter?

Do we read that he left several flourishing little missions?

Do we read that he preached day and night unto the barbarians?

Not a word of it; no mention is made of the slightest effort to reach them. The Apostle seemingly knew that they were too degraded to have any ear to hear the Christian message, or to be called with the high calling which God during this age is sending forth, to gather the Bride for his Son. We have every reason to believe that the Apostle made no effort whatever to make known the Gospel of Christ to those heathen people. Quite possibly while he was there forcibly detained in their midst, and unable to reach those who would have an ear to hear the good tidings, he may have attempted to suggest to them certain moral reforms, or how to live more comfortably, or something else that would come within the range of their measure of intelligence. But apparently, he had no thought whatever that the gospel “High Calling” was for such, and hence the Golden Rule, operating in his life and governing his conduct, was limited accordingly – limited to act in harmony with the divine revelation and the divine plan.

Why is it that the example of Jesus and his inspired apostles is overlooked by so many of our dear Christian friends to-day?

Why is it that they use their Golden Rule without respect to the divine plan and divine promise?

We answer, it is because some of them are leaning to their own understanding, instead of seeking the divine Word, and to be taught of God; they think they know what ought to be done without inquiring of God’s Word, and they are going about to do what they think should be done, rather than seeking to follow heaven’s directions and Apostolic example. Many of them, indeed, are not self-conceited to the extent of being careless respecting advice; indeed, many of them are quite lacking in thought on their own part, and only too willing and too anxious to take advice of others; but they are not sufficiently careful where they get the advice.

They say to themselves, ‘We belong to the Presbyterian body: look at its millions; look at its education; look at its influence’. Or, ‘We belong to the Methodist body: look at its numbers, influence, etc., etc. The same is true of the others. And then they ask,

Is it possible that all these wise and learned men should be mistaken?

Do they not all advocate that we should thus go out to preach the gospel amongst the heathen?

Yes, we answer; this is a part of the delusion: many of the great and worldly-wise have adopted a theory, and are attempting to operate the Golden Rule wholly outside of and in utter neglect of the divine plan. Their theory is that God’s Kingdom has come, and they point to the civilized nations of Europe and America as evidences and proofs that God’s Kingdom has come, and they say,

What all zealous Christians should now do is to convert the Chinese nation, the Japanese nation, India, and all the tribes of the earth, that these also may become Christian nations like those of Europe and America, and thus the whole world will become God’s Kingdom.

But we answer, this is false, utterly false; the nations of Europe and America are not God’s Kingdom, notwithstanding the fact that they claim to be Christian nations, and that they put upon their coins that their monarchs reign by the grace of God. They are all, at best and at most, “kingdoms of this world,” under the control of Satan, “the prince of this world.” (John 14:30) These are the kingdoms which at the advent of Christ’s Kingdom he declares shall be broken in pieces as a potter’s vessel, as being utterly unfit for his service, and utterly out of harmony with the principles of righteousness which will be established in his Kingdom. – Rev 2:26,27; Dan 2:45.

Alas! if these kingdoms of so-called Christendom be the fulfilment of our dear Redeemer’s prayer which he taught us as his disciples, “Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven” – if we must accept these as God’s Kingdom, if we must think of their rule as being God’s will done on earth as it is done in heaven – then some of us are greatly disappointed, for we find that God’s will is very little done on earth, and consequently heaven, if no better than this, must be a pandemonium in comparison to what we had hoped for.

But we are not mistaken; the Lord’s Word everywhere teaches that the present Gospel age is for the selection of the Kingdom class, the saints, who by and by, in God’s due time, shall be joint-heirs with Christ in his Kingdom, and inheritors with him of the great promises made to Father Abraham, that this seed, Christ (head and body – Gal 3:16,29), shall bless all the families of the earth, as God’s Kingdom bringing in everlasting righteousness. Would to God that we could assist to some extent in opening the blinded eyes of Christendom on this subject: and yet we could not hope to render any assistance to the general mass of churchianity, – for it is the divine plan that not the “tares,” but only the “wheat,” shall now understand. – Dan 12:10; 1 Thess 5:3-5.

All we can hope for is that those who are the Lord’s true saints are not, and never have been, fully satisfied with the position in which they are, and the work which they are doing; but realize a heart-hunger for something better, more satisfactory, and more in harmony with the divine character and power – that these who have ears, and who have already heard to some extent the true gospel, might now hear the true ring of the Shepherd’s voice, and thus be called away from Babylon and its confusion of error, its jargon of contradiction and insincerity, to the green pastures and still waters of divine truth – present truth – that thus separated (delivered from Babylon’s bondage) they might be more fully united with the Shepherd himself, and become co-workers together with God in his work, learning to exercise the Golden Rule in their own hearts, in their own lives, and to help others of the household of faith and the Bride of Christ to do the same.

Nor are we to overlook the fact that while the present Gospel message is for the highest types of men, it appeals specially to the middle class of these – the humble but intelligent rather than the rich or great. “Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.” – Matt 11:25:2.