but do not understand us to say that Restitution is the hope of the
Church. It is not the hope of the Church. The Church has specinl promises. She
has no portion with the world. If we walk in the footsteps of Jesus, faithfully to
the end of our course, we shall become “partakers of the Divine nature.” Not
only is our Lord Jesus to bless the world, but the world is to be blessed by the
Church, who will reign with Him as His Joint heir. The Lord said, “In My Fa-
ther’s House are many mansions; I go to prepare a place for you.” The Church
is to have the new place prepared by her Lord-to inhabit that mansion. The
world, under other conditions, is to inhabit another of these mansions- the
earth. Millions and billions are to have the blessings of Restitution-to that
which was lost, to that which Adam originally possessed; but we (the Church)
“shall be like Him (Christ)” if we make our “calling and election sure.” We
shall have spirit nature, like our Lord and Head. So please keep the Church and
the world distinct and separate-the blessing of Restitution for the world-
perfect human beings in a perfect earth-but for the Church the likeness and
nature of Christ, who is now the express image of the Father’s person.
When the Church is once completed, there will never be another member
added. Now is the last and only chance to become a member of the “Body of
Christ.” This thorrght, of a definite number in the Body of Christ, was illus-
trated in the person of the Jewish high priest. No one could serve in that capac-
ity who was deformed, who had any deficiency or superfluity of members for
instance, he who was lacking a finger, or who had a finger too many. (Lev.
2 1: 18) So when The Christ, the greater High Priest, is complete, there will not
be one member lacking nor one superfluous member-only the Elect number;
for “known unto the Lord are all His works from the beginning of the world.”
But, says one, I don’t see that Restitution would be such a great blessing. But
perhaps you have not thought what a perfect man would be like. Whar is a
perfect man? There has never been a perfect man except our Lord when He
was a man, and Adam before the fall. We are all so imperfect that we cannot
even understand all the perfection which was in Adam. It is true that Adam did
not understand all about electric cars, the telephone and telegraph and other
wonderful inventions of which we have knowledge today; but that was not
because he did not have the capacity to understand them. Adam’s perfect mental, moral and physical powers were never exercised to the extent of the combined effort of all his multitudinous posterity during six thousand years of effort as seen in the present time. But his individual capacity was greater then
that of any of his posterity, who from the effects of the fall have degenerated in
other respects as well as in longevity. When Adam comes back to life it will
not take him long to understand all about the machinery of our day, and we
doubt not that in a short time he could make improvements upon much of it.
And the same might be said of every other element of learning and skill.
All of us have heard of “lightning calculators,” who can add up long columns
of figures without effort, or solve in a moment difficult problems which would