The Best Life Here and
Hereafter.


MAN'S short life in this world cannot satisfy his soul. If he lives without a view above and beyond this world his life is only in degree better than that of an animal. Every part of his being is worthy of a life much superior to that of the animal in both its duration and its nature. His best desire is for peace and happiness and for the continuation of his existence, that he may exercise and develop the higher powers God has endowed him with.
If his mind should be set on the things that are unseen and eternal, that does not necessarily weaken his belief that the welfare of this present world is of prime importance. How to be right for both here and hereafter is a problem worth considering. It is also true that to ignore or deny our existence hereafter does not make us more capable of improving our present life or reforming the world. The reverse is the case, as we can only improve the life that now is by living for that which is to come. The infidel in his proposals for reform is, as a rule, vainly striving to attain to the social life which was taught by Jesus as a condition and preparation for our entrance into Heaven.
God left the Gentile nations free for four thousand years to work out their own salvation in their national and social life, and instead of improving they became worse and without hope. The ancients were quick in observation - they could marshal facts, they were capable in organisation and strong in action - and yet they failed. It seems impossible to convince man that his power is very limited. Wrecks and ruins strew his path through the ages. The Jews rejected God and His guidance and they failed.
After four thousand years, Jesus came and taught that we must look above the things of this world and view life in its wider and higher sense, and in its relationship to God. He insisted that the things pertaining to the soul and the spirit must come first and the things of the body would naturally follow. He showed that as we receive and develop spiritual life our power and desire to improve the present life will increase. Only through the spiritual life can man remove the lust and selfishness and injustice that bring misery and ruin, and only by the spiritual life can we attain to eternal life. In the Scriptures, eternal, when applied to life, speaks beyond doubt of duration, but it also indicates quality. Sin mars this life and leaves us without hope at the resurrection. Man cannot save himself. Education and personal effort, apart from God-given means, cannot overcome evil and far less can they obtain forgiveness for the past. Therefore, God is our only hope. Our Heavenly Father saw our hopelessness and in His infinite wisdom and almighty power prepared a way of deliverance.
It is to God's offered means of salvation that we wish to respectfully draw your attention. As fellow-men we approach you. Since the apostolic age no person or Church has been empowered, or commissioned, to speak authoritatively for God. Under the New Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles alone spoke with authority, and the New Testament is the only authentic record of their lives and teaching. We, therefore, draw your attention to what they proclaimed in the name of God.
What Churches may teach, or what professing Christians may do, should not deter you from listening to what God has spoken through His inspired messengers. In the sacred word there is safety and simplicity. The divine message can bring you to Jesus in whom is salvation. No Church, or system of doctrine, can save you. You first come to Jesus and then through Him to the Church (Local). It is not by joining a Church you come to Jesus. His word explains how you can come to Him.
God created you for His fellowship and friendship here on earth and thereafter in heaven. It is unreasonable to expect that you can obtain peace of soul and happiness of life, or attain to eternal life, in the world over which God rules if you slight His existence and reject His overtures.
With reverence and fear hear what God, in the Gospels, says concerning His Son, our Lord and Saviour, and learn of His commands as exemplified in the Acts of Apostles.
J.A.

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