L A -NRLF 531 lipiisijp K!i! Hi:ii THE AMERICAN Golden Rule College FOR The New Christian Era AUBURN, CALIFORNIA * This Character-Building Circular makes a Stimu- lating Text-Book for the Daily Use of Golden Rule People Placer County Republican Print, Auburn, California. A 8 AS THE AMERICAN H Golden Rule College FOR The New Christian Era. A SOUL-BUILDING SCHOOL OF IDEAL CHRISTIAN LIFE. The Best Life Possible to Man Both for Time and for Eternity. A Co-Educational School of Our Best Human Endeav- ors and Our Highest Christian Ideals. Academical, Commercial, Industrial, Hygienic. To be Established, Maintained and Conducted under the Incoming Light of a New Era in the Conditions of Human Society and of a Higher Type of Religion in all Christendom. Auburn City, Placer County, California. 131 * Institution of . * * o^Promote the Practice of Christian Ideals and Encourage the Orderly Devel- opment of an Ideal Humanity A School of the New and More Divine Ideals of the Incoming Clarified Orthodoxy and New Theology of the World's Larger Christianity A College of Faith-Filed Endeavors to Ultimate Heaven upon Earth to Exemplify the Known Divine Ideals of human Life, human Labor, and human Learning, according to the Spirit of the Written Word as its fuller meanings are progressively revealed from time to time to spiritually minded men and women A School of Natural, Spiritual and Celestial Ideals A School of New Era Ideals for the Young and the Youthful A School of Gospel Ideals for all Men at all Times A School of Angelic Lives in a Sin-burdened World A School of Saintly Exertions for Redeeming the World A School of Royal Endeavors to always Do Right 3 A School of Love for Each Other and Good Will to all Men- A School of Faith in the Ultimate Brotherhood of Man A School of Joyful Submission to the Dicipline of Life A School of Constant Progression under Leadings Divine A School of Freedom from Bondage to Human Dogmatics A School of Love for the Doctrines of Angelic Truth A School of Prayer without Ceasing in Heart or in Voice A School of Life that is a Simple/ 7 Progressive and True A School of Christlike Ideals for His Live Business World - A School of Healthful Environs for Body and Mind A School of Motives Divine when at Work or at Play A School of Faith and Good Works every Day in the Year A School of Bright, happy Thoughts for All the Dark Days 4 A School of Kind, cheerful Words for each Sorrowing Soul A School of Wise Preparations for Wide Fields of Labor A School of Wideness of View quite Unknown to this Sect-bur- dened World A School of Fitness to Seek and to Save the Wayward and Lost A School of Love for the Lord and Service for Man A School of Patience and Peace mid the Cares and Confusions of Everyday Life A School of Vital Religion that Glows in the Heart and Shines in the Life A School of Love for those Schools that have Grandly Outgrown all Sectarian Control A School of Christian Deportment when at Home or Abroad, Alone or with Others, by Night or by Day A School of Watchful Endeavors to evermore Live, as Dead unto Sin and Alive unto God 5 A School of Firmness and Kindness in Warring with Sin, in Stemming the Tide of Sectarian Pride in the Church or the School, in the Priest or the Pew A School of Boldness to Shun and Deplore the Useless Tradi- tions and Soul-deadening Ways of Conventional Life A School of Freedom to Follow the Forms and the Customs that Tend to Develop our Love for the Lord, for the Neighbor, and the Land we Inhabit A School of J(>3 7 s without Measure for Everyday People who Cease to Do Evil, Learn to Do Well and Walk in the Light that is every day Given A School of World-wide Religion under Christian Dominion, and of Oneness in Worship, and Love in the Service of One personal God, the Lord Jesus Christ-- A School of Earnest Desire and Utmost Endeavors to View the whole World, and our Work for Each Other, from the Clarified Standpoint af the Heavenly Host A School of Blessed Attainments in Christian Ideals, by the Eager and Earnest, who follow the Lord with the Push and the Power of a Warrior that Wins A School of Constant Endeovors to Live and be Perfect, in Body and Mind, in Love and Good Works, as our Father in Heaven is Perfect in Love to all Men, to the Good and the Evil, to the Just and the Unjust A School of Large enough Heart, of Pure enough Soul, and of Warm enough Love, to never Disown or Reject an} 7 Goodness or Faith that is Found in the High or the Low, in the Learned or the Unlearned, how ever much Mixed with the Evil and False A School of Heartfelt Rejoicings in All lines of Progress, in All Divine Methods for the Wise Reconstruction of All that is Human in the Nations of Earth, be they Savage or Civil A School of Strenuous Endeavors to Never be Led by a Friend or a Foe, by a Smile or a Tear, by a Frown or a Jeer, to Stumble and Fall from our Sunny Plateau on the High Mount of Blessing. But all who ascend this Mountain of Blessing must deign to go down, yes, "Low down through that beautiful valley Where love crowns the meek and the lowly." 7 A school-college that endeavors to appreciate the com- pound fact of man's finite nothingness and God's infinite Allness; and to ever bear in mind that the climax of all spiritual wonders, and essential doctrines, is the stupendous truth that God is everywhere present, like the light of the sun at midday, and that He "is therefore present or immanent in man's every thought and action, while man, at the same time, is consciously in the freedom of his own sweet will, and can do right or wrong just as he pleases. But when man is filled with the Spirit, and is in Divine Order, the Lord can work in with him, down below his personal consciousness, both to will what is good and to think what is true. This school-college finds perfect satisfaction, soul-rest and abundant spiritual ailment in the truths of the Bible just as we have it today. It matters little to us whether Divine Love and Wisdom comes through the language of historical narrative, parable, symbol; science or song; whether written by this one or that one, or by God Himself; in this age or that age, or before ages were counted. For the more we study the Bible with- out any reference to the human side of it, the more it com- mends itself to our best judgment, and the deeper its truths sink into our hearts and lives. An Institution from the New Heaven and for the New Earth, and for workers together with God in making "all things new." A school for perfecting the saints, for evangelizing the world, and for the personal encouragement of all those who are willing to pay the self-sacrificing price of living above the world while yet living in the world of living a rational and heavenly life upon earth, amid present unheavenly surround- ings, " cost what it will, lead where it may." A school for those who are actually hungering and thirst- ing after personal righteousness and heart purity. A school for the present attainment of moral, spiritual and physical beaut) 7 , by obeying the Divine laws of health, the Divine moral and spiritual laws, and by becoming as large partakers as possible of the Lord's Divine Nature and personal Holiness. The nearer we live to Him, and the more of 4< the beauty of the Lord there is upon us" the more our thoughts, ideas and actions will differ from the average people round about us, and the more we shall be liable to be treated as He was treated while here in the flesh. But this is of little consequence so long as we are con- sciously at one with Him and have found out by experience what the Divine Atonement really means. A school of spiritual and. eternal verities in thought and practice. And since God's teachings and providential deal- ings with men, both in general and in particular, have special reference to man's spiritual and eternal welfare, therefore the educational plans and labors of this character-building college must necessarily fall into Divine order, and follow the Divine leadings by continually holding up to view the spiritual and eternal side of things. A thoroughly Biblical school for those who have an intense love for their Bibles. A school where the life-giving study of the Divine Word itself, and the soul-building study of the Divine Love and Wisdom, as manifested in science, in art, in language, in music and in all the realms of nature, will have a prominent place in all its methods and educational exercises. Man should study the Bible at least one day out of seven and practice it the other six. A Golden Age School for the Golden Rule People is this incoming new Era this Second Coming of Christ to stand on the earth in His body, the church. And it will be con- ducted under the superior light of this new Christian Era, which from present indications, will be as much superior to the present outgoing Christian Era, as that was, and is, superior to the ancient Jewish Era. And as someone says, 4 'The principles of Christianity are the same in every age, yet they require to be retranslated, reinterpreted, and readjusted to every age." A Twentieth Century School for those who rejoice in the Divine processes of radical reconstruction now going on all over the world, and who consequently honestly desire to make the most of themselves by learning to think right, to do right, and to be right, at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances. A delightful school for all progressive young men and women who wish to acquire, in early life, the High Art of Living a Golden Rule Life. This is the best life, the highest life, the happiest life, the most useful life, and the most perfect life possible to man. A school for those who, to this end, are ready to undertake the actual practice of the Biblical Ideals, in all their relations in social life, in every department of school-life, and in all departments of manual labor and business activity. A heavenly minded school, born under the dawning light of the Lord 's progressive methods for the development of a world -wide religion in His New Christian Era. A heart-enlarging, soul-building institution, and there- fore quite different in spirit, in motive, and in practice from those mind-building institutions, that a celebrated Christian woman calls "Head-cramming and heart-robbing institutions. ' ' And it is devoutly hoped that this New Era School for the development of an ideal manhood and womanhood may be the beginning of a "new departure" that shall finally result in the establishment of Divinely symetrical schools all over Christendom. This is an intellectual age, and mind-building without IO much regard to heart-building, seems to predominate even among well meaning Christian institutions. It is therefore a sad fact that many a students' "brains are educated to the verge of imbecility," while his heart is left struggling and starving in the mire of original depravity. Men and women are created to become the exalted images and likenesses of the infinite Jehovah-Jesus Himself. But how few we find that rise above the immediate gratifications of their lower mental and animal natures. Their higher spiritual natures are left dormant and undeveloped. And those church members who have never been truly born of the Spirit, who take their Christianity largely from other Christians, "measur- ing themselves by themselves/ ' making a sad failure in tr>ing to live a Christian life. The Lord says "look unto me" not unto men "and be ye saved." We should never compare ourselves religiously with other people. But always try to be better ourselves today than we were yesterday. Don't look to the minister, the deacon, or the deaconess for your example, or for your authority in matters of faith, but to the Lord alone. There is quite a large class of church members who readily assent to all that is said about the supreme joys and advant- ages of living an ideal Christian life, and who at times, seem to have some aspirations toward such a life, and yet they never have the energy, the grace, or the grit to obtain it. To really "put off the old man and put on the new man," requires, on our part, a depth of consecration, an intensity of effort, and a degree of self-abandonment, that the average Christian knows nothing about. But "the Lover of our souls" never asks or expects to do or to be anything that we cannot successfully do and be under His Divine guidance and personal help. A homelike School for well rounded Christian character- building. Where all are trying to do the will of the Lord on II earth as it is done in Heaven. Where all are seeking the best possible fitness for the greatest possible usefulness* Where some are studing all branches necessary to a symetrical man- hood and womanhood. Where all teachers and students are more or less happily engaged afternoons in manual labor, and where all have their restful hours of healthful recreation. So that whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do, we do all to the glory of God. This as we understand it, is Bible teaching, and success- ful Bible living. The religion of the Lord Jesus Christ is supremely rational and eminently practical. And although in this school we knowingly " 'transgress the traditions of the elders," (who devised the tri-personal theor}0> by loving and serving but one Personal God, even the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom we see our kind Heavenly Father, and from Whom we recieve the witness of His Holy Spirit in our own hearts day by day; yet we neither despise nor ostracise those good people who have not yet reached this supreme point of theological consistency, this celestial knowledge, and this doctrinal satisfaction. In the glorified personality of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord God Almighty was " translated into human language" and clearly presented to human view in a more easily approach- able and loveable Human Form. "No man hath seen God," in His absolute entity, ''at any time." But by the marvels of Divine mercy for the bene- fit of the human race, the invisible Fatherhood has embodied Himself ma. Divine-Human-Manhood; So that now we have no excuse for not seeing, and loving, and worshiping the here- tofore invisible Divine Fatherhood in the present visible Per- sonality of the Lord Jesus Christ. And hence no one can now worship the invisible Father, in spirit and in truth, outside of our Divine-Human Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (See John 12 14:6 ii.) In Whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. There are many good people in the churches today who are hampered in their usefulness, and dwarfed in their de- velopment, by holding old and erronious ideas of God and the Bible. The personal teachings and actions of the infinite God in Christ, Jehovah in Jesus, give us a religious standard, a climax in Divine revelation, that rises above all other standards and revelations given in the Bible, for they come to us directly through the mouth and presence of God Himself while here in the flesh. Others come to us as it were, second hand through finite men. ' 'Jesus Himself stands committed to no ecclesiastical pro- gram. He wore no ecclesiastical spectacles." Neither would we. And this School endeavors to rise well above all human sectarianism and labor for the advancement of the kingdom of God, the supreme will of God, in the hearts and lives, in the plans and actions, of all people in the world universal. Each man is a minimum universe, and when spiritually regenerated and properly educated he finds himself sublimely in tune with the Infinite God of the universe. And then his life is worth living, and his religion worth having. We are all born of the flesh before we are born of the Spirit. And what a wide difference there is interiorly between a spiritual man and a natural man ; between a clean old man going up to heaven with a song in his mouth, and a vile old man going down to distruction with a pipe in his mouth. The spiritual man has been born into a new world of superior thought and feeling, that of the natural man knows nothing about. The spiritual man, as to his interior life, is in harmony with, and partakes of, the delightful thoughts and blissful feelings, of those now in heaven who, by the I^ord are sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation. Heb. 1:14. This is Divine spirituality of which modern spiritualism is a very poor counterfeit. The natural man has no desire for, or no ability to receive spiritual truth. He does not like the Bible because it brings to light his own inner wrongness, and shows him plainly his personal sin and inexcusable defects. Hence it is not expected that those young persons who have a more intense love for self and the world, than they have for the Lord and the neighbor, will desire to enter this heavenly school of Ideal Human Life. They will not, they cannot, without being born of the Spirit honestly undertake to live an ideal Christian life, in all particulars during the light of the day and the darkness of the night. For an evil. tree cannot bring forth good fruit. But whenever they decide to comply with the Divine con- ditions: "repent," "cease to do evil and learn to do well," we shall be glad to receive them, to encourage them, and to show them how to overcome "the world, the flesh and the devil," quickly, easily, and triumphantly. We may well expect some sort of trials and temptations every day we live, and everywhere we go. We need them, especially in early and middle life. For, by Divine Provi- dence, the only way we can progress heavenward rapidly, is by patiently enduring trials, and resolutely overcoming temptations. And the severity of these testings grow less and less as we ourselves grow more and more heavenly in heart and life; until finally we enter the Land of Canaan, that Sabbath state or "Rest Life," where we trust the Lord so completely that He fights all our battles for us, and the walls of Jericho fall down flat before us. And it is a great comfort to know, what so few people 14 seem to know, that the human side of Christ's nature was just like our human nature, or he could have never been tempted in all points just as we are tempted. And that the imperfect human side of His nature was "perfected," that is, brought into harmony with the Divine side of His nature, through trials and suffering, just as our imperfect human natures, through trials and sufferings, are perfected and brought into harmony with Him and thus fitted for the society of Heaven. He never yielded to temptation and is therefore prepared to keep us from yielding when we trust Him perfectly. Question: Why did the L,ord God Almighty manifest Himself in human flesh? 1. To destroy the works of the devil in us and round about us. i John 3:8. 2. To save His people from their sins. Mat. 1:21. 3. To make His Divine Personality visible to human eyes and thus give us a definite object to love and to worship. John 1:18. 4. To perfect His eternal plans for making a heaven out the human race. John 3:16. Some people say that evils and sins are not realities, but mere mental illusions, abstractions or seemings. But I know from much personal experience, that the unseen powers of darkness, the hordes of evil spirits that are around us and sometimes in us, and that we all need for dicipline, and who induce all the evil thoughts and actions that we ever have, are just as active and just as real when out of the body as they were while in the body. And that they are just as real in person and in effect as you and I are today. Those who do not believe in the reality of these unseen enemies are just the ones to be the more easily deceived by them. Such persons need to study their Bibles more carefully. To say there is "no evil," "no sin;" is to say there are no evil spirits that are 15 continually leading people to commit sin, to do evil things, and that we must needs overcome. To deny the existence and the power of evil spirits is just as false and just as foolish as it is to deny ones own existence. And altho man is born with a mixed nature, good and evil, he is also born with ample ability to choose between the two; so that he can make himself a happy "son of God," or a miserable "child of the devil", just which he chooses. The Bible itself is a long and helpful history of the con- tending powers of good and evil. And a conscious salvation from "the wiles of the devil," from these unseen powers of darkness, by means of the Bible, is the greatest thing that ever comes to a human being. The great business of life is to learn how to tell the differ- ence between good and evil, so that we may ever be able to refuse the evil and choose the good. Heb. 5:14. And we should ever bear in mind the fact that, in and of ourselves, we are none of us "good," for there is none good but One, that is God. All "new thoughts," and there are many, that are in har- mony with the teachings of the Bible and with sanctified com- mon sense, we gladly accept and use. But we would never forget, that to a well balanced mind, optimism and pessimism are each halves of one very important whole. The Divine Incarnation was a greater work and a deeper work than most people suppose. Jehovah in Jesus came down from the highest heaven to the lowest depths of our earthly na- tures and He is therefore able and anxious to save to the very uttermost all who freely and willingly comply with His lov- ing and reasonable conditions of salvation. So that an ideal Christian life (and there is no other ideal life) is a victorious life from beginning to end. For we are always more than conquerors through Him that loved us. When, in the name of the Lord, we resist the devil he flees i6 from us. When there comes a desire to do wrong and we re- fuse to do it, we gain a victory, we advance heavenward. But all church members, or others, who are trying to "follow the Lord afar off," and in their own strength, have a hard time of it in this world, and a doubtful preparation for the next. Afl schemes of self-salvation are miserable failures. To be saved from self and sin, means to be so completely filled with the Spirit of Christ that evil spirits cannot come in and influence us to do wrong. Many people think it a very difficult matter to live a true Christian life. This is a great mistake. For a true Christian life is the only normal and orderly life possible to man. It is the easiest and most rational life. The nearer we live to the Lord the easier the life. Human machinery out of order, out of oil, out of har- mony, runs hard. So a human life out of harmony with the Divine Plan runs hard. But in harmony and well filled with the oil of Divine love, human life runs easily and without friction. But in religion, as in everything else, "that which costs nothing is worth nothing." And to enjoy the inexpressible blessings and benefits of an ideal Christian life, one must give up, or sell out, everything that comes in competition with the will of God in that life. And yet we really give up nothing that is worth keeping. We give up only sin and selfishness, and they are always a positive damage to both soul and body. No one can take in the superior blessedness of heaven until the inferior pleasures of sin are out of the way. Heaven and hell are opposites and cannot both dwell in the same soul at the same time. Every human being has a two fold nature. A natural and a spiritual nature. The natural or outward nature is visible to the natural eyes, but the spiritual nature or spiritual man is visible only to spiritual eyes. And man's spiritual 17 capacity to know spiritual things is just as valid and just as important, if not more so, than his capacity to know natural things. Sinful people are afraid to face the spiritual and heart- searching truths of the Bible, But the daily study of the Divine or spiritual side of things is as much more important than the study of the natural and human side of things, as our spiritual lives are longer and more important than our natural lives. Let us learn to look at everything in the rational light of eternity. O that our } T oung people had wisdom enough, and per- sonal energy enough, to take the best possible care of soul and body, and thus be of the greatest possible use to the world, and get the greatest possible amount of happiness out of this present life. Christian perfection in bod} 7 and mind and life is the only thing that brings perfection in happintss. An ideal person is one who lives up to his highest con- victions of right, does all the good he can, and adapts himself wisely and contentedly to his immediate surroundings, "be it ever so humble." And right here it may be said that this New Era School of Ideal Life on earth stands firmly and fearelessly amid the present conceit and confusion of the vaiious religious systems and beliefs for the one ideal universal, all-comprehensive and absolute religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as to my personal development and experiences I will frankly state that I was converted, that is, I received the baptism of John unto repentance and remission of sins, fifty-six years ago, and have been a progressive and working member of the Congregational Church and Sabbath School from that day to this. Twenty-three years ago I received that wonderful "Second Blessing," as Wesley calls it, or the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as John calls it. i8 This opened my heart and eyes into a new world of love and light, and took the last remains of selfish sectarianism out of me, and brought me to a point where I seemed to be given "an understanding heart to judge between the good and the bad," and to readily say yea, yea, to what is good and triae, and nay, nay, to what is evil and false. This state of mind, however, by a selfrighteous person, will be called "egotism;" by a sanctified person wall be called "spiritual perception." And having hereafter received a baptism of love so per- fect that it cast out all fear (the third baptism of "fire" perhaps) that I have been greatly blessed as occasions presented, in get- ting much knowledge outside of what is called "evangelical orthodoxy." Have found out that the so-called religious "isms and ologies" are not to be haughtily despised; for they hold many Divine truths that would be of use to all who desire to live a well rounded Christian life. And I have also found out that the wise and heavenly teachings of the great Emmanuel Swedenborg, that are so unaccountably misunderstood and misrepresented, even by leading editors of orthodox papers, who ought to know better, do actually contain, for devout and spiritually minded people, more religious philosophy, more heart-searching and heaven inspiring truths than can be found in any other religious writer oustide of the Bible. But, the needless ignorance of, and the selfish prejudice against, the heavenly teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg, keeps many a soul groping in the dust and darkness of this earth, that might and ought to be living and walking in the light of heaven. This common narrow-minded fear of being hurt by the ideas of other people, who are just as good and just as wise as we are, and that so dwarfs and belittles the souls of men, is 19 the greatest known hindrance to Christian progress heaven- ward. Swedenborg destroys no doctrine that orthodoxy holds dear. But he prunes, illuminates and rationally explains every doctrine and every so-called "mystery" that Christen- dom is still, and needlessly, puzzeling over today. I am by no means an orthodox Swedenborgean. But ever since I received those illuminating, love-abounding baptisms, and especially since my sixth or spiritual sense was opened, I have been an earnest student of the soul-inspiring, soul-building writings of Swedenborg, in connection with other theological writings. And for the last three or four years I have carefully and prayerfully followed a daily course of readings in his writings in connection with the daily Scriptural readings in the Sunday School Times. And hence, by Divine grace, have received an uplift heavenward that no human language can express, and that no other course of reading could have equaled. But people generally care more for trantient things than for eternal truths. And nothing is more unaccountable to me than the stern fact that every unsanctified human mind pos- sesses almost infinite resources for resisting the introduction of spiritual knowledge the most important of all knowledge. This resistence comes from personal submission to the unseen powers of darkness. Therefore, choose ye this day whom ye will serve. He who studies the Bible and the king- dom of God on earth, mainly through the publications of any one religious denomination, or any one religious system, becomes and remains necessarily one-sided and narrow- minded. And this selfish sectarianism today, I repeat, is the greatest known drawback to the progress of Biblical religion. As for myself I verily believe that the Fire of Divine Love, found more especially among the holiness people, and the Light of Divine Truth, found in fullness only in the celestial 20 teachings of Swedenborg, have by Divine grace, harmoniously blended in my own soul, and have unitedly formed a most glorious and Abiding Heaven. O what blesedness and glory would fill the Christian church at large if the old selfish sectarianism was forever dead, and all hearts were wide open to receive and exemplify this true Methodist Fire and this bright Swedenborgian Light. It is so much better to be filled with all the possible light and fullness of God, than to remain in needless ignorance and be partly filled with self. But really what is this "great salvation" that the Bible speaks of, and that we talk so much about ? What are we saved from ? Why do we need such radical reconstruction ? Well, by Divine Providence or Permission we are sinners in two directions. We are all born without our own knowl- edge or consent, with a natural or inbred wrongness of heart, that is not in harmony with the interior Tightness of God. And this inborn wrongness, together with our outward en- vironment, leads us eventually to wrongness in outward actions. But we are all endowed with that supreme blessing called "freedom of choice," without which we would not be human beings. And hence, if we choose to put forth our own best efforts, and look to Johovah-Jesus for help, we can cease to do evil outwardly and be cleansed from the evils within. I am glad that we are born just as we are. For as the little acorn could never become a mighty oak without overcoming the down-pulling power of the earthly attraction, so we could never become fit for the high and holy society of the Lord and His holy angels without overcoming the down-pulling power of our earthly natures. Therefore we recognize and teach the importance of understanding the Three Degrees in Grace as set forth in Mathew 3:11, Luke 3:16 and John 3:5: i. Convertion, or the Baptism of John unto repentence 21 and remission of sins not inbred sin but outward sins and which results in a good, clean and consistent moral life, visible to the eyes of all men. But this is a preparatory Moral Salvation and nothing more. Yet it seems to be all that many church members ever desire or work for. 2. Sanctification, or Baptism of the Spirit, cleanses from inbred sin, and opens the soul into what Christ calls the kingdom of heaven where "the least are greater" than John and those under his Baptism only. This is Spiritual Salvation, and immeasurably higher and deeper and sweeter than moral salvation. You will find one or more in almost every evan- gelical church that has received this wonderful Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and are therefore actually within the kingdom of heaven. 3. The third and final Baptism of Fire, or ' 'perfect love, ' ' burns away the least and last remains of dross and melts one down completely with an overwhelming love for everybody and everything, good, bad, or indifferent, friends, neighbors, or enemies, and makes him a veritable Peacemaker. You may not meet half a dozen persons in a lifetime who have been humble, teachable, and progressive enough to receive this last or Celestial Baptism. These three Divine Baptisms, progressive and distinct, can be understood and appreciated by those only who have been given the experience. Ex- perience can explain passages that human reason cannot. The Lord graciously confers these spiritual baptisms as we progress in love and good works, and just as fast as we are prepared to receive and use them. There are two kinds of love mentioned in the Bible, benevolent love and selfish love heavenly fire and hell fire. And we sing, "O may my love to Thee, pure, warm and changless be a living fire.'" Christians see things from widely different standpoints according to the degree of grace they have received. The 22 majority still see as through a glass darkly. The few see as it were by the angelic light of heaven. It is a wonderful blessing to be born into God's great universe of mind and matter. And the deeper and richer ones personal experiences are, and the more knowledge he has of God and eternal things, the more he feels his own littleness and the limitations of his own ignorance. A perfect Christian, as I understand perfection, is one who, like Zacharias and Elisebeth, lives a ''blameless" life; not necessarily a faultless life, but a truly blameless life, Luke 1:6. Perfect Christians are simply the blameless and harm- less children of God, without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom they shine as lights in the world. Phil. 2:15. The ideal Christian, with Bible in hand, always lives up to his own highest convictions of right. He never frets, never worries, no matter what happens; and is never distressed when disappointed. He has "the joy of the birds, and the freedom of the wind and the wave." This is undoubtedly God's ideal of our human life on earth. The heavenly thoughts and ideals of human life presented in this evangelizing circular are not based on fine human theories, but on more than twenty years of most blessed and positive personal experience. If ye know Divine truths, blessed are ye also if ye do them . See John 13:18. Most people are evermore devising ways and means for enjoying themselves, Yes, themselves in particular. Not knowing that if they would follow the all-w r ise Divine ways and means for the normal enjoyment of Him and His heav- enly things, instead of the abnormal enjoyment of themselves, they would be ten times better and happier than they are now. For perfection in happiness comes from perfection in Christian character and from nothing else. The poor, ignorant outside world at its best, enjoys only the froth and scum of true 23 happiness. It can be readily seen that this school is not designed for the wayward and eviltninded, who need constant watching and occasional dicipline, but for those who are already genuine Christians, or who sincerely desire to become such, and who are therefore a law unto themselves, and be- 5 7 ond the need of any human rulers. People sometimes tell me that I am a hundred years ahead of my time. If so, well and good. Let us have an Educational Institution that shall encourage and develope a great host of high minded hundred year people. It can be readily seen that this School of Universal Christian Ideals has before it a very wide field of usefullness, and that it undertakes to teach some important things about God Himself, about His heaven above, and about His church below, that Christians generally do not know, and that all Christians might and ought to know Unless this school could give some new and needful light on spiritual things there would be no call for its existence. Our aged Professor in Yale Seminary used to tell us that "True humanity was a just estimate of ones own ability." We overcome the dragon of selfishness by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. See Rev. 12:11. Hence I have given some personal testimony. If any person reads this paper who is not now living on as high a plane of Christian life as he knows he might and ought to live, it is sincerely hoped that he will not try to discourage others and pull them down to his own level, but will rather make a complete surrender of himself to the will of God, and come up speedily and joyfully on the highway of holiness, where he can evermore have the supreme satisfaction of walking and talking with the Lord Jesus in the mountain of His holiness. This Institution extends the right hand of fellowship to all sincere Christians who worship and serve the Lord Jesus 24 Christ, in Whom is the Father, and from Whom we receive the Holy Spirit. It respects all religious organizations and creeds, but is limited by none. It maintains lasting gratitude to the present outgoing orthodoxy which has, notwithstanding its errors, led many of us successfully into the kingdom of heaven, and up to a point where we can see, receive, and enjoy the clearer light and superior blessedness of the incoming new and clarified orthodoxy, and that rises above all sectarian differences. It will be conservative enough to thankfully retain and use all the great fundamental truths of the old and passing dispensation, and progressive enough to gladly accept and use the good and true found in the incoming new dispensation. And will be helpfull to people of all denominations, and all religions. The Lord saves people out of all religions, be they orthodox, heterodox or heathen. A PERSONAL QUESTION. In God's great plans He needeth me, Or in this world I should not be. Can I assist this New Age School, That doth exalt His Golden Rule, Where old and young this rule obey, As each hath light from day to day ? This school stands for the practice and development of a plain, simple, rational and practical life among men as they are, and gladly undertakes to obey the Divine commands: Be ye holy for I am holy. Walk before me and be thou perfect. This school does not reject the Christian Ideals as impracticable. But not long ago the editor of a large and popular New York magazine made the following pointed remark: "It is remarkable," he said, "that what is called the practical sense of Christendom virtually rejects the Christian Ideals as impracticable. ' ' Now since this statement applies to Christendom in 25 general but not to all individual Christians, we therefore appeal to individuals. We shall be glad to receive financial aid from those men and women who heartily believe in the present practicability of the Golden Rule and the Decalogue, and who believe that the time has come to establish an educational and industrial Institution that shall teach, preach, practice, and illustrate before the world, not only the possibility, but the practicability, the usefullness, the blessedness, and the moral necessity, of living a Biblical Christian life every hour in the day, and every day in the year. And we want, we need, and we expect, from lovers of the Golden Rule, an abundant supply of the Lord's money to ultimate and endow this Golden Rule College this Soul- Building School of Life. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it Psalm 127:1. So far as contributors desire, amounts given, either large or small, may be made known to the public. But it would seem more in harmony with the Divine character and heavenly mission of this Institution, to have it initiated and perpetuated according to the Divine idea of not letting the left hand know what the right hand doeth. But reports will be sent to each contributor who desires it, stating just how his monies are used. This Institution is founded on the Rock Christ Jesus; on the eternal verities of the old yet ever-growing Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. All persons willing to assist and encourage the immediate establishment of a Celestial Institution, on this progressive little earth of ours, will please address, CHESTER E. FOKD, Auburn, Placer County, California. May 15, 1905. School of Christian Ideals FOR The Outward Natural Life and for th Inward Spiritual Life. 3VI.A.Y, No Well-Disposed Person, Young or Old, c Read this Circular Through Thoughtfully Without being Personally Bene- fitted Thereby. Gaylord Bros. Makers Syracuse, N. Y. PAT, JAN, 21 ,1908 Y 639] UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY