| VOL. XXIV. | NOVEMBER 1, 1903. | No. 21 |
'I will stand upon my watch, and set my foot upon the Tower, and will watch to see what He shall say unto me, and what answer I shall make to them that oppose me.' Hab. 2:1
Upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity: the sea and the waves (the restless, discontented) roaring: men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking forward to the things coming upon the earth (society): for the powers of the heavens (ecclestiasticism) shall be shaken. . . .When ye see these things come to pass, then know that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Look up, lift up your heads, rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh. – Luke 21:25-28, 32.
It stands free from all parties, sects and creeds of men, while it seeks more and more to bring its every utterance into fullest subjection to the will of God in Christ, as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. It is thus free to declare boldly whatsoever the Lord hath spoken; – according to the divine wisdom granted unto us, to understand. Its attitude is not dogmatical, but confident; for we know whereof we affirm, treading with implicit faith upon the sure promises of God. It is held as a trust, to be used only in his service; hence our decisions relative to what may and what may not appear in its columns must be according to our judgment of his good pleasure, the teaching of his Word, for the upbuilding of his people in grace and knowledge. And we not only invite but urge our readers to prove all its utterances by the infallible Word to which reference is constantly made, to facilitate such testing.
Those of the interested who, by reason of old age, or other infirmity or adversity, are unable to pay for the TOWER, will be supplied FREE, if they send a Postal Card each December, stating their case and requesting the paper. We are not only willing, but anxious, that all such be on our list continually.
The Pittsburg Gazette proposes to print Brother Russell's sermons every Monday hereafter, until further notice. Thinking that some of our readers would like to have these we have arranged to club the "Gazette" and the WATCH TOWER at $3.25 per year, – beginning as soon as you like. This will give the WATCH TOWER semi-monthly and the Gazette daily postpaid at less than one cent per copy. Send all subscriptions to the WATCH TOWER address.
But this does not apply to territory within 100 miles of Pittsburg where the Gazette may have an agent, as the agent must be protected. However, there are many places near at which there are no agents, and where agents can be found the Monday papers can be obtained from them. [R3264 : page 402]
Responses to our notice that the Pittsburg Gazette would publish lengthy reports of the Doctrinal Discussions between Doctor Eaton and Pastor Russell almost overwhelmed our office force as well as the Gazette's. Orders have come in for more than twice the number we guaranteed and more are still coming.
Friends will please accept the arrival of the Gazettes as evidence of our having received their letters, and not expect other acknowledgment. Indeed, as may be surmised, all of our correspondence is greatly belated on this account, and it will require considerable time to get caught up; – and the less important letters may need to be wholly neglected, much as we should like to reply to them all.
The Gazette's supply of the first report becoming exhausted, that journal reprinted the debate reports under another date, and request us to explain the reason, and to assure subscribers that all orders received will be filled promptly. Should any of our friends not receive the papers ordered by them, they should report to us by postal card. Later orders will be filled at once by a special edition containing the six debates. These latter we will supply postpaid on order – at the rate of 2 cents each. In lots of 50 or over one cent each, express prepaid. page 402
In consequence of raise of prices for printing and binding just after we had reduced our price on cloth-bound DAWNS, we have been selling all volumes of the series at a loss for the past six months. The loss has been specially heavy on the thicker volumes, and we now feel compelled to increase the price on these to 40 cents, plus 10 cents postage. Subscribers' wholesale rate 20 cents plus 10 cents postage. These prices take effect Nov. 1, 1903.
Volume VI. will have over 700 pages and is hoped for in December. Those who have already paid for it at old prices need not send additionally.
A "BIBLE LEAGUE" has been organized in the Methodist Episcopal Church, with the avowed purpose of driving out destructive Higher Criticism. Its president is Bishop Mallalieu, and the promoters hope to establish branches in every Methodist Conference in the country." – Exchange.
We are glad to see that the situation is being partially realized. It is much more dangerous than many might be willing to believe. No words can more graphically describe the results than the words of Scripture themselves, viz.: "A thousand shall fall at thy side." (Psa. 91:7.) A thousand to fall to one who will stand means a great "falling away" from faith. Our Master's question is pertinent here, "When the Son of Man cometh [at his second advent] shall he find faith on the earth?"
The cleavage or separation on this subject can only result favorably so far as the gathering of the Lord's "jewels" is concerned. Those who will cling to the Bible honestly and intelligently will give it more careful examination than ever. And their longings will not be satisfied by the interpretations and creeds of the dark ages, ruled by superstition and the spirit of persecution. Nothing short of "the faith once delivered to the saints," which now rejoices our hearts with its lengths and breadths and heights and depths of divine love and provision, will satisfy them. These will be but a "little flock" in all, however. We will be glad to greet Bp. Mallalieu among them, but we do not forget the Apostle's words, that not many rich or great or noble are being chosen now, but chiefly the poor and ignoble, rich in faith, to be heirs of the Kingdom.
That the battle above referred to has commenced is shown by the press dispatch: – "CHICAGO, September 10.
"The Outlook, an official publication of the Methodist denomination, has made a sensational attack upon the Methodist universities. That the doctrines of "Tom" Paine are being taught by Dr. Milton S. Terry, professor of Theology in Garrett Biblical Institute, and by Dr. Hinckley G. Mitchell, of the Boston University School of Theology, is the charge. Methodists are advised not to send their sons and daughters to schools 'where such teachers are allowed to remain on the faculty.'"
The whole world is growing restless – preparing to fulfil the above prophecy, of which we quote only the introduction. The people of Macedonia and Bulgaria are impatient of the Turkish rule, and fomenting rebellion and bringing upon themselves the brutal vengeance of their rulers – the only kind of reprisal and suppression known to the Ottoman.
France is still in a warfare with the secret orders of the Roman Catholic Church, in an attempt to free the rising generation from the incubus of superstition, which it realizes has for years been opposing the Republic by misrepresentations of the facts of history. In a word, the French Government is seeking to turn the religious schools built by the people into free public schools, similar to those of the United States. They refuse to have these taught by garbed nuns and priests, and the golden hours of childhood given specially to studying the Roman Catholic Catechism. In no sense is it a movement to curb the freedom of the Roman Catholic conscience to believe and teach as it pleases outside the public schools. This warfare is so absorbing to the French that other questions are no more than secondary. The clerical party would even favor war in hope of reviving monarchy.
In England a very similar question is before the public mind. Parliament has recently put the control of public-school education into the hands of the Church (Episcopal), and other denominations are fearful of the results.
In Austro-Hungary partisanism runs high. Both nations desire to exercise controlling influence, yet both realize that division would injure both dreadfully. They maintain a union of hatred and bitterness [R3263 : page 404] that bodes an open warfare at the opportune moment.
Russia, according to the London Times, is keeping from general publicity her dreadful internal disorders, which may eventually force her into war to offset the restless spirit and give it employment. It says in part: –
"The murderous assault made on Prince Urussoff by the peasants of his estate, in the province of Tchernigoff, has its parallel in the similar crime perpetrated on the person of Prince Gagarin, his wife, and their guest, Prince Sherbatoff, in the province of Riazan, hundreds of miles further north. The governor of the province of Ufa has been murdered under the shadow of the Urals; and the prisons of St. Petersburg are filled with political prisoners, who largely belong to that most dangerous of all classes, the intellectual proletariat. The very forces of the state are not themselves untainted. There were military trials at Moscow not many weeks since for revolutionary agitation in the army, and it is even alleged that several members of the crew of the imperial yacht, including some non-commissioned officers, are at present in detention in the capital for being in possession of forbidden literature on board the Standart, (the Czar's yacht) herself.
"The government appear to have been attempting to practise a double policy toward the labor movement, which now for the first time is growing conscious of its strength. On the one hand, M. Witte seems to have attempted more than two years ago to solve the problem by discovering the real wants and wishes of the artisans and factory hands. As the result of a conference instituted on his suggestion, the men obtained the right to elect spokesmen who might confer with the manufacturers and government inspectors. But the new scheme has not been fairly applied, while a childish attempt has been made by the reactionaries to convince the workingmen that their best friends are the bureaucrats and their worst enemies the enlightened middle classes. In several cases the men have elected their representatives, only to see them subjected to summary arrest, while any combined action by the men employed in different factories is severely punished. On the other hand the secret police of St. Petersburg have been endeavoring to educate the workmen in loyalty to the existing institutions of the country by telling them that the French Revolution led merely to the triumph of the bourgeois, bought by the blood of the proletariate, and that the Government are eager to meet them half way. Naturally these devices have not produced much effect, but neither, so far, have the repressive measures of M. de Plehve. The problem remains unsolved and perhaps insoluble, and the fact may not [R3264 : page 404] be without its influence on the foreign policy of the empire, both in the Balkans and elsewhere. In the face of such enigmas foreign adventures have been undertaken before now as a diversion, but history shows that the remedy has often merely aggravated the disorder."
It is thought by some that the chief danger of war between Russia and Japan lies in the internal unrest of Russia, the supposition being that war might be esteemed an advantage if it would serve to unify the nation or give excuse for radical measures as war necessities, giving malcontents the appearance of open rebels.
Germany is so full of the factional spirit and so verging on to socialism that some are sighing for war to unite and cement them as was the case thirty years ago. The Deutsch Wacht says:
"No inglorious (faul) peace! And inglorious to the core has become that peace which, armored in steel and bristling with weapons, now lies upon our portion of the globe and beneath the weight of which we Germans have had to endure so much. The eternal repetition of peace twaddle has unmanned our ears; love of peace, emphasized on all occasions, has inspired in our enemies an impression that we are weak, and has already robbed some part of our nation of its confidence in our strength. The campaign in China was a flaming forth of the old warlike fire, but the blaze was soon extinguished. When we now make a movement to display our fist in faraway Asia, the feminizing breath of peace is felt with enervating effect in Europe in order to make the sword drop nimbly from the hand.
"The peace that we now enjoy has damaged us because we value it above everything else, and have forgotten that readiness for peace brings honor only to those of whom it is known that they can be strongly stern, and are in a position to strike and make the splinters fly.
"The peace of this post-Bismarckian period has made us inglorious at home as well. We Germans can not maintain our sense of strength without the impulse of pressure from above, without a sharp, powerful summons at the moment we are to stand united. Such a summons has been wanting. Under Bismarck we were constantly being roused. We knew that honor might require us any day to grasp the sword again and fight foes outnumbering ourselves. This knowledge united us, or at least suppressed the divisions among the German people. We have no such influence at work now. Ever since the adoption of the policy of obsequiousness, the Philistines have evidently nothing to fear from a foreign foe. We are, in fact, good friends with everybody, as fine speeches and flattering telegrams have testified a hundred times. And the same tone prevails as regards German unity. Mighty has been the upstart growth of Ultramontanism under the protection of inglorious peace. It has already divided Germany into two camps, between which there is such total alienation of sentiment as makes concord impossible. Daily widens the rift made by Social-Democracy between the classes among our population, aided by the circumstances of the inglorious peace. Daily the blind masses are more and more set on by agitation. To our people this peril, which has a foreign intellectual origin, grows more dire, and it could carry out its mission of destruction only beneath a rule of inglorious peace.
"He only fashions a sword who has never felt fear. But the German people, God save us, have been made fearful since 1888. Then may Heaven make us see the dread perils which glower down upon us from within and without. Thus may we free ourselves from the enervating, inglorious peace, and once more, in unity and strength, win the proud self-consciousness which inspires our saying 'Many enemies mean much honor!'"
Hon. Whitelaw Reid, for many years editor of the New York Tribune, speaking to the graduates of Vassar College and their friends, said in part:
Of specific excesses toward which our Democratic institutions seem to be tending, perhaps we do not need now to speak in any great detail. It may be enough to recognize that the American who colonized the Atlantic Coast and the great Middle West, who framed the Constitution, started the Government, developed the country under it, and fought a gigantic civil war to preserve it, is not the American who leads the popular movements of today. The type is changing; the beliefs are changing, and the aims.
He is neither Puritan any longer, nor Cavalier. He may outwardly deny the decay of faith, but he inwardly feels it. Nothing is more noticeable at the great centers of population and of national activity, or in any large section of what calls itself, and is often called, our best society, than this disappearance of the old foundation of character and action; this loss of profound, enduring, restful faith in anything. It is a laissez-aller age; an age of loosening anchors and drifting with the tide; of taking things as they are, with cordial readiness to take them hereafter as they come; of an easy indifference, whose universal attitude toward each startling departure from old standards is "What does it matter, anyway?" – an age, in short, marked by a refined, "up-to-date" adaptation of the old Epicurean idea that there is nothing in this world to do but to eat, drink and make merry, for tomorrow we die.
The loss of faith brings us by this short cut straight to the loss of purpose in life – of any purpose at least beyond purely material ones. To those who need money, the duty of getting it first, and above anything else, becomes the gospel [R3264 : page 405] of life. To those who feel the need of position, whether in society, business or elsewhere, their gospel drives them to all means within the law to obtain that. To those who have both money and position comes the only remaining purpose in life, that of using them for an existence of amusement and enjoyment. Is it too much to say that never before in our history have such aspirations so completely dominated and limited such large classes?
But this craze for mere amusement and enjoyment, like other perverted appetites, grows by what it feeds on. The amusement soon becomes wearisome, the enjoyment soon palls, unless constantly more and more spectacular and bizarre. Perpetual change and constantly increasing variety of extremes seem to be the ever-rising price of keeping amused. One never is for long where one wants to be, or doing what one desires; there must be incessantly a rushing to and fro, and a change of pursuits, all under the glare of electric lights and the blare of brass bands. If in the country, one must hasten to the city, where something is going on; if in the city, one must fly to the country, where the crowd is not so mixed and where pleasanter house parties can be gathered; if in one's own land, one longs for the boulevards or the Alps; if abroad, one is eager to try the new steamer back; if at the seashore, one wants suddenly to know what the mountains are like, and can only find amusement in going to see when clothed in leather jackets, protected by masks and goggles, and powdered with dirt, rushing through the dusty air on the highways at forty or fifty miles an hour in a Red Devil, and leaving the luckless rustics in the way to go to a fiend of any color they like.
Even then this vehement vacuity is not amusing unless it is talked about. One must be forever before the footlights and if possible, in the center of the stage. Privacy is deadly dullness. Not to have your name every other day in the newspapers is to be out of the world, to be bored to death. Not to see every intimate fact about yourself or your friends thrust naked and shameless under the public eye is to feel that you are dropping out of the swim.
The public seems to be slowly awakening to the realization that the far-sighted Jesuits have been working their representatives into the Associated Press, which supplies general news to many newspapers all over the world. The effect seems to be to give prominence and good tone to things Roman Catholic and to suppress as much as would be wise of contrary news. Young Catholics are trained to this service and quietly and unostentatiously pushed into controlling positions – unsuspecting Protestants often unwittingly assisting in the scheme.
We are viewing our text just now specially from the standpoint of the Priesthood, or new race, or new nation, different from the remainder of mankind in that God has invited them to become joint-heirs with his Son in the great Royal Priesthood which he designs shall ultimately bless all the families of the earth. The royal feature of the matter belongs to the future; we have no royalty yet. It is only in prospect; it will be attained after we have faithfully performed the service which belongs to this present time and have thus proven ourselves worthy, according to the divine terms, to be members of the glorified Priesthood through our Lord Jesus' merit, and under him as our Head. Meantime it behooves us to learn distinctly what is expected of us as respects our vocation in the present time; what obligations attach to us as those who have made the consecration and have been respectively accepted to this Royal Priesthood and anointed with the holy Spirit in anticipation of our attainment of the goal.
The Apostle Paul (Heb. 8:3) declares that "Every High Priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man [the man Christ Jesus] have somewhat also to offer." The thought is that the High Priest serves, – is as an offerer or sacrificer to God. True, the Apostle is speaking here of our Lord Jesus and not of us, but from his own words elsewhere we will know that it is expected of all the members of the body that they shall be joint sharers with their Lord and Master in the sufferings and sacrifices of this present time, that they may be counted worthy to share with him the glories of the future. And the same Apostle explains [R3265 : page 406] that he (Christ) is our Head, and that we are, as members of his body, "filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ," walking in his footsteps. The lesson, then, to each member of this Royal Priesthood, is that the special mission of their office, vocation, calling in the present time, is to sacrifice.
In the light of the Apostle's explanation we can see that our Lord Jesus as the Head Priest had something to offer to God, and that he did offer it in that he offered up himself a sacrifice. (Heb. 7:27.) We can see how his sacrifice could be acceptable to God, because in him was no sin – he was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. But how can we, who "by nature are children of wrath even as others," – how can we fulfil our mission as priests to present some offering to God when we have nothing which is our own that would be acceptable, because all we have and are is by nature tainted with sin and under divine condemnation? The Scriptures answer that "that which God hath cleansed," his people are no longer to consider common or unclean; they tell us that God has justified us freely from our imperfections through the merit of Christ's sacrifice; they tell us that we are acceptable to God "in the Beloved."
The Apostle carries this same thought further, and emphasizes it, saying, "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God [no longer aliens, strangers, foreigners, but redeemed and accepted of the Father], that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Rom. 12:1.) Here the entire matter is summed up. We are not to consider any longer that, after being justified by faith, the Lord esteems us unholy and unacceptable, but are to understand that the very object of our present justification by faith was to make us acceptable to the Father, to make us to be priests, to furnish us opportunities to do the work of a priest in this present time; namely, to sacrifice – to sacrifice ourselves – to present our bodies living sacrifices to God through Christ's merit. What a wonderful plan! what a wonderful privilege to be permitted to be priests! what a gracious arrangement! It gives us opportunity of completing the priestly service of sacrificing now, to the intent that by and by we may enjoy the privileges of the other part of the priest's work, connected with the glory and royalty of the Millennial Kingdom.
If then God ordained the High Priest to offer sacrifices, and that was the particular feature of his calling while on earth, so likewise it is the particular feature of the calling of all those who would walk in his steps – ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices to God. The Apostle Peter calls this same matter to our attention in a verse preceding our text (v. 5), where he declares the Church "A holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Ah, but, says one, the Apostles differ respecting what shall be our sacrifices. The Apostle Paul declares, "Present your body a living sacrifice," while the Apostle Peter here declares that we should offer up spiritual sacrifices, and our bodies are certainly not spiritual bodies. We reply that the word "spiritual" in this text is not found in the oldest Greek manuscript, known as the Sinaitic. Apparently some scribe of about the fourth or fifth century must have concluded that the Apostle had left his statement of the matter incomplete, and that there would be danger of some understanding him to mean that the Royal Priesthood should offer bullocks and goats; and to hinder such a construction of the Apostle's language, the no doubt well-meaning copyist added the word "spiritual."
But in the light of Present Truth we can see that he erred in attempting to assist the inspiration which guided the Apostle to a proper statement of the matter. We can see most clearly that our Lord Jesus did not offer a spiritual sacrifice, but a human sacrifice for sin – that for this reason it was necessary that he should leave the spiritual condition in which he previously existed and should take upon him human conditions, – become a man, – that he by the grace of God might taste death for every man. Adam was not a spirit being when he sinned, hence God's sentence was not against a spirit being, but, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Hence it was necessary that the Lord Jesus should become the man Christ Jesus; that as by a man came death, so also by man should come the resurrection of the dead. And as our Lord's sacrifice was not a spiritual sacrifice but a human one, so it is also with our sacrifice: we are not to sacrifice our spiritual natures nor our spiritual interests nor anything else that is spiritual; but we are to sacrifice our justified human natures, our justified flesh, as the Apostle urges, "Present your bodies living sacrifices, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."
The question should now properly arise in the minds of all who realize themselves as consecrated to the Lord, as members of the Royal Priesthood, to what extent am I fulfilling my present priestly office, and performing daily as I may have opportunity my appointed work of sacrifice – laying down my life for the brethren? Too many, alas! under the false teachings of Babylon, both in word and in custom, [R3266 : page 406] have come to consider that money getting and honor getting and ease getting and general self-preservation constitute the reasonable service of the Lord's people. Sacrificers are looked upon as deluded fanatics – especially in proportion as the sacrificing is done for the Truth's sake in the interest of spiritual things. We are not, however, to be taught of the world, nor by a cold worldly-wise churchianity; but we are to hearken to the voice of the good Shepherd, to hear his Word, to learn of him if we would be prepared by him in the school of Christ for the glorious things promised us as his joint-heirs in the future. "If we suffer with him we shall also reign with him," is the message.
We can see how the Apostle, even though finding it at times necessary to engage in the business of tentmaking, might be considered as a priest whose time, energy, talents were all sacrificed to the Lord and given freely in serving his people – in doing good unto all men as he had opportunity, especially [R3266 : page 407] unto the household of faith: but how can others who have not the opportunity, not the talents, not the open door for such special service as his – how can those who must provide for their own household according to the Lord's Word, be sacrificing priests, when as a matter of necessity nearly all of their time must be given to tent making, shoe making, housework, or whatever other employment providence seems to have opened before them as their avocations? When it is necessary to spend nearly all of eight to twelve hours per day continuously in the service of our avocations, how can we consider or serve the interests of our vocation, the priesthood?
The Lord has very graciously made arrangements adapted to this very condition. He assures us in his Word that it is not the amount we shall accomplish in his cause, but the spirit, the desire and the effort which we manifest that in his esteem would indicate the degree of our self-sacrifice. He graciously declares that if our hearts be given to him, whatsoever we do may be done as unto the Lord, and if done as unto him will be accepted by him. From this standpoint we can see that the work which the Apostle Paul did upon the tents passed to his credit as a part of his priestly sacrifice, just as much as the other part of his time which he spent in more congenial methods of proclaiming the gospel. Similarly, we can see that the shoemaker working at his bench, or the tinner at his labor, or the butcher in his shop, or the housekeeper, if at heart fully consecrated to the Lord, would be seeking to do their work as unto the Lord, and that if careful to use his opportunities for proclaiming the Truth, for serving the brethren, for doing good unto all men as opportunity afforded, the improvement of the few opportunities coming to them and their willingness to sacrifice personal tastes and convenience for the service of the Truth and for the brethren, would be counted by the Lord as a full sacrifice, because such a disposition in respect to little things would imply an equal faithfulness in the presence of larger opportunities. Luke 16:10.
This does not mean that the Lord's people are to be content with the usual routine of daily life in the home or in the shop, and are to say to themselves, "God accepts my labor as thoroughly as though it were given directly to him in some other more desirable form," but it does mean that each person so situated should day by day carefully scan his earthly duties and obligations to see in what manner he could justly and properly cut off moments, hours or days from the service of earthly things and earthly interests, that now might be given to sacrifice for spiritual things and spiritual interests of himself or others. The consecrated heart, the sacrificing priest, is the one who will improve the moments as they swiftly fly, using them as far as possible in the Father's business. For instance, a workman may not take his employer's time to talk religion to his mate, for that would be unjust and contrary to the divine arrangement; but in the noon hour he may improve opportunities, and instead of engaging in worldly or foolish conversation or rude jest, he will seek to use opportunities to tell the good tidings to others; or if he have no such opportunities, finding no hearing ears, he will use the time in spiritually uplifting himself by study of the teachings and principles of the divine Word. In the evening he may not neglect duties of a social nature toward his wife and children, but will remember that under the divine arrangement he has some obligation toward them in respect to their mental and spiritual development as well as for their temporal necessities, and he will seek to use a part of his time in their service, perhaps sacrificing an inclination to read some story or light literature, or to indolently while away the time doing nothing. In addition to thinking of his obligations toward his family, he will think beyond them of his own spiritual needs and of the Lord's family and their necessities, and will endeavor to judge of the mind of the Lord in respect to how each moment shall be used. He consecrated every hour, every moment, when he presented himself a living sacrifice to the Lord; and the opportunities of laying down moments and hours in the interests of his New Creature and in the interests of spiritual brethren, etc., are coming and going daily, and the Lord is looking to see to what extent he was a sincere covenanter, sacrificer. These sacrifices on behalf of neighbors, friends, wife, children, husband, parents, are accepted of the Lord if done as a result of consecration to him, and as a result of the believing that these are the opportunities which his providence has opened for exhibitions of the self-sacrificing spirit.
The same opportunities, though in a different form, come to the youth who is under age and subject to his parents, and to the wife surrounded by family cares and duties. If the consecration be to the Lord, then every sacrifice of our just rights and interests on behalf of ourselves as New Creatures, on behalf of husbands or children, father or mother, neighbors or friends, brethren in Christ, is counted of the Lord as so much done to him; whereas if the very same services were rendered from any other standpoint – by any one unjustified, and not consecrated to the Lord, or merely done to the individuals and not as a sacrifice unto the Lord – these things would not count to us as priests, as our sacrifices; but when viewed from the standpoint of consecration to the Lord, and faithfully performed as being our best judgment of what would be the Lord's will concerning our use of our time, interests, talents, etc., they are sacrifices wholly acceptable to God, our reasonable service.
We are to remember that abstaining from immoralities, from sins, is not sacrificing. Nothing can be acceptably sacrificed to the Lord that is not of itself right, just, proper. It may be imperfect, as all that we have and do are necessarily blemished by reason of our share with the race in its fall; but unintentional blemishes of proper things are all covered by the merits of our Redeemer's sacrifice, as we have just seen. Another form of sacrifice frequently not discerned by the Royal Priesthood is the opportunity of renouncing our own ways or plans, our own methods or preferences, and in the interests of peace [R3266 : page 408] accepting instead the plans, the preferences of others – where it is merely a matter of personal preference, and where we believe the Lord will be as willing to have the matter one way as another. We can in the interests of peace sacrifice our preferences to the wishes of others if we see some good can be gained by such a course; as, for instance, the preservation of the peace of the home or the opportunity of winning our opponent to the Truth, or any good cause. Such sacrifices are pleasing to the Lord, who instructs us through the Apostle that, so far as in us lies, we should live peaceably with all men; and that we should rather suffer wrong and take injury from a brother in Christ than take the matter before the world of unbelievers and thus risk a general odium upon the Lord's cause. – Rom. 12:18; 1 Cor. 6:7.
We have known cases, however, where dear brethren in the interests of peace and harmony yielded their rights – and properly enough where no principle was involved – but who, nevertheless, held a kind of grudge against those to whom they had yielded, feeling that somehow or other they had been defrauded of their rights. This is wrong, and indicates that the sacrifice was not fully made. If the matter in dispute had been fully sacrificed, as unto the Lord, there would surely have been no room for feeling that it had been taken from them. Under such circumstances the Lord's dear followers would do well to make haste to cast out of their minds anything akin to resentment and the feeling that they had been deprived of their just rights, and, instead, to take into their hearts that they had fully, freely, absolutely given up the matter in the interests of peace and it was dead, buried forever, with no resentment toward any one, but, on the contrary, with the feeling of joy and rejoicing that this matter had been sacrificed to the Lord, to the interests of the home or the Church or what not, because they believed that it would be pleasing, acceptable to him, and, therefore, their reasonable service.
We are to remember that we have each but one sacrifice; that it is to be rendered to the Lord day by day in the improvement of every opportunity, as it comes to us, to serve him and his. We are to remember that while it consists of many little sacrifices, some of them too small to mention or even to consider, nevertheless it will require all of these to complete the one sacrifice which we made at the beginning of our induction into his family. When we gave our wills, our hearts, we gave our all; and any holding back in any of the little affairs of life – any refusal to sacrifice that which we think would please the Lord – is a keeping back of that much of what we have devoted to him.
The Lord is very patient toward us, and gives us repeated opportunities to accomplish the work of sacrifice; but it must be accomplished, our wills [R3267 : page 408] must be slain, must be submitted to the Lord's will, else we shall never attain to joint-heirship with him in the Kingdom – never become members of the overcoming Royal Priesthood. He graciously gives us line upon line, lesson upon lesson, respecting this subject; shows it to us in his Word from different standpoints, impressing upon us the necessity of being dead to self and alive toward God through Jesus Christ our Lord – the necessity of developing the various graces of the Spirit which are implied in this sacrificing work. Every one who will be a sacrificer must of necessity be meek, humble, teachable, else very shortly he will get out of the way. He must also learn to develop the grace of the Lord along the line of patience, because it certainly requires patience to deny ourselves and to submit at times to injustice where there is no proper means of avoiding it without doing injury to the Lord's cause or to some of his people. It also implies a cultivation of brotherly kindness and, in a word, the development of the whole will of God in our hearts and lives; namely, love, which must be attained in a large and overcoming measure ere we shall have completed our earthly work of sacrificing.
In our studies of the "Tabernacle Shadows of Better Sacrifices," we saw that every one who took part in the priesthood was required to wash his hands and feet at the laver. We saw that the laver represented the Word, or message of God, and that the water, therefore, represented the Truth; and thus it is the Truth which is to cleanse the Royal Priesthood from the defilements of the flesh. As a whole we are clean, being covered with the robe of Christ's righteousness; but in our contact with the world we are to seek to put away the defilements of earth which come to us in connection with our daily walk and service, represented by our feet and our hands. And the Apostle, in the verse preceding our text, is not forgetful to mention this cleansing which all must have in order to be acceptable as members of the Royal Priesthood. In the verses 1 to 3, inclusive, he mentions that those who would be Royal Priests must lay aside "all malice and all guile and hypocrisies, and envies and all evil speakings." As the sacrificing requires all of the present life, so the washing requires all the present life; and only those who both wash and sacrifice will be accepted into the glorious Royal Priesthood of the future.
It will be noticed that the Apostle does not represent that these priests will wash themselves from murders and gross sins, for those who have been begotten of the holy Spirit are necessarily far removed from any sympathy with any of the grosser forms of sin. What he does show is the more refined forms of evil which still infest the flesh, even of those who have the new mind, and which require to be mortified, rooted out, cleansed away. How "close girdling" are these sins that are mentioned – how many of the prospective members of the Royal Priesthood find that they have defilements along this line, malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, evil speaking! It is safe to say that every one has some, if not all of these weaknesses in the flesh to contend with – especially at the beginning of his entrance upon the priestly vocation. How carefully all should seek to put all these away! how each should scrutinize, not only every act of life and every word and every thought, but, additionally, every motive underlying his words, thoughts and actions, so that they may be more and [R3267 : page 409] more purified from the earth defilements and be more and more acceptable to the Lord!
With our very best endeavors we may never get entirely free from all of these "close girdling" sins while still in the flesh; but one thing is sure – the heart must be free from them, else we can never be accepted as members of the glorious priesthood. The heart must be so completely filled with the love of God that it will feel a repugnance to all of these evils, which are repulsive to the divine mind; and happy for us it is that God has promised to accept such a condition of our hearts, and that knowing the imperfections of the flesh with which we contend, he is not requiring that we shall attain to absolute flesh perfection, but that we shall be pure in heart in order to see him and to share in the glory which he has promised to his people.
What we have seen respecting the perfect love which must dominate our hearts in order to enable us to complete our sacrifice in the Lord, is not so different from the Lord's requirements respecting all his creatures. There could be no angel of heaven acceptable to the Father without this spirit of love, of devotion, which, if the conditions in heaven were similar to the conditions now in the earth, would prompt and inspire all of the Lord's faithful angels to do good to the needy ones even at the cost of self-sacrifice and inconvenience. We can see that the same law of love must ultimately be required of the world of mankind who shall be developed under the training of the Millennial age, the world's school time. They also must ultimately reach that degree of love which, if the conditions were similar to those which now prevail, would lead them to sacrifice in the interest of the needy. Nothing less than this could be considered as a recovery on man's part of that which was lost – the image and likeness of God.
The peculiarity, then, of this present time and of the Church's position in it, is the fact that we are begotten to the new mind, the new will, the new spirit and law of love, while still sin and death prevail around us. Hence to us living under present conditions, in contact with the weaknesses and imperfections and trials of others, it becomes, necessarily, an evidence of the new mind that, seeing these conditions, we should be permitted to make sacrifices on behalf of the brethren and on behalf of all men as we have opportunity. These indeed are severe testings and trials, which will come to the world of mankind during the Millennial Age, when all conditions will be favorable to the development of the new mind of love. They are more severe testings also than are brought to bear upon the holy angels, who, although possessing this love, have not the weaknesses and imperfections of the flesh, the fallen nature, to contend with in its exercise, and who, therefore, can gain no such victory as the Church of Christ is called upon to fight for and by the grace of her Lord to win.
It is on this account that the Lord has attached to this "little flock," now being selected under these self-sacrificing conditions, so great a reward; as it is written, – "Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (1 Cor. 2:9.) Even though God hath revealed these things to us by his Spirit, which searcheth all things, even the deep things of God, nevertheless it is not possible for us to comprehend, know fully. As the Apostle says, we now see these glorious things of the future through a smoked glass, obscurely; but by and by we shall see face to face and know as we are known, and appreciate fully the wonderful things which God has declared to us through his Son and his faithful apostles. Then the royal feature of this priestly office will be added, and they shall be indeed priests, royal, sons of the Highest, and shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.
This royalty, while it will have great dignity, majesty and power, is not attracting us by any illustrations we have in earthly royalty, with its pride and often selfishness and pomp and show. It is attracting us, however, by the glorious things which God hath spoken respecting the work of these Royal Priests – the work of ruling, blessing and uplifting the world of mankind. This glorious hope inspires, encourages and revives the fainting priests who are now sacrificing, and the Lord has so intended. In view of these things let us remember our calling, brethren, and not mistake the avocations of life for the great vocation which God hath set before us in the Gospel. Let us see to it that every day shall witness our faithfulness to our priestly ordination of cleansing, priestly sacrificing, and thus preparing ourselves under the direction of the great High-priest for the glorious work that the heavenly Father has arranged for us in his wonderful plan.
GOLDEN TEXT: – "A foolish son is a grief to his father." – Prov. 17:25.
Although King David's army was much the smaller of the two, they probably had the advantage in that many of the King's guard were men of special ability and large experience as warriors, according to the methods of their time. The King was persuaded not to go with the army, whereupon he divided it into three parts under three of his ablest adherents. These met Absalom's army, and attacking it from different quarters, the battle resulted in the slaughter of 20,000 of Absalom's forces and the routing of the remainder, including Absalom himself, who, being caught by the "head" in the low branches of a tree, was unhorsed and left helpless, and was slain by Joab, the chief of King David's generals.
Here our present lesson opens. Near the watch tower of the wall of Mahanaim King David awaits news of the battle, while the watchman in the tower reports that he sees a messenger running, and, later, another. The first he recognizes as the son of his friend the priest, and according to the custom of the times he interpreted this to mean that the tidings were good, because a good man had been sent with them. This custom should still be in force amongst the Lord's people – that a good man would always seek to bear a good message. The words of the mouth and the meditations of the heart of all who are loyal to the Lord should be good – only good, ever good. Thus it is that God chooses not the worldly wise neither the worldly great, but those who are loyal at heart to him as his mouthpieces; and it should more and more be recognized that the bad tidings of great misery are not of the Lord, that those who bear them are not bearing the Lord's message, and that if they had the right attitude of heart toward the Lord, and the right spirit of love, they would not have the disposition to bear an evil message which maligns the divine character in a manner that even the depraved would resent if it were charged against them.
When the first runner arrived he announced in a general way the success of the King's army. Then the King – in harmony with his parting words to the soldiers, that they should spare Absalom in any event – inquired first of all, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" As we are shocked with the unfilial conduct of Absalom toward his father, we are deeply impressed with the father love of David for his erring son, who sought not only his throne but his life. What was the difference between the two characters? which was the more noble, the more honorable, the more admirable? There could be but one answer from any quarter on this subject; even David's enemies could not read this record without an appreciation of his grandeur of soul. He was more anxious for Absalom than for his throne apparently – yea, and for his own life. The difference between the two characters can be accounted for in only one way, namely – that David was a man after God's own heart, one who had passed through trying experiences and learned profitable lessons, one in whom the spirit of love had been considerably developed. Absalom, on the contrary, is an illustration of selfishness and ambition which stooped to anything to accomplish its ends. David, although not a member of the house of sons of which Christ is the head, was one of the noble members of the house of servants of which Moses was the head. – Heb. 3:5,6.
Some have esteemed that the answer of Ahimaaz was an untruth, intended to soften the facts so as not to wound the feelings of the King; but we cannot agree to this. We hold that, according to the record, the young man told the truth, and we believe that it would be much better for everybody if all mankind similarly confined themselves in their replies to important questions to the strict meaning of the word "know." The reply was that he had seen a commotion, knew that the battle was ended, knew that the victory was on the King's side, but knew nothing more. True, he had heard Joab say something about the King's son, but that was hearsay and not knowledge, and the young man answered the King properly when he said that he did not know the answer to the query about Absalom. The Lord's people above all others should be particular to discriminate between knowledge and belief and hearsay, etc.
The second runner, Cushi, or literally a Cushite – that is, a negro – was probably one of the king's household servants who engaged in the battle. He quickly told the whole story, and it was upon hearing thus of Absalom's death that the King was moved to violent grief, and gave utterance to words which stand as amongst the most pathetic on the pages of history. "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!"
The pity is that the King's love for his son did not take a more practical course at the proper time. He was an indulgent rather than a wise father. Evidently the flash and glitter of the young man's natural talents not only charmed the people but charmed his father, so that he practically had whatever he wanted of everything, the King failing to apply to his son the valuable lessons which he himself would learn, to the effect that the reverence of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and that true happiness and true prosperity are only to be found in this path, which wisdom indicates. His unwise love for his son led him to feel that the young man must sow his wild oats and should not be much restrained, and now when he witnessed the reaping of those wild oats his heart was convulsed with sorrow. And so it has been with many a father and many a mother who, although truly the Lord's fail to apply to their children the lessons which the Lord has taught them by distressing experiences. It is unnecessary to comment upon the unwisdom of such love and to [R3268 : page 411] point the moral to Christian parents. It points itself, and Solomon the wise son expresses it tenderly when he said, in the words of our Golden Text, that "A foolish son is a grief to his father," and noted again that "He who spareth the rod hateth his son." From the practical standpoint, however the matter may appear to the superficial observer, the essence of wisdom is contained in his further observation, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Parents seem not to fully appreciate the fact that in the training of their children, either in the right way or in the wrong way, they are laying out for themselves either joys or sorrows for the future.
King David's inquiry respecting his son, "Is the young man safe?" should be the inquiry of every father and every mother respecting their sons and their daughters; but let them not do as David did – wait until sin has sprouted and blossomed and brought forth evil fruitage. Let them begin by realizing their duty toward their posterity in their earliest infancy. The duty of Christian parents toward their children is next to their duty to the Lord, – indeed the Lord has indicated that parental duty ranks first among all the earthly obligations of the saints.
Professor George Adam Smith gives the following interesting description of the difference between the shepherds of sheep in olden times in Palestine and the care of sheep as is known to us of the present day. This is an important point to be remembered, as it was the eastern shepherd who illustrated our heavenly Shepherd's care for his little flock. Prof. Smith says: – [R3269 : page 411]
"An Eastern pasture is very different from the narrow meadows and dyked hillsides with which we are familiar at home. It is vast and often practically boundless; it has to be extensive, for the greater part of it is barren – in fact the Hebrew word for desert and for pasture is the same. The most of it consists of dry, stony soil, out of which, for the great part of the year the sun has sucked all life. In this monotony the breaks are few, and consist of paths more or less fitful, gorges or thickets where wild beasts lurk, and oases of pleasant grass and water. Now in such a landscape of mirage, illusive paths, lurking terrors, and infrequent herbage, it is evident that the person and character of the shepherd must mean a great deal more to the sheep than it means to sheep with us. With us a flock of sheep without a shepherd is a common experience: every day we may see them left to themselves in a secure field or scattered over a side hill, with a far-traveling wire fence to keep them from straying. But I do not remember ever to have seen in the East a flock of sheep without a shepherd."
Doubtless as the Prophet David penned this Psalm, his mind went back to his father's flock and to his own experience as its shepherd, concerning which we incidentally have the mention that while protecting it he slew a lion and a bear. Under heavenly inspiration the prophet pictures the Almighty One as the great caretaker watching over and protecting from harm all whom he recognizes as his "sheep." Nothing can be farther from the sentiment of this prophecy and illustration than the growing prevalent sentiment which recognizes Jehovah God as the shepherd and father of all mankind, and which is frequently voiced in the words, "Fatherhood of God, and brotherhood of man." This view ignores man's will and also ignores the Lord's Word, which declares that there are goats and wolves as well as sheep; that while some have become children of God, it is through faith and "adoption," and that many from the divine standpoint, so far from being recognized as children of God, are referred to as "of your father, the devil, for his works you do." (John 8:44.) Originally our race, represented by father Adam in sinless perfection, was recognized as related to Jehovah, but the breaking of this relationship by man's wilful disobedience and departure from God is clearly recognized in the Scripture, so that none are recognized as sons of God today unless they have been begotten again, begotten from above. Nor is it our hope that any in the future will be recognized as sons of God or as sheep of the Lord's fold except as they shall heartily renounce sin, and, being granted knowledge of divine grace, shall heartily accept the same and "follow on to know the Lord."
Applying the psalm to the little flock, all of its provisions fit most minutely. Because the Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not want. Those who are proper sheep will submit their wills to the shepherd's will and trust wholly to his guidance, and so doing are relieved of that anxious craving so common to the children of the world and which is never satisfied, but the more it gets the more it wants. The Lord's sheep appreciate the heavenly things more than the earthly, and their wants in this respect are more than supplied when they accept by faith the divine assurance that
Although the experiences of the Lord's sheep include many trials in the parched wilderness of sin, yet he graciously gives them restful experiences in oases of divine favor. These are not always accompanied with immunities from trial, as the world would view the matter, but certainly are seasons of rest and refreshment – to such an extent that the Lord's sheep may truthfully say that they have "the peace of God which passeth all understanding" ruling in their hearts, notwithstanding outward trials, difficulties, perplexities and adversities. Which of the Lord's sheep has not found such green pasturage of spiritual refreshment in his private devotions and studies of divine things? which of them has not experienced similar refreshment and rest and nourishment from the Master's provision that his sheep shall not forsake the assembling of themselves together as the manner of some is – for the study of the Word, for prayer, for testimonies of the Lord's goodness and mercy? All these opportunities and privileges, whether personally experienced or whether they are yet only in the mind through the medium of the printed page, are provisions made for the sheep by the great Shepherd. Those sheep which find no enjoyment in such privileges and blessings and refreshments have reason to question their faithfulness in following the lead of the Shepherd. And those sheep which, finding such opportunities, decline to use them, thus give evidence of lack of harmony with the Shepherd's gracious intentions and wisdom.
The "still waters" are contrasted with the rushing torrent of the mountain slope – still, not in the sense of stagnancy, but rather smooth flowing. At the latter only could the sheep receive proper refreshment. So applying the thought to the little flock, we find that the great Shepherd leads us away from the strifes of worldly ambition, from greatness and power and riches and honors highly esteemed amongst men, but does not lead us to stagnancy – rather to spiritual ambitions which bring with them a restfulness and refreshment of soul obtainable from no other source. The streams of truth and grace are living, but comparatively quiet, waters. As the Prophet intimates, these are not to be found by the sheep alone; to find them requires the leading of the Spirit. Let us give diligence to his voice, remembering his Word – that his sheep hear his voice and follow him. Let us discriminate, discern his voice, with its truthful accent, so different from the voice of error. Strangers true sheep will not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers. They do not like its money ring, or its worldly ambition ring, or its priestcraft tone, or its contradiction of the spirit of the divine message and method.
"He restoreth my soul." The prophet does not refer to a restoration of body or of physical health, but a restoration of soul, being. Some of the Lord's most precious saints have been weary and faint and troubled – even the dear Redeemer fainted under his cross, and was neither kept whole or made whole miraculously on the occasion. The application of the Prophet's words to the Christian experience would make these experiences, called restoring of soul or being, to correspond with our justification to life. All our lives were forfeited under the divine sentence, and by faith a complete restitution or restoration of soul is granted to the believer, that he might have something to offer in sacrifice to the Lord, "holy, acceptable" (Rom. 12:1), and that in this sacrifice service he may walk in the footsteps of the great Shepherd who lay down his life for the sheep. Thus are the true sheep led in right paths, in proper paths, advantageous to their spiritual development, though frequently trying and difficult to them according to the flesh. This favor and blessing and opportunity comes to them not for their own sakes or worthiness but through the Lord's grace – "for his name's sake."
The whole world is walking in the valley of the shadow of death. Mountain tops of life, of affection, were left by the race six thousand years ago, when Father Adam fell from his harmony with God to the plane of sin and death. The valley of sin carries with it the shadow of death, the penalty of sin. In the broad road the whole human family still walks; and even though the Shepherd leads his flock upward, and in the reverse direction from the course of the world, nevertheless, according to the flesh, they are still in the world, in this valley of the shadow of death. However, the true sheep, hearing the voice of the good Shepherd who gave his life for the sheep, have learned to be neither careless and [R3269 : page 413] indifferent as are some, nor to be in fear and doubt and perplexity as are the majority. These on the contrary fear no evil. They realize indeed that the penalty of sin is upon the race, but they realize also that divine love has provided a redemption. They realize that the whole world is going down to sheol, to hades, but that God has made provision that the good Shepherd shall deliver his little flock from the power of the grave in the First Resurrection, and that subsequently all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man and shall come forth to a full, fair, reasonable, proper judgment – the testing respecting their willingness to be his sheep and to follow him and to attain everlasting life through him. The sheep of the little flock fear no evil because of the Lord's favor, because he is with them, on their side, and has shown his favor in the redemption price already paid. He is with them, too, in his word of promise – his assurance that death shall not mean extinction of life, but merely, until the resurrection, an undisturbed sleep in Jesus. What wonder that these can walk through the valley of the shadow of death singing and making melody in their hearts to the Lord, calling upon their souls with all that is within them to praise and laud and magnify his great and holy name, who loved us and bought us with his precious blood, and has called us to joint-heirship with our dear Redeemer.
"His rod and his staff, they comfort me." As the Shepherd's crook was used to assist the sheep out of difficulties, to defend it from its too powerful enemies and to chasten it when inattentive, [R3270 : page 413] and as all of these uses of the rod were for the sheep's interest and welfare, so with the Lord's little flock and their Shepherd and his rod of help, defense and chastisement. The true sheep learn to love the providences of the Shepherd and are comforted by them. Knowing the Shepherd's power and his watchful care, they realize that all things are working together for good to them because they are his sheep. Why should they not be comforted, strengthened, encouraged?
The Psalm diverges here and leaves the figure of the sheep and the Shepherd, adopting instead the illustration of a mighty lord who spreads a sumptuous feast for his humbler friend. In olden times an active hospitality meant much, and for a nobleman to receive one as his guest meant responsibility for his safety; and so the thought is that we, as the Lord's people, are accepted of him, counted as friends, are made to sit down to a bountiful feast, secure from the enmity of those who would injure us – secure from the great Adversary and all the wicked spirits in high places mentioned by the Apostle (Eph. 6:12) – secure so long as we are under the care of our great friend, our heavenly Father. The bounties of our table may indeed include some earthly good things, better or worse than those of the natural average man; but all of these, whatever they may be, accepted with joy and thanksgiving, are appreciated by those who recognize them as part and parcel of the bounties of the Friend above all others.
All religious people make more or less claim to spiritual food, and the various parts and factions of Christendom especially boast that they have much advantage every way, and that their tables are spread with divine truth, promises, etc., food from which they claim to receive their strength. But what a variety of these tables there are and how different are the viands, doctrinally. The food on most of them seems to have been spoiled in the preparation. Some of it is sad, some of it is sour, and much of it is musty. For the most part it originated in "the dark ages," and the dear friends who sit down to these tables find that they have little appetite for such food, and we do not blame them. Rather, we would attract their attention to the generous, bountiful supply of divine Truth which the Lord himself is dispensing to the household of faith, "things new and old," but all of them pure, sweet, delicious, grand. This table is open to all those who love the Lord with all their heart, mind, soul and strength – better than they love houses or lands, parents or children, husband or wife, lodge or society or sectarian system or self.
Is it strange that those so highly favored of the Lord and recognized as his guests and fed at his table should be hated by enemies? It would seem strange to us if it were not for the assurance of the Master himself, that whosoever will live godly will suffer persecution in this present time, and for the illustration of this in the Master's own experience, that it was the professedly godly, influential, great and nominally religious that persecuted him to death. We are not surprised, then, to find that our table is spread in the midst of enemies that now surround us on every hand.
The anointing of the head of the guest with oil was a part of the hospitality of olden times. The antitype of this with us is the outpouring of the holy Spirit upon all this class – this little flock, the body of Christ, of which he is the Head, Chief, the Shepherd, the Leader.
The fulness of the cup, running over, has a double signification. It is a cup of joy and a cup of sorrow, and in both respects it overflows. He who would partake of the joys of the Lord must also partake of his cup of suffering; we must suffer with him if we would reign with him. But we count the sufferings of this present time as not worthy to be compared with the glories that shall be revealed in us, and hence we are enabled to rejoice in tribulation, so that as the tribulations will overflow the rejoicing likewise overflows, and with the Apostle we can say, Rejoice, and again I say rejoice!
The goodness and mercy which we anticipate beyond the veil has its beginning here already and is thus to be appreciated. Whoever knows nothing of the joys of the Lord in the present time will evidently not be prepared for the joys of the Lord in the Kingdom, whatever blessings and joys he may attain to under the administration of the Kingdom during the Millennial age. There is then joy and rejoicing granted to the Lord's faithful ones, not a momentary matter connected with their first acceptance of the Lord and their consecration of themselves [R3270 : page 414] to him. The goodness and mercy of the Lord is not to be looked back to as a thing of the remote past, but is to be recognized and appreciated as a thing of the present. Day by day God's goodness and mercy follow us, refresh us, strengthen us, bless us.
The highest hope to which we dare aspire is that of final union with our great Shepherd, our heavenly Father, and the good Shepherd his Son, in the heavenly state, in our Father's house on high, one mansion or plane of which is intended for the little flock, separate and distinct from the mansion or plane provided for the restitution class of the Millennial age. The end of all our highest ambitions will be attained, and far more than realized, when we shall be like our Lord, see him as he is, and share his glory in the Father's house.
The Department of Labor in Washington recently issued a bulletin showing the returns made by employers in various industries in the United States regarding the drinking habits of their employees. Of seven thousand employers who answered the question whether, in engaging employees, they discriminated against men who drank, forty-four hundred replied in the affirmative and only sixteen hundred in the negative. The returns divided according to industries were as follows: –
Discriminated Not
against discriminated
Mining ................ 56 per cent 44 per cent
Agriculture ........... 72 per cent 28 per cent
Manufacturing ......... 79 per cent 21 per cent
Trade ................. 88 per cent 12 per cent
Transportation ........ 97 per cent 3 per cent
About two thousand employers forbade any use of intoxicants by employees of certain grades, and fifteen hundred forbade it when employees were on duty. We quote: –
"It is worthy of note that the grades of work in which employers require that no liquor shall be used are always those entailing responsibility. For example, in agriculture it was the foremen, managers, etc., who were required to be abstainers; in manufacturing it was the engineer, fireman, etc.; in transportation, the trainmen, motormen, etc., conductors and the like. It will be perceived that the trades most highly organized show the most disposition to prohibit the use of liquor. Railroads, for example, stand at the top of the list, and agriculture very nearly at the foot, though the temperance sentiment among farmers is vastly stronger than among railroad managers."
The liquor question seems to be less a dispute respecting the wisdom of intoxication and its unprofitableness and more a question of personal liberty. A love of liberty is born in every man, no matter how depraved he may be otherwise, and yet it cannot be disputed that liberty can be used properly only under perfect conditions or under restraints. If all men were perfect, well balanced mentally, and without depraved appetite, and if the surroundings were all perfect, they would need no restraints of any kind, though they would still be subject to divine laws. Under present imperfect conditions all lovers of liberty should appreciate the necessity of self-control, restraint of liberty – especially those who, as New Creatures, have voluntarily placed themselves under divine instruction. Even those who feel the greatest possible confidence in their strength of will should remember that the will grows stronger by its exercise in opposition, and that where it is not thus actively engaged habit is apt to supplant it and become the master. Furthermore, seeing as we do the large proportion of the human family who admittedly are weak in will power and self-control, and realizing the force of example upon such, those who feel themselves strong, in proportion as they love their neighbor as themselves will feel disposed to forego the exercise of liberties which would have the effect of stumbling their weaker neighbors. A noted writer has said:
"My reader, beware of habit! Habit is the most significant word to be found in the English vocabulary. Get an artist to paint it in letters of fire and hang it on the walls of your chamber, where your eye shall catch its message when you retire and where it may greet you again with the rising sun. Gaze upon it until it is deeply cut into the sanctuary of your inner being, just where the lamp of life may cast its ruddy light over it. Habit is to be your curse or benediction; it is either to conquer you or enable you to conquer. Today it is transforming you into a sycophant or a prince of freedom. Today you are either girding your soul with fetters of sorrow or building a chariot that will conduct you to paradise. Good habits are as potent for emancipation as vile ones are for slavery and anguish. One may resolutely form habits of purity, honesty, fidelity, till he breathes the air of divinity as his native air; – as he eventually becomes expert and master in melody, by years of inexorable drill."
The power of habit is unquestionably a great one either for good or evil, but let us not forget that the human will, however strong or persistently exercised, can only reach its highest attainment and most favorable results when placed under discipleship to Christ – to be taught of God. [R3271 : page 415]
The Christian Endeavor World gives the following information regarding the use of liquors in various civilized countries. From this it appears that although the liquor habit has reached terrible proportions in this land and is blighting millions of lives annually, nevertheless the United States is fifteenth in the list. We thank God that it is no worse, and yet long for the time when our prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth," shall be answered in the establishment of the Millennial kingdom under which Satan shall be bound, and all necessary restrictions be put into operation, to the intent that the world of mankind may be uplifted everywhere and brought to a knowledge of the salvation made possible for all through the dear Redeemer's death. The quotation follows: –
"A table recently published showing the amount of all kinds of liquors consumed per capita in twenty-three nations, throws startling but not astonishing light on the much-talked-of commercial invasion of European markets by America.
"At the head of this list of nations, the heaviest in drinking in the world is the Argentine Republic. Close after it comes France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Great Britain, – the nations that are feeling most keenly the commercial aggressiveness of the United States. Fifteenth in the list comes the United States, the commercial rival whose success is making all Europe uneasy. In other words, the difference between successful competition and failure lies largely in the difference between the 6.4 gal. of pure alcohol in all kinds of liquors consumed per capita in France, the 2.63 in Germany, the 1.96 in Austria, the 3.47 in Belgium, the 2.52 in Great Britain, and the 1.26 in the United States."
"At a recent meeting in Birmingham, England, addressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the presiding officer, Mr. Edwin Smith, said: – 'If we spent on alcohol the same per capita as America, our drinking bill would be about £66,000,000 less than it now is. We cannot succeed commercially while we are handicapped in this way to the extent of forty-eight per cent.'"
The wise man does not say that a moderate use of alcoholic liquors brings woe, sorrow, contentions, complainings, wounds, redness of eyes, etc., and we are not to add to his words. We are to remember, however, that those who tarry long at the wine probably reach that condition through habit, that most of such begin with a fear of the consequences and the intention of becoming moderate drinkers only. Let us beware of the slavery of habit! Even the force and weight of the exceeding great and precious promises are not sufficient to hold our fallen appetites where they are being constantly fed and the chains of habit being forged; hence the wisdom of the exhortation to turn our eyes away from the smooth-flowing wine, to engage our attention and thoughts in some other direction, knowing that wine is a mocker, and that whatever it may promise of rewards and blessings at our first introduction, "at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." Its tendency is to pervert the judgment in general, so that the eyes will see strange things, as in delirium tremens, and the heart will utter through the mouth perverse things. Surely the new nature could not thrive under such conditions, which tend even to deprave further the old nature. Hence, every New Creature must beware of this seductive influence, and resist it faithfully, as he would make his calling and election sure.
Those who give way to the drinking habit become sottish, careless, as though a man were to lie down to sleep in the sea and not expect to be drowned, or as though he were to lie down upon the top of a mast and not expect to fall and be injured. To such ultimately the only desirable thing is oblivion, to be stupidly insensible to the reproof of friends and the blows of enemies. The waking idea seems to be to seek further intoxication.
A well known temperance worker, when asked to address a Sunday School, desired to bring out the fact that the drunkards of the future must come from the ranks of the boys of today. "Boys," said he, "these men that we see all around us on the street, in the stores, in this church, grow old and feeble and sooner or later will die. Who will take their places and be the men then?" After a moment's pause they answered, "We boys."
"Very true," answered the speaker. "Now, boys, you have all seen men who drank too much, – drunkards we call them. After a while they will die too. Now, boys, tell me who do you think will take their places and be the drunkards then?" Promptly came the answer, "We boys!" The thoughtless answer roused the whole school. Could there possibly be any truth in it? Alas, yes – not true of all these boys, but true of some of them.
With this thought in mind, what child of God could feel indifferent in respect to his example and instruction to all boys over whom he exercises any influence; how carefully his own boys should be guided, counselled, assisted in the formation of correct principles, correct habits.
A number of young men were one day sitting around the fire in the waiting room of an English railway, talking about a total abstinence society. Just then a policeman came in with a prisoner in handcuffs. He listened to the young men's conversation but did not give any opinion. Mr. McDonald, a minister of the gospel, was also in the room, and hearing what the young men were saying, stepped up to the policeman and said aloud, "Pray, sir, what have you to say about temperance?" The policeman replied, "Well, all I have to say is that I never took a teetotaler to York Castle prison in my life, nor to Wakefield House of Correction either."
When in London Brother Russell selected some very desirable motto cards; but the astonishing increase in every department of the office work has hindered us from attending to these. Even now we cannot fill orders for particular mottoes nor attempt a description of their styles, prices, texts, etc. They are of every variety and price and size; – all beautiful, all faith-inspiring, all helpful. Even after paying 35 per cent. duty these are cheap. We can supply them at one-half the usual prices or less.
For convenience we put them up in assorted $1 and $2 packets, – postage included. Some of the old desirable styles we have duplicated, as they could not be better; and some are strictly new. We assort them in the packets; but for the sake of some who may have gotten several lots of the old and now want none but the new we have prepared packets of the new only. Such as desire the new should so stipulate when ordering; but the average person will be as well or better pleased to get the ordinary assortment.
page 417
November 1st
| VOL. XXIV. | NOVEMBER 15, 1903. | No. 22 |
'I will stand upon my watch, and set my foot upon the Tower, and will watch to see what He shall say unto me, and what answer I shall make to them that oppose me.' Hab. 2:1
Upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity: the sea and the waves (the restless, discontented) roaring: men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking forward to the things coming upon the earth (society): for the powers of the heavens (ecclestiasticism) shall be shaken. . . .When ye see these things come to pass, then know that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Look up, lift up your heads, rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh. – Luke 21:25-28, 32.
It stands free from all parties, sects and creeds of men, while it seeks more and more to bring its every utterance into fullest subjection to the will of God in Christ, as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. It is thus free to declare boldly whatsoever the Lord hath spoken; – according to the divine wisdom granted unto us, to understand. Its attitude is not dogmatical, but confident; for we know whereof we affirm, treading with implicit faith upon the sure promises of God. It is held as a trust, to be used only in his service; hence our decisions relative to what may and what may not appear in its columns must be according to our judgment of his good pleasure, the teaching of his Word, for the upbuilding of his people in grace and knowledge. And we not only invite but urge our readers to prove all its utterances by the infallible Word to which reference is constantly made, to facilitate such testing.
Those of the interested who, by reason of old age, or other infirmity or adversity, are unable to pay for the TOWER, will be supplied FREE, if they send a Postal Card each December, stating their case and requesting the paper. We are not only willing, but anxious, that all such be on our list continually.
In our last issue we mentioned the engagement of the Gazette to publish Pastor Russell's Sunday Sermons every Monday, and proposed a clubbing rate for the Gazette and the Watch Tower for a year at $3.25 (13s. 7d.) We now add, that those who have already subscribed for the WATCH TOWER need be at no disadvantage on this account: they may send us if they choose $2.25 (9s. 5d.) more, and we will see that they get the Gazette. If for any reason the publication of the discourses should be discontinued, the pro rata amount will be refunded.
Our British friends may send their subscriptions to the London office, in the usual way, from whence they will be transmitted to us.
The British Branch will also be able to supply the special edition containing the complete report of the recent debates at the same rate as supplied here, viz., 1d. per copy, or 1/2d. each for 50 copies and over.
Our own stock of the special issue of the Gazette containing all the debates is large enough to supply any quantity ordered. Friends are using these reports to good purpose amongst denominational people, whose prejudices sometimes hinders their acceptance of a tract. A perusal of the two sides presented leads to further inquiries concerning the Truth. We already have quite a number of reports along this line.
These are now in stock in large quantity. Every letter you send through the mail may be a more or less potent messenger of the truth, even on its outside by the use of these envelopes. They catch the attention not only of those to whom they are addressed, but postmen and others have an opportunity, and often the curiosity, to read their message of peace, – the gospel in a condensed form. Cheap, too, – 25c. per hundred, post paid.
In consequence of raise of prices for printing and binding just after we had reduced our price on cloth-bound DAWNS, we have been selling all volumes of the series at a loss for the past six months. The loss has been specially heavy on the thicker volumes, and we now feel compelled to increase the price on these to 40 cents, plus 10 cents postage. Subscribers' wholesale rate 20 cents plus 10 cents postage. These prices take effect Nov. 1, 1903.
Volume VI. will have over 700 pages and is hoped for in December. Those who have already paid for it at old prices need not send additionally.
Remember, that we have these in good supply at 50 cents each, delivery free. Each Binder will hold two years' issues, and they are very convenient for easy reference and preserving the papers from injury and soiling.
As illustrating the progress being made toward the condition described in the Bible as that of the immediate future, when "every man's hand shall be against his neighbor" (Zech. 14:13; Ezek. 32:21), we give below without comment copies of two circulars being widely distributed among manufacturers – urging them to organize for mutual protection against the "unreasonable" demands of organized labor. These purport to go forth from The Press of the National Association of Manufacturers. The two circulars follow: –
WHITHER ARE WE DRIFTING?At the late meeting of the American Federation of Labor, held in New Orleans, the following resolution came within four hundred votes of being adopted:
Whereas, Capital being the product of all the toilers of the human race, and as wages can never be regarded as the full equivalent for labor performed, and since it is the mission of the trades-unions to protect the wage earner against oppression, and to fully secure the toilers' disenthrallment from every species of injustice; therefore be it
Resolved, That this twenty-second annual convention of the American federation of Labor advise the working people to organize their economic and political power to secure for labor the full equivalent of its toil and the OVERTHROW OF THE WAGE SYSTEM, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERATIVE DEMOCRACY.
This resolution was introduced by delegate Max Hayes, one of the radical socialists from Cleveland, Ohio. In the final action on this resolution the socialistic element almost secured control of the convention. The struggle lasted a full day. The debate on the resolution was the most exciting of the meeting. John Mitchell's United Mine Workers' organization cast one thousand eight hundred and four votes solidly for this resolution. This is the organization which evoked so much maudlin sentiment and brought the whole country to its knees in the Anthracite strike. It is confidently prophesied that the socialists will be in full control of the Trades-Union movement in the United States by the time of the next A. F. of L. Convention.
Max Hayes' resolution means that there is to be an attack upon the productive wealth of the country. Productive wealth, as interpreted by the socialists, means capital, factories, plants, machinery, railroads, etc. The socialists mean to take possession of all the money and private properties. Not content with getting their share of the consumable wealth of the nation, clothing, food, etc., which is being distributed more generously and cheaply to the people than ever before in the history of the world, the followers of Hayes are determined [R3272 : page 419] to seize upon all the productive wealth. It has been estimated that if all the productive wealth of the country were to be divided up equally among the inhabitants of the United States that there would be but Two Hundred dollars for each person. Yet Hayes and his followers are determined to seize this two hundred dollars if they can get the backing. The basis of this movement is human greed and envy. Unless this movement is checked, it will lead to enormous industrial damage to the United States, for nothing but chaos and anarchy can come from a proposition to seize the private property of individuals. These are the people who are demanding that the political and commercial destinies of the United States be intrusted into their hands!
ANTI-INJUNCTION LAW OR REBELLION.The special committee which reported on President Gompers' annual report at the recent American Federation of Labor meeting at New Orleans, said in connection with the anti-conspiracy bill now pending in Congress:
"The use of injunction in labor disputes is becoming more and more general; its value to the employer and its danger to the workmen is becoming better and better understood. It is an effort to retain through judicial decisions and orders, the power over the working people, which has long been legislatively surrendered, and seems to have as its governing cause the concept that the ownership of a mine, a factory or a means of transportation, carries with its ownership so much of the working power of the laboring class as will make such factory, mine or means of transportation profitable to its owner. This concept has in it an idea of peonage (the word "Peon" is of Spanish-American origin, meaning a debtor held by his creditor in a form of qualified servitude, to work out a debt), which, if permitted to grow, will re-establish peonage in its most objectionable form. If through the use of the equity power vested in the Courts, our rights as workers to quit work at will, and to induce others to quit with us, can be taken away, then the peaceable evolution toward industrial democracy is cut off, and the workers will be compelled to look to more REVOLUTIONARY measures for redress of existing grievances, and the obtaining of better conditions in the future. If we are permitted to withdraw our labor in unison from any establishment where we have grievances to be redressed, then the development may go on the lines of the development in England toward political democracy, through parliamentary control over taxation and appropriation. If it is to be taken away, then we might as well now realize that PEACEABLE DEVELOPMENT will stop, and the POLITICAL HISTORY [R3272 : page 420] OF FRANCE WILL BE THE INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY. For these reasons your Committee recommends that NO EFFORTS BE SPARED TO INDUCE THE LEGISLATIVE POWER TO CURTAIL THE JUDICIARY BRANCH OF OUR GOVERNMENT BY THE ENACTMENT OF THE ANTI-INJUNCTION BILL."
The report of this Committee was enthusiastically concurred in, and so well pleased were the delegates with the President's attitude towards employers, that immediately thereafter, upon proper motion, Gompers' salary was increased $500 a year.
Thus it will be seen that Organized Labor never intends to stop, until it can secure class legislation by which the BOYCOTT and the PICKET are to be LEGALIZED, and every employer in this country be placed at the mercy of agitators, who hold for the employing class nothing but envy and hatred. This program of terrorization and despoliation can only be met with an organization which will embrace every manufacturer in the United States.
Six Washington City Churches formed a Base Ball League, and during the past season contested every day, except Sunday, from May 18 to July 25. Let us hope that this liberal attention to "bodily exercise" did not trench too heavily upon the hours usually set apart for prayer and the study of the divine Word. The following Churches composed the Association:
Calvary Baptist Church,
Fourth Presbyterian Church,
Gunton-Temple Presbyterian Church,
Sixth Presbyterian Church,
Temple Baptist Church,
Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church.
A passion for accuracy seems to beset a revivalist in Texas. His idea of the best way to get people to heaven is to frighten them about hell, and he gives them exact facts. For instance he tells them that the temperature of hell is four hundred and fifty-three degrees Fahrenheit. On what he bases his calculations we do not know. But this we do know, and we wish to state it for the comfort of his hearers: If they fell into such a heat they would not know whether it was hot or cold, and there would be absolutely no feeling of any kind, but instantaneous annihilation.
It is a comfort to think that today the man who talks about the temperature of hell seems simply a humorous creature and is taken no more seriously than an old nurse with ghost stories. As to the man who tries to preach the hideous theory that in frightful torments of heat human beings are kept alive and constantly tortured by a "merciful Creator," his statements are now considered blasphemous. No man would dare to make them, save to the most ignorant and degraded audience.
– Exchange.
BISHOP FOWLER ON MONEY AND SALVATION."Salvation is reduced to a question of dollars and cents." "Now, don't misunderstand me. The goblins'll get you if you do."These were the characteristic words of Bishop Charles H. Fowler in his address to the ministers and laymen of the Cincinnati Methodist Episcopal Church Conference Saturday morning. Bishop Fowler said further: "We have the doctrine, the Redeemer, the experience, the schools; we have the railroads, the steamships; we have masters of languages – all we need is money. We have everything else. A famous New York layman once said, 'If you will give me enough money, I will make a Christian city of New York in thirty years.' I say to you, 'Give me money and I will make a Christian city of Cincinnati in thirty years.' I would let the old sinners go anywhere they please, but I would save the young ones and the little ones. You can't make a Christian city of Cincinnati on one-half a cent per person. The world must be conquered, and money is needed with which to do it. I want you laymen of the Cincinnati conference to be diligent in business. Get the money. The more you have the easier it will be to get still more. A soul set on fire for the Infinite God can't get money enough. I want you to believe all I have said. Do as much as you can without utterly disrupting your moral natures."
– Daily News.
Discussing the cost of "soul saving" as between the expenses of large and small churches the Brooklyn Standard Union says:From 248 churches, evenly divided into large and small, it is shown that the cost of new converts is almost twice as much in the former as in the latter, ranging from $262.22 to $150.14, though the average annual expenditure of each member when safely in the fold is much more nearly equal – $14.09 against $13.05.
Of course the inevitable question, Does it pay? must be met by the churches, as well as by every other form of human organization and activity, and as with all other forms of the higher and better types, the attempt to answer it would be idle. One might as well ask, Does the family, the State, society at large, pay? There are fortunately some equations of life in which the factors are not convertible, and where to ask the question is to admit that its answer is impossible. A better form of the inquiry may be found in a book once read more than it is today, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" It may be just as well once in a while to admit that there are some things which cannot be expressed in the terms of daily business, that cannot be measured by dollars and cents, and that the institutions, no matter by what name called, which go to make the world better worth living in, even though they require money and a good deal of it, are worth all they cost. The little churches, particularly, and those who love them and work for them, may well take heart.
The Lord's soldiers were recruited from these miserable conditions, but to another and different warfare – a war against selfishness, avarice, covetousness and all unrighteous, all unloving methods, all sin. – The Captain of our Salvation is our exemplar, whose methods of warfare we are to copy. Although he was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners, [R3273 : page 421] he was an inveterate foe to sin, and laid down his life in opposing it. All who would be accepted as followers of the cross must follow his example – "faithful even unto death"* – if they would have the great prize, the crown of life.
As we look at the world of which we once were a part, "Children of wrath even as others,"* we see that all of its strife is for some purpose. The politician strives for emoluments and sometimes for honor; the merchant strives for affluence and wealth; the struggles in the social arena are for place and influence. These are their prizes, and in their efforts to attain their ideals many are the sacrifices that are endured, many are the risks that are run, many are the night vigils and careful plans and schemes and plottings. Nevertheless, few of those who strive ever attain to their hearts' desires. The prize eludes their grasp; and the more fortunate ones who do grasp the prizes find that there is much bitterness connected with the success, much disappointment as to the real pleasure accompanying them. The Apostle compares these earthly ambitions of the world with the higher ambitions of the soldiers of the Lord's army. He points out that those who strive in earthly matters, either as race runners or as prize fighters in any department of the strife of earth, put themselves to certain tests of patience, endurance and self-denial in their endeavors to attain their ambitions; and he indicates that much more the soldiers of the cross should highly esteem the great prize for which we are called to fight the good fight – the prize of life eternal. The Apostle says, "Every man that striveth is temperate in all things: now they do it to attain a corruptible crown [reward], but we an incorruptible."*
These who strive for earthly prizes do so in the face of much uncertainty. Every politician admits the strong probability of his defeat; every one who seeks wealth will acknowledge a strong probability that he will fail in his fight for it; but not so with the soldiers of the cross. The prize is not only superlatively great and grand and incorruptible, but it is a certainty, as the Apostle adds, "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air." We know that faithfulness as followers of our Captain will bring results not only blessed to ourselves, but results which will be under the Lord's providences a blessing to all the families of the earth. It is in view of this certainty on our part as to the results and the grandeur thereof that the Apostle intimates that we, as soldiers of the cross, should be willing to endure much greater hardness and self-denial and buffeting for the sake of the cause we represent than would those who strive for the earthly crowns and prizes. And if they practice self-denial and disciplines late and early, in season and out of season, when convenient and when inconvenient, whether of food and drink if preparing for some physical contest, or of comforts and conveniences and pleasures if for political or business contests, much more should we not be slothful in our business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, fighting the good fight of faith, laying hold on eternal life as a sure thing, not an uncertainty. The Apostle applies this thought too, saying, "I keep my body under [its ambitions, appetites, desires], and bring it into subjection [to the new mind]: lest by any means when I have preached to others I myself should be a castaway [rejected from being a member of the little flock]." – 1 Cor. 9:25-28.
The first essential in becoming a soldier of the cross is a proper understanding of the only terms of enlistment – that it is not for an occasion, nor for a year, but for life. Many err on this point, and after fighting faithfully in a few skirmishes they seem to have the impression that they have fulfilled the conditions of their enlistment, and drift into some other service, some other kind of fighting, or into a slothful, indifferent ease in the presence of the enemy and the evil against which they pledged themselves to war a good warfare even unto death. Such occasionally get revived under the stimulus of the Gospel or mental excitement, and for a time fight a little more, only to relapse again into indifference and slothfulness. Some even plume themselves upon these repeated reenlistments and purpose further reenlistments before they die, not discerning that this is a wrong view of the situation – that no volunteers are accepted save upon the terms of the Captain: "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."* Such need to see that participation in a few battles is not the condition of our call and enlistment, and that the rewards – glory, honor and immortality* – which the Lord has promised to the faithful cannot be expected by those who do not fight the good fight faithfully and continuously. We are not here discussing what portion will come to those who are careless in respect to the terms of their enlistment. We are not saying whether their portion will be in the "great company" or elsewhere; but we are seeking to make clear that none can be counted worthy of a place in the little flock, in the glory of the Kingdom, unless he shall have the proper appreciation of his enlistment, and have been, at heart at least, thoroughly loyal to and active in the defence of the principles for which his covenant stands committed – the principles of righteousness at any cost, even unto death.
It will be found a great help to the weaknesses of the fallen nature to have understandingly made a full consecration of the will, – a full enlistment of every power and talent of mind and of body. He who takes this proper view of his consecration to the Lord and [R3273 : page 422] enlistment in the Lord's army, realizes that he has nothing more to give to the Lord, and hence, whatever struggle of the will he may have is all ended when he has finally decided – "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."* The others, who do not so recognize the matter, have continually a battle with their wills before they can engage in any measure in defence of the Truth. How important it is, therefore, that all the soldiers realize that the term of the enlistment is until death, and that there is no room for even considering any suggestion to withdraw from the battle and cease even for an hour to fight the good fight of faith.
The new recruits to the Lord's army frequently have difficulty with themselves because of the very different kind of fighting to which the Lord's soldiers are called. Used to fighting in the battle of life as members of the fallen race, a battle for the Lord along the same lines is the natural tendency – with carnal weapons, carnal objects, actions, methods, etc. Such, however, are to heed the voice of the Captain, to fight only as he directs – for righteousness instead of unrighteousness, for love and generosity, and against selfishness instead of for selfishness. They may not even take the suggestions of certain moral reformers and begin a battle for pure politics nor for total abstinence nor for social uplift – because the Captain's commands have not been along these lines. They may, nay they should, feel a deep sympathy with all of these commendable efforts, and should smile rather than frown upon them; but their time, their influence, their talents may not go in these directions, however much their sympathy may go toward them, because they are under the orders of the Captain. They are not fighting at their own charges nor to accomplish their own wills; they are not the heads of the army, but the subordinate members, and thus look for their directions to the Captain. He has called them for a special purpose, and has given them particular instructions respecting the same, and their every energy and talent, not absorbed in procuring the necessities of life, must be considered as devoted and beyond their control.
After enlistment each soldier should expect his share of the provided armor – helmet, breastplate, sandals, shield and sword; and his first work must be to put on this armor – to prepare himself. The armory from which these articles can be obtained is the Word of God, which is so well stocked that "The man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto every good word and work." (2 Tim. 3:17.) He who rushes into a fight without waiting to hear the Captain's command and without waiting to put on the armor provided, is certain to meet with measurable defeat and a disaster more or less consequential. Would that every soldier who enlists could realize the necessity for hearkening to the Word of God, and appropriating to himself the armor of Truth which it provides. The helmet, representing the Truth, which would fortify the Lord's soldiers intellectually by giving them a clear and intelligent appreciation of his plan, is necessary; the breastplate, which represents the knowledge of righteousness and an appreciation of God's provision for our covering in the great redemptive sacrifice, is also essential as a covering for our hearts, for our spiritual protection; the sandals, representing our expectation of trials and difficulties in the narrow way and our readiness to accept them all, with the assurance that they would all work for our good, are indispensable; also the shield of faith, which grows larger and larger in proportion as it is handled and used, is very important; no soldier can possibly acquit himself acceptably to the Captain except he have such a shield – without it he would be exposed to the darts of the enemy. Notwithstanding his having on the whole armor, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, sharper than any two-edged sword, must not be forgotten. He who has not on part of the armor will be unable to keep the foes of righteousness at a respectful distance; and this sword becomes stronger and larger in the hands of the soldier as he [R3274 : page 422] grasps it firmly at the hilt and uses it in his battles for the Lord and the Truth.
Many soldiers in the Lord's army are surprised to learn that the Captain's name is the Prince of Peace, and that all the enlisted ones are expected to battle for peace. The matter seems at first to be contradictory. Battling is warfare, peace is the result; we are called to be soldiers and called to be peacemakers. Many of the soldiers, without waiting to learn the rules and commands of the Captain, without waiting to study the proper use of the sword of the Spirit, spring courageously into the fight and begin to wound their neighbors, their friends, and sometimes their fellow soldiers in the Lord's army. This is a great mistake: this is an attempt to use the spiritual weapons in a carnal manner and is contrary to the example and word of our Captain. All such would do best to put up their swords again – to refrain from using the word of God in a belligerent manner, in a smiting way against those with whom they have to do. We must learn who is our foe, and not recklessly and blindly smite down any and everything opposing us.
But some one inquires, Are we not to smite down error, and does not this mean the smiting of those who uphold the error? We answer that those all about us who are upholding error, and those who despitefully use us and persecute us because we are on the Lord's side, are blinded by ignorance, and it is not the Lord's intention that we should fight against them; – rather we would fight for them to lift them out of their ignorance and blindness, their superstition. So the Lord expressed it when he said, "The Son of man came [R3274 : page 423] not to destroy men's lives,"* but that they might have life, and that more abundantly.* He has not changed in the interim; he still has the same generous sentiment toward the poor world that he had when he died, when he tasted death for every man. The Apostle will instruct us who are our foes. He says, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers and wicked spirits in exalted positions." – Eph. 6:12.
Ah, then, our real opponents are the fallen angels, the demons; and our poor fallen fellow creatures who oppose us and who oppose righteousness do so because they are under the power of Satan, more or less blinded by his sophistries and deceptions, – as it is written, "The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not" – has deceived the whole world. – (2 Cor. 4:4; Rev. 20:2,3.) Our sentiment against all opposers of righteousness amongst men should therefore be that of benevolence and compassion, realizing that they are under the Adversary's power, though they know it not. And if we suffer at their hands as soldiers of the cross, our sentiments should be, "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do."* – "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge."* As the Apostle Peter explained respecting those who crucified the Lord Jesus, that in ignorance they did it, so we should regard that present oppositions to righteousness and to those who are on the Lord's side are largely the results of ignorance and superstition, and of the blindness which comes from the great deceiver against whom we are enlisted and seeking to fight a good fight.
Our good fight of faith, as the Apostle explains, consists in a considerable measure in our defense of the Word of God, which includes also our defence of the character of God. This is implied in the Apostle's words, "Contend [fight earnestly] for the faith once delivered unto the saints."* This will mean our willingness to stand for the Truth at any cost and against any number of assailants – against the creeds and theories of men, which would misrepresent the good tidings of great joy which the Lord and the Apostles have announced, and which shall, thank God, yet be unto all people. As the Apostle again says, "I am set for the defence of the Truth." We can do no less than defend the Truth. The Truth is God's representative, Christ's representative, and hence our standard, and as true soldiers we must defend our standard, even unto death. Not every truth, however; for although we may feel in sympathy with all truth yet we are enlisted under a Captain whose command indicates that it is one special line of truth that we are to defend with our lives – the truth of divine revelation – the divine message, the Gospel, the good tidings of redemption through the precious blood, forgiveness of sins, and in general the divine plan of salvation as set forth in the inspired Word. It will be noticed that his measurably ignores truth on other lines, on mathematics, on astronomy, geology, not to mention other sciences falsely so called, respecting which the Lord has given us no revelation – respecting which, therefore, his sword of Truth has never been sent offensively nor defensively. It is for the "faith once delivered unto the saints," and that only, that the soldiers of the cross are to battle.
We have already noticed that the contesting is not to be with carnal weapons, even when it is for the faith once delivered unto the saints; and by carnal weapons we understand more to be meant than many at first surmise. Not merely are swords, spears and guns carnal weapons, but anger, malice, hatred, strife and a general contesting and combative spirit are all carnal weapons; and whenever these are used in defence of the Lord's good cause they do it injury instead of benefit, whatever the users may intend. It is important to remember that all the soldiers fighting in this battle for the Truth win not by injuring others, but by showing to others such noble examples of fidelity to the principles of righteousness (truth) even unto death, as will commend to them the Lord and his cause. Those who fight with anger and malice and strife, who fight carnally, misrepresent the Captain, however unintentionally, and do injury to his cause. There are many of these fighters who are not warring a good warfare, not fighting a good fight, and who will consequently fail of the chief reward – the glory, honor, immortality and joint-heirship with the Lord in the Kingdom.
It may be inquired, then, How can these soldiers expect to have any battle if they abstain from carnal warfare either with their hands or their tongues, speaking only that which is good, and endeavoring so much as lieth in them to live peaceably with all men? How can such soldiers have any battle at all? who would contend with them? Surely, says one, it is not supposable that the world would battle or in any wise injure or oppose those who seek only its good, its welfare, its blessing, its peace. Nay but, we answer, the Master suffered for his fidelity to the faith once delivered, and forewarned us, saying, "Marvel not if the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."* "The world loveth darkness rather than light."* Guided by the Master's words, we look to see what constituted the world from his standpoint. We perceive that he could not have meant that the enemies of the saints would be wholly nor chiefly the hoodlum element of society, the thieves and thugs and murderers. Not from these are we to expect the [R3274 : page 424] hatred and persecution which, the Lord forewarned us, all true soldiers would experience from the world. When the Master said that the world hated him, we perceive that it was not the heathen or Gentile world, but the religious world as we might term it – the churchianity of his day – the chief priests and scribes and Pharisees who took counsel against him and who finally secured his execution. It was the same professedly religious world that through the dark ages persecuted the light and the Truth even unto death, and it is the same nominally religious world, deficient in the Spirit of the Lord surely, and more or less blinded by the god of this world, which will continue to be the persecuting power against the soldiers of the cross down to the very close of this dispensation – until the last soldier of the cross shall have proven faithful unto death and the elect company shall be finished.
Here we get the broad view that the heathen religions are all of Satan, that he has misled the heathen people into gross darkness, and that whatever measure of superstition and darkness still clings to Christianity is so much the power of Satan working in and through those who are nominally and professedly the Lord's people. The soldiers of the cross all down through this Gospel age, following the example of the Captain and of his lieutenants, the apostles, have held up the banner of Truth, the light, not aggressively but defensively, and have been considered faithful in proportion as they have endured hardness with meekness and patience and long-suffering, brotherly kindness and love, not rendering evil for evil, slander for slander, reviling for reviling, but, like the Master, when reviled reviled not again, but blessed their enemies, and did good to those who despitefully used them and persecuted them, praying for them and hoping for them divine mercy in the future, to the opening of the eyes of their understanding. So also we must expect it to be today.
Doubtless, in harmony with the Scriptural declaration, we may expect that in the near future all the soldiers of the cross will be exposed to much more severe attacks from the great Adversary and those whom he has blinded. The attacks are to be so severe that, according to Scriptural declaration, a thousand shall fall at our side to one who will stand – the merely nominal soldiers will fall. Only the faithful, the overcoming ones, the very elect, will be able to stand in that evil day, and they because they will have on the whole armor of God provided for their protection. The Apostle mentions all deceivableness of unrighteousness in the perishing ones as being one of the characteristics of Satan's manifestation in our time. We see some of this deceivableness manifested in the many wonderful works, healings, etc., performed by Spiritualists, Mormons, Christian Scientists and others – calculated to deceive if possible the very elect. But it will not be possible to deceive this overcoming [R3275 : page 424] class, because the true soldier will take careful heed to the instructions of the Captain and will have on the whole armor of his Word for their defence and protection from all the wiles of the Adversary, who, now that his kingdom is tottering to its fall, is forced to bolster it up by feigning works of mercy and goodness as a garment of light. – Matt. 12:26; 2 Cor. 11:14.
Foregoing we have considered the outward battlings of the Lord's soldiers; let us now notice the more secret drillings and battlings which come to each individual soldier, to test his loyalty and to develop his character.
We have already noticed that the soldier is the New Creature and not the flesh, that the enlistment was a surrender of the fleshly will and the acceptance of the headship or captaincy of the Redeemer. From that moment of full surrender to the Captain, enlistment under his orders and in the service of righteousness, the New Creature has experienced a conflict with its mortal body and its weaknesses, passions and tendencies for sin. The new will cannot free itself from the fleshly body, and although the reward promised by the Captain is a new body, perfect and in full harmony with himself and with righteousness, nevertheless the new will is required to demonstrate its loyalty to the Captain and to righteousness by its faithful combat with the flesh – with the desires and propensities of its own mortal body.
Here is the great and continual battle, for although the new will asserts itself and puts the body under and compels its subjection to the new mind, nevertheless the mortal body, not being actually dead, is continually coming into contact with the world and the Adversary and is continually being stimulated by these and reinvigorated with earthly cares, ambitions, methods, strivings, conflicts and insubordination to our new will. No saint is without experiences of this kind – fightings without and within. It must be a fight to the finish or the great prize for which we fight will not be gained. For although the New Creature masters the mortal body by the Lord's grace and strength repeatedly, nevertheless until death there can be no cessation of the conflict, for the "flesh lusteth [desireth, striveth] against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." – Gal. 5:17.
The Apostle urges that we do not seek for the cooperation of the flesh, but rather anticipate in advance its opposition and proceed at once to mortify [put to death] the flesh with its affections and its desires, assuring us that as the death of the flesh will result in our begetting to the new nature, so the death of the flesh actually will be a precedent to our attaining [R3275 : page 425] the birth of the Spirit. The Apostle's words along this line are comforting to us. He says: "For which cause we faint not [in our battlings]; but though the outward man perish, the inward man is renewed day by day [we become stronger in the Lord and in the power of his might], for our light afflictions [trials, etc., which may include these battlings with our own flesh], which are but for a moment [as compared with the eternity we hope to gain], work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." – 2 Cor. 4:16-18.
It is because the Adversary works in the hearts of the children of disobedience, and because the children of the light, the soldiers of the cross, are in contact in the flesh with the children of this world, that thus the Adversary is able to work powerfully against them and repeatedly to resuscitate their flesh, so that all need to follow the Apostle's course as expressed in his words, "I keep my body under"* – the thought being that there is a tendency for the body, the flesh, to arise from its condition of reckoned deadness, and that hence the new nature needs to be continually on the alert to maintain its ascendency, to fight the good fight of faith and to gain the prize as an overcomer. These battlings of the new mind against the flesh are a good fight in the sense that they are fightings against sin and weaknesses that belong to the fallen nature. They are a fight of faith in the sense that the entire course of the New Creature is a course of faith as the Apostle says, "We walk by faith and not by sight."* The New Creature has faith in the Word of God, in the promises therein contained, and with the eye of faith sees the heavenly city and the crown of righteousness which the Lord has in reservation for the overcomers, joint-heirship with the Redeemer. It is a fight of faith in the sense that no one could keep up this battle against his own flesh and its propensities and desires, and come off conqueror, except as he can exercise faith in the promises and in the Lord as his helper.
Considering particularly what some of these battles of the new nature are, we suggest that many of them pertain to the weaknesses of the flesh through heredity – sin working in our mortal bodies and seeking to bring us more and more into captivity and to separate us from the Lord and the righteousness which he in every way represents. In proportion as the Lord's people receive the new mind, the gross sins of the flesh become distasteful to them – for instance, robbery, dishonesty, murder, filthy communications, etc., and when these are put away unquestionably a large victory has been gained – a great advance over what was in some hearts when first they heard the voice of the Lord. But the spirit of murder and the spirit of dishonesty often lurk in the hearts of those who have become thoroughly the Lord's people, and these dispositions hide themselves, cloak themselves in such a manner that they frequently deceive the new will, which indeed needs to be educated up to an appreciation of principles.
It is an advance lesson in the school of Christ that gives us to understand that he that hateth his brother is a murderer, and hence that those who enlist as soldiers of the cross are not only to hate murder but are to hate the murder spirit and to cast it out entirely, so that they would have nothing but love in their hearts for any, even their enemies. Only the more advanced and better drilled of the soldiers of the Lord see clearly and distinctly the meaning of the Apostle's words when he denominates anger, malice, hatred, strife, envyings and evil speakings to be all works of the flesh and of the devil.
As soon as this is perceived, the true soldier starts a campaign against these well-intrenched evils and weaknesses of his own fallen flesh, and he needs to keep continually before his mind the thought that perfect love must rule in the hearts of all who in the end will be esteemed of the Lord overcomers, worthy of a share with him in the Kingdom. He must see that perfect love worketh no ill to his neighbor (Rom. 13:10); he must see that evil speaking comes from evil thinking, because "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh;" consequently he must see that there is an evil condition still intrenched which needs eradication, and only in the name and with the assistance of the Lord can he hope to conquer fully and completely all such evil heart conditions. True, the Lord reckoned us pure in heart from the moment we made full consecration to him, and his mercy covers all the blemishes that were in us, ignorantly and unwillingly, and thus he receives us into his school, into his army – but receiving us meant our education, our instruction, our drill. As the instruction progresses, the obedience must also have made progress, else we will not have been considered in the Lord's sight as pure in heart, pure in intention. Evidently it is the divine purpose that all in this school of the Lord shall ultimately come to the place where their hearts will approve nothing but that which is approved of the Lord – noble, pure, good – however perfectly or imperfectly they may be able to express all this in their mortal flesh.
If once the soldiers of the cross could get the proper thought that slander and evil speaking are assassinations of the character of another, and that defamation is the robbery of another's good name, the sooner they will see this matter in its truly awful light as it must appear in the Lord's sight, and once seeing the matter from this true, divine standpoint must awaken the new creature to the greatest activity possible [R3275 : page 426] in the overcoming of such works of the flesh and of the devil. Each will seek to purge out the old leaven of malice and envy and strife and crookedness and evil speaking, that he may be pure in heart, a copy of the Lord.
The Scriptural declaration is "Speak evil of no man,"* and all who can see the matter in its true light as above set forth will feel a zeal for God and for righteousness that will burn against all such iniquity wherever it may be found, especially in his own flesh.
But if it be reprehensible to speak evil of any person, if that be contrary to the spirit of love, the Spirit of the Lord, how much more evil in the Lord's sight must it be if any of the Lord's brethren should speak evil of one another – speak evil of a member of the Lord's body! How terrible is the thought, how surely an evil-doer would lose the Captain's favor and ultimately be cut off from all relationship with him and with the body. The Lord refers to such, saying, "Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son [all of the house of sons, brethren of Christ, are figuratively represented as being the children of the Sarah covenant, the Abrahamic covenant.] These things thou hast done, and I have not kept silence; Thou thoughtest I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee." – Psa. 50:19-22.
Many have the thought that the evil speaking which the Scriptures forbid refers to false witness; but not so. The Lord certainly does not expect any of his people to have any sympathy with lies. If we might speak of sin in a cumulative way, we might say that to speak evil is a sin, and that if the matter were untrue it would be doubly sinful in the Lord's sight. The principle which underlies the matter should be clearly discerned by all of the Lord's people. It is this: The law of the New Creation is love, and whoever loves another would not only not lie to his injury, [R3276 : page 426] but would not even speak to his injury if the thing were the truth. Whoever, therefore, finds in his heart, in his own disposition, a love to tell about others something that is to their detriment, to their discredit or injury, should see that he is proportionately deficient in the spirit of love, in the Spirit of the Lord. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, justly or unjustly; it is ready to believe all that is good, and anxious to disbelieve and avoid mentioning anything that is discreditable. Only duty would move it to speak at all of that which is to the discredit of another, and then it would be spoken only in such a manner as the Scriptures and the spirit of love would approve to those who ought to know, and with a view to the assistance of the wrong-doer.
Let us then as New Creatures be encouraged with every better understanding of the Captain's word and will respecting us, full of confidence in his wisdom and in his grace – that he is willing and able to bring us off conquerors in the full sense if we are obedient to him. Let us strive that we may be able to say with the Apostle at the close of our experiences, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge shall give me at that day." – 2 Tim. 4:7,8.
GOLDEN TEXT – "Trust in the Lord with all thy heart." – Prov. 3:5.
Not content with his own appreciation of Solomon as the most suitable heir to the throne and the one approved by the Lord, the King gathered a great assembly of the chief men of the nation to, so to speak, ratify Solomon's appointment and anointing. These princes represented (1) the heads of the families, in the twelve tribes; (2) the captains of industry and their subordinate officers; (3) in a word he gathered all the influential representatives of the nation, civil, military, and commercial. This was evidently a wise course, and points a lesson to the Lord's people of the Church of this Gospel age. It is not sufficient that those who serve the Lord's flock shall be sure that they understand the divine will in respect to the general interests of his work; it is expedient that they seek the cooperation of the entire congregation either directly or through their chosen representatives. David's assurance that God had chosen Solomon was a guarantee to him that the Lord would so overrule and influence the nation that they would gladly accept the divine choice. At the same time, the course would have been the wisest one in any event, because it is an element of human nature to prefer to be considered rather than to be ignored.
Notwithstanding the King's age and decrepitude, and the fact that it was usual to sit in such assemblages, he stood upon his feet as implying the importance of the matters to be dealt with. His salutation to the officers and representatives of the realm was a gracious one: "Hear me, my brethren, and my people!" King David was not evidently of the dictator class, and all noble men and women will appreciate him all the more because of this. Notwithstanding his greatness, his success as a soldier in establishing and enlarging the kingdom, and his eminence as a poet, and his evident favor with God, he was not by any or all of these things made haughty, domineering, tyrannical, but even in speech was a faithful, humble shepherd to the people over whom God appointed him. No wonder his name is reverenced to this day not only by the Jews, his countrymen, but by all who love the Lord and the principles of righteousness.
With full candor the King related to his princes his own desires for the glory of God and the nation in connection with the building of the Temple, and with equal candor he explained why the Lord rejected the work at his hands – because he had been a man of war and had shed blood. Herein we see a wide distinction between the character of our God and his Temple and that of other gods and their temples. The gods of the heathen are gods of war and their mighty ones are their bloody ones. One is impressed with the same thought in connection with some of the homage given to war heroes in the nominal Christian church. For instance, in Westminster Abbey the names of generals and admirals and men of the world in general are almost the only ones made prominent. Nor was this an exceptional matter in David's case: we see the same principle pointed out in the Law. (Num. 31:19.) Those who participated in battle were unclean and required purification for seven days before participating in the privileges of citizenship.
David called attention to the fact that the Lord had chosen him to be their King; that he had decreed that he should be their King forever – that is, that the kingship should be in the line of his posterity. He called their attention to the fact that the tribe of Judah was the tribe of royalty by divine appointment, and that in the tribe of Judah the house of Jesse had been chosen by divine direction through the Prophet Samuel, and that in the family of Jesse, above all of his sons, the Lord had chosen David to be King over all Israel. In this speech the King was not attempting to defend his position on the throne, for that was conceded by all the tribes; but he did wish that the people should recognize the matter in a still higher light – that it was God who was their real King, and that God had taken the supervision of the affairs of the nation and had ordered and directed matters up to that juncture. It is well that spiritual Israelites should refresh their memories similarly; that they should call to mind that God, who was the King of typical Israel, is specially the King of spiritual Israel, and that being our King the affairs of his Church are not left to chance or haphazard, but are, in their largest interests at least, under divine supervision and care. The Apostle points this out in respect to our Lord, the great High Priest, saying, "No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God." So our Lord Jesus called not himself to a position of headship in the Church, but was evidently appointed to that position by the Father, as the Apostle declares, "God hath given him to be the head over the Church, which is his body." – Eph. 1:22,23.
Likewise throughout the Gospel age we may be sure that the affairs of God's Church have not been overlooked by him – that at all times during this age he has had the care of the interests of his people, and has raised up for them such helps and teachers as he saw best. Similarly, we may know that he still has the supervision of Zion's interests, as the Apostle declares, "God hath set in the body the various members as it hath pleased him." (1 Cor. 12:18.) If this thought were more in the mind of the Lord's faithful they would be more on the lookout to note the will of the Lord in respect to the affairs of the Church – whom he sets and where. With this thought in mind the choice of elders would not be conducted along lines of earthly preference or family kinship or selfish ambition, but instead the Lord's preference, the Lord's choice, [R3276 : page 428] would be sought. And, so far as the Lord's mind would be discerned, none other than his choice would be recognized by any of his faithful ones.
David had no doubt whatever respecting the Lord's choice for his successor. How he knew the mind of the Lord on the subject we are not informed, but evidently he had assured Bathsheba years before that her son Solomon should fill the throne, and now he probably announced the matter, declaring that God had given him assurance that Solomon should build the great temple which King David had not been permitted to build, but for which he had accumulated great stores of gold, silver, iron, marble, precious wood, etc. The word of the Lord, "I have chosen him to be my son and will be his Father," we are not to understand as meaning that Solomon was lifted up from the house of servants, of which Moses was the head, and made a member of the house of sons, of which Christ is the head – "Whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence of our rejoicing [R3277 : page 428] firm unto the end." According to the Scriptural record, the first opportunity for any members of the house of servants to become sons of God was granted at the time of our Lord's first advent, and in view of the fact that he had already made consecration of his life as man's redemption price. (John 1:12,13.) Solomon was God's son in a typical sense – he typified God's great Son, the Christ.
That Solomon was a model young man at the time of his induction into the kingdom, is evidenced from the statement of verse 7: "If he be constant to do my commands and my judgments as at this day, I will establish his kingdom forever." Here again, however, we see how the Lord, while making certain definite promises sure to be fulfilled, attaches them to certain individuals only upon conditions of their loyalty to him. As a matter of fact we know that Solomon did not continue in divine favor, but was led astray by the dangers of his lofty position and forfeited for his posterity their share in the Levitic promise. Hence it is that our Lord is not of Solomon's line, but a descendant of another son of David, Nathan. – See MILLENNIAL DAWN, Vol. V. – pp.145-150.
Having thus set forth the reasons guiding him to the anointing of Solomon as his successor in the kingdom, the King charges responsibility upon the chief men of the nation – that they should maintain their relationship to the Lord and his arrangements faithfully; that they should not only observe the commandments of the Lord as already understood by them, but that they should continually seek to know the divine will in all things. He points out that as a nation this would be necessary to them if they would continue to possess the goodly land of Palestine. We know that they did not continue faithful to King David's exhortation, and that as a result the goodly land was lost, first by ten of the twelve tribes going into captivity, and subsequently by the two tribes being transported to a foreign land as prisoners. Nevertheless, God's promise to David still stands sure, and, like the promise made to Abraham, can have its fulfilment only when the greater than Isaac, greater than David, greater than Solomon, the antitype of these, shall take the throne and inaugurate the Millennial reign.
Turning to Solomon his newly appointed successor, the King exhorted his son, "Know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind." Here knowledge is given its proper place. First, it is only in proportion as we come to know God that we can properly trust him or faithfully serve him, and the Christian's course should be a progressive one in these respects. To the first knowledge of God and the first faith on that small knowledge and first obedience following, come in God's order increased knowledge, increased faith and increased obedience. We are to remember, however, that the range of knowledge and faith is limited to natural things until the full consecration of heart is made and the begetting of the holy Spirit received, because "the natural man receiveth not the things of God neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned." God hath revealed them unto us [begotten of the Spirit] by his Spirit, which searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God.
Solomon is exhorted to remember that God not only knows the outward things which man can see and of which they can imperfectly judge, but that he knows also the heart, the intents, the thoughts. The antitypical children of God need continually to have this in mind, for we walk by faith and not by sight. To us, too, the exhortation applies that we are to keep continually seeking the Lord if we would be continually finding him more and more precious, and that if we forsake him and break our covenant with him he will cast us off forever.
The last verse of the lesson refers to the typical Temple which Solomon did build as God's sanctuary. He was strengthened in wisdom and in power and did accomplish that work. The antitype of Solomon, the Christ, has been strengthened, has been faithful, has been an overcomer, has been approved of the Father. He already has nearly prepared all the living stones which will constitute the living Temple of God for the coming age, through which the divine blessing will be administered for the restoration of the groaning creation. The building of the house, the growing together of the living stones, is already in progress; soon the capstone will be brought on with shoutings of grace, grace, unto it! [R3277 : page 429]
It is generally understood that the thousand burnt offerings sacrificed on this occasion were burnt offerings only in the sense that they were offered in connection with a religious ceremony in acknowledgment of God, that certain of the inward parts were burned upon the altar, and that the shoulder of each was devoted to the priesthood. It is generally understood that the multitudes feasted upon the remainder of the flesh of these sacrificed animals. This custom was not only recognized in Israel but in various heathen nations, each acknowledging its own gods. Thus Croesus, King of Lydia, "offered up three thousand of every kind of sacrificial beasts," to the god of the Delphian oracle, as Herodotus relates. Xerxes, according to the same authority, "made an offering of a thousand oxen to the Trojan Minerva." Whether the heathen nations copied these sacrifices from the Jews or not cannot be positively stated, but the earliest and most authentic histories seem to so indicate.
It was while Solomon's mind was active in religious matters at Gibeon that the Lord appeared to him in a dream and asked him to choose what he would of any gift. We are not from this to infer that all dreams are of the Lord, but simply to understand that God is able to use dreams when he so chooses to convey lessons and instructions to his people. Many illustrations of this might be sighted – for instance, Joseph's dream Nebuchadnezzar's, Daniel's, Paul's, Peter's. We have the best of inspired assurance that these were really messages from the Lord, and hence are justified in attaching importance to them, believing in their fulfilment, etc. It is well to remember, however, that many dreams are simply operations of nature; that by reason of indigestion, or some other abnormal condition, one department of the brain seems to be awake while other departments are benumbed with sleep. Such dreams are apt to be inconsistent and unseasonable, because the judgment and counterpoise of reason from various standpoints and various sides are lacking. Such dreams are inconsistent and meaningless. Another kind of dream or vision should be mentioned, namely, those which are quite evidently inspired by evil spirits and which not infrequently represent the Lord as speaking to the individual, directing, commanding, etc.; these are in line with trance-medium development of spiritualism. The authorship of dreams being so much in doubt, as well as the fact that with the death of the apostles plenary inspiration ceased and the inspired class canonized, should make us very dubious, very skeptical, in respect to dreams that might come to any [R3278 : page 430] of us. Hence every dream and the lesson which it would seem to inculcate should be considered quite subordinate to the written Word of God. If they speak not in harmony with this Word, it is because there is no light in them. Those who are misled by dreams ascribe to them authority of a special revelation, and in so doing are not wise, but are greatly in danger of being side-tracked by our wily Adversary.
Solomon was living in a time before the Scriptures were completed, at a time when it could not be said that the Scriptures are able to make wise, sufficient that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished. (2 Tim. 3:17.) Besides, the declaration is that his dream or vision was from the Lord. Even then we see that the Lord was not operating contrary to the freedom of Solomon's will, because had the young King's mind been full of ambition for power, for victories over his enemies or for great riches, undoubtedly in the dream he would have responded by asking the things uppermost in his heart. His reply shows us that he was full of appreciation of the great work which God had committed to his care, that he recognized that his father's success had been of the Lord and not of his own power, and that whatever others thought of his father's real sentiments. Solomon recognized his loyalty to God, to truth, to righteousness, to uprightness of heart. In acknowledging the Lord's kindness in raising him to the throne he was acknowledging that God was the real King, that he merely sat upon "the throne of the kingdom of the Lord." This is further evidenced by the words, "God, thou hast made thy servant King instead of David my father." What a strength it gave this young man to realize that he was in God's hands; that it was not merely to his father's foresight and wisdom that he came to the throne, nor by the superior prestige of his father's influence over the army and the majority of the people, but of the Lord's providences.
Similarly, this should give strength to all of the Lord's consecrated people who realize that they have come into the present grace and Truth not by their own wisdom nor by the wisdom of others, but through the wisdom and grace of the Lord. The same thought should be entertained by all who serve the Church of God as ministers, servants in any department, in any manner responsible to the Lord for their position in the household of faith, and their opportunities to serve as the Lord's mouthpieces should be felt and confessed. But failure to confess it even implies a failure rightly to appreciate it.
The humility of the king is beautifully indicated by his declaration, "I am but a little child and know not how to order my course in life, my outgoings and incomings," and yet he was in the midst of the Lord's people, the center or head of the nation – though he felt himself incapable of the proper management of these high and responsible duties. He did not say "my people," but "thy people which thou hast chosen." We feel like suggesting a lesson here to some of the elders of the Lord's flock, who, after the manner of the Babylonians, are inclined to speak of the congregations to whom they minister, as "my people," "my flock," "my church." They probably do not realize how inappropriate are such expressions; that if natural Israel was the Lord's people, whom he had chosen, how much more the antitypical Israel should be thought of and spoken of as the Lord's people, the Lord's flock. The very fact that any one would speak of the congregation of the Lord's people as his own indicates a dangerous condition of mind and a tendency to be heady, high-minded, injurious, detrimental to the interests of spiritual Zion. Those who have had such a tendency of mind should correct themselves with fasting and prayer, peradventure their wrongdoing may be forgiven of the Lord and they may be kept from stumbling into further self-assurance. And the Lord's flock everywhere should be quick to resent any such human ownership or control. A failure to quickly discern and properly resent such self-assurance on the part of leaders is an indication that the flocks to whom they minister are not fully appreciating and enjoying the liberty with which Christ is pleased to make free all who are truly his sheep and who acknowledge him as their chief Shepherd.
In speaking of the numbers of Israel, Solomon used a form of expression common in his day for a large multitude – namely, a great people that cannot be numbered or counted for multitude. It is estimated that the numbers at this time were about 6,000,000, and probably without the conveniences at hand for taking an enumeration it was actually impossible to determine the number of people – the facilities for keeping track of births and deaths being much less convenient and much less accurate than at the present time.
With this preamble as showing his estimate of his own incapacity and of the greatness of the work, and that the people were the Lord's people, and that he himself was the Lord's appointment to be the King, Solomon now comes to the expression of his choice, namely, "an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this thy great people?" Solomon recognized that the most necessary thing for the welfare of the nation was righteous judgment of the various questions pertaining to the nation's welfare as well as those affecting individual matters. Doubtless he had come to realize, as his subsequent written proverbs clearly indicate, that selfishness is a foe to justice, and that the very wisest and best of governments need to be carefully guarded lest the selfish interests of some should work injury to others – to many. The whole world realizes this today, and if we would ask civilized humanity in [R3278 : page 431] general what is the one great need of the world, the answer unquestionably would be, We need to have righteousness established between nations, between individuals, and we need wisdom to discern the right from the wrong, the false from the true, the pure from the evil. Many of the wisest people of the world, although realizing the needs of the present time, have reached the conclusion that it is useless to attempt to secure evenhanded justice in all particulars, amongst all classes; and those who are best informed respecting the teachings of the divine Word have been led to pray with greater earnestness than ever before, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." They realize that earthly beings are all more or less fallen, more or less selfish, and that a crying need of the world today is for a perfect government, backed up by full power to enact, and to execute as well, laws of righteousness which shall control the whole world, subduing evil, exalting good. The antitype of Solomon, the Prince of Peace, Messiah, is to accomplish this in the world in the Father's good time, in the Millennial age.
The Lord was pleased with Solomon's choice; he could not have chosen better. Some have suggested that he might have chosen spiritual things, and thus have made a still wiser, better choice; but such forget that the spiritual things were not open to be understood or to be chosen or to be acquired in Solomon's day, nor until the great atonement for sin had been made – until the call went forth inviting believers who had fled from sin and who had laid hold on the hopes set before them in Christ to become self-sacrificers with him, joint-participators with him in the holy Spirit of adoption and ultimately to be joint-heirs with him in the kingdom. Solomon, therefore, chose as wisely as was possible for him to choose of the things that were known to him and attainable in his day.
It was just like our heavenly Father to give Solomon the riches and honors which he had not asked as a reward of his appreciation of wisdom. Indeed it is Solomon himself who expresses the thought that riches and honors are in the right hand of wisdom as her reward. It is thus implied that the Lord in giving to anyone wisdom, grants also the rewards which wisdom brings – namely, riches and honor. Some one then may inquire, How comes it that those who now seek the wisdom from above, the highest of all wisdom, first pure, then peaceable, easy to be entreated and full of mercy and good fruits – how is it that such very rarely get earthly riches and honors? We reply, that in Solomon's time the Lord was dealing with natural fleshly Israel, and his promises were along natural fleshly lines, but that during this Gospel dispensation he is dealing with spiritual Israel and his promises and blessings are along spiritual lines. The wisdom that his people are to seek and to enjoy, the wisdom that cometh from above, is not the wisdom of this world, as the Apostle clearly points out that the riches and honors which are in the hands of this heavenly wisdom, which comes to the Lord's consecrated Church, are spiritual riches and spiritual honors which the world sees not and appreciates not in this present time – which, like the wisdom itself, can be appreciated only by those whose eyes of understanding have been opened and who can and do thus discern the riches of God's grace toward his elect Church, which "eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of [the] natural man, but which God hath revealed unto us by his Spirit." – 1 Cor. 2:9,10.
The riches and honors which came to Solomon incidentally with his wisdom are world-renowned, and the blessing of long life which was made conditional was partly fulfilled. Solomon lived to be sixty, whereas, we believe, under this promise he would have lived until eighty had he been more obedient to the divine will, but with him as with many others, prosperity was much more difficult to stand than adversity.
When Solomon awoke and realized that these things had been a dream, a visitation of the lord, he returned to Jerusalem, the Capital city where the ark was located, and presented himself as a sacrificer, offering burnt offerings and peace offerings and making a feast for his servants, and realizing that the Lord was [R3279 : page 431] prospering him in the matter to which he had called him, he evidently was full of joy and satisfaction and peace. So it should be with all the Lord's people who have been called to be heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ their Lord, for "an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled and fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept through faith and by the power of God unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." They, too, should realize that the proper way to show their appreciation of the Lord's promised blessings is by a manifestation of faith in him, confidently trusting and rejoicing in these. Wherever we find fear, trepidation, unrest, we may know that these are symptoms of some spiritual malady; because whatever may be the outward disturbances, troubles, vexations, it is the privilege of those who are the Lord's to have the peace of God which passeth all understanding continually ruling in their hearts. It is their privilege to realize fully, thoroughly that all things are working together for good to them because they love the Lord, and with this thought of their call to the Kingdom and of the Lord's willingness that they should serve therein, and with the assurance that he will give grace and glory and no good thing withhold from those who walk uprightly, we certainly have reason for thankfulness and heart-rejoicing before him.
Our Society does not supply Bibles free, but it justifies the Bible feature of its name by supplying Bibles, Testaments and Bible Study Helps at wholesale rates. Additionally we give our readers the benefit of our experience and judgment respecting which Bibles are the best value at the wholesale rate. When ordering large-size Bibles always name your express office and company as well as post office. Letters containing money or stamps accompanying order should always be registered.
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The merits of these wonderful productions of the book maker's skillful art are so well known as to render detailed comment unnecessary. By special arrangement we can save our friends one-third of the list price on these Bibles, and have selected the styles which in our opinion are most desirable. All but No. 01157x contain References, and are Silk Sewed. No. 03554 is Self Pronouncing. All are bound with Divinity Circuit, are Leather Lined, have Red under Gold Edges and Round Corners. The type increases in size as follows: Pearl, Ruby, Emerald, Minion, Bourgeois and Long Primer. No. 03581x contains Concordance and Maps, and Nos. 0863x and 0865½x contain full Teachers' Helps. Thumb Index on any of these 25c extra.
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We can supply any of these at publishers' list prices less 25 per cent. discount.
Hitherto this Bible has been sold by "Subscription Agents" only. Its special feature, differentiating it from other "Teachers' Bibles," is that it shows the readings of the Common and Revised Versions side by side in the same line.
(This is the Bible of which we procured a special edition with wide margins and Dawn & Tower references thereon; and of which edition we have no more.)
No. 350 French Seal, Divinity Circuit, Red under Gold
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(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE.)
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This is the best book of its kind we have ever seen. It presents the Bible stories in simple, but not childish language, and seems remarkably free from the bad theology so common in this class of books. All Christian parents should have a Sunday Bible lesson with their children, and this book furnishes interesting topics, to which may be added as much concordant "present truth" as the age of the children will justify. Parents are responsible for their children's training in theology as well as morals. This will assist you in the discharge of this duty, and thus be a blessing to yourself as well as to your children.
624 pages, 250 illustrations; cloth sides, leather back and corners, gilt edges. A subscription book at $3. Our special price 75 cents, plus 25 cents postage.
Two texts and a verse for every day in the year. Have one on your breakfast table with the natural food. Appoint one of the family reader, and call for questions and comments. Feed the soul as well as the body. Small, neat, cloth bound, gilt edges. 15 cents, 2 for 25 cents, including postage.
First in this list we mention the several volumes of
This very valuable work, published under the author's copyright by Fowler & Wells Co., New York City, has been sold by them at $4 in cloth and $5 in half leather binding. For several years a friend, an earnest Bible student, desirous of assisting the readers of our Society's publications, has supplied them through us at a greatly reduced price; now he has purchased the copyright and plates from the Fowler & Wells Co., and presented the same to our Society as a gift, under our assurance that the gift will be used for the furthering of the Truth to the extent of our ability, by such a reduction of price as will permit the poor of the Lord's flock to have this help in the study of the Word.
REDUCED PRICES. – These will be sold with ZION'S WATCH TOWER only. In cloth binding $1.50 (6s. 3d.) – includes postage and one year's subscription, new or renewal, to Z.W.T. On thin paper, in full morocco leather, divinity circuit, red under gold edges, silk sewed leather lined, $2.50 (10s. 6d.) – includes postage and one year's subscription to Z.W.T.
This is the ordinary Common Version in cloth binding. As footnotes it gives the reading of the three oldest Greek MSS., Sinaiticus, Vaticanus and Alexandrine, wherever these differ from the Common Version. This is a very valuable little work, published in Europe, which we specially import for the benefit of our readers. Price 40c, including postage.
Mr. Rotherham's previous translation was good, but, so far as we are able to judge from a hasty examination, this one is better. Our price, in cloth binding postage included, is $1.50.
This, too, is a valuable work, and an aid in critical study. It is translated from the Syriac instead of from the Greek. It is claimed by some that it was the language in which our Lord and the apostles spoke and wrote, and that the Greek was translated from this. Our price, in half leather binding, postage included, $1.50.
This is the standard translation amongst English reading Hebrews, by one of their own rabbis. It is not perfect, but is a valuable aid in critical study of the Old Testament. Our special price, in leather binding, including postage, is $1.10.
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Many regard this as a valuable aid; but we do not specially recommend it as such, as some of its peculiarities are liable to mislead those who have no conception of the Hebrew idiom. In cloth binding, including postage, $4. This is the regular retail price, and the publishers do not permit us to make any reduction. We are at liberty, however, to prepay the postage free and to give as a premium two volumes of the DAWN series in cloth binding.
In English, Hebrew and Greek, by Prof. Young (Presbyterian). A valuable work for all critical students. Price, in cloth binding, $5, including postage. We are not permitted by the publishers to cut this price; but may and do give postage free and give besides a premium of any four volumes of the MILLENNIAL DAWN series in cloth binding with each Concordance.
In English, Hebrew and Greek, by Prof. Strong (Methodist). This is also an able work and useful in critical study. It has some advantages over Young's; after getting used to it we prefer it. Price, in cloth binding, $6; half leather, $8; full leather, $10. We will pay mail or express charges on these, and in addition give as a premium all six volumes of the DAWN series in cloth binding, with each Concordance.
A valuable work, but scarcely necessary to those who have either one of the above mentioned. English only. Cloth binding, $1, postage included.
This is one of the most desirable editions of Prof. Smith's work. It is a large volume of 1020 pages. In cloth binding, $1.30, including postage.
[The plan here proposed we designate "GOOD HOPES," because nothing is actually promised – only your generous hopes expressed, based upon your future prospects as they now appear to you. The plan proved not only so beneficial to the cause of truth, but also so blessed to the hopers, for some years past, that we again commend it to all as Scriptural and good. Those who desire to make use of this plan can fill out both of these memoranda. One should be kept for the refreshment of your memory; the other mail to us.]
Dear Friends: – I have read with interest of the openings for the Dawn and Tract work in foreign lands and here at home. I need not tell you that I am deeply interested in the spread of the Glad Tidings of the lengths and breadths, the heights and depths of redeeming love expressed for us in God's great Plan of the Ages.
I am anxious to use myself – every power, every talent, voice, time, money, influence, all – to give to others this knowledge, which has so greatly blessed, cheered and comforted my own heart and placed my feet firmly upon the Rock of Ages.
I have been considering carefully, and praying to be instructed, how to use my various talents more to my Redeemer's glory and for the service of his people – those blinded by human tradition who are, nevertheless, hungering for "the good Word of God," and those also who are naked, not having on the wedding garment of Christ's imputed righteousness, the unjustified, who stand at best in the filthy rags of their own righteousness. I have decided that so far as my "money talent" goes, I will follow the rule so clearly laid down for us by the great Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 16:2), and will lay aside on the first day of each week, according to my thankful appreciation of the Lord's blessings during the preceding week. Out of this fund I wish to contribute to the several parts of the Lord's work specified on the back of this letter. Of course, I cannot in advance judge or state particularly what the Lord's bounty may enable me to set apart weekly, and hence you will understand the sum indicated to be merely my conjecture or hope, based upon present prospects. I will endeavor to contribute more than I here specify; and should I not succeed in doing as well, the Lord will know my heart, and you, also, will know of my endeavors.
My only object in specifying in advance what I hope to be able to do in this cause is to enable those in charge of the work of publishing and circulating the Tracts, etc., to form estimates, lay plans, make contracts, etc., with some idea of what I will at least try to do in the exercise of this my highly appreciated privilege.
My present judgment is that during the coming year, by self-denial and cross-bearing, I shall be able to lay aside on the first day of each week for Home and Foreign Mission Work (to assist in circulating Millennial Dawn in foreign languages, and in publishing the "Old Theology Tracts" in various languages, and in supplying these gratuitously to brethren who have the heart and opportunity to circulate them widely, and in meeting the expenses of brethren sent out as "Pilgrims" to preach the divine plan of salvation, and in general to be expended as the officers of the Society may deem best), the amount of...............per week.
To comply with United States Postal Laws, all or any portion of my donation may be applied as subscription price for Watch Tower or O.T. Tracts sent to the Lord's poor or others, as the Society's officers may deem advisable.
That the work be not hindered, I will endeavor to send you what I shall have laid aside for this cause at the close of each quarter. I will secure a Bank Draft, Express Order or Postal Money Order as I may find most convenient, and will address the letter to
The friends who contribute to the "Good Hopes" (described on the reverse of this sheet) at times desire to send the Watch Tower to friends who are not yet interested enough to subscribe for themselves; or to deeply interested friends who are too poor to subscribe and backward about accepting our Lord's Poor offer. They are invited to give us such addresses below – the expense to be deducted from their donations. Give full addresses, and write very plainly please, mentioning the length of the subscriptions.
For several years we have been supplying our readers with handsome text and motto cards for the walls of their homes. Their influence is excellent; for they continually and cheerfully catch the eye and remind the heart of our great favors present and to come, based upon the exceeding great and precious promises of our Father's Word. We commend these as helps in the "narrow way," – helps in character-building.
We aim to have a good supply of these very choice cards constantly on hand, and for particular description of some (not all) of the styles would refer you to our illustrated list, which will be sent on request. We still recommend the dollar packages as the most satisfactory way, all things considered, of acquiring these texts. They are sent carriage paid for $1.16, by prepaid express whenever feasible.
These are published quarterly, copies being sent to all subscribers. Other copies, for distribution among friends, from house to house, for enclosure in letters, and in general for use in such ways as seem judicious, are supplied freely, the expense entailed by the great demand for them being borne by the Tract Fund of voluntary contributions. Write for the tracts as you feel able to use them, even if not so well able to contribute toward the expense; some who are not able, and do contribute, do not have opportunities personally to use all that their contributions pay for, so that the matter is equalized, and all may have a part in this service of disseminating the truth.
We are convinced that the Watch Tower lists do not contain the names of one-half of those deeply interested in its teachings. The total is small enough surely, and we are not content that the name of any should be missing. We believe that all such will be stimulated and encouraged on the "narrow way" by its semi-monthly appearance on their table, reminding them afresh of spiritual matters which the world, the flesh and the devil continually tend to crowd out of mind and heart.
Hitherto we have required that all desiring the Watch Tower on credit, or free, as "the Lord's Poor," should make personal application; but now we request every subscriber to inquire among those whom he knows to be interested in present truth, and to obtain the consent of all such to send in their subscriptions either on credit or free, as their circumstances may necessitate. Any getting it on credit may at any future time request that the debt be cancelled, and we will cheerfully comply. We desire that as nearly as possible the Watch Tower lists shall represent all those deeply interested in its message.
Our object is not the gain of "filthy lucre," but "the perfecting of the saints for the work of ministry" – present and to come. (Eph. 4:12.) We offer no premiums, desiring the co-operation of such only as appreciate the privilege of being co-workers with us in this ministry. Our list is now about 17,000; but it should be at least 25,000, and we confidently expect the above program to bring it to that figure. Let as many as appreciate it as a privilege, join at once in this service.
Most of our subscriptions end with the year, so we take this opportunity to remark that we will be glad to hear promptly from such as desire the visits of the Watch Tower continued. This applies to all who get it on the Lord's Poor list as well as to those who pay. When names are dropped and afterward renewed it makes us unnecessary trouble.