| VOL. XVI. | JANUARY 1, 1895. | No. 1. |
'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 accident, or other adversity are unable to pay for the TOWER will be supplied FREE, if they will send a Postal Card each December, stating their case and requesting the paper.
We trust that the new arrangement of the TOWER will meet the approval of its readers. It contains fewer pages, but more reading matter than formerly.
There are many who cannot pay for their TOWER, during the year 1895, but who would be greatly disadvantaged if deprived of it. Such should notice our Terms to the Lord's Poor, above. It is a part of God's provision for your spiritual sustenance, and should be accepted, like all of his blessings, with thanksgiving. But people who are not too poor to buy tobacco and similar gratifications of the flesh, which war against the spirit, are not of the class for whom the offer is meant by the Lord and by us his stewards. page 2
Shall be pleased to hear, from those of the friends interested in circulating the truth amongst German Christians, their opinion respecting the advisability of a German periodical, Quarterly: How many subscriptions can be guaranteed to commence with, at the rate of say 10 cents per year, or twelve copies quarterly for $1.00, or seventy-five copies quarterly for $5.00, sent post free to any address you may send. [R1750 : page 2]
This volume contains a very choice selection of 150 Poems and 333 Hymns, purged, we trust, from much of the too common, erroneous, hymn-book theology: 494 pages, good print, cloth binding only. It is the Gospel of the Kingdom in verse, by the pens of many of God's dear saints of all centuries. It is a companion to MILLENNIAL DAWN, and sells at the same price as the cloth-bound volumes. It is designed to lead the mind aright in meditation and worship.
Our meetings are held in Bible House Chapel, Arch st., Allegheny, Pa. Friends will be warmly welcomed. Preaching every Sunday at 3:30 P.M.
ZION'S WATCH TOWER extends to its readers, one and all – Best Wishes for the Year 1895. It may, and no doubt will, have its storms, its difficulties, its trials: such experiences our Lord advises us are necessary to the development in us of character. What the effect of the trial will be lies with each of us to decide for himself. We may permit them to discourage us so that we would give up the race for the prize set before us in the gospel; or we may grow stronger and more Christ-like as the result of those experiences. Which will it be with us?
It may be a year of profitable progress in the knowledge and service of our Lord and Redeemer, and of helpfulness to the fellow-members of his body, or it may be marked by increasing confusion and uncertainty – darkness – concerning things once clearly seen and greatly rejoiced in and a time of confusing the minds and stumbling the faith of others.
Which course do we choose, and with what degree of positiveness do we make our choice, at this, the beginning of this new year? Much of our comfort, joy and peace and usefulness in the Lord's service depends on our decision. It was so last year: it was one of increase or else one of decrease in spiritual knowledge, strength and usefulness. It is so with every year, – yes, with every week and every day.
Of course no one will decide to go into darkness and away from the Lord and the Truth. The test is a more crucial one than that. The question is will we take and keep the path that leads nearer and nearer to the Lord, and be permitted more and more fellowship with him, a fuller and fuller knowledge of the minutiae of the great plan of the ages which he is out-working, and a greater share in that work with the great Chief-Reaper, or will we allow self-interest or self-conceit or ambition or spiritual sloth or the cares of this life to turn us aside from the path of full consecration which our Master trod and in which we have pledged ourselves to follow, in his footsteps.
The right path is still the "narrow path" of self-abasement and self-denial – the path of meekness and humility: and it will require as much effort and grace to walk it this year as last, or possibly more; for the more we grow in grace and knowledge, the stronger will be the temptations to be boastful, puffed up, heady, high-minded; and the higher we climb in faith and hope and love and activity in the Lord's service, the more the great Adversary will oppose our progress, and the more his emissaries will slander, backbite, and generally seek to injure us. "Beware of dogs." – Phil. 3:2.
But this is only one side of the matter; for, while the more exposed to Satan's attacks and to severer tests of our hope, faith and love, as we go onward in our narrow way, we will have increasing spiritual joys, peace beyond compare, and will be enabled to rejoice even in trials and tribulations, knowing that these are working out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. We will be enabled to endure, as seeing him that is invisible, as being upheld and led by his hand. We will have the promise of his presence in every trouble, and that he will never leave us nor forsake us; and that all things (even the seeming evils of life) he is able and willing to over-rule for our highest good; – because we love God and his way and his plan more than self and self's ways – because we are called according to his purpose and have accepted the call, are in sympathy with its object and are seeking so far as in us lies to walk worthy of the Lord and his high calling, and thus to make our calling and election sure. [R1751 : page 4]
Beloved, let us each and all silently pledge ourselves afresh, to the Lord, that, by his grace assisting, this year, 1895, shall be started aright, in humility and with loving zeal for Him and his people and his truth: and that, his grace still assisting us, the year to its very close shall be one of onward and upward effort and progress in the knowledge and likeness (graces) and services of our Redeemer-King.
E. V. Debbs, President of the American Railway Union, has been found guilty of Contempt of Court in connection with the railroad strike and attendant rioting in and near Chicago last summer. His sentence is, Imprisonment for six months. Seven other officers of the same union shared the sentence to the extent of three months.
Our remarks are regardless entirely of the justice of the case, when we say that the effect will be to help widen the breach between Labor and Capital. Labor will surely conclude that it should have liberty to accomplish its ends, even though blood should flow, business be prostrated and all other men inconvenienced. And they will, of course, regard the Judge who gave the sentence as a tool of Capital, and the laws under which he acted and ruled as made in the interest of railroads, even though it could be shown that the laws existed before railroads were dreamed of. As respect for law and its representatives dies, anarchistic ideas will flourish; for however fallen and degraded men are, they have respect for justice. This idea, therefore, that they are subjects of unjust laws and unjust decisions, is at the foundation of the growing unrest amongst the masses. They will even admit the injustice of their own course in interfering with the rights of others; but they will claim that they are merely fighting injustice with injustice.
The fact is that machinery, invention and general intelligence have brought in new conditions to which the laws of the past, however reasonable in their day, are no longer adapted; and it is a fear and despair for the future that is goading many unwillingly to violation of laws which they admit contain wisdom and justice, but which are inadequate to the relief of present conditions.
Capital fears, but, unwilling to lose increment, hopes. It vainly hopes that labor has been taught a lesson to right their wrongs, or fancied disadvantages, by some other means than stopping commerce and destroying property. It does not stop to arrange matters, and to fix a proper relief, a safety-valve. It says, Let Labor look out for itself. It will watch its own interests: it keeps us busy to mind our own business. It does not wisely foresee that it will require much less to drive the majority to despair and to bring an explosion today than at any previous time when the masses were less intelligent, their wants fewer and their contentment greater.
Thus all things are moving onward toward the grand catastrophe pointed out in the Scriptures as the close of this dispensation and the preparation for the next and better one under our prince Immanuel.
The coal mines at Monthieux, France, once operated by a stock company which experienced much trouble in dealing with its workmen, were finally turned over to its workmen free of charge. After a struggle the mine has [R1752 : page 4] gotten to a paying basis, and now requires additional hands. The additional men were not granted a share in the mine, but were hired as wage-workers, and are surprised that their fellows so soon learned to be capitalists. Riots ensued and the laboring capitalists were forced to apply to the police for aid. So says the Hanoverische Courier.
Alas! how differently people can reason under different circumstances. And so long as selfishness rules the heart, it will be so. The only remedy for unbalanced minds on all such subjects is the writing in the heart of the divine law of Love. This will bring "the spirit of a sound mind," and enable those who possess it to think soberly and reasonably, and to look not every man upon his own interest, but also upon the interests of others.
The Catholic journals are in great glee over the fact that a Roman Catholic priest was recently invited by Dr. Briggs and the faculty in general of Union Theological Seminary (Presbyterian) to preach before its students and professors. The Catholic Mirror assures its readers:
"Nothing could be more gratifying to Father Doyle than the reception he was accorded at the theological seminary. Professors and students received him with true brotherly warmth. He was accompanied by Father O'Callaghan (who recently had the distinction of preaching before Harvard University students) and Father O'Keefe. This line of light along our religious horizon is a most comforting sign."
Dr. Briggs, in introducing the speaker, said some things very pleasant to Catholic ears, and hoped that the reunion between Catholics and Protestants was not far distant.
Religious and secular journals, Catholic and Protestant, are discussing the possibility of reunion, and the Protestant Episcopal Church, it is thought, will be invited from Rome ere long, and many think it will readily accept the invitation. We do not share this opinion. To us the Scriptures indicate that the Church of England will unite with the other Protestant churches, or they with her, and that federated together they will fraternize, but not unite, with Papacy.
The thirty-first article of the Anglican confession avers: –
"Wherefore the sacrifices of masses, in which it was commonly said that the priest did offer up Christ, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits."
Even aside from the Scriptures we should reason that very many intelligent Protestants could never accept all of Rome's doctrines. And Rome dare not change them; for her chief claim is infallibility.
The New Theology has broken out afresh amongst the Baptist. Its leader is Rev. A. H. Strong, D.D., president [R1752 : page 5] of Rochester Theological Seminary. Of course he has peculiar ideas, which are "original," if not patented. His views have a strong coloring of Buddhism and Theosophy. Indeed, the Doctor announces himself as a Monist, and he does not scruple to claim that literature, theology and philosophy all evince the overwhelming drift of modern thought toward the views which he has himself finally espoused as the true theology. He declares: –
"It is not too much to say that the Monistic philosophy, in its various forms, holds at present undisputed sway in our American Universities. Harvard and Yale, Brown and Cornell, Princeton and Rochester, Toronto and Ann Arbor, Boston and Chicago, are all teaching it.
"It is of great importance, both to the preacher and to the Christian, to hold the right attitude toward the ruling idea of our time. This universal tendency toward Monism – is it a wave of unbelief, set agoing by an evil intelligence, in order to overwhelm and swamp the religion of Christ? Or is it a mighty movement of the Spirit of God, giving to thoughtful men, all unconsciously to themselves, a deeper understanding of truth, and preparing the way for the reconciliation of diverse creeds and parties by disclosing their hidden ground of unity?
"I confess that I have come to believe the latter alternative to be possibly, and even probably, the correct one; and I am inclined to welcome the new philosophy as a most valuable helper in interpreting the Word and works of God. Monism is, without much doubt, the philosophy of the future, and the only question would seem to be whether it shall be an ethical and Christian, or a nonethical and anti-Christian, Monism.
"If we refuse to recognize this new movement of thought, and to capture it for Christ, we may find that materialism and pantheism perversely launch their craft upon the tide and compel it to further their progress. Let us tentatively accept the monistic principle, and give to it a certain Christian interpretation. Let us not be found fighting against God. Let us use the new light that is given us, as a means of penetrating more deeply into the meaning of Scripture. Let us see in this forward march of thought a sign that Christ and his Kingdom are conquering and to conquer."
How remarkable that a man of learning, nay, that nearly all the men of learning, are being duped by Satan either into spiritism or into theosophic-monism, its sister error. It calls to our minds the words of the Lord that, If it were possible they would deceive the very elect; the Apostle's words, "Who shall be able to stand?" and the Prophet's words, "Who may abide the day of his coming? for he shall be as a refiner's fire and as fuller's soap." The fully consecrated only will stand; and they, not because of their own superior wisdom, but because, being humble minded and wise toward God, they seek that wisdom which cometh from above – the Word of God.
Dr. Strong, like Dr. Briggs and all "new theology" people, speaks respectfully of the Bible while he criticizes it, and thereby will do far more harm than if he openly denied its teachings, as he does in fact. They know very well that the Bible is opposed to their theories, but they also know that an open attack upon it would be as unpopular as Mr. Ingersoll's course.
The new Chicago University, under Baptist patronage, was known to be far advanced toward agnosticism; but they had regarded the Rochester institution, of which Dr. Strong is the head, as very staunch. This deflection will carry with it hundreds of Baptist ministers and thousands of Baptist church members; for there are always many so anxious to be considered wide-awake and advanced that they will strive to be in the front rank of any thing headed by a notable man, and which they think likely to become popular.
Thus the "harvest sifting" progresses – in all denominations. The falling of these "stars," while it will influence the majority, will awaken the true children of God to greater thought and freedom and study. Thus the sickle of truth is separating "wheat" from "tares."
As usual, the denial of the ransom is one of the first steps in the new departure. Dr. Strong remarks concerning the atonement, that the sufferings of Christ for sin began away back at the time when Adam sinned. Hence he cannot have faith in the ransom taught in the Scriptures – "a corresponding price" – the death of the man Christ Jesus for, and to secure the release from the death sentence of Adam and all in Adam when he was condemned. The Scripture teaching is that our Redeemer was made flesh, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. – Heb. 2:9.
While we have frequently called attention to the fact that Protestantism is no longer a protest against the great Papal counterfeit of true Christianity, it is worthy of note that Germany, the home of Luther and the Great Reformation of the sixteenth century, is fast sinking into open and avowed infidelity.
Many theological Professors in the schools of Germany have not only themselves become unbelievers, but through their writings have scattered wide the seeds of error and skepticism; and it is largely from these writings that many of the so-called "higher critics" of this and other lands draw their arguments against the accuracy and authority of the sacred Scriptures.
It is said by Mr. Cooper, a liberal German, that "Critics in search of a reputation are unable to find a book of the New Testament on whose authority they can make an original assault." The statement is current that the number of persons in Germany who disclaim all religion is fourteen times as great as it was in 1871.
A gentleman who has recently been traveling in Germany, in correspondence with the Lutheran Observer, says, that in Berlin, out of a population of 1,600,000, there are less than 60,000 church sittings in the entire city. In Wittenberg, the home of Luther, a city of 16,000 inhabitants, "for decades only one church has been open, and about four hundred people attend there." In Hamburg it is said that out of a population of 400,000 only 5,000 attend public worship. Dr. Stocker, the German Court preacher, published in his own journal the following: – [R1752 : page 6]
"With few exceptions the academically educated German is alienated from the Christian faith. The amount of ancient culture and scientific knowledge which he must take in during the gymnasial time, without a sufficient counterbalance in the world of Christian and national thought leads the German mind, if it be not restrained by special influences, to free thinking and indifference. The discontented condition of our whole public life has its chief cause [R1753 : page 6] in this. Even upon our national relations, such false culture confuses and ungermanizes. In the Church it has wrought irreparable devastation."
Professor Scott, of the Chicago Theological Seminary, who has had extensive opportunity for observation in Germany, in a recent address said: –
"Germany is probably sinking in immorality and crime more rapidly than any other nation in Europe. In some of the cities half the births are illegitimate. In ten years saloons have increased by fifty per cent, and the people are fast becoming sodden with their immoderate beer-drinking."
While such is the religious situation in the land of the Reformation, the social and political conditions are consequently such as to awaken fearful forebodings of an ultimate reign of terror, such as France witnessed a century ago. To such an extent are socialistic and anarchistic sentiments prevailing, that the aid of Papacy, from whose tyranny they fled in the days of Luther, is now being courted in view of the greater evils of impending anarchy. Surely this is the time of "distress of nations."
"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." – Isa. 30:21.
The Prophet describes it as a word, a voice, "behind thee." It is not a voice before thee, of some new theology – of Evolution, or Spiritism, or Christian Science, or other human philosophy – but it is the old theology with all its blessed doctrines of hope through Christ our Redeemer and Lord, our Teacher, our Example and our Leader. It is the voice of the Lord uttered through his inspired apostles and prophets from two to four thousand years ago. It is to this Word of divine inspiration, then, that the prophet would direct the attention of all those desiring wise counsel; and in that Word we hear the voice of God, saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it." If we have come to the forks of the road – to some crisis in our experience – and know not whether to turn to the right or to the left, we should stop at once and listen to the voice. Or, in other words, we should turn at once to the Word of the Lord, and by pondering its precepts and principles and its illustrations bearing on the perplexing subject, seek to learn the will of the Lord, asking also the leading of his spirit and endeavoring to bring the mind into a loving, submissive and trustful attitude. "This is the way, walk ye in it," will be the plain answer to every such inquiring heart.
These words of the Prophet were, however, addressed directly to fleshly Israel, though their application to spiritual Israel is none the less forcible. As applied to them it foretells the return of divine favor to them when the long season of their chastisement and blindness shall be at an end. Then, under the Millennial reign of Christ, the blind eyes shall be opened and the deaf ears shall be unstopped and the voice of the whole inspired Word, then made clear to their understanding, will direct them in the right ways of the Lord; for the books (the law and the prophets and the New Testament Scriptures) shall be opened, and they shall be judged according to their teaching. – Rev. 20:12.
The way then indicated to fleshly Israel and to all the world will be a grand highway of holiness; and the ransomed of the Lord shall go up thereon with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads (Isa. 35:10); and the end of that way will be life and peace, – salvation to the uttermost, from sin and death, and complete restitution to human perfection.
While the way of life will be made very clear to Israel and the world in the age to come, it is made none the less clear now to the children of God who walk by faith and not by sight. It is shown to be (1) a way of faith; and those who now walk by faith are the true seed of Abraham (Rom. 4:12-16), to whom pertain the covenant and the exceeding great and precious promises in their largest fulfilment. (2) It is a way of entire consecration to God, even unto death, which implies the burial of one's own will into the will of God – the presenting of self a living sacrifice.
In harmony with these two principles – of faith and consecration – we are taught to walk, in newness of life, not after the flesh, but after the spirit; not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, but circumspectly and not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time; and not by sight, but by faith. – Rom. 6:4; 8:1; Eph. 4:17,18; 5:15,16; 2 Cor. 5:7.
By faith and consecration we have come into a new life as spiritual sons of God, and yet we have this treasure in earthen vessels and the new life is only in its embryo [R1753 : page 7] condition. Hence the necessity of walking after the spiritual instincts of the new nature and keeping down the stronger impulses of the old nature. This is what it is to walk in newness of life, after the spirit, and not after the flesh. To walk after the flesh is to pursue its hopes, aims and ambitions; and since the flesh and the spirit are at war one with the other, it is impossible to maintain the life of both. Therefore, it is written, "If ye [spirit-begotten ones] live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye, through the spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live." – Rom. 8:13.
While the Word of the Lord speaks thus on general principles as to the way in which we should walk, we are also bidden to come with all the minor affairs of life, to inquire of these divine oracles. If we know not whether to turn to the right or to the left, we come and find the promise, "Commit thy way unto the Lord, and he will direct thy steps." Or, if heavy laden, we find the promise, "Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Thus the voice behind brings comfort, peace and rest in the midst of all life's cares and trials, if we walk in obedience to its principles and precepts. "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God."
"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye, through the spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."– Rom. 8:13. –
Neither does the text say anything about faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ as a requisite to salvation: it says nothing whatever about what we believe or do not believe, but simply and only about how we live. Shall we, therefore, spring to the conclusion, as many do, that it teaches that it makes no difference what we believe if we only live righteously? By no means; and those who consider it to be in conflict with either the doctrine of restitution (the Millennial age of judgment or trial for the world) or the ransom, or who have failed to observe its contradiction of the theory of eternal torment, have taken but a shallow observation of the Apostle's teaching, and in fact have lost its entire force.
Not noticing that the words are addressed to the Church, and not to the world, the heedless Christian applies the admonition to the world, and allows it to lose its force upon himself. This is the very reverse of the Apostle's intention: he is talking to the saints, to consecrated believers in the redemption, who have been begotten of the holy Spirit and become new creatures in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:1-8.) And it is for this reason that he says nothing here about faith in the ransom, that being conceded; nor about the Millennial age of trial, because those addressed are on trial now, and their trial will be over and their reward obtained before the world comes into judgment. – 1 Cor. 6:2.
The warning, therefore, is not at all applicable to the world, but is full of solemn import to the Church – to the consecrated believers, new creatures in Christ Jesus, who, having been begotten of the holy Spirit, have now a spiritual nature, the old human nature having been consecrated to death. Such, having solemnly covenanted with God to present their bodies – their human nature – a living sacrifice (which was acceptable through Christ, and therefore accepted [R1748 : page 8] of him), and to henceforth live after the spirit, are not at liberty now either to annul that covenant, or to ignore it. They cannot claim again that (redeemed human nature) to which, by their covenant, they have given up all right, claim and title. And if they endeavor to do so, either by ignoring or despising their covenant, they thereby forfeit their claim to the new, spiritual nature, which can only be attained by faithfulness to the covenant of sacrifice, even unto death.
It is therefore logically manifest, even if the Apostle had not said it, that if we, consecrated believers, turn back again to live after the flesh, we shall die; that for us to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Rom. 8:6.) Our Lord's words in Matt. 16:24,25 are to the same effect – "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
An important question then is, What is it to live after the flesh? We answer, It is to live after, or in conformity to, and in gratification of, the inclinations and cravings of the fallen human nature. And it is the easiest thing possible to do this. All we have to do is just listlessly to abandon ourselves to the current of our old nature, and cease to strive against it. As soon as we do this, we begin to float down the stream, and by and by we find the current more and more rapid and resistance more and more difficult.
The death to which our text points as the inevitable end of such a course, is manifestly the "second" death. We were redeemed from the first death and then placed on trial for eternal life, and in the event of failure, the loss of that new life will be the second death, – from which there can be no redemption and no deliverance.
The Apostle defines the works of the flesh thus (Gal. 5:19-21) – "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, – Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings and such like." What moral filth and pollution this describes; but such is the tendency of the fallen human nature. Just cease to strive against the old nature, and presently some of these noxious weeds will be flourishing and crowding out the good that remains.
"Ah, well," says one, "I have not all those mean qualities." Well, we are glad you have not: very few people have all of them; but beware, you may not know what manner of spirit you are of. Be sure that your old nature is not without an inherited and perhaps a formerly cultivated bias in some of these directions. Watch and pray against them, that ye enter not into temptation.
On the other hand, consider the blessed fruits of the spirit (Gal. 5:22,23), which are "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law." To live in the cultivation of these graces is to "live in the spirit." And "if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit" – make progress in the spiritual life. "Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh; for the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other." – Gal. 5:25,16.
Thus the Christian life is of necessity a warfare, a battle, between the new and the old natures, a hand to hand conflict which we dare not relinquish; for, not only is the prize of our high calling dependent upon it, but also the issues of life and death are in it. How solemn a thing is it, therefore, to live under these circumstances; for daily and hourly we stand before the bar of judgment. The words of our text have no application to the world now, but to us who are now on trial: If we live after the flesh, we shall die; but if through the spirit we do mortify [put to death, refuse to gratify] the deeds of the body [the tendencies of the old nature], we shall live." And all who are truly the sons of God will do this: "for," says the Apostle (verse 14), "as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God." If we wilfully refuse the leading of God's spirit, we forfeit the relationship of sons; if we listlessly disregard it, we endanger that relationship, and as surely as we are sons we shall receive chastisement for our correction and discipline.
But while we should be very grateful for the chastening, restraining hand of the Lord which thus helps to keep us in the straight and narrow way in which the spirit of God leads his own, we should be very careful to require just as little of it as possible. "If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged of the Lord" and chastened. (1 Cor. 11:31,32.) But, nevertheless, with the most careful and prayerful watching against the uprisings of the old will of the flesh, we will doubtless make some missteps and need some of the Lord's chastening; for, says the Apostle (Heb. 12:5-12), "What son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons, but if ye be without chastisement whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Let us, therefore, not forget the exhortation which speaketh unto us as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him."
In the difficult course before us, and in view of all the dangers that beset it, how blessed is the promise that our Heavenly Father is ever willing to give the holy spirit to them that ask him, and the assurance also that if we be filled with the spirit we shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. How necessary is it, therefore, to live near the fountain of divine grace, to pray without ceasing – especially in these last times when our great adversary is so active and so cunning in his devices to deceive and lead astray the Lord's people.
The words of the poet are most appropriate to every one at this particular time –
"Leave no unguarded place,
No weakness of the soul;
Take every virtue, every grace,
And fortify the whole."
I. QUAR., LESSON I., JAN. 6, MARK 6:17-29.
Then when the multitudes, drawn by the power of God manifested in him, came to him from every quarter, and he became very popular, never did he seem lifted up with pride and vanity. Even when the Son of God came to be baptized of him, instead of becoming vain under such an honor, he shrank from the task, saying, "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" No thought of envy or self-exaltation seems to have entered his mind. He was willing that his glory should be totally eclipsed by the presence of the one greater than he – his cousin according to the flesh – yet whose shoe's latchet he declared himself unworthy to loose. "He must increase," said he, "but I must decrease;" and while the fame of Jesus was being noised abroad, the worthy prophet soon found himself within the confines of a prison dungeon where he was cruelly beheaded, as the world's reward for his faithfulness to his mission.
And his disciples, who had become the disciples of Jesus, hearing of it, came and took his body and buried it, and went and told Jesus. No doubt, the Lord sympathized with the sadness of the occasion, and groaned in spirit as he did at the grave of Lazarus, – because the time for the powers of darkness to work had not yet come to an end, and until it does those that live godly shall suffer persecution; and often, as also in his own case subsequently, even unto death. Evidently John's course was finished. He had fulfilled his mission and proved his worthiness of a distinguished place in the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God. Consequently there was no effort on the Lord's part to interfere with, or to influence, the powers of darkness that for a year restrained John's liberty and finally took his life.
While the Lord never in any way interfered with the course of this world, either to instruct, reprove or overpower, but confined his ministry in all these respects to Israel, the course of John in boldly and openly reproving the king, who was not an Israelite, but a Gentile and a godless and wicked tyrant, was in marked contrast. We are at a loss to account for this contrast, and for the seeming lack of wisdom on John's part in this matter, until we call to mind the typical character of John to which attention has already been called. (See M. DAWN, VOL. II., Chap. VIII.) In this view of the matter we see King Herod as the representative of the world power of the present time, Herodias, his unlawful wife, as the representative or type of the ecclesiastical powers of Christendom now seeking and longing for union with, and the co-operation of, the civil powers. Such is to be the result of the present movements in both civil and ecclesiastical circles for closer bonds of sympathy and co-operation. John, as we have shown, was a striking type of the true Church in the "harvest" or end of this age. We, like John, must stand aloof from all those whose cry is, "A confederacy, a confederacy!" (Isa. 8:11-13); and by our teaching and example declare unlawful the proposed and sure to come union between church and civil government.
The type is a striking one, and the fulfilment thus far is none the less so; but carried to its end it gives to the faithful overcoming Church a premonition of the approaching final test of faithfulness. As the course of John incurred the wrath of the infamous woman who ruled the king and thereby accomplished John's beheading, so the course of the John class – the true Church – will incur the wrath of the antitype. And the culmination of that wrath will doubtless bring about the dark night foretold by the Lord and the prophet, and typified by John's imprisonment (John 9:4; Isa. 21:12), wherein no man can labor in the great "harvest" work. And as John never emerged from that prison, save to enter the deeper dungeon of the grave from whence God will in due time bring him forth to power and glory, so when the coming night imprisons and fetters the faithful elect, the only deliverance they can hope for will be through the depths of the valley of the shadow of death into the glorious Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whose they are and whom they serve.
For an explanation of the golden text see our issue of Feb. 1893 – "What saith the Scriptures about Hell."
I. QUAR., LESSON II., JAN. 13, MARK 6:30-44. Parallel Accounts – Matt. 14:13-21; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14.
Doubtless it was in view of these considerations, as well as of the necessity, on the part of his disciples for rest and spiritual refreshment from himself, that Jesus counselled their retirement with him to a rural retreat beyond the dominions of Herod, where they might rest awhile. [R1754 : page 10] Just so the Lord would have all his disciples come to him for counsel and for rest and refreshment. "He never asks of us such busy labor as finds no time for resting at his feet." Nor would he have us rest too long when other weary hearts are waiting for our ministries of love and consolation. His invitation is, not to the listless and idle, but to the active souls – "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" – rest in the midst of your cares and trials and perplexities, a sweet rest of mind, and peace, which the world with all its delusive charms can never give, nor with all its sin and woe can ever take away.
In this case the season of retirement continued only until their boat landed on the opposite shore of the sea of Galilee, where about five thousand men, besides women and children (Matt. 14:21), awaited the Lord's ministry. Then came refreshment of their faith, the inspiring of their zeal and the revival of their hopes as they heard the Master's gracious words to the multitudes and witnessed his miracles of healing (Matt. 14:14) and finally the great miracle of feeding the whole multitude to their satisfaction on the five loaves and two fishes, so marvelously increased that twelve baskets of fragments were gathered after they had been fed.
While the chief object of the miracle was doubtless to reinforce and establish the faith of the apostles, its secondary object and actual effect upon the multitudes was very similar; for they said, "This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world." But "when Jesus perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone." (John 6:14,15.) The Lord afterward on another occasion (Matt. 16:9,10) sought to further impress upon the minds of his apostles the lesson of faith which this miracle was given to establish in them specially.
It is further worthy of notice that the Lord's miracles of feeding and of healing were performed, not upon his consecrated disciples, but upon others. His followers having covenanted to share with him in the work of sacrifice, might therefore, like him, avail themselves only of the natural means of recuperation, relinquishing all right, claim and title to all restitution privileges. When Christ was weary, he rested (John 4:6); when he was hungry, he partook of food, and never in any case worked a miracle for his own present benefit, nor for his disciples. (Matt. 4:2-4; 2 Cor. 12:8-10.) The disciples also followed his example (1 Tim. 5:23), any other course being inconsistent with their covenant.
The golden text is a part of the prophetic utterance of Elizabeth in her salutation of Mary prior to the birth of Christ. It has reference to the restitution blessings to be granted to all the meek of the earth through the Millennial reign of Christ. As in many other prophecies, the standpoint of the future is taken and the things are spoken of as accomplished facts. For examples of this method see Isa. 9:6; Rom. 4:17.
I. QUAR., LESSON III., JAN. 20, John 6:25-35.
Before the day dawned, the Lord improved another opportunity to impress upon his disciples the lesson of his divine anointing. Walking upon the waves of a stormy sea, he bade them trust him, saying, "It is I, be not afraid."
The day following proved how eager and excited the people were over the power of Jesus manifested among them; for multitudes had taken shipping and gone to Capernaum seeking for him. Their seeking him, however, was not from a clear apprehension of his divine credentials, but rather from curiosity and probably an increasing determination to push him forward to the ruling position, from which they presumed he shrank merely from a sense of modesty.
Verses 26,27. The Lord read their thoughts and sought to draw their attention away from the mere facts of his miracles to the lessons which they and all Israel should have learned from them; viz., that they were the divine testimonials to his Messiahship, the seals of God, whereby they might know him, and that therefore they should believe on him and become his disciples and followers.
Verses 28,29. To their question, "What shall we do that we might work the works of God" – the works that would please God – he replied that the work most pleasing and acceptable to God would be their exercise of faith in him, as the one whom God had sent in fulfilment of his promise to their fathers. Thus the Lord indicated the importance of a right faith. Many to-day ask the same question, hoping to please God by their works, and underrating the importance of faith. Such a course is contrary to the Lord's teaching: first get the faith rightly established in Christ; receive him into the heart, and then out of the heart filled with his spirit will flow words and deeds pleasing to God. Without faith – the faith inspired by the divine Word – it is impossible to please God.
Verses 30-36. In their unbelief the quibbling multitude began to draw a comparison between the miracle which Jesus had worked in their midst and the more extensive miracle of feeding all Israel in the wilderness with manna from heaven; and they demanded a similar sign. But no such gratification was granted them: they had sufficient evidence upon which to found faith had they been so disposed, and upon that evidence Jesus founded his claim and declared himself the bread of life – the manna sent down from heaven, the bread of life for all Israel and the world as well. This gift of God, this bread from heaven, was a greater miracle than the feeding with manna in the wilderness.
Those who partake of this manna, he declared, should never die. Though they sleep (in the Adamic death), they shall not be hurt of the eternal death (the Second Death) from which there shall be no resurrection.
There is an idea prevalent that to be in a hurry is a sign of importance, of large business and large achievements. It is a serious mistake. An experienced person always mistrusts the man who hurries, for he fails in emergencies. Serenity of mind and leisurely action are necessary to fine work of any kind. It is in leisure that the mind assimilates best.
Scipio Africanus declared, "I am never less at leisure than when at leisure." A rare bit of wisdom of which all reflective minds know the value. If we admit this as true, the inelegance of a hurried manner has the best of reasons. It is wasteful, inconsistent with the finest action, and is caused by a man losing control of himself, and suggests an uneasy, indecisive mind.
A distinction, however, should be recognized between activity and excited hurry, and between slowness and self-possession. Activity with self-possession is the desirable condition.
Most of the shells of the oyster are pearly in the interior; and as the true pearls are merely morbid growths, they may all produce pearls of various qualities. The formation of pearls is caused by the introduction of irritating substances, such as grains of sand, between the mantle and the shell. The irritation causes the animal to cover the obnoxious object with layers of pearl, which generally attach the foreign body to the interior of the shell. The Chinese produce pearls artificially by placing substances in the position just described; and we have seen some shells to the interior of which small metal images were attached by this pearly secretion.
When we look at a pearl, we look at an annoyance which has been ennobled. The oyster by itself is of merely nominal value. But the result of the oyster's own treatment of its irritation – the pearl – is something "of great price." Apart from its pecuniary worth this gem has a moral significance. It suggests that troubles may be made beautiful, and reminds us that amongst mankind some martyrs are more remembered for the glory with which they invested their sorrows than for any other portion of their lives. Biography has its moral pearls, which are treasured long after the creators of them have perished, just as material pearls are valued long years after the oysters have been discarded.
There are men who have strong and laudable desires to serve the Lord, and who fervently pray for his glory; but he does not always seem to hear their prayers. There are various reasons for this. Sometimes men are unfit for the Lord's service. They are not purged from their sins; they are not vessels unto honor, fitted for the Master's use; and so he sets them aside as not adapted to his work. Sometimes men wish to do great things, but find themselves straitened, hindered, limited and circumscribed; sometimes they are reserved for still greater work; in other cases they are rejected of the Lord for reasons well known to him.
Moses longed to lead Israel into Canaan, but he was not permitted to enter the promised land. So David would gladly have built the temple at Jerusalem, but the Lord would not accept that service at his hands. Paul was forbidden by the holy Spirit to preach the gospel in Asia, and though he essayed to go into Bithynia, the Spirit suffered him not. In like manner we may have desires and aspirations for usefulness which will never be gratified. The Lord may see that we could not bear the exaltation and the honor which we seek. He knows far better than we do what is for our good, and so he would have us rest contented in his providence, not idle, but diligent; not careless, but watchful; not indifferent, but full of intense, earnest longing to do the will of God; yet patient under restraint, and content to be neglected and forgotten, remembering that "they also serve who only stand and wait," and that the Lord in his own well-chosen hour can lead us forth to fulfill his purposes of grace.
MY DEAR SIR: – MILLENNIAL DAWN was introduced to me by some of its opponents; and after spending about nine months endeavoring to prove its teaching to be wrong, I came to the conclusion that it is perfectly scriptural. I have since joined a small class we have near here [See letter of Bro. Townsend in last TOWER], and we meet every Sunday and Tuesday, with a view to learning from the Bible the "present" truth.
I heartily thank our Father for the truths he has been pleased to publish through yourself, and my earnest prayer is that as each of us comes more fully into the light, we may realize the more our responsibility as "bondservants" of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, through whom alone is possible our acceptance. May we live every day as in his presence. Yours in the one faith,
GENTLEMEN: – I take pleasure in availing myself of the offer made in one of your excellent tracts, which found its way into my hands, and request your generosity to send me "A Reply to Ingersoll" and whatever other tracts you believe would be beneficial to one who has been driven into skepticism by the pernicious teachings of orthodoxy; assured that he will take pains to spread the truth wherever he can, as fast as he can get hold of it himself.
DEAR BROTHER: – A Brother recently picked up, among the rubbish of the freight room of a railway station, an old, well-worn copy of a book, entitled MILLENNIAL DAWN. He read it with increasing interest, and then handed it to me with the request that I read it and get the other volumes of the series. I have only glanced over the volume, but find many things that are in accord with my own ideas of God's Plan of Redemption, and hence am the more anxious to secure the entire series. Please send me your catalogue, and oblige,
DEAR BRO. RUSSELL: – Several months ago I decided to write, informing you of my appreciation of your labors and expressing my deep gratitude to you, as the instrument of the divine spirit, in my enlightenment in the blessed "harvest truth;" but though tardy in acknowledging my indebtedness, I trust you will believe that my appreciation and gratitude are not the less sincere.
Remarkable indeed is the change that has taken place in my life since reading MILLENNIAL DAWN. The world appears new, for "old things have passed away." It is only about a year since I left the nominal church, yet it seems like an age, so great is the disparity between my past and present beliefs.
Bro. Pearson (whose experience is similar) and I had been for about seven years local preachers in the Primitive Methodist denomination; but for some months prior to our leaving, we had been restless and dissatisfied. The hollowness of the religious life of the orthodox churches, the shallow thought, the assumed authority and the greed of many of its teachers had caused a feeling within us, which was sufficiently manifested to induce among our friends grave uneasiness concerning our spiritual welfare. The trend of our life undoubtedly was toward the so-called "liberal thought" of the day. Both of us, by nature ambitious, naturally sought to be in the advance guard of religious truth.
One doctrine that was a great factor in causing our dissatisfaction with orthodoxy, was that of "Hell." For some months before we left the Church we prided ourselves upon the fact that we never alluded to that place of eternal torture, except in a condemnatory tone, in any of our sermons. We could not prove that it was not taught in the Scriptures, yet we thought that somehow it must be untrue. At any rate, we did not believe in it, but instead made rapid progress toward Universalism. The climax was brought about by Bro. Pearson reading a Christadelphian work, which had been in his house for years. He passed it on to me, and I too, fell under its influence. To our minds, dissatisfied with the palpable errors of Orthodoxy, and unlearned in the true teaching of Scripture, there seemed no escape from its logic. But we were by no means satisfied, for our hearts craved something broader and kindlier than its narrow and harsh doctrines. We felt we could do nothing else than sever our connection with "Babylon." It cut us to the heart to do so, for to both of us the Church had seemed a second home. Our friends and relations were its members. We had attained a position of some honor and influence in connection therewith. We were besought not to leave. It was a dark trial to leave the church of our fathers; it was a dark trial to be forced to believe in the doctrines of Christadelphianism. We sought to escape from its domination, we held interviews with several gentlemen representing sects who made professions of having come out of the "Churches." It was of no avail. The only result of the interviews was to make us wonder why they made so much noise about coming out; for on almost all, if not all, fundamental points their beliefs were marvelously alike. But after a few weeks of great trouble we met Bro. Pickworth, previously connected with the same church, who lent us the DAWNS and one or two numbers of the TOWER. Our darkness was changed to light: we felt that we had obtained that for which our hearts had so long been hungering. What wonderful things they have brought to light from the Scriptures! I cannot sufficiently [R1756 : page 12] praise the dear Lord.
After two or three months' study of the "harvest truth," we commenced preaching services in the town hall. It has been an uphill work. Our experience has brought us to concur heartily in the belief expressed in a recent TOWER – that the most effective factor in spreading the truth is the printed page. I enclose order for two Pounds. Please send me the value in DAWNS, also some copies of that excellent tract, "Do you know?" and any others you may deem suitable.
We feel the solemn responsibility of our position as pioneers of the harvest truth in this Austral land. We ask your prayers on our behalf.
DEAR BRO. RUSSELL: – I hand you herewith payment for two TOWER subscriptions.
Personally, I have received much needed light on God's precious promises, and have also had my faith in the same greatly increased by reading the TOWER. And I wish to do what I can towards sending the truth to friends, so take this means, as I have already supplied them with DAWN.
I also take this opportunity of extending to you my heartfelt gratitude for the comfort and hope that God's message through your books has established within me. Have read and re-read the volumes with increased pleasure and profit. God's plans seem more reasonable and harmonious to me now than ever before. And yet I feel there is much more I need to learn. Received much assistance over rough places from dear friend Bohnet.
Yours, stronger in faith, and hungering for all the truth,
GENTLEMEN: – A friend loaned me the three volumes of MILLENNIAL DAWN, and I am so well pleased with them (I not being a member of any religious sect nor an attendant at any religious meetings) that I want to own it myself, and read it again, and then induce other of my non-religious friends to read it. It seems to touch a chord in my nature that no other religious work ever did, and it has induced me also to read the Bible and with a better understanding than ever before.
I avail myself of your offer to TOWER subscribers to get the work at a reduced price. Respectfully,
ZION'S WATCH TOWER: – I was born and raised an Israelite, but, thank God! "the truth has made me free."
Enclosed find one dollar, for which please send me some tracts for distribution. If you think it would be more effective to give away DAWNS, send them instead.
I wish all could derive as much pleasure from MILLENNIAL DAWN as I have. I am trying to be an "Israelite indeed." And in course of time, when I have mastered their contents, it will give me pleasure to declare in public what I shall gain from those books. May the Lord bless you all.
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January 1st
| VOL. XVI. | JANUARY 15, 1895. | No. 2. |
'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 accident, or other adversity are unable to pay for the TOWER will be supplied FREE, if they will send a Postal Card each December, stating their case and requesting the paper.
TRACTS Nos. 1, 3, 4, 12 and 22 are out at present. Nos. 1, 12 and 22 will be ready in about six weeks.
TRACT No. 25, "THE ONLY NAME, – A criticism of Bp. Foster's New Gospel" – we have now in good supply. Our present edition is 130,000 copies. Order sample copies for all the honest-hearted of your Christian friends, free.
WE have arranged to supply to our readers Emerson's Patent Cloth Binders of the proper size for the TOWER, large enough to contain say 50 copies, representing at present full two years' issues. The usual price for them is 80 cents, but by special arrangement for quantities we can include postage and supply these at 60 cents each.
THE address label on your TOWER wrapper is a receipt for subscription and shows the date to which you have paid. For instance, your payment for the present year, if there were no past dues would change your "tag" to read Dec. '95. But owing to the rush of letters at this season of the year, we are usually behind in the work of correcting the "tags." We hope to have all changes made by Feb. 15.
For the benefit of our new readers we mention that we still have copies of several of our back issues dealing with subjects of special interest, as follows –
The Scripture Teaching respecting the subject of God; – the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. June '92.
What Saith the Scripture About Hell? An examination of every text of the Bible containing the word "hell," and many others supposed to imply the thought of eternal torment. Feb. '93.
The True Church; – which it is, where to find it and how to join it. Sept. '93.
The Law of God – the Sabbath, etc. – a most important subject, upon which all Christians should have a clear understanding. We know of nothing in print so well adapted as this to meet and answer the peculiar points of doctrine on this subject set forth by Seventh-day keepers. Nov. '94.
The above are all double numbers – ten cents each (free to Lord's interested poor). For circulation we will supply them at rate of six for twenty-five cents, or twenty-five for one dollar.
ONE of the sensations of the world during the past few months has been the disclosures made before the LEXOW COMMITTEE of investigation, showing that the government of the city of New York has for years been in league with gamblers, the keepers of immoral houses, and thieves; and that probably millions of dollars were paid within the past fifteen years to the "Tammany" democracy by merchants and others for special police protection, and by thieves and others as blackmail to save them from justice.
The public, irrespective of party, rejoices to be relieved of such polluting parasites, and its thanks and commendations go out in large measure to the Rev. Dr. Parkhurst (Presbyterian), whose energy and perseverance had very much to do with the present exposure.
The public has an eye to utility, and sees in this a new field of usefulness for ministers. The public sees no value in faith, but great value in works. It virtually says, – "Ministers are useful in their way: they help to keep up the moral tone of society by Sunday orations, visit the sick, and offer consolations to the bereaved at funerals; and why not keep their eyes on our office-holders and be ready and active in every reform? Would not this be a most practical way of enforcing Christian principles respecting honesty, etc., and a way that would make the Churches and their ministers more popular?"
Ministers will at first disdain such a course, but as it will appear more and more that it would please and interest the public, and as purely religious interest will be seen to be failing, we may be sure that ambition will lead out one minister after another into this new field – political, moral and religious combined – until it will be once more considered quite the proper thing (as in the days of Calvin and Zwingli), and Church and State will be practically one, although still theoretically two. Keep watch along this line: you will see it gradually draw nearer until the federative Union of all Protestant denominations shall have been accomplished – then matters will move forward rapidly.
Reliable accounts of the atrocious attack recently made by Turkish soldiers (Mohammedans) on several villages of Armenian Catholics in Turkey show that the spirit of savagery still exists in the breasts of fallen men as much as it did during the so-called "dark ages." Men, women and children were shot, stabbed and cut to pieces, their houses were set on fire and the occupants driven back with swords and bayonets when they attempted to escape. The descriptions almost equal the history of massacres of Waldenses, Huguenots, etc., by the papists.
In southern Russia, especially in the Polish provinces, there resides a class of very simple-hearted Christians, who are too enlightened from a Scriptural standpoint to have fellowship in the forms, ceremonies and image worship of either the Greek or Roman Catholic Churches. Since no other Christian churches or worship are tolerated in Russia, these have no preachers or preaching services. They have for years, however, held prayer-meetings at which some times one of their number would have a Bible and read therefrom to their general edification. These meetings usually last one hour (we are under the impression that a law hinders a longer session), and the people have been nick-named "Stundists," from the German word meaning an hour.
Some years ago one of our brethren (now interested in the present truth) was arrested and compelled to leave the country, because as a Bible Society's agent he was quietly circulating the Bible amongst these poor people. They are [R1756 : page 16] brought to our attention now by the decree of the Russian [R1757 : page 16] government, published in the Official Messenger, Dec. 5, '94, prohibiting the "Stundists" from holding their prayer meetings and declaring them to be a religious sect most dangerous to the Church and State. Yes! the Bible in its purity and simplicity is always dangerous to the prosperity of superstition and tyranny – and however meek and law-abiding its adherents may be, they must be suppressed, so far as priest craft can control the governmental arm.
How long will it be after the coming federative union of all Protestant denominations and their entente cordiale with the Papacy, before they will feel that ZION'S WATCH TOWER and MILLENNIAL DAWN are "dangerous" to their welfare, because they hold up to the common people the word of God in its simplicity? We are expecting that time to come, but not for at least ten years in Great Britain and in this land where liberty has made and will yet make its bravest struggle. Meantime, let all who love the truth serve it diligently. "Labor while it is called to-day; for the night cometh wherein no man can work."
The Guardian, Bombay, India, says on this subject:
"The same spirit of intolerance is spreading toward all who love and worship God according to the holy Scriptures in that country. The British and Foreign Bible Societies' depot in Kiev has been closed by the order of the Governor-General, Count Ignatieff. A further step has been taken by an order, which is published in several Russian papers, forbidding the colportage of Bibles carried on in the provinces which stand under this Governor.
"It is alleged, as the ground of this prohibition, that the Societies' workers have been guilty of spreading the doctrines of 'Stundism.' What has led to such a charge is difficult to see, as the colporteurs are in almost all cases loyal members of the Russian Church, and have received stringent injunctions to avoid implications with all forbidden movements. In the district of Saraisk, in a certain village, the chief of the rural gendarmerie had observed that several peasants were in the habit of meeting in the cottage of one of their number, where they read the Gospels, prayed, and sang hymns. Suspecting these persons to be 'Stundists,' the officer raided the place and arrested ten peasants who were assembled in religious conclave. Before the local magistrates the accused declared that they were faithful Orthodox believers, but that, as the Scriptures were never read or expounded to them by the priests, they claimed the right to do this for themselves. The Court held that the case came within the rescript with regard to the "Stundists," and each of the accused peasants was fined fifty rubles (about $37), or, in default, ten weeks' imprisonment."
The clergy of the Greek Catholic Church of Southern Russia recently met at Kiev to discuss the present position and prospects of the "Stundists." Its report has just been presented to Governor-General Ignatieff. It states that in their opinion Stundism is no longer able to attract great masses of the people from the Greek or "Orthodox" Church. They thank the Governor-General for the help of the secular arm in combating heresy and state that the measures most effective were the following: (1) Forbidding the meeting together of the heretics for prayer. (2) Forbidding the colportage of the British Bible Society. (3) The ordinance by which children baptized into the "Orthodox" or Greek Church can be removed from the guardianship of either parent becoming connected with the Stundists. (4) Forbidding Stundists from membership or other association in societies of artisans. (5) The enactment preventing Stundists from purchasing land.
Truly these Stundists must be our "brethren;" for their only crimes (?) seem to be love for the Lord, a desire to worship him in the spirit of the truth, and a desire to be separate from the Greek quarter of "that great city" Babylon. Give them your sympathy and prayers. Should the Lord open the door for it these people would doubtless be found hungry and thirsty for the truth, and we should take pleasure in doing what we could to serve it to them. But there is little hope now, since even the Bible Society's representatives have been excluded. The "night" has already come to them. Let us the more diligently labor for others upon whom such restrictions have not yet come.
It is well known that Roman Catholics have for years encouraged the military spirit amongst their young and middle-aged men, who are known as "Hibernian Rifles," and other names, and are regularly drilled and equipped. The American Protective Association freely charges that the basement of nearly every Catholic church is an arsenal, well stocked with rifles and general ammunitions of war, ready for a conflict which they hold will be incited by papists to get possession of the government. But we pass by this view, which if it ever was Rome's policy we believe has been abandoned, at least for the present, in favor of more cunning as well as more peaceable methods of gaining the same desired end; and we now call attention to the fact that the military spirit not only permeates all the colleges of the land (to many of which the U.S. Government regularly supplies free professors of military tactics), but is being adopted by enterprising Protestant Sunday School Superintendents in the larger cities all over our land. Summer picnics and Christmas treats and S.S. papers and books are growing stale, and something new must be devised to fix the religious interest of the rising generation and hold them in the Sunday School, – which will also insure the presence of female scholars.
We do not charge the promoters of this new enterprise with any really bad motives: they are certainly free from Jesuitical schemes. But what a commentary it is upon the spiritual condition of the various denominations of Christendom, that they are not only blind and cannot see afar off and have [almost] forgotten that they were purged from their old sins (2 Pet. 1:9), but they are so very blind that they do not see that the spirit they are cultivating is the very reverse of the spirit of Christ, who is called "the Prince [R1757 : page 17] of Peace," and who declared, "They that take the sword shall perish with the sword," and said, My Kingdom is not of this world, else would my servants fight, but now because ye are not of the world [and under my teachings are opposed to wars, fightings, etc., and are children of the "God of peace"], therefore the world [which is of the other spirit] hateth you. – Matt. 26:52; John 18:36; 15:19.
As we look out from our office window we see three companies of boys, ranging in years from ten to twenty, in blue uniforms and with imitation (wooden) guns and swords drilling in front of the First Presbyterian Church; and picking up the daily paper we note that the same is going on everywhere, and that within the past few days the Secretary of War, by influential request, loaned a lot of regular military repeating rifles to a company of the larger Christian (?) soldier boys of one of the New York Church Sunday Schools, and that they gave "a very creditable exhibition," which drew to them general attention and applause for their skill.
Our thoughts run on into the future in line with what God's Word shows us is "coming upon the world," and we wonder how any can be so blind as not to see that
"All things are onward moving" in perfect accord with what God has prophetically outlined.
Truly the morning cometh, when the nations "shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruninghooks, neither shall they learn war any more." (Isa. 2:4.) But that time lies beyond a dark intervening "night," and for that night all the world is preparing, consciously or unconsciously. This, too, is pointed out by the Prophet, who cries the Lord's message to this Laodicean phase of Christendom, saying, –
"Proclaim ye this among the nations, Prepare war, wake up the mighty men;...let them come up – all the men of war. Beat your plow-shares into swords, and your pruningknives into spears: let the weak say, 'I am a hero.' Assemble hastily together, and come, all ye nations from every side, and gather yourselves together: Thither, O Jehovah, cause thy mighty ones to come down!
"Let the nations awake, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat [God's pleading judgment]; for there will I sit to judge all the nations from every side.... Multitudes, multitudes, are in the valley of decision [trial, crisis], for near is the Day of Jehovah in the valley of decision. Sun and moon [Gospel and Law] are obscured and the brilliancy of the stars [teachers, especially the apostles – Rev. 12:1] is obscured. And the Lord will roar out of Zion [the elect Church], and from Jerusalem [Israel in restoration] will send forth his voice; and the heavens [nominal church] and the earth [society] shall quake: but the Lord shall be a refuge for his people, and a strong hold for the sons of Israel." – Joel 3:9-16.
"There are ministers of the Gospel who are losing golden opportunities for usefulness, because they have not been called to fill a conspicuous pastorate. Their light, they are quite sure, was intended for a lighthouse on some oft traveled sea, and they cannot come down to the humble destiny and duty of a village lamp." – N.Y. Observer.
This same fault can be found nearer home. How many of God's children, readers of the WATCH TOWER, are praying to God to open to them some great work to do in his name and for the spread of his truth, and are neglecting opportunities God has already given them in their homes and in their neighborhoods, etc. The Lord loves most the humble who take hold of the most important work they [R1758 : page 17] see to do and do it with their might, and when he wants a servant for an important place in his service, he gives the opening to these humble ones. Their humility permits him to honor them without injuring them, and thus permits them more and more to honor him.
Of all religionists "Protestants" seem the most inconsistent. Evangelist Moody continues to charge Protestants a good stiff price for reviving them, but shows his love for papists by donating $500 to help build a Roman Catholic church, and by prohibiting the sale upon his school premises of a newspaper containing an anti-Romanist article.
The World's Parliament of Religions clearly showed that many professed ministers of Christ were not only ready to ignore the faith, but even the name of Christ – to draw men after them.
Recently a Baptist church edifice was dedicated, and all the denominations of the town were represented at the ceremony by their ministers except the Roman Catholic. For his consistency and honesty the priest was roundly denounced. His reply was to the effect that he recognized a wide difference between the teachings of his church and that of the one to be honored by the dedicatory services, and that he wished to be consistent and honest in his conduct as well as in his professions.
A Jewish synagogue was dedicated in Cleveland, and Protestant ministers vied with each other at the service to show that faith in Christ means nothing. This is not Christian love, or "love of the brethren," so highly commended by the Apostle as one of the evidences that we "have passed from death unto life." It is worldly love – the result either of ignorance or of disloyalty to Christ. It is the kind of love mentioned in the Scriptures thus: "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
Far better, far more consistent, is the Jewish view of the matter, expressed by the Jewish Exponent, as follows:
"The participation of Christian divines in the services at Jewish houses of worship, a notable instance of which – at the dedication of a synagogue in Cleveland – has attracted attention, is accepted as a welcome evidence of good-will and mutual toleration, if it has no under or deeper significance.
"It must be confessed, however, that the expression of this sentiment in this way does not seem specially appropriate. For men to ignore broad lines of demarkation, and to announce a harmony where none exists, can only lead to eventual discord. We prefer that Christians and Jews shall remain distinct in the domain of religion, mutually [R1758 : page 18] respecting each other's convictions, but agreeing to disagree on this one subject. On all others they can join hands, or at least the lines of cleavage will be other than between Jews and Christians.
On occasions of large and general importance, even of religious significance, it may not be unmeet for Jews and Christians to join where no sectarian question is at issue. On other occasions it is better to follow the Mosaic injunction not to remove the landmarks."
Not a great while ago a conference of Christians and Jews was held in the First M.E. church of Chicago, in which ministers of several denominations took prominent part, notably Revs. W. E. Blackstone, C. A. Blanchard, D. C. Marquis, E. P. Goodwin. The meetings were opened and closed with devotional "exercises" – singing, prayer, etc., and the name of Christ was entirely ignored; – even the benediction was Moses' blessing, written off and read for the occasion.
The Chicago Tribune criticized the matter and interviewed both Jews and Christians on the subject. The Jewish Rabbi said: –
"It was undoubtedly the intention on the part of those who arranged the affair to have all reference to Christ and the Trinity omitted from the devotional exercises. As such it was a great concession on their part, and I think an unfortunate one. More than that, it was the most inconsistent in those who believe that prayer should be offered in the name of Christ. It seems to me that the whole thing was unfortunate.
"I do not wish to be understood as questioning the honest intent of the promoters of the conference. I was of the impression that it was a scheme to convert us and wrote Mr. Blackstone that were such the case he had better not waste his efforts. He assured me that such was not the case and I am now convinced to that effect. I am quite certain it did no good and I hope it did no harm. I was amused at one thing. Mr. Blackstone asked me if I thought the conference would draw a crowd. I replied that it certainly would, as anything in the nature of a show was certain to draw well in Chicago. He replied that he intended to take from it the character of a show by having devotional exercises. I was much surprised at that, wondering all the while how Jews and Christians could possibly worship together. You see, I did not think they would eliminate Christ. It was done, I suppose, to give the conference a solemn character. This end, however, was not fully attained, as I was often interrupted during my address by applause."
In England, the special representatives of the lower classes in Parliament are yearly becoming more numerous, and correspondingly the demand is urged, that members of Parliament shall receive a salary of £300 ($1500) per year, and that all Election expenses be paid by the government. The demand will become a law – though perhaps at first modified so as to apply only to those who will declare themselves as needing such assistance. Hitherto, no salaries have been paid; so that all except men of means have been practically barred out.
In Germany, the various parties of socialistic tendency are becoming very strong. Recently, when cheers for the Emperor were proposed in the Reichstag (the German Congress), some of its members refused to join. The government representative attempted to make an example by punishing the disloyalty, but was greatly surprised that the Reichstag, by a vote of nearly two to one, refused to punish.
The government (that is, the Emperor, through his representative) is about to introduce a new bill, giving the Emperor more power and limiting the scope of the Reichstag's powers. This, of course, will be opposed by all liberals and socialists and the government expects to be forced to make concessions to the Church of Rome, in order to secure the votes of the Roman Catholic members, who are thoroughly under the control of the papacy, and can be relied upon to vote for anything that will promote its interests. The newspapers representing the Catholic party are very strong in their opposition to the new measures for restricting the Reichstag's powers; but those familiar with their methods assert that this is only to secure the larger price – the greater concessions to Papacy – for their votes, when the time for voting arrives.
The London Daily Chronicle gives the following account: –
"Yesterday we predicted that the coming session of the German Reichstag would be a very stormy one, but we little thought that its first sitting would be marked by a 'scene of tumult almost unequalled in the history of the Imperial Parliament.' The Socialists refused to join in a cheer for the Emperor, at the instance of the President – refused even to rise from their seats. This was indeed a very ominous inauguration of the parliamentary sittings in the new Reichshaus. Indeed, it will take rank as a kind of historical landmark.
"Substitute 'King' for 'Emperor,' and it may be said that a precisely similar scene occurred yesterday in the Belgian Chamber of Deputies, when a Socialist Deputy protested against all royal grants. The reply of the Premier was to call upon the House to give three cheers for the King. This was goading the Socialists into a further demonstration, and they retaliated by crying, 'Long live the People! Down with the Capitalists!'"
In the French Chamber of Deputies (the French Congress) a socialist member recently introduced a bill granting a small city the right to establish a drug store to be operated in the interest of the citizens. This was intended to be an entering wedge for communistic principles in all kinds of business and in every city of France. The measure was voted down by a large majority; but its advocate declared that revolution would yet accomplish what was peaceably refused.
Greater precautions than ever before are now being taken against assassins in and about the President's mansion in Washington. Twenty-four policemen, divided into three watches, guard it day and night. Within the past month a sentry box has been placed in the middle of the roadway and about fifty feet in front of the mansion. Under an order recently issued no one is allowed to cross the [R1758 : page 19] White House porch while a member of the President's family is entering or leaving it.
The N.Y. Sun asks, "What new danger threatens the inmates of the mansion, that it should be more closely guarded than at any time in its history, even during the civil war?" We answer, in the words of our Lord's prophecy, that they hear "the sea and the waves roaring," threatening, and their "hearts are failing them for fear, and for looking forward to those things coming."
The years 1893 and 1894 proved very unsatisfactory to Labor Organizations in the United States. Their strikes were failures in almost every instance. The loss of their reserve funds by the societies, as well as the loss of wages [R1759 : page 19] by the individuals, has greatly dispirited them all. But although wages are falling so are prices of goods – which never before were so cheap. If Capital would content itself with a lower rate of interest and smaller proportionate returns from business investments and thus share the general reduction the great "time of trouble" might, for the present at least, be averted.
But we know that the Scriptural forecast is correct, and we need expect no abandonment by Capital of the time honored principle of selfishness, which for centuries has controlled all classes; namely, "Secure for yourself all you can legally get possession of." Acting upon this principle, firms and corporations and trusts will say, We did not make as much money last year as the year previous and cannot pay as large a dividend: we must pinch a little more off each employee's wages, for we do not want our business and its profits to get behind what they have been.
Because of their present impoverished condition, and in view of the failure of so many of their strikes recently, wage-workers will feel forced to submit, and will submit. But as they witness the extravagant use by their employers of the money thus pinched from their wages, hard and revengeful thoughts will arise within the hearts of all except those who have made the Lord their refuge and habitation, and who are waiting patiently for the establishment of God's promised Kingdom of Righteousness. – James 5:7.
The movement against Anarchists and Socialists in France, and the new legislation pending against them in the German Congress, are supplemented by a recent Government decree in Italy, by which every Socialist club, society or union has been dissolved and their papers and archives confiscated. The decree and its execution came suddenly and unexpectedly. It is said that papers of importance were seized by the police.
Such repressive measures may or may not prolong the lives of the governments adopting them; but will they not make the explosion and wreck, when they do come, all the more terrible? Holding down the lever of the safety-valve of a steam generator may stop the noise of the escaping steam temporarily, but every engineer knows that would be bad practice. Instead he would reduce his fire; so the wiser plan would be to reduce the causes of social unrest.
But the Lord's time has come for the great change which will demolish totally the present social structure, that upon its ruins he may establish his Kingdom so long promised and for which his saints have so long prayed, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven." Therefore, as is declared in the Scriptures, "The wisdom of their wise [states-]men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent [business-]men shall not be manifested." – Isa. 29:14.
Although the American Federation of Labor at its recent meeting in Denver voted down by a strong majority resolutions favoring Socialism, this should not be understood as signifying opposition to everything Socialistic: they are opposed to the general theory of Socialists as being, at least at present, impractical. They still favor community ownership or at least regulation of railroads, telegraphs, telephones, etc., indispensable to human progress and comfort. Their newly elected President, John McBride, is a man of moderation who favors peaceful methods rather than riot.
These things show what we have heretofore called attention to – that the majority of American workmen are not disposed to be Anarchists; that when anarchy does come, it will be years hence (probably not before 1911) – and then as a result of despair at being unable to secure equity by other methods.
The Pope has recently, after two years' consideration of the subject, put under his ban three secret societies; – Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows and Sons of Temperance. No Roman Catholic may hereafter belong to these orders. Similar restrictions have long since applied to the Masonic order.
The Pope wishes so to draw the line that his faithful will be forced into orders whose regulations will not hinder the full knowledge of the priests of all their affairs through the Confessional. The developed Christian will find membership in the Order of the "Royal Priesthood" quite sufficient. In it he will find use for all the hours not due to his family and himself. In it he will find the best of earthly fellowship, and with its Head the perfection of fellowship.
But while we are waiting for the deliverance, the daily experiences of life have a most important mission to us, and the manner in which we receive and use them should be a matter of deepest concern to us; for, according to the use we make of them, each day's prosperity or adversity and trial bears to us a blessing or a curse. Those experiences which we are accustomed to regard as prosperous often have in them subtle dangers. If wealth increase or friends multiply, how almost imperceptibly the heart finds its satisfaction in earthly things; but, on the other hand, when the keen edge of sorrow and disappointment are felt, when riches fail, and friends forsake, and enemies take up a reproach against us, the natural temptation is to despondency and despair.
Just here is an important part of the great battle of the Christian's life. He must fight the natural tendencies of the old nature and confidently claim and anticipate the victory in the strength of the great Captain of his salvation. He must not succumb to the flattering and deceptive influences of prosperity, nor faint under the burdens of adversity. He must not allow the trials of life to sour and harden his disposition, to make him morose, or surly, or bitter, or unkind. Nor may he allow pride or ostentation or self-righteousness to grow and feed upon the temporal good things which the Lord's providence has granted him to test his faithfulness as a steward.
Sorrows indeed may, and often will, come in like a flood, but the Lord is our helper in all these things. The soul that has never known the discipline of sorrow and trouble has never yet learned the preciousness of the Lord's love and helpfulness. It is in seasons of overwhelming sorrow, when we draw near to the Lord, that he draws specially near to us. So the Psalmist found it, when, in deep affliction, he cried to the Lord and reasoned of his righteousness, saying, "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications." Feeling his own shortcomings, and longing for full deliverance from every imperfection, and prophesying the bountiful provisions of the divine plan of salvation through Christ, he adds, "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities [imputing them to us], O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared [reverenced]"
How blessed are such assurances when the soul is painfully conscious of its infirmities and of its inability to measure up to the perfect law of righteousness. When the heart is true and loyal, God does not mark our infirmities in a record against us. They are not imputed to us, but are freely forgiven through Christ in whose merit we trust and whose righteousness is our glorious dress, – arrayed in which, we may come with humble boldness, even into the presence of the King of kings and Lord of lords.
If God thus ignores the infirmities of our flesh and receives and communes with us as new creatures in Christ, his children should also so regard one another, considering not, and charging not against each other, the infirmities of the flesh, which all humbly confess and by the grace of God strive daily to overcome. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" The case is different, however, when the infirmities of the flesh are cultivated, indulged and justified that the errors may be continued. Then, indeed, they are charged against us, and if we do not speedily "judge ourselves," the Lord will judge and chasten us. – 1 Cor. 11:31,32.
"I wait for the Lord," the Psalmist continues, "my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning." How necessary is this patient waiting for the Lord! In the midst of cares, perplexities, difficulties and infirmities we may remember that all the jarring discords of life are working together for good to them that love the Lord, to the called according to his purpose. But for the consummation of this purpose of God toward us we must "wait," and, while waiting patiently, endure hardness as good soldiers. "Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently [R1760 : page 20] for him, and he will bring it to pass." Time is an important element in all God's plans: we are not, therefore, to be disappointed when the test of endurance is applied while the blessings we crave tarry long. God took time to frame the world and to fit it for human habitation; time (6000 years) to give the world its necessary experience with evil; time (4000 years) to prepare for the advent of Christ as the world's Redeemer; time (2000 years) for the preparation of the Church to share in his glorious reign; and time must be allowed for the shaping and adjusting of the individual affairs of all his people. God has not forgotten when the answers to our prayers seem to tarry long. He who heeds the sparrow's fall and numbers the very hairs of our heads is not indifferent to the faintest call or the smallest necessity of his humblest child.
O, how blessed is the realization of such care over us.
"My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that wait for the Morning, – I say more than they that wait for the Morning."
The "brethren," are not in darkness respecting the dawn of the Millennial Morning, because taught there [R1760 : page 21] of by the Comforter (See 1 Thes. 5:4), and because to their eyes of faith the Day Star (the Day-bringer – Christ) has already appeared, and they rejoice in the inspired testimony that although "weeping may endure for the night [of sin's predominance] joy cometh in the Morning" of the great day of the Lord. And as the dawn of the new day, "the day of Christ," becomes more and more distinct, many besides the "brethren" can and do see signs that "the night is far spent and the day is at hand;" and by and by, notwithstanding the dark clouds and terrible storm of trouble that will temporarily hide the signs of morning from them, all the world – even the still sleeping nominal church – will awake to the fact that "The morn at last is breaking."
But many of those who are now watching for the Morning from the standpoint of Socialism, Nationalism, etc., are not waiting for the Lord – in fact, they do not know the Lord, his character and his Kingdom having been so sadly misrepresented by those who claimed to be his mouthpieces. They rejoice in the Morning, because it ushers in the golden age of human equality, general education, decreased toil, and increased privileges, comforts and luxuries. "God is not in all their thoughts," when they look for the Morning. Looking from a more or less selfish standpoint, and unguided by the divine revelation – for no man knoweth the mind of God save he who has the spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:11,12) – they fail to see the real object and chief characteristic of the coming age of blessing, and are merely championing the interests of the masses as against the present special advantages of the wealthy. They see not the greatest blessings of the dawning day; – that with earthly comforts and privileges it will bring the great blessing of a trial for everlasting life; – that it will be the world's Judgment Day, to determine who, under those favorable conditions, will develop characters in harmony with God's character.
But with the "brethren" it is different. While they appreciate the coming earthly blessings none the less, but the more intelligently, the Lord, his character and the work which will be accomplished for men by the great Physician – as Prophet, Priest and King – these more weighty and more valuable considerations outweigh by far the earthly favors which will attend his Kingdom's rule. Yes, the "brethren" wait for the Lord himself, longing to see the King in his beauty – the fairest among ten thousand, the one altogether lovely. Yes, truly our souls "wait for the Lord more than they that wait for the Morning."
Then let all the Israel of God hope in the Lord (verses 7,8), for with the Lord there is mercy; mercy not only in dealing with our infirmities, but also in shielding from overwhelming trials and in granting grace to help in every time of need, – to those who abide in the Vine by faith and obedience. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits."
I. QUAR., LESSON IV., JAN. 27, MATT. 16:13-23.
Here Simon Peter's impulsive zeal, which sometimes led him into difficulties and errors, led him to a very warm and prompt expression of his full conviction that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. "And Simon Peter answered and said, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!'" Such a prompt and full profession of his faith brought the immediate reward of the Master's approval. The conviction thus impressed upon his mind was not such as the carnal mind would arrive at, but such as the mind could gain only by submitting itself fully to the spirit of God. Peter and all the other apostles had done this, but Peter, being the most prompt to confess it, received the first and warmest commendation and reward.
Verse 18. "And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter [Greek, petros, a stone, a piece of a rock]; and upon this rock [Greek, petra, the rock in mass, the foundation rock] I will build my church; and the gates of hell [hades, the grave, death] shall not prevail against it."
The foundation "rock" was Christ – "this rock" – which Peter had just confessed, and not Peter, as the Church of Rome claims, and as some Protestants are now willing to concede. Peter himself disclaims such distinction, and such usurpation of the Lord's place, when he points to Christ as the foundation stone in the spiritual temple of God, and to all the members of his body as living stones to be built upon that foundation. – 1 Pet. 2:4-6. See also Isa. 28:16; Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11; Rom. 9:33; Eph. 2:20; Psa. 118:22,23; 1 Cor. 3:11.
The promise that the gates of death should not prevail against the Lord's true Church has indeed been verified; for though assailed by the fiercest persecutions she has never yet been exterminated. Throughout the entire age down to its close in the present time the Lord has preserved a people; and his further promise, "Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the age," has also been richly verified.
But while the gates of death (hades) have not prevailed against the Church as a whole, they have done so (temporarily) against its members – even against the Head, our Lord. But they shall not prevail everlastingly. Our Lord triumphed or prevailed over hades (the grave) on the third day in his resurrection (by the Father's power), and we his Church also shall prevail on the third (thousand-year) day. For it is promised that He who raised up our Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus. And thus the gates of the grave shall not eventually prevail or triumph over us. "Weeping [and death] may endure for a night, but joy [in resurrection] cometh in the morning."
Verse 19. The "keys of the kingdom" granted to Peter signified the privilege which he subsequently enjoyed of opening the gospel door to both Jews and Gentiles: [R1760 : page 22] to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, after the anointing of the holy Spirit (See Acts 2:14-40); and to the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius, the first Gentile convert. (See Acts 10:33-46.) The ability to bind and loose on earth and in heaven, while here expressed to Peter specially, applied also to all the other apostles. It was the guarantee of that divine inspiration which subsequently so guided their teachings as to make them infallibly authoritative to the entire Church. Whatever they, under divine inspiration, bound upon the Church as duty was bound in heaven; and whatever they loosed, e.g., the obligations of the Mosaic law, were loosed in heaven. – See our issue of May 1, '93.
Verse 20. The charge that they should not yet begin to preach this doctrine was given probably in consideration of the fact that the people in general still needed line upon line and precept upon precept in the way of evidence before they would believe. The Lord apparently desired to multiply the evidences rather than the assertions of his character. He gave them the evidences and led them thus to the right conclusions.
Verse 21. Having fully convinced the apostles – his chosen witnesses – of the verity of his claims, he now began to instruct them further in the purposes of God with reference to himself. Step by step, as a wise teacher, he led them into the truth.
Verses 22,23. While the love of Peter would, if possible, protect the Lord from his predicted tragic end, the Lord promptly rebuked any interference with the divine plan to which he himself was fully submitted. Like our Lord, we should be so fully submitted to the will of God that even the kindly meant dissuasions from duty on the part of our own friends, or the natural desires of our own flesh, we should recognize as besetments of the Adversary; and we should promptly and firmly resist them.
Thank God for the Peters of his flock, with their own earnest confessions. Their characters, as well as that of the Paul class, demand and have our admiration – notwithstanding their need of reproofs at times, for misdirected zeal.
I. QUAR., LESSON V., FEB. 3, LUKE 9:28-36. Parallel Accounts – Matt. 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13.
Verse 27 was a prophecy which received an almost immediate fulfilment, as the narrative of this lesson proves.
Verses 28-36. We have the Lord's own words to prove that the incident here recorded was a "vision," – not a reality. "And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, 'Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.'" – Matt. 17:9.
The import of this "vision" is also clearly indicated by the Apostle Peter. (2 Pet. 1:16-18.) He declares it to have been a "vision" of the coming glory of Christ's Kingdom, saying, "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty; for he received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount."
As a "vision" it is to be understood as a symbolic representation of the glory of Christ's Millennial Kingdom. The changed appearance of the Lord's person and clothing were symbolic of his coming personal glory. And the glorious appearance also of Moses and Elias represented the association with the Lord in the glory of his Kingdom of the two companies from among men who shall constitute the earthly and the heavenly phases of the Kingdom. Moses represented the earthly phase and Elias the spiritual or heavenly phase. Here in symbolic "vision" was represented the established Kingdom, referred to in verse 27 – "I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death till they see the Kingdom of God." It was not the actual Moses and Elias, remember, for this was a "vision," not a reality. (Jude 9; Rom. 5:12; Eccl. 9:5; Psa. 146:4; Job 14:21; John 3:13; Acts 2:34; Psa. 90:3.) Nor was their resurrection due then: "They [the ancient worthies of the Jewish dispensation] without us [the Church] shall not be made perfect." (Heb. 11:40.) Their resurrection tarries, therefore, until the second advent of Christ and the full establishment of the spiritual phase of the Kingdom – the Gospel Church.
Verse 31 records the theme of the three glorified ones, which was the great transaction shortly to be accomplished at Jerusalem – the crucifixion of the Lord, the payment of our ransom price.
The object of the "vision" was probably two-fold – for the comfort and strengthening of the Lord, and for the enlightenment of his chosen witnesses. The communication with the Lord concerning his decease was probably while the disciples were asleep (verse 32), and was doubtless, therefore, specially for his own comfort. The "vision" came in answer to the Lord's prayer, and though it was not understood by the disciples at the time, it was afterwards a blessed inspiration to them, and should be to us also. Yet, says Peter, "we have a more sure word of prophecy [concerning the Kingdom and its glory. It is spoken of by all the holy prophets since the world began – Acts 3:19-21], whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts." (2 Pet. 1:19.) The "vision" was a vivid and refreshing symbolic view of the Kingdom, but without the "sure word of prophecy" it would have been unintelligible.
Verses 34,35. Here was another testimony by a voice from heaven to the claim of our Lord to be the Son of God, and pleasing and acceptable to him. At his birth the heavenly messengers announced him; at his baptism the voice from heaven declared him the acceptable Son of God; and here, very near the close of his human existence, he is again proclaimed the acceptable and well-pleasing Son. [R1761 : page 23]
Verse 36. "And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone." The "vision," the voice and the cloud had all passed away, and the natural conditions were again realized, while the lessons of that solemn hour remained to gain a yet broader significance when, by and by, after Pentecost, they would receive the anointing of the spirit, and understand its significance.
Thus with line upon line, and precept upon precept, the blessed truths of God concerning his glorious benevolent plan were riveted upon the hearts and minds of his disciples; and they shall be upon ours also as we bring ourselves more and more into communion with his word.
DEAR BRO. RUSSELL: – I have the pleasure of informing you that we have just had a great spiritual feast. The Nov. double number of our most welcome semi-monthly visitor came, loaded with good things. Oh! how glad I am that our Father in heaven gave you thoughts on the Law question so satisfying, encouraging and strengthening to his children; for I have long waited to have a solution of these subjects from your pen. I feel very thankful indeed.
Just as we were enjoying these blessed truths, Brother McPhail came. We had a blessed time. The Brother spoke from the Chart. The following night we had a grand meeting, which closed with many questions, well answered. Bro. M. is the right man in the right place, according to my judgment, and I pray that he may do all of the congregations as much good as he did us. I consider him sound in the truth. On Sunday we had two meetings. The three o'clock meeting lasted until dark, and the eight o'clock meeting until nearly eleven o'clock. I think all were benefited.
We hope that Brother M., or some other brother as well posted will visit us again soon. He gave me a satisfactory solution of every text brought up, except Psa. 49:19, which he says he will speak to you about.
Your brother in Christ,
[REPLY – Psa. 49:19,20 must be interpreted in the light of its connections and in harmony with all the declarations of Scripture. These who "perish like the beasts" – hopelessly – and who shall never after "see light," are not men who have died in ignorance of God, as the heathen (at home and abroad); they are specially declared to be such as when "in honor" appreciate it not.
Father Adam, when perfect, was "crowned with glory and honor" (Psa. 8:5), but lost this in sin and degradation by disobedience. Restitution to "honor" and life in God's favor was redeemed for all by our Lord's sacrifice, and this honor and life are reckoned as offered or given back to a man when he is brought to a knowledge and opportunity of regaining them: and those thus reckonedly honored again through Christ, who do not appreciate it so as to accept it, are subjects of the Second death – will perish as the beasts and never see light. Or the "they" of verse 19 might be understood to refer to the earthly riches and "glory" of verse 17; these will never more be seen as his. Any other views would seem to conflict with verse 14, which distinctly says, of mankind in general, that "the righteous shall have dominion [rule] over them in the morning," – when the Millennial Day has dawned. This agrees with the Bible as a whole which assures us that "all the families of the earth shall be blessed" with the gracious knowledge and opportunities of the New Covenant, when "the saints shall judge the world." – EDITOR.]
DEAR FRIEND: – I take the liberty to enclose a couple of clippings from the San Francisco Examiner, as showing that the promised light is breaking. People are beginning to see as they never saw before; and by and by their hearts will have to confess the power of Christ. Oh! that they would give in willingly, and sooner. My infidel friends keep me supplied with their literature, well written and powerful, but so misleading, so false. I return the compliment with TOWER, tracts, etc., and so the battle goes. I read the DAWNS over and over again, they are ever fresh as their fountainhead, the Bible. How welcome are the TOWERS; they deal with living questions, and are always good.
Twenty years yet remain. It seems to me a long time. I cannot imagine any one wishing it to be million of years hence. The reign of injustice, of sin, has already been full long. Let us welcome the new Day, and cry, as the saints under the altar, "How long, O Lord?" (Rev. 6:10.) The hard times here in this truly Golden State would be hard to describe. The people have been driven to the verge of revolution. Starvation stares the once happy and prosperous farmers in the face. So little money circulates that it may be said to have disappeared. The future has no ray of hope for the worldly. Yet this cannot be the end, and prosperity after a fashion on a lower scale no doubt will return by and by. I find this a good opportunity [R1762 : page 23] to start the DAWNS and TOWERS where during prosperity there would have been "no time" to read them, and I think some fruit will yet come of it.
I enclose a clipping containing an account of the strange death of a spirit-medium. This phase of Satanic power is surely on the increase. I am ever on the watch on this line. Work on the Second Tower of Babel is also progressing; viz., the coming together of rulers, Church and State, and various plans for the salvation of man by man. The signs are multiplying; for, verily, is it not a deluge of blood that is coming? – Rev. 6:10.
How I have longed since a youth to take up the sword and fight for the oppressed; but the teachings of your books are against such a course, and I am forced to admit you are right; for history stands as a proof that none of the patches put on Governments are lasting: ultimately oppression again comes to the front, if possible in a worse form; and the last revolution to right the wrongs of the nations must end in anarchy worldwide. How I pity the brave and earnest men who will go into it! How great will be their disappointment! Yet my whole bent has been that way. This is the point where your books hit me hard. How much we owe to those who of yore took up the sword and fought for the rights of man; yet it seems now we must not do it. In the near future I hear "the thunder of the captains and the shouting," and the "cause" on the surface, no doubt, will appear as right as any ever fought over. It will be impossible to show others what we see and know; and I hear the word "coward!" It is a hard thing. Perhaps I am climbing a hill in advance. My friend, Capt. H., feels about the same as I do on this subject. He does not think he could help but go. [R1762 : page 24]
[If Brother H. grows strong in faith he will gain strength thereby to be an "overcomer" of this spirit which is part of the spirit of the world – of the natural man. Besides we see a more excellent way of dealing with these matters – God's way; and as we receive of his spirit we prefer his way and will follow it, at any cost. – EDITOR.]
On another subject. In his answer to Job (Chapters 38-41), God was speaking of actual things throughout; and I think that the snow and hail (38:22,23) indicate actual snow and hail. If this could be sustained, would it not point to the actual (literal) fulfilment of part of the prophecies and revelations?
[We consider that a number of symbolic prophecies are intended to have both a literal and a symbolic fulfilment; but the above expression by Job seems to us to be figurative language and not prophetic. – EDITOR.]
Yours in the hope of the better Day,
MY DEAR BRO. RUSSELL: – Below is my list for TOWER, seventeen in all, but mostly renewals, as you will see. Find amount enclosed. Sorry the list is so small, but it is the best I could do.
I have been meeting with the friends, and preaching, at different places in this vicinity for some time past, as you know, and find many who appear (and some are) interested; and I want to continue to advance the cause. God bless the truth, and prosper it in 1895.
DEAR MR. RUSSELL: – I am thankful that I have another opportunity of writing to you. I am glad to say that I am still making a little advancement. With this I send an order for seven subscriptions. Some are now beginning to read both DAWNS and TOWER, who a short time ago would not hear anything of the sort.
I find your notes on the International S.S. Lessons most useful in helping me to present the truth, especially in my Bible class, as they help to elicit questions, and also to give answers, and frequently open the way for further talk on the subjects; in fact, I often wish you could insert your notes a month in advance, so that we could always get them beforehand. [It is our intention to do this during the present year. – ED.] If you could see some of my old copies, it would give some idea how their contents have been studied: many of them are in small pieces, completely worn by use. I lend many out with the object of getting new subscribers.
Yours sincerely,
DEAR BROTHER: – Quite an affecting incident occurred at the last meeting held here by Brother McPhail. A poor, decrepit old Jew edged his way up to Bro. M., and in a feeble voice asked, "What had, or would, become of all the sons of Jacob who died this side of the cross?" He seemed to be satisfied that those on the other side of Calvary were safe and would be duly restored during the Times of Restitution. When Bro. M. read to him the prophecy about their being taken up out of the graves and sent back home, the old man received the message with a beaming countenance, and simply said, "I am so glad to hear that."
The old man's faith touched me, and I was reminded of other scenes in New Testament times, where the simple truth was announced, and as simply accepted.
Your brother,
DEAR BRO. RUSSELL: – I had hoped to get a letter of respectable proportions to you a month ago; but good intentions do not always come with fitting opportunities. And now we must be content simply to forward subscriptions and to tell you that we have abundantly proved that our God is faithful and keepeth his own. We are sometimes tempted to mourn over the small outward fruitage of our work, but we have the better fruitage of the Lord's work within us, which gives us peace and joy in spite of surrounding and ever closing-in trouble – a meek and quiet spirit of trustfulness that he will enable us to endure. We see that the nominal church (the Christian world) is more and more forsaking Christ in spite of so much religiousness and zeal in really good work (temperance, purity guilds, Christian Endeavor Societies, etc.): they will not hear the voice of the Shepherd. Verily, though they think they are doing God service, they are working only their own wills.
We have been greatly helped and blessed of late by realizing that God's thoughts are not man's, and neither are man's ways God's; indeed, they cannot be. We are very prone to set ourselves some "good thing" to do, and then to conclude that is what God would have us do; and although I do not quite unconditionally accept the preaching of one of the great preachers who says in effect that "a Christian is one who does what he does not like," or "he mostly finds God's way the very reverse of his own," yet I do believe that if two courses are open to us we shall often be safest to choose the most unpleasant.
I have just been laid aside a little through sickness, and it has prevented me from getting round or writing to librarians; so that the matter I spoke of, respecting supplying free libraries with sets of DAWN, is no nearer completion. [Brother Riley has been supplying public libraries with a set of DAWN each. – ED.] But another thought has occurred to me. If you think the plan worth anything, how would it be to insert a notice in TOWER, setting forth the scheme, and asking readers to see the librarians in their own districts, and so get the interest spread?
I have just been refreshing my memory and strengthening my faith by reading history, and it has mightily confirmed me in the belief that Christians, and the saints specially, have nothing to do with either the good or the bad methods of governments of this world; that we are not only to be quiet and submissive to good rulers, but to be in subjection to every ordinance of man; to suffer indignities, imposition, the spoiling of our goods and the taking away of name or life; for our God will not allow this unless it be for our good. I am amazed to find so few who are not swallowed up in politico-religious (!!) broils. The whole of nonconformist churches are given over to this delusion of bringing about Christ's Kingdom. The Lord's people must leave themselves in his hand, and he will deliver them from worse than Egyptian bondage, but he will never submit to be helped by man. The image (earth's governments) is not only to be destroyed, but carried away, so that no trace of it can be found. We must not be deceived into thinking that this or that or the other good cause is God's way of improving matters. Christ's Kingdom will not grow out of the best of earth's governments: it is not of this age at all, and so nothing but utter destruction can clear the way for it.
We always remember you in our prayers. We very much appreciate the Nov. TOWER. Indeed, this year has given us some of the best. May the light increase more and more. With heartiest love from all here,
Ever yours sincerely in Christ,