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vol xxvi allegheny pa january 1 1905 no.1 views from the watch tower happy nbw yeab 1905 greetings dear fellow watchers the great clock of time marks another cycle and shows us another day s march nearer home-nearer to our change and contact fellowship with our savior-nearer to the kingdom and itb blessings for all t.he families of the earth how light our trials then will seem how short our pilgrim way but though thus rejoicing in the flight of time it is not with us as with many of the poor world when they would express themselves similarly perhaps at the moment meditating suicide 1 0 indeed the love of christ makes fresh our hearts as a fountain ever springing so that to the true chilo dren of god every day has the christian s secret of a happy da.y and every year the same we are greatly enjoying the present with its songs and sighs its pleasures and disappointments its joys and discouragements while waiting for and with the eye of faith looking for that blessed hope the glorious revelation of our lord and savior jesus christ and the wonderful riches of divine grace and blessing then to be showered upon the world of mankind under the new covenant it makes each trial blest to realize that it is one of the all things promised to work for good to the lord s spirit-begotten children who are being prepared for joint-heir~hip with their lord in the great kingdom which soon is to bless and uplift adam and all his race this is the secret which none but the blood-washed and consecrated the spirit-begotten can compl ehend eph 3 18 these alone are able truly to sing yes happy every day has been since i am his and he is mine he leads me and i follow on directed through the word divine not that we are absolutely pure and perfect any of us except pure in heart pure in our intentions and desires but that we by faith realize that our redeemer s merit covers us and permits us if overtaken of a fault unwillingly to apply for a share of the merit of the blood to cleanse our weddmg gar· ment from spot or wrinkle or any such thing that our communion and fellowship with our lord be never hindered except for ll moment as it were let us start the new year froperly remembering the apostle s words set your affections on things above not on earthly things if they slip away through earthly attractions reset them time and time again gradually thev will become more strongly attached to the heavenly thing s radual1y we will come to appreciate both more truthfully and find that the joys of earth of little worth hhould not confine our thou hts to earth why grasp at transitory toys so near to heaven s eternal joys many adopted our suggestion of a text for 1904 with great profit and now we suggest one for the year 1905 as follows umll-motto text-ll105 u1l1llfsbom is tbe principal ttbinq ltbcrdore get 1i1ll1sbom pro 4:7 · · · ttbc umisbom tbat is from boo e fs first pure ttben peaceable gentle ~as ot ~ntrcatment uu ot ~erc ano gool i rufts 3 as 3:17 let us as children of the highest give earnest heed to ihe heavenly counsel as the essence of wisdom no matter how far advanced we may be in christian character it will make us better to give earnest heed to this wisdom better husbands and wives better parents and children better colaborers friends and neil

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4-5 zion s watch tower alltghtnv pa this fits dr carter s case exactly he admits that he no longer believes the fundamental teachings of the presbyterian chili ch and that he no longer believes the fundamental teachings of the bible respecting sin and its atonement etc he is a heretic therefore not only to the presbyterian church but also and more important by far he is a heretic toward god and the church of the first-born whose names are written in heaven but dr carter s fears were groundless nassau presbytery by a good majority decided that to brand him a heretic would be to brand the presbytery the same to say that dr carter had been acting the hypocrite for years would be to charge themselves with the same dishonesty so dr carter s praetical endorsement by nassau presbytery one of the most influential in the land must be understood by thinking people to mean that nassau presbytery i either totally or by majority composed of heretics who do not stand for the fundamentals of religion neither as expressed in the bible god s standard nor as expressed in the presbyterian confession of faith which they have vowed to uphold and teach is an atheist a heretic but we are neither surprised nor dismayed by such falling of the stars from heaven and the consequent shaking of the foundations of society as respects religious things no the master foretold it all and as our older readers well know we have been expecting these things for thirty years and noting their gradual approach so far as the lord s cause is concerned we would not even change matters for although it will soon produce demoralization in nominal christendom it will result to the advantage of the lord s true people israelites indeed we are in the harvest of the gospel age and while wheat and tares have grown together in the past the lord is seeing to it that now they must be manifested as totally different that the wheat may all be reaped with the sickle of truth and be gathered into the heavenly garner in proportion as the eyes of our understanding open and we see these things we may indeed lift up our heads and rejoice knowing that our deliverance draweth near higher oritioism affecting romanism dr lyman abbott s pronunciamento has been published broadcast but we give a liberal extract from it from the pittsbul g dispatch as follows:cambridge mass dec is leaning for out over the pulpit in appleton chapel his long white beard and flowing gown making him look like a veritable patriarch dr lyman abbott in a sermon to harvard students tonight broke away from the theology which today forms the basis of the faith of millions of orthodox christians and sounded the keynote of a new religion founded not on the bible but on science and the outreachings of the human heart i wonder he said if you students in harvard will understand me when i say that i no longer believe in a great first cause tomorrow the newspapers will get hold of this and brand me as a heretic my god is a great and ever-present force which is manifest in all the activities of man and all the workings of nature i believe in a god who is in and through and of everything-not an absentee god whom we have to reach through a bible or a priest or some other outside aid science literature and history tell us that there is one eternal energy that the bible no longer can be accepted as ultimate that many of its laws were copied from other religions that the ten commandments did not spring spontaneously from moses but were like all laws a gradual growth and that man is a creature not a creation if we ~rasp dr ahbott s language it means what all atheists hold that there is no god that in some unexplainable sense all nature is god and that we are all the children of nature god b evolution voltaire thos paine and robert ingersoll never did such slight to justice and religion as this they were too honest to wear a cloak of religion to conceal the poisoned dagger of infidelity for a close approach to permit spiritual assassination oh shame shame that a greyhaired man should wear the livery of a christian minister and the decorations of reverend and of doctor of divinity to maintain his honor among men and then steahng into the christian chapel of one of the foremost colleges of the world should seek to assassinate the bible and its god and christ and to put the poison of infidelity into the streams of culture where they would be most effective in poisoning the entire household of faith dr abbott also is afraid he will be found out as a heretic but-wiser on the subject than dr carter-he does not anticipate trouble from the mini try who he well knows are generally tarred with the same stick he fears that the newspapers will find him out he is still more shrewd for knoulirtg that the newspapers would discern his heresy he doubtless wrote out the newspaper statement above with his own pen thy to deceive to give the impression-this is not heresy but the m w papers will know no better than to con ider it so yhat ahominable hypocrisy in the name of christianity and yet at one time in 011r estimation dr abbott was one of god s most sine·ere servants we jndge from his writings of thirty years ago verily a star a bright one is thus seen to have fallen from heaven surely we are witnessing the masterstrokes of satanic craft as no time since the dark ages witnessed them then the adversary used ignorance and nperstition and priestcraft as his tools now he tmnsform him elf and poses as an angel of light taking advantage of the recoil of civilization agaij1l1t the monrtrous and unscriptural errors of the past he takes the torch of higher criticism and becomes leader that he may attract attention to the opposite extreme-eqllully far from the trutll it would appear that romanillm also is seriously affected by modern scholarship otherwise higher criticism or refined infidelity papacy s claim of infallibility makes her specially vulnerable the following from the higher critical viewpoint appeared in the fortntghtly re1aew the conclusion-painful as it is-that one is compelled to draw is that rome regards the maintenance of her absolute authority unlimited in its sphere and exercise as the one thing to be fought for at all costs even at the cost of the loss to the church of the great majority of her children this is the spirit and this the tempter which brought about the reformation it does not spring from ineradicable confidence in the future of the church but rather from a well-grounded fear that the claim of rome to absolute infallible and unlimited authority in all matters will not stand the test of history and can not be maintained except by the rigorous repression of individual initiative and independent thought the position in which the individual catholic is placed by the policy of his rulers is one of grave difficulty and nowhere is the situation more acute than in france in the english catholic body few of the laity and fewer still of the clergy take any interest in intellectual matters but there are signs of grave mischief among the younger laymen even in england they have been trained to draw no distinction between the catholic faith and its scholastic expression or the insecure historical basis upon which their teachers have founded it the natural consequence is that in so far as those who have been educated in this way become convinced of the strength of the critical position their hold on the faith is likely to be weakened rome has weakened it still more by declaring that any attempt to find a synthesis between the critical position and the faith is unlawful for catholics but rome will not be as much shaken as protestantism in this respect she has her grip upon the people through priestcraft and superstition and it will hold to the bitter end when anarchy will down all meantime it will be all the more trying upon intelligent protestant christians loyal to the bible to find the great antichrist system on their side defending the bible with all the worldly wise in opposition the lord however knows how to sift and shake his professed church so as to gather out of it all things that offend and they that do iniquity lack of oandidates for ministry two conventions of christian workers have been held recently to consider the dearth of ministerial candidates the world s work says on the subject there is no real dearth of students for the ministry there is a slight back-set at the present time but it is not so great as has occurred in other years and reports of attendance of students in the theological seminaries when compared with similar reports twenty-five years ago show a marked and marvelous increase in some quarters there is a determination in the quality of students but tke reports are not altogether unanimous methodists and episcopalians report a decided increase in numbers and in quality and other religious bodies vary in localities and colleges in this respect there is a marked change in the sources of supply the west and south rrovide a much larger proportion of students than the east the response is greater in the newer regions than in the old in the country than in the city in the small churches than in the larger it would seem however that there is a danger even more redons than that resulting from a lack of proper candidates for the ministry :mr tomlinson wrote to twenty sllccessful pas [3480]

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janually 1 1905 zion s watch tower 6-7 tors asking whether if they had their lives to live over again they would select the work they are now doing several replied yes enthusiastically three were undecided nine gave emphatic negatives and one declared that if he could avoid being ordained he would be glad to take up the work reading between the lines it would appear tha,t the consciences of the majority of ministers are causing them pain which they would be glad to be rid of if they knew of an equally honorable and remunerative engagement open to them having lost their faith they are not happy in their unbeuef and are ashamed of the hypocrisy of their position why do they not follow the examples of drs carter and abbott j ou ask oh their case is very different dr carter is on the superannuated list and not in contact with nor dependent on the public and dr abbott is quite independent as the editor of a prosperous journal the others many many are waiting to see how the public stands the heretical utterances of the independents hoping some day that it will be safe for them to follow the same course without loss of position and income and honor of men the general public does not comprehend the situation none of the wicked shall understand dan 12:10 they call it theological hair-splitting anyway but the lord s true sheep who have believed in him as their redeemer will know and will understand and the coming cleavage will awaken them and prepare them for the light and truth in fuller measure than they have yet received them · · · if these twenty men be fairly representative says the nl v york evening post the problem is not only how to get men to preach but how to keep them preaching the editor evidently a higher critic proceeds to say the causer that deter men from becoming clergymen are today pretty obvious the old prejudice that learning hath alwayr been an enemy to the gorpel is still alive ind ed the strnggle between rigid ecclesiastics on the one hand and scientists and scholars on the other first over evolution and then ov r the higher criticism has dealt a severer blow to the church than the j entlemen who now so gracefully acquiesce in the new doctrine imal!ine th old contest is not forgotten especially while the reactionary religious press ke pr up its din about the higher criticism young men viewing the past and the present scrutinize the ordination vows and frankly say 1h y will not put their necks into the noore assaults on st paul higher critic anel e olutionists find serious obsto·les in the dear statemenb of the great apostle paul in the new testament no wonder then that he is dircredited by them it is 1h ir frequent claim that they take .jesus rtatements and not st paul s-that the latter arid not the former taught concerning adam s fall and the consequent curse and the need of an atonem nt for sin etc seemingly they are willingly ignorant of our lord s statement that all were lost that he came to seek and to save that which war lo~t they al o i~nore his ltatem nt that the son of man ram to g-i his life a ransom for many matt 20 28 they forget that it was our lord who said to the unre· generate ye are of your father the devil for his works ye do and ye will not come unto me that ye might have life they forget his declaration as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him might not perish but have everlasting life the:y seem not to see that this teaches that all except believers will perish and that the thing to be believed is the ran· som effected through our redeemer s death on the cross the above utterances by our lord are remarkably clear and explicit when we remember how few of his utterances are recorded and that because it was not due time until pentecost to pour out the holy spirit so it was not due time until then to clearly explain the mysteries of the kingdom and hence it is written that our lord pened his mouth in parables and dark sayings leaving to his apostles later under the ministration of the spirit to understand and explain to others all thing whatsoever he had spoken darkly the deep things of god recently a german professor made a bitter attack upon paul along lines above indicated and another professor fein answered him quite well we below quote from that answer it must be regarded as the settled conclusion of honest research that christianity from the outset was a religion that aimed at man s redemption not paul but the founder of christianity put this stamp upon the faith it is true that the great apostle in his elaboration of the doctrine of justification nowhere directly appeals or refers to an utterance of jesus on this subject even in his discussion with peter at antioch gal 2 14-21 we do not find that paul reran for the benefit of peter any particular word of jesus on the topic under discussion but notwithstanding all this the germ of paul s doctrine of justification is to be found in the teachings of jesus himilelf jesus r cogni1eu the universal depravity and was conrtantly calling m n to repentanc he preached as john the baptist did before him not that certain clarses or a few must enter into the kingdom of god through repentance but that all without exc ptioll must do so matt 18:23 seq in tlllo thought lies the foundation of paul s doctrine of ju tification altho he developed this doctrine more ellphatically than jesus him lelf did again the fundamental pauline doctrine that the call to christianity and indeed our entire cl1fistian life are a gift of god s p:race has aho been taken from jesus the latter spoke of the kingdom of god as a gift from on high to be given to all for whom it had been prepared according to jesus the kingdom of god is something already attainabl in the pr sent life while paul maintains that judgment by justification has already been determined but even in this apparent contradiction may b recognized two sides of one and th same doctrine the essential contents of paul doetrine of justification can be traced back to jesus himself it was not paul who rai ed up the cross of chrirt as the only means of salvation j esur himself had declared his dea1h to be nec ssary for the salvation of mankind we have found the messiah 1:35-5 i jan 15 thou art tile son of god thou art the king of israel .john· go~pel was written after the other three and quite timent abov others h was of tht rova i tribe of judah-more evidently with a view to setting forth matters not set forth in than this he was of the roval family of davill-and had h the other gospelr thur we find that it do s not attempt to been an imposter we may be sure that tins relationship to til give a full history of the lord s ministry in all particulars but kingly line and r f rences to divint prophe y re pectinl the chiefly deals either with matterr omitted or with details not same would have he n flaunt d on pv ry posc;ible oeea lion given by the others our present lesson furnishes details re on the contrary we fioll our lonl mt k lind lowly of heart specting the gathering of the first apostles to the lord much not bombastic not hoastful not s lf-oh trusin bearing th s of ih mter st centers in the fact that it well illustrates the things iii mind we st all th morl l learl why 11 attracted di versity of the lord s dealings and providences as these are spe lal charaeters for hi diseiples lioli why he failed to a t1ra t ~1il1 exercised in the world in the drawing of others to himself the masses we see thl t it was the father design thn t lh ,ome in one wily and some in another hould attract to himsplf as di ipl the meek ar.d lowl of while the scripture inform us that at the time of the heart the rev r ntial the lin ere anel 1hat he should more or lord:s presentation all men were in expectation of him of i ss repel the worldly wis the f1tlprc and the mllss who ~jesslah ncnrthelers w are to remember that all were expect ub quently crucified him let u nott too that the~c -arne ing something totally diff rent from what the lord presented print iplcs of a1trartion nnd repul ion havp per~isted throlwll they were expecting a personage of high rank of g n at influ out this gospel iilj e and are ltill opcrative th ma ses may ence of striking and commanding character and onr lord if be temporarily influenced and even say nev r man spak he had been an imposter wonld have sou~ht to fill this public like thl man or again when 1i r iah ometh c ii itt de exp ctation either he would have giv n th m to believe he goreatpr works than thi mlln no 1h but the mlt-s will not pontrolleu w alth and influence or he would at lea~t have bepn bp attra tpd hp au e tl1 lord doe not wish to attrapt those boastful and heady thereby makin up for any d ficien ier who he art ar not in th proppr attitun of onc;pcratioll along the line of their expectation by a studied exclusiv ness aihi fai1h c on,l 1il ntly all down throug-h the go~pel agt ?f manner and haughty disdain of the poor and the sinful an tho p who havp 1j pn the lord followl r in the high t lind imposter would have sought to rank himself in the public esti· tnh j>t sense of the word forsal-in all to follow him have mation by claiming th pos ssion of every noble and lofty s n· ij l 1i olllp,liatlvl,ly fpw :1111 a lp riht c1 ii 1h ap0 ltle not john [3481]

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7-8 zion s watch tower au.itcbitny po many great not many wise not many learned not many noble according to the course of this world but the poor of this world rich in faith shall be heirs of the kingdom love boas 1 e 1 h :no 1 vattnte 1 h :not i 1 sel notice the quiet unostentatious meek manner in which our redeemer began the announcement of his mission quietly he presented himself to john for baptism and after receiving there the anointin of the hely spirit he went into absolute seclusion in the wilderness for more than a month for forty days studying what the divine plan had arranged to be his course true he did not have the bible but he had the perfect memory and for thirty years he had heard the reading of the law and the prophets in the synagogue and was thoroughly familiar with them he had the entire matter before his mind and under the light of the holy spirit he weighed the various declarations of the law and prophets noted the course of sacrifice which these meant his temptation lying in the suggestion that easier less sacrificing courses secmed to present themselves as feasible he triumphed over all the adversary s allurements and blandishments-determined not to do satan s will nor even follow his own judgment but strictly and implicitly follow and obey the outlined program which the father had laid down in the word he returned to john seeking companionship with those who were nearest to the lord and waiting for divine providence to guide in his affairs it was at this time in the presence of his disciples that john prophesied of jesus saying behold the lamb of god which taketh away the sin of the world andrew and john were disciples of john the baptist and when they thus heard his testimony respecting jesus and the declaration that he had a witness from god that jesus was the messiah they sought the lord s acquaintance they followed after him overtook him and inquired where he was stopping apparently their object was to learn of him to ascertain what further blessings the lord had and what further service than that they had engaged in with john the baptist they wanted the best that was to be had they had not the partisan st rit to sar we belong to john the baptist and must stan up for him as some of the lord s dear people are inclined to do in rel pect to the various denominations there were some of john s disciples who heard his testimony who did not seek to become followers of the lamb of god but who were quite content to remain john s disciples we may properly enough suppose that being content with the lesser blessing and privilege implied that they were not so worthy of the higher privileges and blessings they doubtless never became arostles though some of them probably became followers 0 jesus after the imprisonment of john john dops not mention the other disciple that went with andrew on this occasion but this seems to have been his modest style of omitting special mention of himself the two spent the remainder of the day with the lord and doubtless learned of him much to their comfort and joy and the establishment of their faith the record is they abode with him this may refer to the temporary stay of one day but it may with equal propriety be understood to mean that they remained with the lord as his disciples thereafter-to the very end of life we rpmember on one occasion when some took offence at certain teaching s of our lord which they did not understand how our lord addressing the twelve said will ye also go awayt but peter answered lord to whom should we got thou hast the words of eternal life we must abide with you so it should be with all of us who have become the j ord s followl:rs we are not his disciples for a day but for all eternity we abide with him in loyalty of heart whether we go to seek others or whether we listen to words at his feet and he abides with u8 as expressed in his own statement lo i am with you always even to the end of the age not a brief glance i beg a parting word but as thou dwell st with hy disciples lord familiar condescending patient free come not to sojourn but abide with me on the basis of that brief acquaintance john and andrew started forthwith to find others and bring them to the master the intimation of the greek text is that andrew and ,tohn both rtarted out each to find his own brother and bring him to the lord and that andrpw found his brother first implying that john found his brot~e r james a little later there are some points here that are well worthy of our attention i andrew and john we re not content to have tlie great blessing of fe iiowllhip with the lord alone they desired to make known tht ir gre at find 2 thpy did not attt mpt to influence others until they were fully satisfied themselves and could give a definite pollitive message saying we have found the mcssiah the christ messias is the greek spelling of the hebrew word messiah and is the equivalent of tne greek word christ which means the anoi nted one 3 they did not go to benighted heathen speaking a different language they did not say our brethren and all the jews here a.re already god s people and good enough and instructed enough by the scribes and pharisees and we will go and hunt up some outside gentiles they did not even say we will go and look up some of those sinners who are coming to john for baptism and who ought to know about messiah the great sin-bearer they did better than either of these things-they thought first of all about their own brethren brethren according to the flesh and in this case brethren 0.1&0 in religious faith and effort there is a lesson here for us easily applied our first duties lie toward those who are near to us as neighbors friends and especially as members of our own family circles we should begin the proctamation of the messiah whom we have found with them then after they fail to hear or after they have heard the way of god proclaim it to the next in turn and so on and on this is the very plan we are pursuing at the present time and to which some of our dear friends in the various denominations object they say take your tracts and books to the sinners or go to the heathen we reply that the message ought to go first of all to those who ought to be the most ready for it they answer us that they have moses and the prophets and the doctrines of the dark ages but we reply that these only obscurely disclose the real character and the plan of god and the real messiah and his great work we fain would tell all of them who have ears to hear and hoorts to appreciate the lengths and breadths and heights and depth that they may appreciate with us the love of god which passeth all human understanding this is our proper course too whether they hear or whether they forbear and as the testimony goes on the circle will widen it is widening as reports in our last issue show the knowledge of the king of king s and the kingdom which he is about to establish is scattered throughout great britain scandinavia germany france italy australia etc we seek to cultivate the best fields and find them nearest home but as the numbers and implements increase we extend operations in the name of the lord and with the firm conviction that ultimately in this harvest time he will find every true heart every one fitted to be a disciple qfowin g jesu s as the ilessiah many have seen or heard of jesus as those who were with john the baptist heard of him but have not learned to know him as the messiah-the christ this word messiah covers a particular thought that today is very generally ignored amongst the lord s professed followers remarkably few christians know jesus to be the messiah at all the word messiah as already pointed out signifies the anointed the jews under the ~eat promise made to abraham had been expecting a messiah a king a deliverer who would exalt them as his special people and assistants and use them in presenting the law of god to all peoples nations and languages and i s authorized and empowered co-laborers to enforce those laws with rewards and penalties fhe word messiah or anointed thus signifies the great king who was looked for-the great prophet priest and king -for prophets priests and kings under the divine arrangement were anointed to their offices and thus signified that in due time christ would combine all three of these qualities in himself and associate his church with himself in the exercise of the various offices as joint-heirs in his kingdom the scriptures show us that israel as a nation was found unworthy to ~nter into all these blessings and privilegps and that after selecting the lbraelites indeed from that nation the lord has been gathering to himself and associating with him as his church as his spiritual israel the faithful ones who have ears to hear and hearts to obey the same message from every nation kindred people and tongue thus we see that to recognize and speak of jesus as the messiah means to speak of him as the great king who ultimately rhall reign to bless the whole world as the great king whose joint-heirs in the kingdom we hope to be members of his bride this grand work of the redeemer and the grand privileges to whirh the elect are being called have been lost sight of under the delusions and misrepresentations of the dark ages which have worked the minds of many of the lord s people into a frenzy of confusion and fear of eternal torment and it d them to believe that escape from that torment was the salvation offered causing this erroneous idea to take the pla p of the gracious hopes set before us in the gospel that if faithful we sha ii be heirs of god joint-heirs with jesus christ our lord in tile great kingdom for which he taught ub to pray [3482]

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january i 1905 zion s watch tower 9-10 thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven jestts fottnd philip note the varying methods of bringing the blessing to different persons john the baptist announced jesus andrew and john heard him and sought the lord in turn they sought peter and james and now note a third method in philip s ca~the lord himself found philip particulars are not given but we may be sure that in all these various findings the lord had a hand he was supervising we are not to imagine that the gospel work is left to chance the lord knoweth the heart the lord knoweth them that are his and the truth is specially sent to the truth-hungry we may safely say all of us that the lord found us else we should not be where we are or what we are the poet has expressed this saying yet he found me i beheld him bleeding on the accursed tree and my wistful heart said faintly some of self and some of thee nathanael s case was still different philip found him but he was naturally sceptical fearful that his friend was being led astray by a false hope to follow a false messiah philip s message to him briefly summed up was we have found him of whom moses in the law and the prophets did write ris name is jesus and he comes from a plaee called nazareth nazareth did not have a very savory reputation for wisdom and piety on the contrary the nazarenes were looked upon as rather a fanatical people and nathanael sceptically answered his friend philip did you ever hear of anything good coming out of nazareth what you say of this man seems to contradict any reasonable hope or expectation you may have all along in every sense of the word the lord has allowed his truth and his plan to come through channels more or les8 impaired our lord jesus seemed to have something of this kind in mind when he said i thank thee 0 father lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes even so father for so it seemed good in thy sight luke 10:21 the lord hides his truth in the sense of permitting it to come through unpopular channels sometimes the unpopularity is deserved and sometimes undeserved but it always serves to keep away those who are not in the right attitude of heart they are not however stumblings to the pure in heart because the lord will help them over these difficulties as he did in the case of nathanael under consideration a worthy :man s ohallenge his faith to accept his salutation was behold an israelite indeed in whom there is no guile this gives us a suggestion that it is entirely right for us to expn!ss at proper times our confidence in the religious character of those with whom we are conversing we are neither to say neither to think nor in any sense of the word to manifest a doubt of the sincerity of all who are not fully with us in every point of faith and doctrine on the contrary we are to realize that a.ny one whom we may expect to find interested in the message we have to present must beforehand be an israelite indeed without guile without hypocrisy-otherwise the truth would not appeal to his heart and the lord would not bless him in connection with our service and message nathanael evidently took it that the lord was fiattering him and he rather repelled at first this forwardness on the lord s part to speak of him in such praiseworthy terms without a knowledge of him and he answered vhence knowest thou me our lord s answer shows clearly the divine care over all who are in the right attitude of heart and how the lord himself has the direction of his message and his ministers that they may find all the true wheat with this in mind we have every assurance that not a single grain will be left with the tares in the field-that all will be gathered into the barn condition of glory the lord s answer was i saw thee under the fig-tree before philip called thee how much that meant to nathanael he doubtless had already heard about his friend philip having accepted one who was proclaimed the messiall he doubtles was fearful for himself as well as for philip and under these circumstances went to a fig-tree as a closet for prayer for the fig-tree has foliage which hangs low and would constitute it quite an arbor or shelter and a very suitable place for privacy and prayer we are not told of what took place under the fig-tree but we are at some liberty to imagine that an israelite indeed in whom was no guile there prayed to the heavenly father for wisdom for guidance for instruction for protection from deception whether it came through his friend philip or however it might come that he might not be misled into following a false messiah and now to hear this one refer to his very prayer his very petition of which not a soul in the world had knowledge and to tell him that this was before philip had called him meant to nathanael that the lord had supervised in the matter and had full knowledge of all his affairs and therefore he had the assurance that the one he had come to under the guidance of philip was none other than the son of god the xing of israel philip s answer was come and see test the matter for yourself if you are not satisfied-i have nothing more to say although nothing is said specially respecting philip s character we may reasonably assume from this incident that he was a man whose word and manner and general character had weight that he was not given to foolishness of thought or word or conduct otherwise nathanael would have said within himself if he had not said it to philip i know you anyway to be rather fiighty always going off at a tangent or i know you to be a man of poor moral character and the thing which would commend itself to you would be discredited in my judgment in advance alas that such arguments should be forceful as against some of the lord s followers who presume to invite others to him in several instances we have known of the present truth being much injured by being advocated by some who were not of good character as well as by some not wise it would be in the interest of the truth that any such who have given their hearts to the lord and therefore have passed from the foolish and sinful condition to the justified relationship should make well known the fact of their radical change of their thorough conversion from sin to righteousness from folly to wisdom before they begin to invite their neighbors and friends to the lord repentance and reformation are therefore placed in the forefront in the instructions given us through the lord s word resp ecting our coming to him and our discipleship and service to the wicked [the unrepentant those not seeking to live according to the lord s way those walking after the flesh and not after the spirit god saith what hast thou to do to take my name into thy mouth seeing thou !latest instruction and castest my words behind thee the meek will he gttide in jtjdgment when je slis saw nathanael he made the way very clear for addressing nathanael and the other disciples incidentally our lord said because i said unto thee i sa v thee under the fig-tree believest thou thou shalt see ~reater works than these than this sure evidence of my messiahship a an israelite indeed you are in the attitude of heart which would permit you to receive the lord s blessing and to have the eye5 of your understanding opened wider and wider to an appreciation of the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of the lord s ~reat plan of salvation which centers in me verily verily i say unto you hereafter ye [all of my disciples all who will follow me in the narrow way shall see heaven opened and the angels of god ascending aud descending upon the son of man our lord evidently by this expression called the attention of his hearers and of all his followers back to the days of jacob and the vision which he had at bethel in which he saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven on which angels of god were ascending and descending our lord would have us understand that jacob s vision was a pictorial illustration of the methods of divine grace that our lord himself was the ladder upon which communication between heaven and earth would be reestablished and so as our eyes of understanding open we increasingly see this is the case upon this ladder upon this connecting link between heaven and earth between god and man have descended to us the angels of divine fayor messages of love and mercy forgiveness and adoption and on this same ladder are messages returned to the father our prayers we are accepted in the beloved we enter into the holies by faith we receive the incoming and send back again the outgoing messages and messengers and all of them upon the ladder the connecting link the son of man our lord and master through whom alone we have access and relation;o.hip to the father and receive from him the exceeding great and prerious thing not only of this present life but also of that which is to come [3483]

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filled and transformed john 2:1-11 jan 22 wha.t8oever he boiith unto you do it cana of galilee was the home city of xathanael one of the and uplifting the hearts of the poor groaning creation with latest additions to the number of our lord s disciples he whom they come in contact vus one of six who had now given their adht!rence to jesus there are plenty of strife-breeders in the world whose entry a the messiah apparently :nathanael had invited our lord of the portals of any home means strife be within these walls and the other disciples to be his guests at cana where a marwhether they realize it or say it or not full of anger malice riage feast was about to be held mary the mother of jesus hatred and strife their hearts speak forth of the abundance was present at the feast doubtless as a very close friend of within breeding discontent and unhappiness with others the famil as indicated by her knowledge in advance that the who have passed that condition of bitterness of soul in malice wine supply was running short the customary hospitality of and strife and who have set their faces to walk in the lord s the .jew on ucl occasions would make it a serious breach of footsteps after the spirit and not after the flesh and who etiquettl not to r uppl.v an abundance for their guests as well therefore are putting away those works of the flesh and the a for neighbor and pas or hy ho in the name of the bridedevil some time will surely elapse before they are filled with groom would he ul gl d to outl r and partake of the hospitalities the spirit of love and in that interim before they are so filled freely .tesu and hi di ciple wl re amongst the 8pecially in with peace and joy and the fruits of the spirit as to overflow vit od guests these in blessings wherever they go there is apt to be a period our lord mother brought to his attention the shortage in which evil speaking back-biting evil insinuations evil surof wine and from thb it ha heen assumed that she anticimisings unkindnesses ungentleness of word and conduct imparat od the miracle ve cannot a ree to the reasonableness ot tience etc will be manifested this suggestion beeause it i particularly stated that the the influence of such even though they be pupils in christ miraculous creation of wine on this occasion was the beginning is a carnal influence highly injurious to spiritual development of .jesus miracles ve must suppose therefore that mary s calculated to stop growth in the various graces and to disturb long acquaintance with and dependance on her son had made the peace and joy of their own hearts and the hearts of others her aware of his superior jud~ment and resourcefulness in all who are seeking the right ways of the lord the lesson for events and on all occasion8 the matter was beyond her conus of the lord s followers is not only to turn from sin to righttrol and as was often the a e with those in moderate cireousness and from anger and envy and malice to love but to um tances the bridegroom ha.l probably spent all that he keep the heart fullv filled with the latter so that out of its ould afford to expend in preparations probably also in anabundance of love and joy and peace our mouth may speak and our conduct may show our relationship and likeness to ticipation of our lord presem e at the marriage feast a larger number of neighbors called on hir acconnt-to see the stranger our lord that men may take knowledge of us that we have of whom the had heard more or 11 1;8 through nathanael and been with jesus and have learned of him oth£ rs honor thy father and thy mother jesus sociable in the home our lord s reply to his mother s suggestion appears rather this narrative giwi u8 a little glimpse of the social side cold and harsh but this is largely the result of the translaof our lord s charactl r and onvinces us that the aseeticism tion while the word woman is a proper translation it illustrated by monks and nuns was not a part of his teaching does not give the elegant shading of the greek original which pither in word or £ xample hii eonsecrated life was lived in would more nearly signify lady the word is the same for inth£ midst of the ordinary so ial eonditions bearing upon any tance that the emperor of rome used in complimentary ad· member of a moral and religious community there is no dress to the queen of egypt take courage 0 woman we ,uggestion of rev£ lry or foolisllillf in our lord s conduct but may be sure that neither b word nor act did our lord violate it is reasonable to assume that he participated in the proper the commandment of the law honor thy father and thy joys and fellowships and social amenities of such an occasion mother we may be sure that in all his words and conduct this was in harmony with his own injunction to his followerfl he was a very model of the meekness and gentleness patience rejoic£ with thol;e that do rejoice and weep with those that and love which his doctrines inculcated w£ ep the expression what have i to do with thee would what every home ne£ ds is not only a visit from j£ bus but seem more properly to signify do not attempt to dictate to that it should be his home his abiding place it would be a me i will know what to do when the appropriate time comes ,afe rule of life for all of the lord s followers to dl sire to go mary probably was intent upon hiding the fact of the shortto any place they would have reason to believe the lord would age of the wine jesus on the other hand recognized that the go if he were again present in the flesh it would be a safe miracle he was about to perform was less for the assistance of rule for us to do or say such things as we would ijave reabon the bridegroom of the occasion than for a great lesson which to £ xpect that our lord would do or say were he prebent in through the servants probablr became known to the entire our stpad blessings we may be sure went with the d£ ar company jesus therefore waited until the supply was not mast£ t wh£ rever he went specially to those who like na· only running low but exllausted until there was no wine so thanael were israelit£ s indeed in whose hearts there was no that the miracle would not be minimized bv the admixture of f{uile the bew with the old · when we remember th.at the word disciple means pupil mary s word to the servants whatsoever he saith unto or learner and that all of the lord s people are his disciples you do it was a further evidence that she was on terms of though not all apostles it gives us a suggestion that each very close intimacy in that home the servants properly disciple represents the lord-that where we go he goes that enough would need such instructions for otherwise they would we are his representatives or ambas adors with this not be prepared to take orders from one of the guests mary thought before our minds how careful we each should be to probably had no knowledge of what the lord would command properly repres£ nt our glorious lord to show forth the the servants to do but as before suggested she had confidence in praise of him who hath called us out of darkness into his mar her son s resourcefulness and wisdom and that as one of the velous light to this end how we need to pray not only with guests whose entertainment hall helped to exhaust the w1ne he our lips but also with our hearts let the words of my mouth would be pleased to take some steps to assist in replenishing and thl meditations of mv heart be acceptable in thy sight 0 the supply lord m strength and redeemer verily as he was so here a question arises respecting the kind of wine proare we in this world 1 john 4 17 the world knoweth vided by the bridegroom of which jesus and his disciples evilis not £,v£ l1 as it knew him not but our duty on all occasions dently partook and also respecting the kind of wine which the is just the same his message is that we shall let our light lord subsequently produced and of which he probably partook shine b£ fore men tha t they seeing our good works may glorify we know of nothing to indicate that this was merely grape our fath£ r in heaven juice unfermented everything seems to teach the reverse of peace be to this house this that it was slightly alcoholic-the alcohol being produced in the wine through the processes of fermentation resulting a suggestion respecting the influences accompanyibg the in what is known as light wines the remark of the gov· i ord s disciples-which influences we believe surely accomernor of the feast that the wine which jesus made was better panied hi own presen l on all such occasions-is represented than that at first supplied would we think support this thehv his commission to his apostles when he sent them forth ory but it would not imply that the people were drunk in· they £ r£ to 8ay peace be,up.on this house before entering we do not take it that tlns is a command that we sheuld toxicated and that they had thus lost their taste or judg· openly and formally make such a declaration before entering ment any building but we do believe that this should be the heart in our view there is a great difference between present consentim£ nt of everv one of the lord r consecrated people-their ditions and those of our lord s time those people of a warmer country were accustomed to drinking light wines in desir£ their effort th£ i1 aim-that peace and blp8bing may accompllny them h£ 1 l yer they may go resting r£ fr£ shing very muc the same manner that we today drink water tea my 00-12 [3484]

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}anuaay 1 1905 zion s watch tower 12-13 coffee ete and they had no deleterious effects and the same may be said of the people of some parts of europe today besides it was in a slower age and amongst people more moderate in every way in our day with everything done under pressure and nervous excitement alcoholic stimulants of every kind seem to be poisonous to very many it seems to be next to impossible for people to use such stimulants moderately it is for this reason alone that total abstinence may be recommended-because of the present distress because of the increased expenditure of nervous energy and consequent increased danger of inebriety and not because the scriptures specially enjoin total abstinence it is our conviction that if the lord were present in the flesh today under our present conditions circumstances etc he would rank amongst the most abstemious because if such abstention were not necessary for himself we believe that his love and sympathy for the weak fallen race would impel him to avoid being anything like a stumbling-stone in the way of any of them wateb-pots filled full to the brim with pure water they were symbolical they represented the lord s people in this present time water is used in the scriptures as a symbol of life the water of lif it particularly fl;gures or ~llustrates natural or human .hfe as for instance in revelation 22 17 where the symbol is gl!en of the spirit and the bride during the millennial age saymg to the world of mankind come partake of the water of life freely it represents the restitution ~ork the revival ~f mankind from the power of death the mfuslon of the restitution life oub treasure in earthen vessels in those days they did not have hydrants pumps etc but kept the water for family use in large earthen vessels called water-pots on such an occasion as this an extra quantity would be needed and quite probably water-pots had been borrowed from neighbors they were of different sizes but all quite large two firkins represented by eighteen gallons and three firkins by twenty-seven gallons or nine ganons each firkin it was the custom to use this water supply specially for washing the vessels of the household and the hands and feet of the guests hence the need of so great a supply when the proper time came for the performance of the miracle our lord instructed that water be fetched and that these six water-pots be filled to the brim this use of the ordinary water-jars would prevent any suspicion of their containing any powders or mixtures that might constitute a basis for the miracle and the filling of them to the brim would likewise hinder anyone from thinking that something was added to the water by our lord besides the water thus rising to the surface where it could be seen would show its own clearnel s and purity the change from water to wine was evidently instantaneous for our lord at once directed them to draw the wine and serve first the governor of the feast who would thus have a knowledge of the fresh supply the latter commented upon the new wine as superior to the first and remarked to the host that usually the best was given first when the palate would be the more keen to detect the quality this was a testimony to the excellence of the wine which j esu8 made we cannot think that at an ordinary feast simple grape-juice would be regarded as superior wine nor on the other hand need we suppose that the wine which jesus made contained such a proportion of alcohol as would make it injurious to the users but there was another reason why the vessels were filled in these earthen vessels the water had been considerably exhausted there was very little remaini.ng in ea~h vessel so with us as members of the human faml1y our hfe forces are well exhausted through the fall the jews as ~od:s favored people under the typi~al law covenant were justified .to certain extent but not ld the full sense of the word-not justified to life-and the filling up of the water-pots with water to the brim represented or foreshadowed the full and complete justification to life to all human rights and privileges reckonedly granted to all who become the lord s followers as the apostle expresses it being justified by faith we have peace with god but the figure or illustration goes further and shows us the tra.nsforming of these justifies lives the impartation of a new nature by miraculous change the thought is expressed by the apostle when he says that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds we become new creatures the change of the water to wine therefore represents ~he change of the justified being con~tituting him a ~ew .crea~lon in christ jesus as the water will represent the justification so the wine will represent the superior joys of the spirit granted to those wh through fai~h and a full .cons.ecration attain to the begettmg of the splnt-an adoption mto the spiritual family true these joys at present are not as r~l as they will be by and by-they are joys of hope of anticipation which we have in earthly vessels as the apostle declares by and by however according to the lord s promise a share in the lord s resurrection will give us the new vessels the golden vessels the perfect conditions in which our joys !l nd favors will be realized and appreciated to the full there is a hint of this in our lord s declaration at the last supper that those who would drink of his cup of suffering a.n sel sacri fice in the present time would by and by share with him the new wine the divine nature and life and joys in the kingdom this discernment of a spiritual signification in the wine is in full accord with the statement of our last verse of the lesson which assures us that our lord s miracles etc manifested forth-that is beforehand-his coming glory and the blessings which he will then bestow upon his faithful the best is yet to be the last of life for which the first was planned essentials to a share in the kingdom john 3:1-16 jan 29 for god so loved the world that 116 gave 11m only begotten son that whosoever be14eveth on him should not perish but have everlailting life the visit of nicodemus a jewish ruler to our lord was lluence of his presence and office on the side of our lord until evidently early in our lord s ministry we know little of the he had in some degree satisfied himself on the subject nevman except that on various occasions he manifested sincerity ertheless the entire character of nicodemus seems lacking in and considerable faith in our lord and sympathy with his courage for even at the time he presented himself to our lord cause it was this same man who defended our lord in a on this occasion he declared his conviction that he was a teacher discussion amongst the pharisees and priests respecting him sent from god and that he believed the miracles to be genuine he said does our law judge any man before it hear him 1 with that much evidence in hand he would have been fully whereupon his fellow-rulers said art thou also one of his justified in going to our lord in a public way acknowledging disciples 1 nicodemus was not ready to affirm discipleship as much as he saw and asking for further proofs begotten again-born again even then but that his sympathy continued with the lord is evidenced by the fact that he was one of the prominent men nicodemus had the jewish hopes and evidently was one who requested the privilege of burying our lord s body after of those in expectation of messiah and the kingdom which the crucifixion we know not what may have been the end messiah was to establish for the blessing of israel and the of his course but we fear that while he was too good to be an world the entire conversation is evidently not given but opponent of the truth he had not enough stamina in character the lord s answer implies that the inquiry of nicodemus was to be one of the lord s disciples herein we have a lesson along these lines-the messianic kingdom and the conditions which each should apply to himself the lord is seeking dis of membership therein ciples who are willing to take up their cross and follow him our lord promptly put the matter in a very plain light after having eounted the cost such as shrink from paying assuring his visitor that no one could have the kmgdom unthe cost of discipleship cannot be disciples cannot share the less born again a little later in the conversation he added kingdom whatever blessings the lord may have in reserva that no one could enter into the kingdom except by being born tion for them in connection with or under the kingdom again v 5 the word born is properly enough used in we cannot reasonably find fault with nicodemus for com both these instances and thus we learn that the lord had ing to jesus by night throughout the day our lord was busy reference to the future-reference to the resurrection birth teaching and a visit then would have been more or less an described by the apostle in 1 corinthians 15:42-44-born from interruption besides nicodemus had no right to cast the in the dead to the glory honor and inunortality and a share in iv-47 [3485]

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13-14 zion s watch tower allegh£ny pa the kingdom assured to those who have part in the first resurrection these all will be spirit beings and with their lord will constitute the spiritual kingdom which will be invisible to mankmd in general-invisible to all its earthly subjects as satan the prmce of this world is invisible to mankind nicodemus discerned that there was something here far beyond anything he had contemplated as a jew he had been looking for and waiting for an earthly kingdom and an earthly king but now he was informed that only by passing through a change a begetting and a new birth to a new nature could he hope ever to participate in or even to see the kingdom of god no wonder he was astonif hed and inquired further re specting the new birth would it be like the first birth would those who would be heirs of the kingdom be born again as they once had been born of a mother our lord s answer to the query is given to be begotten of an earthly father and later to be born of an earthly mother would insure that the progeny woum be earthly alf o-that which is bel!otten and born of the fleflh ifl flesh there is however a likeness between such an earthly birth and the new birth necessary to a share in the kingdom there must be a begetting not of bloorl nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of god john 1:13 there must also be a period of gefltation for this flpiritual new creature that will precede its resurrection hirth tlms all who will share in the spiritual kingdom as flplrit beinl!s must first be begotten of the spirit and suhflequently he developed of the flpirit growinl in all of its frmt l anrl i!rfh e and ultimately be bol n of the spirit born from the dead a flpiritual being like the lord and a flharer in his glory honor and immortality that whil h is begotten and born of the spirit is spirit ir not flesh fleflh and blood l 11nnot inherit the kingdom of heaven nicodemus still marveled at fluch teaching coulu it be possible that himflelf and all the great teachers of the jewish nation had ul h a miflconception of the kingdom this was indeed true and flimilarly we might flay that a great many today have equally erroneoufl conceptions of the kingdom although not in every particular the same errors that beclouded the mimi of nil odemufl and otllerfl of the prominent jews the diffi ulty torlay in thifl han-est of the goflpel age is th 1t our lord s worrlfl above quoted and which seem so plain are misunderstood and supposed to refer not at all to the resurrection but entirely to the begetting of the present time this is in part at least the fault of the translators of our common version bible who knowing that the same greek word is translated both begotten and horn in our english language have not properly distinguiflhed between these nor given english readers the proper knowledge that there are two thoughts behind this one word-the thought of begetting and after gestation ultimately birth few enough of christian p ojlii h:1 e any dear 1 00h eption of what hel!ettinl of til spirit signifier and their confusion ifl doubled when they are told that they are now born of the pirit no wonder that the majority of christian people are in sul h perplexity on this subjel t and would not know what to flay if asked whether or not they were bel!0tten of the spirit or what they mean when they express the hope that they haw been born of the spirit every christian should know of tl lord s promise to al cept him to a new nature through begettal of the holy spirit -should know that his justified heart has been fuil y consecrated to the lord should know that he has been begottl n of the holy spirit which ifl the earnest or hegetting to the new nature whil h if maintained will ultimately be born of the spirit in thtj rt surrection an illustration of a spirit·born being first resurrection and the character of those who would have p!lrt in it exclail,lled how can these things be is it possible our lord s answer was that a ruler in il rael should have comprehended these things e idently therefore a proper study of the matter from the scriptural standpoint might have led true israelites indeed to more or less of an appreciation of the character of the kingdom in advance of its coming while they would not have been able to appreciate any of its details they might have understood better than they did they were content to live on too iowa plane j they did not enjoy all the knowledge available because probably too l ielf-satisfied because they did not sufficiently hunger and thirst after the truth this our lord declares is the reason why nicodemus and his fellow officials the doctors of the jewish church were not ready for his message not ready to receive the truth we speak that we do know and testify that we have seen and ye receive not our witness our message our lord continues you would like to have me explain about this spiritual kingdom its operations etc but this i cannot do you are not in condition to receive my word if i told you earthly things and you believed not how shall you believe if i tell you of heavenly things the person who cannot grasp with clearness and distinctness the features of god s plan which relate to the world in general certainly need not expect that he would be in any cond ltion to understand or appreciate the things which pertain to the spiritual conditions which are higher and therefore more difficult of comprehension natural vs spiritual things evidently nicodemus was inquiring particularly respecting the heavenly kingdom to which the lord had referred he va l desirous of measuring with his judgment the probabllitie of such a kingdom as our lord had announl ed man of our da look at the matter similarly and refuse to beheve the thmgs beyond the range of their natural senses-they lack the sixth sense of faith or spiritual apprehension as our lord explained the difficulty lies in the fact that they have not thoroughly believed the lord s testimony in respect to earthly things-they have not thoroughly subjected their minds to him only after faith and obedience reflpecting l arthly things and a full consecration of our hearts to the lord need we expect the begetting of the spirit which would enable us to grasp mentally by faith some of the exceeding great and precious things which god hath in reservation for them that specially love him-for the church as the bride the lamb s wife neither need those who have the flpiritual sense expect to understand spiritual things with tile full comprehensh eness with which they grasp earthly matters the things not seen as yet-which eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entered into the heart of man are revealed unto us by his spirit as the lord declares he does not go into particulars with us but in general terms tells us of glory honor immortality and joint-heirship with his son as kings and priests and judges of the world in a general way we may grasp this matter after we have come into proper relationship to the lord we grasp it as a whole and not in its details which are not revealed what we do see howenr is almost overwhelming in its grandeur and with the apo ltle we assure ourl!elves that these are indeed exceeding great and precious promifles by which we may attain to the divine nature 2 peter 1 :4 no man hath ascended up our lord admonishes nic odemus that he muflt not be too much surprifl d at the great mistake he and oth rs had made in regard to the terms and i onditionfl whil h would qualify th m for a pian in til kingdom they should marvel not but realize the neceflflity of being born again-of attaining to tllp first resurrection if they would be members of the kingdom class our lord s illustration reflpecting such flpirit-begotten onef is very clear anrl explicit nieodemus could underfltand about the blowing wind which had power hut was invisible our lord explained to him that thifl illustrated the character of the beings born of the flpirit they will he like the wind which can go and come can be heard and to come extent felt but which cannot be seen tlllis ifl herv lne that is born of the 8pirit likewise nicodemus or whoever else would be an heir of the kingdom must experience sul h a great change or transformation such a birth of the flpirit whieh would make them like the angels invisible able to go and come without being feen of men ni·ldt mus marveling still more at this explanation of the continuing his argument that nicodemus must receive by faith whate £ r he would know about heavenly things and that he would be entirely dependent upon jesus word our lord remarked that no man ever ascended up to heaven and that himself the son of man who alone had come down from heaven was alone able to speak with knowledge and authority respecting heavenly matters this is still the case tllere is hut one testimony respecting these hea cnly thing l-our lord s own words while in the flesh and his subsequent revelations through the holy spirit by the apostles we must accept this testimony for there ifl no other here we note the peculiar and unsatisfactory condition of the world in general-not only of the heathen but also of the learned professors of christendom who deny our lord s pre· human existence and deny the relevations he has since made through his apostles john 16:13 14 rev 1:1 the heathen believe tnings pertaining to an invisible realm a spiritual or heavenly state but without evidence except such al l comes to them through the fallen spirits in civilized lands those who reject our lord s revelation on the subject have nothing whatever to base their faith upon except such unsat [3486]

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]anvally 1 1905 zion}s watch tower 15-19 isfactory evidences as they obtain through spiritualistswhose knowledge and manifestations we hold according to the scriptures are from the same evil origin as those of the heathen-the fallen angels who personate the human dead respecting the latter our lord in this verse distinctly tells us that they have not ascended to heaven elsewhere john 5:29 he tells us that they are in their graves-that they are dead and will so remain until his power and authority shall call them forth again to being the apostle peter s testimony respecting the prophet david one of the ancient worthie is along the same line he declares david is not ascended mto the heavens acts 2 34 the last three words of the 13th verse are spurious they were not in the original manuscript and are not found in the oldest greek manuscript discovered about half a century ago the sinaitic these words were doubtless added by some wellmeaning person who wished to express his faith that the lord had risen and ascended on high he did not notice that the addition of these words makes nonsense as they are placedthey would make jesus say that he was in heaven at the time he was talking to nicodemus how irlportant it is that we have a knowledge of the unadulterated word of god w must neither add to nor take from it and when we find as in this case that some one either intentionally or unintentionally added these words to the original text we should cancel them and thus free ourselves from the confmlion they would otherwise create a similar instance of an improper addition to the lord s vord is found in the last verse of john s gospel which is a most pa ipa ble untruth and is omitted from the oldest greek manuscript the sinaitic another similar case is the first sentence of revelation 20 5 concerning this latter see millennial dawn vol 1 page 288 foot note upllfted lr.ke moses serpent lord and being healed is already accorded to such as hear the message and accept it look and live believers who now by faith can realize their sins forgiven are thrice blessed but we thank god that his provision is not merely for those who now have the hearing ear and the eye of faith but that eventually all the blind eyes shall be opened and all the deaf ears unstopped and the message look and live and again partake of the water of life freely will be heard by every member of adam s race that each may have a full and fair opportunity of acquiring his share of the blessings secured for adam and all his race by christ s death thus eventually it will be not only whosoever believeth but all who will have the necessary conditions to permit them to believe to permit them to enjoy their share of the gift of god eternal life through jesus christ our lord the golden text our lord did not stop with a mere answer to his visitor s cjuestions about the kingdom being heavenly but proceeded to give him in brief form an outline of the entiro plan of salvation he reminded him of the israelites bitten by the fiery serpents in the wildcrness and that god had directed moses to lift on a pole a copper serpent to which the israelites who would exercise faith might look and receive healing our l.ord announced that he was to be the antitype of this that he would be lifted up on the cross and thus made to appear the sinner-to take the place of the sinner-so that the whole world of mankind bitten by sin and dying as a result might look unto llim by faith and be healed what a wonderful condensation of a great truth the lord here expressed it was the typical lesson of his own substitution as man s redeemer and sin bearer and clearly taught that faith in him as such is essential to a recovery from the fall and its results this blessed privilege of looking to the our golden text is a wonderful verse and all the more wonderful the more we understand of the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of the divine plan of salvation luther who grasped the gospel message more fully than may of his day and yet less fully than we see the reality to be called this verse the little bible ve would express the same in the words the gospel in a nut shell the whole message of god is contained in a condensed form in these words 1 man s need is shown-his perishing condition his need of divine help 2 god s love is declared and the proof of it is pointed out to be the gift of his son 3 our lord s willing cooperation in the father s plan is evidenced 4 the lengths and breaaths of this love and redemption are declared to embrace the whole world and not merely a section a family or class 5 the limitations of divine ~ace are plainly stated only through a true acceptance of christ can any obtain this great blessing-release from the perishing conditions of the curse and full reinstatement in the divine favor and its blessed reward of life everlasting thus this gospel statement assures us that there is no hope for the heathen in their ignorance a.nd points us as do other scriptures for all hope respecting them to the future when the voice of th son of man who redeemed them shall call ali from the grave to the intent that all maj7 !lttain to resurrection pl rfection under the judgm nt8 of the millennial age when the judgments of the lord are abroad in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness and many who have gone down into the tomb under the curse and in ignorance of the only name given under heaven and amongst men shall ultimately be blessed as they shall hear of the great alvation god has provided and if they shall aecept it upon god s terms my beautiful secret i have learned a beautiful secret i know not how or wherebut i know it is sweet and precious and true and glad and fair and that god in heaven reveals it to all that have ears to hear and i know that ere i learned it my way was weary and hard and somewhere in life s music there was always that which jarreda hidden and dreary discord that ali its sweetness marred but my harp of life was lifted by one who knew the range of its many strings-for he made it and he struck a keynote strange and beneath the touch of the master i heard the music change no longer it failed and faltered no longer sobbed and strove but it seemed to soar and mingle with the songs of heaven above for the pierced hand of the master had struck the keynote-love thy heart s long-prisoned music let the master s hand set free let him whisper his beautiful secret to thee as he hath to me mv love is the golden kernote of all my will for thee -e d oherry yolo xxvi allegheny pa january 15 1905 no.2 views from the watch tower jewish comment on mr zangwill s mission israel zangwill the author and playwright has come to this country to interest leading jewish citizens in the establishment of a zionist colony in british east afriea the plan he advocates was projected at the last zionist on~ress in ba~le and has a practical interest in view of the british government s declared willingness to set aside a large tract of land 011 the nandi plateau uganda for purposes of jewish colonization as mr zangwill explains in an interview reported in the new york times this is not merely a dream in the air it is an actual offer of the government made under the auspices of joseph chamberlain the first jews who went to palestine did not go there [3487]

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09-20 zion s watch tower allilghilny pa straight they wandered for forty years in the wilderness and the old and feeble dropped away those who arrived were the strongest and fittest the striking thing is that the jews have not possessed an inch of land for nineteen centuries this tract on the plateau of nandi is the first thing that has ever been offered the jewish papers in this country do not look at all kindly on mr zangwill s plan the american hebrew new york says we doubt very much whether zionists will subscribe to mr zangwill s new definition of zionism it sounds like hamlet with hamlet omitted to this the american israelite cincinnati adds of course he will succeed in getting more or less money there never was a scheme so wildly foolish that a glib talker could not get some support for it that this money will be absolutely wasted there can be no question and if this were all there would be no great harm done jewish comment baltimore says our english correspondent thinks that jewish east africa would herome an ordinary engh lh rolony with a jewish governor and this seems to be all that is in it at present it may turn out to be quite as successful an enterprise as the colonies in argentina and that is a modest hope with the great advantage of being under the supervision of the english government the colonizing power par excellence if the whole aim of the zionists were to get a legally assured horne east africa offers a prospect of an early realization of their fondest dreams but if at the same time they hope for reinvigoration intellectual and moral through the influence of the spiritual glories and memories of zion east africa will be as impotent as new jersey or winnipeg badly as the jews need a place to rest in peace they need an influence that will make for culture and for the awakening of the instincts that we are so ready to believe lie at the basis of jewish character the scotch presbyterian church a large and flourishing church comprising nearly a quarter of the population of scotland with a national influence even greater than her numbers represent and prosecuting extensive missions in europe asia and africa has been suddenly decreed to have lost her identity through her union with another church and certain changes in her formulre which this union required and to have forfeited in consequence all her invested funds and the bulk of her real estate the new hell the fact has been already referred to that the house of lords the court of last resort in great britain decided that the united free church did not acquire right in the property of the denomination and gives title to all to what is termed the wee free church which still holds fast to the original creed refusing modification necessary to union with others the house of lords as a court decided that the moneys and properties accumulated for centuries for the propagation of a special faith or creed should not be diverted at the wish of any majority however large doubtless this will be a spoke in the wheel of church union and turn the attention more to federation as easier quicker and less hazardous how this matter marks the error of all the denominational creed fencings n one of them are of such a size as to permit all true christians and only such to stand upon them a writer in the independent review truly says the pious citizen of antioch who lent his house for the assembling together of those first called christians would be much startled could he see and hear the mass as it is performed today either in 8t peter s rome or st paul s london the duke of argyle remarks that thus the recent decision affects all british churches that do not by their constitution formally allow their member to agree to differ a liberty seldom given to churches in words though nearly always practised in action a writer in the contemporary review sees the error of present creedal methods but evidently does not see that the apostolic church was free and different in these respects he says the position of all churches which use or acknowledge doctrinal standards or maintain a collective policy is affected by the judgment they are told in effect that the law does not recognize churches where property is concerned but only beneficiaries under a trust powerless to alter its terms incapable of declaring the purposes for which they exist restrained from taking any step which may even be held by a civil court to involve a change of doctrine churches that exist on such terms bound to the intellectual methods of the past forbidden under ruinous penalties to think out the issues of christian faith for themselves place themselves surely in a position of fatal inferiority and disability the decision is just as respects the donors of the past and works hardship only in proportion as unscriptural creedal fences have been erected the fellowship of the early church was built doctrinally on faith in jesus as the son of god and redeemer of men in the justification of true believers who forsake sin to follow the lamb and who through a full consecration of everything are begotten of the holy spirit all the lord s true people could stand on that platform today and to add to or take from it is ungodly and the constant cause of trouble as it has ever been the quarterly review sums up the loss of united free church in these words the professor of christian theology in tuft s col~ege prof g t knight not long since in the north amencan review said as for protestants there is still to be heard on occasion a thorough-going expr~ssion of the old doctrine but a more common opinion even among conservatives is repor~ed m the words attributed to dr patton of princeton he said according to report that the ~umber of the finally lost ~ill p~obably be in about the proportion of those now confined m prison on earth dr briggs who is reckoned somewhat less conservative said that the number would be inconsiderable and it is by extending probation to the future world as luther did or by some substitute for the roman catholic doctrine of purgatory that provision is made and opportunity is given for doing so much more than the church on earth can do · to the question whether the blessed in heaven will not ~e saddened by seeing their nearest and dearest ones tortured m hell luther answered not the least in the world jonathan ed ards said the view of the misery of the damned will double the ardor of the love and gratitude of the saints in heaven andrew welwood thought the saints will be overjoyed in beholding the vengeance of god samuel hopkins expressed the opinion that the sight of hell would e most entertaining to all those who love god and would give them the highest and most ineffable pleasure the great dr bellamy capped the climax by an elaborate calculation based 0!l science and philosophy in which he estimated that the happiness of the blessed in heaven would be increased 9,600,000,000 times on account of the misery of the damned he notes a great revulsion of sentiment on this subject of late years and in evidence quotes the expressions of several prominent clergymen as follows dr farrar said these wanton exercises of the imagination assume the aspect of deadly blasphemy against him whose name is love we can scarcely refrain the question which one has asked what crimes of men can merit the endless tortures here set forth except the crime of conceiving such tortures and ascribing the malice of their influence to an all-wise and holy g,od dr briggs said the preachers preach the damnation of the heathen and the hearer hear and accept but they do not believe it in their hearts if they did they would be more worthy of damnation than the heathen themselves-unless th~y should at once give their whole lives and property to the mlssionarv cause jolin wesley once said calvin s god is my devil dr h strong said christ always suffers with us he who is god began to suffer when the first sin was committed and he will always suffer so long as men sin dorsing any of them but by way of calhng attention agam to the fact that the increase of knowledge and heart enlargement of our day are sure to lead into error unless the bible teaching on the subject be clearly seen how thankful this makes us for the light now shining into our hearts and upon our bibles and how earnest it should make us in communicating this blessing to all who have an ear to hear british workmen criticized it is profitable for us to note these comments not a en rev r j campbell of london city temple who rece~tly charged that british workmen are often lazy unthl lfty improvident sometimes immoral foul-mouthed and untruthful spending their sundays in idle self-indulgence or drunken rowdyism is being criticized by labor journals and othersamong th~m ministers nevertheless faithful are the wounds of a friend among other things quite scathing mr campbell said two-thirds of the national drink bill is incurred by the workingman his keenest struggles are for shorter hours and better wages but not that he may employ them for higher ends he is often lazy unthrifty improvident sometimes immoral foul-mouthed and untruthful unlike the american worke he has comparatively little aspiration or ambition cdnscientiousness is a virtue conspicuous by its rarity those who have close dealings with the british workingman know he needs watching or work will be badly done and the time employed upon it will be as long as he can get paid for [3488]

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january 15 1905 zion s watch tower church federation within ten years 21-22 it is as ruskin puts it that joy in labor has ceased under the sun the worker does not work for the work s sake but for the pay s sake and his principal aim is to work as little as possible and get as much as possible both in money and leisure such a workingman s sunday therefore is exactly what we should expect a day of idle self-indulgence or drunken rowdyism he does not go to church and the churches are blamed for it but his reason for abstention is not because his ethical standard is higher than the churchgoer lt-far otherwise these are facts the statement of which may be unpopular but which there is no gainsaying let it be understood that as stated here they are not intended to apply to workingmen as a whole but to large classes among them which classes it is to be feared constitute a majority the labor leader london grants that genuine christianity is on the decline but thinks that ministers and christians in general are doing little or nothing to turn the downward rush it says are we to have more ministers standing by the side of oppressed labor or is our fashionable preacher still to offer us words worels words which break no bones fill no mouths and end no iniquities is the pulpit still to keep its eye upon the rich subscribers in the pews or is it to see nothing but justice truth and mercy the most eloquent and convincing condemnation of drink which we have heard came from a habitual drunkard who was getting intoxicated at the time is mr campbell s denunciation of society also to be nothing more than the eloquence of satan reproving sin though we feel how unsatisfactory a tu quoque is in such serious matters as this we think the dishonest plumber and the lazy bricklayer may well turn to the preachers and say prithee sirs do not i do my work as well as you do yours i look after my master s interests much more loyally than you look after those of your master and i assure you if i disregarded the fundamental principles of my craft as much as you disregard yours my bricks would not stand a gale and my pipes would run nowhere at all the preacher who gets such a rebuff if he be a wise man will go away sorrowing he will then pass out of the pharisaical stage of enlightenment commenting on the recent national council of congregational churches the n y independent says this note of unity called forth the most remarkable scene in the meeting of the congregational council when the report was adopted with the utmost enthusiasm for steps looking to final complete union with the methodist protestant and united brethren bodies already the methodist protestants and the congregationalists have accepted the plan of union and it remains for it to be accepted by the united brethren at their general conference next spring then the plan will have to be approved by the local conferences of the two before it can begin to be put into operation it anticipates for a while the union of the three bodies in one general council and the union of their missionary agencies while plans are being prepared for complete consolidation these things take time as there are separate interests to be cared for and protected we may expect that within the next ten years very much of the scandal of a disunited protestant christendom will be removed poor russia s pitiable plight russia s disasters in the war with japan followed by the insurrection of her chief cities presents a picture of severe retribution upon a haughty nation pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall the fall of russia is not yet and doubtless in the interim the sufferings will be still more intense the pity is that under present conditions the innocent suffer with the guilty and often more severely our special sympathy is for the poorly fed and but partly clad soldiers who are suffering at the front and for their poor families at home and for the poor creatures whose unwisdom joined with love of liberty and a desire to better their conditions has brought them into conflict with the merciless cossacks of the czar s army by and by-ere long now it will be different then he who sins most shall suffer most and the ignorant seeking the right way shall be guided to it by the great king and his joint-heirs election ys free grace the rev dr francis l patton presbyterian president of the princeton theological seminary preached in pittsburg recently in the third presbyterian church to a congregation crowding the church made up of representative ministers and laymen from all parts of the two cities as was expected he opened the active campaign against union with the cumberland presbyterian church dr patton preached from the words if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness he said:a sensational sermon rev dr patton opposes union before higher criticism the minister is the attorney general of god almighty charged with the commission of presenting the claims of eternal truth in relation to the common things of life he holds a brief for the supernatural some say that a minister must not touch secular things i do not agree with them it is his business to do what he can to bring men in their every thought into captivity and obedience to christ what is truth asked jesting pilate and he did not wait for an answer if he had waited until today he would have got the answer from chicago or from oxford any old thing is truth that works that satisfies that meets the exigency they say you can convince a man if he will only be respectable and listen but he does not listen if you cannot convince the one obstinate man in a jury what is your argument worth if kruger could only have foreseen do you think he would have declared war if the church of scotland could have foreseen the action of the house of lords do you think they would have gone into the union bad conscience a blind guide in 1789 when the general assembly was formed there was no geology upon which to found attacks on the creation no are chooology to upset early records no higher criticism no biology to attack statements as to the garden of eden no sociology to make up a little sentiment to take the place of the old gospel i often wonder how the old preachers got along when they had no telegraph wires nor wireless telegraph when wars were fought and ended before they heard of them and they had nothing to preach but the old fundamental gospel of jesus christ but i had rather preach today with its magnificent opportunities when we stand face to face with great problems there was a division in 37 on psychological lines but the gravitating influence of good fellowship brought us together in 1870 unions without faith this movement for union goes on and people are making less of doctrine than polity and they say what is the difference if we can come together and the movement is for union not with a calvinistic body-not at all-but with an arminian body they say there is not enough differcnre betwern this calvinistic confession of yours and that arminian ronfesrion to keep the two bodies apart and they say come together and disregard the difference and unite on the basis of evangelical faith when this comes about how much broader do you want to be calvinism and arminianism incompatible the worst thing that can happen to a man is to have a bad conscience it is a blind guide leading him astray our lord says we are the light of the world if the world is ever to have a high ideal it must get it from the church if men are ever to be lifted above the level of selfish desires it is when they come into the house of god the church has become corrupt in times past and why not again the rank and file think very much as their leaders weare a gregarious people and go like a flock of sheep men and women alike and when the church follows blind guides and the blind lead the blind both fall into the ditch you and i belong to the presbyterian church a great church with a great history-great moral and missionary history-a history which has marked the progress of this continent you are morally committed to a polity that will embrace arminianism great movements are going on-don t you forget it i know what i am talking about we are in danger of great defections in the methodist church in the episcopal church in the congregational church in the baptist church in th congregational church in the b!lptist church and in the presbyterian church-don t you forget it we have the hard proposition-on the one side old-fash· ioned prayer-meeting monthly concert sabbath observance religion and on the other side out-and-out unmitigated rationalism men are saying this old-fashioned religion is what they want and must hold on to but there are intellectual difficulties and they fear the stress and struggle and say we will take the middle of the road sees the crisis when the great defection comes in all the churches out of this storm and struggle a new church may arise before we go [3489]

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22-24 zion s watch tow er allegheny pa much further the time may come when the remnants of the faithful will come out and reorganize when you get down to mere emotional suhjectidty i will come around some londay morning and ask you to let me have that subjectivity and scud it otl to ha vi it ,iud iyzpd hy ome }ll ofe or of p~y chology and i think you will not like to see the color of it in the nation the rank and file follow the lead of the minh:ters professors editors and if you tell what these say i will make a confession of faith what the rich do the poor feel they have a right to do the hope of the nation is not in big arl llies big navies new markets but in righteousness darkness is bad enough but blindne ls is far worse what is nrede,l is con clenee in the individual in the ehllj h and in the nation ptttsb7ir,r1 gazette dr patton j a tlh ologian alld sees as many do not see that calvinistic theology and arminian theology take opposite sides and are mortal foes to each other peace prevails for some years and neither denounces and shows up the other but it is only for a time the differences can never be ignored without the sacrifice of e ery distinctive theological principle and dogma nevertheless the masses will not grasp the theological distinctions because not taught theology in recent years and because for fear of a theological war such as formerly prevailed dr patton ant others dare not speak out plainly their view of matters for instanee the pith of the foregoing would scarcely be discerned by many of our readers without our added sub-headings would that doctor patton could see with us the divine plan of the ages in which hoth election and free grace have their places from that stan,lpoint full and absolnte union on the basis of the truth woult be a simple matter increasing influence of spiritism or twenty-five years we have sought to forewarn the lord s people again t the public influenee of the fallrn angels the wi ked spirits in high positions eph 6 12 the pamphlet we publish treating this subje t has had a wide circulation e have been much encouraged i,y the many reports received that its influence has hren winel felt fot good not only among the lord s people restraining them from curious and dangerons investigations but also amongst those who had been partially ensnared by the wiles of these a

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january 15 1905 zion s watch tower 24-25 abnormal mental and physical condition of the medium specifically to illustrate as in the case of mrs piper but this is not the chief reason that the communications are trivial and confused or lacking in the kind of information wanted the reason for these characteristics is deeper still it is that the communicator is himself in an abnormal mental condition while communicating it may be compared to a delirious dream or to certain types of secondary personality in the living or eyen to the trance of mrs piper in some of its aspects rev i k :funk d d touched rev 1 k funk d.d of new york city the widely known methodist minister has had some thrilling experiences with spirits and has published them to the world asserting how· ever what even spiritualists will admit that some of the socalled manifestations are frauds that others are by deceiving or lying spirits his investigations like those of prof hyslop show the trend of our times and give a hint of what we may expect when shortly the whole world will turn to the investigation of spiritism as the only proof that the dead are not deal rev r heber newton s views they were able to get in communication with the son who had gone over the border i myself have been with them when a seance has taken place and in the psychic language i have heard that boy talk with his parents at one of these seances mr stanford told me the spirit of their son came to him and made the suggestion that the great property valued at $20,000,000 which would have come to him be given to the founding of a place of learning a year later on the first anniversary of the boy s death the corner stone of that great university was laid when the university was opened on october 1 1891 the words of the founders were the idea of the university came directly and largely from our son and only child leland and we hold the belief that had he been spared to advise as to the disposition of our estate he would have desired the devotion of a large portion thereof to this purpose helped convince rev newton d d discussing psychical science in an address tonight before the american institute for scientific research in the home of c griswold bourne the rev r heber newton made the assertion that the spirits of the dead communicate with the living that telepathy is a powrr possessed by many men and women and that clairvoyance is an established scientific fact said he in part clairvoyance was nothing but a will 0 the wisp but it is now a confessed power of certain organizations mollie fancher over in brooklyn has proved ltrong:er than the incrednlity of our savants the belief in the existence of unseen spirits and of their power of communication with us in the flesh is one of the oldest most widespread and most insistent beliefs of man and it has reviverl strangely in onr day for the first time in the history of man these powers have been scientifically investigated in our day already the result is that a considerable number of eminent men of science have had the courage to avow that after allowing for illusion fraud and every possible hypothesis of interpretation they have been driven up to the ultimate solution of the problem-the belief in the actual communication of the spirits of those whom we call dead with the living anyone who walks with his eyes open ready to hear what mpn have to tell will find stories pouring in upon him from men whom he cannot mistrust as liars and whom he knows to be sane and sensiblp which will stagger him these experipnces are not at all confined to the seance and the merlium their most impressive forms occur in the privacy of the home without a professional medium present pittsburg gazette the rtanding of dr newton in the protestant episcopal chureh will carry a weight of influence and is being published ana discussed in every quarter ex-judge a s dailey explains i may say without breach of confidence continued mr dailey that this story is known to dr heber newton and is believed by him when he resigned his church in this city he went at once to mrs stanford and has been with her constantly since it is my belief this great truth that came to the found· ers of stanford university was largely responsible in settling for all time any doubts that mr newton had that spiritualism is gaining ground every day i know well only a month ago two clergymen in brooklyn came to me late at night and said they represented 13 other pastors who secretly had been making an investigation of spiritualism but that they had got out of their depth in the mysteries and wonders of it would i help them that was not the first time such a thing had happened under the surface there is great quest of knowledge people today are afraid to be known as spiritualists but there will come a day when a dlan will be afraid not to be known as one p~ttsb urg times suggestive :facts noted great has been the interest aroused among those who are avowed spiritualists by the statements of dr george savage and dr newton the real enthusiarm has been among those who for years have acknowledged their belief in clairvoyance clairaudience and telepathy between the dead and the living although the word dead is one the true spiritualist never ures one man who for a quarter century has proclaimerl himself a spiritualist is former judge abram s dailey of brooklyn judge dailey said he had read with interest the published statements by dr newton and felt that by him spiritualism and spiritualists had received recognition which would do more to gain for them and their creed the respect of the world at large than anything that had taken place since the founding of the society for psychical research 20 years ago let me tell you a story which has never been given to the world said mr dailey i know that many will scoff at it but i know it to be true for it was told me by the man whom it chiefly concerns it is how the leland stanford junior university came to be founded we all know it was built in memory of leland stanford s only son but that is not all it was known to me for many years that mr stanford and his wife were interested in spiritualism they at times consulted mediums not believing much of what they learned in 1883 a year before their son died they were warned by a noted psychic that if they permitted their son to remain in florence italy where he was studying he would ilie the warning was dot heeded and in may 1884 he diett the parents for a while were numbed with grief then came to them the warning and once more they engaged the services of the psychic mr stanford told me himself that through the medium it does not surprise us that spiritism like christian science is aiming for the influential whatever else the fallen angels may be they are wily cunning the lord s people on the contrary number not many wise not many great not many learned not many rich not many noble but chiefly the poor of this world rich in faith jas 2 5 a lady who has but recently come into the light of present truth and who previously was a spiritist tells of how she had developed the clairaudient ear or the power of hearing the spirits when others heard nothing alhl by the way all should avoid everything of this kind a they would avoid a plague they rhoum if approached thus at once turn their hearts to the lori in prayer for aid to rerist the intrusion this woman s relatives have been interesterl fol rollle years in present truth and pointed out to her that her comlllunings were not with dead fdenrls but with the fallen angels demons and finally got her to the point of reading millennial dawn this displeased the spirits who almo t for a time prevented her study by an incessant opposition such as don t read that that s not true etc etc gradnally shc asserted her will calling on the lord for help and we under tand that now she is quite free from their intrusions another case which rf cently eame to 0111 attention i that of a boy of 19 years in eastern penn ylvania who is terribly oppressed by demons olle of the brethren hearing of the case called to see him taking a opy of the spiritisl 1 pamphlet and a copy of zion s watch tower the pre ence of the papers so aggravated the boy that the hacl to be removed before the brother could talk to the possesserl one the spirits having him under their control nearly set him wild until the books were removed the darkness hateth the !lght ye do not doubt that these evil spirits would do injury to the servants of the truth if permitted evidently they are under some restraint as respects the lord s people latt r on they may be permitted to operate through others as satan entered into judas before the betraya offer re:fused-voice lost a ff w years ago a lady living in canada a methodist prominent amongst that people as a choir singer became interested in spiritism and developed the clairaudient ear she suspected no harm until by ana by the spirits proposed that if she would yield herself entirely to their control they would develop her voice and make her the best and most famous singer in the world the knew of her amhition and used it as a bait to get her to surrender her will for apparently the human will is an impenf trable barrier the lady saw the bait but was alarmed at the proposal rightly reasoning that an evil being with an evil motive lay behind such a proposition to sacrifice the most valuable gift of god-the will she spmncd the offer and thenceforth [3491]

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25-26 zion s watch tower allllghitny fa would have no communion with what she had learned to fear without understanding not long afterward her fine voice began to fail and today she has none of it but she has some· thing infinitely better-she has the truth it was but a short time after she took her stand against spiritism that the lord graciously guided her to the dawns she chose the better part and rejoices in it we are not able however to explain to her how or why the evil spirits were permitted to spoil her voice possibly it was through their influence that formerly she was so gifted to the intent that it might be a snare for her in any event now that she understands who her tempters were she is full of gratitude to god for her deliverance at any cost experiences in spiritualism the spirits betray their evil in rention we clip thc following from an ex change the prophetic news it may serve to further emphasize the foregoing i was induced to yield my hand to be controlled by a spirit in consequence of reading what mr stead wrote in the review of reviews about spirit-writing thus was the first step taken on this forbidden yet fascinating course i look back on that first step and remember that i never uttered in the perplexity that filled my mind a prayer to god i should have at once sought the guidance of god before i thought of so doing i was seized with the desire to seek this newly-found source of help i fear much i am not alone in being foolishly misguided by the perusal of spiritualistic literature which is now being circulated far and wide in england the spirit that came and offered me his aid forbade my praying to god assigning as a reason that i was now under special heavenly guidance superseding the need of prayer and that my heavenly inheritance was sure that was strange counsel and it was still stranger that i should have for one moment harbored it but harbor it i did but in addition this messenger of satan forbade my study of the scriptures for i had lately commenced a methodical reading thereof the reason for this on the part of my evil counsellor was that the work i was now under so strong an obligation to execute was so urgent that no time could be spared for other mental occupation under the pretence of aiding me i was now interviewed by other spirits who declared themselves to be the spirits of departed mortals one assumed the character of what i might call ttltra piety and warned me from coming into association with and under the influence of a certain minister of the gospel residing in the neighborhood-one who would certainly have counselled me in my perplexed state of mind with wisdom -but against him my interviewer uttered base slanders this spirit hindered me greatly by making long discourses of an irrelevant charaoter in disgust and as if to take a plunge out of the vortex into which i had been stealthily drawn i threw into the fire the portrait of my mother and all the spirit-writing i would not believe that the spirit of that dear christian-my mother-was wandering on this earth in company with others who gave me such disastrous counsels and failed in their promise to strengthen and aid me i even came to the conclusion that these spirits had attempted an impersonation of that departed saint and had written that solemn message in order to induce me .to belie.ve in their c~lestial .character and the sanctity of their mtentlons that i might be mduced to follow their perilous injunctions to justify their proceedings they were apt in misquoting scripture there was a terrible mystery in this and it filled me with dire forebodings i then said to myself half aloud can it be possible that there are evil spirits who have power to communicate with mortals and deceive them 1 a spirit answered yes and added that they themselves would now act evilly towar ls me and that i was in their power to be punished since i had sought to obtain knowledge forbidden to mortals with this startling declaration they changed their charadei and conduct to me i now believed that i had committed a sin in consulting them but it was done in ignorance it was a culpable ignorance nevertheless and with innocent intent surely i could trust in divine mercy to pardon me but the spirit answered my thought by declaring that the divine mercy should not reach me but that he would accuse me before the recording angel of this deadly sin-intercourse with spirits and would call for immediate judgment let it be remembered that these very spirits by their lying decepti.on had induced me to cease from prayer and the study of scripture and had declared that my heavenlv inheritance was sure they left me to execute their threat a remarkable vision another spirit declared himself to have been the former english ambassador to the nation of these persecuted christians concerning whose distressing condition my heart was bleeding ana in language befitting a statesman he related his remarkable experience in the executing of his ambassadorial office then he uesired my work to take a form which i subsequently found to be the worst under the circumstances and that i should communicate it to an important public functionary this was so opposed to my judgment that i could not yield assent to it after this the first spirit that came to me under the garb of a guardian angel declared that the spirit of my beloved mothrr had been permitted to visit me for a few minutes and that slle entreated me to transmit a message to a relative residin abroad and that though i was ignorant of the purport of this message she would herself guide my pen in writing it down i took the pen into my hand holding it loosely for her to guide it a strong wish came upon me to see my mother s form then to my great astonishment her portrait was instantaneollsly and with consummate skill drawn on the paper before me i now watched with breathlrss interest the writing of the message it was traced in her well-known to me handwriting only two words were written but they were written three times the words written with tremulous haste and urgency were save souls and with a quick movement the pen was made to drop such a message from such a source smote my heart with its deep solemnity but i could not bring myself to send the message i felt it would be wrong to send it the relative for whom it was intended was already engaged in christian mission work and somehow i shrank from bringing on his mind the influence of a message from whence i hardly knew i felt a total disinclination for any further communications from spirits and i determined to receive no more from so dubious a source but i was not to be so easily disentangled from this net into which in an evil moment i had deliberately placed my feet soon after this a remarkable vision appeared by the permitted instrumentality of these tormentors one night the wall at the end of my room seemed to vanish and a large open space appeared at one side was a dais with steps whieh appeared to lead up to an exalted throne half hidden by clouds before the dais a number of celestial beings stood in a semicircle and apart from the rest at the foot of the dais wm a terrible form i knew this was the prince of darkness and instinctively i felt he was there as my accuser and i seemed to have no advocate this terrible vision at first seemed a confirmation of the spirit s threat yet there was one essential difference it was not as they said an avenging angel but satan who accused me i wanted to reflect on this vision and the new conditions environing me but spirit voices continually interrupted me so that i could neither think nor pray but only repeat to myself some such words as 0 lord in thee have i trusted let me never be confounded i could not stop their verbal communications their small but intensely clear voices followed me everywhere the spirits told me that the torments of hell in which i had not believed awaited me and that in the internal fires of the earth souls were in torment and that the intensity of the punishment was proportioned to the guilt of the offender they declared that i should know by experience the reality of eternal punishment that very night the fact that i was still in mortal flesh would not impede them there appeared to be some truth in their threat that they could cause death-or rather the cessation of mortal existence for they gave me an immediate and startling demonstration of their power in causing violent spasms and palpitations of the heart while i was quite calm in mind indeed my imperturbable calmness caused them to remark that i was one of the bravest of mortals but they would yet overcome me with greater terrors but i ultimately found that they possessed no supreme power over the king of tel ors they then left me and in the darkness and the silence of the night i waited expectantly believing that a terrible ordeal awaited me for i knew that my enemies were powerful and malignant the wall of my room again seemed to disappear and i was conscious that a spirit had entered and touched me and a voice declared that he who had entered was an administrator of justice in the infernal regions he demanded of me if i knew why he had been summoned to me i replied that i only knew that my enemies accused me and that if he was the servant of god i desired him to tell me what it was the will of god that i should now do for i desired only to know and do that will he answered in some such words as these you are free [3492]

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