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~11omtng~tbt-a fs1talfot 1 i:11ii val xxxix january i semi-monthly a o 1918-a m 6046 no.1 wn$rro/iidi ~ftb ffl contents viewl from the watch tower the coal famine labor seeh control that international nuisance church federation a day of decision prolpects before ui our king is marching on poem jesus forgiveth sin basic principles f god s government 1 jesus lord of the sabbath the weekly day of relt j jesus chooses the twelve paul succeeds judas report of south africaa branch come follow me poem some interesting lellen good hopei for 1918 i·· q will .rtqfs up ell afsd mil i.d my foot ~o the ~i j~r · · lii f · r o i 4 y yrf 7 t ~i i s i f · tower and w1ll watch fo se who he w1l1 say unto me ljnd i what a ltoer i shall make to them th oppou me hab 2:l til · b~i upo the earth distre.rs of natiotu with perpl,rjty the sea and th wavel the rurless dueontented roarin m 1 1 arll foili th,m for ar a d for looking for ward to the things comi po th ,arlh sandy for the powerl of th e heav,fs eecl,siluticism .hall be when ye su thest things come to pass th k ow that th killidom of god at lus d look vp ii ft p ydur iieadl rejoice dr yd r red,mptio drawdh igh lukc 21:25-28-31vii-24 [6189 · ·· 1t · ~ow~b.z.t.s 1 1m .

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this journal and its sacred mission this journal is one of the prime factors or instruments 1ii the system of bible instruction or seminary extcn ioll llow being presented in all parts of the civilized world by the watch tower bible tuact society chartered a v 1881 for the promotion of christian knowledge it not only serves as a clus room where bible students ma;r meet in the study of the di· ride word but alao as a channel of communication through which they may be reached with announcements of the society s oonventions and of the comijjg of its traveling representatives styled pilgrims and refreshed with reports of its conventions our derean lessons 8l l topical rehea.rsais or reviewa off our society s published studies most entertainingly arranged and very helpful to all who would merit the only honorary degree which the society accords viz verbi dei minister v.d.m which translated into english is mini&ter of tm divifle wom our treatment of the international s s lessons is specially for the older bible students and teachers by some this feature il considered indispensable this journal stands firmly for the defense of the only true founda.tion of the christian s hope now being so generally repudiated-redemption through the precious blood of the man christ jesus who gave himself a ransom [a corresponding price a subtt1tute for all i pet 1 19 1 tim 2:6 building up on this ipure foundation the gold silver and precious stcmes 1 cor 3:11-15 2 pet 1:5-11 of the word of god ita further mission la tg make all see what is the fellowship of the mfstery which · has been hid in goo ···· to tm intent that now might be made known by the church the mani· fold wudom of god which in other ages was not made known unto libe sods of men as it is now revealed eph 3 5-9 10 it stands free from all parties sects and creeds of men while it seeks more and more to bring its every utierance into full· est subjection to the will of god in chri.st 8s expressed in the holy scrtptures it is thus free to declare boldly whatsoever the lord hath spoken~cording to the divine wiadom granted unto us to understand its attitude is not dogmatical hit confident for we know whereof we affirm treading with implicit faith upon the sure promises of god it is held as a trust to be used only in hi service hence our decisions relative to what may and what may not appear in its columns must be according to our judg· ment of his good ple&lure the teaching of his word for the upbuilding of his people in grace and knowledge and we not only invite but urge our readers to prove all its utterances by the infallible word to which reference is constantly made to facilitate auch testing to us the scriptures clearly teach that the church is the temple of the living god ileculiarly · his workmanship that its construction has been in progress throughout the gospel age-ever since christ became the-world s redeemer and the ohief comer stone o.f his temple through which when finished god s blessing shall come to all people and they find access to him l oor 3 16 17 eph 2:20-22 gen 28:14 gal 3:29 that meantime the chieelin shaping and polishing of consecrated believers in christ s atonement for sin progresses ami when the last of these livln stones elect and precious shall have been made ready the great master workman will bring all together in the first reaurrestion ud the temple .hall be filled with his glory and be the meeting pla.ce between god and mcn throughout the millennium rev hi 5·8 that the basis of hope for the church of the world lies in the fact that jeaus christ by the grace of god taated death for every man a ransom for all and will be the true light whi~h lighteth every rna t1wj.t cometh i to th ftjorlij in due time heb 2 9 john 1 9 1 tim 2 5 6 that the hope of the church is that she may be .like her lord see him as he is be partllker of the divine nature and ahare his glory as his joint-beir l .john 3:2 john 17:24 rom 8:17 2 pet 1:4 that the present mission ad the chareh is the perfecting of the saints for the future work of .ervice to develop in herself every grace to be god s witness to the world and to prepare to be kings and priesta in the next age eph 4 12 matt 24 14 rev 1:6 20 :6 that the h~e for the world lies in the blessings of knowledge and opportunity to be brought to all by christ s millennial kin om-the restitution of all tllat was lost in adam to all the willing and obedient at the handa of their redeemer and is p;lorified church-when all the wilfully wicked will be de3troyed acts 3 19-23 tsa 115 ruru9h d by watch tower bi-ble and tract society brookl d n y u s a th wljlch tower editorial committee this iournal i pubti.hed under the supervision of an editorial com mittee at least three of whom have read and approved lui truth each and every article appearing in the column.t the names of the editorial committee are f ruthjiilpord w e van awauilgh · ~o · f· h · robi son g h · f is he r w p ag annual subscription prrc $1.00 advanc s nd koney by express bank drapt postal order or regist ri!d tion without doubt however most classes will receive the papers on time in event your shipment is delayed we suggest that you arrange to make distribution on the following sunday after its arrival making the witness as general and far-reaching as possible in one day th r n w· to k t p te i loth and l~ther a e 0 in s c a our nn rs n c and ii larfe shifiment is now en route to brooklyn we are sure the frien s wi 1 greatly appreciate this volume many of the sermons have never before been publi.ehed but were dictated by brother russell for personal use on various occasions the book contains several full-page halftones cloth $1 lea.ther $1.60 t-d pos pal vest pooxet k&lnl a8 these seem to have supplied a long-felt want on the part of the frienda they are only 2 x5 i in size and bound in flexi· ble covers round corners cloth red edges 30c j leathel gilt d 75 t d e ges cpos pal to fbiends outside the united sta.tes pa.8tob bussell s sebmollts r tn-me to the lord s poor as fol/owe-all bible student who by reallon of old are or other infirmity or adver.ity are unable to pay for thi journal will be supplied pre£ if they send a postal card each mar stating their ca.e and requesting its continuance we are not only willing hut anxiou that all .uch he on our list continually and in touch with the studies etc notice to all tower subscribers-pleaije remember tbat ag a rule we no longer send a card af acknowledgment for a renewal or for a new .ubscriptian reoeipt and entry of renewal are indicated within a month by change in date of expiration of the subscription on the ,j ue u:i hanl t of address please love old addre·· a well a new this i very important saving u muq time and unnecessary corerspondence foreign stamps of all kinds a.re not usable in the united states and must be sold at large discounts if salable at all therefore do not send us foreign stamp for remitutncea entertd a secanu-class >lail ma 1 7er at brooklyn n y postoffrc£ british postal notes are not payable in the united states enteren as second-class matter a 1 the postoppice df-pt othwa can and must be returned to london for collection private cheques i b s a oonvention are not collectible and dra.fts on london banks are subject to pittsburgh pa .jan 2-6 this five day convention will be heavy discounts remittances by regular government postal served by many pilgrim hrcthrl n a g-ood attendl1.nce is ex money orders are payabl at face value pected election of the society s officers for the ensuing year british friends are requested to send their renewals for will be held on saturday jan 5th brother rutherford will the watch tower direct to london office this saves expense address the puhlic in princess theatre at 3 p m sundoy .tan and liability of loss in forwardihg to brooklyn and having to 6th on the fall of babylon address r h bricker 1323 be returned again to london reports of all subscriptiona are goebel st n s pitt8burg pa forwarded to us promptly from london hence there will be calitadialit bbalitch but very slight delay in our recording your subscriptions in view of the disturbed cond.itions and the difficulty of in be publio :meetings reaching the various elasses and serving them throughout the ve strongly recommend the classes everywhere to arrange provinces of canada we have decided to open a branch office of for one public mcting when a pilgrim visoits your class sethe watch tower bibu a i d tract society at winnip cure a well-loeated hall and announce an up-to-date subject manitoba competent hrethr ll will he placed in charge to man· such as the world has ended-millions now uving age the work all canadian correspondence orders subscrip may never die and give a good public witness to the truth tiona to the watch towell etc will be cared for by that ofi,oral brethren who are able to give lectures 8hould be used to flee a more detaill d statement will be given later a.ddrl s public meetings on sundays let lis give as wide a in re the fall of babylon public witness as possible evidences are increasing rapidly due to the congestion in both frl ight and express shipping that the dark night is fast approachin/o when 110 man can work it is possible that some of the friends may not receive their let each and everyone bestir himself doing with his might shipment of b s m no 99 in time for the dee 30th distribu· what his hands find to do while it is yet called da.y [8190]

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&hawatch tower and of presence he~ald chr~stsvol xxxix brooklyn n y ,ja uary 1 1918 0 i views from the watch tower the end of au thmgs is at ha.naj be ye therefore bober and watoh uflto prayer and above au tkings 1uwe fervent love amongst youyselves l peter 4:1 8 what will the year 1918 bring fortm this question i by the terrible fires of battle and seething with the turmoil upon the lips of every class of men the world looks and of man s perverted endeavor and for that phrase bandie,j hopes for those things which constitute its highest idealsabout in a sort of light-hearted contempt wll.ither are wc peace plenty health and happiness the christian looks for drifting the serious-minded must substitute another to the year to bring the full consummation of the church s hope what further and final cataclysm are we drifting the world says how may we attain to our ideals of earthly as the search-light of all·seeing press sweeps the world blessing the christian asks when shall we enter the what do we !behold a new revolution in russia-sinister temple of our god and see odr lord face to face and be with socialism and eloquent of the anarchy which must prevail over wide stretches of that unhappy land far removed from its assured of his everlasting approval and when shall we be permitted by his grace to participate in reconstruction and populace centers-civil blood in the streets of moscow and petrograd the fair of t,he new atrtp.mpt t rule hanging ill blessing the human race for that blessed time st paul tells us the whole creation groans and travails in pain yet the balance it may be a matter of days mayhap presage the creatures know not how their deliverance shall come only other feuds to come-a russia practically out of the war as the children of the lord know by faith in his word far as early aid to the allies is concerned a failt which ma history is making at such break-neck speed that men of yet prove of gigantic proportions the world go breathless in pursuit they behold the current and in our own country a week of remarkable events ano events but understand not why they are so christians watch of growing apprehension stoclrs reaching their lowest point ing the transpiring of there events hy tllp lord s graep underin ten years recording billions of dollars of losses in marlet stand them and rejoice to see their hopes about to be realvalues since the beginning of the conflict showing few signs of any permanent recuperation strikes arbitrations and comized the truths of the present day earthly and spiritual stimulate the child of god to greater activity in the master s promises by and between employes and employers throughout the country in numbers and for demands never before apservice the coal famine proached in the history of the country looming up suddenly during the severest winter weather the world s metropolis is an impending demand and a possible strike for its enforceand many other cities face a coal famine for many days ment having an estimated 109 million dollars increase in coal has not been obtainable regardless of the price even the wages to meet an alleged increase in the cost of living by wealthy have found their money of no avail many such have certain bodies of railway employes in the face of the showing driven in their expensive limousines to the coal-distributin of net losses by the roads upon an increased business or in points and begged the deliverers to load their fine cars with spite of it coal that they might have some comfort in their homes but yet again a meeting of the national foundries associathey fail to get it the public press announces that 300,000 tion in new york city which sends a telegram to the presifamilies in greater new york were without fire to warm by dent in which it is unanimously declared that for several days the worldly-minded wonder why such condi autocracy of labor is fully as disturb:ng to the welfare tions are permitted to exist the students of god s word of mankind as an autocracy of government see why and know that these conditions will grow worse as these are a few of the leading events and conditions we near the evd twenty-fiye hundred years ago god through confronting our people the insupportable pressure of war is his prophet referring to the time in which we now are said at work and the turmoil thickens the time calls for serious thereshrij not 1x a coal to warm at nor a fire to soit befo thought closer devotion to every task in hand and solemn isaiah 47:14 conditions leading up to the fulfilment of thi study out hope is that we may now be in that darknebl which propheey are mentioned by dr bromley in the new york almost precedes dawn times october 17 as follows labor bbbks control there is plenty of coal in the ground yet most of europe the sea and the waves roaring luke 21 :25 in every is dark and cold both americas are much alarmed over the i d f situation as it confronts them the present fuel crisis is here an 0 earth is observed the fulfilment of this prophetic statement the discontented restless element of humanity is fomenting more trouble organized labor is roaring out its disbecause we did not realize soon enough how vital a factor is fuel when whole nations and not armies alone must becom

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4-5 the watch tower baooki,yn n 1 or elae surrender to this one which defies it the more boldly because of having been suffered to grow by a long series of compromises a defebred 110pe allon realized the gentile times have ended and the kings of earth have had their day the autocratic kingdoms are destroying each other and their existence is but a matter of days merely concerning the jews christ jesus said they shall be trod· den down of the gentiles until the times of the gentiles be fulfilled luke 21 24 zionism organized in 1896 has all along had for its prime objective the establishment of a home government in palestine for the jews through his prophets god promised to restore palestine to the jew and the great master said tha.t the beginning of such restoration would be proof that we are at the end of the world the english have wrested from the hand of the turk the city of jerusalem commenting editorially the new york american says the conquest of jerusalem is the final triumph of zion· ism for the first time in nearly two thousand year s not only one but three grcat powers stand ready to publicly recognize the jewish nationality and ita right to a land and a hom zionism means the rebuilding of palestine by the jews mil lions of jews in every land are organized active and intense in their enthusiasm for the rebuilding of zion it is an agelong dream it is also a practical business movement of today the english rothschilds are leading it in london the french rothschilds are a part of it in paris in new york nathan ~tra.us jacob sdhiff henry morgenthau max nor;d.al l llnd schullmttn a.r6 in its ranks justice brandeis is its apostle in boston and in chicago the large influence and the mighty for· tune of julius rosenwald is generously behind the movement fortunately for the new home-land of the jews the people behind them include tlle greatest financiers in the world and there wiii be no dullculties in this line whick will not be smoothly weathered for the jewish state max nordau seientist and leader of zionism says we a.re at the turning point of tile world s history the gigantic war which is dissolutini humanity has infiicted more tortures on us than on any other people we know our losse oui sufferings and our tears but we are sustamed in the trial of these disasters by the certainty that we are approaching the culmination ff our national destiny the london chri8tian world published a manif611to issued by some of the english clergymen to the effect that the return of the jews to palestine indicates the near establishment of the lord s kingdom the chicago herald interviewed a number of american clergymen upon this question who generally scoff a.t llhe nearness of ohrht s kingdom the consenslils of opinion by them is expressed in the words of the rev oscar c helming my personal impression is that the historical interpreta· tion of the apocalypse is a mistaken interpretation of jewish origin i feel that the present war condition has no mol ll bearing on the second coming of christ than other wars and revolutions have had tl1at in l erna lional nljisahae the lord s word shows his disapproval of the alliance between the church systems which claim to represent him on earth and the civil and political powers such an unholy union he designates in his word as harlotry even worldly men recognize that the mixture of polities and religion is ohnoxious the wall street jowrnal read by the banking interest of greatel1 new york speaking of the papacy refers to it a tha.t iilt eo:m.tional nuisance the ehurch-stare in italv the roman catholic chureh is well known to be willing to sacrifice italian nationality to promote its ewn temporal power it is ela.imed tha.t not all of the weakening of the morale of the italia.n troops was due to teutonic influenees the paris correspondent of the new york times says no one who has not been recently in ita.ly would realize the harm done by a propaganda whose theme is .america s abstention from war with austria which says the propagandist proves the justness of the vatican s pacifism by showing that america also is not in sympathy with the war italy is waging to complete her national unity how far hat unity is in line with the vatican s dream of temporal power may be judged by the fact that its heart and center is rome the city which the popes regard equally as the home pivot of their rule on earth the declaration of war by the united states against austria was a blow to papacy s hopes the thought that the papacy is schemin to profit through the present world disaster is nothing 8urpnsing to bible students for they are well aware that the word of prophecy points to the part to be played by the beast in helping to establish p4too and so ingratiating itself with tlhe world as to make possible again the stealthy riveting of the fetters of in· tolerance upon all true freedom of religion of the press of speech and of thought but however well such craftiness may elucceed and induc the nations of christendom t ,g-in their power and strength unto the beast rev 17:12 13 it will be but transitory for shortly the ten horns [nations trans· formed by revolution shall hate the whorc and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her 11.ooh and burn her with fire [anarohy and revolutionj revelation 17:10 tl1e sun dallxened as a further evidence of thc end of the age and the bringing in of messiah s kingdom of ri.ghteousncss jesus said i he sun shall be darkened matthew 24 29 the sun is a symbol of the gospel of messiah s kingdom on november 12 1917 two thousand representatives of all creeds and de· nominational systems assembled at carnegie hall new york participating in this conference were catholic cardinals protestant doctors of divinity ami .jewish rabbis the purpose of the meeting was to formulate a scheme or plan of biblical education the new york american quotes dr john h finley one of the speakers here are three steps whieh we may take first the preparation of a book of selections from the bible hy an interdenominational commission appointed by the legislature or by the board of regents for use in thc schools second the formullltion of a pla.n for non-proselyting ond oo peration between the schools and various denominations third the grant· ing of regents credits for serious work in bible study outside of the schools the time has come for protestants catholics jews and gentiles to co-operate to the end that every child may have an intimation at least of llis moral and religious inheritance dr george .albert coe ijilid we religious people must join with organized labor to compel teachin in the schools which makes for happiness and not for wealth the noticeable feature ,here is that the name of j eslls christ his redemptive sacrifice and his kingdom for restitution blessings are absolutely ig-norpll tmly t~lis is a fulfilment of the prophecy of the darkening of the sun ohuroh federation from time to time there has appeared in the watch towaa much proof from the scriptures that before the end of the age there would be a federation of the nominal churcll systems such is now practically an accomplished fact the beast of revelation 13 1 is the papal system the other beast of revelation 13 11 is the church of england and ireland the united states has entered into an alliance with great britain thus there is a tacit alliance between civil and ecclesiastical elements the temporary cessation of the war between the nations with the force of revolution and anarchy becoming more apparent will draw closer together the civil and ecclesiastical powers practically all of the church systems with one mind and with one accord are dancing before the civil powers mark 6 :22 this federation and aliiance is mystic babylon in a most complete sense in th type the great feast of belshazzar which preceded the fall of ancient babylon would seem to represent the rejoicing of the federajte

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]antlaay i 1918 the watch tower 5-6 5 j ezebel s personal influence being insufficient it may subsequently be gained by the influence of her daughter united l rotebtanti8m w ho will be 80 fully in ympnthy witih her as to become her tool in the destruction of the most ioyal servants of god z 98 p 95 the work before the ohuroh we cannot with certainty know what is just before us but we feel sure that the lord is pleased to have us be on the alert and prepared to do with our might what he may put in our hands to do when the lord speaks to his church through his chosen servant then it is reasonable to conclude that he expeets the members to be governed by the terms of tlhat m s8age there have been b{wen messengers to tjhe cjmrch it seems certain that the lord purposed their messages as a guide for the church we believe that we are within the bounds of propriety and taking the position which the lor.l is pleased to have us take when we say that in the examination of these important questions due consideration should be given to what brother russell as the messenger to the laodicean church wrote oil the subject such a position is not deifying the man but giving due consideration to the lord for the mes· sage w hioh be sends us that brother russell w3.4l not infal· lible all will admit but he being the messenger to tlhe la.odicean ch~rclh and being a profouml studen;t ?f the seriftures has expres 10iul should be v ry closely scruhlllzed and given eareful consideration a.t this time the tangible evidence that the present order is passing away and that soon the kingdom of god will be fully estab· lished is overwhelming such proof causes the true saints to look up and lift up their heads with rejoicing at vile aame time it behooves them to watch and pray before the completion of the kingdom class it seems reasonable to conclude from the numerous evidences that we have that a strong vigorous decisive proclamation of the kingdom message must be given and that tws must be given by thll lord s people the anti· typical john clasb otherwise designated as the elijah class then liurely it behooves every truly consecrated chris· tian to view the situation calmly and inquire what is my duty and privilege at this time in 1916 brother russell said until now we have never thought much about elijah com· ing down to the jordan and the important work he did there as having any special significance but now we see that we went to the jordan in 1914 and that elijah and elisha stood there talking as we are doing now after they had talked a while elijah w?apped up his mantle evidently referring to some special power commg to the elijah class and then he smote the waters everything led up to that smiting and every· thing went before to prepare for this now we see that what preceded has only been preparing the way for this i am daily looking for what the folding up of the mantle may signify it looks like as if it may mean a great deal of money we are trying to wrap up whatever mantle comes the bidit in will probably affect the whole civilized world they are gomg to feel the inlluence of this smiting let us be ready if this conclusion is correct then it :fullows that the wrapping up of the mantle and the smiting of the waters must take place after 1914 it is likewise clear that such work must be done before all the members of the body pass into glory beyond the veil for it is the members of the elijah class this side of the veil who must do the smiting in the above quotation it is stated that the mantle evidently refers to some special power given to the elijah class who after receiving that power will smite the waters the people brother russell suggested that the folding of the mantle might mean a great deal of money the only purpose of havin money would be to get the message widely distributed if the lord has provided a reasonable amount of money and other means to distribute the message it would be just as reasonable to say that such is represented by the wrapped·up mantle the mantle in addition to representing power as above stated sometimes symbolizes authority or dignity also indenti· fication 1 sam 28:14 the iliessage contained in the fin jshed mystery-the seventh volume of studies in the scriptures-definitely and clearly identifies pastor russell as tjhat servllnt 1jhe mes8 ng-er to the laooicf a1l ehurfu a.nd shows the dignity of his office and his authority to speak as the lord s mouthpiece hence his interpretation of scriptures bearing upon the question should receive profound considera· tion further commenting upon this same matter brother russell in 1916 said the 149th psalm evidently pictures a time when the l rd s people 0 il this ide the veil would in some way be promia day of deoi810r nent before the world it says let the saints be joyful in some are having diftleulty in seeing their privileges of glory once we thought this meant joyful in heaven but now taking a part in the proclamation of the seventh volume mes· we see t hat to be joyful in glory need not be on the other sage we suggest to all such that they take the matter to the [6193 side but on this side the veil the psalmist proceeds to say let them sing aloud upon their beds he declares that thlj saints upon their beds have a two-edged sword in their hands the bed signifies a condition of ease so far as the faith is concerned we shall of course be at ease on the other side but this evidently means an ease of faith on this side the veil the two-edged sword meallii the word of god l hat must mean here for no one will be smiting anything with a two edged sword over there it will surely ,be here this two edged sword in the hands of the saints means that while they are resting in their faith they have the word of god sharp and powerful and with it can oppose everything opposed to the truth these are the saints who execute the judgments written how i cannot give all the details undoubtedly there will be a great many details when we reach that time we shoum be ready to take any part which the lord may give us he will give all of his people a share we shall see what this judging may mean a little later on the river jordan meantl a judgment and the smiting of this jordan may mean to put the truth in such a way as to do the judging and elijah will handle this sword the lord has permitted the compilers of volume seven to bring together all the gems of truth upon the scriptures from brother russell s pen as these relate to babylon from these gems of truth written by the one having authority and making clear the scriptural testimony we see 1 that just preceding the inauguration of the kingdom there would be a church federation that there would be a closer relationship established between church and state and that the felicitations of the ecclesiastical systems would con· stitute the antitypical feast which preceded the fall of ancient babylon 2 that such federation and alliance is an abomination unto god and that it would be the duty of the truly consecrated then on earth to rebuke such arrangement by plainly declaring god s message of truth 3 that the prophets elijah and john typed the same class that the class typed by them would administer the rebuke and that such proclamation of the message of truth would turn the people away from the babylonian systems thus constituting a division represented by the division of the waters of the river jordan 4 that everything in the harvest leads up to this climax and that since 1914 everything has been making for this work 5 that the smiting of the jordan and the use of the two·edged sword are two pictures of the same thing that the two-edged sword means the word of god that jordan may mean to put ,the truth in such a way as to do the judging that the wrapping up of the mantle evidently refers to some special power given to the elijah class that the elijah class will handle the sword with which the smiting is done j 6 that the smiting of the jordan represents the dividing of the people and the turning of them away from babylon that babylon will fall and that this smiting will probably affect the whole world 7 that the lord s people this side the veil will in some way be brought prominently before the world examining these points we see that the federation is prac tically an accomplished fact and since the end seems to be so near at hand the time for the performance of the work above mentioned must likewise be near at hand when brother russell says that the two-edged sword is the word of god or message of truth and that the truth may be put in such a way as to do the judging and that the elijah class will handle the sword then it foll ws that there mmt be boiille lear explanation of the prophecies of ezekiel and revelation which exposes babylon and that this message must be given public witness we find in the seventh volume of studies in the scriptures this identical message one of two things is absolutely cer· tain-that this is the long promised seventh volume with which the smiting is to be done or else there must be another one written and since this one contains all brothsr russell has written upon the subject it would seem um:easonable to conclude that another is to be written since the scriptures do not identify another messenger having authority to write if the seventh volume is the sword of the truth put in such a way as to do the judging and if the elija,h class is to do it then it follows that everyone who fails or refuses to grasp this sword and go forth in obedience to the lord s direction repudiates the provision made for him and could not be designated as of the elijah class.

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7 the watch towen brooki.yif n y lord in prn.yllll and then being guided by tlhe principles of his word ask themselves these questions is the lord still the ohief reaper directing his harvest work it so would he permit the church to be engaged in such a world-wide activity on a line contrary to his way1 would he grant his blessing upon the work unless it is rightf was brother russell as the master s servant right when he said that the two-edged sword is the word of god the message of truth and tliat the truth may be put in such a way as to do the judging is it tnle that the lord dol eriljl.s ba.bylon the false systems in the books of revelation and ezekiel and is it true that volume sevpn givps an explanation of these books in harmony with the truth revealed by the lord to th church through his messenger of the laodicean period the point of the sword is sharp on both sides therefore a two-edged sword the psalmist describes the saints with the two-edged ilword in their hands is it true that the books of ezekiel and john constitute the point-the two-edged sword with which babylon is to be smittenf-ezekiel 21:14-15 g 464 466 brother russell said the elijah class will use this sword we should be ready to take any part which the lord may give us he will give all of his people a share was brother russell right when he uttered these words if so am i of the elijah class if i neglect or refuse to participate in the use of the sword do i believe that the w lj d l of revelation 14 18 iu ronshtute a command from tile j,otd g 227 and if this is a command can i show forth my love to the lord unless i keep this commandment john 14:15 is not babylon the produet of satan who would be pleased to have me use the point of the sword against babylon-satan or our lord prospbots before us influence of this smiting the lord s people this side the veil may in a way be brought prominently before the w,orld how could this be possiblef by turning the people away from babylon and while so doing sounding out the high praises of god thereby clearing his holy llame from the dishonor attached to it by false teachings of babylon s system sueh would surely affect the civilized world but how would the lord s people come into prominence evidently not by beeoming popular one might be brought into great prominence and yet oe ver-f unpopular such has always been the result of faithful witnessing to the truth hebrews chapter 11 elijah was prominently known far and wide in the realm of ahab and jezebel but was far from being -popular and approved by that kingdom and its subjects the sooiety the messenger will not a vigorous witness of the truth as set forth in volume seven bring perseeution yes such is quite probable it i remain aloof and have nothing -to do with the message against ba.bylon may 1 not preserve myself from sural perbl cution yes possibly but can you aiford to take that position long ago thel 6 was recorded by that servant in volume iii these words it will probably be in an effort at self-preservation 011 the part of great babylon-christendom-when she sees her power in politics priestcraft and superstition waning that the work of truth spreading will be stopped as detrimental to her sfstem and probably at this jtmcture the elija-h c1ass pers18ting in deelaring the truth to the last will sufl er violenee and pass into glory and escape from the severest features of the great time of t uble coming-just in the erisis of affairs when men begin 0 feel that desperate measures must be reo sorted to to sustain the tottering structures of christendom although the exact time of the deliveranee or ehange of the last members of the body of christ is not stated the approxi mate time is nevertheless clearly manifest as shortly after the door is shut o 23l the door of opportunity to engage with christ our lord in the work of the gospel age will be closed when the night cometh wherein no man can work and all who have not pre· viously by faithful service developed the necessary charaeter and proved their sympathy devotion love and zeal for the lord and his truth will then be too late to do 80 0 210 the prospeets for the year 1918 are thrilling-yea wonderful r it seems that for us to be indifferent to them by failing or refusing to pa.rtieipate in the proclamation of the truth now due would be nothing short of disloyalty and un· faithfulness to the lord beloved let us gird on our armor and ealmly fearlessly and joyfully meet the task that he has set before us the lord bless thee and keep thee and cause his face to shine upon thee as you go forth to ijattl· brought into prominenoe out from the altar which had power over fire and eried wit ii loud voice to him that had the sharp siekle [the message of present truth saying thrust in thy sharp siekle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth for her grapes are fully ripe since its organization the lord has used the watch tower bmle and tract society as the messenger to bear the kingdom message to his people the altar is the place of sacrifice how aptly the description fits the society it is the only institution 011 earth maintained by the sacrifice of th lord s saints never yet has a plan or seheme succeeded which had for its avowed purpose the gathering or aecumulat· ing of a large sum of money to be used in the harvest work clearly the lord desires his work to be done by the saerifiee of his people he is rich in all tjl~ngs and deol ds no one t devise ways and means for him all of his people need the opportunity of sacrificing to show forth their love and zeal for him the finaneial report of the society for the year 1917 shows how his :faithful ones have sacrificed in order that the money might be provided for the proclamation of his meso sage the money the lord has graeiously provided and with the message of truth which he has also provided and with the organization for his work which he is directing the time seems ripe to obey the voice of the messenger which had power over fire power over fire means authority to send out the message of truth that is destruetive of error the clear exposition of ezekiel s and john s prophecies set forth in volume seven fills this requirement and it is being sent out far and wide by the society everyone who truly approoia.tes th privilege is participating in this work aceording to their several abilities yeab text dlportant ln revela.tion 14:18 rood and another ang j emili again we quote that servant l iji smiting will prohajjl affeet the whole civilized world they are going to feel tho surely the child of god ean plainly see that the end of all things of the present order is at hand the world is in a state of great excitement statesmen politieians business men clergy labor leaders ete all are at high nervous tension everyone feels it soon the four winds [evil spirits will be loosened revelation 7 1·3 and what a fertile field they will find in the excited minds and high strung nerves of the peoples of earth nervous excitement anger and lack of sobriety will make it much easier for the evil spirits to possess the mind one who is in sueh condition is not fit to give attention to important matters never before has it been so important for us to remember the admonition of the apostlethe words of our year text the end of all things is at hand be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer and above all things have fervent love among yourse!veh let 118 rememb r that the victory in the battle is not with the strong alone but with those who have full faith and confidence in the i,ord my help cometh from the lord in onrselves there is n j strength but he who is our captain is strong let us be strong in faith giving glory to him let us be calm sober-minded watchful and prayerful using the sword of the spirit to his glory and he will bring us off more than conquerore-yea overcomers our king is marching on mine eyes cltn see the glory of the presence of the lord he s trampling out the wine-pr~s wid.c l e his grapes of wrath are stored i see the :flaming tempest of his swift deseending sword our king is marehing on i see his coming judgillents as they circle all the earth the signs and groanings promised to precede a seeond birth i read his righteous sen,te.nee in the crumbling thrones of ~arth our king is marching on the gentile times are elosing for their kings have had their day and with them sin and sorrow will forever pass away the tribe of ,judah s lion now hils ome t hold the swllv our king is marching on 11hp f fi ntb rprum,l i soundit · and our king know lltl defeat he will sift out the hearts of men before his judgment seat be swift my soul to welcome him be jubilant my feet onr king is marching on [6194]

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jesus lord of the sabbath [this arcicle excepting the paragraph below wa-s a reprint of article entitled whieh day is sabbath published in issue of march 15 1912 which please see fe.llruaby 3 mabk 2:23-3:5 7 11,0 brm of man i8 lord even of the babbath verse 28 li ew seem to get the proper thought respecting the sab them he made the law covenant through moses at mount b·ath some consider themselves as jews under the mosaic sinal to them he sent his messengers the prophets and law otiliers go to an opposite e.xtreme and declaring that finally his son with them and with no other nation it was his agreement that by the keeping of the :law they would we a.re not under tjw :l:l,w 1:hlt under grace repudiate the sa.1:j1:yd,th mtirely what we believe to be ilie correct view is the abide in his favor and would have divine bleilsing upon flocks intermediate one betjwl en these two extremes as we shall en and herds lands and poople iue!otead of sickness pain drouth deavor to set forth and dc d,rth to no other najtion was iilie law of sinai given god adopted the nation of israel all ohildren of abraham with no other nation was that covenant made as it is writ· through jac ob as his special possession in the world with ten you only have i known of all the families of the earth jesus forgiveth sin [paragraph 3 4 7 and 13 of this article were reprinted from article entitled the forgiveness of sins published in issue of february 15 1906 the remainder wa.s rt>printed from article entitled sin forgiveness and healing published in issue of february iii 1912 please bee the articles named jesus chooses the twelve [this article exeepting the paragraph below was a reprint of article entitled apostolic succession unseriptural published in issue of april i 1912 which please see sts paul and john were not only apostles but also special headed by the emperor nero the lord s mouthpiece to tho messengers to the e~rly ch~lrch the special messenger in the second stage of the ch;rch was 81 ,tohn the beloved disciple harvest of t~e jewish age was the apostle p~ul who wrote he wrote more of the new testament than did an ther about one-thud of the now testament carned the gospel yo into europe suffered almost unbelievable hardships of every except st paul the apostle john died at ephesus at the description and died a martyr in a d jj wbt>n he wtls hea.ge of 100 about four years after writing the apocalypse report of south african branch dear brethren:so sub~tantial owing to the lack of white control there reenclosed herewith you will find a report of harvest work po,rt from that oun1ry are i ill1odi,· but when th y do in south africa during the last eighteen months we have come however they tell of continued interest in present not bt>en able to put out so many volumes as in 1914-1915 truth on the part of many natives and of large gatherings but this is in line i think with the work in other parts of more or less regularly for convention purposes the work the world recently however the colporteur work in south there has arcmsed the oppo llition of the government spurred africa received a decided impetus by the accession of a dear on hy jealous missionaries who see their schools emptied and dutch brother to the ranks in the last three months this their churches depleted with a corresponding loss of revenue dear brother has put out over 2,000 volumes averaging about as a result several of the leading brethren have been de40 per working day this unprecedented activity added to ported and are now interned in flat island mauritius our our usual output has made a great inroad in our stock hearts go out to these dear brethren and we commend them n ow dear bretbren i will give you a brief outline of the to him who said in the world ye shall have tribulation but harvest work in south africa the number of white brethbe of good cheer i have overcome the world ren-other than natives-we estimate at between two hundred the fortunes of the photo-drama in africa were varied and tiired hundred the larger portion of these are divided on its arrival in this country difficulties seemed to stop our among four ehul llhes-durban johannesburg pretoria and pathway at evez:y turll the crowning difficulty came when cape town all towns of considerable size this may seem after showing it to a bioscope advisory committee coma very small proportion of the people but when we rememposed largely of clergymen and their henehmen the frovinber that the white population numbers only about one and a ciai authorities prohibited its exhibition in the cape province quarter million seattero

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11-12 the watch tower baookl,yn n y we earnestly trust therefore that your desire to visit this part of the world will grow until it becomes uncontrollable and that the lord will speedily provide the opportunity for you to translate the desire into action in closing permit me to assure you of our continued love and loyalty to our dear brother rutherford as the successor to our well-beloved pastor and to the society as god s espe cially chosen channel of communication with his people we are very jealous for the organization which under god has brought us so much blessing in the past and very suspicious of all that would attempt to divide our affections with much love to all the dear brethren at brooklyn your brother in christ wm w johnsok come follow mel come follow me l the master said come take the way i trod and though the path be dark and drear and though thy heart may faint with fear it leads to home to love-born cheerthe mansion of our god but oh the way is rough and steep beset by many a stone but still i hear through brier and brak thee will i never leave forsake beloved one fresh courage take i trod this way alone and oh he stretches forth his hands and oh he gives· me grace i i see the nail-prints that he bore the feet enstained with dust and gore the stripes the thorny crown he wore but oh that lovelit face i dear master now i follow onthe path i cannot trace the way thy love for me hath planned i take and keep at thy command give me the guidance of thy hand the heaven of thy face i we have in few words a synopsis of that article that many should drink properly of the water truth when this dear sister wrote me about this article i was at first puzzled and then through the wisdom from the father for which 1 asked he revealed the astounding fact that so few even i did not partake properly at all times i how i have wanted to shout far and wide the fact of how we should drink to his glory and honor as it is 90 clearly given in that article your suggestion dear brethren surely is a direct answer to my pra.yer a.nd wish now by his grace i shall drink of his water which is life indeed i solicit an interest in your prayers dear brethren also remembering you and the harvest work daily at the throne of grace and those of like precious faith daily i realize god s care and promises to his consecrated children num 6 :24-26 some interesting letters oonventions resulting in blessings dear brother rutherford loving greetings in our dear redeemer i am troubling you with a line to mention one of the many evidences we have noted that the lord is supervising every feature of the harvest work we allude to the real good and bles8ing that is resulting from this year s conventions thank the lord there are so many of them many have gone to these conventions troubled and perplexed because of the things which have been sent our from brooklyn and elsewhere-not from headquarter and have returned at rest and full of coniidence that the lord has not lost control of his work we are sure it is in the lord s providences that such a program has been arranged praying the father may continue to guide and bless you in your endeavors to serve him the truth and the brethren i remain with sincere christian love yours in him w y ba lterson pilgrim drawn oloser to eaoh other in ohlustian love your sister by his grace and mercy mrs c e xortok idaho ilfspiluna oo:mxen l s be voll1me sbven dear brethren:be it rulolvf:d bv the bible students in convention assembled that we ren ew our covenant to our heavenly father and to the faithful observance of the instruations of his holy word that we pray earnestly for a greater measure of his holy spirit that we strive to increase our love to our heavenly father for the gift of his dear son and for the unfolding of his word to us through that dear servant whom we all s dearly loved that we will be so inspired by the life he lived that we will be drawn closer to each other in the bonds of christian love and fellowship and will put forth our best endeavors that we may make our calling and election sure be it further resolved that we heartily co-operate in the work as mapped out by our dear pastor and that a copy of this tesolution be sent to the watoh tower bible and tract society at brooklyn n y everett eoclesla wash able to appreoiate tower more :fully dear brethren:am sending $1.00 to renew my subscription to tm watoh tower which expires this month am r~jving just tme same help from the tower that i always have enjoyed for twenty-one years in fact more for i am now able to appreciate the articles more fully i am in full accord with the managl;lment at bethel and pray daily that love may prevail there your sister by his grace a j r h mmne gideon s :brave th:bbe hundred dear editorial comjdittee greetings of love peace and joy in your daily yea hourly service in the lord s harvest my heart is full of desire to make known to you my appreciation of your suggestion in the march 1 tower page 67 especially that under the heading a word to the pilgrims how we do need this admonition that we adhere strictly to the message which the lord gave through this chosen channel god bless you i am constrained through the goreat kindness of a sister to note the suggestion of our dear pastor in the jan 1 tower of 1915 page 10 re gideon s brave three hundred douia [6198 pilgrim brother c e heard writes concerning a very effective method of colporteuring with the seventh volume adopted by a class in a canadian city as follows this class has done remarkable work with the seventb volume the friends left a copy in every home in town with a printed slip inserted in the front telling them to read it and if they wish to keep the book to remit 60c fully 80 per cent of the homes kept the volume when the friends called to collect i am eighty-two years old and have often wondered would i live to see the seventh volume of thc world s most wonderful paries of god mys

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january 1 1918 the watch tower i2-1s i am truly very grateful for volume seven and shall eagerly peruse its pages that i may be the better prepared to endure all things by its strength-giving food served to us hy onr lord s dear fa itilifu i ~ervant as i have izlanced through it it already has made me see how deeply he saw our need of great faith in our heavenly father s love for them that are his surely this feast in the seventh volume is from the hand of our lord to cheer and comfort us to the end n c b mich we desire to express our appreciation of volume seventhe last of the most wonderful books i we feel sure the lord has sent this for our comfort f k s mo on opening volume seven i saw at once that dear brother russell could not have written it he was too modest and humble to ha ve stated the facts as they exist-he occupyinl the important place in the harvest notice in volume .seven if you do not desire to keep the volume return it w s s pa i was amused at the proviso you put in the little printed i believe that no truly consecrated child of god who has waited so long a-nd anxiously for t lis book would pa.rt witjh it for any price if he could not replace it it will certainly cause the false shepherds to take notice how graciously and bountifully our dear father provide for our wants i just what we want and at the very time that we need it praise his holy name f r e ohio volume seven has been duly received such pleasant sur· prises have been few in my life of 52 years i had no intimation that it was in process cf compilation mlwh it s on the press when i found it on my table it was hard for me to believe my eyes were not serving me some trick i read the title over several times before i was fully convincd there was no mistake it was good of you to send it as you did thus bparing us the suspense of waiting for it h e k ala how faithfully you must have worked to get volume seven together and in print and how wonderful it seems to hear from our dear pastor after he has passed beyond it seems to me like a message sent back to us m k n md interesting questions the begetting of the holy spirit supernatural question is the begetting of the new creature a direct act of goll or is it through the word of trnth f answer the begetting of the holy spirit is not without the worn it is through the word but the fact that it is through the worn noes not sig-nify that the word alone is the begetting power without god s message telling ub of h:s eharacter his plan our sinful condition and the arrangemc nt for the fonrivenes of ~in through christ and the opportunity to be of this special elect class we would not be in any condition to understand or to receive this holy spirit we must first have the knowledge which the bible gives therefore it is through the word of truth that this blessing comes but the blessing is not the word of truth the world in the incominlt agoe will hane tgle word o,f trut,h hut they will not receive the begetting of the holy spirit to a new nature which the church alone receives the fact that the church does not now receive any outwarcl demonstration is no proof that we do not receive a supernatural enduement from the lora wh~n our lord jesus had made his consecration and was baptized god caused an outward big-n to be seen by john the baptist who perceived the holy spirit in the form of a dove descending and resting upon the lord this outward manifestation was given to john that he could tebtify that jesus wab the messiah it was not necessary that all the people should see this word unction has the thought of anointing and of smoothness lubrication as from oil whoever was anointed to be a priest among the jewish people was anointed with a special kinil of fragrant oil which typified the holy spirit the scriptures represent aaron the priest after havinj received the anointing oil upon his head as typical of christ when he received the holy spirit at jordan in the type this holy anointing oil ran down to the skirts of his [aaron s garment and so the anointing of the holy spirit is with the church down to itb close the anointing oil was made up of a number of special ingredients the people of israel were not permitted to use these ingredients in such combination under penalty of death thus the lord bignified that the possession of the holy spirit which he alone can give is the bpecial designation of those who are to be the priestb and kingb of hib order and of them only marriage of the divoroed question under what circumbtances would divorced personb in the truth be free to remarry anbwer the many inquiries we have on this bubject convince us that the presentation on this matter in the sixth volume of studies in the scriptures requires supplementing-although we had bupposed it to be a very full examination of the -question indeed this ill still our belief the fault is not with tm prellcntation but witg1 lho fam that tlhe dear friends forget what they have read and fail to consult the volume we again refer all inquirers to that treatise there are laws governing divorce and the remarriage of divorced persons each btate -makes its own laws on the bub· ject and the bible sets forth a very particular law every· body is bound to meet the requirements of the civil law all quebtions therefore appertain to the higher law of the bible a simple way of deciding au such questions ib in,dicated by the fact that the bible does not set forth any laws for the governing of the world and its doings the only persons whose conduct on this and other subjects is regulateen tilie result produced by the to friends in all parts of the world who have always held the brethren at bethel in the highest esteem various purging experiences arranged by the lord for his when a re-arrangement of the board of directors wab anpeople during the period of his presence little by little the dross of selfishness in e very form has been burned away from nounced on july 17th i deeply regretted that buch a proceeding was deemed necessary by signing the resolution comthe hearts of those whose golden desire ib to do the will of god viewed ab one of thebe experience s the recent sad trial mending this action i had no intention of identifying myself affecting so many of the i,o·rd s children ever where becomes as a party to the controverby believing that reconciliatiojl an occabion for thanksgiving we can count it all joy could even yet be affected between those at variance but the publication of my name in connection with state wibhed merely to share my portion of responsibility as an ments circulated among the friends has brought many reofficer of the society in providing an explanation to the quests for an explanation of the seemingly inconsistent stanl comparatively small number of friends who had up to that [6197 interesting letters

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15-19 the watch tower brooki.yk n y time learned of the difficulties at headquarters and were beginning to make inquiry i fully realized the possibility of this action on my part being misconstrued as taking a side and therefore added my name very reluctantly after assurances that the paper would he lisel in aeeordanee with my understanding viz to satisfy inquiring friends following the circulation of this resolution my friendly attitude toward all the brethren concerned was called in question immediately the unwisdom of my course beeame apparent and i saw that if my efforts as a peacemaker were to have further weight it would be necessary to undo what i seemingly had done in signing the resolution this i attempted in the letter written july 26th afterward published but stepping from one side back to neutral ground was a difficult matter in fact i now realize that i overstepped to the other side it was in this position that out of sympathy for those who i believed had been made the objects of undeserved publicity i signed an open letter to the friends attending the boston convention when i discerned after convention that this action made me equally as incapable of restoring harmony as i had been after signing the resolution i quietly withdrew deeming it best to nmke no further i3ltatement at that thl1l i he u,l f my h l me in any publieation oon rning the eontroversy issued since the boston convention has been entirely without my previous knowledge and consent in the early part of august t he final endeavor to el3ltahlish peace proved of no avail iy heart ached to tllink thnt brethren respected and loved for their work s sake shoultl have been held up before the friends all over the world in a way which to them seemed unwarranted i pleaded with them to follorw the course of our master and suffa glaaly w!hs.tever bitter experiences the heavenly thther permitted not even desiring to retaliate or justify themselves but to commit their eause to him that judgeth righteously wbat an opportunity to exhibit the spirit which we all have been striving to cultivate the spirit of forbearance witl one another the spirit of brotherly love preferring n

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january 15 1918 th 1 w ate h tow b r 19 -20 -the seed according to the promise-and the resistance to its development by its adversaries in this picture we behold jehovah as the great designer and architect of the plan his only begotten and beloved son the executor of that plan the members of tlle new creation being developed by the outworking of the plan the selection of the members being made from the imperfect race of adam the world the stage satan as the villain or opponent with all the agencies he can bring to bear ilgainst the seed the new creation is referred to by the prophet under the title joshua the high priest he dcsignatcs the ones called to become members of the priesthood as those who are clothed in filthy garments thus picturing their own imperfection the prophet shows how the lord pro· vides a change of raiment picturing the robe of christ s righteousness furnished to each one who enters upon the way to become a member of the priesthood the high priest is composed primarily of christ jesus our lord but when completed will be composed of jesus the head and the church his body all forming the royal priesthood tile picture furt11crmore shows that angel of the lord standing by to render aid to the new creation in the course of its develop ment other scriptures confirm the thought of the lord providing help through holy angels the angel of the lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them psa 34:7 are they not all ministering bpirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvalion hebrews 1 14 sin s small begibning it seems quite evident that lucifer when starting upon his wrongful course did not expect to go to such lengths of wickedness as he has gone the prophet pictures him as a beautiful creature having authority and power over others he became ambitious to have a kingdom of his own like the binding of saran most high god since the second presence of the lord in 1874 the light evidently lucifer desired to have greater prominence than of truth has been increasing in brightness the tendency the lord had given him because he felt that llis ability was of this has been to restrain evil and to that extent it has not being properly recognized he had observed that jehovah been binding satan concerning the binding of satan jesus h~d created adam and eve in his likeness and as .jehovah said no man can enter into a strong man s house and rules the universe he had given to adam the dominion and spoil his goods except he first bind the strong man and then rulership of the earth then said lucifer in substance why he will spoil his goods matt 12:29 mark 3:22·27 luke did not .jehovah give me something according to my ability 11 :22 thus we are taught that satan must first be bound then the prophet represents him as saying in his heart i restrained and deposed before christ s reign of righteousness will be like the most high i will establish a kingdom and peace can be established this binding of satan is ac of my own his subsequent conduct shows a heart regard cordingly shown to be the first work of the new dispensation less of duty to others fatally bent upoil wrong-doing he a 68 69 it has been suggested that as the bindin of satan went to eve and in substance said to her god is depriving progresses the other demons will be loose or gam greater you of these things that he is keeping secret from you there power they could not be fully judged without first being is no danger of your dying eat the fruit a.s i am doing released from prison the disposition and evil bent of mind exercise your own will power we dare say that had he of these fallen a~gels or evil spirits must be taken into canknown to what great depths of sorrow his conduct would sideration in determining what course they will take and the lead he _uld have long hesitated to take such a step and trouble they will cause when they are liberated from their probably would not have taken it his purpose was to usurp incarceration or steal that which the lord had not given ro him he witnessed russia has long been an autocratic government practically the effect namely the fall of man and his degradation a.nd an absolute monarchy it has been a mixture of civil and the sickness decay and death that came upon all mankind ecclesiastical power exercised by one head-the czar the the genesis account indicates tha.t god permitted some arrangement is clearly the product of satan the czar hae of the angels of heaven to come to earth and attempt to heen the head of the church and the absolute ruler -of the uplift and bless mankind the human race was therefore people and has held in restraint for a long time the subjects placed under the charge of the angels for a period of ap of that kingdom many of the subjects of russia ha.ve long proximately 1600 years or until the great delug-e he ago manifested an anarchistic spirit and this is the class brews 2 5 observing that .jehovah had placed the angels known as the bolsheviki they have desired to disrupt the in charge of the human race doubtless satan again rea.soned government but have been restrained from so doing ,as the why did not jehovah ict me take charge i have more czar was deprived of his power gradually so the bolsheviki ability than they he does not properly recognize my ability increased in power and when the czar was completely over he is doing me an injustice by keeping me out of what i thrown the bolsheviki ran riot and conditions in russia am justly entitled to have and r will show him he cannot?o are daily growing worse it i will get control of the angels and through them i will in a measure this illustrates satan s realm he has been control the human race this unsatisfied desire for rulership all arbitrary ruler of the evil ones of whom he is the chief led him on to envy hatred and malice until he deliberately or prince the evil spirits incarcerated in tartarus have set about to seduce and did seduce the angels from the been measurably under the control of satan thet have a.t all right course and led them into paths of wickedness this times manifested the disposition of anarchists or bolsheviki is in harmony with his general course the result was that au anarchist is one who defies all rule and rulers and whose these angels misusing their power debauched the imman ra.ce purpose is to destroy every form of government and everyexcept noah and his family and filled the w~ole earth with thing in the form of order we should therefore expect that violence god spared not the ar:ge1s that slllned but con· when these evil spirits are loosed from their chains of refined them in tartarus with chams of thick darkness de· straint the great trouble will follow being anarchists and livering them into custody for judgment 2 pet 2 4 having no disposition to be controlled by anyone when they diaglott those angels which kept not their ow prin· are released it would be expected that they would refuse to cipality but left their o,wu habitation he has ~ept in per recognize any control all their tendencies .befor inearcera petual chains under tblck qarkness for the judgment of tion werl evil and they filled the earth with violence and the great day jude 6 diaglott hence we are not unaware of their disposition and not in the prince of demons darkness as to what course they will take satan therefore was the dili:cet cause of the failure of the realizing that their incarceration was due largely to a.jigels which resulted in their incarceration since the time satan s leading them into the wrong course without doubt of the flood these imprisoned demons have been und~r the envy ill-will malice hatred and jealousy wiii fill their minds [6199 control of satan as the prince of demons eph 2:2 in his speech to the pharisees the great master recognized that satan is the prince of devils having charge over the other demons all of whom arc steeped in wickedness matt 12:24-29 since the restraint of the demons satan has attempted by various fradulent schemes and devices to control the hnman race and at the same time thwart the purpose of jehovah in the development of the new creation at the baptism of .jesus in the jordan true to the pic· ture shown by the prophet satan stood by to resist and has ever since resisted the development of the christ anti· christ means that which is against christ diverse and numerous movements and schemes has satan instigated to overthrow the seed he has been the inspirer and instigator of every anti·christ or movement to retard the development of the christ he organized the papacy the symbolic beast of revelation which is a complete counterfeit of messiah s kingdom arrangement he has gained control of the proicstant systems and has succeeded in forming the image of the beast now eo-operating more or less with the beast and with the governments of earth he is the author of spiritism christian science new thought theosophy hypno tism and many other fradulent schemes which he makes appear as being for the benefit of mankind but the real purpose of which is to turn the minds of the people away from the merit of christ s sacrifice and hinder the development of the seed according to the promise he has used every means his fertile mind could dcvise to destroy the new creation but he will not as indeed he cannot succeed god s word shall not return unto him void but shall accomplish that whereunto it was sent in due time the new creation will be completed to the glory of the great jehovah isalah 55 :8·11.

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21-22 the watch tower baooklyn n y and direct their actions what might we expect them to attempt to do we observe that satan for many centuries hu attempted to destroy the seed of abraham according to the promise these fallen angels observe that he has not succeeded we suggest that move by envy jealousy and rivalry they may attempt to accomplish what satan has failed to do namely to overthrow the lord s people who constitute the seed of abraham and who are yet this side the veil · the four winds of the eabtr st john mentions them in the flgure of the four winds of the earth revelation 7 1 commenting upon this scripture in the watch tower of june 1st 1914 page 160 brother russell stated the winds of the earth referred to here are of course symbolic the thought is that the winds from the four quarters-north east south and west-are being held back and that when the restraint is withdrawn they will rush together and the result will be a whirlwind certain scriptures tell of a whirlwind that will be raised from the coasts of the earth see ,ter 23 19 25 :32 33 30 :23 24 we do not understand that this will be a physical whirlwind but this symbolical ej{pression is used to convey the thought of a severe strife of tile pdwers of the air these powers df the air or winds are not powers of natural air but are powers referred to by st paul when he speaks of satan as the prince of the power of the air eph 2:2 these spirits who have been under the control of satan -the fallen angels-were to be restrained in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day 2 peter 2:4 the letting idose of the winds or air powen would seem to shdw that god has let go his hand of restraint that he will have to do with the permission of the terrible trduble that will come upon the world as a great cataclysm which will result in the complete overthrow of the social drder in anarchy these fallen angels have been under restraint for these many centuries but they have ej{ercised their influence to whatever extent they have had permissidn if they had had unlimited power they would have wrecked the world long ago but they have been restrained in darkness apparently god will sdon cease to restrain the fallen angels and they will then proceed to vent their fury upon humanity so that the whole earth will be full df violence the same as in the days of noah as it was in the days of noah sd shall it be also in the days of the son of man luke 17 :26 the power manifested by the demons when loosed will we believe be with a view to the injury of mankind wc do not know but that many of our readers will have a share in that injury we have every reason to suppose that if these fallen angels get loose they will vent their first anger upon the lord s pedple we are not to fear this however but to take whatever the lord s providence may permit td come knowing th·at everything shall work for our good again commenting upon the same subject z il 359 brother russell ~aid as soon as the power that is now cont olling them shall be removecl we shall have a reign of evil all over the earth the evil spirits will do all the evil that is in their power and this will constitute the trial df all the fallen angelsthe lifting of the restraints to see whether they will go contrary to the divine will all who thus manifest their alliance with evil in any way will become subjects of the second death while others who show their loyalty to god will mark themselves as wdrthy presumably df everlasting life it may be something in connection with the saints that will consti tute the test df these angels the true saints {if gdd are the onlv ones dn earth whd have not the spirit of anarchy then we may expect the demons to try to put the spirit of anarchy into the mind df even the saintly class hence the importance of the warning of the apostle to arm yourselves likewise with the same mind it is the new creature that the adversaries destroy the new creature is composecl of the new will and new mind which has its habitation in an earthen vessel we should expect therefore that the adversaries will assault the mind the words of the text indicate this very clearly there would be no occasion to arm ourselves with the same mind df christ unless we ej{pected to be attacked in the same way that he was attacked by the adversaries what was the mind of christ humble submissidn td the father s will which meant gladly following the order marked out by the father it was to resist the adversaries with the father s word the spirit of anarchy is among all the inhabitants of how we may expeot the attaolt the earth anarchy is prevalent in satan s dominion we should expect therefore that .the adversaries would seek to produce abarchy among the lord s people in other words to put in the mind of such the thought that they shduld b subject to no o rder and no one but that each one should take his or her own course pleasing only self that to take any other course would be submission of the will to another person while it is true that we are to submit our wills to no one except the will of god yet we should remember that the will of god concerning his own is that they should be governed by his word order is heaven s first law and all disorder tends to anarchy god hath set the members every one of them in the bddy as it hath pleased him 1 cor 12 18 suppose i think someone else is occupying a place that i should by right have should i attempt to force myself into the position 1 such a course would be prompted by the spirit of the evil one such is the course the adversary took rut suppose i am better qualified to fill the position than the one who holds itt better leave it with the lord he knows all about it so surely as there are bolsheviki in russia just so surely we may expect the adversaries to attempt to put the spirit df bolshevism or anarchy into the minds of the lord s pedple that succeeding in this they might overthrdw some of his people and produce such a disruption of the work as to have seemingly triumphed in their p urpose but god will not permit anything to be done that will overthrow those who have the right spirit the spirit of humility -the mind df christ evidently satan thought he had a great deal of ability and he did have sdme to become a king or ruler but his ability could not be used of the lord because of his lack of humility any creature s abmtr in the service of the lord is measured by his true humihty and where humility is lacking natural ability is nil the same spirit actuated the fallen angels the same spirit will work amongst some of god s people humility means a true and joyful submissidn to the will of god if we find that the lord has instituted a certain way to carry out his purposes then we should joyfully fall in line with that way and strive to perform what he gives us to dd headiness stubbornness selfishness leads to dissension and disruptidn-such is not the mind of the lord but the mind of the adversaries so surely as the lord has marked out ii way and we seek to go contrary to that way we remove ourselves frdm his special protection and dpen our mind to the assault of the adversaries and persisting in this course we must finally fall our safety wherein then lies the safety of the new creature st peter says arm yourselves with the mind of christ the apostle paul corroborates this in ephesians 0 10-18 in plain language showing us that our warfare is not with dur handa not with carnal weapons not with visible enemies but with satan and a hdst of evil spirits he then showis us that our safety lies in putting dn the whole armor of god and in keeping it dn and using it according to the lord s will it should be marked that this armor is not fdr a human being but it is for the new creaturl and therefore the figure of arming the mind is maintained with reference to the armor herl mark what the apdstle says take untd you tile whole armor of gdd that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having ddne all td stand stand therefdre having ydur loins girt about with truth the girdle ardund the loins indicates that the wearer is a servant and when this girdle is tightly fastened it indicates that the servant is engaged in some strenuous work this suggests then thak the new creature must fill his mind with things pertaining to the lord s work and see td it that he is a se!vant df the truth hdw may he know whether or not he is a servant of the truth e answer by ascertaining whether dr not he is using that which the lord has prdvided for the church the 14th chapter of revelation verses 13-16 clearly shows that the service of the church during the harvest is first the reaping of the saintly class and the subsequent verses shdw that the saintly ones must participate in the reaping of the vine of the earth it follows then that when the time arrives for this work to be done each one who would be serving that message which the ldrd had prdvided in his dwn due time must have the idins of his mind girded with the truth engaging in the service accdrding to opportunity if we have come to the end of the way if we are nearing the very closing hdurs df the haryest then we may know that the proclamation of the vengeance of the lord against babylon must be made isa 61 :2 and to be thus engaged zealously in the lord s service wduld mean to keep our mind upon such work making ourselves the servants cif his cause t [8200

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january 15 1918 the let us arm ourselves watch tower 22-3i l the apostle then adds that we must have on the breastplate of righteousness the breastplate fitted over the vital organs the heart is the most vital organ to the new creature the necessity for kl pill the heart cannot be overstated if then one finds bitterness arising in his heart regardless of the cause he should take it at once as a warning that he is no arming himself wit!l the mind of christ and not properly usmg the armor fallmg to arm himself thus he would not be able to withstand the assaults of the adversaries see i thess 3 8 the apostle then suggests that our feet should be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace it is a noticeable fact in recent months that there has been much disturbance in the classes these disturbances do not arise ?ver doctrinal m~tt.er8 but are more particularly concernmg order or dlsclphne or the manner of doing what should be done in some places elden seek to lord it over the ecclesia thinking their ability should be recognized other member insist ?il doing everything their own way this is manifesting the spirit of the bolsheviki it brings trouble instead of peace which shows that such a one is not properly armed with the mind of christ that he has not on the armor in all its parts that instearl of hcing shod with the message of peace his feet are shod with the hob-nails of anarchy it is the duty of the elders to counsel peace and moderation amongst the brethren then adds the apostle we should have the shield of faith with whit h we shall he able to resist the darts of the wicked ones this means that we should be fully advised as to the manner of attack hy the evil ones that we obtain this advice from the word of god and relying upon it we properly fortify ourselves against all assaults it means furthermore that we know of the exceeding great and precious promises of the lord which are sure to bring to the obedient ones an abundant entrance into the kingdom and knowing these that we rely upon them then adrls the apostle we must have the helmet of sal· vation and the sword of the spirit the helmet is fitted over the head and therefore represents the intellectual part of the creature thi sug gests that we must have an intellectual nndcrstanding and appreciation of what the lord s word is concerning us this is thc basis fnr the hope of our salvation the sword of the spirit is the word of god then having the helmet and the sword would mean that we both understand what the word teaches and are striving to use it hoth as a defensive and an offensive weapon-as a defensive weapon against our adversaries as an offensive weapon by proclaiming the message of the lord now due to be given g 466 ezek 21 15 then adds the apostle we should pray with all prayer and supplication for all saints thus sho ing the necessity not only for keeping our heart and mind fixed on our welfare but for having in mind the spiritual welfare of our brethren oub year text how appropriate therefore the text for the year-hthe end of all things is at hand be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer and above all things have fervent lcwe among youreelves that we are at the end of the g081?el age we all agree we are at the end of the harvest penod of that age the end of satan s dominion is also here and the beginning of the millennial age important to us is the fact that we have come to the end of the development of the new creation and soon the last member wiii be complete mark the conditions that prevail in the entire world today-discontent selfishness passion frenzy hatred malice and ill· will are being manifested in a manner never before witnessed after enjoying so many of the blessings of the first few years of the 20th century the human race is now plunged into the most terrible war known one which the scriptures show to be followed by revolution and anarchy the people are required to endure hardships such as they have never before known the lack f food the lack of comfort and ease added to great burdens of taxation with no hope of relief therefrom inerease the spirit of discontent selfishness predominates everywhere millions of men for years engaged in shedding human b1~od now possess distorted minds in fact the entire human race is mentally upset added to all of these things the world is drunken with the doctrines of babylon the beast is manifesting his power the image of the beast is about to do likewise the revelator tells us that when these events take place that babylon becomes the very habitation and hold of ,these evil spirits if now we see so much wrongdoing in the world what must we expect when the powers of the air shall be allowed to gain temporary liberty for the very purpose of manifesting the evil tendencies f the unregenerated heart surely then there never has been a time like the present when it is so necessary t be f sober mind and watch and pray never has it been so important for us to have overspreading love for all the brethren that our enemies are increasing in power is manifest on every hand that they may have more power shortly is to be expected let us not be at all discouraged however we have been many times warned of this and to be forewarned is to be forearmed now as we are drawing nearer to the great crisis let us remember the admonition of the lord to have ourselves llrj1led with the same mind that christ had having on the whole armor of god and we shall be safe and even though we may seemingly go down in defeat from the viewpoint of the world yet such will mean the great triumph of the faithful and an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our lord and savior jesus christ -psalm 91 1 2 peter 1 11 probably nothing that has occurred in recent months has called forth from .the friends such earnest .and fervent prayers as those offered in behalf of the convention that should assemble in pittsburgh pennsylvania and the annual election of officers of the society for the ensuing year with eagerness the brethren have been looking forward to the events that would transpire there that the will of the lord might be known it is helieverl that their prayers were answered t~e lord very woncl~rfully manifested his presence and his spirit at the com entlon and at the annual meeting on the morning of january 2nd the convention opened accordmg to program and closed sunday evening january hth wit a love feast approximately one thousand attended the discourses of the pilgrim brethren were very timely and helpful particular emphasis was laid upon the fact that the ki?gdom of the lord i neu at h8n and upon the great necessity for our preparation for the kmgdom some bitter trials have been experienced during the year ju!lt past and these seem to have whetted the appetites of the lord s dear children to partake more fully of the spiritual food provided for them a number of splendid prayer praiae and testimony meetings were a part of the program and the testimony of the dear brethren at these meetings showed plainly their determination to do one thing namely to press forward along the mark for the prize of the high calling of god in christ jesuil from every quarter of the country came eneouraging messages concerning the seventh volume and the many blessings the brethren have obtained by a careful lltudy of it and further blessings by its distribution many of the classes reported progress in this work both in the widespreading of the message of truth and in their own personal spiritual development annual meeting of shareholders alikval ilebting saturday january 5th was the day appointed for the holding of the annual meeting of the shareholders of the watch tower bible and tract society in view of the events that have transpired during the six months ended the dear friends frolllj every part of the world were keenly interested in this annual meeting cablegrams from foreign countries expressed the keen interebit the brethren there felt in the result that they might see the manifestation of the l rd s will eoncerning the harvest work the meeting convened at ten o clock saturday morning at carnegie hall n s pittsburgh pennsylvania being opened with a song and with a prayer led by brother barber then followed an exhaustive report by the president concerning the work of the society for the year just past this was followed by a report from the treasurer the substance of which has heretofore been published in the watch tower it was the thought of some present that the recent misunderstanding with reference to the management of the so· ciety should be discussed in detail but it was manifestly the belief of the overwhelming majority of the shareholders present that full and complete publicstion had heretofore been made concerning such misunderstanding and that further discussion or agitation of the same would do no good it was pointed out by those who expressed themselves that the friends were fully advised as to the facts and that further diseussion of it wall wholly undesirable that baving received the published statements of both sides and carefully considering them the brethren had oome there with their hearts lifted in prayer to the lord to manifest his will and that now wal the time not for talking but for action [6201]

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23-204 the board of dibbctobs elbctjid watch tower baookj.yn n y thll charter requires tha.t first a bqard of directors of seven members be elected and that from the seven elected the officers of the society shall be chosen the first thing in order therefore was the nomination and eleetion of seven members who should compose the board of directors for the ensuing year the order of business being announced brother barber arose and stated that the friends throughout the country on the 21st of november had by referendum vote expressed their choice for directors and officers and that he would take it therefore as the lord s will that the brethren receiving the highest number of votes at thrut referendum should be nominated and he therefore placed in nomination for directors the following named brethren to-wit brother rutherford brother macmillan van amburgh spill pierson bohnet brother fisher brother mcgee of trenton n j then placed in nomination for directors the following brother menta sturgeon brother isaae f hoskins a 1 ritchie r h hirsh b c rockwell j d wright brother p s l johnson before the ballot was taken however brother johnson withdrew his name brother f t horth of clinton iowa brother c j woodworth of seranton pa and brother a m zimmerman of lancaster pa were appointed by the president as inspectors of election after they had taken and subscribed to the required oath to perform their duties as such judges and inspectors with fidelity the ballot was tilken it required a considerable length of time to check up all the proxies and certificates and to count the vote and although the ballots were cast in the forenoon the count was not completed until about 8 30 p m the result of the ballot was as follows j f rutherford 194,106 menta sturgeon 27,261 a h macmillan 161,871 r b hirsh 23,198 w e van ambnrgh 160,215 i f hoskins 22,660 w e spill 118,259 a i ritchie 22,631 j a bohnet 113,422 j d wright 22,623 c h anderson 107,175 h c rockwell 18,178 g h fisher 83,260 p s l johnson 6,469 a n pierson 57,721 w j hollister 3.931 the seven receiving the highest number of votes cast were j f rutherford a h macmillan c h anderson w e spill w e van amburgh j a bohnet george h fisher and were thereupon declared by the judges of election as having been duly elected as members of the board of di· rectors of the watch tower bible and tract socie i1y for the ensuing year election of officbri vacancies in the bo i.l d for the purposel!l stated in the harvest siftings heretofore published he further stated that in taking this action persona.lties did not enter into the matter that he had no personal feeling against the brethren wh took issue with him at the time he made such appointments that he had not had any feeling against them since and did not now hold any ill-will toward them that his action was entirely official because he believed it to be his duty as the president of the society to take this action in behalf of the society and the work that it is doing that he deeply regretted that misunderstanding all.d trouble had followed that he realized his imperfections and was aware that he made many mistakes but that he still believed his action in filling the vacancies on the board was entirely right and proper brother rutherford then stated that he had no desne nor disposition to deprive anyone of opportunities for service in the harvest field and that if these brethren who had been openly opposing the management of the society for the past few months would eease their opposition and come forward and express their desire and purpose to preach the truth and to work in harmony with the society he would be glad to see that each of them was put actively into the service of the society that if they would do this he would be willing to forget the past and hoped that the other brethren were likewise willing to forgot and that all now who claimed to be fully consecrated to the lord should join their hearts and hands in the common cause for righteousness and in spreading the glad tidings of the kingdom all were invited to forget their differences for realizing that the church is a little ba.nd of consecrated followers of the master surrounded upon every side by enemies-the world the fiesh the demons and the great adversary-the brethren above all peoples should stand firmly together and in love serve one another and serve tjie lord nearly all of the members present manifesied their hearty approval of the sentiments expressed by reo peated and prolonged applause this concluding the business of the annual meeting the same was adjourned amidst great rejoicing by the brethren present many were the expressions that the lord had certainly been present and guided the deliberations of the meeting and the result was joyfully taken all his expressed will brother anderson was not formally placed in nomination for the position of a member of the board of directors nevertheless this did not preclude anyone from properly voting for him and his election was entirely in harmony with the laws of the land and the charter of the society during the time occupied by the judges of election in examining the records and counting the votes the brethren present indulged in praise prayer and testimonies interspersed with discourses by several pilgrim brethren the time therefore was very profitably spent it was indeed a very blessed season together the close of 1 lib co!rv1l1n ion the next order of business was the election of officers who must be selected from amongst those duly chosen as members of the board of directors brother w e page of des moines iowa placed in nomination for the office of president brother j f rutherford and a number of other brethren from different parts of the country seconded this nomination brother a h macmillan placed in nomination for vice president brother charles h anderson of baltimore md whose nomination was seconded by several others brother w e spill placed in nomination for the office of secretary-treasurer brother y eo van amburgh whose nomination was also seconded by a number of the brethren there being no one else nominated for either of these offices the ballot wns taken and the results showed that brother ,t f rutherford had received all of the ballots cast for the office of president brother charles ii anderson all the votes east for vice president and brother w e van amburgh all the votes cast for secretary-treasurer thereupon the judges of election rleclared that these brethren were duly eleoted to the respeetive offices named immediately upon announcement by the judges of eleetion as to who were chosen as officers of the society brother rutherford spoke from the platform -calling attention to the fact that now since the lord had manifested his will and expressed it through his people at this election he deemed it proper that he should make ii statement relating to the recent misunderstanding with other brethren concerning the management of the society he further stated that his action in appointing four members of the board of directors in the month of july 1917 was not done for the purpose of dpposing anyone and did not depose anyone as a member of the board of directors but that he merely filled the presidbnt s rbmarxs all the sunday sessions of the eonvention were held in the lyceum theatre discourses were delivered in the forenoon by brothers perrin and heard in the afternoon brother rutherford addressed the public there being approximately two thousand present and .splendid interest was manifested this meeting was followed by a love feast participated in by approximately one thousand brethren and many were the expressions of love and joy that came from those who participated just preceding the love feast a motion was made and duly seconded requesting brother r h hirsh to resign as a member of the editorial committee of the watoh tower this motion was unanimously carried by the convention not a dissenting vote being offered in the evening at the lyceum theatre another gathering of the friends was addressed by brothers van amburgh and heard many were heard to say that this had been the most blessed convention they had ever attended and that never had they seen the spirit of the lord so manifested by the many brethren this is exactly what we should have expected to come from all those who realize that we are in the vl ry end of the harvest and that our work may soon he finished this side the veil with sobriety of mind and calmness of heart and with the determination to continue steadfast the dear friends are facing the concluding work of the barvest regarding military exemption quite a number of our brethren in different parts of the country have been denied military exemption some of them because of their refusal to engage in military service have been court-martialed and sentenced to long terms in prison while others are held in detention camps in different parts of the country those attending the convention felt it incumbent [6202]

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