7

1

7

download/literature/watchtower/1908-20.pdf

../literature/watchtower/1908/20/1908-20-1.html

OcToBER 15, 3908 harvest work. He intimates that the vials of his wrath will be poured upon us speedily if we do not quickly move the reverse lever. Some of these dear friends appear to be perfectly willing that the nominal control of the Watch TowEr and the Warcu TowrEr Bible and Tract Society should remain in the hands to which the Lord entrusted it, provided, Brother Russell will hearken to and follow the voice of the Lord through them; others would evidently prefer that the harvest work be blown to atoms that they might become more prominent. As a sample of this critical, bombastic, selfrighteous and domineering spirit, we quote the closing words of C’s letter; (Italics are ours):—‘‘Unless steps are taken to correct this evil I shall pray for the overthrow of the arrangement, that it may come into judgment; but at present I will pray that you may be able to see the matter in its true light, and I am assured that the prayer of a righteous man availeth much, and the Apostle cites the prayer of Elias, to show how the Lord hears our petitions. With much Christian love, ete.’’ Thus our Lord’s words are fulfilled in us over and over again from every quarter, ‘‘They shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.’’ And as the Master was called Beelzebub we are said to have a ‘‘lying, evil spirit.’’ We tremble not at the threat that we shali be prayed against as above, with its intimation that the Lord has been neglecting the harvest work, waiting for this dear brother to give the intimation as to what must be done. We fear none of these fears. We weep not for ourself; our sorrow is for these poor, deluded brethren. We perceive that they are being weighed by the Lord. We fear that they will be found wanting in brotherly love—the one important test of membership in the body of Christ--the requirement of the one commandment which the Lord gave to his people-—John 13:34; 15:12. Yes, we may well fear for these, and pray for them. We ask all who claim membership in the Anointed to join petitions with ours that these dear ones may be recovered from their present blindness. The Apostles James and John, indignant at the refusal of the people of Samaria to sell food to our Lord and his disciples, asked our Master, ‘‘Lord, wilt thou that we command fire from heaven to consume these men and their city?’’ Our Lord replied, ‘‘Ye know not what spirit ye are of,’’ So now we say to the few dear brethren so deeply exercised concerning the vow, ‘‘Ye know not what spirit ye are of.’’ You have been confused. At heart you surely do not mean all that you are hinting, saying, threatening and doing. We judge you not, condemn you not; but we do ask you to judge yourselves. Are you exercising the spirit of love which Vou. XXIX ZION’S WATCH TOWER ALLEGHENY, PA., NOVEMBER 1, 1908 (319-323) you assured us is your real heart sentiment? ‘‘By their fruits ye shall know them,’’ said our Master. Let us each look after the fruitage of his own heart and life. ‘‘God is not mocked.’’ Anger, malice, envy, hatred, strife, are works (fruits) of the flesh and of the devil. Is THE VOW EXTREME? We hold that the vow is not extreme in view of the condition of things which our understanding of God’s Word leads us to expect as ‘‘nigh, even at the door.’’ We remind you of the Apostle Paul’s declaration of his willingness to take a Vow, ‘‘to eat no meat while the world standeth,’’ if such a course should seem to him expedient, in the interest of weaker brethren. The vow which we advocate as now very expedient is far less exacting than the one the Apostle declared would be proper if expedient. But taking it, let us keep it in letter and in spirit. ‘‘Vow and pay unto the Lord your God.’’— Psa. 76:11. Someone opposing the vow suggests that those who take the vow are so bound by it that should they through sickness or for other reasons forget or neglect to daily remember in prayer the harvest work, ete., it would be an unpardonable sin. We will not call in question the sincerity of those who thus pervert the truth in their attempt to hinder others; we will suppose that they spoke out of the abundance of their ignorance. As above set forth the vow is a solemn engagement which should not be broken. So is our baptismal vow, our consecration vow—to be dead to the world and self and sin. Suppose that having vowed to the Lord to walk in the fcotsteps of Jesus in the narrow way, and that at some unguarded moment you side-stepped—what then? Were you doomed therefore to the second death? Oh no! for just such errors we pray, ‘‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.’’ ‘‘It any man [in Christ] sin we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.’’ ‘‘The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.’’? ‘‘Let us come boldly to the throne of the heavenly grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in every time of need,’’ As already elsewhere pointed out a wilful, deliberate violation of a vow would bring the full sin penalty. A mixed sin, partially wilful, would be partly forgivable and partly subject to stripes or punishment. A wholly unintentional sin would be wholly forgiven upon request. We repeat, therefore, our exhortation, that the vow be taken by all of God’s consecrated children; but not without careful examination and in full determination. No. 21 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER ISRAEL’S INTEREST IN TURKEY’S TROUBLES Like a bursting bomb, disturbing European peace, has come the announcement of a rupture of the ‘‘ Berlin Treaty’’ by Austria’s annexing two Turkish provinces. Russia at once announced her desire that the Treaty be revised, and Bulgaria declared her independence of Turkey. The ‘‘Berlin Treaty’’ of thirty years ago claimed that the Turks were unable properly to govern portions of their territory in which Christians resided, and divided the supervision of these amongst the other powers. Bosnia and Herzegovina were two of these, put under Austria’s care, It will be remembered that Palestine was put under British protection, and Egypt unitedly under French and British supervision, but that France avoided her responsibility in favor of the British. Whether the present trouble shall result in a general war or not it probably will mean the rupture of the ‘Berlin Treaty,’’ and that the several provinces supervised by other nations will come more completely under their control. This would make Palestine a British province, like Canada, and mean as full liberty to the Jews as they have in Canada —to buy, build, elect local government, ete. We are not, however, to expect for Palestine full independence before 1915. NEWS FROM JUDEA In a recent letter from Jerusalem, Mr. W. H. Dunn refers to the remarkable development in the Jewish National Zionist movement which took place in Jerusalem during the fifteen months he was in England: ‘‘Great numbers of Jews are returning to Jerusalem, not for repentance or confession of sins, but simply because they must go somewhere, and the Sultan allows them to enter without hindrance. Tn that short time no fewer than 5,000 Russian Jews landed at Jaffa. These Jews are investing what money they have in buying land and buying and building houses. So great is their activity that it is a matter of concern to the foreign residents. The Moslems sell to them however without demur. They believe this land really belongs to the Jews. The development in Jewish education is also striking, and kindergarten schools are being opened for the children, Hebrew is being taught and becoming a living language, and new Hebrew words are being formed so as to make the old tongue helpful for up-todate use. It is common to hear Hebrew spoken in the strects.’’ —LEachange. UNION OF BAPTISTS AND DISCIPLES OF CHRIST The Rev. I. J. Spencer, pastor of the Central Christian church (or Disciples of Christ, the term used by members of this denomination), will accept an invitation to address the National Baptist Congress, to be held in Chicago, November 10 to 12, upon the subject, ‘‘What Definite Steps Should Be Immediately Taken Toward the Union of Baptists, Free Baptists, and Disciples of Christ?’’ Other speakers repreyenting the first two denominations also will discuss the topic, and it is expected that the discussion will result in a long stride toward the union of the two dcnominations—Baptists and Disciples of Christ, the first steps toward which were taken two years ago, At the National Congress of the Diseiples in Indianapolis, in March, 1908, by invitation Dr. E. Y. Mullins, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary of Louisville, and Mr. Spencer discussed the topic: ‘‘What Does the New Testament Teach Concerning the Doctrine of the Remission of Sins?’’ One session of the congress was entirely given to the addresses, The similarity of the teachings of the denominations on vital points aroused great enthusiasm. This gave rise to the [4267]