Publication date
4/1/08
Volume
29
Number
7
The WatchTower
Views from the Watch Tower
The Watchtower Magazines
../literature/watchtower/1908/7/1908-7-2.html
 
 
(100- 
10 
3) 
ZION'S 
WATCH 
TOWER 
but 
the 
majority 
of 
them 
have 
been 
attending 
spiritualistic 
cir­ 
cles 
and 
associating 
with 
mediums 
before 
the 
'voices' 
begin 
to 
bother 
them. 
One 
man 
who 
was 
a 
solicitor 
was 
forced 
to 
give 
up 
his 
work, 
as 
a 
I 
voice' 
constantly 
whispered 
to 
him, 
and 
it 
apparently 
was 
not 
the 
I 
still, 
small 
voice' 
of 
his 
con­ 
science. 
I 
I 
Probably 
the 
saddest 
of 
these 
cases 
which 
I 
have 
had 
called 
to 
my 
attention 
was 
that 
of 
a 
young 
girl 
whom 
I 
had 
aided 
years 
ago 
when 
she 
came 
under 
my 
jurisdiction. 
She 
was 
a 
healthy, 
strong 
girl 
then, 
but 
when 
she 
came 
to 
my 
office 
the 
other 
day 
she 
was 
a 
physical 
wreck, 
nervous, 
shiver­ 
ing, 
with 
fear 
depicted 
in 
her 
every 
expression. 
I 
was 
told 
by 
the 
people 
whose 
home 
she 
was 
leaving 
that 
they 
did 
not 
care 
to 
have 
her 
there 
any 
longer, 
as 
she 
imagined 
that 
some­ 
one 
was 
talking 
to 
her 
all 
the 
time. 
In 
her 
tearful 
story 
she 
told 
me 
the 
'voices' 
never 
leave 
her." 
ARE 
NOT 
ANARCmSTS 
DEMENTED? 
The 
most 
charitable 
view 
of 
the 
following 
news 
item 
from 
the 
public 
press 
is 
to 
suppose 
the 
writer 
and 
his 
friends 
de­ 
mented. 
Of 
foreign 
birth, 
born 
under 
unfavorable 
conditions, 
their 
minds 
seem 
to 
be 
poisoned. 
And 
yet 
many 
Socialists 
feel 
aggrieved 
when 
we 
point 
out 
that 
the 
end 
of 
Socialism 
will 
be 
anarchy 
I 
Unsuccess, 
want 
and 
hopeless 
despair 
will 
eventually 
produce 
just 
such 
dementia 
in 
very 
many. 
The 
item 
reads: 
Court 
action 
will 
probably 
follow 
the 
publication 
of 
a 
"call 
to 
arms" 
printed 
in 
LaQuestion 
8ociale, 
the 
leading 
organ 
of 
the 
anarchists 
in 
Paterson, 
N. 
J., 
and 
given 
wide 
circulation. 
The 
attention 
of 
Prosecutor 
Emly 
has 
been 
called 
to 
the 
article 
and 
he 
said 
today 
that 
he 
is 
looking 
up 
the 
law 
to 
see 
if 
legal 
steps 
can 
be 
taken 
against 
the 
editors 
because 
of 
the 
pub­ 
lication. 
Among 
other 
things 
the 
article 
says: 
I< 
We 
invite 
everybody 
to 
get 
together 
and 
arm 
themselves. 
Seventy-five 
per 
cent. 
have 
only 
a 
knife 
in 
the 
house 
which 
will 
cut 
only 
onions. 
It 
will 
be 
a 
good 
thing 
for 
everybody 
to 
have 
a 
gun. 
When 
we 
are 
ready 
the 
first 
thing 
to 
do 
is 
to 
break 
into 
the 
armory 
and 
seize 
rifles 
and 
ammunition. 
The 
next 
thing 
is 
to 
get 
hold 
of 
the 
police 
station 
and 
then 
the 
chief 
of 
police 
will 
ask 
for 
soldiers. 
I 
I 
Even 
at 
that 
the 
dynamite 
is 
easy 
to 
get. 
Twenty-five 
cents 
worth 
will 
blow 
a 
big 
iron 
door 
down. 
We 
don't 
want 
to 
forget 
that 
dynamite 
will 
help 
to 
win. 
Two 
or 
three 
of 
us 
can 
defy 
a 
regiment 
without 
war. 
We 
will 
start 
when 
no 
one 
is 
thinking 
anything 
about 
it. 
Then 
we 
can 
beat 
them 
man 
for 
man. 
I 
I 
At 
that 
time 
show 
no 
sympathy 
for 
soldiers. 
As 
soon 
as 
we 
get 
hold 
of 
the 
police-station 
it 
is 
our 
victory. 
The 
thing 
is 
to 
kill 
the 
entire 
force. 
If 
not, 
they 
will 
kill 
us." 
WAS 
IT 
NOT 
NECESSARY? 
[This 
article 
was 
a 
reprint 
of 
that 
published 
in 
issue 
of 
April 
15, 
1892, 
which 
please 
see.] 
"I 
GO 
THAT 
I 
MAY 
AWAKE 
HIM" 
John 
11 
:1-57.-APBIL 
12. 
Golden 
Text 
:-1< 
I 
am 
the 
resurrection 
and 
the 
life. 
"-V. 
25. 
Toward 
the 
conclusion 
of 
our 
Lord'a 
ministry 
the 
op- 
when 
he 
called 
the 
Lord 
the 
God 
af 
Abraham, 
and 
the 
God 
pasition 
of 
the 
rulers 
of 
the 
Jewish 
church 
became 
very 
bit- 
of 
Isaac, 
and 
the 
God 
of 
Jacob." 
(Luke 
20:37.) 
Our 
ter, 
causing 
Jesus 
to 
leave 
Judea 
for 
Berea. 
He 
remained 
Lord's 
argument 
on 
this 
is 
that 
if 
Abraham, 
lsaac 
and 
for 
some 
little 
time 
near 
the 
place 
where 
John 
was 
preach- 
Jacob 
were 
dead 
in 
the 
sense 
that 
a 
brute 
beast 
is 
dead, 
ing 
at 
the 
time 
of 
his 
own 
baptism. 
It 
was 
while 
he 
was 
without 
hope 
of 
an 
awakening, 
a 
resurrection, 
he 
would 
not 
there 
that 
the 
word 
was 
received 
from 
Martha 
and 
Mary 
call 
himself 
their 
God. 
Our 
Lord 
closes 
up 
the 
argument 
at 
Bethany, 
saying, 
"Lord, 
behold 
he 
whom 
thou 
lovest 
by 
saying 
that 
from 
Gad's 
standpoint 
all 
live 
unto 
him. 
is 
,sick." 
From 
this 
we 
know 
that 
Lazarus, 
their 
younger 
And 
our 
standpoint 
must 
be 
the 
divine 
standpoint; 
we 
brother, 
was 
a 
very 
dear 
friend 
of 
Jesus. 
The 
message 
mu.st 
learn 
to 
think 
in 
harmony 
with 
this 
divine 
testi­ 
was 
brief; 
it 
did 
nat 
urge 
him 
to 
come 
nor 
ask 
a 
miraculous 
mony. 
Hence 
we 
have 
hope, 
not 
only 
for 
Christians, 
saints 
intervention; 
it 
merely 
stated 
the 
fact. 
In 
some 
respects 
it 
who 
have 
died 
in 
Christ, 
but 
we 
have 
also 
hope 
for 
the 
was 
a 
grand 
model 
of 
a 
Christian 
prayer. 
The 
Lord's 
peo- 
world 
of 
mankind-I< 
asleep 
in 
Jesus." 
Their 
condition 
pIe 
may 
always 
go 
to 
him 
with 
full 
confidence 
in 
hill 
sym- 
wauld 
indeed 
be 
actual 
death, 
the 
same 
as 
a 
brute 
beast, 
pathy 
and 
loving 
interest 
in 
all 
of 
their 
affairs, 
temporal 
and 
were 
it 
not 
that 
the 
Lord 
has 
provided 
in 
Jesus 
for 
their 
spiritual. 
At 
first 
they 
may 
feel 
disposed 
to 
ask 
tha.t 
their 
resuscitation. 
But 
since 
such 
provision 
has 
been 
made, 
we 
own 
wills 
be 
done 
on 
earth 
if 
not 
in 
heaven, 
but 
subse- 
are 
to 
think 
of 
the 
world 
of 
mankind 
as 
not 
being 
extinct, 
quently, 
if 
their 
spirit 
of 
cansecration 
and 
growth 
in 
grace 
but 
merely 
asleep. 
All 
those, 
therefore, 
who 
accept 
the 
continue, 
they 
should 
reach 
the 
place 
where, 
like 
Mary 
and 
teaching 
of 
the 
divine 
Word, 
I< 
sorrow 
nat 
as 
others 
who 
Martha, 
they 
would 
be 
content 
to 
state 
their 
troubles 
to 
have 
no 
hope; 
for 
if 
we 
believe 
that 
Jesus 
died 
and 
rose 
the 
Lord 
and 
wait 
for 
him, 
thankfully 
a.ccepting 
as 
wisest 
again, 
let 
us 
also 
believe 
that 
those 
who 
sleep 
in 
Jesus 
and 
best 
whatever 
he 
may 
be 
pleased 
to 
grant. 
{tho,se 
who 
are 
included 
in 
the 
benefit 
of 
his 
sacrifice, 
Then 
Jesus 
said, 
doubtless 
in 
the 
hearing 
of 
the 
mes- 
those 
who 
are 
redeemed 
by 
the 
precious 
blood, 
all 
the 
race 
senger 
that 
he 
might 
report 
the 
same, 
I< 
The 
sickness 
is 
af 
Adam] 
will 
God 
bring 
from 
the 
dead 
by 
him." 
(1 
not 
unto 
death, 
but 
that 
the 
Son 
of 
God 
may 
be 
glarified 
Thess. 
4:13, 
14.) 
By 
him 
the 
church 
will 
first 
be 
raised 
thereby." 
Weare 
not 
to 
suppose 
that 
our 
Lord 
wa,s 
mis- 
up, 
to 
be 
made 
partakers 
of 
his 
resurrection, 
the 
first 
resur­ 
taken, 
that 
he 
expected 
that 
Lazarus 
would 
not 
die, 
rather 
rection, 
the 
chief 
resurrection, 
sharers 
of 
his 
glory, 
honor 
that 
the 
result 
would 
not 
be 
continuous 
death, 
knowing 
and 
immortality. 
By 
him, 
then, 
during 
the 
Millennial 
age, 
that 
he 
would 
awaken 
him. 
When, 
two 
days 
later, 
Jesus 
all 
the 
families 
of 
the 
earth 
shall 
be 
awakened, 
brought 
praposed 
returning 
to 
Bethany 
in 
Judea, 
and 
the 
disciples 
forth 
from 
aheol, 
from 
hades, 
brought 
to 
a 
knowledge 
af 
were 
fearful, 
our 
Lord 
indicated 
to 
them 
that 
there 
would 
the 
truth-yea, 
and 
if 
they 
will 
receive 
the 
message 
into 
be 
no 
particular 
danger. 
He 
foreknew 
all 
the 
circum- 
good 
and 
honest 
hearts, 
they 
will 
be 
lifted 
entirely 
out 
of 
stances 
and 
perceived 
that 
the 
miracle 
he 
intended 
to 
per- 
sin 
and 
death 
conditions 
up 
to 
the 
full 
perfection 
of 
restitu­ 
form 
would 
disconcert 
his 
enemies 
long 
enouih 
to 
permit 
tion 
and 
life 
everlasting 
thraugh 
him. 
Well, 
indeed, 
may 
of 
his 
return 
to 
Berea 
a 
little 
later. 
He 
explained 
to 
them 
all 
those 
who 
trust 
in 
J.esus 
rejoice 
in 
him 
and 
sorrow 
not 
the 
reason 
for 
the 
visit 
saying, 
I' 
Our 
friend 
Lazarus 
in 
the 
presence 
of 
death, 
as 
do 
others. 
sleepeth, 
but 
I 
go 
that 
I 
may 
awake 
him 
aut 
of 
sleep." 
Later 
he 
brought 
this 
statement 
down 
to 
their 
comprehen- 
"FRIENDS 
SORROWING 
AND 
JESUS 
GLAD" 
sion 
by 
saying 
to 
them 
plainly, 
Lazarus 
is 
dead. 
The 
celebrated 
Charles 
Spurgeon, 
preaching 
on 
this 
sub- 
There 
is 
so 
much 
in 
the 
view 
point 
on 
every 
subject. 
ject, 
took 
this 
as 
the 
title 
of 
his 
discourse 
from 
the 
text, 
From 
the 
standpoint 
of 
actual 
fact, 
barring 
the 
divine 
' 
I 
I 
am 
glad 
for 
your 
sakes 
I 
was 
nat 
there, 
to 
the 
intent 
purpose 
of 
mercy 
and 
resuscitation, 
it 
would 
have 
been 
that 
ye 
may 
believe; 
nevertheless 
let 
me 
go 
unto 
him." 
proper 
to 
speak 
af 
Lazarus 
as 
being 
dead 
in 
the 
same 
sense 
It 
is 
well 
for 
the 
Lord's 
people, 
when 
in 
a 
time 
of 
stress 
as 
we 
would 
speak 
of 
a 
brute 
as 
being 
dead. 
But 
from 
and 
trouble, 
sickn~s, 
pain 
and 
sorrow, 
to 
look 
with 
faith 
the 
standpoint 
of 
faith 
In 
God 
and 
in 
the 
promise 
made 
to 
toward 
the 
Lord, 
remembering 
that 
their 
tears 
and 
trou­ 
Abraham, 
that 
in 
his 
seed 
all 
the 
families 
of 
the 
earth 
bles 
may 
be 
made 
to 
them, 
under 
the 
Lord's 
pravidence, 
U 
should 
be 
blessed-from 
this 
standpoint 
Lazarus 
was 
not 
great 
blessing. 
We 
have 
an 
illustration 
in 
this 
lesson: 
dead 
as 
a 
brute 
beast, 
but 
was 
merely 
inanimate 
for 
a 
time, 
Martha 
and 
Mary, 
ministering 
to 
their 
sick 
brother, 
thought 
awaiting 
the 
Lord's 
due 
time 
to 
call 
him 
forth, 
ta 
re-ani- 
of 
how 
the 
Lorli 
loved 
him 
and 
sent 
him 
a 
message 
respect­ 
mate 
him, 
to 
awaken 
him 
from 
the 
sleep 
of 
death. 
Our 
ing 
Lazarus' 
condition, 
leaving 
the 
matter 
in 
his 
hands, 
Lord 
stated 
this 
on 
another 
occasion 
to 
the 
Sadducees, 
trusting 
to 
his 
wisdom 
and 
grace, 
and 
yet 
were 
allowed 
to 
who 
denied 
a 
future 
life, 
denied 
a 
resurrection, 
saying, 
pass 
into 
the 
still 
darker 
shadows 
af 
the 
sepulchre. 
The 
I< 
That 
the 
dead 
are 
to 
be 
raised, 
Moses 
showed 
at 
the 
bush, 
brother 
died 
and 
was 
buried. 
Yea, 
the 
Master 
whom 
they 
[4160] 
(100-103) but the majority of them have been attending spiritualistic circles and associating with mediums before the ‘voices’ begin to bother them. One man who was a solicitor was forced to give up his work, as a ‘voice’ constantly whispered to him, and it apparently was not the ‘still, small voice’ of his conscience. “Probably the saddest of these cases which I have had called to my attention was that of a young girl whom I had aided years ago when she came under my jurisdiction. She was a healthy, strong girl then, but when she came to my office the other day she was a physical wreck, nervous, shivering, with fear depicted in her every expression. I was told by the people whose home she was leaving that they did not care to have her there any longer, as she imagined that someone was talking to her all the time. In her tearful story she told me the ‘voices’ never leave her.’’ ARE NOT ANARCHISTS DEMENTED? The most charitable view of the following news item from the public press is to suppose the writer and his friends demented. Of foreign birth, born under unfavorable conditions, their minds seem to be poisoned. And yet many Socialists feel aggrieved when we point out that the end of Socialism will be anarchy! Unsuecess, want and hopeless despair will eventually produce just such dementia in very many. The item reads: WAS IT NOT ZION’S WATCH TOWER ALLEGHENY, Pa. Court action will probably follow the publication of a ‘‘call to arms’’ printed in LaQuestion Sociale, the leading organ of the anarchists in Paterson, N. J., and given wide circulation. The attention of Prosecutor Emly has been called to the article and he said today that he is looking up the law to see if legal steps can be taken against the editors because of the publication. Among other things the article says: ‘¢We invite everybody to get together and arm themselves. Seventy-five per cent. have only a knife in the house which will cut only onions, It will be a good thing for everybody to have a gun. When we are ready the first thing to do is to break into the armory and seize rifles and ammunition. The next thing is to get hold of the police station and then the chief of police will ask for soldiers. ‘Even at that the dynamite is easy to get. Twenty-five cents worth will blow a big iron door down. We don’t want to forget that dynamite will help to win. Two or three of us can defy a regiment without war. We will start when no one is thinking anything about it. Then we can beat them man for man, ‘*At that time show no sympathy for soldiers. As soon as we get hold of the police-station it is our victory. The thing is to kill the entire force. If not, they will kill us.’’ NECESSARY ? [This article was a reprint of that published in issue of April 15, 1892, which please see.] “I GO THAT I MAY AWAKE HIM” John 11:1-57,—aprm 12. Golden Text :—‘‘I am the resurrection and the life.’’—V. 25. Toward the conclusion of our Lord’s ministry the opposition of the rulers of the Jewish church became very bitter, causing Jesus to leave Judea for Berea. He remained for some little time near the place where John was preaching at the time of his own baptism. It was while he was there that the word was received from Martha and Mary at Bethany, saying, ‘‘Lord, behold he whom thou lovest is sick.’’? From this we know that Lazarus, their younger brother, was a very dear friend of Jesus. The message was brief; it did not urge him to come nor ask a miraculous intervention; it merely stated the fact. In some respects it was a grand model of a Christian prayer. The Lord’s people may always go to him with full confidence in his sympathy and loving interest in all of their affairs, temporal and spiritual, At first they may feel disposed to ask that their own wills be done on earth if not in heaven, but subsequently, if their spirit of consecration and growth in grace continue, they should reach the place where, like Mary and Martha, they would be content to state their troubles to the Lord and wait for him, thankfully accepting as wisest and best whatever he may be pleased to grant. Then Jesus said, doubtless in the hearing of the messenger that he might report the same, ‘‘The sickness is not unto death, but that the Son of God may be glorified thereby.’’ We are not to suppose that our Lord wags mistaken, that he expected that Lazarus would not die, rather that the result would not be continuous death, knowing that he would awaken him. When, two days later, Jesus proposed returning to Bethany in Judea, and the disciples were fearful, our Lord indicated to them that there would be no particular danger. He foreknew all the circumstances and perceived that the miracle he intended to perform would disconcert his enemies long enough to permit of his return to Berea a little later. He explained to them the reason for the visit saying, ‘‘Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep.’’ Later he brought this statement down to their comprehension by saying to them plainly, Lazarus is dead. There is so much in the view point on every subject. From the standpoint of actual fact, barring the divine purpose of merey and resuscitation, it would have been proper to speak of Lazarus as being dead in the same sense as we would speak of a brute as being dead. But from the standpoint of faith in God and in the promise made to Abraham, that in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed—from this standpoint Lazarus was not dead as a brute beast, but was merely inanimate for a time, awaiting the Lord’s due time to call him forth, to re-animate him, to awaken him from the sleep of death. Our Lord stated this on another occasion to the Sadducees, who denied a future life, denied a resurrection, saying, ‘‘That the dead are to be raised, Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’’ (Luke 20:37.) Our Lord’s argument on this is that if Abraham, Isaae and Jacob were dead in the sense that a brute beast is dead, without hope of an awakening, a resurrection, he would not call himself their God. Our Lord closes up the argument by saying that from God’s standpoint all live unto him. And our standpoint must be the divine standpoint; we must learn to think in harmony with this divine testimony. Hence we have hope, not only for Christians, saints who have died in Christ, but we have also hope for the world of mankind—‘‘asleep in Jesus.’’ Their condition would indeed be actual death, the same as a brute beast, were it not that the Lord has provided in Jesus for their resuscitation. But since such provision has been made, we are to think of the world of mankind as not being extinct, but merely asleep. All those, therefore, who accept the teaching of the divine Word, ‘‘sorrow not as others who have no hope; for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, let us also believe that those who sleep in Jesus {those who are included in the benefit of his sacrifice, those who are redeemed by the precious blood, all the race of Adam] will God bring from the dead by him.’’ (1 Thess. 4:13, 14.) By him the church will first be raised up, to be made partakers of his resurrection, the first resurrection, the chief resurrection, sharers of his glory, honor and immortality. By him, then, during the Millennial age, all the families of the earth shall be awakened, brought forth from sheol, from hades, brought to a knowledge of the truth—yea, and if they will receive the message into good and honest hearts, they will be lifted entirely out of sin and death conditions up to the full perfection of restitution and life everlasting through him. Well, indeed, may all those who trust in Jesus rejoice in him and sorrow not in the presence of death, as do others, ‘FRIENDS SORROWING AND JESUS GLAD’’ The celebrated Charles Spurgeon, preaching on this subject, took this as the title of his discourse from the text, ‘‘T am glad for your sakes I was not there, to the intent that ye may believe; nevertheless let me go unto him.’’ It is well for the Lord’s people, when in a time of stress and trouble, sickness, pain and sorrow, to look with faith toward the Lord, remembering that their tears and troubles may be made to them, under the Lord’s providence, a great blessing. We have an illustration in this lesson: Martha and Mary, ministering to their sick brother, thought of how the Lord loved him and sent him a message respecting Lazarus’ condition, leaving the matter in his hands, trusting to his wisdom and grace, and yet were allowed to pass into the still darker shadows of the sepulchre. The brother died and was buried. Yea, the Master whom they [4160]

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