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JANUARY
I,
1917
THE
WATCH
TOWER
(15-20)
ploo.sure
in
seeing
that
they
get
them.
With
all
best
wishes
I
~
to
remain
Yours
very
sincerely,
CLARENCE
E.
SPAYD.-Brookly,..
DEEM
IT
A
PBIVILllGE
TO
COOPEJLATE
DEAR
BRETHREN
IN
CHRIST:-
On
this,
the
occasion
of
the
passing
beyond
,the
veil
of
our
beloved
:I\l.stor,
we
desire
to
assure
you
of
our
resolution
to
continue,
by
the
grace
of
the
Lord,
faithful
even
unto
death.
We
deem
it
the
highest
possible
privilege
at
the
present
time
to
be
allowed
to
co-operate
with
you
in
the
further
spreading
of
the
glad
tidings
of
the
kingdom.
We
are
rejoiced
to
know
that
the
work
of
THE
WATCH
TOWER
DIBLE
AND
TRACT
SOCIETY
will
continue.
Our
prayers
IIhall
aseend
daily
to
the
Throne
of
Heavenly
Grace
on
Y(J\Ir
behalf.
KAMSACK
ECCLESIA.--Scuk.,
GOA
EAGER
TO
COOPEJLATE
FULLY
DEARLY
BELOVED
BRETHREN:-
Weare
real
anxious
to
let
you
at
Headquarters
know
of
our
earnest
desire
to
co-opera.te
fully
with
you
in
the
harvest
work
yet
remaining.
The
class
voted
unanimously
on
this
question.
We
seem
to
be
so
mueh
nearer
now
to
one
anoth~ore
oneness
in
mind
and
spirit.
We
are
80
glad
for
this
I
We
thank
our
heavenly
Father.
Express
to
us
at
any
time
even
your
smallest
desires.
CoLUMBUS
EocLESIA.-OMo.
BATTERING
DOWN
THE
WA~
OF
HELL
"What
Say
the
Scriptures
About
Hell"
(Hz).
WATClI
TOWER
form,
IS
5c
per
copy,
or
2c
each
in
lots
of
50
or
mme.
This
WATCH
TOWER
continues
to
be
in
great
demand.
It
treats
every
text
in
which
is
found
the
word
hell
and
dispels
the
fear
which
many
entertain
respecting
the
erroneous
dootrine
of
eternal
torment,
while
pointing
out
the
punishment
set
forth
il;!
0
e
Scriptures
for
,the
incorrigible,
namely,
"The
wages
of
SIn
IS
death;
but
the
gift
of
God
is
eternal
life
through
Ohrist."
VOL.
XXXVIII
BROOKLYN,
N.
Y.,
JANUARY
15,
1917
No.2
WHO
MAY
PRAY
J'OB
TIm
HOLY
8PIBI'1'
W,ith
the
thought
of
the
primary
work
of
the
holly
Spirit
in
II;lmd-namely,
the
work
of
spirit-begetting-Iet
us
now
conSIder
our
text.
Our
Lord
had
been
suggesting
to
his
dis
ciples
the
thought
that
a
good
parent,
if
asked
for
a
fish,
would
not
give
his
child
a
serpent,
or
if
asked
for
bread,
would
not
give
&
stone.
Jesus
would
have
his
disciples
consider
how
they
would
act
as
parents,
so
that
they
might
the
better
realize
what
God's
attitude
would
be
toward
any
whom
he
re
ceived
into
his
family
as
his
children.
Then
the
words
of
our
text
followed:
'If
ye,
then,
being
evil,
knoow
how
,to
give
good
gifts
unto
your
children,
'how
much
more
shall
your
heavenly
Father
give
the
Iwly
Spirit
to
them
that
ask
him!"
Thlllt
is
to
say,
if
you
who
are
imperfect,
who
have
largely
lost
the
likeness
of
God
as
a
race,
still
80
realize
the
re
sponsibility
of
parents
to
their
children
that
y(}U
would
not
do
your
children
harm
when
they
come
to
you
for
something
gQOd,
much
more
would
the
heavenly
Father
no,t
do
harm
to
his
children,
but
good,
when
they
come
to
him
for
a.
blessing.
Then
our
Lord
Jesus
specifies
the
particular
blessing
for
which
we
should
ask-GW'll
holy
Spirit-not
using
vain
repeti
tion,
as
do
the
Gentiles,
those
who
are
not
the
Lord's
true
children,
and
who
are
not
instructed
to
pray
to
Jehovah.
With
many,
the
prayers
go
up
in
a
merely
mechanical
way,
as
by
machinery-in
some
nations
by
literal
machinery.
The
Chinese
have
a
praying-wheel
which
they
turn
around
and
around,
and
thus
repeat
the
prayers.
They
are
shrewd
enough
to
know
that
thus
they
can
say
the
prayer
more
often
than
with
the
lips.
Such
is
not
the
kind
of
prayer
that
the
Lord
wiU
receive.
God's
children
have
instructions
from
his
Word
on
this
subject
of
prayer.
They
are
to
come
'to
the
Father
according
to
these
instructions,
not
doubting
his
love,
his
wisdom,
and
his
power.
They
are
to
come
with
full
confidence
in
him
as
their
Father,
asking
for
the
things
for
which
he
has
bidden
them
to
pray.
Their'trtlst
in
him
should
be
so
absolute
that
they
would
know
that
he
is
ever
lleeking
their
verY
highest
blessing,
that
all
his
instructions
and
lea
dings
are·
to
this
end,
and
,that
he
withholds
nothing
that
would
be
for
their
good.
But
before
anyone
can
come
to
God
in
the
sense
here
re
ferred
to,
he
must
take
the
definite
step
of
becoming
a
child
of
God.
The
world
are
not
children
of
God;
for
that
re
his
lationship
was
lost
when
Adam
beeame
disobedient.
By
dis-
[6031]
GOD'S
SPECIAL
GIFT
TO
HIS
CHILDREN
"If
ye
then,
being
evil,
know
how
to
givc
good
gifts
unto
your
children,
how
much
more
shall
your
heavenly
Father
give
the
holy
Spirit
to
them
that
ask
him
1
"-Luke
11:
13.
Comparatively
few
have
realized
the
value
of
,this
heavenly
family.
Indeed,
no
man
can
come
unless
he
.\Jas
been
invited
gift
of
the
holy
Spirit,
and
few
have
possesi>ed
it.
The
be-
by
the
Lord.
Whoever
has
received
the
Word
'of
truth
intelli
getting
of
the
holy
Spirit,
which
first
ca.me
on
Pentecost
to
gently,
and
is'
drawn
by
it,
has
an
invitation.
Ii
he
responds
those
who
were
to
constitute
the
church,
is
necessary
in
order
during
his
"acceptable
time,"
if
he
accepts
Jesus
as
his
ransom
that
we
may
become
children
of
God.
One
cannot
become
and
presents
himself
fully
to
God,
he
is
begotten
of
the
a
Christian
by
the
mere
study
of
the
Bible.
Indeed,
we
must
holy
Spirit.
Then
he
is
to
grow
through
"eating"
the
truth,
be
begotten
of
the
holy
Spirit
before
we
shall
be
II:ble
to
under-
through
studying
the
truth,
through
applying
it
to
his
own
stand
the
Bible,
to
apprehend
the
deep
things
of
God.
The
life.
We
should
store
our
minds
with
the
Scriptures,
so
that
begetting
of
the
holy
Spirit
is
something
that
we
cannot
in
each
of
our
experiences
these
Words
of
Life
will
be
there
explain,
something
that
nobody
can
explain.
If
God
had
to
give
us
in
increased
measure
the
Spirit
of
the
truth,
that
wished
us
to
understand
this
miracle
of
grace,
doubtle!ls
he
we
mfty
grow
strong
in
the
Lord
as
the
various
trials
of
life
would
have
made
it
sufficiently
plain
in
the
Bible.
come
to
us,
and
thus
we
may
be
sustained
by
the
Spirit
of
But
we
know
from
the
testimony
of
the
Word,
corroborated
the
truth.
by
our
own
exp€ll'ience,
that
there
is
a
begetting
of
the
Spint,
a
supernatural
start
of
a
new
life
in
those
who
consecraJt:e
themselves
to
God.
In
referring
to
this
beginning
of
the
new
nature,
the
Lord
uses
a
figure
of
speech,
illulltra.ting
the
lIJRt
ter
by
something
that
is
well
known
to
the
human
family.
We
know
that
it
is
not
a
mental
power
in
man
that
begets
II;
human
iife,
but
th8lt
it
requires
a
direct
impa.rtation
of
the
spirit
of
life
originally
received
from
the
Creator,
before
an
individual
life
can
begin.
And
so
it
is
with
the
spiritual
child
of
God.
There
must
be
a
direct
impartation
of
the
holy
Spirit
to
start
the
new
heavenly
life.
Weare
not
to
think
of
this
start
as
being
something
great
or
large
in
amount;
for
as
a
matter
of
fact,
the
beginning
of
the
new
life
is
small.
But
it
must
be
there.
The
Christian
may'
not
be
able
to
point
back
to
anything
l'ike
an
electric
cha'rge
as
the
beginning
of
his
Christian
life.
A
few
people
have
toade
such
claims,
but
we
think
this
is
a
mere
hallucina
tion
of
the
mind.
God
used
a
special
outward
manifestation
at
the
begetting
of
the
Lord
Jesus
with
the
holy
Spirit,
in
order
that
J01l.n
the
Baptist
might
make-
a
declara.tIOn
of
what
he
saw
in
the
case
of
the
first
member
of
the
church,
and
that
we
might
know.
There
was
'also
an
outward
demonstra
tion
!Vt
Pentecost,
and
in
the
case
of
Oomelius
and
hh
family,
the
first
Gentiles
to
be
received
into
the
church.
But
these
were
for
a
very
special
purpose,
as
heretofore
shown.
AiJ"
respects
all
the
others
.l)f
God's
f"'lOU""
we
are
inducted
into
the
body
of
Christ,
which
is
the
church,
without
any
outward
manifestation.
But
when
we
have
met
the
conditions,
we
do
not
doubt
our
accep1:4nce.
We
receive
it
all
by
faith
in
the
Lord's
Word.
JtBCESSlfi
OJ'
J'BBDING
'UPOJI'
um
WORD
This
begetting
of
the
holy
Spirit,
then,
which
~as
a
small
beginning,
shortly
after
manifests
itself
as
the
new
creature
feeds,
j\1~t
as
the
germ
of
life
in
the
human
being
must
be
fed,
must
gn-adually
grow,
develop
and
become
stronger,
and
thus
manifest
its
individual
life.
It
the
new
creature
does
not
feed
upon
the
Word
of
the
Lord,
it
will
grow
weak
and
sickly,
and
eventually
will
die.
We
have
known
some
who
have
been
for
twenty
years
consecrated
to
the
Lord,
and
who
are
still
babes
in
Christ.
because
they
have
been
stunted
in
their
development
through
insufficient
or
improper
feeding
and
exercise.
God
did
not
wait
for
us
to
come
voluntarily
into
January 1, 1917 pleasure in seeing that they get them. With all best wishes I to remain ours very sincerely, CLARENCE E, Spayp.—Brooklyn, DEEM IT A PRIVILEGE TO COOPERATE DEAR BRETHREN IN CHEIST:— On this, the occasion of the passing beyond the veil of our beloved Pastor, we desire to assure you of our resolution to continue, by the grace of the Lord, faithful even unto death. We deem it the highest possible privilege at the present time to be allowed to co-operate with you in the further spreading of the glad tidings of the kingdom. We are rejoiced to know that the work of THE WatTcH Towrr BIBLE AND Tracr Sociery will continue. Our prayers THE WATCH TOWER (15-20) shall ascend daily to the Throne of Heavenly Grace on your behalf. Kamsack Ecciesia.—Sask., Can. EAGEE TO COOPERATE FULLY DEARLY BELOVED BRETHREN :— We are real anxious to let you at Headquarters know of our earnest desire to co-operate fully with you in the harvest work yet remaining. The class voted unanimously on this question. We seem to be so much nearer now to one another—more onenegs in mind and spirit. We are so glad for this! We thank our heavenly Father. Express to us at any time even your smallest desires. CoLumMBus Eccirsia.—Ohio, BATTERING DOWN THE WALLS OF HELL “What Say the Scriptures About Hell” (Hz), Watcu Tower form, is 5¢ per copy, or 2e each in lots of 50 or more. This WarcH Towes continues to be in great demand. It treats every text in which is found the word hell and dispels the fear which many entertain respecting the erroneous doctrine of eternal torment, while pointing out the punishment set forth in the Scriptures for the incorrigible, namely, “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ.” Vout. XXXVIT BROOKLYN, N. Y., JANUARY 15, 1917 No. 2 GOD'S SPECIAL GIFT TO HIS CHILDREN ‘If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him?’’—~Luke 11:13. Comparatively few have realized the value of this heavenly gift of the holy Spirit, and few have possessed it. ‘The begetting of the holy Spirit, which first came on Pentecost to those who were to constitute the church, is necessary in order that we may become children of God. One cannot become a Christian by the mere study of the Bible. Indeed, we must be begotten of the holy Spirit before we shall be able to understand the Bible, to apprehend the deep things of God. The begetting of the holy Spirit is something that we cannot explain, something that nobody can explain. If God had wished us to understand this miracle of grace, doubtless he would have made it sufficiently plain in the Bible. But we know from the testimony of the Word, corroborated by our own experience, that there is a begetting of the Spirit, @ supernatural start of a new life in those who consecrate themselves to God. In referring to this beginning of the new nature, the Lord uses a figure of speech, illustrating the matter by something that is well known to the human family. We know that it is not a mental power in man that begets a human life, but that it requires a direct impartation of the spirit of life originally received from the Creator, before an individual life ean begin. And so it is with the spiritual child of God. There must be a direct impartation of the holy Spirit to start the new heavenly life. We are not to think of this start as being something great or large in amount; for as a matter of fact, the beginning of the new life is small. But it must be there. The Christian may not be able to point back to anything Tike an electric charge as the beginning of his Christian life. A few people have made such claims, but we think this is a mere hallucination of the mind. God used a special outward manifestation at the begetting of the Lord Jesus with the holy Spirit, in order that Jolin the Baptist might make a declaration of what he saw in the case of the first member of the church, and that we might know. There was dlso an outward demonstration at Pentecost, and in the case of Cornelius and his family, the first Gentiles to be received into the church. But these were for a very special purpose, as heretofore shown. Ag respects all the others of God’s family, we are inducted into “the body of Christ, which is the church, without any outward manifestation. But when we have met the conditions, we do not doubt our acceptance. We receive it all by faith in the Lord’s Word. NECESSITY OF FEEDING UPON THE WORD This begetting of the holy Spirit, then, which has a small beginning, shortly after manifests itself as the new creature feeds; jyst as the germ of life in the human being must be fed, must pradually grow, develop and become stronger, and thus manifest its individual life. It the new creature does not feed upon the Word of the Lord, it will grow weak and sickly, and eventually will die. We have known some who have been for twenty years consecrated to the Lord, and who are still babes in Christ, because they have been stunted in their development through insufficient or improper feeding and exercise, God did not wait for us to come voluntarily into his family. Indeed, no man can come unless he has been invited by the Lord. Whoever has received the Word of truth intelligently, and is drawn by it, has an invitation. If he responds during his “acceptable time,” if he accepts Jesus as his ransom and presents himself fully to God, he is begotten of the holy Spirit, Then he is to grow through “eating” the truth, through studying the truth, through applying it to his own life. We should store our minds with the Scriptures, so that in each of our experiences these Words of Life will be there to give us in increased measure the Spirit of the truth, that we may grow strong in the Lord as the various trials of life come to us, and thus we may he sustained by the Spirit of the truth. WHO MAY PRAY FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT With the thought of the primary work of the holy Spirit in mind—namely, the work of spirit-begetting—let us now consider our text. Our Lord had been suggesting to his disciples the thought that a good parent, if asked for a fish, would not give his child a serpent, or if asked for bread, would not give a stone. Jesus would have his disciples consider how they would act @s parents, so that they might the better realize what God’s attitude would be toward any whom he received into his family as his children. Then the words of our text followed: ‘If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him!” That is to say, if you who are imperfect, who have largely lost the likeness of God as a@ race, still so realize the responsibility of parents to their children that you would not do your children harm when they come to you for something good, much niore would the heavenly Father not do harm to his children, but good, when they come to him for @ blessing. Then our Lord Jesus specifies the particular blessing for which we should ask—-God’s holy Spirit—not using vain repetition, as do the Gentiles, those who are not the Lord’s true children, and who are not instructed to pray to Jehovah. With many, the prayers go up in a merely mechanical way, as by machinery—in some nations by literal machinery, The Chinese have a praying-wheel which they turn around and around, and thus repeat the prayers. They are shrewd enough to know that thus they can say the prayer more often than with the lips, Such is not the kind of prayer that the Lord wil! receive, God’s children have instructions from his Word on this subject of prayer. They are to come'to the Father according to these instructions, not doubting his love, his wisdom, and his power. They are to come with full confidence in him as their ather, asking for the things for which he has bidden them to pray. Their trust in him should be so absolute that they would know that he is ever seeking their very highest blessing, that all his instructions and leadings are to this end, and that he withholds nothing that would be for their good. But before any one can come to God in the sense here referred to, he must take the definite step of becoming a child of God. The world are not children of God; for that relationship was lost when Adam became disobedient. By dis [6031]
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