(127-131) teachers had told me of, who could torment eternally those he loved, and was otherwise 80 contrary and inconsistent, Meanwhile Satan had endeavored to draw me aside and, by the conciliatory efforts of a Roman Catholic clergyman, to induce me to join myself to that faith, as well as the promise of family peace and worldly prosperity, lure me from the high calling toward which I was progressing. But I can with much fervor thank my heavenly Father that I had read enough from M. Dawn, as well as some timely advice from yourself, to be ably fortified against Satan’s advances, and, with the “spirit of a sound mind,” I could combat his sophistry. Now, since the light has become brighter to me, I can clearly see that God’s overruling power was exerted in every instance just where I could not help myself further, and would have fallen but for his aid. Praises to his love! Of course I could no more keep to myself these glorious tidings than a freshly opened bottle could retain the eitervesvent liquor that fills it. I must tell some one, and, as my dear wife not only refused to listen but opposed me, I had to try elsewhere. In a fellow-employee, Sister Kestner, I found a ready listener, and the volumes sold to me were of double service, for her experience was but a repetition of my own. Each now was alert to spread to others the knowledge we enjoyed. Brother Bird we found hungering and thirsting after righteousness and we proceeded to cooperate in filling him, while he, on imparting to his sister Mary what he had learned, was surprised to find that she had a set of the Dawns, but being somewhat bound by sectarianism had not as yet mustered sufficient courage to make a bold stand for the truth and put into practice the suggestion of complete independence pointed out to present day footstep followers of Jesus as scriptural and necessary. Sister Grebe became 4 fellow-employee, and it was but a Vou. XXIV ZION’S WATCH TOWER ALLEGHENY, PA., MAY 1, 1903 ALLEGHENY, Pa short time till Sister Kestner had succeeded in bringing her into a study of God’s Word as made clear by the Dawns. We five, now all fully consecrated to God, and having publicly signified such fact by water baptism, acknowledging no head but Jesus, are gladly working in his harvest field at whatsoever our hands find to do under his guidance; and we can with certainly attest that having tasted and seen that God is good, there is no peace or blessedness except in him; and within sound of our Shepherd’s voice there is only gladness. We have another young student with us now, and we six have been banded together in the volunteer work this year. God’s blessing has been with us and we have succeeded in reaching all the churches assigned to us, 62 in all, as well as giving our help in other parts of the city after our district was finished. We have received abundant evidence of our Master’s kind approval of our feeble efforts to spread the glorious message of our Redeemer’s second presence and to call his little ones out of Babylon, by the growth in Christian characteristics of love and forbearance, through the experiences while serving the brethren, also in the occasional permission to view some of the good results of our labors. By the gracious permission of our heavenly Father we were last summer enabled to inaugurate mid-week meetings at my residence (we being 80 situated that it is not possible to attend the uptown meetings except on Sundays). Each one of our little class can testify to the wonderful help we receive in our daily walk up the narrow way, as a result of following the kindly suggestions which are given in the WaTcH Tower, and it is a sore trial if one of our number misses a meeting. I close with a prayer for God’s blessing on your every effort, through our blessed Redeemer’s name. Yours in Christ, JAMES LocKwooD.—Missourt. No. 9 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER AN ASTROLOGER’S OUTLOOK We seriously question all the claims of Astrology; yet the following—from whatever source the suggestions come, even though of the adversary himself—seem remarkably true to our expectations based upon the Word of the Lord. For this reason alone we present them here,—as follows:— “Saturn is the representative of the great motive power that has dominated the mind of man up to the present time. The great organizations of Capital, attracting now so much attention, are in reality the last great struggle of this Saturn-god to save his throne. But his efforts will be futile, yet far from useless, for he is blindly doing service for a still greater God in the same way as the other planets have contributed blindly to Saturn’s glory. “Jupiter, representing law, religion and morality, has been perforce subservient to Saturn’s greater and more potent force. It explains why the church, the law, the charitable and educational institutions have contributed to increasing the power and prestige of the worldly and material Saturn, whose selfish monopolizing material nature must be disposed of and made tributary to a higher, nobler force that will carry out the work of human evolution. “Jupiter must also transfer his allegiance from the grasping Saturn to the newly discovered factor that stands for universal brotherhood; namely, Uranus. When Uranus and Jupiter meet in the humane sign of Aquarius in 1914, the long-promised era, will have made a fair start in the work of setting man free to work out his own salvation, and will insure the ultimate realization of dreams and ideals of all poets and sages in history. “Uranus is preparing the way for Neptune, who symbolizes Love in its very highest form—the fulfilling of the law. By this, we see that Socialism, or whatever the new order may be called, will not and can not be the rule of the common or ignorant masses but the leadership of the very highest developed members of the human family. “In 1903 Jupiter will be in the Sign of Pisces—sign of the feet, or understanding, and the synthesis of the new religion is Love;—Love that words cannot define. We are nearing a condition where “masters” will be unknown—where humanity will instinctively conform to the injunction, ‘Call no man master, neither be ye called master.’ “Note—Uranus: Great commotions are expected when it shall take its ascendancy over Saturn.” PREPARATIONS FOR THE MILLENNIUM Polar ice, both arctic and antarctic, seems to have been steadily decreasing, and it may be that these frigid deserts shall once blossom as the rose—Isa. 35: 1— literally. The ice from both poles seems to be drifting toward equatorial regions, to such an extent that, in the north, it has become @ menace to commerce, and it may be a work preparatory to the “times of restitution.” ARCTIC ICE A MENACE TO OCEAN STEAMSHIPS “Philadelphia, March 18.—(Press dispatch.)—Navigators of the North Atlantic are worried about the manner in which the artic floe ice is drifting south, directly in the pathway of steamships. Captain Beavis of the Philadelphia Trans-Atlantic line steamship East Point, which arrived here today from London reports passing tremendous quantities of field ice in latitude 43 deg. 43 min., and longitude 49 deg. 21 min. Owing to the obstruction Captain Beavis found it necessary to alter his vessel’s course and steam 60 miles to the southward to avoid contact with it.” ONLY A FORM OF GODLINESS Rev. J. B. Hastings, D. D., of Edinburgh, Scotland, explained not long ago his views respecting the generally acknowleded loss of religious interest, as follows :— “Our worship in many cases has become a mere form. There is little apparent hungering for the bread of life; and only in rarest instances a crying out of the heart and flesh for the living God. Not that there is an open antagonism to religion. There have been periods within our own recollection when there was much more of direct opposition. But there is an alarming deal of that subtler, deadlier quantity known as simple indifference, which is playing melancholy havoe among ever-enlarging sections of the population. Outside our churches there is a great army of men and women who have become sadly estranged; who have been so long away from the ordinances of public worship that it will be next to impossible, by ordinary methods, to bring them back. And inside our churches there are many who feel that something needs to be done to make our public worship more interesting and edifying and directly helpful to the religious life..... “I believe that the root of the whole matter lies in a widespread practical disbelief in the supernatural. There is no realization, on the part of the multitudes, of the spiritual world, and of the God with whom they have to do. There are so many interests in this material life that the things of the spirit are simply given the go-by. The whole atmosphere of God’s house has become so foreign to the experience of their everyday lives, that they are no longer interested, and, as a matter of course, [3184]
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