(34-36) ZION’S each month on report blanks, also supplied free from this office; (4) all such are requested to use the printed Colporteur envelopes supplied free, or if temporarily out of these to use another envelope, writing on the lower left corner the words, ‘‘Colporteur Department.’’? Others than active Colporteurs will please not use these envelopes. Those selling DaAWNs or Srupigs at odd times, purchasing not over 25 books at a time by mail or express at rates usually given on page 2 of Tower need no assignment and will be hereafter known as ‘‘Sharp Shooters.’’ WATCH TOWER ALLEGHENY, Pa. We are sure that all the dear friends will be glad to assist in any manner, and a compliance with these suggestions will be one way of assisting the office force, which, with the increase of orders, is kept exceedingly busy. The prospects for new Oolporteurs and for a very widely extended field of service for the present year encourages us greatly, and we bid them all God speed!—all the dear colaborers looking shortly for the reward and the ‘‘ Well done’’ of our Redeemer. Vout. XXVIII ALLEGHENY, PA., FEBRUARY 1, 1907 No. 3 THE PASSOVER MEMORIAL, MARCH 28, The date for the observance of the Memorial of our Lord’s “Last Supper’’ this year will be Thursday night (after 6 p.m.) March 28th. We trust that our readers in Asia, Africa, Australia and Alaska will get this notice in season 1907 and celebrate in unison with us the great event which sealed the Abrahamic or ‘‘Everlasting Covenant’’ for us, and will seal the ‘‘New Covenant’’ for Israel and the whole world, shortly. “LOVE AS BRETHREN” I PETER 3:8. Love for the brethren is set forth in the Scriptures as one of the indisputable evidences of our having attained membership in the body of Christ. This love may be of varying degrees, but it must be ours in some degree if we are the Lord’s, for ‘‘if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his.’? (Rom. 8:9) But this flame of sacred love for the brethren kindled in our hearts is not sufficient; it must blaze, burn, and produce in us not merely a warmth of love but a consuming love—love which will not only overlook various weaknesses and imperfections in the brotherhood, and will carefully note every good quality, but love which is ready to lay down life on behalf of the brethren because they belong to Christ, because they are of his consecrated ones, however much they may need to strive against sin and weaknesses. As we have previously pointed out, the Gospel message fails to attract many of the noblest, least-fallen members of the race, because they have a self-satisfied feeling, and do not realize their need of a Savior, but think of him as necessary only to the more degraded of the race. On the contrary, the less known, more depraved, realizing to some extent their miserable condition, are more likely than the others to respond to the invitation, ‘‘Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’’ The sin-sick and heavy laden, therefore, constitute the majority of true believers. And in harmony with this we have the words of the Scripture that not many wise, not many noble, not many learned, not many great according to the flesh have been ealled of God to the privileges of his church, the elect class. Consequently when any of the more noble minded or better educated or more talented accept the Lord’s grace, it becomes somewhat of a trial to them to find amongst those whom they must recognize as brethren (because of faith in Christ and desire for the higher things) some of the ignoble, whose company and fellowship according to the flesh they would have scorned. This is another reason why not many great, wise, learned and noble will not make their calling and election sure—many such will allow their fleshly instincts to govern, and repudiating the humblest member of the body of Christ they are to that extent repudiating the Head, who has accepted that member, and who demands of all who would be his members that they shall love one another as he loved them. True, the Lord does not say that we should love all the brethren with the same degree or intensity of love: on the contrary, he showed by his own conduct that we may indeed more highly esteem those who have most of his spirit, those whose hearts are most in accord with the divine will. Thus our Lord, while he loved all of his disciples, had some special favorites, Peter, James and John. His special love for these was doubtless because of their special interest and zeal for him and for the cause he served. So, therefore, may we, followers in the footsteps of Jesus, have special love for all who are specially zealous and true hearted. But this love ignores wealth, education, earthly standing—ignores the flesh and takes cognizance of the spirit, the will, the heart. Tested by this love for the brethren, many who had a loving respect for the Lord as their Redeemer have apparently hindered their own spiritual development, slackened in their race for the prize—running the risk of losing the great reward because of their failure to come up to this divine requirement, ‘‘Love as brethren.’? The proper course for all such is to think of the matter soberly from the Scriptural standpoint, and to decide that the humility requisite to an acceptance of some of the naturally less noble is undoubtedly a necessary element of character for them to develop. Amongst the fruits of the spirit the Apostle names meekness, The unmeek, the proud, are not in the condition of heart for the kingdom; and the higher stations of life, intellectually, morally and socially, are unfavorable to meekness, humility and long suffering with the weaknesses and frailties of others. We see, then, that while the weaker brethren, the naturally more impaired, have more to struggle against, more to overcome in one sense of the word, the others of more noble birth and talents have a harder battle along other lines. Let both classes be encouraged, for although the lessons they must learn are considerably different, the results to be obtained are the same, and the instructor, the great Teacher, is the same. He is able to assist the ignoble to gradually overcome their natural meanness and depravity, and to war more and more a good warfare in his name and by his assistance; and he is likewise able to assist the more noble minded to exercise patience, sympathy, toward the less reputable. They have an illustration in himself: he who was rich in every sense of the word and beyond all compare, perfect in every element of character, talented, noble—he for our sakes became poor, he humbled himsélf on our behalf, he took the bondman’s place, he suffered in our room and stead, he died the just for the unjust. He has therefore set us an example that we may walk in his steps, and the more nobility we may have naturally the more readily we shall be able to do this, and to appreciate and exercise the fruits of the Spirit, and grow up more and more in accord, in sympathy, in likeness to him. ‘‘LOVE YOUR ENEMIES’’ There is a difference between the injunction to love as brethren and to lay down our lives for the brethren. Whatever we may do for any member of the body of Christ, for any consecrated believer, the Lord tells us he will esteem as though it were done unto him. Hence as it would be our duty and our privilege and our joy to lay down our lives in the service of the Lord, we must attain to such a love for the brethren, because they are his, that we will delight to lay down our lives for them as a means of demonstrating to the Lord our loyalty to him and his cause. This does not necessarily mean the laying down of physical strength and health and life in the physical services and ministries to the brethren, though these may be and are in many instances very profitable. It is not according to the flesh that the Lord’s followers are brethren but according to the spirit, and hence the injunction to lay down our lives for the brethren would more particularly signify the laying down of our physical health or strength, knowledge, talents and means in the service of the spiritual interests of the Lord’s people. As for instance, in the preaching of the Truth, if there be sacrifices or self-denials, loss of strength, etc., in connection with this service, it is the laying down of that much of one’s life for the brethren, for the fellow-members of the body of Christ. These brethren for whom we are to lay down our lives [3932]
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