10

1

10

download/literature/watchtower/1911-20.pdf

../literature/watchtower/1911/20/1911-20-1.html

(383-387) THE sure that on the whole the cost of living here is not more than 25 per cent. cheaper than in America. This is doubly offset by the great difference in wages, which are from two to thre times greater in America than they are in Britain. The striking spirit has hecome epidemic all over Britain. Even the rag-pickers of Belfast are striking. They want a penny more per stone (14 pounds) for their rags. The striking newshoys and ‘‘hoodlums’’ created a riot at Dublin re cently. A lurge number of striking newsboys paraded the strects of Belfast. They resembled an army of ‘‘ragamuffins.’? Poor creatures! T am informed that the operators can illy afford to advanee wages—taxed to keep up an army, navy, cte. Dear Brother, IT am vo glad that the dear Lord permitted me to visit Europe at this time, bheeause it has greatly inereascd my appreciation of the truth generally. You have warm, noble friends here in Belfast who dearly love vou. And the writer loves you moie than ever, and more than ever esteems the blessed privilege of association with you in the Lord’s work. Mueh Christian love to all. Your brother in him, FOURTEEN YEARS AGO Russell:—-In a Water Tower of fourteen giving the Syriac rendering of Heb. 10:22, FRANK DRAPER. Dear Brother years ago, after you say: ““Were the Apostle mentions five conditions: of heart; (2) an undoulbting faith; (3) a hlood-sprinkled heart (Heb. 9:14), a heart. or will, that has heen justified, not merely through faith *{tentative justification], but also (1) Honesty WATCH TOIVER Brooniyn, N. Y. through the application of the blood *[vitalized justification], the virtue of the ransom given once for all by our Redeemer; (4) a clean eonseience; (5) washed, or purified, bodies, i. e., with the outward man in the process of cleansing by the purifying Word of Truth and grace. ‘*The purifying, or cleansing, of the heart, through faith in the precious blood, seems to be much hetter understood by Christians than the purifying of their bodies, their flesh, through obédience in the application to themselves, in daily life, of the promises, precejts, warnings and illustrations of Scripture—as water, or eleansing truths, ete., ete.’’ Brother Russell, T thought until I read this that the two justifications were something that vou had never scen until very recent vears. Truly, as another said in regard to some smdler diseevery over which we were wondering and rejoicing ‘* Brother Russell has heen vears ahead of us all the time; and when he would tell us things, none of us ever saw but haif, and when various things came up we considered them now, heenuse we bad not heen able to assimilate them when they were first given to us,’’ or words of similar import. J am so glad. The first thing I ever read was old ‘‘Food for Thinking Christians.’?' TI had forgotten all ahout the three covenants; but when vou hegan to write about them it seemed all right, and as if T had always had that idea: though JT could not explain it, nor say where I got it until I re-read that old pamphlet. I. P. W. * These bracketed words are not in the 1897 Tower “SCRIPTURE. STUDIES” The binding of the -ix volumes of Srupins IN THE ScripTURES has generally heen coneeded to be quite attractive: it may, therefore, surprise some to know that we have changed the general style and that we believe the change works a wonderful improvement. We are Hving in a day of progress and we are merely endeavoring to keep up with the procession in outward appearance. We helieve that we are far ahead of the procession so far as the subject matter of these volumes is coneerned when compared with all other religious teachings and Bible expositions. We hada sample of the new cdition at the Mt. Lake Park eonvention. The colporteurs there and all who saw the sample agreed that the change made is a very desirable one. About sixty new colporteurs joined the working foree at the conven Von. N NAT BI SOOKRL ¥ N. N.Y. OCTOBER 1 D; IN NEW BINDING tion and were permitted to start with the new edition. Otherwise the old edition will continue to be supplied until exhausted—about November 1. The new volumes will he supplied in paper boxes, the first three boxed together, or the entire six. Colporteurs are finding that the full set of six, with THz WatcH Tower for a year, all for $2.65, 1s a very attractive proposition, which also leaves a good margin for the Colporteur’s expenses. Any person of ordinary ability by following the colportear ‘‘method’’ of presenting the books should be able to make reasonable expenses. We do not encourage anybody to think of doing more than this, although a few do more. Indeed some of the colporteurs are contributors to the Tract Fund. There is still a wide field of good territory open. 1911 No. 20 FEEDING ON THE WORDS OF GOD ‘*Man shall not live hy bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’’—Matt. 4:4. We read that these werds were a part of ovr Lord’s answer to Satan when the adversary exhorted him to eommand the stones to be turned inte bread, in order to satisfy his hunger, after fasting forty davs in the wilderness. The Lord knew, however, that it wovld he unlawful for him thus to use the superhuman power which came to him as a result of his eonsecration to the Father’s service. That power was not to be used for his fle-h. Henee our Tord refused to nse his superhuman powers for the gratification of the flesh, even though he himeered. Then Satan suggested, How co vou expeet to live if vou do not exercise your power to live? Our Lord's answer, as we see, was that man shall not live by bread, merely, but by every word, every promise that proreedeth ont of the mouth of God. Our hope of eternal life, therefore, rests upon that obedicnee to God whieh would entitle us to eternal life, according to his arrangement. Tf onr Lord had gratified the flesh he might have satisfied his hunger, but he would have violated his eovenant of obedience to God. Whoever would have eternal life must seck to be obedient to Go, to all that God has commanded, all to which he has directed the individual. Of eourse, he might have one command for the angels, another for man, and a third for the echureh. But since we find that we are not able to ohev perfectly every command of God, we cannot hope for eternal life by perfeet obedienee to the letter of the Word of God. Even though God has aceepted us as his children, we ean hope for life only by having the spirit of obedicnee to his Word. One of the lessons to be learned in the sehool of Christ is that a ‘‘man’s life consisteth not in the abundoenece of the things which he possexseth’?’—food and raiment, ete.— but that his life, in the fullest, highest, grandest sense, is dependent upen his complete submission to the divine will. Careful attention te every word that proecedeth out of the mouth of God, to every admonition, every encouragement, every promise, is necessary to the development of those whom God is now ealling to eternal life as joint-heirs with his Son in the kingdom, Let us, then, more and more, as the disciples of the Lord Jesus, keep in memory the words of the text. and act upon them. LIVE BY EVERY WORD FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD But how is it possible for us to live by the words that proceed out of the mouth of God? What did Jesus mean? How edn God’s words give life? Ife meant that all hope of attaining cternal life denends upon God-—upon the divine plan and its promises. Looking into these promises we can see distinctly that the divine plan, dating from hefore the foundation of the world, is that all of God’s ereatures, created in his likeness and abiding in faith, love and obedienee in harmony with him, shall have life everlasting. This is God’s Word upon the subjeet, namely, that obedience is the eondition of life everlasting. This is, undoubtedly, what our Lord had in mind in the words of our text. He may also have had the thought that he had come into the world upon a special mission, to do the Father’s will, and that his understanding from the beginning was that his perfeet obedience to the divine will would insure him glory, honor and immortality with the Father, eventually; but that any disobedienee would mean the forfeiture of divine favor and would involve the sentence of disobedience—death, Our Lord’s prompt decision, therefore, was that to disobey the Father’s will and thus to seeure bread for the sustenanee of his body, would be a great mistake; that food 4BD6 |