Octopzr 15, 1917 I pray earnestly for you, and surely the Lord will recompense your work and a full reward be given you of him under whose wings you are come to trust.—Ruth 2:12. Your sister, striving for the kingdom, R. E. LAWRENCE, CONTINUED APPRECIATIONS OF VOLUME SEVEN “J am glad I can recognize the Seventh Volume as the genuine article. It has proven a blessing to me, and the penny’ pay is more than satisfactory. It is more than I deserve, just like ail of our dear Lord’s rewards to his little ones.”—C, R, P., Ga. “We have not ceased to thank the Lord for the ‘penny’ and the desire and hope of riding in the fiery chariot, The grand old plan gets bigger and grander all the time.”’— W. F. Mel, Ala. “I cannot close without expressing my gratitude for the Seventh Volume, I am now reading it for the second time, and I thank the Lord that I have been privileged to receive this volume.”—Mrs. C. J. P., Ohio. “We cannot express in words the joy and comfort the Seventh Volume brought to our hearts, We are filled with adoration and praise and thanksgiving to our Father. Have gone through the book once but am now reading it, looking up each reference; and oh, the truths that are thus hidden! What blessing it brings!”—-Mrs. R. W. H., Ohio. “TI have received a great. blessing from the Seventh Volume. I believe that it has come at just the right time—a time when the church would have severe trials and bitter experiences.” —J. A. M., Ind. “How we are rejoicing in the light of Volume Seven, and noting its perfect harmony and why our beloved Pastor could not put that out on this side the veil!”—Mrs. A. T. B., Kan. “Having just finished the first and second parts of Volume Seven, I wish to express my loving appreciation and gratitude THE WATCH TOWER (319-324) for the great blessing and inspiration received ag a result of this unfolding of present truth.”—J. 8., Ind. “I am reading the Seventh Volume, and I never was so happy in my life. It is just what we need in this trying hour.”—J, A., Pa. “The Seventh Volume does satisfy me fully. I cannot tell you the joy and comfort it has given me. I am reading it the fourth time and find it better each time.”—W. F. S., Ga. “The Seventh Volume is grand, While we have long been looking for this work, it more than filled our anticipations.”—V. P. N., Ala. “J am rejoicing in the encouragement and help I am getting in Volume Seven, It iy a marvel, a wonder. Really, God is its Author.”—F. A. L., Tenn. “All the friends here, without an exception, have accepted the ‘penny’ with joy and gladness, praising and glorifying God.”—G. B. R., Maas. “The Seventh Volume grows better to me every page 1 read. The Lord has blessed us greatly. It has drawn me eloser to him.”—L. T. V., N. Y. ‘Thank the dear Lord for ‘The Finished Mystery!’ I have read it twice, the last time very carefully. I surely appreciate what is there written concerning the fallen angels. I have been beset. by them, owing to my own weakness and my not keeping the vow strictly enough, and have only been saved from discouragement by the Lord’s favor through the Resolve and the Towers and prayer. I was not fully confident, however, that I had not lost my crown until I read the blessed Seventh Volume. I now understand why my experiences have been permitted. It (the Volume) has been like the angel of Gethsemane to me, the assurance that I am still in our Father’s favor. I can go forward with renewed energy because more joyous zeal. We have already sold twenty-five. Please remember us in prayer.”—E, B. A., Conn. Vout. XXXVIII BROOKLYN, N. Y., NOVEMBER 1, 1917 No. 21 A TRIBUTE TO THE SEVENTH MESSENGER ‘‘The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand... the seven stars are the angels [messengers} of the seven churches.’’-—Rev, 1:20. Since the days of the Apostles of Jesus no man on earth has held a dearer place in the hearts of consecrated Christiana than has PASTOR CHARLES T. RUSSELL. He was known the world around, and loved most by those who knew him best. For thirty-six years he was the sole editor of THE WatcH Tower. It seems fitting, therefore, that we should in these columns at this time take notice of the first anniversary of his glorification, which occurred on the last day of October, 1916. Pastor Russell was a great man. This fact is more fully recognized today than it was a year ago. Appreciation of him by the people will necessarily increase as they come to a fuller realization of the position he occupied as a servant of the Lord. Some men are born great, while others attain greatness by reason of their faithfulness to duty. Pastor Russell was a great man from both of these viewpoints. The Scriptures indicate that he was chosen of the Lord frum hia birth. His mother was a consecrated Christian. She taught her son in the way of the Lord, and he early gave evidence of his loving devotion to the great Master. God used the Prophet Ezekiel to foretell the events that were to come to pass upon Christendom. He used Pastor Russell as an antitype of Ezekiel to make clear to Bible students the real meaning of these events as they came to pass. The great Master, speaking to the church through John the Revelator, foretold that the church would be developed during a time of stress, and that the entire Gospel age would be divided into seven distinct epochs or periods of time. He also clearly indicated that each of these periods or epochs of time would be blessed by a special messenger representing him. The great drama of the Gospel age opened with the Apostle Paul as the chief messenger, or angel, to the church. It cloges with Pastor Russell as the seventh, and last, messenger to the church militant. For the other five epochs’of- the church the Lord provided messengers in the order named: St. John, Arius, Waldo, Wycliffe and Luther. Each in his turn bore the message due to be understood during the epoch he represented. The two most prominent messengers, however, are the first and last—St. Paul and Pastor Russell. “THAT WISE AND FAITHFUL SERVANT’ The Lord Jesus, in his great prophetic statement in Matthew 24:45-47, made known the fact that at the end of the age he would be present and would have a special servant whom he would “make ruler over all his house to give meat in due season to the household.” For many years Christian people of all denominations have been looking for the manifestation of that promised servant. For several years some have recognized, and now many more are recognizing, that Pastor Russell is that servant. Forty years ago he noted that the Scriptures held forth the undoubted testimony that the would end with a great time of trouble, which would hegin with international war; that the war would be followed by revolution; and that revolution would in turn be followed by anarchy, which would wreck all the ecclesiastical and civil institutions of the world, and thus make way for the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom of righteousness, for which Ohristians have long hoped and prayed. He proved by Bible chronology the presence of the Lord from 1874 on, and demonstrated that 1914 would mark the end of the Gentile period and the beginning of the great international conflict. Time and events have proven the correctness of his deductions from the Scriptures, showing he possessed heavenly wisdom. Contrary to the rule of ecclesiasticism, Pastor, Russell never lifted a collection, He spent his own private fortune in making known the “glad tidings.” His writings and publications have reached a larger circulation than those of any man or class of men on earth, the Bible alone excepted. He jong ago showed from the Scriptures that there would be a federation of churches nominal and a departure by them from the “faith once delivered to the saints,” and that the true saints would be gathered together into the garner of the Lord. All of these things are practically accomplished facts, all of which testify that Pastor Russell is the servant promised to the church in the closing days of ite earthly pilgrimage. Many are perceiving more and more each day that he was chosen of the Lord to perform a great work. HIS ORDINATION There are two ordinations of the servants of God. One is the divine ordination; the other, an ordination by the church. Ordination means authority to act as a representative of gnother. Ordination of a minister of the Gospel means authority to preach the Gospel. Comparatively few ministers of our day have the real ordination. Pastor Russell had both the divine ordination and the ordination from the church. The ordination that comes from Jehovah is received by’ all who are begotten and anointed of the holy Spirit, as set forth in Isaiah 61:1-8. The ordination that comes from the church is authority granted by an assembly of Christian people to a [6159]
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