(351-358) man. On the contrary I have been praying for light, and 1 think my prayers have been heard; for I feel that there is something in your church worth while considering. I beg to remain moxt sincerely yours, E. B.—Md. FAITH IN GOD’S OVBRRULING PROVIDENCE DEARLY BELOVED BRETHREN IN CHRIST:— Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. The church at Dallas has voted to extend to you our love and sympathy in this hour of final trial and testing, and to assure you of our prayers and cooperation. We believe the Lord will uphold and guide you in your efforts at service as long as there is any work for the angel of Revelation 8:3; and for this we pray daily. We appreciate your services to us, and we rejoice in the blessings that each issue of THE WATCH TOWER brings. We do not know just what awaits us; but we do know that ‘“‘all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”; and that no weapon formed against his children can prosper in the sense of injuring them as new creatures. Remembering you daily at the throne of grace, and with much Christian love, we are Your brethren in Christ, The DaLLas EccLrs1a.—Texas. THE EXPRESSION OF A NOBLE HEART Dear BRETHREN :— Greetings in the Lord’s name; and may grace and peace be multiplied unto you. I am writing you at this time to advise you of my regret at having taken any part in causing to be circulated a certain letter in which surprise was expressed re articles on pages 152, 168 and 174 of the 1918 WATCH TOWER. Because of certain conditions that have arisen in local classes, the conviction has been growing in my mind that perhaps, after all, the above mentioned articles were right, and that I along with a number of others was wrong. So I determined to reread them with a mind as unbiased as possible. This I did last night and again this morning; and, thank God! I can say from the bottom of my heart: “I find no fault with them.” I found that I could unreservedly accept them for what they say, but not for what others think they say. So I haste to write you my apology for having opposed in any sense the words which have come forth from the channel the Lord has so abundantly used in the past. Your brother in the one hope, J.T. B—B. C. ‘THERE IS NO SCHISM IN THE BODY’’ Dear BRETHREN IN THE LORD :— We would like the dear Bethel family to know that they THE WATCH TOWER Prirrssurcu, Pa. are daily remembered in our prayers. We are grateful for the continued help given us through the Towmes, which are still coming through regularly. We ask the Lord’s guidance and help for you in these times of difficulty, knowing that we shall be heard, as we helieve he will continue to use you as he has done in the past if you remain steadfast and faithful unto the end. With fervent love in our dear Redeemer, Sec’y Loxpon TABERNACLE.—Hng. DAILY PRAYERS FOR HEAVENLY WISDOM BELOVED BRETHREN :— The Associated Bible Students of Bristol and vicinity held & two-days’ convention here Sept, 21, 22, in which the spirit of the Lord was manifested in a most noticeable manner by all who attended; and we were blest beyond measure. Praise his name! A motion was made, which carried unanimously, to draft a resolution to send to you, which read substantially: “Resolved, That we conventioners here assembled at Bristol, Tenn., hereby repledge our loyalty and undivided support to our brethren at the headquarters of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, and most.especially to those in direct charge of the work; that our prayers continue to ascend daily for them to exercise the spirit of a sound mind at all times and to be guided by the unerring counsel of the Lord, until our heavenly Father is pleased to place his everlasting arms about us and welcome us to the Great Convention, our eternal home.” BRIstoL, TENN., CONVENTION. SECOND THOUGHTS ARE BEST Dear BRETHREN :— I am writing this letter to make clear my attitude toward the Society. When I read Brother Johnson’s paper, “Harvest Sitings Reviewed,” last November, I was so moved to sympathy for him that I resigned from my position at the Tabernacle office force. Two months later, however, I wrote that I had made a mistake, that I had had the opportunity of thinking the entire matter over calmly, and that I realized that I had permitted my sympathies to get the better of me. Tver since that time my heart has been with the Society; and I am happy to say that, at the present. time, in spite of the many influences that have been exercised to swerve me from my position, I find myself in fullest harmony with the Society. With much Christian love, Yours in the CruciFIep ONE — — N, Y. Von. XXXIX VIEW FROM PITTSBURGH, PA., DECEMBER 1, 1918 THE TOWER No. 23 GATHERING WHEAT—BURNING TARES “In the time of the harvest 1 will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them ; but gather the wheat into Thus does our Lord call to our attention the two parts of the harvest work, both of which are to be accomplished by the same reapers. The plain intimation of this text is that the latter part of the harvest work is to be the burning of the tares. If at one time we had the thought that the burning of the tares was no part of the harvest work, and that the saints would have no part in the work of “burning” them, a careful study of the above text will convince us to the contrary. A clear understanding of these two parts of the harvest work is necessary at this time; for the Lord’s people are more or less puzzled and perplexed as to what to do and how to do it. How true is the saying, “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity”! How many times have we seen this principle illustrated during the past forty or more years of the harvest work! TABERNACLE SHADOWS came to the church in a time of extremity. The various volumes of STUDIES IN SCRIPTURES also came just as they were needed. Again, the sermons in the newspapers, and the PHOTO-DRAMA as weil, were given just at opportune times. In 1914 we thought that all the work had ended; but just at the opportune time again the Lord brought to our attention another work, that of gathering the clusters of the vine of the earth. At the present time another “‘extremity” is upon the church; and from every part of the field come the queries: “What remains to be done? How can | do more to serve the truth?’ We hope that each Tower reader will ask himself these questions, and then act according to the answers. Furthermore, we wish to assist any and all to the extent of our ability. my dbarn.”—Matthew 13:30. MUCH WORK YET TO BE ACCOMPLISHED Many of the dear friends think that “the door is shut,” and that opportunities for service are at an end, or nearly so. The tendency of such an opinion is to make us lax in our efforts and to cause us to cease watching for opportunities of service. The Society does not share this opinion. It is quite probable that the harvest, in the sense that no more will be spirit-begotten, ended in the spring of 1918, except as some will fall out or be rejected, and others take their places. As suggested by Brother Russell: “We have every reason at present to believe that the number of the elect is not yet completed, because of many crowns having been forfeited. We see coming in, day by day and week by week, some who give evidence of the Lord’s acceptance, who give evidence that the Lord is permitting them to lay down their lives in his service. But the time will undoubtedly come in the near future when the number of the elect will be complete. Then only such vaeancies as might still occur by some falling out would remain. In that case there might be a number in the consecrated attitude whom God would accept to take the place of some who would drop out. These would receive the begetting of the holy Spirit, and would find opportunities for serving the truth and for suffering for the truth’s sake.”—Z 714, p. 68. We remind our readers that the Lord is using the truth, the word which goeth forth out of his mouth (Isaiah 55:11), to accomplish a variety of works. It has been used (1) to gather the wheat, (2) to bind the tares, (3) to gather the clusters of “the vine of the earth,” and (4). to smite Jordan. [6358]
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