The Watchtower, June 15, 1918

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Vol. XXXIX

BROOKLYN, N. Y., JUNE 15, 1918

No. 12

THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD

lt My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction; for whom, the Lord loveth he correcteth,

even as a father the son ih whom he delighteth." — Proverbs 3:11, 12.

Many excellent people have the thought that special sorrows

, trials, difficulties, are marks of divine disfavor and that

And a man's foes shall be they of his own household."-

Matthew 10:34-36.

the best way to avoid trouble is to become a Christian. But

the Scriptures show that if one is not already in trouble and

wishes to get into it and to stay in it for the rest of his natural

life, his best course is to become a true follower of Christ.

One of the first characters who received a special invitation

to walk with the Lord was Father Abraham. We are told

that, "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a

place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed;

and he went out, not knowing whither he went." (Hebrews

11:8) At the time this call was extended to Abraham he was

seventy-five years of age, rich according to all the standards

of earthly riches of his time, and no doubt comfortable and

happy among his friends and relatives in the pleasant and

productive region of Mesopotamia where he had been born and

iu which he grew to manhood. We can imagine that his relatives

were very much displeased with the choice he made.

They no doubt considered it a species of insanity that this

man, happy, prosperous and well established in life should

at his age leave the environment with which he was familiar,

and travel hundreds of miles through the sands of the Arabian

desert to a land which neither he nor his fathers had

known.

One of the first crosses that must be taken up and borne by

one who would walk in fellowship with the I/>rd is the certainty

that he will displease his earthly friends by so doing.

Nevertheless, the Psalmist urges, "Hearken, daughter, and

consider, and incline thine ear; forget thine own people and

thy father's house; so shall the king greatly desire thy

beauty." (Psalm 45:10, 11). Eight well did the Lord know

that our act of becoming his foot-step followers would bring

us into difficulty with our earthly loved ones, our relatives

according to our "father's house, else would he never have

«aid: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: T

came not to send pence, but a sword. For I am come toset

a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against

her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

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"WATEBS OF A TOLL CUP"

The experience of the Psalmist was that his efforts to live

a godly life brought upon him the reproaches of those who

could not understand his motives. David was a type of the

Christ and said' of his opposers and of ours: "They set their

mouth against the heavens, and their tongue* walketh through

the earth. Therefore his people return hither: and waters of

a full cup are wrung out to them." {Psalm 73:9, 10). David

was in the wilderness and because he was in the wilderness

was a target for slander and ridicule until his cup of sorrow

was filled.

If we would see how God has been pleased to deal with

those who give themselves unreservedly to him during the time

in which sacrifices are acceptable, we have only to consider the

fact that after the Beautiful One had laid his perfect sacrifice

at the Father's feet, he was immediately "led up of the spirit

into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." (Matthew

4:1) And he has not held out to his followers any expectation

that the result of their consecration to do the Father's

will would differ from his own; rather, he has assured us:

"The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above

his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his

Master, and the servant as his Lord. If they have called the

Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call

them of his household ?"—- Matthew 10:24, 25.

Lest, in the midst of our trials, we should be inclined to

fear that these are evidences of divine disfavor, we are especially

invited to "consider him that endured such contradiction

of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in

your minds." (Hebrews 12:3) And as we consider him we

recall especially the last events which crowned his three and a

half years of faithful doing of the heavenly Father's will. We

remember that he allowed himself to be smitten, crowned with

thorns, mocked as a royal impostor, spit upon, and his beard

to be torn out. He allowed himself to be sentenced to a

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THE WATCH TOWER

Brooklyn, N. Y,

felon's death. Under a cross which he had not the strength to

bear he passed through the streets of the same Jerusalem

over which he had wept — but five days previously lined with

the crowds that then were shouting, "Blessed be the King that

cometh in the name of the Lord" (Luke 19:38), but that now

were eager for his death. In the midst of this throng for

whom he was about to die, the just for the unjust, he permitted

himself to be stripped of his clothing, nailed to the

cross, and hanged between two thieves until the sacrifice was

completely finished in death.

WEARIED AND FAINT IN MIND

The Apostle says we should consider this, 'lest we be

wearied and faint in our minds.' The word 'wearied' here

(Greek kamon) is the same word that is translated sick in the

passage of James 5:15. Thus the Lord would tell us that

the surest protection against soul-Sickness is to keep our sacrifice

on the altar as Jesus did and to comfort ourselves with

the assurance that in some degree the experiences which were

permitted to come to him are permitted also to come to us.

When that sincere and zealous man, Saul of Tarsus, had

met the Lord on the way to Damascus, and in prompt obedience

to the heavenly vision had said, "What shall I do, Lord?"

(Acts 22:10) and had remained without sight and without

food or drink for three days (Acts 9:9), the lord sent him a

message of comfort by the hand of Ananias, one of his faithful

servants. The message was: "He is a chosen vessel unto

me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the

children of Israel: for I will show him how great things he

must suffer for my name's sake." (Acts 9:15, 16) The

Apostle Paul never forgot this lesson. On his first missionary

tour, after he had preached the gospel at Iconium, Lystra and

Derbe, and after the Jews from Antioch and Iconium had persuaded

the people of the latter city to stone him into insensibility

so that they supposed he was dead, then it was that "as

the disciples stood around about him, he rose up, and came

into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to

Derbe. And when they had preached the gospel to that city,

and had made many disciples, they returned again to Lystra,

and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls^ of the

disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and

[telling them how] that we must through much tribulation

enter into the kingdom of God."— Acts 14:20-22.

The Revelator shows that the experiences of the Lord Jesus

and the Apostle Paul constitute a picture of the experiences of

those members of the Lord's body who come in contact with

the earth — "his feet were like unto fine brass as if they burned

in a furnace." (Revelation 1:35) No doubt in a very special

sense too, this picture is true of the last members, the feet

members, of that glorious body.

NONE WITHOUT CHASTBNINGS

We have the Father's Word for it that "if we be without

chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are we spurious,

and not sons." (Hebrews 12:8) It does not follow that all

will be partakers in the same degree, nor in the same manner.

For some a look is sufficient, for others a word, still others

require scourgings, and some repeatedly, but the chastisements,

whatever they may be, serve the* grand purpose of giving us

opportunities for overcoming, for proving our fidelity, for developing

self-control, sympathy, forgiveness, gentleness and

patience.

The children of Israel were to eat their passover lamb

"with bitter herbs'* (Exodus 12:8), so that they might be

able to partake of it more freely. Christ is our passover; and

the effect of every bitter experience, on one who belongs to the

Lord, is to drive him closer to the Lamb of God that he may

feed more and more upon that Lamb.

In the typical ceremonies of Israel one of 'the duties of the

lngh priest was to dress the lamps which burned in the Holy,

(Exodus 30:7^ Those who live in country districts understand

very well what this moans. If one would have good

light,, not only must a lamp be kept filled with oil and the

burner and globe be kept clean, but the burned portion of the

wick must he cut off from time to time. This represents the

trimming off of the dross of the old nature — the wick through

which the holy Spirit operates. If the wick could speak it

would protest that it was being injured or wronged by the

sharp shears which cut it in two. but the one who trims the

wick is thinking not of the wick but of the beautiful light

which later shall give .joy to all who are in the house. "Let

your light so shine before men that they may see your good

works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."- — Matthew

5:16.

The heavenly Father is developing and training the royal

priesthood so that they may be merciful and faithful priests

of the poor world when it shall be given its opportunity of

reconciliation. They est to pour into

their cup. But, on the other hand, "Blessed is the man that

endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the

crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love

him."— James 1:12,

We have it in our power even after starting upon the

heavenward way to draw back by endeavoring to avoid the

sacrifice which we have covenanted to make, or through fear

that the Lord has forgotten us in our trials or through unwillingness

to submit longer to the polishing. At first this

drawing back may consist in only looking back with a sigh,

then in a little disposition to compromise truth in favor of

the cravings of the fallen nature, and finally in complete surrender

. "But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition

, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." —

Hebrews 10:39.

We are not therefore to consider the trials and difficulties

of our Christian pathway as marks of divine disfavor, and we

are to be sorry for those who have not made a careful study

of this question and have not seen the precious comfort contained

in the words of our text: "My son, despise not the

chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction: for

whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son

in whom he delighteth." — Proverbs 3:11, 12.

SUNSHINE OR SHADOW?

"Be anxious for nothing" — Philippians 4:G.

Our lives may be bathed in sunshine or steeped in somber est

gloom, according as we are close by or far removed from the

fountainhead of light. The patches of light and shadow

which alternate upon the landscape do not determine the seasons

and temperature of that locality; nor do petty anxieties

or passing pleasures make us altogether warm or gloomy

Christians. It is the long night of the Arctic region or the

long day of the tropic clime which makes the one a barren

waste and the other a fruitful land. Life and light go hand in

hand; the "Father of Lights" is also the Father of Life:

whereas death is the region of gloom, night.

The King James version renders our text: "Be careful for

nothing." The thought is the same as, "Be anxious for

nothing," if we remember that careful is not here used with

its present signification. A few definitions of words which

naturally arise in a consideration of this subject may not be

out of place.

Anxiety is uneasiness or distress of mind respecting some

uncertain event which may involve danger or misfortune.

Anxiety produces a morbid condition of restlessness and

mental agitation with a distressful feeling of tightness and

oppression in the region of the heart. Anxiety is, according to

its derivation, a choking disquiet, akin to anguish.

Anguish is in respect to the known: anxiety in respect to

the unknown. Anguish is because of w r hat has happened;

anxiety because of what may happen. Anxiety refers to some

future event, but is a little milder yet than apprehension,

fear, dread, foreboding, terror, all of which suggest despair.

In matters within our reach anxiety always stirs up the

question as to whether something can be done. But with the

Christian it is often difficult to ascertain just what is within

our reach. When joined w r ith such perplexity, anxiety produces

foreboding, dread, and dread commonly incapacitates one

for helpful thought or endeavor.

Worry is a more petty restlessness and manifest anxiety.

Anxiety may be quiet and silent; worry is communicated to all

around. Solicitude is a milder anxiety. Fretting, or fretfulness

, is a weak complaining without thought of accomplishing

or changing anything, but merely as a relief to one's own

disquiet.

Care concerns what we possess; anxiety often what we do

not. Caution has a sense of possible harm and risk only to

be escaped, if at all, by careful deliberation and observation.

Care inclines to the positive; caution to the negative.

Anxieties, like barnacles on a ship's hull, hinder progress

and, if they be not removed, will surely keep the Christian

from reaching his haven of peace. They will weigh him down

until, out of sheer inability to resist, he will seek relief by

letting himself sink into the elements of the world.

Entrance into the body of Christ does not change our outward

environs. The world is still worldly; it is still filled

with imperfection and unbalance. The same impressions seek

to gain our attention through the avenues of sense. There are

just as many occasions for anxiety as before, or rather as

many occasions out of which anxieties naturally arise. But

not only is a state of over ^solicitude opposed to the divine

will for us, but it is also directly injurious to mind and body.

It contracts and stiffens the walls of the blood-vessels and thus

cuts off the refreshing supply to the brain ; we cannot think as

well as we should. The muscles, too, become inert; for their

waste products are not well carried away. A slow poison

ensues.

The cares, the anxious feelings, will come again and again:

what then is to be done? Ah! The beloved Peter says the

w T ord: "Casting all your care upon him; for he oareth for

you." It is not, then, that we are miraculously made immune

to care, but that we are furnished with a recipe for ridding

ourselves of it. We are not immune to" dirt; it will collect of

its own accord. But we can bathe, if we have the needed

equipment.

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THE WATCH TOWER

TChookt.vn, N. Y.

ANXIETIES CONOERNINa PEE SENT AND FUTtT*E

The anxieties which naturally rise in our lives pertain

either to the immediate future or to the future life in another

state.

We may feel anxious about the body, in respect to food,

raiment, shelter. But does not the Apostle tell us a few

verses further on in this same chapter: *'M£r God shall supply

all your need, according to his riches in glory" ? And does not

our Master, knowing how these- things would tend to worry

us, tell us gently but plainly:

"Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures upon the earth,

where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through

and steal; but deposit for yourselves treasures in heaven,

where neither moth nor rust can consume, and where thieves

break not through nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there

thy heart will also be. The lamp of the body is thine eye ; if,

therefore, thine eye be clear, thy whole body will be enlightened

; but if thine eye be dim, thy whole body will be darkened

. If, then, that light which i% in thee be darkness, how

great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for

either he will hate one. and love the other; or, at least, he

will attend to one, and neglect the other. Ye cannot serve

God and Mammon [Syriac for riches]. Therefore I charge

you, be not anxious about your life, what ye shall eat, or

what ye shall drijik; nor about your body, what ye shall

wear. Is not the life of more value than food, and the body

than raiment? Observe the birds of heaven; they sow not,

nor reap, nor gather into storehouses; but your heavenly

Father feeds them. Are not ye of greater value than they?

Besides, which of you, by being anxious, can prolong his life

one momenta And why are ye anxious about raiment? Mark

the lilies of the field. How they grow! They neither labor

nor spin; yet I tell you, that not even Solomon, in all his

splendor, was arrayed like one of these. If, then, God so

decorate the herb of the field (which flourishes today, and

tomorrow is used for fuel) how much more you, O ye distrustful

ones!"

But some good brother may say: "Yes, but you've got to

get out and hustle for it." But if by "hustling for it" we

mean to wrest the responsibility from God's own hand and to

choke our spiritual enjoyment by fear of loss or failure, it is

wrong, very wrong, and an insult to the Almighty by implying

that he is not able to fulfil his promises, or is too fickle to be

relied upon. But if we are diligent in duty, leaving the

results with the Lord, we have already a blessing, because we

are "workers together with God."

But read on:

"Therefore be not anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or,

What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed? for

all the nations seek after these things; and your heavenly

Father knows that ye have need of them. But seek ye first

his righteousness and kingdom; and all these things shall be

added to you. Be not anxious, then, about the morrow; for

the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for each

day is its own trouble."

Hard though each day's trouble be, it is only intolerable

when we imagine an endless vista of just such days. But we

do not know that all the days will be just like this one; or,

if they be like it, who knows but what other outward or

inward experiences may be ours, which will completely alter

the aspect of things whieh now seem so heavy? Unquestionably

our weightiest burdens are the ones we make for ourselves

The Apostle Paul says concerning our sometimes frantic

efforts to gain more than our daily bread : "Piety with a sufficiency

is great gain. For we brought nothing into this

world, and it is evident that we are not able to carry anything

out; and having supplies of food and clothing, with those let

us be content. But those wishing to be rich fall into a temptation

, and a snare, and into many foolish and injurious desires,

which sink men into destruction and utter ruin; for a root of

all kinds of evil is the love of money; which some, longing

after, wandered from the faith, and pierced themselves around

with divers sorrows. But thou, man of God, flee from these

things, and pursue righteousness, faith, patience, love, meekness

/'— 1 Timothy 6:6-11.

And again : "Charge those rich in the things of the present

age not to be high-minded, nor to confide in wealth so uncertain

, but in that God who imparts to us all things richly for

enjoyment — to do good, to be rich in good works, to be liberal,

willing to bestow; treasuring up for themselves a good foundation

for the future, that they may lay hold of that which is

really life."— 1 Timothy G: 17-1 a.

We might toil early and late, work ourselves gaunt and

gray-headed, and still not have more than those who trust in

the Lord and who enjoy "his fellowship all the while. Remember

the story the Master gave us about the man who toiled

after riches and who put off the higher life until he should

have enough. When he had what he thought was enough he

purposed to enjoy it but, to his surprise and chagrin, was met

with the rebuff: 'Why, man, you have worked yourself to

death; your bank account is fat enough, but your heart is lean

and scrawny.'

The worldly at our very elbow, father, brother, sister,

friend, may prosper greatly; but if we walk close to God it is

likely he will keep us poor, for few have ballast enough of

character or experience to "know how to abound." — Philip -

pians 4:12.

THE HXnrOER OF THE BOND

But all our anxieties do not arise from wondering what we

shall eat or with what we ehall be clothed. The mind ha^

needs, both real and fancied. Eve's oversolicitude about supplies

for the mind was a powerful influence contributing to

her downfall. We may be anxious about the Lord's providence

for us and think: 'Yes, it looks as though the Lord were

leading me into this place, but shall I have the proper stimulus

to my mind?' How absurd! Why talk of our minds as

though they were a museum of geology, some precious, fossil

fragment of which might be lost! Are our minds nothing

more than rows of shelves and cases into which are stored

items of information chanced upon?

No position is too humble to be entirely without opportunity

of ministering to others in a mental way. The precious

knowledge we have of God and his beneficent designs makes us

able to give a word in season; and how good it is! We need

not worry about our precious minds, as long as we use them;

for "he that watereth, shall himself also be watered."

Are we feeling the need of wisdom? No need to be distracted

on that score; for the discretion whieh comes dowm

from above is at our disposal. We have the Apostle James'

word for it that the call of faith is all that is needed to open

the boundless storehouse of Jehovah's wisdom. If we have not

sufficient wisdom to decide the questions which confront us,

and that with conscientiousness, let us ask for more wisdom.

Sometimes the wisest way is simply to wait on the Lord for

further indication of his will. Our greatest and worst mistakes

have been made by taking some trying situation rashly

into our own hands and deciding it at once. The Devil delights

to get us into a dilemma and, mocking, to tease ua into

choosing one of the two ways he points out, when the Lord's

way is possibly still a third and far better one.

No mind culture which the world has to offer can give us

an appreciation of the deep things of God. As Paul, the truly

wise one, said: "And when I came to you, brethren, I came

not with excellency of speech, or of wisdom, declaring to you

the testimony of God ; for I determined to make known nothing

among you, except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I, in

weakness and in fear, and in much trembling was with you.

And my discourse and my proclamation were not in persuasive

words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and of

power; so that your faith might not be by the wisdom of

men, but by the power of God. Wisdom, however, we speak

among the developed; but wisdom, not of this age, nor of

those rulers of this age who are coming to an end;* but we

speak the wisdom of God which was hidden in a mystery, and

which God previously designed, before the ages, for our glory:

which no one of the rulers of this age knew; for if they had

known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory ; but it

has been written: Things which eye hath not seen, and ear

.never heard, and to which the heart of man has not aspired —

things which God hath prepared for those who love him' —

God has revealed even to us through the spirit."

We need not worry even if we do not have alt the opportunities

for "mind-culture" which some of the world possess. It

is even more likely to hinder than, of itself, to help us in the

discerning of spiritual truths. When the confident Peter

boldly declared our Lord to be "the Christ, the son of the

living God" he was answered with half commendation, half

rebuke (or shall we rather say, warning?) : ''Blessed art

thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed

this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven" — i. e. t *Thou

art blest with a clear recognition of this great fact, which

most people are so slow to perceive; but do not think that it

is due to extraordinary brilliance on thy part, but rather is it

because my Father has been pleased to honor the spirit of

devotion and love for truth which thou hast displayed.'

THE HUNGER OF THE HEABT

The hunger of the heart will be laughed at and tabooed

only by the novice in life. Loneliness, the heart's hunger, is

but a covert acknowledgment of the fact that no one is selfsufficient

, that "no man liveth to himself or dieth to himself."

Our most complicated anxieties and distractions arise from

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this field and, like an evening damp, tend to choke our newbom

hopes of a better life and to estrange us from the source

of light and joy.

But has Jehovah erred? Are there no compensating magnets

to keep the compass of our hearts true to the pole? Has

he invited us upon this perilous voyage and abandoned us

without chart or rudder? Why, even man is wiser than that,

and more provident. The great ships which plow the sea have

their great master compass. In theory the needle of that

compass points true to the magnetic pole. But that pole is

leagues removed ; and every piece of iron in the ship's hull, in

her engines, in passing vessels, in deposits in the bottom of

the sea, influences that needle, too. So, very carefully made

smaller magnets are so placed as to counteract the influence

of things close by, that the subtle influence of the North may

still lead the ship true. It is not wrong that the great compass

should feel or be moved by the local forces; but if, and

to the extent that it is so moved, it ceases to be a reliable

compass and will cause confusion, dismay, perhaps even shipwreck

. If it could speak it would say: * But I want it; I

need it; and see, it wants rae, too."

These local magnetic fields do not harm the ship if they but

pull in the same direction as the North Pole. And, if the

influence we exert on one another is the influence of the

spirit of unselfish love, of the image of Christ in us, we shall

draw one another toward that image, we shall build one

another up in the most holy faith and not tear down. When

the heart's yearning seems more than we can bear, when it

dumbly grasps for the strong arm of support or the tiny arms

of human joy, shall Ave say the thing is wrong? The God of

Nature made us so.

But we have undertaken a voyage; and we must not blindly

answer every call without listing to the compensating maspiets

— the example of holy conquerors before us, or the words of

the Apostles, such as, "Center your minds on things above

.... that when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, ye also

might appear with him in glory." Surely we would not wish

to sell our glorious birthright for a mess of pottage, be it ever

so fine.

But this is all passive. We are not merely inert needles

waiting to be acted upon by worldly or heavenly power. The

hunger of the heart is best satisfied not by receiving but by

giving. The chief of givers gave his best, his only son; our

Savior gave himself. But we may say: 'The people with

whom I meet are so crude and ungenteel, I don't know how to

give them anything.' But can they be more crude and coarse

than the best of mankind was to our Lord? When he fed the

four thousand he had very little to give; yet, under Jehovah's

blessing, it accomplished wonders, feeding not only himself and

his close associates, but the multitude as well! Is it not

more blessed to give than receive? How commonplace it

would have been had someone driven up with a cartload of

bread that he might merely receive it! He gave what he had ;

it was enough. It is seldom that our storehouse of blessings is

so scant that we cannot give even a smile. And who knows

how much warmth it starts?

Besides all this we have a love, a fellowship, nearer, dearer,

truer than all the best there is on earth. "The Father himself

loveth you," and "truly, our fellowship is with the Father and

with his son Jesus Christ." Can anything surpass that for

honor? Can even the dearest human tie come so close or

know our needs so well? Adam, with more spleen than spine,

when driven to the choice, took the human companionship

without God — and lost them both. But better than the touch

of the tenderest hand is the consciousness of his nearness and

interest who said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."

Tf we keep our hearts ever sensitive to the drawing of that

far away, yet mighty magnet, though beset with blizzard,

cloud and mist we shall pass, safely into port and "meet our

pilot, face to face."

To be over-anxious about our heart's supplies means to

invite self-pity, that insidious poison which, like the vapors of

the Flanders field, seeps into the trenches of our nobly gained

redoubt and kills the guardians of our better self. We cannot

expect to have the world kowtow to us if we are 'following

the Lamb whithersoever he goeth'; for the world comes to the

stubborn, obstinate, one-idea-at-a-time man who blows lustily

his own horn.

We need not, then, be distracted about our lack of Wisdom

; for it is ours, as soon as we are sure we need it, and

ask for it. We need not be anxious or hopeless over what

seems impossible to us; for divine Justice is such that God

would not expect anything of us which we could not perform.

Divine Love U too great to give us needless occasions for

anxiety; and divine Power stands guard to see thnt no temptation

shall befall us but such as we are able to bear.

OTHER PRESENT OCCASIONS FOB ANXIETY

The possibility or the probability or the fear of loss tends

to cause many a cautious one much anxious thought. We fear

to lose our friends, our money, our health, our influence, our

prestige, our mental acumen, our vouth. The effect of losses

on others is more or less responsible for this fear which we

have. But have we not learned that loss does not always mean

loss? We lose one thing only to find that after all it was not

so important as we had supposed. We lose one thing and find

in its stead a keener appreciation of what we have left. We

lose our life-in-self and find a life in more abundant measure.

We lose the warm hearth -glow of the valley and gain the clear

starlight of the mountain peak. We lose the warm hand-clasp

of a friend and gain the unspeakable pleasures of the life of

faith. Can we not trust God? Shall we not have the choicest

portions, if we leave the choice to him? "Oh, rest in the

Lord, wait patiently for him .... and he will give thee thy

heart's desires."

Shall wo worry over disappointments? Is it not rather

finding fault with Omniscience?

Delays make us anxious because of the element of uncertainty

. But must we know all things before the time? Having

used the means at our disposal to avoid delays, shall we

not wait in peace? "Blessed are the men who fear him; they

ever walk in the ways of peace."

Restraints tend to chafe us. We wanted this scheme to

work out thus and so, and when we are unable to push it

ahead we feel peeved. But if we left it with the Lord at the

start and said ( If the Lord will,' where is our ground for

worrvt

SWvingir, en a bed of sickness, or otherwise thrown into a

bayou off the main current of activity, arouse apprehension

lest we become wholly useless. But perhaps there are some

lessons for us to learn before we can be trusted with further

activities. Or maybe we can do something 'on the shelf which

we had not known to do before.

Our faults would drive us to distraction if we did not

remember that the Lord knew all about them before he called

us. Nonchalance is not the proper mind toward them, but

useless worry is just as bad. Balance is what we need, as well

as conscience.

Others' faults make us anxious, for fear we may be the

victim of their injudition. But shall we not remember that

"the battle is not to the strong, nor the race to the swift"?

"Our lives are hid with Christ in God" and cannot be injured.

Our failures in the past tend to discourage us regarding

the future and to make us anxious about the outcome. But

"we have not a high priest unable to sympathize with our

weaknesses; but one having been tried in all respects like

ourselves, apart from sin. We should, therefore, approach

with confidence to the throne of favor, that we may receive

mercy and favor for seasonable help." It is not so much the

breaking of the lines of conventionality, the makeshift for

virtue, which constitutes a mistake or failure. The deadly

mistake is to give up hope and stop trying. Jt is mora vanity

than devotion if we wish to give up just because we are not

able to make as prominent a showing as others or as we had

koped for ourselves. A mistake is not necessarily a fatal

thing.

Chastisements, when wrongly viewed, fill us with foreboding

. But is it not true that in many ways love and pain

go hand in hand?

Hardships cause us anxious thought; for we wonder

whether we can endure them. But we have the Apostle's

cheering words: "I can endure all things through Christ who

strengthens."

ANXIETT ABOUT THE FUTURE LIFE

No undue care need be taken for that which is beyond our

realm. We are promised the holy Spirit if we ask it; and

the holy Spirit, dwelling richly in our minds, will guarantee

the development of the fruits of the spirit; and we are distinctly

told that 'if these things be in us richly and abound,

so an abundant entrance shall be ministered unto us into the

everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.*

Again : "He that hath begun the good work in you shall complete

it unto the day of the Lord Jesus." Again, the consoling

yet stirring word: "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will

give thee a crown of life" — not I may, if I feel so inclined at

the time, but "I will give thee a crown of life."

Fear of the great change affects some. But why should it?

we have nothing to lose and all to gain. Moreover our Master

desires to have us there; for he prayed the Father, "I will

that they be with me where I am."

DROP OTTO BURDENS AT THE THRONE OF GRACE.

To dispel anxiety, reverence is necessary. But much more

than reverence is necessary. We might have reverence and

[6277]

(185-188)

THE WATCH TOWER

Brooklyn, N. Y.

think of God as a mighty being, too great and too far removed

to care for our welfare. We must fellowship with him, aa he

invites us. Undoubtedly the relationship of children to a

father is the one which Jehovah seeks to encourage in us. He

says, "in everything." Not merely may we take the great

trials of life to the Burden-Bearer, but also the little things

that nag and annoy us not less.

"Oh, what peace we often forfeit!

Oh, what needless pain we bear!

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer/'

not complaining, but thankful for God's part in them.

We have seen how many natural occasions for care may

arise in our daily lives. And the Apostle knew all this; so

he, as the mouthpiece of the Lord, gives us the recipe for

losing them. He says, "Be anxious for nothing; hut [instead

of that in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving

, let your requests be made known to God." Constant

touch with Jehovah, then, is the potion which drives from our

spiritual systems the germ of care, and makes us sing, though

in prison.

As we come to realize him as our Father we shall wish to

make our requests known to him. As the wisest of fathers he

deals with us individually according to our several needs. He

seeks to encourage us to decide for his way, but he never

coerces us. Sometimes we are rebellious and foolishly insist

on having our own way; and he lets us have it, only to find

with godly sorrow that his way had been untellably better.

In a large family or school many children suffer great

nervous irritation from the habit of being considered collectively

instead of individually. Demanding instant and unquestioning

obedience is also harmful, as coercive restraint

weakens character. But how long-suffering is the Lord! He

knows we must eventually do his way if we love the right.

A child shows the desire to exercise its own reasoning faculties

by constantly asking, "Why ?" in its attempt to find the

balance 'between the true and the false. The answer, "Because

I told you so," may silence, but never satisfies. But how

kindly are the words of our Father: "Come now, let us

reason together" — 'Come and tell me what worries you; perhaps

I can make some suggestions that will help you to see.'

He gives us real aid ; for he helps us to harmonize submission

and liberty, to substitute co-operation for obstinacy, and noble

independence for slavish subserviency.

TRUE SOURCE OF OUB PEACE

If something worries us, let us take it to the Master-lVftnd.

If we are in need, let us make it known to the Giver of every

good and perfect gift. If then hi3 providence or reason suggest

that we might properly expect a supplying of our need through

some other channel than ourselves, it would not be amiss to

let our request be made known there also — but to him first.

Turmoil and strife of heart and mind are not conducive to the

development of the richest character. But great care must be

exercised in discerning between outward turmoil and that of

the heart. Only wHen we are habitually losing our anxieties

in the bosom of him before whose face every perplexity is plain

as noonday can we have that truest Christian experience of

the following verse: "And the peace of God, which passeth all

understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ

Jesus." Only in that peace which comes from a consciousness

of our vital union with God Almighty can we use our powers,

great or small, to the best advantage.

Our confidence in him is not merely the blind and heathen

confidence of the poet who, observing the passage of the waterbird

across the heavens, said:

"He who from zone to zone

Guides through the boundless .sky thy certain flight,

In the long way that I must tread alone

Will guide my steps aright."

That is good; but ours is better. Ours is a warm, sweet

and personal faith in God, based on his word and on our own

experience, "so that we can boldly say: The Lord is my

helper, I shall not fear what man may do unto me" — be it

Gethsemane, Hall of Judgment, the Way of Tears, or even

Calvary.

"Under his wings I am safely abiding,

Though the night deepens and tempests are wild;

Still I can trust him. I know he will keep me;

He hath redeemed me, and I am his child."

•IF"

If I can warm with Love some lonely heart,

Hope's lustre to some listless eye impart;

If I can make a straight path for the lame,

Or fan some smoldering Faith to fervent flame;

If I may help some faltering foot to keep

The painful, narrow way, though rough and steep;

If thou, dear Lord, wilt use me, even me,

To draw some trembling soul more close to thee ;

If, when the end of all things is at hand,

My feeble efforts may help one to stand ;

If I may live to make truth's message plain —

Ah! then, 'twill ne'er be said, my life was vain.

GROWING STRONGER

Luke 2:42-52; 2 Peter 1:5-8.

[The first 12 paragraphs of this article were reprinted from an article entitled, "Holy, Harmless, Perfect," published

issue of January 15, 1906, which please see.]

he might bring everlasting life

OUR LORD'S CONSECRATION AND BAPTISM

Being free from sin, our Lord required no justification by

another; and when he had reached manhood's estate, at the

age of thirty years, he presented himself wholly, unreservedly,

to do the Father's will. At the moment of consecration his

earthly life was yielded up as a sacrifice for the sin of the

whole world; and this consecration was symbolized by his immersion

into water at Jordan. The remaining three and onehalf

years of his life were already on the altar; and he merely

waited for his sacrifice to be consumed, crying with his last

breath, "It is finished!"

Quickly following our Lord's consecration and its symbolization

came the evidence that his sacrifice was accepted of

God. We read that the heavens were opened unto him. This

probably signifies that he was granted a vision of heavenly

things, an insight into the deeper things of the Scriptures, an

understanding of the higher things of God's Word. Hitherto

he had in a measure understood about the lamb that was to be

led to the slaughter, but saw nothing to identify the one who

was to be the great deliverer or to explain the wonderful pictures

in the Scriptures. But just as soon as he was begotten

of the holy Spirit, he began to see that if he would accomplish

the great work of blessing all the families of the earth it

would be by a manifestation of loyalty and of righteousness.

As soon as' his mind was illuminated he saw the things pertaining

to the sufferings of the Christ.

At his consecration at Jordan our Lord agreed to give up

the human life, all rights and privileges as a human being.

The ultimate purpose of this full surrender of his life was that

to mankind*. The Father's

arrangement with him, however, was such that our Lord might

retain his personality, his identity. But after he was begotten

of the holy Spirit, he was a new creature; and as a new

creature he had his human body in which to develop character

suitable for the high condition to which his successful accomplishment

of his mission would lead. The latter part of our

lesson for today calls to our attention the elements which

enter into that character and which must be developed by all

who would attain to membership in the body of Christ.

GROWTH IN THE FRUITS OP THE SPIRIT

The matter of cultivating Christian character is not one

to be accomplished in a few hours or days. It is the work of

a lifetime, a process of addition, virtue added to virtue, grace

to grace, and assimilated by the spiritual germ of the new

nature, until the embryo new creature is formed; and then it

must continue to develop to completion.

St. Peter indeed describes a most amiable character. But

who can meditate upon hi a description without feeling that to

attain this high eminence will be the work of a lifetime?

Day by day, if we are faithful, we should realize a measure of

growth in grace and of development of Christian character.

We must see to it that we have the truth of God's Word, and

that it is having its legitimate and designed effect upon out

lives. And if the truth is thus received into good and honest

hearts, we have the assurance of the Apostle that we shall

never fall, but that in due time we shall be received into the

kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

[6278]

HELPING OTHERS

[This article was a reprint of that entitled, "Who 13 My Neighbor," published in issue of July 1, 1000, whieh please see,]

QUESTIONS CONCERNING EZEKIEL'S TEMPLE

Question. — Dues Ezekiel \s Temple represent God's finished

work only?

Answer. — It represents both the finished work and the work

in process. But when we apply the picture to the Gospel age

the same gate, including the porch, symbolizes the tentative

and the vitalized justification of the little flock and the great

company, and the gate up to the porch the tentative justification

of others of the household of faith. In the Gospel age

picture the Holy represents the tentative condition of those

begotten to the divine nature. After each age is over, the

part of the Temple which had represented a wonc in process

during that age represents the memory of that same work in

the mind of God, of Christ and of the beings concerned in the

work.

Question. — Does the east gate of the inner court symbolize

the fact that the members of the great company are developed

after having been "raised to the spirit condition"?

Answer. — It depends on the meaning attached to the expression

"raised to the spirit condition." "Raised" means resurrected

, and is properly figured by the porch of the gate. A

porch represents vitalization, resurrection, raising to the condition

of the plane indicated by .the court to which the gate

belongs. The outer-court north-gate-porch shows the final

resurrection, or full life, through the process of resurrection,

which will be gained by the hosts of mankind. Such a resurrection

requires that all the conditions of obedience be met,

and they will be met by all the loyal portion of mankind by

the end of the thousand years, and by many individuals much

sooner. The porch of the outer gate (east) represents the

vitalization of tentative justification. For the little flock and

the great company this takes place, after having met the conditions

for justification, at the instant of begetting to the

divine nature in the Holy. The ancient worthies will receive

the vitalizing, or making alive of their tentative justification,

at the beginning of the earthly phase of the kingdom of

heaven, we believe in 1925, having met all the conditions during

their first earthly lives. — Hebrews 11.

On the divine plane (the building) and on the spirit plane

(inner court) the vitalizing, raising, takes place first, in the

begettal to the divine nature, as shown in the porch of the

Temple building. Those begotten to divinity find themselves

in the Holy, having by the act of consecration unto death

passed over the threshold — assuming that the consecration was

accepted. The faithful 144,000 remain in the Holy till death;

many of them passed into the Most Holy in 1878, following

the Head, who went in A. D. 33. Those proving more or

less unfaithful have been put out of the Holy by the million*,

into the inner court east gate, there to meet all the conditions

necessary for the birth to the spirit plane, represented by

passing out of this gate into the inner court. While originally

begotten to the divine nature, in the porch of the Temple, the

great company nourish themselves poorly or poorly assimilate

their spiritual food, the Word of God. This begettal therefore

not resulting in divinity, they must count themselves as having

been in the porch of this east gate; for it results in birth to

the spirit plane, but not to the divine stage of that plane.

It is after the begettal, the quickening, the raising to sit

in the heavenlies { Ephesians 2:6) in this life, that those begotten

to the spirit plane or to the divine plane become overcomers

(Revelation 7:9), or more than overeomers (Revelation

3:21), as the case may be. In other words they meet all the

conditions of the Word of God as represented in the chambers

of the gate or in the picture-lessons on the walls of the Holy.

After having been born to the proper plane of being, they will

grow greatly in knowledge and will forever practice the graces

of the spirit; but they can never have any further change in

plane of being, as far as we have any knowledge. — Ezekiel

48:12, 14.

Question. — What is signified by Ezekiel 46:24, "The ministers

of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people"?

Answer. — These passages from Ezekiel read as follows:

"After he brought me through the [priests'] entry [S], which

was at the side of the inner north] gate, into the holy chambers

[I, I, I, I] of the priests, which looked toward the north;

and behold there was a place [J, J] on the two sides westward

[west of the priests* chambers]. Then said he unto me.

This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass

offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake the meat

offering."— Ezekiel 40:19, 20.

"Then he brought me forth into the utter [outer] court,

and caused me to paas by the four corners of the court; and

behold in every corner of the court there was a court [W, W,

W, W], in the four corners of the [outer] court there were

courts joined [made with chimneys] of forty cubits long and

thirty broad : these four corners were of one measure. And

there was a row of building round about in them, round

about them four, and it was made with boiling places under

the rows round about. Then said he unto me, TTiese are the

places of them that boil, where the ministers [servants. Lovites

, the great company] of the house [the little flock] shall

boil the sacrifice of the people." — Ezekiel 40:21-24.

The foregoing refers to an important part of the treatment

of the private sacrifices made by individuals among the people

during the year after the day of atonement. The sacrifices of

the day of atonement typified the "better sacrifices" of Christ

(Hebrews 9:23), Head and body, during the Gospel age. In a

general way any sacrifice pictures the consecration, the setting

apart to divine service of the offerer (Romans 12:1), the

specific purpose or object being indicated by the peculiar ritual

of each sacrifice.

In certain of the private sacrifices of the people the flesh

of the animal offered was eaten by the priest or by the offerer.

(Leviticus 7:7, 15) The eating signifies the appropriation of

the offering by the person or being to whom it was divinely

ordained that the part eaten should pertain. In a peace offering

the breast and the shoulder (the best parts) were for the

priest to eat, the rest of the animal being for the offerer,

except the part burned. (Leviticus 7:11-18) In a trespass

offering the part of the animal not burned was for the priests

to eat. — Leviticus 7:1-6.

This signifies that in the coming age when an individual

consecrates or reconsecrates himself his consecration will be

accepted as made to and belonging to the royal priesthood,

Christ the great High Priest and the church the under priests.

This will be proper because Christ bought the world with his

blood; and for a thousand years everyone will belong to our

Lord by right of purchase. — Ephesians 1 : 14.

The flesh of the animal was not fit for eating immediately

the animal was slain; nor will the consecration by a human

being of himself be Ready for assimilation by the priesthood

until something more is done, As before being eaten the flesh

was washed with water ; so, too, ittfie person consecrating will

be washed by the water of the Word. His being must be

cleansed and made to approach closer to the divine standards.

His new human mind aad will must continually be transformed

by the renewing of that mind, through the Word of

God relating to human perfection. — Romans 12:2.

Even the washing did not finish the preparation of the

flesh. It was still raw, tough, not tender enough to be eaten

or assimilated; for the application of cold water did not make

the flesh tender. The mere learning of the truth, will not

transform character. Theory alone does not make a good

workman; practice under difficulty causes the theory to become

part of the character, the being, and makes the learner a good

workman. The cold water of the truth touches the outside;

only when heated to boiling does water penetrate throughout

the entire substance. The Word of God, the truths destined to

become a part of the very being, penetrates throughout, and

thoroughly softens the whole being of the individual, when the

lessons of the truth are learned and practiced amid fiery trials

— when symbolical heat (trials) is applied with and through

the water. — Hebrews 5:8.

In the Hebrew Tabernacle the flesh was boiled or seethed

before the door of the Holy. As in the consecration of the

priesthood, "Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, Boil the

flesh at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation ; and

there eat it with the bread that is in the basket of consecrations

." (Leviticus 8:31) "And thou shalt take the ram of

consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place [court].

And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and

the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle

of the congregation." — Exodus 29:31, 32,

The significance is much the same here as in the subsequent

private sacrifices of the people. In the private sacrifices

the boiled flesh was *aten by the priest alone, or by

priest and offerer, typifying the assimilation of that degree

of human perfection which was signified by the flesh of the

particular creature sacrificed. In the antitype the degree of

perfection attained or desired by the offerer will be taught

him by the royal priesthood — will originate with them, as

will the character development accompanying the merit of

Christ applied to and assimilated by the consecrator.

The receiving of the flesh by the priesthood is from our

viewpoint the receiving back by the Christ of the mental and

[6279] (189-190)

(190- 191)

THE WATCH TOWER

Brooklyn, N. Y.

moral development of the consecrator, which is but their own;

for the consecrator will have received it from them. (1

Corinthians 4:7) Thus will the people acknowledge their dependency

on the priesthood as the source of all the attainments

and of the ideals connected with the gaining and the enjoyment

of human perfection through restitution. They will separate

themselves to the ownership and control of the royal priesthood

; they will give themselves to the Christ as Lord (owner)

and Master. (Isaiah 2:3) They will acknowledge their new

selves, their beings to be transformed by the renewing influences

of the divine instruction and guidance of the coming

age, as of the Christ and to and for the Christ, by whose

merit and through whose ministry they may be made ready to

be "delivered up to God, even the Father," at the end of the

thousand years of probation, after which, "when all things

shall be subdued unto him fthe Son], then shall the Son also*

himself be subject to him [God] that put all things under

him [the Son], that God may be all in all."

Only through sacrifice, trial and suffering can the imperfect

approach unto God. (Psalm 51:17-19) The imperfections

DIVINE SANCTUARY

THE TEMPLE OF EZEKIEL'S VISION

A — Brazen Altar

B — Temple Porch and Entrance

C— The Holy

D — Entrance Into Most Holy

E — The Most Holy

H — Separate Places in Inner Court

I — Priests' Chambers

J — Priests' Boiling Places

K^Western Building

L — Levites' Chambers for Washing

Burnt Offerings

M — Singers' Chambers

N — Porch or Lobby the

Federal Court of the Eastern District of New York. Affidavits

had been filed by the eight defendants stating their reasons for

believing ^that Mr. Justice Garvin was biased against us and

our work. This action automatically removed him from the

trial and adverted the case to Mr. Justice Chatfield. He, however

, referred it to a judge specially brought here from Vermont

— Mr. Justice Howe.

At this writing, one week of the trial has elapsed, with

perhaps a little more than half of the testimony presented by

the prosecution. Our legal counsel, Messrs. Sparks and Fuller,

are loyally looking out for our interests, and under great

handicaps, for the government has had three months for preparation

and our counsel is obliged to prepare as we go along,

because no disclosures were made in the indictment as to what.

portions of our literature were objected to.

It se<ems we have a fair-minded jury, but it is too early to

be able to discern which way the trial will go. Of one thing

we are certain: all concerned are perfectly willing to accept

the Lord's providence in the matter, and rejoice that they are

accounted worthy to suffer shame for his sake.

Foreign Agencies .-—British Branch: LONDON TABERNACLE

, Lancaster Gate, London, W. German Branch: Unterdorner

Str., 76 Barmen. Australasian Branch: Flinders Building

, Flinders St., Melbourne. Please address the SOCIETY in

every case.

[Last appearance of this paragraph, which previously

appeared in every issue since the agencies were formed.]