SINCE the publication of the article, "Watchman, What of the Night?", dealing with the subject of chronology, in a recent issue of this journal, there has been a general awakening along the line of the entire subject and many are evidencing a keen interest in the matter and have been' pursuing a careful and earnest investigation,. with the object in view of arriving at more settled and satisfactory conclusions with regard to the various phases and features of this subject.

We feel that it will interest our readers to learn that the general opinion and view thus far expressed with regard to the presentations on the chronology are most favorable, and many have freely written us that they, have heartily accepted the conclusions reached in view of the abundant and harmonious testimony of the Scriptures that was offered, and, that it has meant to them renewed comfort and encouragement. Indeed, these were the results we had anticipated else we should have hesitated, to present the matter as we did.

It has been of special interest to us to receive advice from brethren in several different quarters telling of how for some months or years before receiving our recent treatment of the subject, they had been led to make an exhaustive. examination of the, chronology and had arrived, at exactly the game conclusions as those presented in the HERALD with regard to; the 19 years difference in the starting of Gentile Times, and found that all the evidences showed that Nebuchadnezzar's universal kingdom began in his first year instead of his nineteenth.

We shall not neglect to mention the fact, however, that a few have expressed difficulty, in, grasping the various points, and an occasional one has raised earnest objection to some of our arguments and to the application of the Scriptures that we have made, as well as the conclusions reached. This also was to be expected in view of the fact that the various. threads. and fragments of the historical records out of which we, draw our conclusions are, to a large extent, run together and interwoven, so that the subject is of necessity -made more or less complex, and a careful comparison of many Scriptures is required in order to arrive at an understanding of all, the facts.

We have urged the brethren, however, to remember that this is not a subject over which we should have contention or strife or unkind words. It is not one of the issues involving our justification or our sanctification or our fellowship with one another in Christ .If we do riot see eye to eye on this matter let us, not enter into a quarrel with any, nor allow it to become a test of fellowship to any extent. Rather let us, as far as. possible, be exercised by the spirit of love and charity that will be glad to grant full Christian liberty to other brethren who do not see eye to eye with us on subjects in which no vital doctrine or principle of righteousness is involved, and thus endeavor to provoke one another to love and good works.

It is proper for us to add in this connection that while some of the brethren need to be encouraged to look into and investigate the chronology, we believe that others need to be counseled not to make too much over the subject--not to be too dogmatic as to their views and conclusions, remembering, again what our 'Pastor wisely said along" this line - "We may not read the time features. with the saint absolute certainty as doctrinal features; for time is not so definitely stated in the Scriptures, as are the basic doctrines. We are still walking by faith and not by sight.

We would again state that our object in publishing the matter on the chronology was not to advance or was not to emphasize the importance of this feature of our system of faith beyond that of, other lines of thought, but knowing that there is much confusion among the brethren today on the subject of chronology, and clearly, recognizing that the subject of the time features has its place in the inspired Messages to the saints, we deemed that it would be pleasing to our Lord for us to deal with the matter accordingly and seek to present to the brethren such lines of thought as Were considered well established by the Scriptures, and as would, therefore, help to clarify matters along chronological lines, feeling that this would be edifying spiritually and contribute to the general encouragement of all. We are thankful to say that our object thus far has been attained, having received many assurances from the brethren that they have clearer vision on the entire subject of chronology than ever before and that their faith has been strengthened and confirmed. It is out thought, therefore, that as the Lord's providence. may indicate, to continue to present the results of our observations and investigations, leaving each and all the fullest liberty to apply the test of the Scriptues and to prove all things and hold fast that which is found to be Truth,.

We are submitting below, a number of the, difficulties and objections raised by- some, believing that it will be profitable to our readers to- consider these, together with, our explanations and rep1y:

LENGTH OF THE BABYLONIAN KINGDOM

Question, The statement, is made, in the HERALD, Page 119, first column, that the reign of the Kingdom of Babylon was.but 70 years and not 89 years. How can we harmonize this with the, fact thai "Swinton's Outlines of the World's History" states, page 35, that "this later Babylonian kingdom lasted for 87 years (625-538 B.C.), till overthrown by the new power of Persia"? Does not this statement; contradict the claim made in the HERALD that the Babylonian kingdom was but 70 years long?, And does not secular' history, therefore, show. that Nebuchad-nezzar's reign commenced in 625 B.C. instead, of 606?

Answer. The questioner has not grasped the import of the expression. in the HERALD with regard to the length of the Babylonian Kingdom. By a careful reading of the context and the quotations of Scripture it will be apparent that our remark that the reign of BabyIon was 70 years instead of 89 did not have reference to the historical Babylonian kingdom as a whole. We were discussing in the HERALD the universal Babylonian.kingdom as it was given to Nebuchad-nezzar in his first year, in which he was told by Daniel (2:37, 38), "Thou art this head of gold." This was said to Nebuchadnezzar in his second year. We are, quite, well aware that the Babylonian kingdom existed before 606 B.C., but not, under, Nebuchadnezzar. In fact, by a little closer examination of Swinton's Outlines of the World's History it will be observed that the HERALD explanation is in full harmony, for this secular historian goes on to explain how the Babylonian kingdom came .into existence: "When Assyria was overthrown 'by the Medes, 625 B.C., Nabopolassar, Who had aided the Medes, received as his share of the spoil the undisputed possession of Babylonia. Nabopolassar [not Nebuchad-nezzar]., the first monarch of the new Babylonian kingdom, was succeeded by his son Nebuchadnezzar, under whom the empire reached its height 'of glory." Here then we have the most conclusive proof so, far as secular, history is concerned that Nebuchadnezzar was not the first monarch in the historical Babylonian kingdom, but that his father, Nabopolassar took the throne 625 B.C., and that Nebuchadnezzar, his son, succeeded him. In giving a summary of the Babylonian kingdom, Swinton's history states that Nebuchadnezzar's accession to the 'throne was 604 B.C., thus indicating that his I father, Nabopolassar had reigned approximately 20 years before. Thus it is seen that instead of secular history contradicting the claims made in the HERALD on Scriptural' basis, it thoroughly confirms and establishes -those claims, namely, that while the historical Babylonian kingdom lasted approximately 89 years, Nebuchadnezzar, did not become king, of, Babylon till the, end of about 20 years, leaving about 70 years to the fall of Babylon, near 536 B.C.; and as the world dominion was given to, him in his first year that would. mean that the universal Babylonian kingdom lasted 70 years. As Nebuchadnezzar successfully assumed control of all nations; including Israel, in his first year, the fact is then established that the prophetic .seventy year's of servItude of, Israel and the prophetic, "seven times" of' the Gentiles also, there commenced Then, if we deduct, the first 19 years of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, till the fall of Jerusalem and Zedekiah's captivity, we have about the year of 587 B.C. clearly established, leaving but about 51 years to 536 B.C., the end of Israel's captivity.

WHAT CONSTITUTES STATE OF SERVITUDE?

Question. Regarding the claim made in the HERALD that Israel's servitude commenced in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign: In view of the fact that the Israelites did not willingly serve the king of Babylon and really did not yield obedience until their king, Zedekiah, was removed, could it be said that their servitude was anaccomplished fact,. therefore, until Zedekiah's removal and the destruction of Jerusalem, and in. fact until the desolation itself commenced?

Answer. The fact, that the Jews did not willingly yield to Nebuchadnezzar in the beginning of his reign is by no means, a proof that, the period of their servitude did not commence then, for, as a matter of fact, there is nothing to show that they served the king of Babylon I willingly at any time, even after they had been ,carried captives, to Babylon. We believe that no one would assume the responsibility of proving that they ever willingly served the king of Babylon. Their willingness or unwillingness does not enter into the question, of deciding when their servitude commenced. The fact that they rebelled and refused to yield obedience during the first 19 years of Nebuchadnezzar's dominion does not prove that their period of servitude had not begun, For instance, to illustrate our thought further: A rebellion broke out in the southern part of the United States Government in 1861. Four years was required by the government. to put down the rebellion, through what is now termed the Civil War. We believe that no one would think of contending that the Southern States were no part of the United States Government until, after the rebellion was put down. just so in the case of Israel's servitude to the kingdom of Babylon. Their"' bondage and servitude, commenced, as we have clearly shown in the HERALD, in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar's II reign. Both Daniel and Jeremiah so I state. Daniel had said to Nebuchadnezzar in his second' year, "The God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom," and Jeremiah had said the same thing in the beginning of Nebuchad-nezzar's reign. (Jer. 27:7-11.) Jeremiah's statement was,. 'It. shall come to pass, When seventy years are accomplished, I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation,. saith the Lord, for their iniquity." Moreover, Daniel (1:1) declared that Nebuchadnezzar proved that he held this world-power and authority that God had given him by going up to Jerusalem and besieging the city, and the. record is that "the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand-, with part of the vessels of the house of God," etc.' thus starting the "'Times of the Gentiles." From that time forward all the records show that Israel was a vassalage or servile kingdom under the dominion of the kingdom of, Babylon. In confirmation of this it is observed that the three kings of Israel, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, who formally held to the throne from Jehoiakim's third year to Zedekiah's overthrow, were compelled to be subservient to Nebuchadnezzar, and as Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin "rebelled they were I removed from the throne; and, it is most significant that we read concerning Zedekiah that, Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah king. to replace Jehoiachin when the latter was carried away captive to Babylon in Nebuchad-nezzar's 8th year. (2 Kings 24:17.) We ask what more positive proof could there be that Israel's real kingly or sovereign power was, gone and that Nebuchad-nezzar's universal reign had commenced?

Again, we urge the importance of observing that the servitude to the king of Babylon as it was originally suggested and purposed was not necessarily to mean the removal of their king or the desolation of the land. This is plainly indicated in Jer. :27 :11, Which reads, "'But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord, and they shall till it, and dwell therein." Verse 12 states, I spake also to Zedekiah, king of Judah, according to all these Words, saying, "Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him." Is it not then most apparent that it was not the Divine intention to remove Israel's king at all if he and the nation of Israel had obeyed the king of Babylon? It was because of their disobedience, and rebellion that their king was finally removed and their land made desolate, as God had previously threatened, (see I verse 8, same chapter). The fact that the foreknowledge of God in foreseeing that Israel would not submit and would not put their neck under the yoke, and the fact that God .had through the Prophet previously foretold the removal of Israel's king and the complete downfall of Jerusalem, does not -at all militate against the above line of, reasoning to the effect that had the nation yielded themselves in the beginning to the king of BabyIon there would not have been the removal of their king and the desolation of the land.--Jer. 25:4-11.

DESOLATION DOES NOT SIGNIFY DEPOPULATION

Question. The position is taken in the HERALD, page 121, that the desolation of the land of Israel for 70 years did not mean the depopulation of the land for that entire period, for the reason that when Zedekiah was overthrown Nebuchadnezzar left certain of the poor of the land, etc.,' to remain and, that these were ,not removed for, some years afterward, but is it riot indicated in the records of this final siege of Jerusalem and the overthrow of Zedekiah as found in 2 Kings 25,
2 Chron. 36, and in Jer. 43, 44, that all the Israelites "that were left in the land" after the destruction of the city fled to Egypt that same year, thus entirely depopulating the land?

Answer. From the account of the entire matter given by Jeremiah, in chapters 40, 41 and 42 in connection with the - above mentioned records it will be clearly observed that a co considerable length of time must have, passed after Zedekiah's overthrow before the land was without- manor beast. The records are more or less hazy as to the exact time when the land became depopulated. The accounts show that after Jerusalem was conquered Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah over I the land and the, people that were left as vine-dressers, etc., and that for some time a. state of strife and anarchy pre vailed; during, which this Gedaliah whom Nebuchadnezzar had placed over the land was, by a band of conspirators put to death and it was even 'after that that the remaining, people of the land fled to Egypt.

To us the most conclusive proof that some years Were involved, is found in Jer. 52:28-30, where the Prophet is enumerating some of the captivities from the beginning, of Nebuchadnezzar's reign during which the Israelites were carried away to Babylon, and he states that the last captivity was in the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign and that Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the, guard, carried away "seven' hundred forty and five persons." Now as the servile Jewish kingdom had fallen in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, this would mean that about four years later the last captivity took place. just how these people came to be in the land we may not, be able to discern clearly. It is sufficient for us to know that they were there at least four years after Zedekiah's overthrow and therefore it could not be said that the land was void of inhabitants until they were removed.

'70 YEARS OF DESOLATION,

Question. Are there not a number of references that indicate that the 70 years of- desolation of the land of Israel was to mean that it should be completely void of inhabitants full 70 years? Note the following Scriptures: Jer. 33:10; 44:2, 6, 22; Dan. 9:1, 2.

Answer. That the Scriptures distinctly state that there should be 70 years of desolation of the land we believe that none will dispute. The whole question hinges on whether desolation means depopulation entirely devoid of inhabitants. We believe there is nothing to establish the claim that the 70 years desolation prophesied signifies that the land would be devoid of inhabitants full 70 years. To our understanding the reason the statement is repeatedly made that the land would be. "without man or beast, without an inhabitant" is 'to. emphasize the thought" of the severity or intensity to which the punishment would be inflicted without meaning necessarily that the land would be devoid of in habitants the entire 70 years. In fact there is no statement that so declares though it was clearly in dicated that the desolation would be for that long, as, for instance, Dan. 9:1, 2. We have already shown that four years after Zedekiah's overthrow and about six years after the desolation of the land 'had commenced the filial captivity of 745 persons took place., Let the fact be seen then' that the desolation would relate to the land lying idle, and waste, without the Lord's blessing, uncultivated and there fore, non-productive. While t he Prophet. had declared that' during the desolation there would be a time, that it would be without man or beast, yet there was nothing in the record stating, that it would be without inhabitants full 70 Years. We quite fully agree that the record seems to indicate that for the major portion of the 70 years desolation the land was without inhabitants, But we have shown that Jeremiah's prophecy was fulfilled, that from 589 B. C., when the final siege was made against Jerusalem, to 520 R. C., a period of approximately 70, y I ears, the land was in a state of' desolation, even though in 536 B. C., Cyrus had issued the edict freeing the, Jews', and even though a: number of them returned to Jerusalem and undertook to rebuild the Temple, the work was I not,, prospered and -the land did not yield its fruit, and the blessing of the Lord was. not. upon them nor the. land until the: people we I re found in a proper attitude, of heart.

FULL END OF DESOLATION

Question. Does, not a careful reading of 2 Chron. 36:20, 21, indicate that the desolation period of 70 years ended when the reign of the kingdom of Persia .began, in the first year, of Cyrus, and would not this show that it must have been 70 years from about the fall of Zedekiah to that time?'

Answer. Such conclusion we believe cannot be established from the Scriptures cited. Let us bear in mind, that this 36th chapter of 2 Chronicles give's a summary of the entire matter of Israel's punishment and captivity, finally recording in verse 20 that following the last siege of Jerusalem in which the c1ty was destroyed those who escaped I from the sword were carried away to Babylon, where all remained until the Kingdom of Persia., Then' summing up the matter in- verse 21 as to why all this had taken place we read that it was "to fulfil the word of the. Lord by' the mouth, of Jeremiah-, until the, land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long, as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years." While-the word fulfil indeed means to complete, yet even when the people were held in captivity until the kingdom of Persia, Jeremiah's word concerning the 70 years of desolation was even then 'not yet completed. The thought is that all of these conquests by Nebuchadnezzar were made, and these captivities occurred for the purpose of bringing to pass Jeremiah's prophecy concerning the punishment and desolation. In other words,, Jeremiah's prophecy was many years in process of fulfillment. When Nebuchadnezzar finally besieged Jerusalem and destroyed the city, removing the last vassal king, that was done for the purpose of fulfilling the word of Jeremiah to make the cities of Judah desolate, to cause, the land to lie waste and nonproductive. But the destroying of the city and the taking away of the people, while it was for the purpose of fulfilling Jeremiah's prophecy, did not completely fulfil it. The, people must be removed to Babylon. This also was to fulfil Jeremiah's prophecy, but this did not yet completely fulfil it. The people must be retained in Babylon until the reign of the kingdom of Persia. This also was to fulfil Jeremiah's prophecy, but even this did not completely fulfil it, for as we have shown in many other Scriptures, the period of 70 years of desolation had not yet run its course. In order to finally and completely fulfil Jeremiah's prophecy the land must continue to remain desolate for at least 16 years longer. In harmony with what we have already shown, that though, the proclamation of liberty was issued, and some of the people returned, yet the desolation continued, the Lord withheld His blessing from the land, and permitted the blight and the mildew to prolong the desolation (Hag. 2:15-19), until 520 B. C. We ask the reader to note carefully again the language found in Zechariah's 'prophecy (Zech. 1:12, 16); it was in the second year of Darius IL 520 B. C., that this expression was uttered: "Oh Lord of hosts, how long, wilt, thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which Thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? And the Lord, answered the angel that talked with me with good words. . . . Therefore thus saith the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with' mercies; My house shall be built in it.", This language states distinctly the end of the 70 years of desolation was at that time and, as pointed out in the- HERALD article, 'from, that time forward the state of desolation, the waste, non-productive condition of -the land, ceased, and Jeremiah's prophecy concern ing the 70 years of desolation was fulfilled in the last and final sense.

WAS DANIEL 110 YEARS OLD?

Question. In the HERALD article on chronology, page 120, it was urged that if we considered the lease of Gentile power and Israel's 70 years of captivity as commencing at Zedekiah's -overthrow, this would mean that Daniel at the expiration of the period of captivity would be something like 110 years old, having himself been made a captive in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, being approximately 20 years of age when he went into captivity. Can this be considered a sound argument or proof that therefore Israel"s servitude must have started 19 years earlier, in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign? Would it be unreasonable to suppose that Daniel, lived to be 110 years old, especially in view of the fact, that Old Testament character's such as. Moses and others lived much longer than men do at the present time, and should we not, remember. that, Daniel was in many ways miraculously preserved. Divine power being manifested on his behalf, and thus could we not account for his being. 110 years old at the expiration of the BabyIonian captivity?

Answer. In reply to this query we-would say that the presentation in the HERALD did not offer this particular point as one of the absolute proofs that the captivity must have commenced in Nebuchadnezzar's first year, when Daniel was 18 or 20 years old . We merely mentioned the fact that if we were to allow that, there was a period of 87 or 89 years from Nebuchadnezzar's first year until the fall of Babylon, it would imply that Daniel would be about 110 years old at the end of the captivity, which we thought was practically out, of the question and still so think.

As for the suggestion that Daniel could easily be 110 years old at this time, in view of the fact that Old Testament characters such as Moses and others lived longer than men do in modern times, it seems to us it is sufficient to say that Moses, Whose vitality was unabated at 120 years, did not live in Daniel's day, but nearer the days of Noah, who lived 950 years, whereas the Prophet Daniel lived about 550 years before Christ. A careful examination of the Bible records will disclose that men at that time did not live much longer than at present, that there fore it could scarcely have been less than a miracle for Daniel to have been active, as -he was; being at that time prime minister to the King of Babylon and exercising jurisdiction over the entire dominion; it seems to us, out of all reason to think of Daniel fulfilling the duties of such an office if he were 110 years old. That God could indeed have performed a miracle and miraculously preserved him, no one will dispute, and the fact that God did at times protect his life by no means proves that he miraculously extended his age; at least, there is no Scripture testimony whatever to this effect, leaving the matter, as we have already said, practically out, of the question to think of, Daniel as 110 years old at the expiration of the Babylonian captivity

VALUE OF SECULAR HISTORY

Question. Can we safely base any definite conclusion on the testimony of secular history; either Ptolemy's Canon or others, prior to 5,36 B. C., and would we not do well, therefore, to avoid referring to any of the historians to prove any of our deductions with regard to the "Times of the Gentiles" or any of the captivities prior to, the date 536?

Answer. We believe that. those who have carefully read the presentation on chronology in the HERALD will readily observe that none of the arguments or conclusions therein, presented are founded upon secular history. It will be recalled that the treatise on chronology in the April 15th HERALD covered about ten -,pages, and in all that space we believe the reader will find but about ten lines on page 121, first column, making reference to secular history; and this we presented, not as proof, but, finding that the testimony of Ptolemy's Canon was in full accord with, our conclusions which we had already established on forceful Scripture statements, we, believed, it would be interesting to our readers to know that secular history was in full harmony with, and corroborated, what we had found in the Bible as to the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar's reign and the servitude of Israel. We believe it will be interesting in this connection to note a brief statement by BROTHER RUSSELL with regard to the secular historian, Ptolemy, as follows:

"The period from the time of the restoration of the Jews from Babylon, it the close of the seventy years desolation of their land, in the first year of Cyrus, down to the date known as A. D. 11 is well, established by secular history as a period, of 536 years. Ptolemy, a learned Greek-Egyptian, a geometer and astronomer, has well established these figures. They are, generally accepted by scholars, and known as Ptolemy's Canon."--STUDIES, VOL. 11-51.

Now, it is this same historian, Ptolemy, whom BROTHER RUSSELL designates a learned, Greek-Egyptian, geometer and astronomer,. generally, accepted by scholars, who states that Nebuchadnezzar's reign commenced around I 604 or 606 B. C., and lasted till 538 B. C., about two years before Cyrus issued his edict of freedom to the Jews. The very fact that .Ptolemy's Canon has been found to be, and is agreed upon, by scholars generally, correct and reliable as far back as 536 B. C., would logically lend weight to his testimony preceding that time. However, we urge all to bear in mind' that we. need not depend upon Ptolemy's Canon, or other secular historical data for our information 'with regard to Israel's affairs prior to 536 B. C. We can lay aside the entire matter of secular history, and our conclusions, re main firmly the same.

360-DAY YEAR PROPHETICAL PERIODS

Question. Can it be said that our conclusions are well grounded when we count our time periods according to the 360-day year; reference in this connection being specially to the seventy-year period figured in the HERALD from 599 B. C. to 520 B. C.?

Answer. The questioner does not seem to remember that the, longest -and most important period in our .chronological system, the "seven times" of the Gen tiles, making 2,520 years, is based upon this method of calculation; a "time'' signifying' one year, or 360 symbolic days; 7 X 360 = 2,520. Again, the three and a half times of Daniel 12 are figured on the same basis; a "time" signifying a year of 360 days, and three and a half times 360 making 1,260 symbolic days, referring to the period of Papal supremacy. The same period of Papal dominion is again referred to in Revelation 11, where the Revelator says the holy city shall be trodden down forty-two months. PASTOR RUSSELL in this, case also has figured 30 days to each month, making a 360-day year, or a total of 1,260 years.

None will dispute that all of the above mentioned prophetical periods are amongst the most important, and are all figured or calculated on the same scale or basis that we figured the 70 years of desolation reaching to 520 B. C. ; and, this measure is what is termed the "soli-lunar" time commonly observed in the calculating of periods in the Old Testament times. It cannot therefore be, unreasonable for us to apply this scale or measure in reckoning the prophetic period of 70 years of desolation. as we have done in the HERALD exposition. We stated that, we were unable to locate but 69 solar years between Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of the land, his laying siege to Jerusalem in his 17th year, and 520 B. C.' but that reckoning the period in soli-lunar time there was just 70 years. It therefore appeared to us most reasonable that this was the measure or method of calculation'! Divinely intended.

WILL MULTITUDES OF THE PRESENT LIVING GENERATIONS ESCAPE THE TOMB?

FOR some months past we have repeatedly been asked. if we should not now consider that the time has come for the Lord's people to revise their message to the world to a considerable extent, that in view of the fact that the old world" has passed away and that humanity is living in the new dispensation, should we not now -so state to the world, and announce that vast numbers of humanity now living will never 'see death? Our reply has been, and still is, that we, of course, find ourselves in severe disagreement with the propositions, advanced in this question. We cannot concur at all with the assumption that the "present evil world" has passed away and that humanity is living under a new order of things. Everywhere about us are the signs of the old order of the reign of sin and death, of what the Scriptures term "the present evil world." Everywhere about us are the evidences of Satan's activity and dominion. We will not at this point go further into the detail as to the "present evil world," but would refer, to our treatment I of this line of thought as given in the HERALD Of March 1st, page 67, under the caption, "Has 'The Present Evil World' Ended?"

As for the other portion of the question, the changing of our methods and the issuing of the startling announcement that multitudes of our race now living will not die: in view of all the circumstances, we consider that such a message is entirely out of order for any representative of the Lord's people at the present, time. In the first place, there is no-statement what ever in the Bible that could be used as proof text of the truthfulness of such an announcement. There is no testimony in the Bible, whatever to warrant any minister of the Gospel in making Any such extravagant claim or announcement to his fellowmen.

But it is no doubt urged, Do not all the signs indicate that we are approaching the time of the establishment of the Kingdom, and do we not see signs of the morning approaching, and does not that mean that we are living in close I proximity to the Age of life, when death "shall cease and when humanity shall no longer go into the tomb? To this we reply, Quite true; we are in full accord with the teaching that the day of Christ's reign, this time that occupies such an important place in I prophecy, cannot be far distant; but though this be true, none can say just how Soon that time is, -no one can definitely forecast the year. That Adamic death will cease in the Millennial Age, we most firmly believe, but- as to how. early in the Age it will stop, we believe that none can know. There is nothing in the Divine testimony to indicate how -soon Adamic death will cease, after the Kingdom is established,, whether one year, ten years, or fifty years. We may indeed draw certain inferences that might be considered reasonably reliable, and we might derive a certain amount of comfort from those reasonable inferences, but as for forming those inferences, into a positive message, and announcing our, guesses I as conclusive facts, this, we believe, would be displeasing to the Lord.,

"EXCEPT THOSE DAYSBE SHORTENED'.,

The statement of our Lord given in this I connection is frequently urged', "Except those days be -shortened, there. should no flesh, be saved," implying that the days will be shortened, and that there will be flesh saved, or pass through thetime of trouble without dying. 'But even in this remark made by Jesus, we see nothing to warrant the startling proclamation to the world at the present time that many of them will not die, for none can know just when the time of trouble will end, and as already intimated, it cannot be determined with absolute certainty that some of 'the flesh that is -saved or passes, through the time of trouble might not thereafter pass into the tomb. We trust not to be misunderstood with regard to any of, the statements we are now, making, When pressed with the question, Should we not think it.. a reasonable inference that, some who pass through the time of trouble to its end might not need to ever die, we would, of course, reply that we might regard this as a reasonable, inference, that on account of the Kingdom then being -established, it would be a reasonable supposition that those who were obedient might not need to pass into the tomb; but what we are endeavoring now to say is that there is a vast difference between a mere supposition or inference and that which, is known to be positive fact and truth. We must, therefore take the position that we are not to preach what we might think were reasonable inferences,. and give them to the world as facts or established truths.

Another text urged upon us for consideration as bearing upon the above proposition is that found in Zeph, 3:8, 9: "After this will I turn to the people a pure language,", etc. This text is urged as' proving that vast numbers of, humanity now walking the streets will never know what it is to die. 'The reply is that the language of the Prophet must be viewed in the light of what we have just said foregoing. None can know the end of the time of trouble, and even though we could locate that, there is no positive testimony as to how soon men will cease dying after the Kingdom is established. The inference would be that it would not be long, but in view of the fact that the Bible is, silent on this, question, as to just how and when Adamic death will 'Cease, Surely it cannot be acceptable to the Lord that we proclaim to men that they will never die, when as a matter of fact there is sickness, pain and death all around them, with not the slightest proof or evidence that they can see that they will never die.

THE CHRISTIAN'S MESSAGE UNCHANGED

We conclude, therefore, that there is nothing in the messages of our Lord and the Apostles or Prophets to I warrant Christians today in I supposing that they should inject some change into the Gospel Message. Our Lord instructed that the good word of the Kingdom was to, be preached unto the end of the Age. On another page in this issue, the message with which our Lord commenced His ministry is brought to our attention. Our Lord announced His theme and the Message that He was authorized to give, saying: The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because He. hath anointed Me to preach good tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, to comfort all that mourn. These words in brief embody the entire kernel of the Gospel -theme, from the days of Jesus, down to the very, end of the Age when the last members of the Church would be concluding their pilgrimage. As we see prophecy fulfilling and note the signs that the New Day of Christ is approaching, we may indeed call the attention of men to these prophecies and bid them take comfort and encouragement from, the same, but as for receiving any warrant from the Lord to revise the Message, to make the startling proclamation to the world now that they will not they will never die, we think could not possibly have Lord's approval.

The Apostle urges the 'brethren in Christ to let their moderation be 'known' unto all men. Surely, if ever there was a time when the Lord"s people needed to be moderate, conservative and reasonable, it is at the present time, when there seems to be such tendency to indulge in that which is speculative and spectacular. It seems to us that it 'wag to counteract this very tendency that the Apostle Paul admonished Titus, saying: "But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine." (Titus 2:1.) Again, the same Apostle exhorted Timothy, saying: "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which, is in Christ Jesus." (2, Tim. 1 :13.) Again, we have St. Paul's most, timely admonition, "But' continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." (2 Tim. 3:14) Surely all of these faithful admonitions bid us exercise great carefulness as, we attempt to handle the holy things of the Lord's Word, and to realize the respon-sibility in connection, therewith. Such careful concern for the Lord and for His Message, we believe, will lead all faithful brethren to see to it that all their conclusions,. as well as all of the messages they proclaim will be squared by the Word of the Lord and proven to be positive and established truths before they are proclaimed.

BEREAN STUDIES IN THE REVELATION

STUDY LXVIII--JUNE 19

THE VISION OF THE TWO-HORNED BEAST (Cont.)

(436) What is signified by, the two-horned Beast exercising all the authority of the first Beast? Show how the claims of these systems have: resulted in great evil to the Church. What is the lesson to be drawn from this? H '20-40, 41.

(437) In what way has the two-homed Beast-caused those that dwell, in the earth to. worship the first Beast? Is there a distinction between the "earth" and "those who dwell in it" ? H '20-41.

(438) What incident in Old Testament history is referred to in verse 13? What is signified by the "signs," and the "fire" coming from heaven, and how have these symbols met fulfillment? H '20-41.

(439) In what, different 'Ways is the Word, "Beast" used in the Scriptures, and how may we determine the significance? H '20-41, 42.

(440) Give a brief review, showing the similarity between the first and second Wild Beasts. H '20-41, 42.

THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST

SERIES LIV

THE SERIES CLOSED -- CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

THE task undertaken of preparing, the series .,of articles on the Revelation of Jesus Christ is now fulfilled. That task, as stated in Series I, had for one of its objects that of calling attention to the comments and expositions of the visions contained in the writings of PASTOR RUSSELL. It was the conviction of many that while he never gave an exposition of the book as a whole, there were interspersed here and there in his writings brief references and expositions that would enable one to obtain to a considerable extent a knowledge of the general trend :of his, understanding of the visions of the book, more especially, however, those that related to, the, closing scenes of this Gospel Age, so far as they had been' fulfilled; also those, that, described in symbol the, various characteristics of the Age that follows this--the Age so frequently -referred to and particularly described, by the Prophets of 'Israel and designated by St. Peter, "the times of restitution." We leave the reader to decide, for himself to what ex-tent the object stated, above has been achieved.,

So far as PASTOR RUSSELL'S interpretations are concerned; the many quota-tions of, this series have prove I n conclusively that he I is to be classed with what is commonly known, as the Historical school of interpretation, which school, teaches that the visions relate to: transactions of great importance in connection with the history of the true and nominal Church from,. the beginning to the close of this Age, and on through. the. future Millennial Age. Furthermore, it will be plainly apparent from the quotations. contained in this series that he, himself, was familiar with the expositions of the noted expositors of the Historical school; that he made use of them as helps, and agreed in the main with their exposition's of those visions of the Revelation 'that de scribed in symbol. the great anti-Christian apostasy Which makes up so large a portion of the book. The expositions be gave of the visions that refer to, the closing scenes of the, Gospel Age were in the main original with him' and because of his being used of God in a predicted due time to make known more fully and, clearly the Divine Plan of human Salvation, he was thereby enabled to grasp more clearly than, others the meaning of those visions that refer to the present closing scenes of. this Age -- the days of the "'Parousia" -- the days of the Second Presence of the Son of Man, The history of the past half: century has verified, and is since his death verifying more and more, the correctness of his interpretations However, he, like many, other devoted servants of God before his, day, expected too early, the, complete accomplishment of the Divine purpose of this Age. In other words, his chronological conclusions respecting the date of the glorification of all the members of, the joint-heirs with Christ and of the full end of Gentile dominion, were, as the facts of recent history have proven, incorrrect--however, only by a few years. He acknowledged this before his death in 1916.

PASTOR RUSSELL OF THE HISTORICAL SCHOOL

TO prove conclusively that his understanding of -the visions' relating to various aspects of anti-Christ that were fulfilled previous to his day were in the main in agreement with the Historical School of interpreters, we refer the reader to the HERALD where his utterances are placed side by side with other expositors. Concerning the vision of the seven Trumpets of chapters 8, 9, 10 and 11, we place some of his statements beside one Of the earlier expositors, and quote:

"The 'Seventh Trumpet,' the 'last Trump,' the Revelator designates as the last of a series of Trumpets, (Rev. 11:15; 1 Cor. 15:52.) The propriety of calling: the 'seventh,' or 'last Trump,' the 'Trump of Go,' is evident, too, when, we remember. that the events mentioned under the preceding six Trumpets of Revelation refer to humanity's doings, while the seventh, refers specially to the Lord's work, and covers the day of the Lord! Since the six preceding Trumpets, were symbols-and this is generally admitted by commentators and students who make any claim as expositors of the Revelation--it would be a violation of reason and common sense to expect, the seventh, the last of, the series, to be a literal, audible sound on the air. And not only so, but it would be out of harmony with the Lord's general methods, as well as with those statements of Scripture indicating, the secrecy of, His coming; for. a thief never sounds a trumpet pet to announce his arrival. The seven Trumpets, of Revelation are all symbolic, and represent seven great periods of time and their events. The examination, of these, we leave for a subsequent volume. Suffice it here to, say,, that we find ourselves today in the Midst of the very events which mark the sounding of the seventh Trumpet.* The great voices, the increase of knowledge, the, angry nations, etc., taken in connection with time prophecies, establish this as a fact."--Studies, Vol. II-148.

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*This statement proves that he believed the six trumpets had already met their fulfillment in past history and covered great periods of time.

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Other expositors, before PASTOR RUSSELL'S day held the same view in regard, to the Significance of these seven Trumpets- and. even forecast the, manner in which the seventh would meet its fulfillment. We quote one of these 'who. wrote when PAST0R RUSSELL. WAS but a child, of four years old. This writer first speaks of the invisibility of Christ's Second Advent and observes that the events symbolized by the sounding of, the seventh or last Trumpet will occur during the period of Christ's invisible presence. We, quote this writer's comment on the words, of St. Paul, "The day of the Lord so cometh as, a. thief in the night."--1 Thes. 5:2:

"And how does a thief come? He not only comes stealthily, and at such an hour as we think not, but he is already on the premises, in the house and doing his work, before we are aware of his presence. And so' shall it be with the coming of Christi and the Day of judgment. He will be here judging the nations before we know it. But another will ask, Shall not the Trumpet sound, and will not that tell us when the judgment begins? Yes, 'the Trumpet shall sound and' the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall he changed'; but it, is not such a trumpet as all- men shall hear and understand. Paul calls it 'the last Trump.', A last trumpet implies other trumpets, before the last, just as the Scriptures else where tell. us. In the tenth chapter of Revelation it is announced that 'in 'the days of the voice of the seventh angel,. when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he has declared to his servants the Prophets.' To understand what is meant by this 'seventh angel', and his 'voice' we must look at the eighth chapter where John says, 'I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven Trumpets.' He then heard each of these angels one. after another sound his trumpet. The sounding of the seventh is, therefore , the 'last Trumpet.'

"The last Trumpet, then, or the Trumpet which is to usher in the scene of judgment, is just such a Trumpet as were the six that preceded it; and its sounding is to be understood in the same way that they sounded. And, fortunately these six Trumpets have already sounded. We can point directly to the several events to which they refer."

Referring to the fifth and sixth I Trumpets, this writer will be seen to have taken precisely the same view that PASTOR RUSSELL took in 1882 (See H '20-151). This writer's word's concerning this, are

"The fifth refers to the Saracenic woe, inflicted by Mohamed and his fierce armies. The sixth introduced the woes inflicted by the' Tartar tribes or Turks in their furious devastations. Such at any rate are the applications which the best interpreters have made of these parts of the Bible and I see no reason to doubt their correctness. They certainly refer to occurrences of this kind that -have already transpired upon earth, none of which have been ushered in by audible signals from the heavens. The Trumpets belong simply to the scenery of the panorama by which these events were brought before the Apostle's view, a and not I the events themselves. Arid as there was no audible, startling,, miraculous, wide-sounding, celestial bugle-note to, announce to the world the fulfillment of the predictions connected with the I six' Trumpets, so I infer and conclude that there is to be no audible trumpet blast from mid-heaven to inform I the I I 'world when the Day of judgment has begun. For ought you or I know, the last Trumpet has already sounded, or is how sounding, in the sermons - and books of many able and earnest preachers and laymen in various parts of the world who are striving to awaken men's minds to a sense of what is approaching and 'crying into the ears of the slumbering Church, 'Behold the Bridegroom, cometh! Go ye out to meet him.'"--The Last Times -De. Seiss, 1856.

REVELATION UNDERSTOOD AS
HISTORY HAS UNVEILED MEANING

The fact that God has used many of His servants throughout the Age to interpret the visions, of Revelation as history has' unveiled. their meaning is proven by this quotation of the above mentioned writer; and by the quotations made of numerous writers from time to time as this series has progressed. It is a great mistake, indeed. an: egregious, error, and one that has seriously interfered with the study of -the Revelation, to suppose that God was to choose some one person to unfold its visions. Strange as it may seem to some, this erroneous idea has: caused some of the Lord's people to refrain from reading and studying the book and making use of helps to its understanding, believing that PASTOR RUSSELL who has passed to his reward, would yet in some mysterious way write the exposition of the book and give it to the Church. It cannot be questioned, however, that the writings Of PASTOR RUSSELL, especially his !expositions of those visions of Revelation that, refer to the events. that are now and for: some time past have been transpiring, are by fat the clearest and most nearly correct.. However, this is almost wholly due to, the fact of his having a clear conception of the Divine Plan of salvation-such a special knowledge being promised in the Divine Word to be imparted in these last, days, and he Seems to very many to have been a Divinely chosen vessel to make that Plan known.

To those who have been reading these HERALD compilations and expositions, it must be apparent that the book of Revelation, the last of God's revelation to the Church, was not given for the last members of the Church only, but for the whole Church of Christ who, have witnessed for Him throughout the Age. Of course it is perfectly reasonable to suppose because of the Divine purpose and arrangement that the visions would be understood as history unveiled their meaning, that the last members of the, Church class would be privileged I above those who lived before, to obtain a 'better understanding Of all its visions, because of their becoming matters of past history and also on account of the many superior providential advantages to obtain a correct knowledge -of the Divine Word and Plan which had, become defiled by, the. revelation -of the great apostasy of the Dark Ages. Furthermore, it will have, been,. noted that, the" Divine Plan of salvation, as now clearly., understood by those acquainted with PASTOR RUSSELL'S writings, is woven all through the symbolic visions now -understood ; and particularly is this found to, be true concerning the, closing visions describing the judgments now falling on Christendom and' soon now to be completed, in accomplishing its downfall; It will have also be en noted that the visions relating to the New Heavens and Earth, and the New Jerusalem have now become very clear to the under standing of those privileged to discern the Divine Plan for blessing all mankind in its due time, the Millennium, as, unfolded in PASTOR RUSSELLS 'writings. How plain it ought to be to such privileged ones that the progressive, unfolding., of, the, Revelation visions and their gradual revealing and the greatly increased light on the same is. according to a Divine arrangement. In order, that. this might be seen is one vital reason why we have quoted so profusely the writings of expositors who have lived in the different generations of the Church's history from St. John's -day down to the present time. It will also have been noted how freely we' have quoted PASTOR RUSSELL when we have discovered that he has made any comment on the particular vision of the series under consideration.

REVELATION HAS COMFORTED SAINTS

The expositions in the HERALD which have been to a large extent compilations will, we believe, have proven that this most wonderful book has to a greater or less extent been a source of Divine comfort and encouragement to thousands of 'God's people in different periods of the Church's history "even from the beginning. This was especially so in the Dark Ages preceding the Great Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century as seen in the lives of Wycliffe, Huss and the Waldenses; and the visions of the anti-Christ to a very consider able extent influenced the Reformers in their great work of bringing the Bible to take the place where it belonged, in the Church as the sole rule and guide for faith and practice. And it is beyond question that the work of these Reformers opened a new era in the history of, the world. The many promises of-, Christ recorded in the Revelation encouraged and Sustained. these Reformers in their Divinely appointed work; and their conduct and example -encouraged millions of humanity to break the chains of false religious. superstitions and to be delivered from the bondage's of the great Papal system.

The very few instances in which PASTOR RUSSELL in his writings touched on the visions, aside from the anti-Christ, applicable in history before his day, are sufficient to show that he had no specially new interpretations of the visions referring to those times to bring. forth, differing from those given by -Historical expositors in general; indeed -that in the main, his views were very much like theirs. The fact that he died without writing on those portions of Revelation is sufficient evidence that it was not God's purpose that he should.

In presenting the Revelation series, we have not hesitated to avail ourself of: all the aid, all the help to understand its visions that' was within our reach, and in many instances we have quoted those we have not agreed with. We have recognized the fact that the Church that Christ established was one "Body," and that Body embraced. all the true people of God through out the Age. We have further recognized what St. Paul has said about the distribution of, gifts to different members. of the "one Body," and that each member is dependent for help upon the other members of the one Body. We have always recognized, however, that no. man or class of men since the Apostles' day have been infallible in their interpretations; indeed, that all have to a greater or less, extent made errors and that the Divine Word is and always will be the one and only test to be applied to all expositions. While believing most. firmly that the Historical interpretation is the Divine one, we have not refrained from consulting and quoting some of the most notable Futurist writers and, in some matters are we finding it true, especially in connection with the messages of Christ to the seven Churches of Rev. 2 and 3, that great help is derived through; that source. We have also read the several interpretations that have appeared recently interpretations that have attempted to apply some of its most sublime visions to certain transactions that have occurred amongst those who have. been greatly blessed in the past through the study of PASTOR RUSSELL'S unfoldings of the Divine Plan. These interpretations have associated with them the setting of definite dates concerning certain events that have transpired in connection with the siftings and separations that have occurred since PASTOR RUSSELL'S death. One by one these have been brought forth only to fail and be forgotten, and new interpretations found to take their place. Certain dates have been set for the change of the Church, and one by one these dates have passed and have found the Church still here, and the purposes of God go slowly but surely to completion.

Notwithstanding this, however, the question most naturally arises in the mind of the devout student of God's Word, How near are we to the end of the present order? Do. the Revelation visions enable us to answer this question? We reply, We, know of nothing ,in the visions that will, enable any one to, set an exact date for this ending. There are time prophecies in the Revelation but it seems quite evident that their design was more especially to reveal to watchful Christians that we were in the time. when events were shaping themselves for the very last crisis, the, various phases of which are more definitely, more particularly described in the closing Revelation visions, than in any other portion of the Bible. These time prophecies are associated, with different organizations, political and religious, as the Papal system, the Gentile governments, the Jewish nation. None of these are directly associated with the full end of the true Church's career; and they only enable us to determine approximately where her history will, be completed. All the time prophecies, however, together with the significant events transpiring today, which are the. fulfillment, of predictions made centuries ago, prove, conclusively that we are in the days spoken of by Christ, Himself, as the "Days of the Presence of the Son of Man."

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT EVENTS OF AGE

A brief summary of the great events that have transpired since St. John had given to him the visions-the events of history that have been a result of both true and false Christianity's Influence in the world, described in the mystical symbology of the Revelation visions. The tracing of these events as they have slowly but surely developed and, have finally reached the conditions existing today, will, we believe, be helpful to see our particular place in the Divine Plan and purpose, and enable us- to realize our proximity- to the -greatest ,of all predicted events, the, establishment of God's Kingdom over the earth. I All the details connected with these great- events have been considered quite fully in, the long series of articles, published in this journal. We briefly summarize in conclusion these events

(1) The cruel and dreadful persecutions of the true Church through the instigation, of the Pagan rulers and priesthood in the second and third centuries, and in the early years of the fourth.

(2) The cessation of persecution, about 313 A. P. through the elevation. to -the throne of the Roman Empire of Constantine the Great, who unlike all other Roman Emperors professed friendliness to nominal Christianity and caused persecution to cease.

(3) This was followed by a great increase of both true and nominal Christianity, resulting in the early part of the fourth century in the complete overthrow of the Pagan Roman religion and civilization.

(4) Next came the establishment in its place of a professed Christian civilization in which the true teachings of Christ and the simple, pure Christian life was to a large extent: shut out from view, indeed, looked upon and treated as heretical.

(5) The next great event was the downfall of Imperial rule which held sway from the City of Rome, commonly mentioned in history as the overthrow of the Western Roman Empire, and considered by all historians to be the most stupendous event as affecting the human family as also the Christian religion since the birth of Christ to that time--476 A. D.

(6) During the -century previous there was the gradual rise into power of the bishops of Rome until 539 when the Roman 'bishop became firmly seated on the throne of the Caesars assuming the titles and prerogatives of the Caesars, and the headship of the Church.

(7) The rise of Mohammedanism soon followed, which, was providentially used as a woe, a scourge on apostate Eastern Roman Christianity, causing in 1453 the downfall of the Eastern Roman Empire, even threatening the same of Western Rome, i. e., the divided power of Western Rome, the ten kingdoms. This power began its ravages about 622 and continued into the nineteenth century, although with decreasing force.

(8) The Great Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, resulting in the division of Christendom into two parts, Roman Catholic and Protestant, effecting a deadly wound on Papacy's rule and influence in the world, Was the great event which followed the downfall of Eastern Rome's capital.

(9) The French Revolution of 1793-1798, causing another -weakening - of. Papacy's influence amongst earth's peoples, was the next great event; thus in connection with the Sixteenth-Century Reformation opening the way for freedom in Bible study

(10) The decline of. the great Protestant sects, many of the great leaders introducing evolutionary theories, etc., and treating the Bible as unworthy of the claim to be a Divine revelation, marked. the last half of the nineteenth century.

(11) The inauguration of -another great reform movement amongst the true followers of Christ, resulting in a clear understanding of the Divine Plan of salvation, which many believe has been under the direct supervision of the great Head of the Church, the days of the, Second Presence of the, Son of Man being reached, is the next great event of history.

THE APPROACHING END OF THE AGE

All these events have been, with remarkable detail,,_' described in the visions of the Revelation, and are now of course matters of history. It is our conviction that the visions- of Revelation describing the very last closing scenes of the Age are now rapidly fulfilling.' We believe -that these visions more than -anything:else were designed to enable -us to determine our nearness to the greatest -of, all events, the full establishment, -'Of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. The signs of the full end of the Age are to. be looked for in three special directions or source& These are:

(1) Signs, amongst the Jews.

(2) Signs amongst the. Gentile nations..

(3) Signs in the Christian Church, both the true and false.

In all these directions the signs of the complete end are described. The Apostle Paul gives what is probably the most, significant, sign, and evidently the final one, to be looked for in the first quarter, as indicating the change of the Kingdom class. The Apostle's words describing this are: "Blindness is in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.," (Rom. 11 :2). When it becomes apparent: that the truly orthodox of the Jewish people get their eyes open to see that Jesus Christ is their Messiah; and further more, come to an understanding, of what is referred to in the. Scriptures as the "hidden mystery," which is clearly stated to be wrought out, during the period of Jewish blindness, which mystery is that of the gathering out from amongst the Gentiles, the joint-heirs of the Heavenly. Kingdom, which is., the special purpose of God. for this, Age--then, and not until. then will the Age reach its full end. Those who Eve to witness that may know that the Kingdom in all its power, And glory will be ushered in immediately. We believe that a "Great Company" of Christians may possibly witness some of the event's and developments leading up, to and in close proximity, to, that time. Second, when the tension that exists at the present time, reaches a stage where the civil governments of earth in connection with the great Christian religious systems are compelled, to form, indeed, to complete a union already begun to keep down the turbulent masses of the sea class, then it will be known that the present order of the world is. about to go down. These things, particularly the last, are quite fully described in detail -in the closing visions of the Revelation,, if in fact we have been correct in the exposition of these visions. Indeed, everything that has occurred in modern times has but confirmed the truthfulness of these interpretations we have presented. The exhortation of the Savior in view of all these things is, "When you see these events occurring know that the Kingdom of God is near." (Luke 21:31. Diaglott.), Again, He said,. "When you shall see all these things, know that He is nigh, at the doors."--Matt. 24:33.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Having, now in this article completed the regular series of the Revelation, we will announce that it is our purpose in subsequent issues of this journal to review the first three chapters of the book of, Revelation. Our readers will recall that in the, beginning of this series, these chapters were treated lightly, partly owing to the fact that on the outstart of the series we did not have in mind as exhaustive a research and exposition of the book as we were,,lc4 to undertake a little later on. Then, too, as PASTOR RUSSELL had written considerably on -the first three chapters of Revelation , we did not make a very thorough examination of these chapters, but merely referred the reader to certain selections by PASTOR RUSSELL.

But since we commenced publishing the series and while we have been carrying on an examination and study. of the succeeding chapters of the book, we have met with, much additional valuable, information bearing upon the first three chapters, and this has led us to the decision to undertake to, review and, revise -vise and present afresh, the series covering these chapters, believing that our readers will realize a' further blessing in perusing the revised exposition of the Churches, and Christ's messages to - the Churches. This revised series, will, therefore, be designated: Series I A, Series II, A, Series, III A, and so on, by way of distinguishing them from. the original articles.

MAKING THE WORLD CHRISTIAN

--JUNE 12--ISAIAH 11:1-10; ACTS 1:6-9--

Golden Text. "The earth shall be full of, the knowledge 'of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea."--Isa. 11:9.

ANY in the past have supposed, I and many still believe, that making the world Christian is the mission assigned to the Church of Christ in the present dispen-sation. This view is not sustained in the Divine Word.

Those who expect the Millennial Kingdom to come as a result of' present efforts along present lines, and who believe that the world is gradually approaching that condition by an :evolutionary process, should consider, the Word of the Lord through the Prophet, to the effect that, when Messiah takes the -reins of, government, His first step will be to judge the poor, and to reprove the rich with equity, in the interests of the meek of the earth. How could this be possible, if equity "had already'' prevailed by a gradual process, so that there were no poor, and no rich, and so that all were meek? Other Scriptures, in harmony with this, show that the very object of the beginning of our Lord's reign is, to correct the wrongs that will then be prevailing, and He Himself implies that the earth will not be in a faithful and blessed condition at, His Second Advent, by asking the question whose answer is implied--"When the, Son of. Man cometh, shall He find the faith on the earth?"

Only those who recognize the typical character of God's kingdom of old, and the typical 'character of the kingdom of Babylon which overthrew it, are prepared to understand the prophecies: because in the prophecies, the affairs of Fleshly Israel and those of Spiritual Israel and the affairs of literal Babylon and those of mystic Babylon, are so interwoven as to be unintelligible,. absurd', from. any other standpoint. There are some who, fail to recognize anti-typical spiritual Israel, I who, nevertheless, distinctly see that the Babylon. of old, which perished more than two thousand years ago, was not the Babylon of Revelation--mystic Babylon whose surpassing power and greatness were not even dreamed of. in the days of the type. Many who distinctly discern mystic Babylon, and her approaching fall, have failed to discern that the natural Israelites were broken off from the root of Divine promise made to father Abraham, And that the spiritual Israelites were engrafted into that root, and have become heirs of its, chief promises and blessings, taking the chief place of the natural Israelites, so that I when they are restored, it will be to a lower an earthly favor. The proper standpoint of view from which the entire Plan of God is clear and reasonable takes cognizance of both of these facts.

FORETOLD SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST
AND THE GLORY TO FOLLOW

In harmony with the above. suggestions, it will be found that Isaiah's prophecies repeatedly mingle and commingle the events of his day with the events of our -day-God's providences toward His people then, and His subsequent deliverance of them to Babylonian captivity, and His later judgments upon Babylon, all of which Were accomplished literally within two hundred and fifty years of Isaiah's vision, are interspersed with declarations respecting Messiah and His everlasting Kingdom, and the blessing of the remnant of spiritual Israel, and the eventual healing and recovery of all Israel to Divine favor. An illustration of this intruding of the Messianic Millennial Kingdom into the prophecies Which specially related to natural Israel and, the condition of things present in the Prophet's day, is afforded in, this lesson; also in chapter's 2:2-4; 8:14-18; -9:1-7; 32:1-4; 33:5-24; 52:7-15; 60:1-5; 61:7-11 ; 65:17-25.

The prophecy does not touch upon our Lord's pre-human existence, nor upon His earliest,, experiences while coming to manhood, nor need we. It I begins with our Lord at the time when He reached manhood's estate, at thirty years of age, when He made His consecration, and was accepted, and the acceptance was sealed by the impartation to Him of the Holy Spirit, of which John bare record. (John 1-34.) From that time onward the spirit of Jehovah rested upon Him, and was in Him a spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, making Him alert in the use of His knowledge in reverence and submission to the Divine will.

Suddenly passing from the perfecting of Christ, Head and, Body, under 'the influence of the. spirit of the Father, down to the time whet these graces which are supplied in this present age (and under which the Body of Christ, groweth unto a holy temple of the Lord, by the fitting, molding, polishing and fashioning, of each, member), shall have been perfected, the- next, suggestion of the prophecy is the exercise of these graces .,of the, Divine spirit by the complete Christ in: the Millennial Kingdom--in judging, blessing, correcting and assisting the world of mankind, or so many as will avail themselves of their help, to return to. Divine favor. The thought is that, as soon as the entire Christ (Head and Body) has been prepared for the work to be done, the work itself will be commenced. It is in full accord with this. that the Apostle says that the Prophets spake beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and of the glory that should follow.

EARTH'S NEW KING A FRIEND TO THE POOR

Accustomed to the misgovernment as the Israelites were, and as all mankind since have experienced it, it was necessary that they and all who would appreciate the coming Kingdom, should be given some assurance that the new ruling power would not only have good and wise motives and intentions, but also possess superior power of knowledge and judgment. And this is what is pointed out: that the new King would not need to rely upon the common channels of information in the giving of His blessings, and in the administering of, His reproofs and chastisements, but will have a superhuman endowment of power, by which He shall know the very thoughts and intents of the heart, and need not to judge either by the hearing of the ear nor by the sight of the eye, as must all earthly rulers, however well, intentioned. It was proper also that the Israelites and others should know that the new Kingdom would be an absolutely just and impartial one, for their experience had been the very wisest and best of their kings had been governed largely by selfishness, so 'that they amassed wealth at the expense of. their subjects, and made special friends of the wealthy, and granted them special privileges oft-times at the expense of the poor, the, helpless, the despised. Hence, the Lord, through -the Prophet, assures us that the special care of the new King will be to administer His office with equity 'toward all, and that the -meek, the backward, the modest, undisposed to press their claims and to assert their rights, will have His special care; likewise the poor, that in the present time find few to sympathize with or to encourage or to help them, shall find in the new King a friend.

RETURN TO PRIMEVAL CONDITIONS

The reference to the change of disposition in the animal kingdom, so that the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the calf and the lion, wilt dwell in harmony, is in full accord with the general Scriptural outlines of the "times of restitution of all things." Not only is mankind to be restored, or brought back to his primeval condition of human perfection, I and harmony with God, like Adam before the fall, (though with increased knowledge and experience), but the lower animals also, which have shared in the ruin and disorder resulting from the fall; will also share in the blessing and restoration of order to be accomplished by Messiah.

In the first account of the lower animals, furnished us in the Scriptures, there is nothing to imply that they were Wild, vicious and at enmity with mankind; on the contrary, the implication is that they were all thoroughly in subjection to the perfect man. We may reasonably suppose that when, under the influence of the sentence of death, mankind gradually lost more and more of the image of God originally possessed, he at the same time lost his power over the lower animals. The nature of the power possessed by the perfect ,Adam may still be imperfectly traced in 'the superior powers of certain of the fallen race in controlling the brute creation. Thus we see that 'some men can exercise mental force and control, not only over wild horses, but also over the most ferocious beasts of the jungle, so that they are known as lion-tamers, serpent-charmers, etc. Adam was declared by the Lord to be the king of the earth, and as such .he was recognized by the brute creation. (Gen. 2:19, 20.) After mankind had lost the original mental power to control the lower animals, a warfare sprang up between them, in which mankind has been obliged to pit force against force, having so largely lost the power of mental control. The restoration of mankind to, that condition which was lost through: sin implies naturally, therefore, a restoration of the' ,brute creation to primeval conditions, such as are suggested -iw the prophecy before us. The same thought is conveyed in the statement that "A little child shall lead" or control the wild beasts when brought into their proper relationship with

All of the foregoing; and, indeed, the entire Scripture testimony shows that the heavenly rest and blessing which God has in reservation for mankind in general is earthly. It would be utterly and wholly unnecessary to change the disposition of the brute creation, if mankind Were to be changed to another nature, and to become as I the angels. Other prophecies speak of mankind in the restitution condition as perfect human beings, of the earth and adapted 'to 'the earth, and tell us that in the perfect condition they shall, sit every man under his own vine and fig-tree, with none to molest or make him afraid, and' that, they shall long enjoy the work of their hands. These promises, which are the lights of the world's hope during the Millennial Age, "have nothing whatever to do with the hope set before the Gospel Church of this Age--a heavenly hope, the realization of which, our Lord and the Apostles assure us, will require that all who would attain to it must of necessity be changed from animal to spiritual bodies, from weakness to power, from human nature to spiritual nature; because, flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.

The difficulty with many is in the failure to discern that the Kingdom of God per se consists of our Lord Jesus and the Church-the Little Flock, to whom it is the Father's good pleasure to give the Kingdom. These constitute the royal or reigning class or family of God.. The world of mankind in general shall at first be the subjects of this spiritual kingdom, land afterwards become citizens or members of it, to the extent that they come into harmony with its rules and regulations, and are accepted back into reconciliation with God, and thus again become His children through Christ. Thus it is that the Scriptures, declare that when this Kingdom shall be set up it will be but a small stone, a little flock, which in the end of this Age shall, with Divine', I power, smite the do Minion of earth, and crush it to dust in the great time of trouble. (See Dan. 2:34, 35, 44, 45.) But after crushing, present institutions under and connected with the prince of this' world, God's Kingdom will not remain small, but will gradually expand, until it shall fill the whole earth. This is the holy Mountain mentioned in the prophecy under consideration, a mountain being a symbol of a kingdom. Nothing shall be permitted to do violence or work injury throughout all God's holy kingdom, as a result of its establishment. Love shall be the law, and Div me power shall be the force which will enforce that law, and all who will not conform thereto shall be "cut off from among the people," as the Lord has declared through the Apostle. (Acts 3:23.), How evident it is that this Kingdom I has not yet come, when we see that so far from love being the rule of mankind, selfishness is the ,rule, individually and nationally, and that there are many influences of evil, hurting and destroying throughout the world today. This is an evidence that God's kingdom is not yet set up, and hence we continue to pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will- be -done on earth, as it is done in Heaven."

MAKING THE SOCIAL ORDER CHRISTIAN

--JUNE 19--LUKE 4:16-21; MATTHEW 25:34-40--

Golden Text.--"Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto Me."--Matt. 25:40.

WITHOUT doubt the Scriptures teach that when the Divine purpose has been fully attained, it will, mean that God's message of Truth, the knowledge of His will, will have reached the ears of all humanity, both the living and the dead, and will have effected the conversion, and regeneration of all the willing and obedient, preparatory to their being ushered 'into ages of perpetual bliss to follow.

Sober and careful Bible study, however, reveals the Divine order in the matter of working out the world's salvation--that ages and dispensations mark various steps of progress toward the great consummation and -that Jesus' First Advent merely marked one of these steps of progress, that, as our Lord and the Apostles taught, the great truths proclaimed, in the beginning of the Age and repeated unto this day by faithful ambassadors of Christ were intended to affect a comparatively small number of the human, family in this Age; those to constitute God's Kingdom, His chosen priesthood, not for the making of the present social order Christian, but for the introduction of an entirely new social order; the new heavens and the new earth, wherein: dwelleth righteousness, to be inaugurated after the present evil world or social order has passed away.

The first verse of our lesson shows distinctly that it was our Lord's' custom to attend the synagogue, meetings every Sabbath, day, and His custom, also, to be the reader for. the 1 congregation. The synagogue services were not at all like the temple services.. The latter was the house of Prayer and the place where typical atonement was made for the sins of the people with the. blood of bulls and goats, etc. The synagogue more nearly resembled present day Bible classes, where the Scriptures are read and freely discussed, not only by the leader but also by all in attendance as they may feel disposed. There are certain good features connected with this arrangement, one of which is the opportunity it affords for the bringing put discussion on any Scriptural topic. We warmly com mend the Bible study and Bible-class methods as still appropriate to the, Lord's people and still beneficial, for, the, elucidation of truth.

RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE NORD OF TRUTH'

The Jew. had a certain order in which the Scriptures were read in the -synagogue, and apparently, the book of Isaiah, was ,the appropriate one for this occasion. The 'Lord turned to ,what we now call the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah and read the first verse and part of the second, and closing the book

He sat down and made certain comments upon the passage read. We find that our Lord read discriminatingly, or, as the Apostle expresses it, He "rightly divided the Word of, truth!" He read the part appropriate to the time, but did not read about the Day of Vengeance. His teaching was to test the people,: if His Message was received no day of vengeance would follow, as it did follow upon that nation after it had rejected Him. There is a lesson for the Lord's people in this: it is better that we should read one verse understandingly and appreciatingly than that we should merely read chapter after Chapter of the Lord's Word in a formal manner.

Our Lord brought home to His audience the meaning of His text, saying, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your hearing." It had been written centuries before and read hundreds of times, but now, in the Harvest of their Age, for the first time it could be said. that it was fulfilled. The Holy Spirit had come upon the Lord Jesus about a year before, after His consecration at Jordan. It constituted His anointing. The Jews were accustomed to this thought of anointing their high- priests were anointed, as representing the Lord's power or spirit upon the priest, to authorize him to perform the, sacrifices and to mediate between God and the people. Their kings were anointed, representing that Divine power and guidance was upon them, and that they were specially authorized to represent the Lord in the government of the people.

The promise was that the Lord's anointed, the Messiah, should by and by come and establish a reign of righteousness in the earth,, and now our Lord announced Himself as the anointed of the Father. He did 'not do this in any coarse or rude manner, saying, "I am the Messiah. I am the .anointed of Jehovah, with authority as priest and king;" but He did it in a quiet, unassuming manner, by calling attention to the, prophecy and declaring that its fulfillment had now taken place. The announcement was not that the Lord had anointed Him to rule, but that the first part of His mission was to preach, to declare, to be the mouthpiece of God to humanity. He had a great Message, which should ultimately be unto all people, but which, at that time was only for so many as had ears. to hear.

It would undoubtedly be disappointing to, many to have the royalty. feature passed by; and to find that Messiah's work as herein delineated by the Prophet and announced by the Lord, was one of preaching a. good message rather than of raising a great army of preaching to, the meek, an poor, rather than of rallying round Himself the rich, and wise and proud. They would be disappointed, too, at the part of the Message which says that He was to bind up the broken-hearted. They had expected, perhaps, that, like the. great warriors and leaders amongst the other nations, their deliverer would be, the one who would cause the loss of many lives and the breaking of many hearts with sorrow and with trouble. Even those whose hearts were somewhat broken were probably disappointed be cause of their wrong expectations.

The proclaiming of liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison doors to them that are bound, our Lord's hearers probably did not understand. Their thoughts may have gone out to John the Baptist, who at this time Was in prison, and they may have wondered whether Jesus would take any steps for his release. They probably had little conception of the real meaning of this Scripture-that it signified the liberation of Satan's captives from the bondage of sin, and ultimately the release from death and its bondage of the millions who have gone down into that great prison-house, the tomb. Even the Lord's, disciples who had ears to hear His Message and hearts to respond thereto and become His followers at any cost, could not at this time, have appreciated the greatness of the Lord's work. Little by little He needed to make known unto them the meaning of. the prophecies and explained that,, the hour is coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man and shall come forth.

THE ACCEPTABLE TIME

"The acceptable year [time, period] of the Lord" mentioned by the Prophet was not understood- either. Blessed are our eyes that we now see that this acceptable year or acceptable time or acceptable period is the entire Gospel Age, during which God is willing to accept all that come unto Him through Christ-willing to accept them as joint-sacrificers with Jesus, as members of the great Royal Priest. True, by and by at the close of the Millennial Age, the Lord will. be willing to accept so many of the world of mankind as the great Redeemer shall have brought into heart-harmony with Him, and,. by restitution' processes, back to the image of God. I But that acceptance of the world, after restoration by Christ, is a very different one from the acceptance of the Church in this present time.

Our acceptance now. means, the commencement of our change of nature, our begetting to the new nature, the spiritual; and the terms or conditions of this acceptance are, as expressed by the Apostle, that having been first justified freely by God's grace through the redemption that is, in Christ ,Jesus, we should, secondly, "present. our bodies living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God and our reasonable service." This acceptable day, then, means the day in which our Heavenly Father is willing to accept the sacrifices of the anointed. lie had only accepted Jesus' initiatory sacrifice of consecration, which later our Lord fulfilled and finished at. the cross. It was the ground upon which the Heavenly, Father gave Him the exceeding great reward of the First Resurrection blessing to glory, honor and immortality. So with all the members of the. Body following in the footsteps of the Savior, justified by His blood-their sacrifices are counted in as acceptable to the Father during this antitypical Day of Atonement; and by its close all of these "better sacrifices"--then the typical bullock and goat sacrifices-will have been offered and will have been accepted, and thereafter no sacrifices will be either needed or accepted.

This wonderful prophecy which our Lord declared was being fulfilled in His own person is still in process of fulfillment in the persons of His truly consecrated followers -- the members of His Body. This was. shown in the type. The holy anointing oil was' poured upon the head of Aaron, but ran down even unto the skirts of his garments, thus anointing in the figure each member of his body. So it is with us. We are members of the Anointed One, and that which was true of our Head is true in. a measure also of' each one of us. We are all anointed to preach, all authorized of the Lord to declare the Good Tidings of the coming Kingdom to all the meek and broken-hearted. It is a mistake to suppose that our commission and the Gospel Message given us is intended of the Lord to break men's hearts., It is a mistake to suppose that we are commissioned to go especially to the froward. Our message, while give out broadcast, must not be expected to attract any except the meek and broken-hearted. True, the light shining in the, darkness, will reprove the, darkness and convince of sin, of righteousness and of coming judgment, or discriminate between the righteous and unrighteous; but this is an incidental feature. The real mission of the Gospel is to the meek and to the broken-hearted.

As respects the world, our general message, so far as they ate able to hear it, is liberty to the captives and ultimately opening of 7 the prison-doors of death, that. all the families of the earth may in due time receive from the Lord through His Anointed the great blessing of the knowledge of the Truth, the opening of the eyes of. the under standing, opening of the deaf ears', that they may know -their God and be able to return by way of holiness and -the, restitution, processes which will ultimately be at their disposal during the Millennial King dom. We can do still more for those who have ears to hear now. We can tell them of their liberty. of their freedom from the domination of Satan and sin and the weaknesses of the flesh. We ran assure them in God's name, and through the merit of the great, sacrifice for sins given by our, Savior, that their past sins, are forgiven and that their present weak nesses and imperfections are covered, if so be that they are trusting in Jesus and seeking to walk not after the, flesh, but ,after the spirit to, the, extent of their ability.,

REVIEW: THE SOCIAL TASK OF THE CHURCH

--JUNE 26--REV. 21 :1-14--

Golden Text.-- "He shall dwell with them, and- they shall be His people."--Rev. 21:3.

This lesson being a review of the past quarter, we are led to look back over the preceding lessons, and, we observe that the International Sunday School Committee have endeavored to keep before our minds one theme, that of the. improvement and uplift of humanity. As we have reviewed the Scripture- testimony hearing upon the salvation, of the world, we have noted in-deed that God has arranged, to commit, to His well Beloved Son and His Bride, the Church, the task of recovering humanity and of applying the Divine remedy for. all the present ills that afflict the human race.

The Scriptures in no uncertain manner locate the fulfillment of the Church's social task in connection with the reign of Christ, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in -ail them -that believe in that day.

Now the Church is to make herself ready for -that future service--the task of establishing the world in perfect social conditions. The working out of that task will come by and by, When she shall have become the Bride. The Scripture lesson chosen (St. John's vision, Rev. 21:1-14), very appropriately describes the results of that victorious reign, the completion of the great commission given -to Christ and, His Bride, to make the earth new and to restore all. things preparatory to entering upon the endless ages of bliss to follow.

For a further review and dissertation on this lesson the reader, is referred to the Revelation expositions contained in this journal, pages 70-74 and 87-91.

ENCOURAGING LETTERS

FINDS CHRONOLOGY WELL ESTABLISHED

Dear Brethren:,

I Am hastening to, thank you for the splendid article on chronology in April 15th HERALD. For several years I have been wondering if there was not something wrong, with our previous deductions. Somehow I felt so, but, of course, I could not see just bow. When as time rolled on and the stupendous events we were expecting did not at all transpire, I felt certain something was wrong in our calculations. And. now this timely article establishes my surmise and fully explains, why matters did not culminate as formerly expected.

I have been simply amazed at the wild and absurd claim's and speculations of others . . . along this line. They are continually 'setting dates', for, this, that or the other, only in the end to have them fall flat in a most ridiculous manner.

This to my Mind can have but an injurious effect in causing people to lose respect even for the truth of God's Word, when they behold such gating errors in those who, vaunt so much of their superior Biblical wisdom.

I assure you, brethren,, that I heartily appreciate your brave, though humble stand for the Truth, as you see it. I have read the article in question critically several times, and the more I have read it the fuller and grander is the truth and verity of the matter revealed to me. I prayed the Master's aid in studying it, :that, I would be led to. know whether the presentations, were true or not, and I feel that He has indeed brought me to see that 'It,' is true And fully corroborates His blessed Word. How refreshing it is, dear brethren, to have your splendid article I so fully buttressed by ample quotations from the Word. This is what counts "all the time. Oh! that others would preach the Word and leave off all wild imaginings of. their own as though their word alone carried infallibility with it. Humility is indeed a grand and noble attribute of Christian character which, seems to be needed now more, than ever. May He ever keep you humble and submissive to His glorious will, yet also brave to declare His whole counsel as He May desire and instruct !you.'. Watch closely, and pray earnestly, and when your hearts are satisfied at your findings then let us have' them. And may the God of peace keep and bless you. Your brother in Christ Jesus.

G. A.--Ala.

BLESSED CUP OF OUR FATHER'S POURING

Dear Brethren:

Again two of our Father's little ones were privileged to do in remembrance our dying Lord's request. The priceless gift I of the Father, and suffering cost to His Son, seemed to more fully measure in our minds Divine love. Pray, that we may be faithful in the absolute sense in the small participation of being broken with our Lord as participators in the one Loaf and in drinking the Father's wonderful gift, the cup of His pouring. The Kingdom cup of joy is just :before the faithful.

With love to all,

E. P. R. R. Me.

REMAINS TRUSTING

Dear Brethren:

Many thanks for the HERALD which I am receiving regularly. I do thank Heavenly Father for or the food He is supplying me through them. I have read the article re "Times And Seasons" several times, and can see where the error has been and although it seems to throw everything out of harmony just at present, there is no doubt everything will be "made clear in due time. I am sure our Heavenly Father has permitted these little mistakes as a test of out, faith. The only question which would appear difficult to harmonize would be the Stone Witness (The Pyramid)

I pray that our Father in Heaven will continue to guide and direct you in these studies, And I am thankful to say, that 'I am learning my lesson regarding telling people about what will happen in 1921, 1925, etc., and in future I will try to take the Apostle's advice in 1 Cor., 2:2, "For I determined to make nothing known among you, except. Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." I remain,

Yours in Christian love,,

C. T. H.-B. C.

FAITH IS ENCOURAGED

Dear Brethren

It is now that I wish to tell you how much I appreciate the article in the last HERALD on "Our location on the stream of time." I have studied it very carefully, every point of it, and believe, it is correct. It was some years ago when I was carefully studying, the chronology given to us by BROTHER RUSSELL that I came across some of these same texts that seemed to conflict, and in fact did conflict, with the chronology, given us, and for some time I tried to solve them and to harmonize-the statements, but was not able and gave it up Now all these same statements are so beautifully harmonious and, indeed, very encouraging to our faith, and is just what we should expect of our Heavenly Father, after testing His children, just such as, we have all been tested. May not the, good Lord have', permitted this for a wise purpose, and may not this open up a work to be done here yet on this side the Kingdom? With much love,. and best wishes,

Your brother in Christ,

S. J. A.-O.

CHRONOLOGY SEEMS REASONABLE AND SCRIPTURAL

Dear Brethren in Christ -

I have been putting off writing you for some time, but must, delay no longer.

I want to first acknowledge, receipt of your kind letter of a few weeks ago replying to my suggestions re some matters appearing in the HERALD. I want, to thank you for your kindly expressions and courteous consideration of our suggestions. I want to say, too,. that after getting your thought more clearly as expressed in your letter, I must agree with you/

Sr, M. and I are enjoying. your article on chronology very much, and the more we study it and the Scriptures cited the more beautiful and well-founded it seems to be. It seems as, reasonable as it is Scriptural, and we are unable to, see how any other conclusion could be reached.

I must tell you of our celebration I of the Memorial Sup per: Just five of us met in, the writer's home on. the evening appointed, and After appropriate songs and prayers And, 'a few, moment's refreshing of our" memories with the importance and solemnity of the event we were commemorating, we partook of the emblems, remembering in prayer all the dear ones everywhere who, like ourselves, were recounting the Lord's blessings and renewing our vows of consecration. Special emphasis was laid on the importance of keeping our hearts and minds, doing and enduring all in the way most helpful in developing and- exercising our Lord's spirit if we would continue in His love.

We deeply appreciate your so kindly continuing to send us the HERALD, and we enclose $3.00 to pay for our subscriptions this year and the bundle of November special issues we have given out as we found opportunity. If you have them we think we could copies of the issue that has the article on chronology--say a dozen.

With continued love and' prayers for you all, in which Sr. M. joins, we are,

Faithfully yours in the hope of the Kingdom,

S. T. M. – Tex.

VOL. IV. June 15, 1921 No. 12

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
PASTORAL BIBLE INSTITUTE

MAY 15, 1920, TO MAY, 15, 1921

SOME of the Lord's dear people deeply interested in the Truth find themselves quite isolated and have comparatively little opportunity for learning of the general progress of our ministry except as they may infer it from occasional remarks in these columns. These, and we trust all other readers of this journal, will be looking with expectancy for the annual report that they may have accurate information respecting the work which interests us more than all else in the world beside the work of the ministry in which each of the consecrated according to his love, zeal and ability has contributed to advance in one or more ways. The object of this report is not to proclaim or publish abroad our own works or their results, for we realize that we have nothing of our own of which we can boast; that so far as our own feeble efforts are concerned they amount to little; and we gladly ac knowledge that for all that has been achieved and the results of the united efforts of the brethren, the Lord alone deserves the praise, and we heartily ascribe it to Him. Nor do we have as our object that of reporting the progress or accomplishments of an organization, for by this time we believe all of the brethren well know that we have no institution, system or organization to establish or build tip. Rather it is as brethren associated together in the work of the Lord that we come now to look over and consider our progress and advancement in spiritual things in the minis try of the Word and what we have done in behalf of and in building up one another in the most holy faith.

Looking back now over the past year we are consoled by the evidences that the Lord has been pleased to grant His assistance and blessing in more ways than we are able to recount, and has enabled us to press forward in His service notwithstanding the many hindrances and obstructions in the way that might deter and discourage were it not for the fact that we are assured that He that is on our part is greater than all that be against us. Then we remember too that we are still living in the day of small things, which we are not to despise, when the Lord is selecting from the peoples of the earth such as prove and demonstrate in the daily life that they have the spirit of humility, of full consecration to the Lord and complete resignation to His will, and who realize that now in this day of small things they are undergoing preparation for the great day of larger things by and by in the promised Kingdom. We content ourselves therefore with learning what our Father's will is and striving to the best of our ability to labor and serve according to that will. Briefly it is that He is now perfecting in character those who ;ire to constitute the glorified Bride of His dear Son and for whom He has reserved the unspeakable riches of His grace. The more clearly this fact is discerned the more ready we believe the brethren are to avail themselves of present privileges of ministering to one another's needs especially along those lines that will build up one another in the spiritual life. Indeed, it is the privilege of the true disciple of the Master today to fulfill the same ministry as that which Mary performed toward our Lord in anointing Him -just before His death; and concerning which we have His own words of commendation: "Against the day of my burying hath she" done this. The Christ still in the flesh as represented in the members of His Body, filling up that which is behind of His afflictions, may still be anointed in preparation for the burial. Inasmuch as the Great Head of the Church acknowledges all of those who are vitally related to Him as members of His Body, that which therefore is rendered to the least of His is appreciated by Him as done to His own person, and therefore, all such loving ministry and service rendered to fellow-members in the Narrow Way is a fulfillment of this, the true spirit of the Christ.

This, we are pleased to claim and profess is the purpose and object of this simple arrangement we here have in the PASTORAL BIBLE INSTITUTE. As we follow the advice and instruction of our Divine Lord, we realize that our commission now is not to strike boldly before men for the accomplishment of some great thing outwardly. We have no world to convert or conquer while in the days of our flesh; nor has our Master authorized us to make any spectacular or startling announcement to men. Like that of our Lord and the 'Apostles it is ours to announce to men the name and character of God's dear Son, and explain that the-Divine Plan for the lifting of the curse and the blessing of the world centers in Him and His great redemptive work; whether others hear or whether they forbear, we must press on in the fulfillment of our Divinely appointed task, and wait our Master's due time to give unto us a higher office and more effectual means of changing the affairs and hearts of men. In the light of this, the Scriptural view of the present situation, we feel that our Captain's command to His followers today is the same as it has ever been throughout the Age: "Onward Christian Soldiers," and that He expects all those who are loyal to Him in fulfillment of their consecration vow to use their talents and all in His service. Therefore the more education, refinement and natural ability are brought to the service, the greater number of talents invested, the greater are the possibilities of grand results to the glory of our King and to the assistance of His brethren. Those who feel that their talents are too many or too valuable to be used in the Lord's service, but not too valuable to be used in law or medicine or merchandizing or other money winning employment, do not properly value the privilege of laboring in the vineyard--do not rightly value the great reward promised to those who forsake all to have the privilege of the Kingdom service and self-sacrifice and of the Kingdom glory by and by.

Our INSTITUTE has through its correspondence during the past year, been more or less in touch with earnest Christian people the world over. Letters come. to us from all parts of the world making inquiry along the line of Bible study, and for assistance in applying the teachings of the Word to the affairs of daily life, as well as business correspondence. We take pleasure in replying to these and in offering assistance and words of comfort to the best of our ability. What blessed opportunities God has provided for His people at the present time! What an opportunity it affords for all of these dear children to have fellowship and communion in this manner, as well as through the printed page! Those afar as well as nearby may have the privilege of complying with the Apostle's words to forget not the assembling of ourselves together and so much the more as we see the day drawing on. Many letters assure us of blessings which the wonderful mail service of our day has brought to them; and on our part we can testify that great blessing and encouragement has come to us through the same channel. While some of the letters received are cold and business like and others bitterly antagonistic, still others, and the majority, are laden with rich perfume of Christian love, sympathy and deep appreciation of the Truth. Since the last report was rendered a year ago we have received 3,854 letters, and 3,995 have been sent out.

THE HERALD OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM

We believe that we can safely report that a good work among the brethren has progressed through the ministration of our journal, "THE HERALD. OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM." We have repeated assurances from the friends far and near of being constantly refreshed and comforted by the visits of the journal and its messages. This has been of general encouragement to the brethren who have to do with preparing and sending forth the HERALD. We realize, of course, that our journal has not been pleasing to all, nor do we believe that it would be possible to send forth a publication that would really meet with the approval of every person. It is more and more the aim and earnest desire of the Editorial Committee to present I before the Lord's people that which is known to be established Truth and that which will build up spiritually. And after all we believe that none of the readers of the HERALD could have received any greater blessing from its ministry than those who have to do with arranging the matter itself, and as no doubt all know, a considerable amount of that which we print is from the pen of our beloved Pastor. The Revelation series, now completed, has proven to. be of invaluable help to many. While all of our readers have not thoroughly digested these, expositions from the Revelation, we hear from those who signify their purpose to make a thorough study of them. A good many of the brethren have written,. suggesting and expressing their desire that we would arrang& these studies in book form and supply them to the friends, as this Would present the matter in a much. more convenient way to study than as it is now, scattered through many issues of the journal. These suggestions, of course, have had the careful consideration of the brethren in charge of the work and they have earnestly committed the matter to the Lord and prayed for His wisdom and counsel to direct with regard to the same. Others in, their communications have stated how greatly they have been helped by those presentations of Truth that have clearly set forth the Word of the Lord on the subject of Christian liberty and what the rights and privileges of the New Creation really are, in their study and their acceptance of the Truth, and that seeing clearly the teaching of the Lord's Word on the subject many have been assisted to accordingly adjust themselves as they have come under the pressure of the severe tests and trials along these lines and are enabled to stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ makes free.

Our report shows somewhat of an increase in the .HERALD subscription list, the list numbering at the present time upwards of 2,800. We have urged that all who desire its visits may have them whether they have the means to pay for it or not. 'Those who do not like to ask for it as the Lord's poor may, if they prefer, ask for it on credit year after year, and if never able to pay for it may so inform us and have the debt cancelled. We do not know what more we could say than this. We offer to do this not because we have a surplus from the paid subscription list, for as we explained in our last year's report, the regular subscription price of our journal is only about one third of the actual cost of its publishing and mailing, and while there has been a little reduction in the cost during the past year, it has not been sufficient to make any material difference, so that it is constantly necessary to draw on the fund that is made up of donations in order to make possible the mailing of the HERALD at the subscription price, $1.00, announced on the second page.

THE PILGRIM SERVICE

Encouraging results have been noted from the endeavors along the line of the Pilgrim work, though what has been achieved in this direction comes short of what we could wish, yet we have confidence that it is acceptable and has been pleasing to the Lord in asmuch as the visits that have been made and the lectures given have resulted in building up and comforting the saints. Though only one brother has been giving his time continuously in this direction, a great deal of territory has been covered during the year the greater portion of the United States and Canada. A good number of other brethren of ability have been serving locally, some giving a few days at a time and others serving principally on Sundays the nearby Classes throughout the year., All appreciate this branch of the ministry as being most valuable and helpful to the little Classes here and there as well as the individual cases where the traveling brother is permitted to stop off for a brief visit; and as it was in the primitive conditions of the early Church, the disciples were earnestly admonished to come together to worship and encourage one another, so we find it is just as important for the true disciples today to neglect not the assembling of themselves together. The Lord .has undoubtedly intended the meetings of the brethren together for fellowship, as a means of encouraging the growth of the Holy Spirit in. them and- of the building up in the qualities and graces of that Spirit. We cannot but urge upon all to be specially on guard against a spirit of indifference. toward mingling with others of the Lord's people upon every reasonable opportunity. Following is a summary of the Pilgrim branch of the service:

Number of Pilgrims 17
Miles traveled 60,006
Meetings held 442
Total attendance 13,587

During the year just closed five General Conventions have been held and as usual they proved to be occasions blessed of the Lord to the edification of the brethren. They were as follows: Detroit, Mich., July 3-5, Day ton, Ohio, and St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 4-6, Providence, R. I., Sept. 17-19, Boston, Mass., April 16-19. We can not, of course, report vast numbers in attendance at any of these gatherings, but at' each of them there was a general representation of the brethren, covering quite a wide range of territory, and as those who were privileged to assemble at these Conventions returned to their homes, many of them no doubt carried a blessing to others who could not attend. These general assemblages of the Lord's people we are sure present splendid opportunities for the encouragement of spiritual communion and fellowship, and as the Lord's people come to know each other better here they are the better equipped and qualified to sympathize and help one another along the Narrow Way. We believe that none of the brethren who have the proper and Scriptural conception of the present state of the Lord's people feel any distress because our numbers are not larger. Looking upon the history of the past of God's people the question of numbers never has been first with the Lord, nor with those who have listened to His voice. The question rather of quality has been pre-eminent in His mind and more and more as we, observe the terms and conditions of fellowship with Christ and the narrowness of the Narrow Way we are not surprised that there be few who possess the qualities of heart and who show that fullness of devotion to the Lord and His will that marks them as peculiarly His. In fact, we recall that the Master as He considered the closing scenes of this Age and the general decline of faith said, "When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find the faith on the earth?" And surely if it be true, as we believe, that we are approaching near unto the climax or end of the Age, it be comes a question of whether we should expect the number of consecrated to appear to be larger or smaller. We believe the Lord alone is able to decide that.

Inasmuch as the Convention' gatherings have been the means of spiritual uplift to brethren of the past, we have continued to encourage these gatherings and to render every assistance reasonably within our means to make the same successful and productive of good.

TRACT DISTRIBUTION

We have endeavored to encourage the ministry of the Truth during the past year as usual along the line of distribution of free literature. ' Some of the brethren have indicated that they are wide awake along this line, desiring to be active in preaching the Truth both by word of mouth and by the printed page, realizing that such Christian endeavor reacts favorably upon the heart and life of those who thus minister. We are living indeed in a strange time. Many would discourage the general ministry of the Truth and have us believe that the door is shut, that the Lord has completed the predestinated number to form the Bride of Christ. As yet, we have not seen fit to join with these in such an announcement or proclamation, as we have no such authority, believing that all the evidences are to the contrary that -there are still indications that the Lord is accepting of such as, having hearing ears, come to that knowledge of the Truth -a knowledge of the High Calling, and bring themselves to Him in the spirit of full consecration and sacrifice. To our understanding there is still opportunity for such to enter in and make their calling and election sure. The conditions that mark the dark night referred. to by our Lord, and the complete closing of the door of entrance into the Narrow Way, are not yet manifest, and surely it cannot be pleasing to the Lord for us to announce anything of this kind unless the evidence is established as being most positive and clear. True enough, the opportunities along the lines of volunteering with free literature and other ways are not such as many of us once enjoyed, owing to the marked change in the condition of the times; the great advance in the cost of paper and printing, making it impossible for us to have at our disposal the volunteer matter as plentiful as in former years. This also we feel is of the Lord. Our limited treasury and the present conditions have not permitted us to offer the free tracts in large quantities so that the friends could have them for general volunteering; rather, as the supply has been quite limited, we have suggested that the tracts be used sparingly and that considerable discrimination be used in the matter of placing these where they would seem to accomplish the most good. We desire to encourage a larger number, of the brethren to be active in this direction of letting their light shine, of having on hand at least a small supply of free literature to give to friends or neighbors or those with whom they meet from day to day. Experience shows that those who thus attest their loyalty to the Lord and His Message thus openly receive a special blessing at His hand in return. And this is in full accord with the Lord's general dealing: them that honor Him, He will honor; them that profess Him, He will own and profess; they that water others shall themselves be watered. During the past year upwards of 75,000 of the leaflets have been distributed-the larger number of these being "Inauguration of God's Kingdom, preceded by distress of Nations." Recently, we have had printed the tract, "Where are the Dead?" in the same style and, size of print, and quite a good number of the friends are making use of these together with the other.

We believe we may include in this feature of the report also the circulation of certain special editions of the HERALD. The June, 1919, double number con taining the matter "All about Hell and the Second Coming of Christ." Sortie of the brethren have found many opportunities of placing these with those who have been inquiring for more light on the Lord's Word along these particular lines. The. other special issue, that of the November, 1920, double number, treating more particularly matters that concern the brethren and that deals more specially with the present issues, trials and tests that have had to do with separating the, brethren in recent years. We have recommended that this special issue be placed quite generally among other brethren who manifest evidence of need for some such assistance. as- the messages of this particular issue contain. The results show that a great deal of good has been accomplished by this special number of the HERALD, enabling the brethren to apply the underlying principles of the Lord's Word to these times and circumstances so that they have been enabled to take a decided stand for the Lord and with those who are defending these important truths and the principles of the same. We continue to urge upon the friends alertness and activity in the direction of giving a helping hand to our brethren that we may be of all the assistance possible to them at this time when the Adversary would hinder and blind the. minds of many as to the important issues. Our experience shows that those brethren and sisters who have courageously shown their colors are amongst the most clear and most staunch in the Truth. How glad all will be when in the future they look back and note the little services and sacrifices they were privileged to make as an expression of their love of the Lord, for Him and. for His brethren. Our Master has not promised nor arranged for any earthly reward in connection with present ministries and services, but has assured us that all the faithful shall by and by doubtless come rejoicing bringing their sheaves with them.

THE MINISTRY IN OTHER LANDS

We are glad to include in our report that we have continued to keep in touch with the brethren in other countries more or less in all parts of the earth; mostly, however, with individual brethren and those who are more or less isolated and alone. Through these we have learned of the general conditions that prevail there, similar in some respects to what has been experienced in our own land. The same earnest and zealous spirit toward the Master and His cause is noted in the communication from these brethren, thus confirming the Apostle's statement that "by one spirit are we all baptized into one body." In other countries it appears to be a matter of a few individuals here and there laboring in the face of many difficulties to let their light shine and to assist others to see the way of the Lord more clearly. The two exceptions in this regard being that of Australia and Great Britain. In Australia they have arranged what is known as the BEREAN BIBLE INSTITUTE, and in Great Britain, the BIBLE STUDENTS COMMITTEE. These are merely of simple character, somewhat on the order of our INSTITUTE in America, and constituted for the same purpose, of generally lending assistance and encouragement to others in their lands. Both the BIBLE STUDENTS COMMITTEE and the BEREAN BIBLE INSTITUTE are acting in more or less of a representative way in connection with the ministries of the HERALD in receiving subscriptions and otherwise facilitating and encouraging the spirit of the Master, the spirit of oneness among the friends. It is proper for us to state in this connection that two of our brethren in response to the invitation to our INSTITUTE, visited Great Britain in connection with the General Annual Convention called by the BIBLE STUDENTS COMMITTEE. This feature was reported in the September 1st issue of the HERALD last year, 'hence we will not repeat the details now. We have had many statements from the brethren in England of the good that was accomplished by this visit so that we have been led to feel that it was truly of the Lord. As has been recently announced in the HERALD, an urgent invitation has again come from the BIBLE STUDENTS COMMITTEE to the INSTITUTE for one or more representatives to visit England at the time of their annual meeting this year-July 30 to August 1. We have thus far not seen the way clear to avail ourselves of this invitation and arrange for a representative to go this season. If it should still be the Lord's good pleasure to open the way we shall be glad to arrange another visit to our brethren abroad. We would add that likewise our brethren in Australia have asked us to send a representative there for the purpose of a general ministry among the different classes. The acceptance of this invitation we have not yet seen within our reach and must rest the mater in the Lord's hands, awaiting further indications from Him.

OURS TO PRESS ON IN HIS SERVICE

In conclusion now, and in consideration of the items herein reported we acknowledge indeed our achievements in general appear to be small and insignificant. The Lord well knows that we would have been glad to have accomplished more, and this is the sentiment of all our brethren who are co-operating, as we have had repeated statements from them expressing regret that they are not able to render more substantial and efficient service along financial lines and otherwise. It has been observed, of course, that the general financial depression throughout the United States during the past year has been the cause of many not being able to assist more than they have. To what extent there may be relief along this line, and to what extent it may please the Lord in His providence to give our ministry greater impetus and strength, we, of course, can not foresee. It is to be recognized that we are governed more or less by the natural resources in the matter of advancing the various branches of the ministry and only as the Lord will be pleased to provide the means can any feature of His service be increased. We may all rest assured that everything the Lord desires will be accomplished, and though what we have thus far been enabled to do appears of little moment, yet inasmuch as what has been performed seems fully in line with the Lord's purpose and such as He has led us to reasonably expect for these times, we content ourselves and render hearty thanks to Him for the little share we have had in ministering to His cause and His people. We do not know indeed how long any of us may be continued in the privileges and opportunities of the ministry to the Body of the Christ in the flesh; whether for long or for short, it is ours to press on in His service. That there will be trials and tests of more or less severity, bringing suffering and heartaches, there is little doubt; but these we have been taught to expect, and that they will be increasingly our portion until the last member of the Body has experienced glorification. Nor do we know what is before us during the coming year, but we leave all in the Lord's hands and trust Him for His promised grace in every time of need, and at the same time continue to seek to do with our might according to the opportunity and means the Lord will supply. Let us pray for one another, and in every way assist one another to stand and to fight a good fight of faith. Love of the brethren is classified in the Scriptures as one of the evidences of the new life. Praising God for past mercies, let us continue our services with a renewal of our consecration vows and with the thought that we are a year nearer to the glorious change and "well done" for which we hope. Now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed. May the Lord's blessing rest richly with us during another year, giving more and more wisdom that we may do those things pleasing in His sight, that we may be useful in His service, not as those who merely beat the air, but as those who accomplish something to the praise of our Lord and to the profit of His people. Our continual prayer has been daily for all the dear co-laborers and for all the Lord's true sheep known to us and unknown. Brethren pray for us.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Balance on hand May 15, 1920 $1,431.60

RECEIPTS DURING YEAR:
Tract Fund $10,491.18
Herald Subscriptions 2,546.39
Rentals 1,100.00
Books, Mottos, etc . 1,042.39
15,179.96
$16,611.56

DISBURSEMENTS DURING YEAR:

Publication of HERALD $7,171.90
Publication of Free Literature 644.45
Pilgrim Services 3,097.88
Conventions 489.99
Office Supplies, Rent, etc . 1,313.97
Books, Mottos, etc. 1,116.61
Administration Services 701.40
Maintenance of Property 1,894.02
16,430.22
Balance on hand May15, 1921 $181.34

SPECIAL DONATION

Special Donation for purchase of Home
for the Institute -- value, including improvements $16,236.49
Less – Mortgage $7,000.00
Amount spent by Institute
for improvements 1,236.49
8,236.49
Net value of Special Donation $8,000.00

AUDITING COMMITTEE'S STATEMENT

To the Board of Directors and all whom it may concern: Be it known that the undersigned met at the office of the PASTORAL BIBLE INSTITUTE on Saturday, May 21st, 1921, and carefully audited the books of said INSTITUTE and found them correct.

Praying that the Lord may continue to bless the efforts of the ,brethren who have striven faithfully to be a blessing to His people, we remain

Your brethren in the one Hope.

(Signed) DANIEL GAVIN,
GEO. W. HUGHGILL,
R. C. ROGERS,
Auditing Committee.

REPORT OF GENERAL CONVENTIONS

THE CHICAGO CONVENTION

THE assembly of the brethren in Chicago, May 28-30, was one indeed fruitful in those experiences and results most desired and appreciated by those who have come to know the meaning of the new life. The purpose of this gathering as has always been the purpose of such conferences in the past was that of encouraging Christian fellowship and for spiritual upbuilding.

The Class at Chicago, like many others throughout the country, is a comparatively small one, the members of which are bound together in the Lord on the simple Scriptural basis of unity so clearly and simply set forth by BROTHER RUSSELL during his ministry to the Lord's people. For he said that by "recognizing each other's personal liberties, each disciple of Christ will be bound to the other by his love of the Lord, and of the Word alone." (Z '93-265.) In regard to matters of faith, he said: "The basis of it is stated by St. Paul thus: 'I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received [first of all-as a foundation of doctrine, upon and in harmony with which all other doctrines must be built] how that Christ died for our sins according to the -Scriptures; and that he. was buried; and that He arose again according to the Scriptures.' (1 Cor. 15:3, 4.) 'There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.' -- 1 Tim. 2:5, 6."--Z '93-262.

Enlarging on this, BROTHER RUSSELL said: "We should remember our Lord's teaching . . . that those who are not against us are on our part, and that we should neither reprove as wolves nor disown as brethren those whose hearts, whose characters, give evidence that they belong to the Lord, even though they follow not with us in respect to His service, the promulgation of His Message, etc. In other words, we are to love all and wish God-speed to all loving the Lord and manifesting His spirit, whether they associate with us or not. In a word, the Divine rule is very broad and very narrow at the same time. It is narrow as respects discipleship and character: faith in the redeeming blood, consecration to the Master, and a manifestation of His spirit are the lines of discipleship-broad within themselves, but narrow as compared with the lines of the world."--Z '06-93.

The gathering in Chicago was not large, probably not more than 70 being present at the largest meeting. It was thought best not to undertake to arrange for an advertised public meeting at this time. However, the small numbers were more than counterbalanced by the spirit of love and unity which prevailed. Several places within a radius of several hundred miles were represented; two of the brethren on the program having come from the Atlantic Coast. At least five of the older Pilgrim brethren of former years, in addition to several others, were present and took part in the ministries. The addresses were chiefly along the lines of Christian life, and interspersed with exhortations to faithfulness in living the new life of faith in Christ; special emphasis being given to the fact that in this way and this alone do we demonstrate the truthfulness of discipleship, and exemplify the power of the "Good Tidings," that which has been committed to our trust and has brought us a larger measure of spiritual joy.

The testimony meetings were seasons of rich encouragement as -the brethren related their varied experiences in connection with following in the footsteps of the Divine Master. We believe we express the sentiments of all who were at the Convention when we say that this gathering 'was not only greatly enjoyed but was a source of encouragement to press forward in the narrow way that leads to endless association with Christ. Some were present to whom the privilege of meeting with those of "like precious faith" was a rare occurrence, and was on this account of special comfort and help. Others were there who Only recently had been awakened to a sense of their Christian responsibility and who were in quite an unsettled state of mind as to certain issues and teachings and as to what was their obligation and duty under the circumstances. It was most gratifying to note that as these took their departure from the Convention it was with settled convictions and with a clear appreciation of the Lord's will concerning them that they should stand firmly upon the principles of the Divine Word and in defense of those sacred and God-given liberties in Christ for which loyal soldiers of The cross have ever stood.

The general conversation, fellowship, etc., between meetings was also very profitable and we trust served ;to facilitate a clear understanding of the principles for which the ministries of our INSTITUTE was organized-that of serving and assisting the Lord's scattered people to keep in touch with one another and to encourage the unifying and cementing of brethren together in the only bond authorized-that of love Divine. We trust also that these seasons of fellowship had the effect of allaying any fear or apprehension that the INSTITUTE in its work and ministry claims to be any channel through which Truth must flow, for it believes that none have the right to make such claims; more than this, that the lifework of BROTHER RUSSELL--his wonderful unfolding Of the Divine plan and purpose are cherished and held to with the same sacred regard by the brethren of the INSTITUTE as in the past, and to such an extent is this true that the brethren who have the affairs of the ministry in charge are earnestly laboring to act upon the advice of BROTHER RUSSELL and to do what he said he would do if be found himself living in our day and tinder these circumstances.

A royal welcome was given by the Chicago Class to the visiting brethren and sisters and it proved to be a happy family gathering of the children of the one God and Father and brethren of His dear Son. The Convention closed with hearty handshakes and good wishes :and assurances of prayers for one another throughout all the Narrow Way.

THE BROOKLYN CONVENTION

Much of what we have reported of the gathering at Chicago was also true of the Convention in Brooklyn, June 3-5, when a spiritually refreshing season was enjoyed by a number of the friends from neighboring towns and cities--believers in the Ransom for All. As in previous gatherings of this character, many expressions of appreciation were noted of the privileges of associating with those who have true brotherly love and who rejoice in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.

Here, as in Chicago, the discourses that were given expressed encouragement and indicated a deep appreciation of the truths which have rejoiced the hearts of the Lord's people throughout the Harvest in the end of this Age. The brethren who addressed the Convention seemed to have the one thought of rendering full homage and worship to, the Lord, and further, to minister to those who were present, the things that contribute to the development of the new life. The prevailing sentiment of this Convention was the assurance of the Lord's approval in the stand taken by the brethren who, have pursued a conservative course all along and who have not engaged in oppositions, controversies and debates with others. The words of Scripture, "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength," well expressed the attitude of those who have passed through many severe trials during the recent years and who have continued to, develop the fruits of the spirit. There was a satisfaction in the consciousness that a firm reliance upon the promises of the Lord and an abiding faith in the sound doctrine of the Scriptures have been the means of preserving the friends from a wavering and uncertain course of vain speculation and wild and erratic surmises as to what the future may hold. More and more the Divine providences realized in the affairs of the Lord's true people indicate the supervision of the great Head over the members of His Body-the Church. The sacred ties which unite the brethren in Christ were strengthened by the associations and the kind and loving ministrations and joy at this series of meetings. One of the marked features of the gathering of the brethren was the apparent desire to have a greater measure of love for all the Lord's people, irrespective of differences of viewing the non-essentials of their faith. It is esteemed a privilege to enjoy Christian fellowship with all who are established upon the sure foundation and who are in covenant relationship with the Lord.

One of the features of the Convention was the annual business meeting of the PASTORAL BIBLE INSTITUTE. This annual meeting, provided for in the Charter of the INSTITUTE, is for the purpose of electing directors each year, and for the transacting of such -other business as may be desired. Additionally, opportunity is given at this meeting for all the members to generally review the work and ministry of the INSTITUTE. The reports of the past year's activities rendered by the officers of the INSTITUTE at this meeting of June 4th, proved to be of considerable interest to the friends generally. These reports appear on -another page of this issue.

We believe this business meeting was conducted in a spirit becoming to the followers of the Master; and while owing to various temperaments and viewpoints, all could not see every item exactly alike, it was refreshing to note the prevalence of the spirit of harmony and love.

One of the brethren serving as a Director, presented a resolution which was unanimously passed, the substance of which was that the Board of Directors shall be instructed to publish annually in the HERALD, at the time of the announcement of the annual meeting, the name and address of any one, a member of the INSTITUTE, selected by any Ecclesia as a candidate, as well as the names, as heretofore, of those already serving.

This instruction will be carried out annually, and therefore any such name and address to be suggested as a, candidate should be sent in to the INSTITUTE not later than April first, next, and annually thereafter on or before the same time. This, of course, is not intended to and would not preclude any one from voting for any member of the INSTITUTE for Director as he might see fit. The resolution was merely intended to bring to the attention of the Classes throughout the country the opportunity, if they desire to use it, of placing in nomination before the annual meeting the names of such as they may think suitable for the office of Director of the INSTITUTE.

Following this, the regular election took place, with the result that the members who constituted the Board for the past year, were re-elected by a large majority. Subsequent to this, the newly elected Board held their first regular meeting of the new term of office, for the purpose of electing officers and of transacting whatever business demanded immediate attention. This election resulted in the appointing of the same officers who presided during the year just closed, as follows:

I. I. MARGESON, Chairman,
E. J. PRITCHARD, Vice-Chairman,
I. F. HOSKINS, Secretary,
P. L. GREINER, Treasurer.

At this session of the Board of Directors, heartfelt thanks was rendered to the Heavenly Father for the privileges that had been enjoyed throughout the past year in the work of .sacrificing and of ministering to His people from the Word, and earnest prayers were offered for Divine guidance and direction for the coming year.

The Convention closed with a public meeting Sunday afternoon, conducted in a well-known auditorium, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the attendance at which was estimated as between six and seven hundred. It was observed that excellent attention was given to the public message, which testified that there are many who desire to know the way of the Lord better and are hungering and thirsting for Truth-the great Message of redeeming love.

The customary Love Feast concluded, the Convention. The friends seemed reluctant to separate after having enjoyed such a profitable season together, and all indicated that they were looking forward with greater longing to that final meeting of those of like precious faith and who have the one Holy Spirit of the Lord.

MORE CONCERNING ISRAEL'S
JUBILEE YEAR

A BROTHER writes, stating a number Of difficulties in connection with the study of the article published in the HERALD Of May 15, entitled "Ancient Israel's Jubilee Year." The objections noted are as follows: (1) "The system of using a 49-year-cycle instead of a 50-year-cycle is not held to consistently. Instead of -using the 49th year as the first Jubilee, the 50th year is used, and then it changes to a 49-year-cycle. Next, the 49-year-cycle is mathematically wrong and unscriptural, as it gives two Jubilees in every 50 years after the first 50,--the first year and the last year of each 50 being a Jubilee. Furthermore, in the first 7 years after each Jubilee, the Jews would only have 5 years in which to, work the land,--the first one being a Jubilee and the seventh one a Rest year.

(2) "Then after using a 49-year-cycle for the period from entering the land to the last Jubilee, viz., 49 X19, or 931 years, giving the last Jubilee the date of 625 B. C., the article changes again to the 50-year-cycle and says it is 2500 years to 1874 A. D., when, to be consistent, the article should say 49X 49 years, which of course, would show the date of our Lord's return as 1776 A. D. Then the article changes back to the 49-year-cycle and says 7OX49=3430 years to A. D. 1874.

(3) "Also, the part of the article called "Corroborative Testimony" does not corroborate, for it points out, as the Bible says, that the Jubilee began on the tenth day of the seventh month of the 49th year and continues to the same date in the 50th year, leaving enough time in the autumn for sowing of the seed for next spring's harvest, and thus shows that the Jubilee was not confined to the 49th year.

(4) "In regard to the adjustment of the lunar to the solar years, we must remember that that took place every year by the Jews marking time after the end of the lunar year till the first new moon after the Spring Equinox and by adding a month every third or fourth year so that there was no further adjustment necessary at -the end of the 49th year.

(5) "The period covered by Daniel's prophecy has nothing to do with Jubilees, as it began 454 B. C. and extended 490 years during a time when Jubilees were not observed. But the fact that the commission to build the City went forth in 454 B. C., proves this theory of reckoning by 49's is wrong."

In replying to the above criticism we acknowledge that there is some diversity of opinion amongst authorities who have treated this- subject. This being true, none should be too dogmatic in stating their views. However, the more we investigate and look into the matter, the more we are convinced that the presentations given in the recent HERALD with regard to the calculation of the Jubilee, are supported by the Scriptures. It does not seem to us that the questioner in presenting the objections above has fully grasped the import of our explanation. We have no desire to prolong any unnecessary discussion of the matter in question, but believe that a review of the points in the above criticism may prove helpful to some.

ART TO COME

First, we ask all to observe that according to the command, the Jews, when they entered the land in the spring of the year, were to begin with the first month Nisan the count to reach the first Jubilee, and this very fact, of -necessity, makes the Jubilee an overlapping year, being 49+49+49, etc. (See Lev. 25:2; Josh. 4:19.) From Nisan in the first year to Nisan following the forty-ninth year is just 49 full solar years, but the Jubilee could not commence at Nisan following the forty-ninth year for the reason that the command was that the Jubilee was to be observed on the tenth day of the seventh month, and not in the first month. This being true, as the Jubilee year itself begins in the autumn, which is the middle of the ecclesiastical year, it becomes necessary to decide whether we begin the Jubilee year in the autumn before the forty-ninth year ends, or the autumn after it ends. If we should begin the Jubilee the autumn after the 'fortyninth year had closed, then the last half of the Jubilee year would be in the fifty-first year; and this would be out of harmony with the Divine arrangement, which required that it be the fiftieth, and not the fifty-first year. The Jubilee year, therefore, would seem to begin in the fall, just before the forty-ninth year had expired and just at the point where 600 lunations had been completed; and it would end in the autumn, which would be the middle of the fiftieth year, when sowing, which had ceased in the autumn of the sixth or forty-ninth year, would again begin.

Now let us carefully observe how this meets the conditions as stated in Leviticus 25:20-22: "And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year," (not in the spring, however, but in the 'autumn, immediately after the Jubilee had ended).

In our former treatment of Israel's Jubilee, we presented a diagram showing the 7-year and the 49-year-cycles, and indicated thereon how the Jubilee was a lapping year in order to avoid any break in the system of sevens. While that diagram presented the general outline of the matter, yet it did not illustrate the points in question as accurately, or in detail, as we desire now to do; hence we submit the following diagram:

By a careful study of this view it will be seen that God's blessing upon the sowing and reaping of the sixth year was to be such as to supply the people with food for the sixth, seventh and eighth years, until the ninth year opened, in harmony with the word of the Lord quoted above. In no other way could the septenary count, i.e., the continuous count of the 7-year-cycles without skipping a year, be preserved.

In the old method of reckoning, not only is the septenary count broken, but the count to reach the jubilee has to begin six months after the time the Scriptures require, in the fifty-first solar year, it being understood, of course, that the count begins in the spring when the Israelites entered the land. Thus we see that instead of the Jews having only five years in which to work the land, they had in every case six years, as the diagram shows, and at the same time, in harmony with the command, it was necessary for them in the sixth year preceding the Jubilee to reap sufficiently to provide them for the sixth, seventh and eighth years, as they would not sow again until the Jubilee would end in the middle of the eighth year. We believe it will be seen, therefore, that there is no ground for the claim made in the above criticism to the effect that instead of our using the forty-ninth year as the first jubilee, we use the fiftieth, and then change to a 49-year-cycle. Neither is the claim sustained that according to our reckoning there are two Jubilees in every 50 years after the first 50; for, as will be seen from the above diagram, the Jubilee, which must commence in the fall of the year, is the lapping year,--one-half in the forty-ninth year and the other half in the fiftieth, thus linking together the 49-year-cyles. In no sense are there two Jubilees in every 50 years. The Jubilee is thus properly enough called the fiftieth year, inasmuch as it is not the forty-ninth and because it is actually the fiftieth, even though the count each time to reach the fiftieth begins in the middle of each jubilee. The fact that there is this lapping process in the count does not at all militate against the conclusion that it is the fiftieth year, nor does it mean that in any sense of the word we are changing from one method of counting to another.

With regard to the large cycle, 50 X50, the criticism urges that in order to be consistent we should multiply 49 X49, instead of 50X50. We are unable-to concur in this suggestion, for the reason that the jubilee year is not called the forty-ninth, but the fiftieth, as we have seen. In this we have simply followed BROTHER RUSSELL'S suggestion, We quote his exact words:

"We have already referred to the method of counting the Sabbaths--that the multiplying of the Sabbath or seventh day by seven (7X7=49) pointed out Pentecost, the jubilee Day which followed; and the multiplying of the seventh year [not seven years] by seven (7X7=49) made the cycle which pointed out and led to the fiftieth or jubilee Year. And, the same. system carried out would indicate that to reach the great antitype which we seek we should in like manner square the Jubilee--i.e., multiply the fiftieth year [not 50 years] by 50. That is to say, the anti-typical cycle, by the method of multiplying here taught us, should be reckoned by multiplying the typical jubilee or fiftieth Sabbath year by 50, just as in reaching it we multiplied the seventh year Sabbath by 7.--Lev. 25:2-13."--STUDIES, VOL 11-180.

We therefore multiply the fiftieth year by 50, thus making the large cycle Of 2500 years.

The criticism urges that it does not seem harmonious for us to multiply 49 X70 in order to ascertain the full amount of 70 Jubilees. We would say that we see nothing inharmonious about this feature for the reason that as there are actually but 49 years in these cycles, if we desire to find out how many years there would be in 70 jubilee cycles, of course, the only proper way to do would be to multiply 49 by 70, making 3430 years.

Amongst the objections quoted above it is urged that the extract we gave from MR. GUINNESS does not corroborate out findings, but instead contradicts our conclusion. In reply to this: It seems to us that the quotation we gave from this writer has not been understood, for surely by a careful. re-reading of it, it will be seen to be in full support of what we presented. To quote again MR. GUINNESS' language:

" . . . Now as the Jubilee was regulated by years for it recurred every forty-ninth year at the time of the autumnal harvest, and was also regulated by months, for it was reckoned from the tenth day of the first month when Israel crossed Jordan, and the jubilee day [not 'year] was the tenth day of the seventh month (that [day] of atonement); it was most important that the year and months should -closely agree. It is most interesting to observe that such is their natural adjustment that, in the first place forty-nine years form a soli-lunar cycle; and in the second place the interval from the tenth day of the first month of the first year, to the tenth day of the seventh month of the forty-ninth is exactly 600 lunations. . . . The Jubilee year, which is called the fiftieth, extended from the day of atonement in the forty-ninth year to the same date in the fiftieth year, and was thus an overlapping year, the course of Jubilees, being 49+49+49 years, etc. . . .

"The jubilee year began in the seventh month of the forty-ninth year, and extended to the same date in the fiftieth, and thus overlapped, and linked together, the forty-nine-year periods."--Approaching End of the Age--510, 511, 546.

Surely it must now be observed by all that MR. GUINNESS' reasoning is in full confirmation of what we have claimed on this subject.

The criticism above mentions that the adjustment of the lunar to the solar year was accomplished by the intercalating of an extra month every three or four years, so that there was no further adjustment necessary at the end of the forty-ninth year. To this, of course, we most fully agree. We did not claim in our article that there was some adjustment necessary at the end Of the forty-ninth year: we merely pointed out, in harmony with MR. GUINNESS' explanation, that it was necessary for the lunar and solar years to agree in connection with every jubilee. However, the count to reach each Jubilee begins at Nisan, whatever particular date that may have been. Six hundred lunations from Nisan of one jubilee always brings the count to a date corresponding in the autumn where the next jubilee commences in the middle of the forty-ninth year. It was this process of intercalating that caused the year and the month to agree in the fall of the forty-ninth year from entering the land, making exactly 600 lunations.

In Our previous article on the Jubilees we cited the "70 weeks" (490 years,--10X7=70; 70X7=490) of Daniel 9, simply to show the continuation of the septenary arrangement, unbroken by the skipping of any year, in connection with the Jubilee; the expression "70 weeks" being merely another way of referring to 70 of the 7-year periods; and we believe that MR. GUINNESS has well said that "The '70 weeks' appointed to extend from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince, was an enlarged Jubilee-the former being 49 and the latter 490 years." It therefore seemed a most reasonable inference that this continuous counting of the 7-year periods to make the larger cycle of 490 years was a strong evidence that our old method of reckoning the Jubilees and permitting the counting of sevens to be broken every 50 years, was erroneous, as -we believe it is not sustained by the Scriptures in any place.

OTHER TESTIMONY IN CONFIRMATION

It occurs to us in this connection that we may well supplement the evidence that we have already given as to the unbroken septenary count-the counting of the 7-year-cycles without any break-by referring to certain historical matters in connection with Zedekiah's overthrow. By a careful comparison of Jeremiah 37:1-11 ; 34:21, 22, with Jeremiah 39:1, 2, it will be seen that in connection with the last siege, which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar's army came twice into the land before Zedekiah was overthrown. The first time he was Obliged to withdraw his army on account of being menaced by -the King of Egypt. just previous to this first invasion, about three years before Jerusalem was destroyed indeed on account of the threatening invasion Zedekiah and his nobles, through fear, and by an endeavor to gain Jehovah's favor to the end that the judgment might be stayed, started to observe a Sabbatic year by letting their servants go free. When Nebuchadnezzar's armies withdrew, on account of being menaced by the King of Egypt, Zedekiah and his associates apparently repudiated their observance of the Sabbatic year and began to take their slaves back again. Jeremiah the Prophet then told the king, Zedekiah, that Nebuchadnezzar would come back (Jer. 34:8-22), and in harmony with this prediction Nebuchadnezzar did return, in Zedekiah's ninth year and tenth month (Jer. 39:1), and the City of Jerusalem was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar at this time until its fall in Zedekiah's eleventh year and fourth month.

Now the conclusion of this matter is this: According to the foregoing method of reckoning of the Sabbatic years, the count of sevens, a Sabbatic year was due to be observed in Zedekiah's eighth year, which, according to the chronology, would be the 966th year from the entrance of the Israelites into the land.

That this Sabbatic year occurred in the 966th year from the entrance into, the land will be seen when we bear in mind that the date 625 B. C., which corresponded with the 931st year from entering the land, was the year when a Sabbatic Jubilee was due. This, as we have shown, was 38 years before the overthrow of Zedekiah, which overthrow was in 587 B. C. By a division of 38 by 7 we have 5 Sabbatic years and 3 years remainder up to the destruction of Jerusalem, which, as we have claimed, was in 587 B. C.; and as 587 B. C. corresponds with 969 years from the entrance into the land, three years back of that would bring us to the 966th year or 590 B. C., when a regular Sabbath was due, as was proved by the fact that Zedekiah and his nobles, that year undertook to observe the Sabbath by conforming to the requirements given in the Law.

On the contrary, if we calculate the Sabbath and Jubilee years according to the old method and allow that a year was passed over in every 50 and a break occurred in the Sabbatic system, then there would not have been any Sabbath year due to be kept at the time when Zedekiah and his nobles began to observe it, 590 B. C., for it would have come two years earlier, or in. 592 B. C.; for about 606 would have been the last Jubilee, instead of 625, leaving 19 years remainder, which, divided by 7, would make 2 'Sabbath years, the last one of which would be due to be observed 592 B. C.; and 5 years remainder to 587 B. C.; whereas the -Scripture records we have cited above show a Sabbath year observed by Zedekiah about 590 B. C., which is entirely harmonious with our method of reckoning.

THE EARLY LIFE OF SAUL

--JULY 3--ACTS 21:39; 22:3, 28; 2 Tim. 3:14,15; Dent. 6:4-9--

Golden Text--"Today if ye shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts."--Heb. 3:7, 8.

WE are entering upon half a year's study of the life and writings of one of the greatest men that ever lived-that of the Apostle Paul. Of the twelve men whom Jesus chose to be His companions and heralds during the brief years of His earthly ministry, two alone can be said to have stamped upon the infant Church the impress of their own individuality. These two were John and Simon. Our Lord Himself by the titles which He gave them indicated the distinctions of their character, and the pre-eminence of their: gifts. John was called a Son of Thunder; :Simon was to be known as Peter--a Rock. To Peter was granted the honor of authoritatively admitting the first uncircumcised Gentile on equal terms into the brotherhood of Christ, and he has ever been regarded as the main pillar of the early Church. John, on the other hand, is the Apostle of Love, "the disciple whom Jesus loved," and the one to whom was given the last message to the Church-the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Yet there was another to whom was entrusted a wider, a more fruitful, a more laborious mission; who was to found more numerous churches, to endure intenser sufferings, to attract to the fold of Christ a vaster multitude of followers. On St. Peter rested, at first, the support and defense of the new teaching; yet his endurance was not tested so terribly as that of him on whom fell daily the "care of all the churches." St. John was the last survivor of the Apostles, and he barely escaped sharing with his brother the glory of being one of the earliest martyrs; yet even his life of long exile and heavy tribulations was a far less awful trial than that of him who counted it but a light and momentary affliction to "die daily," to be "in deaths oft."

In truth, it is hardly possible to exaggerate the extent, the permanence, the vast importance of those services which were rendered to Christianity by St. Paul. It is to his undaunted determination, his clear vision, his moral loftiness, that we are indebted for the emancipation of religion from the intolerable yoke- of legal observances. It was he alone who was God's appointed instrument to render possible the spread of Christianity, and to lay deep in the hearts of European churches the solid bases for Christian work. As the Apostle of the Gentiles he was pre-eminently and necessarily the Apostle of freedom, of culture, of the understanding; yet he has, if possible, a ;higher glory than all this, in the fact that he, too, more than any other, is the Apostle who made clear the "justification by faith" which has brought home to numberless Christians in all ages the sense of their helplessness, and pointed them most convincingly to the blessedness and the universality of that redemption which their Savior wrought. And hence whenever the faith of Christ has been most dimmed in the hearts of men, whenever its pure fires have seemed in greatest danger of being stifled, it is mostly by the influence of his writings that religious life has been revived. It was his prevailing -doctrine of free deliverance through the merits of Christ which, as it worked in St. Paul himself to shatter the bonds of Jewish formalism, worked in later centuries in the soul of Luther to break the bars of iron in sunder with which the Papacy had imprisoned for so many centuries the souls which God made free.

This is the man whose career will best enable us to understand the Dawn of Christianity upon the darkness alike of Jew and Gentile; the man who loosed Christianity from the cerements of Judaism, and inspired the world of Paganism with joy and hope. The study of his life will leave upon our minds a fuller conception of the extreme nobleness of the man, and of the truths which, he lived and died to teach. And we must consider that life, as far as possible, without traditional bias. If we describe him as exempt from all human weakness-if we look at his actions as though it were irreverence to suppose that they ever fell short of his own ideal-we not only describe an impossible character, but we contradict his own reiterated testimonies. It is not a sinless example which we are now called upon to contemplate, but the life of one who, in deep sincerity, called himself "the chief of sinners"; it is the career of one whose ordinary life was human, not Divine-human in its impetuosity, human in its sensibilities, human, perhaps, in some of its concessions and accommodations; but whose inner life was truly spiritual in so far as it manifested the workings of the spirit, in so far as it was dead to the world, and hid with Christ in God. It is utterly alien to the purpose and manner of Scripture to present to us any of our fellowmen in the light of faultless heroes or unapproachable demi-gods. The notion that it is irreverent to suppose a flaw in the conduct of an Apostle is one of those instances of "false humility" which degrade Scripture under pretense of honoring it. From idealized presentments of the lives of our fellow-servants, there would be but little for us to learn; but we do learn the greatest and most important of all lessons when we mark in a struggling soul the triumph of the grace of God-when we see a man, weak like ourselves, tempted like ourselves, erring like ourselves, enabled by the force of a sacred purpose to conquer temptation, to trample on selfishness, to rear even upon sins and failures the superstructure of a great holy life.

DIVINE PROVIDENCE IN SAUL'S LIFE

The circumstances which surrounded the cradle and infancy of the infant Saul were widely different from those amid which his Lord had grown to boyhood. It was in an obscure and lonely village of Palestine, amid surroundings almost exclusively Judaic, that Jesus "grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man"; but Saul passed his earliest years in the famous capital of a Roman province, and must have recalled with his first conscious reminiscences the language and customs of the Pagan world. He was one (if those Israelites who lived amongst the Gentiles, but who occasionally went up to Jerusalem to certain of the feasts. His home was in the city of Tarsus, one of the no-table cities of that date-said to have been excelled in scholarship and fine arts by the cities of Alexandria and Athens only. In choosing the birthplace of 'St. Paul the guiding hand of Providence is seen.

It was his birth at Tarsus which also determined the trade in which, during so many days and nights of toil and self-denial, the Apostle earned his daily bread. The staple manufacture of the city was the weaving, first into ropes, then into' tent-covers and garments, of the hair which was supplied in boundless quantities by the goat flocks of the Taurus. As the making of these was unskilled labor of the commonest sort, the trade of tent-maker was one both lightly esteemed and meagerly paid. It must not, however, be inferred from this that the family of 'St. Paul were people of low position. The learning of a trade was a duty enjoined by the Rabbis on the parents of every Jewish boy. The wisdom of the rule became apparent in the case of Paul, as doubtless of hundreds besides, when the changes and chances of life compelled him to earn his own livelihood by manual labor. it is clear, from the education provided for Paul by his parents, that they could little indeed have conjectured how absolutely their son would be reduced to depend on a toil so miserable and so unremunerative. But though we see how much he felt the burden of the wretched labor by which he determined to earn his own bread rather than trespass on the charity of his converts (1 Thess. 2:6, 9; 2 Thess. 3:8; 1 Cor. 9:12, 15), yet it had one advantage in being so absolutely mechanical as to leave the thoughts entirely free. While he plaited the black goat's hair he might be holding sweet converse with Apollo or Aquila, with Luke or Timothy, on the loftiest themes which can engage the mind of man.

TRAINED AT THE FEET OF GAMALIEL

Saul had not only the advantages of a home in such a city as Tarsus, but his family was one of the influential ones, as is implied in the fact that he was not only a citizen of Tarsus but also a citizen of Rome. In addition to the education of his home city he had received a special course in theology or Jewish Law at Jerusalem, under Gamaliel, one of the greatest teachers of that time. He was sent, probably not later than the age of thirteen, to be trained at the feet of Gamaliel. His early training, therefore, and all of its conditions were favorable to producing in him a breadth and refinement of thought equaled by few; and these conditions combined with his honesty of heart and his zeal for God, though not at first according to knowledge, fitted him to become just what the Lord subsequently made of him, namely, "A chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel."--Acts 9:15.

Saul's father was a Roman citizen; as we have seen, a man of wealth and influence; he was a Jew of the holiness sect called Pharisees-the most exact and rigid in respect to the Divine law. His son, named after Saul, the first king of Israel, was also given a Roman name, Paul, because of his father's Roman citizenship. The Apostle's reference to having suffered the loss of all things for Christ's sake, is understood to imply that he had been disinherited by his father because of his acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah. Quite evidently he was poor in the beginning of his ministry, as is evident from his. laboring at tent-making while preaching. The fact that subsequently the record represents him as a man of considerable influence, and with one or more servants, is considered by many to justify the inference that at a later date he inherited property, possibly by reason of his father's death. In no other way can his "own hired 'house" in Rome, and his influence with officials, shipmasters, etc, be accounted for;--little attention and consideration are given to a pauper prisoner.

As to Paul's personal appearance: An iron medal was recently found which purported to give a likeness. There is also a Roman tablet of about the fourth century, which shows Paul seated in a curule chair; both represent him as of fine appearance, somewhat bald, with beard, and a fine open countenance; about medium stature and, weight. In the "Acts of Paul and Thecla", the first Christian romance, written about A. D. 150, there is a description of Paul which is probably the best, and a true tradition. In this he is described as "small in size, bald-headed, bandy-legged, well built, with eyebrows meeting; rather long nosed; with motions full of grace, for sometimes he seemed like a mail, and sometimes like an angel. His manner was singularly winning." Very evidently his good education and contact with people in the higher -walks of life gave him that grace and ease of manner and speech he manifested so conspicuously in the presence of the many high officials with whom he came in contact in various ways, as the representative of the Lord.

Regarding the early training of Saul, one has written:

"The father of Saul may have been glad that he possessed an inalienable right, transmissible to his son, which would protect him in many of those perils which were only too possible in such times; but it made no difference in the training which he gave to the young Saul, or in the destiny which he marked out for him. That training, as we can clearly see, was the ordinary training of every Jewish boy. 'The prejudices of the Pharisaic house,' it has been said, ,surrounded his cradle; his Judaism grew like the mustard tree in the Gospel, and intolerance, fanaticism, national hatred, pride, and other passions, built their nests among its branches.' At the age of five he would begin to study the Bible with his parents at home; and even earlier than this he would doubtless have learnt the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9, also 11:13-27) and the Hallel (Psalms 113-118) in whole or in part. At six he would go to his 'vineyard,' as the later Rabbis called their schools. At ten he would begin to study those earlier and simpler developments of the oral law, which were afterwards collected in the Mishna. At thirteen he would, by a sort of 'confirmation,' become a 'Son of the Commandment.' . . . At twenty, or earlier, like every orthodox Jew, he would marry. During many years he would be ranked among the 'pupils of the wise,' and he mainly occupied with 'the traditions of the Father.'

"It was in studies and habits like these that the young Saul of Tarsus grew up to the age of thirteen, which was the age at which a Jewish boy, if be were destined for the position of a Rabbi, entered the school of some great master."

SAUL THE PHARISEE

JULY 10--ACTS 7:54-8:3; 22:3, 4; 26:4, 5, 9, 10

Golden Text.--"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."--1 Tim. 1:15.

IF THERE ever was a man who, from a human point of view, might have been expected to sympathize with Jesus of Nazareth, that man was Saul of Tarsus. That he did not was due to his education as a Pharisee. If the lessons of the years between the ages of thirteen and thirty-three left, as they must inevitably have left, unmistakable traces on the life of St. Paul, how, much more must this be the case with the deeper experiences through which he must have passed during the long period in which "he lived a Pharisee." We know well the kind of life which lies hid behind that expression. Pharisaism chiefly consisted in "carefulness about the color of fringes, and the tying of tassels, and the lawful ness of meats and drinks,; the tithings of mint, anise, and cummin, and the serio-comic questions as to whether in tithing the seed it was obligatory also to tithe the stalk; in the double fasts of the week, and the triple prayers of the day, and the triple visits to the temple; in elaborate strainings of water and wine, constant rinsings and scourings of brazen cups and pots and tables; in laborious ablutions and bathings of the whole person, with carefully tabulated ceremonies and normal gesticulations; in obtrusive prayers, ostentatious almsgiving, broadened phylacteries, petty ritualisms, professional arrogance, reckless proselytism, greedy avarice, haughty assertion of pre-eminence, ill-concealed hypocrisy." In the words of Farrar:

"This type of character, which bears no remote resemblance to that of many of the devotees of the monastic life-however erroneous it may be, however bitter must be the pain by which it must be accompanied, however deep the dissatisfaction which it must ultimately suffer-is very far from being necessarily ignoble. It is indeed based on the enormous error that man can deserve heaven by care in external practices; that he can win by quantitative goodness his entrance into the Kingdom of God; that that Kingdom is meat and drink, not righteousness and peace and joy in believing.

If but one person could only for one day keep the whole Law and not offend in one point-nay, if but one person could but keep that one point of the Law which affected the due observance of the Sabbath-then (so the Rabbis taught) the troubles of Israel would be ended. And it was at nothing less than this that, with all the intense ardour of his nature, Saul had aimed. . . . And we know from his own statements that if external conformity were all-if obedience to the Law did not mean obedience in all kinds of matters which escaped all possibility of attention-if avoidance of its prohibitions did not involve avoidance in matters which evaded the reach of the human senses--then Saul was, touching the righteousness of the Law, blameless, having lived in all good conscience towards God. Had he put the question to the Great Master, 'What shall I do to be saved?' or been bidden to 'keep the commandments,' it is certain that he would have been able to reply with the youthful ruler, 'All these have I kept from my youth,' and-he might have added -'very much besides! And yet we trace in his Epistles how bitterly he felt the hollowness of this outward obedience--how awful and how burdensome had been to him 'the curse of the Law.' Even, moral obedience could not silence the voice of conscience, or satisfy the yearnings of the soul. . . . Tormenting, questions would again and again arise. Of what use was all this? From what did the necessity of it spring? . . . And behind all these questions lay that yet deeper one which agitated the schools of Jewish thought -- the question whether, after all, man could reach, or with all his efforts must inevitably fail to reach, that standard of righteousness which God and the Law required? And if indeed he failed, what more had the Law to say to him than to deliver its sentence of unreprieved condemnation and indiscriminate death? . . . We may see from -St. Paul's own words that these years must have been very troubled years."

But in all his. struggle to achieve his own righteousness there seemed no hope, no satisfaction--nothing but an inevitable curse. The experience of Saul of Tarsus was the heartrending experience of all who have looked for peace elsewhere than in the love of God. All that Luther suffered at Erfurt Saul must have suffered at Jerusalem. That the life of Saul was free from flagrant transgressions we see from his own bold appeals to, his continuous rectitude. But he found that no external legality could give him a clean heart, or put a right spirit within him. He found that servile obedience inspired no inward peace. He must have yearned for some righteousness, could he but know of it, which would be better than the righteousness of the ;Scribes and Pharisees. Saul the Pharisee, long before he became Paul the Apostle, must have proved to the very depth the hollowness of this direction. It was St. Paul who said, "The Law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."--Gal. 3:24.

Our lesson connects with the narrative of the stoning of Stephen and the persecution of the early Church. The account tells us of how Saul was breathing out threatenings against all of "this way" and doing all that he could to stamp our Christianity. Inasmuch as the persecution had caused the scattering of believers, Saul was pursuing them-going even outside the 'province of Judea in his zeal to crush out that which he believed to be dangerous heresy. Some may wonder how he could be at -heart loyal to the Lord, and yet in mind be so bitter against the Lord's faithful. Let us suggest how the matter probably appeared to Saul's mind: Doubtless he was full of the Jewish sentiment respecting Messiah, respecting his nation, Israel; he considered it a certain and unquestionable fact that the Pharisees represented God and all the glorious prophecies and traditions of the nation; and that as Jehovah had favored this nation for now these many centuries, His favor, undoubtedly, must still be with it; so that if He had any further revelations to make they would undoubtedly come through the Scribes and Pharisees who "sit in Moses' seat"--as representatives of God and of the Law. He expected a Messiah of dignity and wealth and social standing in the nation;--if born in the natural way at all to be of one of the best families. He expected him to establish the dignity of Israel upon a plane similar to, but higher than that of Solomon;--that he would be a great leader and commander to his people, Who would successfully carry them through every difficulty and opposition like as did Moses, Joshua, David,--but still greater, still grander, still more successful.

It is surely difficult for us to imagine how absurd would be the claims of Jesus, to a mind filled with such expectations. Jesus had neither wealth nor social standing, nor influence amongst His own people; He was despised and rejected by the religious chiefs and elders of the nation Moses represented; He could have no power or influence whatever with the Roman Emperor' or others-in the way of establishing Israel as the chief nation of the world, whose laws should ultimately extend to every nation, carrying with them the foretold Messianic blessings. No, from Paul's standpoint Jesus was a fraud, a deceiver, a false 'Messiah, His disciples were crack-brained dupes, and their doctrines were calculated to bring odium upon the religious, rulers, who represented Moses in the nation,' Calculated to stir up strife and division amongst the people and to mislead them and turn their minds entirely away from Moses and the Law and the hopes of Israel; and thus to hinder the good cause of God which had been gradually developing for centuries.

It was Paul's zeal for God and His cause that made him a persecutor, and not his love for persecution itself-nor any brutal desires that gloried in the sufferings of others. His impulse was duty-toward God and toward his nation; for if the false doctrines spread it meant to him a spreading of opposition to both, and temporarily, at least, a frustration of the hopes of Israel-putting further off the glorious day of blessing for which all Israel had longed and hoped. Similarly, we find today noble Christian people opposing the present Truth in the very same spirit. It is not that they love or appreciate persecution, but that they believe they are doing God service,--that the promulgation of present Truth means the shaking, if not the overthrow, of all the religious systems in which they trust-which they believe to be of Divine origin, and through which they are hoping to bring about the Kingdom of God condition through missionary efforts, and the conversion of the world. Present Truth declares all these efforts to be misdirected and futile; it points out the fall of Babylon and everything pertaining to her; it declares the establishing of God's Kingdom, and the exaltation A the Royal Priesthood outside of sectarian lines; ignoring sect membership, it acknowledges only "Israelites indeed," personally attached to the Redeemer. The revolution of thought, the conversion necessary now, is almost as great, and almost as difficult as was that which came to Paul and other sectarians of his nation. Let us rejoice then, if by the Lord's grace our eyes are opening to the Truth; and let us have more of compassion for others who are still in the condition in which Saul of Tarsus was when he persecuted those of "this way."

PERSECUTIONS OF TODAY

The stoning of Stephen would seem to have been a violation of the Roman law. The Mosaic law, indeed, I. commanded stoning as a penalty for blasphemy; but from the time the Romans took possession of the country they seem to have decreed that life could not be taken in any legal form except that of the Roman law; but Stephen's enemies were so enraged that they were evidently willing to risk some personal injury rather than be defeated in their purpose of destroying their enemy, whom they could not match with Scripture or logic.

The Lord's servants today are in no particular danger of being stoned to death after the same manner; but the majority of them have had experiences, nevertheless, which in many respects correspond. False representations, anger, malice, hatred, strife, etc., hurled against the Lord's people, are often hard to bear; and yet all those who receive such figurative stoning in the same manner that Stephen received his literal stoning, are sure to be greatly blessed. They find that although such experiences are severe as respects the flesh, they are nevertheless helpful, profitable, as respects the new nature. They thus demonstrate the truth of the Apostle's statement, "The outward man perisheth, but the inward man is renewed day by day,"--by just such experiences rightly received.

It is here that attention is drawn to the fact that Saul of Tarsus was probably a member of the Sanhedrin, which tried Stephen, and surely one of those who consented to his death; -standing guard over the outer garments of those who executed the will of the Sanhedrin, in doing the actual stoning. He refers to the matter himself subsequently, -in contrite language. (Acts 22:20.) Let us have hope, therefore, that some of those who to-day assault us, because of loyalty to the Lord and His Word, may yet be amongst those who will penitently acknowledge the error of their ways. Indeed, a number of instances Of this kind have occurred; a number of those who are now deeply interested in present Truth at one time were so bitterly opposed that they burned the publications which represent these truths, and gloried in the deed. It shows us, too, how God looks at the heart, and teaches us that some who are not bad at heart may at times be so blinded by, prejudice that light appears darkness to them and darkness light.

STEPHEN'S NOBLE EXAMPLE

Stephen's attitude in receiving his persecution was most noble. He prayed for himself and for his enemies-that the latter might be forgiven, so far as he was concerned;--they will have enough to answer for and to receive "stripes" or just retribution; for himself, that the Lord would receive his spirit. He meant to express to the Lord his confidence, his trust, in a future life through a resurrection, when he made this expression, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit"--receive my life, preserve my life, that it may be granted to me again in the resurrection, according to Thy gracious promise; I commit my all to Thee, in hope.

Stephen's attitude under persecution may well commend itself to us: our love for the Lord and our benevolent sympathy kith all the gracious features of His Plan should lift us above any and everything like vindictiveness or spitefulness against our enemies; and should permit us to see that their mistreatment of us is largely because they are blind to the Truth. They know not us, even as they knew not the Lord; and, as He said, if they called the Master of the house Beelzebub, and said all manner of evil against Him falsely, we must not be surprised if the same should be Our lot. We know, therefore, to count it all joy when we fall into such matters; and should rejoice that we are counted worthy of a share with the Lord in the trials and difficulties of this present time, that in due time we may be made partakers also of the glory to follow. With us also the one thought should be the pleasing of our Lord and the attainment, through Him, of the life everlasting--having Him to care for our spirit of life, and to revive us again in the resurrection in due time.,

We would like for ourself and for all the ministers of the Lord's Word that Stephen's beaming face might be impressed upon our memories. If it is, and if every time we stand forth before men publicly or privately, as the representatives of our Lord, we could so realize His blessing and our privilege as His servants, that it would fill our hearts, and beam forth from our faces, in gladness, in thankfulness, for the privilege of serving, then indeed we would have the highest degree of blessing to ourselves, and doubtless also would bring the largest degree of blessing to all those whose hearts would be prepared for the Truth, and also for those not yet ready for it, but who are 'under the Lord's discipline and guidance, in preparation for it, as was Saul of Tarsus.

BEREAN STUDIES IN THE REVELATION

STUDY LXIX--JUNE 26

THE VISION OF THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST

(441) In the expression "Image of the Beast," which "Beast" is referred to? What is the significance of the word "Image," and what are some of the characteristics therefore to, be expected in the Image?

(442) Has this vision yet been fulfilled-what is the view generally held by expositors, and what was PASTOR RUSSELL'S expression regarding the time the Image of the Beast would be in evidence? H '20-53.

(443) What are the conditions in Christendom today that seem to point to a fulfillment of this vision? Would we expect from 'this prophecy a uniting of Protestantism with Catholicism? H '20-54.

(444) What is the significance of the expression giving "life" to the Image? and what Church system existing today would we logically expect to, fulfill this feature of the symbol? H '20-54.

(445) What are some of the claims and characteristics of Protestantism that meet the requirements of this vision and lead us to look in this direction for its fulfillment?, H '20-55.

THE CONVERSION OF SAUL

--JULY 17--ACTS 9:1-19--

Golden Text.--"Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."--1 Tim. 1:15.

SAUL'S transformation, from an enemy of Christ and His Church to a friend and zealous servant, is generally termed his conversion. In our opinion, however, the term "conversion" would scarcely be appropriate in such a case. Saul of Tarsus was either a bad man and a hypocritical Pharisee, a money-lover and self-lover, as were many, or else he was an Israelite indeed, whose aim and object was the service of God, and whose persecution of the early Church was prompted by his fidelity to God. We believe that the latter description is the one which fitted his case; it is in harmony with his own testimony on the subject - "I verily thought that I did God service." If then Saul was not only a member of the favored nation of Israel, but a true and loyal member of it, thoroughly consecrated to the Lord and serving Him to the best of his knowledge and opportunity, but merely blinded for the time by prejudice and misconception, we can no more think of his case as a conversion than the cases of the other Apostles. The Lord chose the original twelve because they were Israelites indeed; and He gave them the needed instruction for His service; and this He did also for Saul, though in a more striking manner. The word convert signifies to turn about in an opposite direction. But Saul was already going in the right direction; namely, in a whole hearted service of God, though his efforts were expended upon the wrong thing in the right direction. The Lord merely opened the eyes of his understanding and !showed him the (better how his efforts should be used. Saul needed no conversion and needed merely to be shown aright; and he proved this by as much fidelity and energy in the Lord's service afterward as he had ignorantly misused previously.

It would appear that the circumstances connected with the stoning of Stephen only incited 'Saul to the greater energy in stamping out what he believed to be a very injurious doctrine--a heresy. Our own experience confirms the thought that an earnest, conscientious opponent is more to be respected than a cold, indifferent professed friend, and we are reminded of the Lord's words, "I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth." Let us have respect, therefore, for all who are warm-hearted and zealous; remembering that there is more hope of their being pleasing to God, and being accounted worthy to receive the Truth, than for the lukewarm.

The Jewish priesthood was granted and exercised considerable power under the arrangements of the Roman government. It had come to exercise very much of the power subsequently used by the Popes of Rome. They had power to authorize arrests and imprisonments for the infractions of their religious rules and regulations. Saul, exercising the same respect to law and authority that subsequently marked all of his dealings and teachings as a Christian, did not attempt to take matters into his own hands in the persecution of the Christians, but went about it in the manner recognized as legal-under the sanction and authority of the highest religious tribunal. Let us remember that nearly all persecutions have been sanctioned by some human law, and regulate ourselves under the Divine code.

THE TURNING POINT IN LIFE OF SAUL

Our lesson shows us Saul on his way to Damascus, armed with authority for the apprehension of the Lord's followers, accompanied by others who seemingly were under his command as a police force. All who know anything respecting the exceeding clearness and brightness of the noonday sun in Palestine, glaringly brilliant, will note the force of the statement respecting the great light which suddenly shone upon Saul from heaven about noonday. It must have been an exceedingly bright light; but apparently it affected Saul alone, and not those who were with !him, though they saw it and noted its effect upon Paul, who was blinded by it, as he fell to the ground. If he were afoot this might mean that he immediately prostrated himself, as one would be said to fall down before a king; if he were on horseback it might mean that he dismounted and prostrated himself-but we do not incline to the thought which seems to be the -common one, that he fell from his horse as in a faint. Rather, instead of being stunned or in a faint condition, Saul seems to have been fully possessed of his senses, and to have realized that he was the subject of a miracle. The voice which he heard was one, not of approval, as he might have expected, since he was supposedly in the Divine service, but one of reproof: "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" Paul's clearness of mind is manifest in his inquiry, "Who art thou, Lord?" He recognized at once that the one who had thus the power to arrest him in his journey was a lordly one, a powerful one, yet he wished to make no mistake, -he wished to know who it was who thus reproved 'him, that he might benefit the more. The answer must have been a surprise to him, almost a shock: "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest."

Our Lord's answer shows us 'how intimately He stands related with all those who are truly His; those who touch His saints touch Him, for are they not, as the Apostle declares, "members in particular of the Body of Christ"? He is, indeed, "the Head of the Church, which is His body,'' and the ascended Head feels for and cares for and is interested in even the weakest and humblest of those whom He recognizes as truly His. If we remember this it will be a great help to us in the midst of trials and persecutions--the thought that we are "filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ," that "as He was, so are we in this world," and that while we are in the flesh, Christ is in the flesh, and that this will continue until the last members, even the feet members of the Body, shall have suffered and have entered into, glory. Let us remember this also, and specially, if at any time we are tempted to deal harshly or speak rudely or think 'unkindly of any of the "brethren." Let us consider that as we, with all our weaknesses and unwilling imperfections, are the Lord's members and subjects of His interest and care, so also are all of the brethren; and that inasmuch as -we do, or do not do, to one of the least of His brethren, we do, or do not do, to Him. If this thought of the intimate relationship between the Head and the members could be always fresh before our minds, how favorable would be the influence; how often we would improve the opportunity, not only of suffering, as the Body of Christ, but of suffering with the fellow-members, and assisting in bearing their burdens. "We ought also to lay down our lives for the brethren."--1 John 3:16; Heb. 2:11; Col. 1:24.

We are told that Paul's companions also saw the light, but heard not the voice. Elsewhere it is stated that they heard the voice, but saw no man. The statements are not to be supposed to be contradictory, but can be understood to be harmonious by remembering that the expression " hear ing the voice" is sometimes used in two different ways. We may say to a friend, "I did not hear what you said." And again, speaking of the same matter, we might say, "I heard a voice or sound, but did not distinguish the words." The two statements might seem to be contradictory, but are really quite in harmony; and so with these two records of the Apostle's words. The voice was heard by all, but the message by Saul only.

"LORD WHAT SHALL I DO?"

Paul was an intensely practical man, and as soon as he understood who it was that had thus arrested him in his course of error, he immediately inquired, "Lord, what shall I do?" This meant a great deal; it meant: I am anxious now to undo what I have been heretofore mistakenly doing; I am anxious to be your servant; I appeal to you for orders; I am ready to obey. "He, trembling and astonished, said, Lord., what wilt Thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6.) This, the language and the attitude of all sincere souls, meant full surrender. It meant, I am not more sincere now than I was a moment ago, but the eyes of my understanding have been opened, though it has cost me the loss of my natural sight Let me demonstrate, 0 Lord, that my crime against Thee was not of heart, but merely of misapprehension of head ; let me lay down my life in Thy service.

And similar seems to be the attitude of the Lord's true people today: those who 'have been blinded for years with misconceptions of the Divine character and plan, and who have blasphemed God's holy name ignorantly, in misrepresenting Him and His Plan; and who have persecuted Jesus by opposing His Truth, and those supporting it-these, when now the eyes of their understanding are opened, feel as did Saul that the remainder of life is only too little and too short to show -forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light;--of Him who had mercy upon us and Who graciously shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of .God, as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord. (2 Cor. 4:4.) Those who do not feel their hearts burn, and who feel no desire to pledge themselves to the service of the Lord and His Truth, have not the spirit of the Apostle,--have not the spirit which is best pleasing to the Lord and most esteemed amongst those who have the mind of the Lord. And if we have this spirit or disposition in any measure let us cultivate it, by thinking what great things the Lord has done for us, and by considering how little we are able to do in return to manifest the appreciation which we feel and ought to feel.

The Lord's answer, sending Paul to Damascus, and informing him that "there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do," shows us that Paul was in the Divine mind and plan beforehand. The Lord knew that he was honest, and one who, when the Truth would shine into his heart, would not be disobedient to the heavenly vision, but would be prompt to consecrate his life, his all, in the service of the Lord and of the brethren. Verily, "The Lord knoweth them that are His." The same thought is brought to us in noting the Lord's answer to Ananias, when the latter was fearful to go to Saul. The Lord said, "Go thy way, for 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." Such language could not be used by the Lord in connection with one whose heart was not already fully consecrated to the, Divine will and service, however ignorantly it ,had been misused. So to-day we may have more hope of some who are outspoken in their opposition and enmity to the Truth and its servants than for some who are its very cold and indifferent friends. The former may be truly consecrated, but blind, and if so the Lord's due time will come for their mental eyes, to be open, and then we may be sure that they will be amongst His, most faithful followers.

SAW JESUS AS ONE BORN OUT OF DUE TIME

About that which he, saw and heard, he never wavered. It was the secret of his inmost being; it was the most unalterable conviction of his soul; it was the very crisis and most intense moment of his life. A change, total, utter, final, had passed over him. And the means of this change all lay in this one fact: at that awful moment he had seen the Lord Jesus. He had "been apprehended by Christ." On that appearance all his faith was founded. If an angel from heaven .preached a different doctrine, it was false. The strength of ,this conviction became the leading 'force in Paul's future life.

The wonderful light which flashed upon his eyes destroyed his sight. "Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were open he saw no man, but they led him by the hand into Damascus, and he was three days without sight, neither did he eat or drink." We may be sure, however, that during those three days he did a great amount of thinking,--endeavoring to grasp, so far as possible, the lessons of his wonderful experience. He tells us that he realized his experience to be nothing else than his seeing of Jesus. We need not suppose that he saw our Lord's spiritual body in its wonderful glory, for we are to remember the Scriptural statement that our Lord now is the express image of the Father's person; and we remember, too, that it is declared that no man can see God and live; that He dwells in a light no man can approach unto. And since our Lord Jesus is His express image and likeness, the same thing must now be true of Him. Saul was but a man, and could not, therefore, have seen that which no man could see, and live. What, then, did he see? We answer, that he saw a representation of Jesus' glory. Since he could not see the fulness of that glory and live, he was permitted only to see a part of it, and that part destroyed his eyesight. This demonstrates to us the truth of the statement that the Divine glory, if fully revealed to man, would cause death. Nevertheless, such an appearance of the Lord's glory to Paul made him as really a witness of Jesus' resurrection as were the other eleven Apostles, for neither did they see Jesus, in reality, in His glorious spirit person; they saw Him as He appeared in bodies of flesh, assumed for the very purpose of appearing and instructing; Paul saw him partially; that is to say, he saw some of the light from His glorious presence, sufficient to give him absolute assurance that Jesus was no longer, as he 'had supposed, the dead Nazarene, but the resurrected, glorified, heavenly Lord, a quickening spirit.

Let us note how the Lord chose a devout man amongst the disciples, when He would send a message to Paul, the ,record being that Ananias was esteemed among the Jews as a good man; and so we should always expect that those whom the Lord would choose as His special messengers would be good men, devout men, pious men,--not frivolous, not worldly, not immoral. And should we ever find any claiming to be the ministers of the Truth, of immoral character, we would have good reason to doubt them; or to suppose that if the Lord even had used them once, He would no longer use such after they had departed from the ways of righteousness. Nevertheless, we are to remember that we must not judge any hastily upon the testimony of the worldly, and especially not according to the witness of enemies of the Truth, however religious those enemies may claim to be, but should remember our Lord's word, "They shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake."

Let us, dear brethren and sisters, who have seen in the light of this harvest-time the light of the Lord's presence (parousia), shining above the brightness of all earthly light, giving a light of the knowledge of the glory of God, showing us something of the Divine character and, plan-let us not be disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but faithful to our privileges and opportunities in letting the light that has shined into our hearts and minds so shine out to others in our words, and in the living epistle's of our lives, that men may glorify our Father which is in heaven.

1921 Index

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS CONSIDERED

LENGTH OF THE BABYLONIAN KINGDOM

WHAT CONSTITUTES STATE OF SERVITUDE?

DESOLATION DOES NOT SIGNIFY DEPOPULATION

'70 YEARS OF DESOLATION,

FULL END OF DESOLATION

WAS DANIEL 110 YEARS OLD?

VALUE OF SECULAR HISTORY

360-DAY YEAR PROPHETICAL PERIODS

"EXCEPT THOSE DAYSBE SHORTENED'.,

THE CHRISTIAN'S MESSAGE UNCHANGED

THE VISION OF THE TWO-HORNED BEAST (Cont.)

THE SERIES CLOSED -- CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

PASTOR RUSSELL OF THE HISTORICAL SCHOOL

REVELATION UNDERSTOOD AS HISTORY HAS UNVEILED MEANING

REVELATION HAS COMFORTED SAINTS

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT EVENTS OF AGE

THE APPROACHING END OF THE AGE

FORETOLD SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST AND THE GLORY TO FOLLOW

EARTH'S NEW KING A FRIEND TO THE POOR

RETURN TO PRIMEVAL CONDITIONS

RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE NORD OF TRUTH'

THE ACCEPTABLE TIME

FINDS CHRONOLOGY WELL ESTABLISHED

BLESSED CUP OF OUR FATHER'S POURING

REMAINS TRUSTING

FAITH IS ENCOURAGED

CHRONOLOGY SEEMS REASONABLE AND SCRIPTURAL

THE HERALD OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM

THE PILGRIM SERVICE

TRACT DISTRIBUTION

THE MINISTRY IN OTHER LANDS

OURS TO PRESS ON IN HIS SERVICE

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

AUDITING COMMITTEE'S STATEMENT

THE CHICAGO CONVENTION

THE BROOKLYN CONVENTION

OTHER TESTIMONY IN CONFIRMATION

DIVINE PROVIDENCE IN SAUL'S LIFE

TRAINED AT THE FEET OF GAMALIEL

PERSECUTIONS OF TODAY

STEPHEN'S NOBLE EXAMPLE

THE VISION OF THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST

THE TURNING POINT IN LIFE OF SAUL

"LORD WHAT SHALL I DO?"

SAW JESUS AS ONE BORN OUT OF DUE TIME

REVELATION UNDERSTOOD AS
HISTORY HAS UNVEILED MEANING

FORETOLD SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST
AND THE GLORY TO FOLLOW