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THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom

VOL. XXXI June 1948 No. 6
Table of Contents

Jesus - the Father's Faithful Workman

"Clean Every Whit"

Mirrors

The Divine Plan of the Ages

What Pastor Russell Said

What Others Said About The Divine Plan

Duties of Daily Life

"Watching With Christ"

Recently Deceased

Jesus - the Father's Faithful Workman

"I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." - John 9:4.

THE BREVITY of human life and the proper use of its brief span, is a subject of solemn importance to every sober-minded person. Since life is a gift from God and all are accountable to him for this gift, it is not surprising that we find the Scriptures constantly counseling its proper valuation. Again and again the righteous are reminded of the value of the fleeting days of stewardship soon to end in approval or disapproval, and the unrighteous are likewise warned of the issues involved in wasted time. The same Scriptures teach that within the limits of man's "threescore years and ten" lie possibilities that are eternal in their importance; for the present infinitesimal moment of time has been made by the great Creator the determining factor in deciding our portion or station in a boundless, eternal existence beyond the grave. God, who possesses all time, "from everlasting to everlasting," has chosen to give us but one day at a time out of his unlimited ages, to teach us the value of these fragments of his eternity.

"SO TEACH US TO NUMBER OUR DAYS"

The great characters of Scripture, such as Moses, David, and Solomon, recognizing the brevity of the present life, have furnished us with conclusions, admonitions, and prayers, that find a response in our own meditative considerations of life's stewardship responsibilities. Like them, we must acknowledge that life is "but a shadow that quickly passes by. Therefore "whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest." Then like Moses we pray, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." (Psa. 102:11; Eccl. 9:10; Psa. 90:12.) Such considerations as these are intended by the Lord to impart a sober-minded understanding of the great purposes of God in bestowing upon us the gift of life, and entrusting us with the stewardship of so great a boon.

Thus we see that the prayer of Moses to God for wisdom to live faithfully the few days of earthly life is in every way a proper one for us. Obvious though it be to all, that the days of our stewardship are few, yet only God can permanently teach us this lesson. And by his diversified means of correction, instruction, and grace, he does teach us, and leads us in wisdom's ways, always ready to assist us to become workmen needing not to be ashamed when the duties of life's little day have ended.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS, OUR EXAMPLE

In thus instructing us God would surely direct our attention to Jesus, the One in whom he was well pleased, admonishing us to observe his life of service, and his faithful application to the work for which he came into the world. With him it was always the "Father's business." "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish his work." "The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. His aim in life is clearly stated: "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work." Let us therefore observe the service that gained for our dear Redeemer the Father's approval, that we may likewise have the joy of eventually finding our brief day of service rewarded with his sweet "well done."

First of all we note that Jesus recognized the shortness of his day. He takes the position of a day laborer whose day of service will be over with the coming of night. He speaks of his life as a mission, a task, which had to be fulfilled within the limits of the time assigned by his Father. He began his ministry with forty days of inquiry respecting the Father's will, learning from types and shadows and prophetic utterances the time allotted and the nature of the work to be done. When he ends his day of service, with the coming of night, he is able to say, "I have finished the work thou gayest me to do." There have been no omissions, no neglected duties, and there have been no departures from the clearly defined commands of his Father. Surely he was a servant worthy of God's approval, and to his Church, a perfect example that all should prayerfully seek to follow.

It is in this way that he teaches us how to "apply our hearts unto wisdom." As his pathway had all been arranged for him in the Father's wisdom, so he would have us understand that our path has likewise been clearly set forth in the Word of God. As he recognized that "obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams," so he would have us remember "that no man is crowned except he strive lawfully" -- that God's approval will be given to the one who has "been faithful over a few things," rather than to the one who may come laden with spurious works of his own choosing.

Although Jesus knew that his time on earth was short, and although he would have us remember that the same is true of our work-day, yet he was in no feverish haste. With a calmness, and a steady, even deportment he went about his work. There was a time to work, and a time to pray; a time for the multitude, and a time for the disciples alone. He could not be hurried into any action by the solicitation of his friends, or the taunts of his enemies. When his brethren urged him to go up to the feast and make himself known, his reply was significant: "My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready." It was as though he had said, yours is the, worldly mind --they who do their own work, who seek their own glory, are the masters and disposers of their own time, but my time is not yet.

"ABOUT MY FATHER'S BUSINESS"

What an example he is to us in all this! How he rebukes our impetuosity by his implicit obedience! How forcefully he teaches us that "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength" -- yes, and our safest, wisest course. To follow him thus "imparts to our present life an unspeakable solemnity; it endows it with an infinite preciousness and value. And while at first sight we may feel overpowered by the thought of the short space given us for our labor, and inclined to feverish haste and to impatient self made work, a truer insight will teach us that as the approach- of night is altogether beyond our calculation and control, so it behooves us, with calmest faith and implicit surrender of our own will, to look upon each day's work and each day's trial, as portioned out to us by divine wisdom and love. How much of false zeal, self-chosen work, and self-appointed times, is there in our own private and public Christian life. We run before we are sent; we choose the kind of usefulness and work for which we fancy we have inclination and adaptation; we select the time and method for accomplishing our task. We pursue with spurious zeal and self-sustained energy aims of our own choice; we hurry impatiently -- our own souls and those of others, and are satisfied with forced results, till experience teaches us, to our deep humiliation, that grace also has its nature and law, and that in God's work it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God, that showeth mercy.'" Happy indeed will be our lot if we may say with Jesus at the end of our day of labor, "I have finished the work Thou gavest me to do," and there are no works of wood, hay, and stubble to be burned.

Next we note the emphasis that Jesus puts upon the necessity of working while it is called day. "I must work the works of him that sent me." This seems to have been a thought deeply impressed upon his mind early in life, and in all after-years it is the keynote of his obedient service. At twelve years of age he said, "Wilt ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" From Jordan to the cross this "I must work" was the motto of his life. "I must preach the Kingdom of God." He must go up to Jerusalem. The Scriptures must be fulfilled.

WOE IS ME IF I PREACH NOT THIS GOSPEL

This view of his responsibility to God is of vital importance to us. It was because he recognized that his was the place of a servant commissioned with the responsibility of completing a task laid upon him, that he so humbly takes this place under a servant's "I must work." This lesson he also wove into many of his private and public discourses for us: the vineyard left in the care of servants; the steward put in charge -of his master's goods; the one, two, and five talented servants, were all illustrations of the lessons of this unavoidable "I must work," in our relationship to him as his servants. Again and again, would-be followers are cautioned to consider carefully the requirements of discipleship before undertaking its obligations. But once the step has been voluntarily taken, then he would have all such remember that from henceforth they are bond-slaves of his. Paul realized this to be so true, and his future so dependent upon it, that he declared, "Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is me, if I preach not the Gospel."

This "I must work" of Jesus' should therefore ring in our hearts with all its solemn significance. The talent preserved in a napkin, the neglect of duty while the lord of the household is absent, the forgotten privileges of service, will some day make necessary the Master's word-"Thou wicked and slothful servant, . . . thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury." (Matt. 25:26, 27.) "Depart from me, I know you not" -- you live in the midst of priceless opportunities, you were surrounded with the crying want of those who represented me in their need, and you served me not, but followed your own self-chosen way.

With Jesus it was not an obedience compelled by fear, but a joyful "I must." '"In the life of Jesus we see the perfect liberty of the Son in obedience and service. Here we behold the perfect unity of liberty and necessity.' 'I must' seems to us a hard word while we regard liberty our dearest and sweetest possession. It is because we do not fully understand what is meant by love that we find it difficult to see liberty, and necessity in their essential and inseparable connection. But unto Jesus, 'I must' was identical with 'It is my delight.' He knew not the bondage of choice arising from a doubtful mind and a divided heart, from a will separate from the will of God and at variance with his law. God's law was written in his heart; it was hidden there as his most precious, inviolable and cherished treasure, ... the necessity which he felt was rooted in the communion of life and love, which subsisted between the Father and the Son, and which was his joy and strength. To obey the Father, and that by the Father's indwelling in him, was the nourishment of Christ's life; it was his very delight." Blessed servitude indeed, when love and gratitude constrain us to say, "I must work."

IMMANUEL-GOD WITH US

This brings us to the third striking feature of our Lord's day of service; namely the fact that the work he did was wholly the Father's work through him, as he himself reiterated. By this he meant to teach that since he was solely the Father's representative, whatever works he performed, or whatever revelations he gave to men, were merely what the Father himself would have performed or given had he chosen to appear amongst them. True to the name he bore, Immanuel, he was "God with us," so much so that to his disciple he could say, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. . . . The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." "Blessed Son of God! What sublime humility, self-abnegation, and love was thine! You came to reveal the Father, to teach us that to know God was eternal life, and now we learn that the humiliations of man's estate, the years of earthly life and absence from the heavenly courts, the poverty and homeless wanderings, the acts of compassion. that brought healing to the sick and life to the dead, the patient submission to indignities and shame, were not your own works, but things the Father himself would have done for us had it been possible. His love he has revealed through you. Oh teach us, that we too may be God's true witnesses in the earth, revealing his love and sympathy for the poor groaning creation; then no more will we ask for fire to destroy, but pray for more of the grace and love."

In this connection then let us take note of the circumstances under which Jesus made the statement contained in our text: A man born blind had appealed for aid, and apparently both Jesus and his disciples had been particularly interested in this case. The disciples, being familiar with the Law of Moses, naturally concluded that his affliction might be traceable to the sins of a previous generation. "Who did sin, this man or his parents that he should be born blind?" Jesus not only corrects their mistaken inference, but he also reveals his own attitude toward the affliction of this poor man, and toward all similar afflictions of mankind. While the disciples would be concerned to ask, Who is to blame? Jesus; would ask, Who is to relieve and help? While they were thinking of guilt and punishment,. Jesus was thinking of healing and restoring. The salvation-works of God were his meat and drink. He came not to condemn the world, but to save it. He came not to judge the world, nor to analyze and tirade against sin, but "to preach good tidings unto the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to give the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." He came to seek and to save that which was lost; to teach that God has no pleasure in the punishment of the wicked, but that angelic choirs break forth in paeans of praise over one sinner that repenteth and returns again to the Father's home; to teach us that the wandering sheep recovered from its perilous plight, is a subject of greater rejoicing than the ninety and nine safely sheltered in the fold.

JESUS THE EXCELLENT REVELATION OF LOVE

Ah yes, there has never been any lack' of philosophers and theorists who could describe the ulcerous canker of sin in its myriad forms; there has been no absence of schemes and panaceas for the relief of mankind; but the world has seen only one Jesus, one Great Physician competent to help, one "Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin o f the world."

Let us observe "the wonderful union in Jesus of love to God and love to man. There is only one love. Love to God and love to man are united in their origin and their nature. They form one river flowing out of the eternal love of God." "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar, for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (1 John 4:20.) "Some of us find it easier to ascend to God with the wings of adoration and joyous contemplation, than to descend on the self-same ladder to our neighbor in the spirit, and with the service, of forgiving, comforting, and helping love. But in Jesus there was only one, deep, pure, divine love. When he healed the sick, and opened the eyes of the blind, when he fed the multitude, when he cast out devils, when he taught the disciples, and blessed the little children, he was doing the works the Father had given him to do. . . . We forget that when we behold Jesus forgiving the sinner, and receiving, him with most tender compassion, when we behold Jesus permitting the woman to kiss his feet, we see the Father in him." We also forget that though he may frequently display the Father's indignation against hypocrisy, and speak in no uncertain sound against 'wrong practices, that these are the exceptions in and not the burden of his message and ministry. Both of these omissions in our memory are serious; for if we forget that "God was in Christ" in the work of our redemption, and allow ourselves to think of Jesus as being more merciful than the Father, we dishonor both. If on the other hand we think chiefly of Jesus as an exposer and denouncer of the sinner, we do violence to his definition of God, for he said, "God so loved the world" as to send me, not to condemn it, but to save it.

JESUS THE GREAT PHYSICIAN

When John the Baptist became somewhat disturbed by his imprisonment, wondering no doubt why Jesus did not attempt his release, we find him sending his disciples to Jesus with the question, "Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?" How peculiarly Jesus answered this earnest inquiry. He did not send the messengers back with a list of Scriptural citations from the prophecies, nor did he acquaint John with some program of a campaign' against prevailing errors, but he sent them back with a message void of any suggestion of kingly prerogatives, 'or of triumph over opposing forces, but a message full 'of the joy of a successful, happy physician. "Tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the Gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." Surely his servants of the present day will not overlook this lesson; for Jesus was a workman fully approved of God, and in all things, in all periods of the Age, an" example to be faithfully and devoutly followed. . In conclusion let us refer once more to our Lord's appreciation of the privilege of giving a full day's service. There was no thought of ceasing to labor until the night interrupted his work. His was a life of fullness -full of the spirit, full of compassion, full of loving service. "The thought of the approaching night sometimes exerts a paralyzing influence on man's energy and activity. It tempts us to anticipate our rest or to relax our effort. It often damps our enthusiasm. We are inclined to think that we have labored enough, and that we can add no more to our service, or to fear that our strength, our material, our opportunity, is exhausted. But Jesus was faithful to the end. As he approached the last sufferings in Jerusalem, his love and his zeal burned only with the greater intensity and brightness. To the very last in his warnings to Judas; in his final addresses to the Jews, in the good confession which he confessed before Pontius Pilate, in his words to the daughters of Jerusalem, in his patient and silent suffering, and in the seven words from the cross he fulfilled his ministry; he was faithful -- the perfect servant of God.

HIS LOVE FOR THE DISCIPLES SEVERELY TESTED

"His love to his disciples was never more severely tested than during his last days. He never faltered. He never relaxed his faithful, anxious care of the men whom the Father had given him to keep. He prayed for the disciples, anticipating the hour of temptation. On that night in which he was betrayed, and in which all the disciples were offended because of him, Jesus manifested his love more fully than ever. He called them friends; he spoke to them of the love with which they were loved, of the vital union between the true vine and the branches; he instituted the Memorial of his dying love; he prayed for them to his heavenly Father. In that prayer Jesus clings with the same love to the Father and to the disciples; and by the wonderful words, 'I in them, and thou in me,' he places believers in a position of glory, to which we can scarcely lift the eyes of our heart." Why did he do all this? Because he in his love and faithfulness would have us know "that the Father who dwelleth in me, he doeth the works."

"As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world." "In this also we are called to follow Jesus. He is Lord and we are his servants, he is infinitely "great, and we are but little. But to the least of us the exhortation is addressed, 'Be thou faithful unto death'; 'Occupy till I come'; work while-as long as -it is, day. And to each one of us some peculiar talent is entrusted. We can be, we can do, we can suffer-something, and in some way, in which no other person can take our place.... There is no measure that we can say, 'It is enough.' The only measure is the daily opportunity appealing to the heart, out of which are the issues of life. Only let our heart be loving, and it will be like the measure Jesus describes, 'Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running, over.'"

- J. J. Blackburn.

"The Everlasting Arms"

Deut. 33:21.

No safer rest the earth affords
From fears and wild alarms,
Than feeling 'neath a seeming void
The Everlasting Arms.

No greater peace a heart can know
From doubt in all its forms,
A sure Retreat when wild winds blow,
The Everlasting Arms.

My God, I thank Thee for this place
Where nothing moves or harms,
Faith rests in Thine amazing grace
And Everlasting Arms.

- Bessie L. Hendrick.

"Clean Every Whit"

A Meditation on John 13:1-17

AMONG THE many lessons this passage contains there are two of outstanding importance which we propose to consider in this "Meditation," and which we trust the Lord, by the power of his holy spirit, will apply to our hearts as we seek to concentrate our attention upon them. These two lessons are: (1) The necessity of a daily cleansing on the part of a' consecrated Christian, and (2) the gracious example of love, humility, and service which our Lord set, and which it is both our privilege and pleasure, so far as lieth in us, to copy.

First, then, let, us consider the necessity of our daily cleansing. In verse 10 Jesus has said to Peter, "He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit." Before we can properly enter into the meaning of these words it is necessary to do three things:

(1) Secure a better translation.

(2) Read them in the light of the custom which prevailed in the East, and

(3) Take note of the special circumstances under which they were uttered.

A BETTER TRANSLATION

Let us first secure a better translation. In our Authorized Version two Greek verbs which have a marked difference of meaning are translated by one and the same English word, the word "wash." One of these verbs means "to bathe," to get into the water; the second verb means "to wash," that is, to apply water to the uncovered parts of the body, as the hands, the head, the feet. To make the sentence exact and clear, therefore, it ought to be rendered,, as in the Revised Version it is rendered, "He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet."

AN EASTERN CUSTOM

But how should a man who has just bathed, just washed all over, need to wash even so much as his feet? A familiar Oriental custom furnishes a reply. In the East it was the custom for guests to take a bath before they went to a banquet. But as on their arrival at the house of their host, their feet, protected only by sandals, might have contracted some defilement from the streets through which they had passed, they found servants, provided with towels and vessels of water, awaiting them, who washed the dust from their feet in order both that they might be saved from discomfort and that the cushions on which they reclined might not be soiled. It was doubtless to this custom that our Lord referred when he said: "He that is bathed need wash only his feet."

THE SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

"Thus, far, so good. It has not been difficult, by reference to the Revised Version, to secure a better translation and to illustrate it from customs prevailing in the Eastern countries. But now, if we are to enter into the real meaning of the sentence, we must give a more leisurely consideration to the circumstances in which it was uttered. These circumstances, while they are of a very special and impressive interest in themselves, are also, when duly arranged, a striking and instructive commentary on the words before us.

But here at the outset it becomes necessary to make one or two additional corrections to the translation given in our Authorized Version. In that version, in verse 2, we read that "supper being ended" Jesus arose and washed his disciples' feet. Indeed, it is impossible to read the first four verses of the chapter without deriving from them the impression that it was at the close of the feast (when such an action would have been quite out of place) that our Lord assumed the duties of the servant and washed the feet of his followers. As, however, in the subsequent verses of the chapter we find the feast is still going on, we might well suspect to find some mistake in the translation of these verses. There is such a mistake. The words translated "and supper being ended," ought to be rendered, as in our Revised Version, "during supper," or, better still, "When supper was being served," or "when supper was about to begin," or, as the Diaglott renders it, "as supper was preparing." And, in verse 4, where we read, "He riseth from supper," we ought to read, "He riseth from the supper," as yet untasted, and to understand, not that he got up from eating -his supper and, still less, that he got up at the close of the supper, but that he rose from the table at which the supper was about to be served, and before the meal as yet had begun.

"HE THAT WOULD BE CHIEF AMONG YOU"

Now if we quietly note these corrections, and if we also bear in mind St. Luke's, report (Luke 22:24) of the dispute that broke out at the supper among the disciples, the dispute as to which of them was, or should be, the greatest, we shall have no difficulty in arranging the details of the scene so as to arrive at their true significance.

The supper took place at evening, of course, and in the upper room, duly furnished for the Passover, which Jesus had sent forward two of his disciples to secure. With the other ten he had walked from Bethany to Jerusalem in the afternoon' of the day. After their hot and dusty walk, their first care would be to take off their sandals and wash their soiled and heated feet. This office was usually performed by the servants of the house, though sometimes a host, in receiving guests of distinction, would himself do them the honor of taking the servant's place. But during the Feast of the Passover, when Jerusalem was crowded with visitors from every land, many of whom had to sleep in the streets or in tents pitched outside the walls, it was impossible to maintain any very nice observance of the rules of hospitality. Those who were so fortunate as to obtain apartments were expected to wait on themselves. The host had his private friends to see to. The very servants would be too busy to wait on strangers and transients. The laver, or basin, would be there -- the large copper ewer commonly found in Oriental houses -- and the "watering-pots," the large earthenware jars, from which it might be replenished, and the towels with which the feet were to be dried. But all else would be left to the visitor, or to the servants (slaves) he brought with him.

When the disciples of Jesus arrived at the house of the "goodman who had placed an apartment at the disposal of Jesus and his friends, they doubtless found "the large upper room furnished" with all that they required. And probably, though we have no record of the fact, one of them at once removed the Master's sandals and washed the dust from his feet with the cool, fresh water that stood ready to hand. But no one of them, it would seem, would stoop to perform that kindly office for the rest. The old emulation, the old strife, as to which of them should take the highest place, broke out among them again; and there they stood, with dusty feet and with hot, jealous hearts, wrangling as to whose duty it was to play servant to his brethren. The feeling "I am as good as you, and a little better" seems for a moment to have ruled them all. No one of them had yet learned the lesson which Jesus had so often taught, that he is the greatest who does most for the others, and he the true chief who serves most-most efficiently, and most disinterestedly. It was to impress this neglected lesson on them that Jesus, who had already taken his place at the table, rose from the untasted supper, laid aside his flowing outer robe, girt a towel around him, thus appearing among them as one that served, poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

But for his grace they might have sat down unwashed and angry, and we might never have learned the dignity of service, the glory of humility. They surely must have felt humbled and ashamed as they saw him whom they called Master and Lord assuming the menial part and discharging the servant's office which they had refused. And we, who also call him Master and Lord, may well learn from this act of humility that the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him; that it is not in standing up for our own rights and insisting on our own claims, and exalting ourselves above our brethren, but in stooping cheerfully to the lowliest duties and the most generous service, that we rise to the highest honors and enjoy a real fellowship with him whose name is above every name.

"IF I WASH THEE NOT--"

Apparently the Apostles were so astonished at our Lord's procedure and so felt the condemnation which his course implied that they knew not what to say, and so silence reigned, until it came Peter's turn. Peter had a peculiar combination of character, part of which was extremely good. He objected to having his feet washed by the Lord, saying, "Lord, dost thou wash my feet?" as much as to say, "It is not appropriate, Lord, that One so great as thou, and so holy, should serve a person of my standing, a poor fisherman full of sinful propensities and faults." But our Lord answered that although Peter did not understand the full meaning of the matter, he would explain to him later, when he had finished the washing of all. "Nay," said Peter, "thou shalt never wash my feet," meaning that he would not allow our Lord to stoop so low on his behalf. But in this Peter was again mistaken. Often as he had been taught to see a meaning in Christ's actions that went beyond the action of the moment, and though Christ has just warned him that there was in this action much more than met the eye, the impetuous Apostle cannot wait for light, but speaks from the darkness of his self-will-an instance of blundering haste which might well remind us of the virtue which resides in being "slow to speak." Drawing back his feet from the basin, he emphatically declines to let his Master become his Servant. He wist not what he did, even as he understood not what Jesus had said. And, therefore, Christ speaks to him very solemnly, and in words of direct spiritual import: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me" -- "no portion or share with me," as Weymouth translates the word -- "if, you will not suffer me, as your Host, to wash your feet, you are no guest of mine; no portion, no dish, is set on my table for you; you stand outside my circle, outside my fellowship."

The spiritual significance which Christ had declared his action to possess is partly disclosed in these. words. For they cannot be taken literally. It was not literally necessary that Peter's feet should be washed by his Master and Lord in order that Peter should have either his portion on the table or his part in the Kingdom and grace of God. But it was necessary that he should submit his will to the will of Christ, and learn to take a law from his lips. It was necessary that the whole round of his activities, symbolized by the feet, should be cleansed and purified. If we believe in Christ, we also must walk even as he walked; and where shall we get strength to walk aright save from him, and as we follow him who never at any time transgressed his Father's will?

This was the spiritual meaning of Christ's rebuke to Peter. It was not enough that he should once have witnessed a good confession, or that he should still acknowledge Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. Day by day, as often as the dust of the world, or of the worldly, self-willed spirit, gathered upon him, he needed to be cleansed from it, to have his stains and sins washed away.

Peter did not fully take the meaning of our Lord's words, or he would not have uttered his second rash and hasty speech. But he was so profoundly impressed by the solemnity of his Master's tone and manner, so appalled at the mere thought of having no portion with him, no place at his table, no lot in his Kingdom, that he cried out impulsively: "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head! Wash all of me that is uncovered, all that is open to the soils and infections of the world!" He had missed the more delicate distinctions of his Master's thought; but his heart was in the right place; he would do and suffer anything rather than -permit the links which bound him to Christ to be severed. And, therefore, Jesus expresses his thought still more clearly in the words: "He that is bathed-he that has once been plunged in the laver of regeneration, he that has become a new creature-needeth not save to wash his feet"; but this is a daily necessity with him. His feet, soiled by contact with the world's dusty paths, must be cleansed if he is to be clean every whit.

THE DAILY WASHING OF THE ONCE-BATHED

When men first truly believe in Christ, when they sincerely accept the revelation of God's redeeming love made in and through Christ, they are bathed, they are regenerated, they are created anew, they become new men in him, new creatures in Christ Jesus. While Christ had not as yet laid down his life in death, yet he was about to do so, and in consequence of his contemplated sacrifice they were already accepted as his disciples; their faith in him and in his Father was already reckoned to them for righteousness, and as soon as he had completed his sacrifice and ascended to the Father's right hand, the holy spirit would be poured out upon them, testifying fully that the Father had accepted his sacrifice on their behalf. Even now they had a standing with God. Jesus had come forth from the Father with the glad word or message of the salvation planned. And they had listened eagerly, and had earnestly embraced that message. So true was this that Jesus was able to say to them, "Now," or as Weymouth translates, "Already are ye clean [or cleansed] through the word [or teaching] I have given you." - John 15:3.

They had been with our Lord, under the influence of his spirit of love, meekness, gentleness, patience, humility for three years and been greatly blessed by the washing of water by the Word he had unfolded to them. But as they would continue their journey along the narrow way, they would find themselves contracting fresh pollution; they would be made painfully aware that the old nature was only reckoned dead, and would require a life-long warfare to keep it under; they would experience temptation from such contacts as they would make with the world's maxims and laws, or by being brought into collision with evil which would find its way even into the Church; and hence, though bathed, they would need to go again and again to the Fountain in which they were first cleansed, the inexhaustible Fountain of divine mercy and grace.

This, then, is the first lesson suggested by the words "He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet." We sin after we have believed. We take fresh soils and stains after we have been renewed in the spirit of our minds. We need a daily cleansing, though not a daily regeneration. We have the treasure of a new life in an earthen vessel. And this new life, begotten of God the Father by the incorruptible seed of the Ward, may be checked, lowered, thwarted by the evil and selfish passions in which our flesh still asserts its existence and power; it may be stunted by the cares and pleasures of the world in which we live; by the frets and anxieties that spring from the toil by which we gain our daily bread; by an undue attention to our personal interests or to the things of this present world; by the evil tempers stirred in us by the contradiction of sinners or even by the contradiction of saints. Daily, therefore, we need to be washed from these ugly and defiling stains. It is not enough that we were once quickened and enlightened; that once we tasted of the heavenly gift and felt the powers of the Age to come. Day by day we need to seek the presence of our Lord, who, with basin and towel, stands ever ready to refresh us, cleansing away our travel-stains that we may have our part with him.

"I HAVE GIVEN YOU AN EXAMPLE"

If we have learned what it means to go day by day .to the Master for the refreshing "feet-washing" that he stands ever ready to minister to us, it will not be difficult for us to grasp and put into practice the second lesson to be noted. It is summed up in verse 15: "I have given 'you an example that ye should do as I have done to you."

When the Lord had first approached Peter, who had in astonishment inquired, "Lord, dost thou wash my feet?" our Lord had replied, "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." The thought is not that he would be given to know in the "hereafter," but that as soon as our Lord had finished washing the other disciples' feet, he would make all plain. Thus we read, verse 12: "After he had washed their feet and had taken his garments and was set down again, he said unto them: Know ye what I have done to you? [or] Understand ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for so I am. If I, then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you."

Here we have the entire lesson explained. He had rendered them a service which they had held to be too mean and lowly for them to render to each other. He had taught them, and through them he has taught us, that it is by loving and serving one another that we copy his example, draw near to him, and grow like to him.

The washing of one another's feet, we may readily see, applies to any and every humble service of life, any and every kindness, though specially to those services and kindnesses which would be along the lines of spiritual assistance and comfort. How many blessed opportunities we have for comforting, strengthening, consoling one another, and assisting one another in some of the humblest affairs of life, and in respect to some of the unpleasant duties, experiences, and trials of life. As the Apostle, in Galatians 5:13, expresses it, we are to serve one another by love. No service we render is to be formal, bur all motivated by love. Any service done or attempted to be done in love, with the desire to do good to one of the Lord's people, we may be sure has our Lord's approval and blessing. Let us lose no opportunities of this kind; let us remember the Master's example; let us, like our Master, not merely assume humility or pretend it, but actually have that humility which will permit us to do kindness and service to all with whom we come in touch, especially those of the household of faith.

That the lesson had its designed effect on the Apostles we can scarcely doubt as we trace the record of their lives and see how with much self-denial they served the Body of Christ, of which they were fellow members, following the example of their Head, who was chief Servant of all. And we, too, are determined, are we not, that the lesson shall not be wasted on us. We, too, can improve the various opportunities that come to us of serving the members of our Body -- the Body of the Christ followers -- in matters temporal as well as spiritual. We can be on the alert, and when we see sadness or discouragement, be prompt to lend a helping hand to lift our brother's burdens or our sister's sorrows, and we, can let them see, by deeds as well as by words, our anxiety to serve them-figuratively speaking, to wash their feet.

THE "WASHING OF WATER BY THE WORD"

There is yet one other way in which we may follow our Lord's example in washing one another's feet; and that way is suggested in Ephesians 5:26. There the Apostle speaks of Christ as loving the Church and giving himself for it, that-he might sanctify and cleanse it through the washing of water by the Word, or, as the Diaglott renders the passage:, "So that, having purified her in the bath of water, he might sanctify her by the Word; that .he might; place the Church by his own side, glorious, having, no spot or blemish, or any such thing, but that she might be holy and blameless."

This purifying of the Church in the bath of water (living water, of course, not literal water, the water of regeneration, as it is described in Titus 3:5) and its sanctification (its dedication, its setting apart to the service of God by means of the Word, both its letter and spirit), have been in progress all down through the Gospel Age, and it is in progress still. Are we having a part in this glorious work? Of course, it will be only a very small part, at most, but if we are on the alert, opportunities will from time to time present themselves, which we' may seize, in which to pass on to others something of the refreshment which we ourselves have derived from the comforting message of pardon, peace, and love which has been brought to us in the Gospel.

RIGHT MOTIVES ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESSFUL FEET-WASHING

In all of our service for and on behalf of others it is important that we be animated by right motives. When the Lord stood ready to wash the disciples' feet, it was not to call attention to the dirty condition of their feet, but to bring them refreshment from their travel stains -- to gently wash them away. Thus must it be with any service we may think to render others in relation to their spiritual progress. As Brother Russell has so well observed in the Manna comment for May 23rd:

'Ye also ought to wash one another's feet.' This would signify that the members of Christ's Body should have a mutual watch-care over one another's welfare; to keep each other clean, holy, pure, and to assist one another in overcoming the trials and besetments of this present evil world, arising from the three sources of temptation, 'the world, the flesh, and the devil.'" And then he goes on to observe: "Only as we cultivate the various graces of the spirit-meek, ness, patience, gentleness, brotherly-kindness, love can we hope to be specially helpful to others in putting on these adornments of character and purities of life, and to get rid of defilements of the world and the flesh."

"He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet."
"I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you."
"If ye know, these things, happy are ye if ye do them."
"Clean every whit?
Thou saidst it, Lord.
Shall one suspicion lurk?
Thine surely is a faithful Word;
And thine a finished work."

- P. L. Read

Mirrors

"We thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks forever: we will skew forth thy praise to all generations." - Psalm 79:13.

WE ALL know what mirrors are, for we use them every day to reflect our image. But how many of us realize to what extent we ourselves are mirrors, receiving and reflecting either God's glory or the negative of that glory.The Psalm from which the above verse is quoted is mostly a lament over the condition; of natural Israel in subjection to her foes, and a prayer of supplication by its author that God would glorify his own name in bringing about a deliverance, and punishment upon those who defied him in their treatment of Israel. If this prayer is answered, the promise is given that they, the people of God, will render due thanks and show forth God's praise forever. This Psalm had its direct application to natural Israel, but antitypically no doubt to spiritual Israel. "We will show forth Thy praise to all generations," or in other words, the Psalmist here declares that God's people will mirror his glory.

THE MAJESTY ON HIGH

Apparently there was a time when God was alone. Such a state is beyond our comprehension, but we must come to this conclusion if we accept the Bible statement that Jesus in his prehuman state was "the beginning of the creation of God."

If there was a beginning to creation and if Jesus was that beginning, instead of being a third part of a Trinity as some say, then God must have been alone -- nothing but God -- no opportunity or possibility for the exercise of his attributes of wisdom, justice, love, and power-nothing but himself -- nothing to reflect his glory. How wholly inadequate our minds are to grasp or fathom God and eternity!

Certain philosophers claim that what we call time came into existence with the creation of the material universe, and that the past, present, and future are all in the present with God. All that has occurred in the past and all that will occur in the future is before him now. The findings of science and certain Scriptures seem to support this view. For example, Acts 15:18 declares, that "known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the, world." In Romans 4:17 it is written: "I have made thee [Abraham] a father of many nations, like unto him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." At the time this statement was made to Abraham, as we view things, he was not the father of many nations, but in God's sight the thing was accomplished.

An illustration that has been given to show how things past and future to us, are in the present with God, is that of two men, one walking along a country road, and the other flying high overhead. To the man walking along the road the farm-house a mile back and the stream and foot-bridge just beyond the next hill are things of the past and future in his sight and experience, but to the man high overhead they are open to view and are in the present. This is a crude illustration, but gives some idea of how things or events which are in the past and future so far as our experience goes may stand revealed in the sight of God.

THE AORIST TENSE

In this connection it is of interest to note the use of the aorist tense in the New Testament Greek. Scholars tell us that this tense has no equivalent in the English language for it seems to combine past, present, future, and perfect.

The translator of the Interlinear New Testament says: "This tense [aorist] of the Greek verb has been at all times the most difficult to deal with, being translated in the Authorized Version (and by others) sometimes by the present, sometimes by the past, sometimes by the future, and sometimes by the perfect. Grammarians say that in the main, 'it is the indefinite past.' For example: to say, 'He has cleansed me,' is more than saying, 'He cleansed me,' because the first expression implies a continuance of the act or its effect to the present time; whereas the latter expression speaks of an act at some time in the past, without anything being implied as to its continuance."

In 2 Tim. 2:19 we read (Authorized Version) "The Lord knoweth them that are his." The verb "knoweth" is from the Greek aorist. In this case the English tense is a fairly good rendition. The Lord knoweth those- that are his, whether in the past, present, or future.

The verbs in John 3:16 are also in the aorist tense. Our common version reads: "God so loved [past tense] the world that he gave [past tense] his only begotten Son." The Newberry and Concordant Versions, translate the text: "God so loves the world that he gives his only begotten Son." It is hard to give the correct thought in English for the aorist tense in which the original Greek is couched includes past, present, and future.

It is somewhat like the name God gave to Moses in answer to, his inquiry as to- what he should tell the children of Israel when they asked who said they were to do certain things. God said to Moses: "I am that I am." The name suggests eternity.

GOD'S GLORY REFLECTED IN CREATION

Isaiah 43:7 tells us that all things were created for God's own glory. All things were intended to mirror the glory of God in some way pleasing to God. Think what that glory must be that requires all of creation to reflect it! Think of the wisdom and power revealed in creation -- no two things exactly alike -- each grain of sand, each atom and ion in that grain, reflecting in some degree and some special sense all its own, the glory of God! As the Psalmist declares, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard."

"HE THAT HATH SEEN ME HATH SEEN THE FATHER"

The first creation to manifest God's glory was the Logos. John's Gospel, first verse, says: "In a beginning was the Logos [Word] and the Logos was with the God, and a God was the Logos. The same was in a beginning with the God." This translation harmonizes with the statement of Rev. 3:14 which calls Jesus the "Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God."

John 1:3 continues by saying: "All things were made by him [the Logos] and without him was not anything made that was made." This agrees with the statement of Paul who said "All things are of the Father, but by [or through] the Son."

The Son of God, called the Logos in his pre-human state, manifests God more fully than any other creation. To begin with, he was the only direct creation of the Father; all the rest were of the Father but by him. In Proverbs, eighth chapter, he is described as- the personification of wisdom. He is recorded as saying: "Jehovah formed me in the beginning of his way, before [or the first of] his works of old. Then was I by him as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him."

The Son was always God's right-hand and honored agent; and after his resurrection and exaltation to the divine nature he is described as being the express or exact image of the Father's person -- the most complete mirror of God's glory.

FAILING TO REFLECT GOD'S GLORY WE FAIL IN THE
PURPOSE OF OUR CREATION

All things having been designed to reflect God's glory, even the lowest forms of creation must ultimately fulfill that purpose. In Rev. 4:11 we read: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power! for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Here we note the object or reason for all things, namely, for God's pleasure, to reflect his glory; and when persons or things cease to reflect that glory, they no longer fulfill the object of their creation, and will be destroyed.

Adam, created in the image and likeness of God, was capable of reflecting God's glory more fully than any other earthly creation; but when he disobeyed God, sin and the resultant corruption began to tarnish the perfect mirror so that it no longer gave a true or perfect reflection.

God foreknew what would occur before he created Adam, nevertheless he went ahead with man's creation because he knew he could cause the treachery of Satan, the wrath of men, and the experience with evil to work out to his own glory and honor, and to the eternal welfare of all his intelligent creation. In the meantime these human mirrors have become greatly tarnished, and some almost, if not wholly, worthless. As a whole they were cast off, but here and there God has found certain ones who have been willing to undergo a washing and polishing process in order that they might be used of him.

"THE WASHING OF WATER BY THE WORD"

In the tabernacle type God drew a picture of the plan he would follow in restoring mankind to a perfect condition; and in making the laver, where the priests washed before entering the tabernacle, he used the burnished copper looking-glasses or mirrors of the women. (Exod. 38:8.) This seems to picture the washing of water by the Word, for Paul speaks of the word as a mirror and a cleansing agent for those who use it. The priests using the laver could no doubt see the heavens reflected. therein as well as their own faces. Is it not the same when we look into God's Word? Does it not reflect God's glory of character as truly as it reveals our own imperfections?

In 2 Cor. 3:18 Paul says: "We all with open face beholding as in a glass." (Strong says this word "beholding" means "to mirror oneself, see reflected.") "We all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord."

It. is the writer's belief that Rotherham and Weymouth each give a better translation of this verse. Weymouth translates: "And all of us with unveiled faces, reflecting like bright mirrors the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same likeness." Rotherham reads: "And we all with unveiled face receiving and reflecting the glory of the Lord, into the same image are being transformed."

These translations do not stress the point of God's Word being a mirror, as does the Authorized Version, but rather the fact that we, with unveiled faces, because the veil of darkness that had clouded our minds has been removed, reflect more and more the glory of God we see revealed in his Word.

EXCEEDING JOY TO BE OURS WHEN WE REFLECT PERFECTLY

Jesus was a perfect manifestation of God in the flesh, and if we bear fruit, as is intended of us, then we manifest God also -- at the present time, it is true, through imperfect, tarnished reflectors, but in the resurrection the medium of reflection will be perfect.

Paul makes this plain in 1 Con. 13:12, where he says: "For now we see through a glass dimly." A footnote in the Diaglott states that in olden times they did not have clear glass but had to use substances such as horn, oiled parchment, etc., in their windows. These admitted the light, but revealed objects very dimly. We are like that. This earthly body through which we receive and reflect is very tarnished, so we see and know but in part, and so reflect imperfectly. But then, when we are resurrected, with perfect spirit bodies, we will see and know face to face. Our medium for reflecting will not only be perfect, but will be of super-spirit quality, the Divine nature.

What a delight, what a joy it will be, when we can glorify God perfectly! At the present time our efforts are a mixture of joy and chagrin because we reflect so imperfectly. It is human nature to enjoy most those things we do well, and to neglect the things we find difficult. All creatures are happy in doing the things they are fitted to do. Fortunately our new minds dwell on a plane that delights to do the will of God, and so we find pleasure in reflecting his glory even though our mirrors are tarnished. It makes us happy when we realize that we have in some small way conducted ourselves in a manner pleasing unto God; and if this makes us happy, what will be our reaction when we can perfectly reflect that glory? That will be exceeding joy, the Apostle tells us.

In nearly every place where this phrase "exceeding joy" is used, it is connected with the completed work of transformation in our mirrors or characters. Jude says, verse 24, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever." In being made faultless (no tarnish or flaw in our mirror) we must pass through trials and testings; and if we could not by faith look ahead to the finished work, we might become discouraged and quit. But Peter says: (1 Pet. 4:12, 13) "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." Here again, we see the "exceeding joy" linked with the completed work of transformation. Paul, also, links the two in 2 Cor. 4:14-18: "He who raised up the Lord Jesus shall also raise us up by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not. But though out outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things that are seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

"IF ANY MAN DRAW BACK"

If any man draw back from this process of being made meet for the inheritance in glory, God's Word tells us that he will have no pleasure in that man, but will cut him off from life; for nothing will be permitted to exist that does not in its own station, perfectly fulfill its Creator's will.

James says (James 1:23-25) "If any one be a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he resembles a man viewing his natural face in a mirror; for he viewed himself and went away, and immediately forgot what kind of person he was. But he who looks intently into that which is the perfect law of freedom and continues in it, not becoming a forgetful hearer, but a doer of its work, this man will be blessed in his deed." His contemplation of the perfect character reflected in the perfect law of freedom has a transforming effect upon his own character.

The Scriptures indicate that God has had the new creation in mind from the beginning of his work; he did not, however, see fit to create it outright as he did the various orders of angels and mankind, but has proceeded in the strange and mysterious manner of taking imperfect human beings, the lowest order of beings formed in his image, and is making them over into the image of his Son. The Son, we are told, is the express image of God, having life in himself, even as the Father hath life in himself. This whole matter has been a mystery all down through the ages, and is still a mystery to all except the little flock, the ones who are being transformed.

THE CREATION OF THE NEW CREATION

No other creation has known anything about its own creation before it began to function as a completed being reflecting in some degree God's glory. But the new creation, including its Head, is made fully aware of what is happening unto it; and what is still more strange, is invited, yea, even expected, to cooperate to the extent of its ability in bringing about its own perfection, and any who will not cooperate are cast aside as unfit.

Nothing like this has ever occurred before, nor, as far as we know, will ever occur again. God has followed this course, we understand, because of the very exalted position this class will occupy when completed. These are free moral agents; it is left to their own volition as to whether they will be made to reflect God's glory or not. God will not need to test this new creation after it has been perfected, as he has tested all other free moral agents; because this class has been fully tested in the process of making it meet for the inheritance of the saints in light, where it will be crowned with immortality.

"IF I IN THY LIKENESS, O LORD, MAY AWAKE"

It is believed by many that once God has given any one the divine nature even he himself could not destroy that one. Whether this be true or not, the course God has followed in his development of this class has obviated such a contingency, because the ones that are given the divine nature will have proved beyond all possibility of doubt that they will forever remain loyal to God and his will.

We now have the opportunity of demonstrating our loyalty to God and the principles of righteousness, and should rejoice in any test he sees fit to bring upon us. "Count it all joy," says the Apostle (James 1:2-4), "when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience; but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

It rests with us whether we will let God work in us both to will and to do his good pleasure. "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Rom. 12:2.) It rests with us whether we will "humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God in order that he may exalt us in due time."

In the 44th chapter of Isaiah we read: "Behold I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth, shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. . . . I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise." They shall mirror or reflect my glory.

"Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can show forth [mirror] all his praise? We thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks forever; we will show forth [mirror] thy praise to all generations."

- J. T. Read.

The Divine Plan of the Ages

"This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations: and then shall the end come."

"In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good." -- Matt. 24:14; Eccel. 11:6.

FOR ABOUT one hundred and fifty years the various Protestant churches have carried on the greatest missionary work that was ever known. The great Bible Societies were formed and have operated in this period. The denominations have had Boards of Foreign Missions responsible for sending out missionaries to the so-called heathen lands. In the 1870's it was reported that the Gospel had been preached in all known countries of the world, and there is no doubt that millions of copies of the Bible have been distributed in nearly all languages.

From the standpoint of the believer in Present Truth this activity, except for the distribution of the Bible, could not be said to have fulfilled the terms of Matthew 24:14, because these missionaries preached little, if anything, about the Kingdom part of the Gospel. Hence it was not until the world wide work of the Truth movement that the full Gospel of the Kingdom was preached.

THIS GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM

There were 1400 newspapers at one time printing Pastor Russell's weekly sermons and articles on the International Sunday School Lessons, and these reached weekly about 5,500,000 readers. - Reprints, page R4954.

The Photo Drama of Creation was shown in the largest theatres and opera houses obtainable in each city all over the United States, Canada, England, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, and New Zealand. One million dollars was spent on this work in 1914. In that year alone nearly 8,000,000 people, saw and heard the glorious message in the United States and Canada, besides hundreds of thousands in other lands. There was also an abbreviated edition of the Photo Drama known as the Eureka Drama which was shown in smaller towns and neighborhoods to supplement the larger showings of the main Drama. - Reprints, page R5591.

Hundreds of millions of tracts were distributed in the countries already mentioned and additionally in China, Korea, Japan, India, Africa, France, Italy, Hungary, Arabia, Greece, and the Islands of the seas. - Reprints, page R5594.

Over 5,000,000 copies of Volume I of Scripture Studies, The Divine Plan of the Ages, have been circulated at cost. Under Brother Russell's leadership a very complete coverage of the whole habitable world with the Good News of the Kingdom was obtained.

"IN THE EVENING WITHHOLD NOT THINE HAND"

This wide-spread publication of the Present Truth has not been duplicated since Brother Russell's day, and now, thirty-two years after his work ended, an entirely new generation of men and women has grown up, most of whom have never heard of the Divine Plan of the Ages, and have never been exposed to its soul-satisfying teachings.

The publication of the Good News of the near approach of Christ's Kingdom and the Times of Restitution of all things spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began, to this generation is the privilege of the saints of God today.

And what a privilege! Having been ourselves so richly blessed and comforted by the message of the glorious Gospel, our hearts should be overflowing, eager, and watching for- every opportunity by word or pen or the printed page to tell it to others. Never has the world been so much in need of such a message. May we all realize our privilege and responsibility of sharing in this ministry.

ADVERTISING THE PLAN OF THE AGES

The Pastoral Bible Institute and the "Herald" are always on the lookout for ways of spreading the Truth, and encouraging the Lord's people by precept and, example to use the tried and good ways of personal witness, followed by the gift of a tract, the loan of The Divine Plan, and an invitation to meetings.

Accordingly we have prepared a series of advertisements suitable for use in newspapers, religious publications, and magazines. These give a brief witness and offer The-.Divine Plan, of the Ages at fifty cents postpaid, in cloth binding.

Several ads are now running in current publications, and your Institute offers its help to any who would like to use this campaign in their locality. We will furnish copy for advertisements of two inches, one column wide suitable for classified ads, and larger ones for display advertising.

The replies to the ads and orders for the book may be sent to the address of the brethren placing the ads in their, local papers, or the ads may use an address in Chicago, where we will keep a stock of the books and will be able to give prompt shipment on all orders. We will also assist the local brethren in financing the ads in their papers where necessary, so far as the Lord blesses us with funds to carry on this work.

We recommend that the Volumes be advertised at fifty cents each, postpaid; and at this price there will be no profit on the books sold. The experience of brethren who have used this method of spreading the Truth has been that while replies are satisfactory, the advertisements could not be made to pay for themselves even though the price of each book were set at one dollar.

We ask the prayers of all the Lord's people on this work, and let us all feel

"We're going forth with a trust so sacred
And a truth, so divine and deep,
With a message clear and a work so glorious
And a charge, such a charge to keep.

"Let it be, your greatest joy, my friends,
That-the Lord can count on you:
And if all besides should fail and falter
'To your trust be always true."

Please write us and more information will be given. Address your communications regarding this feature of the work to

PASTORAL BIBLE INSTITUTE
594 Willow Road;
Winnetka, Illinois.

What Pastor Russell Said

"If the Bible does teach that Eternal Torment is the fate of all except saints it should be preached, yea, thundered weekly, daily, hourly. If it does not so teach, the fact should be made known and the foul stain dishonoring God's holy name removed." -Bible Students Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 8.

"I am seeking to remove from: people's minds the prejudice and various obstructions' which have hindered the flow of God's grace and truth to their hearts. I am seeking in the. Master's name to present to them the Bread of Life, the Water of Life. I am not seeking to build up another denomination.

"Results show a certain measure of success already attained. I am receiving more than 5,000 letters a .week: from hungry sheep and others, who, so far as denominational Christian systems are concerned are homeless. Everywhere -- all over the world -- these instead of. forming a new denomination, are associating themselves with Bible classes for the study of God's Word." - Bible Students Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 2.

What Others Said About The Divine Plan

"This wonderful 'book makes no assertions that are not well sustained by the Scriptures. It is built up stone by stone, and upon every stone is a text, arid it becomes a pyramid of God's love and mercy and 'wisdom. There is nothing in the Bible that the author denies or doubts, but there are many texts that he throws a flood of light upon that seem to uncover its meaning.

"It is impossible to read this book without loving the writer and pondering his wonderful solution of the great mysteries that have troubled us all our lives. There is hardly a family to be found that has not lost some loved one who died outside the Church-outside the plan of salvation, and if Calvin-, ism be true, outside of all hope and inside of Eternal Torment and despair." - BILL ARP of The Atlanta Constitution. - Bible Students Monthly, Vol. 6 No. 11.

Duties of Daily Life

Life is not entirely made up of great evils or heavy trials; but the perpetual recurrence of petty evils and small trials is the ordinary and appointed exercise of the Christian graces. To bear with the failings of those about us -- with perverse tempers -- to endure neglect when we feel we deserve attention, and ingratitude where we expected thanks; to bear with the company of disagreeable people whom Providence has placed in our way and whom He has provided on purpose for the trial of our virtue, these are the best exercises of patience and self-denial, and the better because not chosen by ourselves. To bear with vexation in business, with disappointment in our expectations, with interruptions of our retirement, with folly, intrusions, disturbance-in short, with whatever opposes our will or contradicts our humor-this habitual acquiescence appears to be more of the essense of self-denial than any little rigors or afflictions of our own imposing. These constant, inevitable, but inferior evils properly improved, furnish a good moral discipline. Selected, Reprints, page R630.

"Watching With Christ"

"The night is dark-behold the shade was deeper
In the old Garden of Gethsemane
When that calm voice awoke the weary sleeper,
'Could'st thou not watch one hour alone with Me?'

"O thou so weary of thy self-denials,
And so impatient of thy little cross!
Is it so hard to bear thy daily trials,
To count all earthly things a gainful loss?

"What if thou always suffer tribulation,
And if thy Christian warfare never cease?
The gaining of the greater habitation
Shall gather thee -- to everlasting peace.

"But here we all must suffer, walking lonely
The path that Jesus once Himself hath gone;
Watch thou in patience through this one hour only,
This one dark hour before the eternal dawn.

"The captive's oar may pause upon the galley,
The soldier sleep beneath his plumed crest,
And Peace may fold her wing o'er hill and valley
But thou, O Christian, must not take thy rest.

"Thou must walk on, however man upbraid thee,
With Him who trod the wine-press all alone;
Thou wilt not find one human hand to aid thee,
One human soul to comprehend thine own.

"In meek obedience to the heavenly Teacher
Thy weary soul can only find its peace;
Seeking no aid from any human creature,
Looking to God alone for His release.

"And He will come in His own time and power
To set His earnest-hearted children free;
Watch only through this dark and painful hour,
And the bright Morning yet will break for thee."

Recently Deceased

Dr. J. E. Campbell, Columbus, Ohio - (March).
Mrs. George E., Bowman, Newark, Ohio - (April).
Mrs. W. C. Dirst, Albany, Ga. - (April)
Miss Hazel Garrison, Atlantic City; N. J. - (April).
Mr. James T. Green, Albany, Calif. - (April).
Mrs. Annie Keith, Iola, Kans. - (April).
Mr. Wm. Seitz, Allentown, Pa. - (April).
Mr. L: E. Horn, Garnett, Kans. - (May).

1948 Index