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Chosen no: R-5782
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NEWS FROM FRENCH BIBLE STUDENTS
INTERESTING LETTERS
NEWS FROM FRENCH BIBLE STUDENTS
I would be very grateful if you would kindly send me
some tracts for distribution among sorrowing hearts, as the
poor world is getting disheartened, and this is the right time
for presenting to them the Gospel Message. I have already
made several such distributions, for which the people were
very glad, several of them saying they wished they were
already living in that glorious Day. God's Word alone can
bring them comfort.--JULES ROY.
Soon an era of righteousness shall be established by Christ
and His Bride, of whom we are invited to become a part.
What a comfort this thought is to me through all the dangers
of this hour! Here new opportunities are afforded me
to bring this precious message to the friends--soldiers of my
regiment. Now, as soon as I receive the TOWER, some of
them want to read it ahead of me. They read also Vol. 1
of the STUDIES from time to time.--ELIE MALINGRAT.
I wish to inform you of the departure of Brother Louis
Durieu for the Orient (Dardanelles). Being told to start
without delay for Marseilles (where he probably still is),
he was unable to write to you himself of his going, and thus
to present you his brotherly regards. I was much delighted
at the real comfort I derived from reading in the last TOWER
that marvelous page about Love. May the Lord bless it for
all the Divine Israel!--ELISEE TRULEUX
I am glad to be able to write to you these lines to express
my great joy at receiving THE WATCH TOWER
(French), which is so interesting and comforting in the
troublous times now upon us! What a peace fills our hearts
when everything is crashing about us! By the grace of God
strengthening us, we are enabled to endure with patience
and perseverance the greatest trials permitted of Him for
our spiritual welfare. Yes, we can love and praise our good
Heavenly Father for His many blessings.--M. NONGAILLARD.
We are very happy here at C__________ (near Dunkirk), being
able to devote ourselves freely to holy study during the short
time permitted us here below, and we pray the Lord to
strengthen our faith upon the solid foundation of Present
Truth, so as to better resist the tumultuous current beating
about.--H. ROUSSEL.
Here in Liege (Belgium) everything is well in a temporal
way, but God has blessed us still more spiritually. As
you know, our meetings have never been interrupted. They
still take place every Sunday in our hall at the Hawirs, and
every Thursday at home. During the first three months of
the war we had four meetings a week. Now, work is going
on again in all the coal mines and we have been abundantly
blessed.--F. PETRIE.
We thank the Lord more and more for having raised
Pastor Russell and his valiant fellow-servants, through whom
He has so generously and mercifully blessed us. We remember
daily before the Throne of Heavenly Grace the great help
you lend to the good "grain" already garnered, as well as
pray God to strengthen and sustain you by His all-powerful
arm in the good fight you have undertaken; also for the
cause of Truth for which you have vowed to be faithful unto
death, on behalf of all the brethren and sisters.--VICTOR
RANDOUR.
The following letters from brethren who are prisoners in Germany:
I have had the opportunity to preside at a meeting participated
in by more than one hundred people. Helping me
were some friends who had also studied the first and second
volumes of the STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, as well as some
tracts. With God's assistance, I have been enabled to give
my experience before all the Protestants in the camp. The
aforesaid friends left in March, I being sick at the time.
Since then I have worked to spread the good tidings of the
Kingdom. "Do as occasion serve thee, for God is with
thee." (1 Samuel 10:7.) I want to work for the Lord, and
may His grace be with me!--FREDERIC POLLARD.
With much joy I have received the books you forwarded
me. I have read and studied them without ceasing, having
asked of our brother J. H. his help to that extent. I have
understood and I am following. What is necessary is to
win the final victory. The contents of the books, where followed,
cause a lasting effect. It is a meat that does not
decay.--L. FLAMME (newly interested).
I have received news of my wife and relatives in Rouboix
(invaded territory); they are in good health, and so are
the dear brethren and sisters there. I see that the Lord
knows how to keep His own through all their difficulties,
and I pray Him to give each of His beloved children the
needed strength to bear every other trial that may still be
in store in this evil day. Kindly send me some tracts and
booklets, and also, if possible, some English and German
tracts for distribution. I thank you for the tracts received
and the card, "My Morning Resolve."--JEAN HER.
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SCRIPTURE PRECEDENTS FOLLOWED
DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL:--
Some time ago I read in THE BIBLE STUDENTS MONTHLY
of a suit you had entered against Rev. J. J. Ross in Canada.
Now, I am only a humble seeker after truth, and I cannot
criticize you, because I have not sufficient knowledge of the
Scriptures to do so. There is, however, one point I would
like to have cleared up; and if you would be so good as to
take up a few lines in THE WATCH TOWER to answer me, I
am sure it would do not only me a lot of good, but others also
who may have given the matter serious thought.
The question is, dear Pastor, how could you as a follower
of Jesus bring suit against a fellow creature, no matter how
vilely he talked about you or your work?
You know how our Savior was talked about, and aside
from a rebuke He did nothing. At least, He never sought
redress through any legal agency.
[R5782 : page 303]
I despise the clerical profession, because I know them to
be liars and parasites, who suck a fat living from the parish;
that is, a good part of them. Of course, there are many noble,
misled men amongst them; and I am sure they will be rewarded
for whatever good they may have done.
Please, dear Pastor, will you not answer one who is sorely
troubled--one who believes your work the grandest ever
undertaken, and who loves God and His people, although he
feels himself an unworthy sinner--one who hates to think
of one who is doing so grand and noble a work for Jesus, as
not walking in His footsteps in every respect?
Yours sincerely. A. WOODS.--New York.
REPLY BY EDITOR
We are not certain that we did the wisest and best thing
--the thing most pleasing to the Lord in the matter mentioned.
However, the suit against Rev. Ross was not
undertaken without consideration of the Lord's will and of
the precedents of the Bible.
Amongst Bible students, informed respecting the Divine
Word and its requirements, Matthew 18:15-17is the accepted
standard of action:--
(1) Private conference;
(2) If necessary, taking a couple of brethren in a further
endeavor to get at the right and to stop what is believed to
be the wrong;
(3) In the event of the concurrence of the brethren that
the wrong is being done, and of the refusal on the part of
the wrong-doer to desist, the third step is to bring the matter
before the Church. If the Church agrees, then the wrong-doer,
if he still refuses to desist from the wrong course, is to
be disfellowshiped--to be barred from any office or service
of the Church--treated as an outsider--"like a publican."
We could not see how this rule could be applied to Rev.
Ross; for so far as we have knowledge he would have no
regard whatever for such proceedings and could not be debarred
finally from fellowship, because he recognizes no such
fellowship. We felt, therefore, that any proceedings against
Rev. Ross must be along the lines which he himself would
recognize. He, like other ministers, recognizes the governments
of this world as being parts of Christ's Kingdom; and
their courts, therefore, as being parts of the Divine Institution.
For this reason we felt that we were approaching the
subject from a just and Golden Rule standpoint in appealing
to the courts of justice, which Rev. Ross recognizes as being
The Divine Institution. In other words, we attempted to
meet him on his own grounds.
As for Scriptural precedents: Jesus did not need to take
His case before the courts, because His enemies did that
--taking Him before the chief priests and the Sanhedrin.
They condemned Him in the Jewish courts. When before
His judges, Jesus offered no resistance, in the sense of
using His power, either of eloquence or of Divine energy, to
resist their unjust decisions. He merely submitted Himself
with the complaint, "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of
the evil; but if well, why smitest thou Me?"--John 18:23.
The Apostles, Peter and John, brought before the Sanhedrin
court, made their defense. So also did St. Paul. On
one occasion, because he thought he was not getting justice,
he appealed to Caesar's court for whatever the Roman law
might provide. Similarly I appealed to the court having
jurisdiction of Rev. Ross, having in mind to stop him from
doing evil and from opposing the Message of the Lord, which
I am seeking to bear to all people. My attorneys, of course,
were obliged to bring their action in harmony with the laws
of the land. While the case was still pending, I wrote Rev.
Ross, assuring him that I had no unkind intention, and proposing
that I would discontinue the suit if he would promise
to discontinue his injurious, slanderous course.
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[R5783 : page 303]
ENJOYING THE SPIRITUAL FOOD
DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL:--
I am reading about ten pages in the STUDIES IN THE
SCRIPTURES daily. Several times I have tried this plan, but
did not continue. This time I am keeping to my lesson as
outlined in the Berean Questions.
I have read the volumes several times, but by this method
I am surprised at the results. Every day I have a definite
study before me, and have more desire for the spiritual food
than for the natural. I find it the best way to cultivate love
in thought, word and deed. Daily I ask the Father to help
me, and daily I render my account. I come far short, but
can see progress. Praise His name!
I am speeding along in the race, trusting in every promise
and "looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our
faith." I am content, and am watching THE WATCH TOWER
for the "light that shineth more and more unto the perfect
Day." How it rejoices my heart to know that the time is
near when the faithful will partake of the best wine and
earth's festivities begin! Much Christian love to yourself
and all the family, in which my husband joins.
Your sister in Christ,
MRS. W. W. GOODWIN.--Rhode Island.
EDITOR'S REPLY TO ABOVE
I rejoice with you, dear Sister, in the blessing you are
now having from systematic study of the Bible through the
daily reading of the volumes, STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES,
and the Scripture references which they bring to your attention.
With the multitudinous affairs of life pressing us, we
need to order our lives intelligently in the interest of our new
natures. Otherwise, the cares of this life and the deceitful
lure of earthly riches would hinder us from obtaining our
spiritual food, rest, refreshment and strength--thus incapacitating
us for our spiritual blessings and development,
and leaving us unfit for a share in the Kingdom.
I think the plan you have adopted of taking the Berean
Questions and the portion which they represent as your daily
lesson is a good one. As you know, some five years ago many
of THE WATCH TOWER readers began systematically to read
twelve pages or more every day. Such as have been following
this course report splendid success, and show it in their
spiritual development. However, I think that your plan of
using the Question Books and taking a special lesson for
each day is still better. Often the lesson, however, would
run over only one page or two; and in such event you, of
course, can readily take in several lessons for one day.
The advantage of the Question Books is that they promote
study. One of the most important things for people in every
walk of life is to learn to think. We have all done very little
of this in respect to religion in the past. One of the mistakes
which some of the Brethren make in leading Berean Study
classes is that they talk too much. The successful Bible
Class leader is the one who does comparatively little talking,
except in an emergency, but who stimulates thought in the
Class through the Questions and through the interrogative
form of suggesting answers when necessary rather than giving
the answers directly. Bible classes are specially profitable
because of the thinking on Bible topics which they arouse.
You do not mention it, dear Sister, but doubtless yourself
and husband are getting great blessings from the use of the
MANNA Book every morning. It surely has brought a great
deal of blessing to many. The text and the comment are quite
brief, requiring only a few minutes; then, where there is a
considerable number at the table, a further discussion of the
text is often very illuminating. Thus the day is well started
with helpful thoughts.
I am glad to know that the Morning Resolve and the evening
self-examination at the Throne of Grace are also comforting,
strengthening to you. You do not mention the Vow.
I remember that you and your husband informed me long
ago that you had taken it. Nothing that we ever had, I
think, has accomplished more of blessing for the readers of
THE WATCH TOWER. We have heard from about fifteen thousand
that they have taken the Vow, but we doubt not that the
number is much larger than this, as continually the dear
friends remark to us that they took the Vow years ago, but
did not think to mention the fact in writing to us. We are
always glad to know of your welfare, and believe the Vow is a
special feature of blessing the Lord has ordained for our day.
Besides this, it constitutes the most wonderful prayer-circle that was ever known in the world--fifteen thousand or more
pledged to each other and to the Lord that they will remember
each other and the Harvest work every day in prayer.
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FROM BATTLE-TORN RUSSIA
DEAR BROTHER IN CHRIST:--
This is to inform you that I fell into Russian captivity,
and after a long journey was brought here to Jelabuga,
Russia. I could not bring any religious tracts with me, and
now I feel their lack very much. Therefore I earnestly request
you to send me your complete works in the German
language free of charge. Of course, I will thankfully reimburse
you for their expense when we, with God's help,
return. At the same time I would request you to send me
some Hungarian literature and include with the others.
Please write me a few lines of comfort, and also something
regarding conditions existing in the United States.
With loving greetings,
Your brother in the Lord, FALUVEGI DEUES.