AN ATTITUDE of reverence toward God is necessary on the part of anybody who hopes togain God’s favor, but onemight havethat reverence and still fall short of what is expected of him. He might even be very busy at what some have told him is Christian work and still might fail utterly to win divine approval. The Lord Jesus made this clear when he said: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils ? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”—Matthew 7: 21-23.            ’

Notice that here are some that are of reverent mind. They are planning, working and hoping for the Lord’s approval. They are able to give discourses and they feel that the sermons they have preached, the evils they have helped to obliterate, and the other remarkable things they have done entitle them to God’s favorable notice.

But note that while the Master does not say they have not preached, and while he does not deny that they have even cast out devils and done other wonderful works, and while he could not deny that they have called upon him in prayer, saying Lord, Lord, yet he does say that they are utterly unworthy, and that their works instead of being the right kind, works which God could bless, have been unsatisfactory, works of iniquity.

It is evident there is a point here which the Master wishes us to see clearly. It is that any works to be acceptable to God must be in line with the divine will, as expressed in his Word. Let others go ahead doing what they think will please God, but let us who are the Lord’s do God’s will. Let us proclaim the things of the kingdom which he has now entrusted to us.

There are no others who can proclaim the kingdom of heaven at this time as an established fact. None others know about it. None others even know that the King is present. How then can they be held responsible for proclaiming that of which they know nothing? Their responsibility begins and ends with their knowledge of the truth. In proportion as they know the truth, in that proportion are they responsible for proclaiming it.

If we do not proclaim the message of the kingdom, who will? Who can? But the message will be proclaimed. That much is certain. And if we do not do it, then the Lord will raise up others who will do it. The Lord is no respecter of persons, and we need not think that the Lord has not reserved to himself others besides those of our aquaintance who have not bowed the knee to Baal.

It may be that some of us are -willing to serve the Lord if we can do it in our own way, by preaching sermons or championing reforms or doing other wonderful works, especially if we reverently call upon the Lord’s name as we do so. But if the Lord has other work for us to do, and we refuse to do it, then we may be sure the works will be rated as works of iniquity and we shall go without the final reward that we hope to obtain.

METHODS OF WORK

I. B. S. A. Week saw distributed in the United States' 55,978 books and booklets. There was probably a greater number than this actually distributed; for the above total is reported by but 450 of the 900 classes organized for service. I. B. S. A. Week of 1925 was world-wide in its scope, and the reports that we are receiving from other countries indicate that an equally wide witness was given throughout the world. One such report is the following from Hawaii:

“I can testify to the joy that comes to one who engages in putting out the literature. I am in an isolated territory, in a town of about 11,000 inhabitants, composed of Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, Hawailans, Portuguese, and a few whites, but I find the people here are more receptive to the message than in many places In the States. One- Korean was so glad to get the books that h,e would not wait for me to get the volumes, but drove me in his car to my hotel and paid the money very quickly. The Korean people are very devout, and I find the Japanese are also much interested in the Japanese Millions book. I sold about 100 Japanese Millions last week and about 200 books altogether.”

—Bro. E. Burnham, Hilo, Hawaii.

Again, the outstanding feature of the week is the zeal and activity of the workers. Though great results were manifest in the sale of the books, yet the zeal with which the friends as a whole engaged in the service' made the results that we have the natural consequence. The following report is a letter that can be singled out as a general expression from nearly all the classes throughout the United States:

“We have just ended the service week’s work. The response of the brethren in the work has been the best we have ever had. Of the twenty-one who attend the prayer meeting all but two were in the service and these were physically unable to work. And some who have not attended the prayer meetings regularly were in the service. Altogether twenty-two served, working 216 hours, an average of ten hours each. There have been sold about 240 books and booklets, but only 3 full sets, of which only one has been delivered, and about 60 Habps. All the brethren canvassed for the full set. Those who manifested the most interest in the full sets were too poor to buy, and those who had sufficient means did not manifest sufficient interest to buy. The brethren covered more territory per hour than ever before and therefore we covered a large territory, considering the number of workers. We covered all of Orrville, a town of about 5,000 people, and about one-third of a township in rural territory. The workers are much encouraged because of the work which has been done. We had a public meeting at Orrville, Sunday night, but only about six of the public were out, after being given a personal invitation and an announcement in the public press.”

—Class Director, Massilon, Ohio.

I. B. S. A. Week showed another digression from the general trend in that a greater number of 8-Volume combinations were sold than of the 7-Volume combinations, and this week saw a greater number of sets of Studies in the Scriptures jflaced in the homes of the people than we have any record of at this office. During the week a total of 1,085 sets of Studies in the Scriptures were placed throughout the country. Again, we believe this large sale of sets of Studies is a good indication of i^hat the field holds for the workers in the canvassing of the 8-Volume combination:'

“About fifteen brethren and the same number of sisters devoted some time to the work, some putting in all week. A special effort to sell the sets of eight according to the previous month’s Bulletin was made, and all were surprised at the results. About 550 volumes, mostly in sets of eight, were sold and about the same number of booklets. also ZG’s and GA’s sold and distributed. This is not so great a showing as some classes make, but the thing that pleases us all is that we really can sell sets when an effort Is made, and the weekly reports since the drive show sales of the full sets. As a rule, If the worker himself feels the practical value of the full library, he is able to show the prospective buyer the usefulness of the complete set; as, for instance, a standard encyclopedia must contain all the volumes, the whole alphabet, to fill the purpose. The suggestion of conserving the worker’s time, brevity of canvass, etc., were carried out to some extent at least, with good results. We are indeed thankful for our privilege of service as a class, and are learning more fully what is ‘the joy of the Lord’, whose continued blessing we pray upon you and us in the service of the King.”

—Class Director, Spokane, Wash.

One of the other distinguishing features of the week’s work is, that it becomes more apparent that recanvassing territory finds greater interest and shows a greater sale of volumes than did the previous work. This emphasizes that the first canvassing was almost necessary in order to awaken the interest of the people and to open the way for the full set. The field, then, holds still greater * results; especially since the trend of the times tends to an increasing interest in the message of truth:

“The territory that I am now canvassing may be properly spoken of as an old one and there is always the temptation of canvassing new territory; but I often find the old territory to be a new one. Just yesterday I canvassed a lady in a recognized territory who said she never heard the message of ‘Millions now living will never die’, before. She is no exception. Another lady who took the Habp Course a year ago was glad to meet me and said I must call with the set of seven a few days hence. A man who is amember of the Anglican church was reluctant to buy and read the Habp; but a short time afterward he met me, and said that he had read it many times over and that it gives that high conception of God that he was always longing to have. His belief is that his minister must have read our books; for he sometimes preaches some of the contents of the Habp. He took the full set and wants The Golden Age. Two ladies, members of the Wesleyan Methodist church, told me a few minutes afterward that their minister preached some of the things I mentioned in my canvass, but warns them against listening to us and buying our books. They both bought the Harp and a third lady of the same company the complete set, also subscribing to The Golden Age. The eldest of the three said, ‘Your message rejoices my heart. I am glad to hear it.’ One man, when I began my canvass said, ‘Stay a-while. This is too good for me alone to hear; let me go and call mother.’ The whole family came, along with a visiting evolutionist who was astonished at the reasonableness of the message and advised the family to buy the books, for they were good. The family took the advice and bought a full set and are now taking the Habp Course. A Chinese lawyer when he saw the books asked, ‘Are these Pastor Russell’s?’ ‘Yes,’ was the reply. He took the set, remarking, ‘I read one or two of them in Ancon.’ There are still good prospects in the field, though there are also indications that the work is likely to stop suddenly. la, the meantime I am determined not to stop until I am stopped, if the Lord so permits.”

—Bro. C. R. Laurent, Colp., Canal Zone.

Since, then, the people know something of your message, and after you make another call at their homes you are to bring them further information about the signs of the times, the fulfilment of prophecy, we believe it would be well if the workers could endeavor to conserve the time they employ in canvassing, by making a shorter canvass. We believe that there is a two-fold advantage in this. The first is to impress the people with the fact that your message is an important one and that you are not intent upon repeating what you have already brought to their attention; and second, it is conserving the time you have to engage in the service and will allow a larger number of homes to be called upon. Some tests similar to the suggestion of the sister who writes us as follows, might be made during the canvassing of the next few months, so that the favorable season.s of the year will find you able to give a witness or a canvass with more conciseness and more directness, and with a saving of time over that of the past year:

“I believe a short canvass is much better, because I canvass here at home whenever I get a chance. People stop at the well for water often. I hurry out and canvass them while they are filling their radiator or horses, as the case may be. I have practised the short canvass because the ones who stop are always in a hurry. When the Bulletin came telling us to use seven minutes, I took the clock and watched as I canvassed. It took just five and a half minutes to say my canvass. That would give me only one and a half minutes for a question, or some other little delay that the ones canvassed might give. Sometimes they buy right away, and I sell to a little more than two-thirds of the people who stop at the well.”

■—Sr. R. Shaw, Clay Center, Kans.

Since the condition of the field emphasizes such a general trend of interest toward the truth, we believe it is well to identify as soon as possible the work that you are representing. This seems emphasized in the following letter:

“A little incident which might be of interest: A lady on whom I called, seeing I had something to sell, threw up both hands and told me that if I had anything to sell, there was no use talking. I ignored her remark and told her about the books and the price. She still insisted that she had no money. I showed her the three small booklets for 25c. She became interested in the subjects and asked the price of the set, and said, ‘Well, come in and let’s talk it ■» over.’ In a few minutes I had her order for a set of eight and an invitation to call back, as she wanted a set for her mother. I called back in a few days and found her just devouring the books and inquiring about the other publications listed ' in the Habp—The Photo Dbama of Cbea-tion, Pastor Russell’s Sermons, Watch Toweb, etc. She bought a cloth Scenabio, gave me. an order for another set and a Watch Toweb subscription. I invited her to our study and called for her. At the close of the meeting she asked for the loan of a hymn book so that she might learn some of the songs. The next morning she was waiting at the station to bid us good bye.”      —Sr. Viola Pierce, Colp., Mich.

“Just a few words to tell you the work has been a great joy* and blessing to us in our class. The dear Lord has richly blessed our efforts, enabling us to place many books this year. At times when canvassing little towns, leaving many books and never hearing from the people, whether they have read them or not, some may feel a little discouraged. So'for the encouragement of these, I would like to relate a little incident about what one book did: I gave a lady my canvass and she replied: ‘I have a wonderful book that we have read and reread. It is called ‘Sermons by Pastor Russell.’ She then told me her experience. During the late war, in his camp her husband had charge of all articles¹ thrown away. One day he saw this book and took possession of it. Now they had withdrawn from the Lutheran church and had received much persecution because they were standing firm for the truth. They had never met any Bible Students or heard any lectures, had only one book, but still were rejoicing in the truth and were very glad to get some more literature. There may be. many, many people who get our literature and are rejoicing, although we do not hear from them. What a privilege is ours and what joy it brings to our hearts to advertise the King and his kingdom!”           —Sr. E. Hogan, Mpls.

I. B. S. A. Week has manifested what can be accomplished by persistent effort in the field. We hardly think it too much to expect that shortly almost every week of the year will hold forth the results that this one week accomplished. We are sure that as far as the interests of the truth and the the zeal of the workers are concerned, every week holds the same interest as I. B. S. A. Week; and we are inclined to feel that the trend of interest in the message will have many weeks during 1926 exceeding I. B. S. A. Week of 1925, and that I. B. S. A. Week of 1926 will far exceed any previous effort and will set a new goal for witnessing and for the wide promulgation of the message.

Trusting that the Lord will prosper you in the work, and that your increase may be in much joy.

With Chrisian greetings, we are

Your brethren and servants in the Lord, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society

Service Dept.