The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-03-03

trines of eternal torture, which they !
do not believe, and feel angry towards |
us because we teach the people the |
Truth upon the subject, which they |
know will bring to them hundreds of |
questions difficult to answer or dodge.
Gods Love Constraineth Us.
ask you, dear readers, Were you
constrained to become children of God
and to render to the Lord the homage
and the obedience of your lives
through fear or through love? l am
not asking you whether you never
have feared; but / am asking you
what brought you to the point of con-
Becrating your life to God? Surely
that was not fear! / am aware, of
course, that there is a proper, cody
fear, reverence, and that the Scrip
lures declare it-"The fear Crever-
ence) of the Lord is the beginning Of
wisdom" psalm cxi, 10). But this is
not the fear of eternal torment, which
tends to drive out love- How could
we love or esteem or truly worship
God purposlng the eternal torment of
his creatures from before their crea-
ton?
L could give you many proofs of the
power Of love over the human heart,
in contrast with the ungodly fear of
the error. God says to us in so many
words, "Their fear toward me is not
of me, but is taught by the precepts of
men," AS an illustration: At Bible
Students Convention not long ago in
Ohio a well-dressed gentleman in at
tendance told me of how his heart had
been touched with our presentations OF
the
Love Divine, all love excelllng"
He said, For years l have been a
member of the Presbyterian Church
without being really Christian at all
Occasionally 1 went on sprees; some
times l gambed and drank, ETC., etc.
Not until / received knowledge of
the true character of God as set forth
! In your Scripture Studies did my
| heart ever come to the proper attitude
of surrender to the Lord. Then l was
glad to give him my little all. and
wished 1t were more" The next day,
passing from the hotel to the audi
forum to question meeting, this gen
tleman put slip of paper into my
hand, which l supposed was ques-
ton, and thrust into my coat pocket.
On the platform drew it forth as one
| of the questions to be answered, and,
to my establishment, found it was a
check for $1,000. The man had not
been asked for one cent; but the Love
of God had captivated his heart and
gotten control-not only of it, but of
his pocket-book and all. He wished to
show the Lord his appreciation of the
Love Divine, the length and breadth
and height and depth, of which he now
comprehended, as never before.
Another case: l met with a Conven-
tion of Bible Students in Chattanooga
some five years ago. A gentleman at
tended who introduced himself to me
saying that he was from Mississippi
and that he had become deeply inter
ested in my presentations of the har.
mony Of the Word of God. He said
In substance: Brother Russell. ! will
not attempt to tell you how wicked a
man l was before got your literature
My dear wife here, an earnest Metho
dist, said to me, John, John. you will
surely go to hellr 1 replied to her
Mary, j know it, / know it! And
Mary l am determined that will de.
serve all that / get. | am not going
to hell for nothing One of your tracts
came to my desk in my store. | said
that this was different from anything
l ever understood respecting the teach
ings of the Bible. 1t seems more God
like and more rational. l sent to yor
for various Bible Students Helps. The
result, dear Brother Russell. is that the
Love of God has constrained me. has
conquered me, in a way that the doc
trines of devilish torments could moi
influence me. Now l see the true
teaching of Gods Word. l can honor
him and worship him and take pleas
ure in laying down my life in his serv
ice. l have made full conservation
, of everything. For time | sent you
$50 check every month; but. Brother
Russell. that was in the nature of con
science-money, because the most prof
table feature Of my store trade was
|, the sale Of liquor to the Mississippi
, negroes. Those checks stopped. be
cause, as the grace of God more an(
more filled and overlooked my heart
it brought me to see that l must love
my neighbor as myself and do injury
to none. That is all gone now. Brother
Russell, and my whole life is devoted
to the service of God and my fellow
, men,"
! Three murderers confined in the Co
lumbus, Ohio, Penitentiary had from
childhood been trained in the doc
, trines of eternal torment in differen
/ churches and yet committed murder
Those men. under Gods providence
received some of our literature-"Scrip
ture Sunderland were cut to thu
, heart when they learned of the Low,
, of God, as expressed in the DIVINE
Plan of the Ages. To be brief: A
knowledge of the Love of God mad,
such a change in the hearts and live
Of those three murderers that tn,
prison-keepers took knowledge of then
, that they had been with Jesus ant
had learned of him. By and by the!
! were paroled and today two of then
/ are preaching the Gospel of the Low
[ of God, seeking to bring their fellow
{ men out of the condition Of darkness
and sin into the glorious sunlight o
: Divine Love and Truth. Having tried
-. 4. 10. "a.