1917_The_Finished_Mystery_Text

have been discharged or refused employment; inEurope they have been imprisoned at hard, labor;some have been done to death by firing squads;they have been forbidden to hold meetings.Neither Pastor Russell nor his fellow-believerswere permitted to utter the Bible Truth before thecongregations of ecclesiasticism. It was not to goout among "them," and his greatest work was thedeepening of the spirit of consecration amongthose of the "House of Sons."Ezekiel 3:26.And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roofof thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, andshalt not be to them a reprover; for they are arebellious house.— It is impossible to witnessspiritual things to the carnally-minded (1 Cor.3:1; John 16:12). But Pastor Russell neverrefrained from speaking or publishing the Wordof God. The Bible teaches that the service ofGod must be of a willing heart. It is a privilegewhich may be accepted or rejected, as the hearerdesires. Yet to the worldly, Pastor Russell was as"dumb", for they would not hear.FM391Ezekiel 4:1.EZEKIEL 4THE PAPAL ANDPROTESTANT SIEGESThou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and layit before thee, and portray upon it the city,even Jerusalem.— In Ezekiel's days, inChaldea, a book was a collection of inscribedtiles. The Laodicean servant was to be a writer ofbooks. In many articles and chapters on thekingdoms of this world and their judgment andfall, and that of their ecclesiastical, political andbusiness systems, Pastor Russell portraysChristendom, typically spoken of as Jerusalem. Itbore the Lord's name, but was defiled by the evilpractices of its inhabitants. (C295.) As a type,Jerusalem represents particularly theecclesiastical phase of Christendom.