to be directly responsible for the functioning of the spirit on a particular occasion. In the case of the apostles’ being freed from prison, the angel who freed them also instructed them to continue their preaching activity. An angel of God caused Philip to contact and convert the Ethiopian. Cornelius received his instructions on getting in touch with Peter by means of one of the angels. Paul was counseled and comforted by an angel on one occasion. Christ Jesus sent his angel with God’s revelation to John to be recorded as the last book of the Bible.—Acts 5:19, 20; 10:3; 8:26; 27:23, 24; Rev. 1:1.

We are now in the time of the parousía of our Lord. Prophecy clearly shows that he would be accompanied with many angels and that they would perform services with regard to the New World society. They are the reapers of the harvest; they gather out all things that offend in the organization of Jehovah’s servants on earth. The helper is still in operation among Jehovah’s dedicated ones and performs similar services as at Pentecost, though the miraculous gifts ceased with the death of the apostles. In the final fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy Joel (2:28, 29) there was an outpouring of the spirit in 1919, with the founding of the New World society, and again in 1922, which corresponded with the two outpourings A.D. 33 and 36. This has resulted in completing the full membership of the congregation of God and in the final manifestation of the “man of lawlessness [or, sin],” as the angels do their work of gathering out the lawless ones who resist the spirit.—2 Thess. 2:3-8.

Those who have worked with the New World society for ten, twenty or more years have seen convincing evidence of the operation of the holy spirit as a guide and counselor. No man can be given credit for the wonderful flow of truths: the vision of the Kingdom’s establishment, the vindication of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty, our new name, the “great crowd,” etc. Decisions with regard to theocratic organization, the casting away of false religious practices, the operating of Gilead School and the increasing of missionary work are certainly not reached or accomplished by purely human reasoning and logic. The great legal victories that have become so numerous and that have defended and legally established our right to expand true worship are really Jehovah’s victories. He assures us that it is not by might or by power but by his spirit.—Zech. 4:6, AV.

Now, under the guidance of the helper, all of us, the remnant along with the “other sheep,” are preaching the final convincing message of sin and righteousness and judgment. Jehovah will not remove that spirit. (Isa. 59:21, AV) So let it have free rein in you as you continue to receive its benefits. “The undeserved kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the sharing in the holy spirit be with all of you.”—2 Cor. 13:14.

Seminary Education

● In the book Under Orders William L. Sullivan writes: “The seminary was a place for immature minds which were to be kept in immaturity. The Church was mature, and that was enough. We were exactly in the position of infants who had only to repeat the words of an infallible parent. The method served well enough for practical purposes. For, in the leaden quiescence of a parsonage and in the humdrum of parish rites, what was the need of a mind? Indeed, there was latent in our thought the sense that an independent intellect, determined to study religion profoundly and impartially, would encounter peril.”