Once more we go back to the time of Brother Russell’s death to pick up another thread of Bible Student’s history. The death of such a faithful and widely used servant of God—“that faithful and wise servant”—as Brother Russell was bound to leave an empty place in the hearts of the brethren. With many, the blessedness of the truth itself filled this void, and they were able to sing from the heart:

Send out thy light and truth, O Lord; Let THEM our leaders be

But not all were able thus to differentiate between a leader and the truth which he brought to them, so when the leader was gone they sought another. And we are not surprised to find that there was no dearth of those who were willing and anxious to accommodate. The evidence of the Scriptures is that when God really chooses a servant for a special work he inspires him with a vision or understanding of the work to be done, and he is more concerned with that work than with proving that God has especially chosen him.

It was so with Brother Russell. It was difficult to get the Pastor to admit that he thought the Lord had specially chosen him. He knew that God had revealed the truth to him, and it was such a glorious message that he couldn’t stop short of devoting all that he had toward its proclamation. And God, by his providences, provided Brother Russell with the ability, the opportunity, and all the other circumstances which made it possible for him to be “that servant” in this end of the age. The best that the remainder of us can do is to continue heralding forth the truth which God gave to us through him.

But when Brother Russell died there were those who thought God had appointed them to be special servants in the church, and that they were therefore the successors to Brother Russell. Have any of the individuals who have claimed the status of special servant in the church to succeed Brother Russell carried on with the work of Brother Russell? NO, not one! One and all of these have promptly set forth some new set of teachings. Not all have denied what Brother Russell taught. Some, indeed, have ridden into the confidence of the brethren on the platform of loyalty to Brother Russell, even going so far as to claim that they are the only ones who are loyal to the teachings of Brother Russell.

But again there is a conspicuous absence of that spirit and viewpoint of Brother Russell pertaining to our use  of the truth, our privilege of being the light of the world. To an extent, some of these have encouraged a public ministry, but have circumscribed it with vain philosophy concerning the place to be occupied in God’s plan by those who become interested. Almost without exception these special leaders arbitrarily taught that the door to the high calling was closed about the time they claimed to have been appointed of the Lord to their exclusive position in the church.

So amidst the uncertainties of speculation; weird interpretations; self-assertive claims; and the attempt to divide the Lord’s people into groups of the spiritual and less spiritual, the heavenly class and the earthly class, the “great company” and the “little flock;” God’s theme song of love—the restitution blessing of all the families of the earth—was again relegated to the background, and that feature of the real work of God, as Brother Russell conceived it and promoted it and for which he died, was neglected.

We have been speaking particularly in this connection of attempts at exclusive leadership among the brethren which resulted in some measure of cooperation in the sense that each secured a few followers. While on this phase of the narrative, it might not be amiss to mention other manifestations of this same complex which have accomplished next to nothing. We mention this in order to clarify a very erroneous viewpoint held by many of the brethren, and promoted by a few, namely, the alleged tremendous number of “divisions” there are among the Bible Students.

This viewpoint of what some refer to as the “fifty ­seven varieties” of brethren has come about by the fact that individual brethren here and there throughout the world develop a pet theory of doctrine or of the interpretation of prophecy, go to a local printer and have it printed, and then send it out over their names to all the brethren whose addresses they possess or can acquire. Sometimes these messages are mailed under the name of “Associated Bible Students,” sometimes as representing an ecclesia. But usually merely from an individual.

Many brethren when receiving literature of this kind erroneously conclude that each new circular letter and each new pamphlet or book represents another division among the brethren. This is not so! We know of one instance where the name “Associated Bible Students” is used on literature, yet it is but a lone individual who sends out the mimeographed sheets which carry his speculations on prophecy.

This is an important fact to remember. One of Satan’s tactics is to frighten and discourage us. He would like to have us believe that all the Bible Students are divided; that no two of them believe alike; that there are indeed “fifty ­seven varieties,” that most of them are going out of the truth; and that we alone are remaining faithful to the Lord. If he can induce us to believe this, it will be easy for us to conclude that there is nothing more that can be done in the service of God; and concluding this, we won’t do any more.

What about these who publish their new theories of truth? Shall we condemn them to the second death? No! Shall we say they have no right to do it? No! Shall we spend time reading everything that is sent to us? That is for each individual Christian to decide for himself. The thing we should all discern is the relative importance of these unproved and highly speculative theories as compared with the great fundamental truths of the Divine plan. Do they help us to understand our God better, to love him more, and to show forth his praises more faithfully? If the glorious truth of the Divine plan continues to satisfy our longings as nothing else can do, well, nothing else can do it, that’s all, so we won’t be wasting time filling our minds with that which dissatisfies rather than satisfies.