The Watchtower Society and John and Morton Edgar - A2Z.org

ook they ever read. 'They have not the rwr of faith intheir hearts. But the New Creature by his faith can, andmust drink in the water of truth. If he is deprived of itfor even a day, he begins to wither.What is in the root which enables it to absorb the waterwith the dissolved earthly elements ? It is the sap, andthe process of absorption is called endosmose. By endosmoseis meant the natural law by which, when a thinfluid is separated by a porous wall from a more concentratedfluid, the latter absorbs the former. The sap isthicker than the water in the ground and therefore absorbsit with its dissolved earthly elements through the mediumof the root. Similarly, the Holy Spirit (which, I understand,is represented by the sap), by a spiritual processcorresponding to endosmose, absorbs the water of truthtogether with $he natural elements which have been dissolvedby the truth ; and the medium through which thisabsorption is effected is our faith, the root of the NewCreature. In this way the measure of the Holy Spirit isgradually increased in the New Creature, and just as thesap not only nourishes the root but ascends to the otherparts of the tree, the trunk, branches, leaves, etc.. andnourishes them also, so the Holy Spirit thus increased inmeasure and strength, develops not only the faith of theNew Creature, but also the other graces which we havestill to consider.Add to your Faith, Virtue.If a seed is sown and takes root, no one is at first awareof the fact. It is not until the Little root adds to itself astem yd the stem appears above the ground that we cansay : Ah I A seed has been planted there, and it hastaken root." The stem is the first visible manifestation.This brings us to our second point. The Apostle PeterThe word trans-says : " Add to your faith 9."In led " virtue " properly means fortitude " (see Wilscn's11-