Alexander H. Rule was born at Hawick, Roxburg County, Scotland, on May 6, 1843, and was taken home to be with the Lord on July 2, 1906. His parents moved to the United States when he was nine years of age and his youth was spent in working on the farm, where, being the eldest of the children, his help was needed while the family grew in number to eleven boys and girls. He was later educated for the ministry and spent the rest of his life in devoted service to the Lord. (See FOREWORD.)
This volume is a selection of portions of his written ministry and a few of his many letters, for he carried on a large correspondence. Some of the articles will be well known to a good many persons. Others have been out of print so long that they will be unknown to most readers of the present day.
More than forty years ago, not long after my father’s “home-going,” the thought impressed me that if a considerable number of his letters could be obtained from his various correspondents, and published in book form, it might prove to be a service to the Lord and a help to many of His people.
Steps were taken to accumulate as many of the letters as possible but it was found that many of them had not been preserved. A busy life and heavy responsibilities intervened and the whole matter was temporarily set aside.
During the past year, the time and circumstances seemed to favor undertaking not only to publish what letters were available and suitable, but also some of the papers which had, during his lifetime, been published in pamphlet form or as magazine articles and are now mostly out of print.
This work, I trust, has been undertaken in the fear of the Lord and with an earnest desire that He will use it for the blessing of many. The time is short; the day of grace is nearly at an end; the enemy of souls is more active than ever. May the Lord give us grace to be found diligently watching while we wait for His coming again. His word is: “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord” (Luke 12:35-36). And again: “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Rev. 3:11).
I take this opportunity to express grateful acknowledgment to all who have co-operated, or in any way rendered help.
R. W. Rule, 1953.