The Watchtower — February 1, 1957

What Will You Give for Your Life?

JESUS said to his disciples: “If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself and pick up his torture stake and follow me continually. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what benefit will it be to a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? or what will a man give in exchange for his life?”—Matt. 16:24-26, NW, margin.

How many persons disown themselves by dedicating their lives to God? To Christians the apostle Paul wrote: “You do not belong to yourselves, for you were bought with a price.” And again: “You were bought with a price; stop becoming slaves of men.” How many who claim to be Christian disown themselves to be a slave of God? Do very many give up their pleasures and desires and turn themselves over to God for the doing of his will, as Christ Jesus did? Do many follow in the footsteps of Jesus, disowning themselves continually to follow Jesus continually? Very few really do that. There may be a rush to join churches in Christendom, but there is no rush to disown themselves.—1 Cor. 6:19, 20; 7:23, NW.

To be a slave of God can be dangerous. It will bring on persecution. It may mean your death, just as it did for Jesus. But to lose this short life because of faithfulness to Jehovah will enable you to find everlasting life. However, those who try hard to save this life, never endangering it in Jehovah’s service, will lose it because of their unfaithfulness. It is the ones who jeopardize their lives and everything else, who withhold nothing, that will gain eternal life in the new world of righteousness.

Do you want riches, wealth, position, comforts? Maybe you gain everything, all that this world has to offer in the way of material benefits and fleshly pleasures. Yet what will it benefit you if in gaining these things you lose your life, because you neglected Jehovah’s service? How can you continue to enjoy what you have acquired, if your life slips from you? Your fine home will not fit in your coffin, your shiny car will not follow you to your grave, you cannot watch television there.

“What will a man give in exchange for his life?” Everything, you say. But how many give everything? How many give anything? How many have any time for God, to study his Word, to practice its principles when it inconveniences them? How many give up their will to do God’s will? How many disown themselves, really? Very very few, comparatively speaking. Right now instead of giving everything for their life they give nothing.

It is not a question of what will you give to keep your life when it is slipping from you, but what will you give to keep it while you still seem to have it held fast. When your life seems safe the inclination is to give very little for it, to take it for granted, not to look forward to the time when it will end. Some dedicated Christians will not give any mental energy for study, or any physical energy to go from house to house preaching, or any time to analyzing their course to see where they fall short.

Or some may study a little, go to meetings spasmodically, and witness some to Jehovah’s name during the month. Why do more? they think. Why give more for their life? Is not that enough? Is not that as much as many others are doing? Why work full time at a branch office, or do missionary work in a foreign land, or preach full time in home territory? Why do so much when the majority do much less, and yet will gain life in the new world?

In that way some try to justify doing only a little when their circumstances would allow them to do much more. They say they would give everything for their life, but they do not want to give any more than is absolutely necessary. They reason that they will give enough, but that is all. They will get by with the others, will give what the majority gives, and that will be sufficient. Let a few do the bulk of the witnessing work, carry the greater part of the load, while they inwardly reason: “What will I give for my life? Just enough to keep it. Just as little as will suffice to see me through and into Jehovah’s promised new world.” That is what they think now, while they are still living in health with prospects of some years to live.

But when the time of our death comes what would we give? What do we think then? Do we think we could have done more, wish we had given more, to be sure that God will count it enough and remember us in the resurrection? Do we wish we had not calculated quite so close? Do we regret that we doled out our service so sparingly, just enough to get by, and now wonder whether it is enough to get us by? Now that we are on our deathbed, what would we give for our life? Everything, now that it is slipping from us. But now we have nothing to give. When we had life and felt secure in its possession we sowed sparingly, calculatingly, giving only what we considered enough to get by, withholding all that we felt could be safely withheld, and now we feel anguished concern over the possibility that we shaved it a little too thin, now that our life’s breath slips from us and we wonder whether it will ever be returned to us. Is that the way we shall feel on our deathbed?

It should not be that way, and it will not if we disown ourselves and live up to our dedication to do Jehovah’s will. If you are given a car, but then the giver keeps using it for himself, it is not much of a gift, is it? If you give your life to God, but use it for your own purposes instead of for his, it is not much of a dedication, is it? And if you buy the car you certainly expect to have it delivered over to you for your use, yet many who are bought with the blood of Jesus to be slaves of God still hold off from serving God because they want to do their own will. Those who steadfastly refuse to disown themselves do not belong to God in actuality.

What will you give for your life? Money is not enough. You must be willing to lose your life for Christ Jesus’ sake. Then you will find it everlastingly.

Do You Know the “King James Version?”

What do most users of the King James Bible not know about this translation? Do those who object to changing the King James Version know that it has already been changed in thousands of ways?

WHEN a modern translation of the Bible appeared in print not long ago, a young churchman thought to crush it by informing his people: “If the Authorized Version was good enough for St. Paul, it is good enough for me.” Aside from the fact that the English language, of course, was not even in existence in the apostle Paul’s day, the incident serves to prompt this truth: More people in the English-speaking world use and accept the King James or Authorized Version than any other single Bible translation. In fact, so highly esteemed is this translation that many persons venerate it as the only true Bible. This raises some questions.

Do these countless persons who use the King James Version know why, despite objections from churchmen, modern translations keep rolling off the presses? Do they know why the King James Version itself was once opposed by the people? Do they know why, despite vigorous protest and opposition, the King James Version entered into the very blood and marrow of English thought and speech? Do they know what illuminating document is probably missing from their own copies? In short, do they really know the King James Version?

To know the King James Version or, for that matter, any Bible translation, we need to know why the Bible was written. Jehovah God, its Author, caused it to be written to reveal himself to mankind and to express his purpose. Yes, God became the Author of this Book so that we could have the thoughts of God, so we could know the purpose of man, so we could know the destiny of both wicked and righteous men and so we can come to know man’s Creator, Jehovah.

The purpose of Bible translation, then, is to take these thoughts of God, originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, and put them into the common languages of today. Bible translation makes God’s Book a living Book. So true Christians read the Bible, not to be entertained by clever turns of expression, unusual words, excellency of style, striking rhetorical devices or felicities of rhythm, but to learn the will of God. It was for this reason that the King James Version came into existence. That was in 1611.

BACKGROUND TO THE AUTHORIZED VERSION

Even earlier, as we learned in the previous issue of The Watchtower, many English translations of the Bible had come into being. There were the works of Wycliffe, Tyndale and Coverdale. There was the Matthew’s Bible of 1537, the Great Bible of 1539, the Geneva Bible of 1560 and the Bishops’ Bible of 1568.

First among the so-called “authorized versions”—those translations authorized by religious monarchs or religious groups for use in their religious congregations—was the Great Bible. Second of the authorized versions was the Bishops’ Bible. This translation, however, was not very progressive in its improvements; it even ignored many improvements made in earlier translations. Also its phraseology was not as simple and direct as others; thus the Geneva Bible remained the people’s favorite.

Thirty-five years after the second authorized Bible appeared, King James I came to the throne of Great Britain. Since the Spanish Armada had been defeated in 1588, a period of comparative peace and quiet prevailed. This heightened intellectual effort. King James himself enjoyed Bible study and translation. He even wrote a “Paraphrase upon the Revelation of St. John.” Though interested in the Scriptures the king did not originate the idea for a third authorized version. From what source sprang the idea?

One day in 1604 the Hampton Court Conference was convened. King James presided. The king listened to the complaints of the Puritans. The complaints, touching on many subjects, finally came to the matter of the Bible. John Reynolds, Puritan president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, moved that there might be a new translation of the Bible. Why? “Those which were allowed in the raignes of Henrie the eight and Edward the sixt,” he said, “were corrupt and not aunswerable to the truth of the Originall.”

No immediate action was taken by the king. But the idea appealed to him, and presently he gave order for this translation to be made.

But before the version came to birth much work had to be done. The king, vigorously supporting the project, approved a list of some fifty scholars to serve as translators. How would the version be made? It was not to be a translation from the Original but rather a revision of the versions then in use. This is evident from the instructions given by King James to the translators. They were: “The Bishops’ Bible to be followed, and altered as little as the Original will permit. And these translations to be used when they agree better with the text than the Bishops’ Bible—namely, Tyndale’s, Matthew’s, Coverdale’s, Whitchurch’s, Geneva.”

Slowly a new translation emerged. Finally in 1611 the first edition of the Authorized Version issued from a London press. In honor of the king it was called the King James Bible. The translators had worked for years, using basically the inherited Tyndale-Coverdale text and adding their own improvements. These centered particularly around the choice of words and enhancement of the rhythmic quality of the text. The result was a version superior to its predecessors in accuracy of translation and refinement of literary style. Did the people now rejoice that they could get God’s thoughts more accurately?

OPPOSITION TO THE AUTHORIZED VERSION

Long before the new version came off the press opposition to it had mounted. Why? People had grown familiar with the versions they had; they preferred to keep what was familiar. These many persons had lost sight of the fact that true Christians read the Scriptures, not for their literary effect, but “for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.” So, being used to the Geneva Bible and not keeping in mind the purpose of the Scriptures, the people frowned on the new King James Version. The fact that it made improvements over earlier translations meant little to them.—2 Tim. 3:16, 17, NW.

From almost every quarter the King James Bible met opposition. Criticism was often severe. Broughton, a Hebrew scholar of the day, wrote to King James that he “should rather be torn asunder by wild horses than allow such a version to be imposed on the church.”

The translators, not unaware that people preferred to keep what had grown familiar, knew that their work had unleashed a storm. They tried to calm the people down. They wrote a “Preface of the Translators” to explain why the King James Version was made. This preface is called by the Encyclopedia Americana “a most illuminating preface describing the aims of the translators which unhappily is omitted from the usual printings of the Bible.” Thus most Authorized Versions today, though they contain a lengthy dedication to King James, omit the preface. Its presence would clear up many misunderstandings about the purpose of the revision. The reader would learn that strong opposition was expected:

“Many mens mouths haue bene open a good while (and yet are not stopped) with speeches about the Translation so long in hand . . . : and aske what may be the reason, what the necessitie of the employment.”

The reader would learn that the King James Version was a revision of earlier works made with a modest hope of improvement and no thought of finality: “Truly (good Christian Reader) wee neuer thought from the beginning, that we should neede to make a new Translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one, . . . but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one principall good one, not justly to be excepted against; that hath bene our indeauour, that our marke.”

In time the clamor died down, and the King James Version prevailed over the Geneva Bible. For more than two and a half centuries no other so-called authorized translation of the Bible into English was made. Little wonder that many people began to feel that the King James Bible was the only true Bible. Like many people who once objected to any change in the Geneva Bible, many persons today object to any change in the King James Bible. They oppose modern translations perhaps as vigorously as the King James Version itself was once opposed. They say they do not want the beautiful King James Bible changed. Is this viewpoint based on a sound foundation?

KING JAMES BIBLE ALREADY CHANGED

To the surprise of many people the King James Bible has already been changed; today no one reads the King James Version in its original form. Explaining why this is so the book The Bible in Its Ancient and English Versions says: “Almost every edition, from the very beginning, introduced corrections and unauthorized changes and additions, often adding new errors in the process. The edition of 1613 shows over three hundred differences from 1611. . . . It was in the eighteenth century, however, that the main changes were made. . . . The marginal references were checked and verified, over 30,000 new marginal references were added, the chapter summaries and running headnotes were thoroughly revised, the punctuation was altered and made uniform in accordance with modern practice, textual errors were removed, the use of capitals was considerably modified and reduced, and a thorough revision made in the form of certain kinds of words.”

So many changes have been made, many of them in the readings of passages, that the Committee on Versions (1851-56) of the American Bible Society found 24,000 variations in six different editions of the King James Version!

What, then, of the objections raised by persons who say they do not want the King James Bible changed? Since the King James Version has already been changed, they lie on a crumbled foundation. If these persons do not want it changed, then why do they use, instead of a copy of an edition of 1611, an edition that has been changed? They use a present-day edition of the King James Bible because it is far easier to read. They appreciate, perhaps unknowingly, the improvements the later editions have made. They do not like the odd spelling and punctuation of the 1611 edition; they do not want to read “fet” for “fetched,” “sith” for “since” or “moe” for “more,” as the edition of 1611 had it. Thus improvement, when needed, is appreciated, even by those who say they object to any changing of the King James translation.

It is this very improvement that modern translations are providing by keeping pace with changing language, this for the purpose of making God’s Word clear, understandable, alive.

KINGLY AUTHORITY—A NECESSITY OR BENEFIT?

One of the major reasons the Authorized Version is so widely accepted is its kingly authority. There seems little doubt that, had not a king authorized this version, it would not today be venerated as though it had come direct from God. Does this kingly authority give a translation special benefits? Is it even necessary?

No, God himself authorizes his dedicated servants to translate his Word into understandable language. The fact that King James authorized a Bible translation does not make it the exclusive version that the Author of the original Bible approves his servants to use in any one language. In fact, kingly authorization, instead of great benefits, has brought serious disadvantages.

King James set forth certain rules of procedure. These the translators followed. One of those rules was that “the old Ecclesiastical words [were] to be kept.” Thus the translators were bound to follow the Bishop’s Bible in using certain ecclesiastical words, whether or not these words represented an accurate translation of the original Bible. For example, the ecclesiastical word “bishop” appears in the King James Version, although the original word, correctly translated, merely means “overseer.”

In many respects the beliefs of King James adversely affected the Bible translation called after his name. The translators, feeling somewhat bound to favor the king, were obliged to color the translation with the king’s notions of predestination and kingly rights, as well as with others of the king’s ideas.

This is apparent from the fact that some of the translators complained that they could not follow their own judgment, being restrained by “reasons of state.” The result: the King James Version is not a true reflection of the minds of the translators of the version. Above all, it comes far short of being a faithful reflection of the mind of Jehovah God, as it appears in the original Bible.

Getting the thoughts of God is the vital thing. To think otherwise is a deadly deception. Said Jesus: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”—John 17:3, NW.

How modern translations aid us to take in this life-giving knowledge will be the subject of a future Watchtower article.

Faith Conquers the World

WHY do Jehovah’s witnesses say that Christ “returned” in the year 1914 and then began to rule as King? Because they have faith that it is so. Why do they teach that the universal war called Armageddon will take place within this present generation and will utterly wipe out this world’s present systems of religion, commercialism and politics, and that millions of people will survive that global catastrophe and live on forever on earth under ideal conditions? It is because they have faith that it will be so.

Would you like to be among those Armageddon survivors and never die off the earth? You may, if you have faith. But what, precisely, is faith? Faith, as it applies to religious beliefs, is defined for us by God in his Word, the Holy Bible. We read at Hebrews 11:1 (NW): “Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld.” It means that faith is an intellectual understanding and appreciation of God’s Word and a confident reliance upon that Word. The true Christian faith is the sum of beliefs concerning Jehovah God and his kingdom as delivered to us by his chosen Seed, Jesus Christ, and his disciples.

The inspired writer of the Scripture text quoted above also said in the same context: “Without faith it is impossible to win his good pleasure, for he that approaches God must believe that he is.” This statement, ‘belief that God exists,’ is the basis of faith. To any normal mind the material universe is sufficient proof of the existence of God, for inanimate matter did not always exist; it must have had a beginning. How did matter come into existence except by some great Source of energy, which our human minds could never understand unless there were some revelation from that Source? That Source of all things we recognize as God.

But mere belief in the existence of God, the Creator of matter and life, does not give us an intellectual understanding of God’s purposes or will. We need something else besides the works of nature upon which to base faith. We need a revelation by God as to what he purposes to do. He has provided just such a revelation. It is the book we call the Holy Bible. Knowledge of God’s purposes as revealed in the Bible is the basis for faith and leads to life.

We say that the true Christian faith is the sum of beliefs concerning Jehovah God and his kingdom as delivered to us by his chosen Seed, Jesus Christ, and his disciples. But do not the peoples of Christendom also believe the same Bible? Then why is it that they do not believe the same things that Jehovah’s witnesses believe? Do not think that this is merely a matter of opinion, of private interpretation. Do not think that one can believe whatever he likes so long as he leads a good life, or that doctrinal differences do not really matter. That is a fatal error. It is just that distinction that makes all the difference between one’s surviving Armageddon and one’s perishing along with the old world.

This old world with its many systems of religion, commercialism and politics is doomed to certain destruction within the present living generation. Millions will perish with it because they have no faith. Only faith will enable one to conquer this old world and live on forever in the new world of righteousness. The inspired apostle of Jesus Christ wrote: “And this is the conquest that has conquered the world, our faith.”—1 John 5:4, NW.

Jesus Christ himself had to conquer this old wicked world, or it would have conquered him! Satan the Devil tried hard to conquer Jesus Christ when Jesus was in the flesh, for Satan was then the prince or ruler of this world. Jesus plainly said of Satan: “The ruler of the world is coming. And yet he has no hold on me.” Satan tried very hard to conquer Jesus as soon as he began his public ministry. How? By offering him political rulership of the nations. Surely that was a glitteringly subtle move on Satan’s part.—John 14:30; Matt. 4:8, 9, NW.

By what means did Jesus resist that temptation? By faith! What? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whom Christendom thinks was actually God himself incarnate in human form, needed faith? Yes, and faith in that same revelation of God’s purposes that Christendom professes to rely upon for its beliefs today. Jesus Christ quoted the ancient Hebrew Scriptures in reply to Satan’s challenging temptation. He had faith in what those Scriptures revealed. Jesus, in his own revelation to his apostle John years later, which originated from God his Father, said: “To the one that conquers I will grant to sit down with me in my throne, even as I conquered and sat down with my Father in his throne.”—Rev. 3:21, NW.

That clearly shows that Jesus had to conquer something: he had a fight, and it was a fight of faith. What was it that Jesus had to conquer? He himself answers this question at John 16:33 (NW): “I have conquered the world.” But what is meant by the world? It was this present system of things organized and controlled by Satan the Devil in opposition to Jehovah God, consisting of a combination of powerful religions, greedy commercialism, and the mighty political elements. All these were operating in some measure when Jesus was on earth in the flesh and he had to conquer their subtle snares or they would have conquered him. “In the days of his flesh Christ offered up supplications and also petitions to the one who was able to save him out of death, with strong outcries and tears, and he was favorably heard for his godly fear.”—Heb. 5:7, NW.

We are living in the “last days” of this wicked system of things and now it is more wicked than ever. It requires real faith to conquer it and overcome its subtle snares. No one will survive its destruction in Armageddon except those who have faith. Christendom will utterly perish because it has no faith. We are living in the time foretold by Jesus in his revelation to John when Satan’s wild beastly system is driving all mankind into the final all-out war against Jehovah and against his Christ, and it takes real faith to stand up against this mighty foe and be uncompromisingly on the side of Jehovah God and his conquering Lamb.—Rev. 17:12-14.

Satan knows his time is now very short before his overthrow into the abyss of inactivity, and his policy is to drive all the nations into destruction rather than have any survive and live as happy subjects on earth of his all-conquering Executioner, Jesus Christ. This will be the ‘bruising of the serpent’s head’ by God’s chosen Seed, as foretold at Genesis 3:15. Where will you stand in this conflict?

Jehovah’s witnesses have been given a vision of realities before they take place. They have an “assured expectation of . . . realities though not beheld.” (Heb. 11:1, NW) They see this old-world system being plunged into war against Jehovah God, resulting in Jehovah’s fiery judgments being executed against every part of the system. To Jehovah’s witnesses these things are as transparent as clear glass. Jehovah’s witnesses will be on the victorious side with Christ Jesus. They see themselves portrayed in the prophecy at Revelation 15:2, 3 (NW): “And I saw what seemed to be a glassy sea mingled with fire, and those who came off victorious from the wild beast and from its image and from the number of its name standing by the glassy sea, having harps of God. And they are singing.” The wild beast and its image is Satan’s modern brute-force system of rulership, and the number of its name (666, or 600 + 60 + 6) symbolizes the threefold basis of that system, namely, false religion, commercialism and politics.—Rev. 13:16-18, NW.

Men and women of ancient time had the same kind of faith and it enabled them to conquer Satan’s world system of their day. Men and women “who through faith defeated kingdoms in conflict, effected righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, stayed the force of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from a weak state were made powerful, became valiant in war, routed the armies of foreigners. . . . and the world was not worthy of them.”—Heb. 11:33-38, NW.

Christendom likes to sing hymns about “Dare to be a Daniel, dare to face the foe,” but by their course of action they show that they do not have the faith of Daniel. They see only some visible enemies and even with them they compromise. They try to appear before men as broad-minded, with a faith broad enough to take in everything.

Some accuse Jehovah’s witnesses of having a “one-track mind.” Well, what of that? So long as they are on the right track, what matters? That is just what makes the difference between survival and destruction. Jehovah’s witnesses may have what is called a one-track mind, but they are not in a rut.

Christendom, on the other hand, has no track at all, but rather is as one wandering about in a trackless desert blinded by the dust storms of religious controversies. Did not Jesus say: “Go in through the narrow gate; because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, . . . whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it”?—Matt. 7:13, 14, NW.

Speaking of the things ‘hoped for though not beheld,’ the apostle Paul wrote: “For yet ‘a very little while’, and ‘he who is coming will arrive and will not delay’. ‘But my righteous one will live by reason of faith,’ and, ‘if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’ Now we are not the kind that shrink back to destruction, but the kind that have faith to the preserving alive of the soul.”—Heb. 10:37-39, NW.

What the apostle Paul looked forward to in his day has now come to pass. Christendom cannot see it because she is blinded by her ancient traditions fused with pagan philosophies, and she has no faith. Christ is here! We are living in the time of his presence, or paroúsia, and it is a time of judgment of the nations. Jehovah God has taken his “great power and begun ruling as king” by the One delegated to “shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.” The nations have become exceedingly wrathful, and Jehovah’s own wrath has come upon the nations. It is the due time to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.—Rev. 11:15-18; 12:5, NW.

Satan, through his religious element, will try to break our faith by various arguments and labels of heresy. Through his commercial element he will try to weaken our faith by the subtle snare of materialism, and through the political wing of his organization he will try to break through our armor of faith by all sorts of wicked charges against us, even charging us with sedition as he did Jesus, and by arousing the masses against us by the false charge of being agents of this or that political power in order to “consolidate its power” over the people.

We need to remind ourselves of the apostle’s words at 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NW): “Keep testing whether you are in the faith, keep proving what you yourselves are.” We need to be very watchful lest the adversary, the Devil, who is walking about like a roaring lion “seeking to devour someone,” finds a weak spot in our armor of faith and gets one of his “burning missiles” through to our hurt or even destruction. We can conquer this enemy by ‘keeping our senses,’ being “solid in the faith,” having “the large shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the wicked one’s burning missiles.”—1 Pet. 5:8, 9; Eph. 6:16, NW.

This ‘latter period of time’ is one of particular danger. Scoffers, ridiculing the Word of God, ridiculing those who diligently proclaim it, have been foretold to be especially numerous. Only by faith based upon an intellectual understanding of God’s Word can anyone survive, and faith must be backed up by right works. “As for you, beloved ones, call to mind the sayings that have been previously spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how they used to say to you: ‘In the last time there will be ridiculers, proceeding according to their own desires for ungodly things.’ These are the ones that make separations, animalistic men, not having spirituality. But you, beloved ones, by building up yourselves on your most holy faith, and praying with holy spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love, while you are waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ with everlasting life in view.”—Jude 17-21, NW.

The Filipinos Have Not Forgotten

For three centuries the people of the Philippine Islands suffered almost continuously under the church-state rule of a Catholic Spain. They were delivered from it by the United States in 1898 and were granted full freedom July 4, 1946. That the Filipinos might not forget their struggle against corrupt and intolerant churchstate rule the legislature on May 23 passed a bill (No. 1425) and the president, Ramon Magsaysay, signed it on June 16, 1956, making compulsory reading in all colleges and universities two of the novels written by the Philippine liberty lover Rizal. The tenor of the protest of these books can be seen by their titles, “Social Cancer” and “Reign of Greed.” While the Catholic Hierarchy in the Philippines strenuously opposed the passing of this bill, claiming that the books were heretical and impious, she dared not claim that they were not factual. The advocates of the bill argued that a study of these books would inculcate a love of freedom and a love of country. Incidentally, the original author of the bill is a Catholic, as also are some eighty percent of all Filipinos.

Pursuing My Purpose in Life

As told by Alma E. Parson

EARLY childhood for me was saddened by the death of my mother and still later by the death of my grandparents who reared me. To find a hope of future life in happiness I tried to seek comfort in God’s Word. As I read the inspired Record of the life, teachings, miracles, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, how often did I long to have lived in those wonderful days! Never did I dream it would be my lot actively to pursue my purpose in life and to live in even grander days!

It was late January of 1918. As a student in high school I was much interested in learning and getting an education. Already I had decided I wanted to become a missionary, live in a foreign land and speak another tongue. In that month I had my first contact with Jehovah’s witnesses, then known as Bible Students. I was boarding away from home with a lady who had a daughter who was a Bible Student. Circumstances forced her to come home to live with her mother, with her children. She faithfully witnessed to me. I was much impressed and realized she was the first person I had ever known who lived her religion. I knew she had ‘the truth.’ However, I considered my education of first importance and so continued my studies.

Early spring of 1922 found me in my second year of college. For some months I had been attending the Bible Students meetings. Now because of my association with Jehovah’s people and the study of his Word, I realized I must make my decision. I wanted to finish my education, yet I found myself losing all interest in my studies. Only the hope of the Kingdom and gaining life filled my mind. My life destiny was hanging in the balance and it was I alone who would determine it. How would I choose? Would not a college career better equip me as a Christian? Perhaps so in this old world, but would it equip me for life in Jehovah’s new world of righteousness? I considered the matter well. Above all, I wanted life and I wanted to be equipped to help others to gain it also. So my decision was made. I dedicated my life to serve Jehovah.

That following summer back on the farm I devoted every spare minute to study of the Bible and the literature. The convention at Cedar Point had been announced. The friends were enthusiastic about going and I wanted to go also. My father opposed my attending but I insisted upon going. At that convention I symbolized, by water baptism, my dedication to do Jehovah’s will. The joy I felt at that, my first convention, cannot be described in words. I felt like Peter, James and John on the mount of transfiguration; I did not want to leave.

That fall I did not return to college, as I had little interest in the philosophies of this world. I prepared to enter the pioneer service the following spring. My decision greatly angered my father, who began to oppose me bitterly. Another decision I had to make. It became a choice between the truth and my family. I must give up one or the other. I chose the truth and had to leave home. I entered the full-time service in April, 1923, and the joys of telling the hungry hearts of God’s gracious purposes overbalanced the sorrow I felt for the break I had made with my family. At times pride would loom up in my heart and I momentarily felt I should have finished college. But I continued on, being encouraged by Jehovah’s spirit, his Word and his organization, our faithful brothers.

As the organization grew, especially from 1925 on, so did my appreciation and joy. The work then was not as rich nor as easy as it is today because it was all house-to-house work. Back-calls and studies were not part of the work at that time. We planted, others watered, but Jehovah gave the increase.

In 1931 my health broke and I had to leave the service. After two and a half years I returned to the pioneer work again with an even greater appreciation than before. The work took on a more organized form, back-calls were stressed and the seed sown was cultivated. Thus one had a more personal part in aiding the “lambs” into the fold.

The stress of persecution of our brothers world-wide during the war years only gave me additional evidence that this was truly Jehovah’s organization and his people. The opening of the special work afforded the opportunity for pioneers to go into other territory, and such service was again my privilege. How thankful I was that Jehovah had upheld me, guided me and blessed me so that I had not turned back nor slacked my hand!

In the summer of 1944 I received an invitation to go to Gilead. Of course I had longed to have the privilege of attending Gilead, but would I be willing to leave my own country, perhaps never to return? Again Jehovah’s spirit, his Word and his organization helped me to decide.

My training and stay at Gilead were something out of this old world. One of the instructors said one day that never since the days of the apostles had Jehovah’s servants received such thorough training. My heart filled with appreciation as I realized Jehovah was having his kingdom proclaimed world-wide as a witness to gather men of all nations into his theocratic organization to form the nucleus of the New World society that would survive Armageddon to live on forever under the Kingdom rule.

In due time I received a foreign assignment, together with my faithful companions, to go to the Dominican Republic. We arrived there March 1, 1946, and were given a warm welcome by the few missionaries who had gone there some months before and by a goodly group of people of good will who had joined them in the work. Our assignment was in the second city, Santiago, in the interior. What a thrill it was to work in territory never before witnessed to in the history of the Theocracy! What a joy it was to be speaking a new language even in a limited way! I placed a book in the first house I visited. People were eager to hear the good news we brought them. It was easy to start studies. Jehovah had truly equipped us to serve his theocratic interests in the foreign field. The field, however, was no longer ‘foreign,’ for we were reclaiming or repossessing it in the name of the Theocracy. I felt very much at home.

That first month I had another serious breakdown in health. Again with proper diet and loving care on the part of my companions I recovered, after some months, to have a part in the work.

The success of the work and the incoming of the “other sheep” brought on great persecution. Sentiment instigated by the priests and the clergy grew hot against us. Then came the ban, a total one. Our Kingdom Halls were closed and the work prohibited. Many were the trials, sufferings, loss of employment and imprisonment of the dear ones there, but all this only served to bring the “sheep” to maturity. Jehovah’s guiding hand and protection were so clearly manifest so many, many times. The work continued underground. The missionaries were instructed to get secular work to remain beside the faithful “sheep.” After a time the Society removed several of the missionaries to other fields and I was one of those selected to go. To leave was one of the hardest things I ever did. But realizing that Jehovah always knows best I followed his instructions and left in April of 1953 to return back to the States after an absence of seven years.

It was truly good again to visit my homeland and to see an increase of more than 80,000 proclaimers of Jehovah’s kingdom from the time I left till my return. The faithful ones back home had not slacked the hand. The Theocracy was growing! Jehovah was indeed giving the increase!

After an absence of more than twenty-five years I again ventured to visit my family. I did not know whether I should be able to stay more than two or three days, because of my father’s opposition to the truth; but I resolved to go to see them, and if I could not stay longer, to spend the time with relatives and friends. To my surprise I received a royal welcome. They took me to see many friends and neighbors to whom I had opportunity to witness, but not as much as I should have liked. My brother and stepmother even seemed proud of me. I spent about six weeks with them.

Then I went to that great spiritual banquet at Yankee Stadium. How different from my first convention in 1922 and the then great crowd of 20,000 on the last day! Back there we realized that an enormous work was ahead because a great crowd of the “other sheep,” millions of them, would have to be gathered. They were present at Yankee Stadium, overflowing all bounds. But again back to the field, for many thousands must yet be found!

So now here in my second foreign assignment in Guatemala I find many strayed “sheep” desiring to enter the fold. It is a sweet privilege to instruct them in the way that leads to endless life in the new world of righteousness under the Shepherd-King, Christ Jesus.

In this old world of darkness, who is there to guide us? We travel principally on our own and alone. In the New World society Jehovah has made provision for our guidance through his Word, his spirit and his organization. Thus continuing faithfully with his people in his strength and through the merit of Christ Jesus, we shall come out victorious.

As I look back over the years and think what might have happened had I turned back at one time or another, or had I slacked the hand, I am thankful that I continued on in welldoing, pursuing my purpose in life. Only ‘he that endures to the finish is the one who will be saved.’

In the ages to come, long after Armageddon is past, I shall be glad to have had some part in the lifesaving work of gathering the “other sheep” into the theocratic kingdom fold in the “time of the end” of this old world. Then I shall be glad, even more than now, that I chose theocratic education instead of that of this old world. I shall be glad I chose the truth instead of my family, for I feel I am and shall be better equipped to help them to get life if there are “sheep” among them. And for all other privileges of service in the ages to come, may I always give Jehovah all the thanks and praise!

May God Write on Your Heart?

“Saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”—Jer. 31:33, AS.

1. On what kind of hearts will Jehovah write?

NOTHING that Jehovah chooses to do is impossible for him. Thousands of years ago he wrote his law on two tables of stone when he made the law covenant with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. He will now write his commandments only on hearts that are receptive and responsive to him, that open to him in lowliness and humility, that are pliable and willing to change under the impact of his words. So it is not a question of whether God can write on your heart or not. The question is, May he? Will you permit it willingly? He is not interested in having his truth reach even the ears of hypocritical and swinish men, much less their hearts. So, does your heart qualify as a suitable writing surface for Jehovah’s principles and precepts?—Matt. 7:6.

2. Where is Jehovah’s purpose to write on hearts disclosed, and whose hearts must be receptive?

² Even while the law covenant with its basic commandments engraved in stone was still in effect, Jehovah told of his purpose to transfer his law to human hearts by means of a new covenant: “Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Shortly after the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, at Pentecost, the old law covenant was replaced by the new covenant that brought with it an inward, heartfelt love of righteousness and increased knowledge of Jehovah. (Jer. 31:31, 33, AS; Gal. 3:24, 25; Col. 2:14; Heb. 8:6-13) Only those anointed with Jehovah’s spirit to be of the heavenly class are taken into this new covenant, but all those who gain everlasting life on earth share the blessings from it, and even their hearts must be receptive to Jehovah’s commandments, just as before the new covenant existed faithful men could write: “Thy law is within my heart,” and “I have laid up thy word in my heart.”—Ps. 40:8; 119:11, RS.

WHY ON THE HEART?

3. Where does Jehovah look when he takes a man’s measure?

³ When Jehovah takes a man’s measure it is based on no superficial evidence; he probes deep, to the very heart of the matter: “Mere man sees what appears to the eyes, but, as for Jehovah, he sees what the heart is.” He is not deceived by outward appearances: “Know the God of your father and serve him with a complete heart and with a delightful soul, for all hearts Jehovah is searching and every inclination of the thoughts he is discerning.” Jehovah’s judgment is not swayed by a beautiful face or graceful body or striking apparel, but is determined by the inner person hidden beneath the surface: “Do not let your adornment be that of the external braiding of the hair and of the putting on of gold ornaments or the wearing of outer garments, but let it be the secret person of the heart in the incorruptible apparel of the quiet and mild spirit, which is of great value in the eyes of God.”—1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Chron. 28:9; 1 Pet. 3:3, 4, NW.

4. What is symbolized by the heart?

⁴ What is symbolized by the heart? The Hebrew word translated “heart” is often used figuratively to denote the seat of affection and motives, of conscience and moral conduct. Ships were spoken of as being in the heart of the sea and Jonah was thrown into the heart of the sea, meaning into the midst of it, and in this sense the word refers to the midst of us or what we actually are within ourselves, the inner person. That is the real person: “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”—Prov. 23:7, 34; 30:19; Jon. 2:3.

5. How may some practice deception, but what will eventually be manifested, and why?

⁵ Outward appearances may be deceiving because of words spoken for effect or acts performed for show, as in the case of some hypocritical religionists. To the Pharisees Jesus applied Jehovah’s words through Isaiah: “This people honors me with their lips, yet their hearts are far removed from me.” Also, Jesus said of them: “All the works they do they do to be viewed by men.” (Matt. 15:8; 23:5, NW) But the true heart condition cannot be forever concealed by carefully calculated words and acts, because it is out of the abundance of the heart that you eventually speak and act: “Either you people make the tree fine and its fruit fine or make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten; for by its fruit the tree is known. Offspring of vipers, how can you speak good things, when you are wicked? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man out of his good treasure sends out good things, whereas the wicked man out of his wicked treasure sends out wicked things.” If the heart is wicked it will impel or motivate its possessor to do wickedly: “Out of the heart come wicked reasonings, murders, adulteries, fornications, thieveries, false testimonies, blasphemies.”—Matt. 12:33-35; 15:19, NW.

6. How does Jehovah lay bare the heart condition?

⁶ Sometimes the innermost thoughts and feelings are not exposed until brought into the open by a trialsome ordeal. Jehovah tested Israel to lay bare its heart: “Jehovah your God made you travel these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, to put you to the test so as to know what was in your heart, as to whether you would keep his commandments or not.” Centuries later he said to his people: “I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.” Approved Christians are similarly tested: “You have been grieved by various trials, in order that the tested quality of your faith, of much greater value than gold that perishes despite its being proved by fire, may be found a cause for praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Deut. 8:2, NW; Isa. 48:10, RS; 1 Pet. 1:6, 7, NW) The target of these tests is the heart, to see whether the motives for serving Jehovah are pure, to measure the depth of devotion and love, to reveal whether the individual’s integrity has a breaking point: “The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but Jehovah trieth the hearts.”—Prov. 17:3, AS.

7. What truth about the literal heart is disclosed at Proverbs 4:23?

⁷ The vital role of the heart is emphatically stated at Proverbs 4:23 (RS): “Keep your heart with all vigilance; for from it flow the springs of life.” The life is in the blood, and from the pulsating heart the blood bubbles like clear springs to flow to all parts of the body, carrying oxygen and nourishment to the cells and removing the wastes from them. So the literal heart must be kept as healthy as possible in order for it to keep the springs of life flowing. Not only our physical condition but also our mental and emotional state must be watched with vigilance, for it has its effect on the heart’s operation. Though medical science did not know clearly about the circulation of the blood until Dr. Harvey’s demonstration of it, followed years later by his book published A.D. 1628, the writer of this Bible proverb knew about it a thousand years before Christ and gave warning to keep the heart with vigilance so that it would keep the blood with the life in it circulating.

8. Why must the figurative heart be guarded, as instructed at Proverbs 4:23?

⁸ But this Bible writer was using the literal heart only as an illustration to emphasize the need to keep vigilantly the figurative heart pumping out to us the right things. If we fill our mind with Jehovah’s law and keep his precepts in our memory, then if we fix our desires and affections on him and his promised blessings so that our words and acts spring from pure motives within us, then our figurative heart has spiritual health and will work toward our living forever. It will pump to us spiritual nourishment and move us to speak and act in harmony with Jehovah’s will, which will be as springs of life to make us abide forever in Jehovah’s new world. Never in hypocrisy, but from the heart we shall think and talk and work and live in the way Jehovah approves. So we must be vigilant to keep our heart receptive to Jehovah’s law, that from our heart we shall act in a way that will mean life for us.

LAW ON HEART EXCELS LAW ON STONE

9. How have modern nations demonstrated their recognition of the goodness of Jehovah’s law on stone?

⁹ Jehovah’s law written on stone tablets was good, so good that it became the foundation of the laws of modern nations. The book Biblical Law by Clark says on page 22: “Though the law of Moses was proclaimed to a particular people, much of it has become a universal law to mankind.” In Section 411 the same book quotes the following from the court decision Moore v. Strickland (1899): “The morality of our laws is the morality of the Mosaic interpretation of the Ten Commandments, modified only as to the degree or kind of punishment inflicted.” But just as ancient Israel did not obey the law on stone tablets, so nations today do not comply with all the laws on their statute books. Unless persons know the law, remember it, agree with it, and have a strong inner desire to obey it, they will be violating it when they can do so without being caught. In other words, if they do not have the law in their heart they will break it when they wish to and think they can avoid its penalties.

10. What divine precepts are considered unenforceable, as shown by Cooley’s Constitutional Limitations?

¹⁰ There are some precepts of Jehovah’s law that are considered unenforceable, such as: “You must love your fellow as yourself.” (Lev. 19:18, NW) This and other features of God’s ancient law were restated in Christianity; were enlarged on, in fact, so that Christianity contains many principles of conduct that men call unenforceable by written statute and unpunishable by penalties prescribed by law. Thus Cooley’s Constitutional Limitations says on pages 975, 976: “It is frequently said that Christianity is a part of the law of the land. In a certain sense and for certain purposes this is true. . . . Some of those precepts, though we may admit their continual and universal obligation, we must nevertheless recognize as being incapable of enforcement by human laws. That standard of morality which requires one to love his neighbor as himself we must admit is too elevated to be accepted by human tribunals as the proper test by which to judge the conduct of the citizen; and one could hardly be held responsible to the criminal laws if in goodness of heart and spontaneous charity he fell something short of the Good Samaritan. The precepts of Christianity, moreover, affect the heart, and address themselves to the conscience: while the laws of the State can regard the outward conduct only.”

11. What shows the superiority of having the law on your heart rather than just written on statute books?

¹¹ Here is acknowledgment that many vital principles and high moral standards must be written, not on statute books, but on the hearts of men if they are to be followed. Otherwise, they are unenforceable. You may tell a man to love his neighbor, but how can you make him? You may force him to act in a certain way toward his neighbor, but you cannot make him love his neighbor. That feeling must come from his own heart, and then from a loving heart he will act considerately and unselfishly toward his neighbor. And if the law of neighbor love is in his heart, written laws requiring and forbidding specific actions will be superfluous. Obedience to the so-called unenforceable must come from the heart, and that is the true test of morality. The New York Times Magazine, July 3, 1955, published an article entitled “The Test: Obedience to the Unenforceable,” and in it said: “When confronted with an evil we Americans are prone to say, ‘There ought to be a law.’ But much of the evil of the world is beyond the reach of the law. Law cannot prevent gossip. It cannot restrain a man from avarice or gluttony, or from betraying a friend. . . . Warm human relationships do not result from . . . laws which prescribe decency and good manners in detail. They can come only by creating obedience to the unenforceable.”

12. Why is more than an intellectual agreement with the law necessary, and what is needed for progress in the right direction?

¹² With the mind we may know what is right and have good intentions of doing it, but if the affections in our heart want to do otherwise it is likely that we will. We may force ourselves to do right and in time the heart will come into agreement, but if it does not come around, in the tug of war between heart and mind that follows the heart will eventually win and the mind will be enslaved to think up justifications for taking the course the heart dictated. We like to think we are following logic, even as emotion drags us around by the scruff of the neck. Reason marshals the facts, but emotion usually makes the choice. If our hearts are properly stirred by the facts then reason and emotion pull together in the right direction. So for enduring obedience to principles unenforceable by written statutes we must both know what is right and want to do what is right. Even then we may fail at times, fallen flesh sometimes making us do what we do not want to do, but such intermittent failures will be the exceptions rather than the practice, and will become less frequent as good becomes more and more habitual. But the only way to progress in this right direction is to get God’s law inscribed deeper and deeper on our hearts.

13, 14. (a) How does Jehovah’s law on our heart safeguard us from hypocrisy, sin and backsliding? (b) Why is a good heart more vital than a fine brain?

¹³ Christ summarized Jehovah’s law as follows: “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind and with your whole strength,” and, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30, 31, NW) If we get the love for Jehovah and the love for neighbor in our heart, the seat of motive and affection, then out of that heart we shall say and do what pleases Jehovah. But if we do not have love in our heart, right words and works will be unacceptable, will be hypocritical and doublehearted. (Ps. 12:2; Rom. 13:8-10; 1 Cor. 13:1-3; 2 Cor. 9:7) But if Jehovah’s law of love is written in our heart it is a part of us, a part of our personality, an integral part of our seat of motive and hence it will be the source of our motives and the thing that will always move us to act properly.

¹⁴ “The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.” Steps directed from a heart inscribed with Jehovah’s law are carefully, surely and firmly placed on solid footing and there will be no slipping or backsliding, no falling from the path of integrity. This world reeks with sin because it has God’s word only in a book, not in its heart: “I have laid up thy word in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Ps. 37:31; 119:11, RS) So a heart filled with Jehovah’s law is a safeguard against sinning and backsliding. This world stresses mental brilliance, but Jehovah looks on the heart. What good is the world’s wisdom when out of a wicked heart it is moved to misuse it and make it foolish in Jehovah’s sight? Is it not better to have an average mind directed into right uses by a good heart than to have a brilliant one misdirected into harmful channels by an evil heart? Do not world leaders even now admit that it is the world’s morals rather than its brains that cry for improvement? But this wicked system refuses the change of heart it needs for survival of Jehovah’s war of Armageddon, though many individuals are abandoning it in order to get the heart change required for preservation, namely, the erasing of wrong precepts from the figurative heart and getting Jehovah’s law written there in their place. How is this done? Please read the next article for the answer.

Some Blame God, Some Blame Devil

Some persons blame God for their misfortunes. Doing so gives them justification for pursuing a lawless course. In this they are like the eight-year-old boy mentioned in the Milwaukee Journal, March 23, 1955. This eight-year-old, arrested for an attempted burglary, had previously claimed to have started a fire in a Catholic church “because God had not answered his prayers. He said he had been praying that his father would stop drinking and stay home nights. The fire caused $200 damage.” The police, however, said the boy, who is small for his age, has been “a one man crime wave” for almost a year. He had previously been arrested for breaking into a bakery and stealing $11 in cash and $15 worth of bakery goods and for attempting burglary at another store. “Last year he was referred to the youth aid bureau for maliciously breaking numerous windows in trucks and in a factory, for attempted burglary of a factory and for tampering with boats in the Menomonee River, the police said.” Incidentally, the foregoing indicates that parental neglect and false religious teachings contribute to juvenile delinquency. On the other hand, some blame the Devil. Thus when a ten-year-old boy was asked why he started two fires near his home he replied: “The Devil was in me.” Blaming the Devil for one’s lawlessness began with Eve in Eden, and many persons, selfish or poorly informed on the Bible, do the same today. Yes, if we are frustrated or rebelling at our lot we will show it by lawless acts and then seek to justify or excuse ourselves by blaming God or the Devil!

Getting God’s Law on Your Heart

“Oh taste and see that Jehovah is good.”—Ps. 34:8, AS.

1. What questions are raised by what facts regarding certain desert seeds?

THE seeds of certain desert plants seem to have an intelligence of their own. They will not sprout until a rainfall of at least half an inch, and preferably more. The seeds and the soil around them are just as wet after a tenth of an inch of rain as they are after two inches, yet the seeds refuse to sprout after the lighter rainfall. But how can a dormant seed measure rainfall? It is just as soaked in a thimbleful of water as it is when thrown into a lake. Why does it not sprout when thoroughly soaked by the lighter rainfall? How can it measure the amount? How does it know to wait for more? Also, these seeds seem to know the direction from which the water comes. When enough rain has fallen and soaked down into the soil they will sprout, but if the water soaks up from below they refuse to germinate. How can they tell the direction? And why should it make a difference? The answers to these questions illustrate part of the process of getting God’s law on your heart. If we sincerely want Jehovah’s law on our heart it can be written there. How?

2. What cleansing and erasing must be done before Jehovah’s law can be written on the heart?

² To write, a clean surface is needed, and an eraser may be needed to remove previous writing. To add new writing over the old would cause conflict and confuse. Hearts alienated from Jehovah are scribbled over with wrong writing. Of man before the Flood Jehovah said: “Every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time.” After the Flood the heart of fallen man still needed cleansing: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt.” But the account goes on to show that Jehovah will heal the heart of those that want it. Many have made their hearts hard, calloused to sin, untouchable by pity, impenetrable by goodness, insensitive to appeals. The writing on such hearts is like that on Judah’s: “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart.” Inasmuch as “he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity,” “why should you make your heart unresponsive just the way Egypt and Pharaoh made their heart unresponsive?” Rather, why not pray: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me”? Such a heart presents a clean surface for the writing of Jehovah’s law.—Gen. 6:5, NW; Jer. 17:9, 14, 1; Prov. 28:14, RS; 1 Sam. 6:6, NW; Ps. 51:10, RS.

3. What scriptures show how to get God’s law on your heart?

³ To his strayed and scattered people Jehovah said when foretelling their recovery to true worship: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” The cleansing waters of truth effect a change in our heart if faithfully applied. It is by frequent discussion of truth that parents are to get it into the heart of their children: “These words that I am commanding you today must prove to be on your heart, and you must inculcate them in your son and speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.” By preaching the apostle Paul caused Jehovah’s law to be written, not on stone tablets, but on human hearts: “You are shown to be a letter of Christ written by us as ministers, inscribed not with ink but with spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets, but on fleshly tablets, on hearts.” Of one blessed by Jehovah it is written: “On his law he meditates day and night.” By studying and remembering Jehovah’s teachings and commandments and high principles you can “write them on the tablet of your heart.” They become a part of us.—Ezek. 36:25, 26, RS; Deut. 6:6, 7; 2 Cor. 3:3, NW; Ps. 1:2; Prov. 3:1-3, RS.

HOW DISCIPLINE HELPS

4. In addition to filling the mind with Jehovah’s law, what further action may be necessary to get it on the heart?

⁴ Filling the mind with Jehovah’s truth does a cleansing work, crowds out the former wrong thoughts, makes the mind over. But maybe the old ways are so deeply engraved on the heart that the hearing and reading of God’s law does not erase them. Study and meditation have shown you what you should do and you would like to comply, but the heartfelt desire to do so is missing. The new writing is still near the surface. It is not yet as deep as the old so as to obliterate the old ways; it has not reached the inner man, the figurative heart where the seat of desire and motive is. But you want the old writing erased and replaced by Jehovah’s law, all the way into your innermost thoughts and feelings. So what must you do? Discipline yourself, force yourself to do what you know to be right. Persist in this course, and if you are sincere you will win over your own heart to the side of righteousness. The Scriptures support this procedure.

5. What helpful process does the enactment of legislation set in motion?

⁵ It is true that morality cannot be legislated, as U.S. News & World Report, May 13, 1955, said editorially: “Tolerance and unselfishness—like morality and generosity—cannot be successfully legislated.” But enacting the legislation may set in motion a process that will finally create morality. The mere existence of the law turns attention to the subject and may induce a climate of opinion more favorable toward it. Then if the law is enforced and people obey it to avoid penalties, they may come to see that good results follow and their attitude changes. Then they obey because of the good results, and not because of fear of penalties.

6. What instance shows that discipline and enforcement of a law can change the heart attitude?

⁶ This was shown by the New York Times Magazine, May 22, 1955, in an article entitled “Can Morality Be Legislated?” It discussed the United States Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation, and showed that in certain instances, such as employment, public housing and armed forces, persons unfavorable to mixing races were integrated anyway and as a result lost their prejudices: “White housewives who had been assigned to public housing projects which were racially integrated tended to develop favorable attitudes toward Negroes, while the vast majority of those who occupied segregated housing tended to remain the same in their racial views. A study of integration in the army reached a similar conclusion.” By coming in closer relationship prejudiced persons found that their preconceived ideas were often false and that feared evils never materialized. The investigation and analysis led to the conclusion that “the majesty of the law, when supported by the collective conscience of a people and the healing power of the social situation, in the long run will not only enforce morality but create it.”

7. How did a magazine article show that training, discipline, enforced manners and external behavior influence internal feelings and change the heart?

⁷ The Ladies’ Home Journal, September, 1955, had an article by Dorothy Thompson that showed the necessity of educating the emotions rather than the intellect to overcome juvenile delinquency. She said: “His actions and attitudes as a child largely determine his actions and attitudes as an adult. But these are not inspired by his brain, but by his feelings. He becomes what he is encouraged and trained to love, admire, worship, cherish, and sacrifice for.” Further along she said: “In all this manners play an important role, for good manners are nothing more or less than the expression of consideration for others. . . . Internal feelings are reflected in external behavior, but external behavior also contributes to the cultivation of internal feelings. It is hard to feel aggressive while acting considerately. Good manners may be only skin deep to start with, but they seldom remain so.” She also observed that with rare exceptions goodness and badness “are not conditioned by the brain but by the emotions,” and that “criminals become so not from hardening of the arteries but from hardening of the heart.” She stresses that emotion governs our conduct more often than the mind, and that the way we are trained, the way we act, even if forced at first, influences internal feelings and changes the heart.

8. What scriptures show the power of discipline to change the heart?

⁸ God’s Word the Bible long ago indicated that training and discipline to make us act as we should would affect the heart, the seat of motive and the source of actions. Proverbs 22:6, 15 (RS) states: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.” Discipline changes the youthful heart, erases the folly written there, and puts in its place guiding principles from which he will not depart in later life. When he is grown the parental rod of discipline no longer exists to make him go the right way, but he nevertheless does so by choice because of the childhood training that reached his heart. The same principle applies to adults who are Jehovah’s children, whom he disciplines for their training and improvement: “No discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but grievous; yet afterward to those who have been trained by it it yields peaceable fruit, namely, righteousness.” The discipline may sadden at first, but “by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.”—Heb. 12:11, NW; Eccl. 7:3, Da.

9. So what should we do when we know what is right, and what will happen to our heart if we fail to do it?

⁹ So when we know what is the right thing to do we should do it, even if our heart desires something else. We should discipline ourselves, make ourselves do it, and in time our hearts will be won over to righteousness and gain peace and serenity. Otherwise, our hearts will become set in a wrong course. If there is no discipline, no forcing into right conduct, the heart sets in an evil way and cannot be softened for reshaping or for taking upon itself the impression of writing, the receiving of Jehovah’s law: “Because sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the sons of men is fully set to do evil.” This clearly implies that if disciplinary action was executed the heart meditating evil would relinquish this view, would turn away from it in a change for the better. So if we do not let our hearts get away with it they will not become set in it.—Eccl. 8:11, RS.

“TASTE AND SEE”

10. What invitation should be heeded relative to Bible reading?

¹⁰ Psalm 34:8 (AS) invites: “Oh taste and see that Jehovah is good.” Do you have a Bible? Do you read it? Do you feed your mind on the spiritual food it contains? Do you taste Jehovah’s Word to see how good it is? Do not confuse this with listening to an orthodox sermon or following religious tradition or believing some set creed. Such things often conflict with the Bible, as Jesus said to religious leaders: “You have made the word of God invalid because of your tradition.” (Matt. 15:6, NW) Read the Bible for yourself, without preconceived ideas or prejudices, and see how good it is. Many openly admit that they do not believe the Bible, not because they have read it, but because they believe evolution, or have been soured on the Bible by what some say it contains, or by the way some act who are supposed to be Christians. They have not tasted for themselves. They are like persons who say they do not like a certain food before they ever taste it, and who steadfastly refuse to try it.

11. After reading and studying the Bible, what additional food should be tasted to learn of its deliciousness?

¹¹ Many who say they believe the Bible and who read it somewhat fail to follow its teachings. They talk God but serve Satan. Jesus said: “Not everyone saying to me, ‘Master, Master,’ will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will.” (Matt. 7:21, NW) They should get a taste of doing Jehovah’s will. They might learn to like it, might find it is a strengthening food for them. Jesus said: “My food is for me to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.” But so many see the meal of work set out for the Christian and immediately say to themselves: “I would not like that food. I would not want to go preach to the people and be snubbed or scorned or rudely used.” But why do they not taste the work and see what a delightful food it can be? Jesus found it so, as foretold: “I delight to do thy will, O my God.”—John 4:34, NW; Ps. 40:8.

12. When a sincere person disciplines himself to taste both the studying of God’s Word and the doing of his will, what occurs that results in a changed heart for him?

¹² They should discipline themselves, make themselves study Jehovah’s Word, learn its truths, and preach them to others. After tasting it, they may delight in the peace and contentment, the serenity and clear conscience, that come from this food. At first the person may not want to, only knowing in his mind that he should do it but not desiring to in his heart. But suppose he determines to taste and see if it is good. Without his heart being in it, he lives his daily life like a Christian and preaches God’s Word to others. He continues to do it for a time, and then begins to see the good results, experiences the good that follows from this course, and gradually he appreciates it in his heart, comes into heart sympathy with it, and a desire to do it sprouts and grows in his heart. Not only in his intellect but in his heart also God’s law is being written. By his learning it, weighing it, trying it, practicing it, enjoying its good results, thrilling to the joy he sees in others as a result of his preaching, his heart comes to appreciate it and desire it and he is impelled by his feelings and emotions to do it. So the heart is written on, changed, and what once had to be forced is now done by emotional choice and desire, with no further battling with the heart necessary because it has been conquered, has been purged of its former desires and now motivates its possessor into the course prescribed by Jehovah’s law. And all because it was disciplined to taste what it thought it could never like.

13. How do some react when they learn a little about Jehovah and his will, and why is this premature or hasty?

¹³ The heart is the seat of affection, and those who love Jehovah from the heart will taste and eat and relish the menu of work provided by him, not finding it burdensome: “This is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments; and yet his commandments are not burdensome.” They seem so to many, however. Oftentimes persons study with Jehovah’s witnesses, learn the work God commands to be done, and see what a big change it would make in their way of living if they accepted these duties. It would mean not only stopping the works of the flesh, but starting the works of preaching, and they do not want to stop the former or start the latter. They do not desire the change of heart that would move them to do it. But they do not want to admit this, so they busy the mind to conjure up excuses that cover over the real reasons in the heart. They say they are too busy, or pick imaginary flaws with some doctrine, or decide the witnesses are too radical. They decide against the faithful course before their eyes are opened to the happiness it brings, before they have tasted its joys. If they would continue studying they would come to appreciate all the blessings Jehovah has provided—the earth, its plants and animals and scenic wonders, Jesus as Ransom, the new world of righteousness, opportunity to live in it forever—and his love thus manifested toward them would cause them to love him in return. Then obedience to him would be a joy: “As for us, we love, because he first loved us.” Thus their seat of affection would change and God’s law get on their heart.—1 John 5:3; 4:19, NW.

THE SEEDS OF TRUTH ON THE SOIL OF THE HEART

14. How did Jesus illustrate different heart conditions?

¹⁴ By means of an illustration Jesus stressed the importance of the heart condition. A sower spread the seed and some fell on hard ground alongside the road and birds ate it; some fell on rocky ground with little soil and after it sprouted the hot sun scorched it; some fell among thorns that choked it out, but other seed landed on good soil and matured and yielded fruit. Great crowds heard this illustration, but only a small group got the sense of it by hearing Jesus’ explanation. The seed is the truth, “the word of the kingdom,” the soil is the heart. The seed on the packed roadside that birds ate is like the truth on hard hearts it cannot penetrate and hence it is snatched away by Satan through his agents. Truth on a shallow heart may be enthusiastically embraced at first, but when persecution comes it withers because of not being deeply rooted. It is like the seed on shallow, rocky soil that sprouted fast but withered the same way when the sun got hot. The seed choked by thorns is like the truth sown on a heart full of worldly anxieties, materialism, ambition and love of pleasures. The truth from God is soon choked out. But the fruitful seed on the good soil is like the truth on a right heart. It becomes written on such a heart, and the writing overflows onto other hearts also.—Matt. 13:3-9, 18-23.

15. What shows that hearts can undergo change?

¹⁵ But never forget that soil can be changed. Packed soil can be plowed, rocks can be picked out, and thornbushes can be uprooted. If the possessor desires it, it is not impossible to soften a hard heart. Jehovah spoke of replacing a heart of stone with one of flesh. And certainly materialism, profitless worrying and excessive pleasure-seeking can be weeded from the soil of the heart to make room for Kingdom truth. Hearts that now have God’s law on them were previously defaced by wrong writing. They changed and now live, “no more for the desires of men, but for God’s will.” They decided they had wasted enough time in loose living and changed, to the puzzlement of former worldly friends: “Because you do not continue running with them in this course to the same low sink of debauchery, they are puzzled and go on speaking abusively of you.” Their hearts were cleansed of worldly philosophies, washed by repeated applications of waters of truth, and in time God’s law became rooted there like seed in good soil, to produce spiritual fruitage instead of the former fleshly works.—1 Pet. 4:1-4; Gal. 5:19-23, NW.

16. What does 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 show?

¹⁶ Turning now from Jesus’ parable of the four kinds of soil on which wheat seed or some other edible grain was sown, we call to mind the apostle’s words: “What, then, is Apollos? Yes, what is Paul? Ministers through whom you became believers, even as the Lord granted each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept making it grow; so that neither is he that plants anything nor is he that waters, but God who makes it grow. . . . You people are God’s field under cultivation.” (1 Cor. 3:5-9, NW) Here the importance of watering the seeds of edible plants in a cultivated field is emphasized, in order for God to bless the seeds with growth. This shows the importance of watering interested persons with the water of additional truth after the original seed of truth has been planted in them.

17. (a) Why do some desert seeds refuse to sprout because of the soil, unless rain is heavy and the moisture comes from above? (b) Why do some refuse to germinate, except under certain conditions, because of their covering?

¹⁷ The importance of watering is seen even in the discerning desert seeds mentioned in the opening paragraph to serve as an illustration. Remember that they would not sprout until a generous rain had fallen, and that the water had to come down from above instead of soak up from below. Why so? Some seeds refuse to germinate when there are certain salts in the soil. These salts are soluble in water; so when it rains heavily the salts are dissolved and carried deeper into the soil by the water. Thus removed from the vicinity of the seeds, the salts no longer prevent germination. However, if the rainfall is light, even though it thoroughly soaks the topsoil, it will not remove the salts and the seeds will not sprout. And water soaking up from below has no leaching action so it does not carry away from the seed the salts. Sometimes the trouble is not with the soil but with the seeds. Some desert seeds have in their covering water-soluble substances that hinder germination, and while a light rain may soak the seeds it takes a heavy rain to wash away all of these hindrances in their covering. Some seeds delay germination for a few days after a rain and then sprout if the soil is still moist. Others have sprouting-preventers in them that can be removed only by the action of bacteria, which requires prolonged moisture. And some seeds refuse to sprout until they have been wet by a series of rains.

18. How does this illustrate the sprouting of seeds of truth in the soil of the heart?

¹⁸ It is rare indeed to find a person that fully accepts the truth seed the first time it is sown and watered. Almost always there are beliefs or prejudices in the heart that prevent the immediate sprouting of the seed of truth. Perhaps belief in trinity keeps a person from believing Jehovah is supreme, without equal. Repeated applications of truth water are needed to wash out this obstacle. Or maybe belief in soul immortality obscures his understanding and appreciation of the resurrection, or perhaps the view that the earth will be destroyed by fire prevents him from accepting the truth that the literal earth is to abide forever, or possibly he cannot appreciate that the earth is to be inhabited forever because of thinking everyone will go either to heaven or to hell. Maybe misplaced faith in a false religious leader blinds him to Bible truth. Only after much water of truth has been applied by means of doorstep sermons, back-calls and home Bible studies will these obstacles to Christian growth be removed from the soil of the heart. A little water, a few scriptures, a handful of favorite texts like some religions use repeatedly, are not enough. Many, many scriptures must stream from God’s Word to remove all objections and to ensure continued growth to Christian maturity.

19. How are some truths like the seeds whose covering hindered sprouting, and what purpose is thereby served?

¹⁹ What about those seeds that had hindering substances in their covering? Some truths are that way. Some are likened to meat hard to digest and are not assimilated until many simpler truths have been digested. In fact, some truths are deliberately covered over to prevent quick understanding. The one about needing the right heart condition is a case in point. This was concealed behind an illustration about a sower and seed falling on different types of soil, and Jesus said it was deliberately hidden to prevent comprehension by those who were undeserving. It would not lodge and grow to fruitful maturity in their hearts; hence it did not even start to sprout there. So the desert seed by its covering refuses to sprout under unfavorable conditions that would mean its early death, before fruitfulness. But when sufficient water falls it germinates, and, similarly, when Jesus’ listeners showed sufficient interest and stuck with him to hear his further words that removed the covering from the illustration, the truth it held grew in their hearts. The additional waters of truth made the seed of truth sprout and grow, and the interest and thirst shown by the individuals that persisted would indicate they were the kind who would stick until bearing Christian fruitage.

20. What is illustrated by the water coming from above and the moisture that soaked up from below?

²⁰ In the case of the desert seeds the water had to come from the top down, not from the bottom up. Jehovah has a channel for the spiritual waters to flow in, and that channel is from the top down also. Jehovah, the topmost one, inspired men to write the Bible, he interprets it, Christ spoke for him when on earth, and his present earthly witnesses declare his message. In these last days Jehovah has a visible organization, “the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics to give them their food at the proper time,” through which he channels waters of truth to the people. From Jehovah comes the “river of water of life, clear as crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb,” and the invitation widely proclaimed is: “Let anyone thirsting come; let anyone that wishes take life’s water free.” (Matt. 24:45; Rev. 22:1, 17, NW) The water offered by the orthodox religions of Christendom does not theocratically come down from above, but babbles up from the bottom, from mere men, and consists of the traditions and philosophies and private interpretations of men. Such a water supply does not produce Christian fruitage, as a glance at Christendom’s corruptness proves.—Matt. 7:15-20.

21. What is Satan trying to do, but what should we ask Jehovah to do for us, and how should we let him do it?

²¹ Which water will you drink, that from the top or that from the bottom? Whom will you let write on your heart, Jehovah or Satan? Satan is out to win or steal or capture your heart and so cram it with his demonic propagandas that no space will remain for the writing of Jehovah’s law on it. If you let Satan write on your heart it will be your epitaph, but if you ask Jehovah to write his law there it will point the way to everlasting life. Hence reason urges that we let Jehovah be the one to write on our heart. We must let him do it by our opening our minds to his Word, by our studying it and meditating on it, by our disciplining ourselves to put his laws into practice, by tasting the good that results from this obedience, and thus eventually loving to do it. And then faithfully serve as one of Jehovah’s witnesses, helping to get God’s law on the hearts of others.

Lightning—Fertilizer Extraordinary

Science has now learned that the immediate beneficial service performed by lightning is that of fertilizing the soil. Describing the process, Science Digest for July, 1956, says: “Lightning is the world’s greatest producer of nitrogen compounds, the soil ingredient without which most plant life on earth could not exist. As each bolt sears through the air, the terrific heat it generates unites nitrogen and oxygen chemically to form nitrogen oxide, which ultimately combines with additional oxygen and with water to be transformed into nitric acid and nitrates. In very dilute forms, these compounds fall to earth with rain. It has been estimated that over all the earth’s surface, lightning annually produces up to 100 million tons of nitrogen compounds. That amount is many, many times the quantity turned out by all the fertilizer plants in the world. It’s even considered possible that without lightning, virtually all plant life on earth might actually wither and die.” As with many other things that science is now learning, the discovery that lightning electrically fertilizes the soil confirms the Bible as the book of true science and proves that its Author is Jehovah, the all-wise Creator. For it was Jehovah himself who posed the question to Job: “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt, to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass?”—Job 38:25, 27, RS.

Where Does Your Time Go?

A survey taken the week ending September 1 showed where a great deal of it may be going. The Americans interviewed spent an average of 18 hours 24 minutes watching TV. This was in addition to 4 hours 6 minutes spent in movie theaters. Add that to other forms of amusement and you will see the need to hesitate the next time you start to say, “I’m too busy” for God.

Gaining God’s Reward by Active Training

DEDICATED Christian witnesses have well been likened to athletes running a race. As Paul wrote Timothy: “Contend for victory in the right contest of the faith.” In one respect, however, times of bitter persecution might be likened to the contest, whereas periods of peace and upbuilding may be compared to peacetime training.—1 Tim. 6:12, NW.a

The period of peacetime training has its own dangers, which some overlook. Because they see little violent opposition they are lulled to sleep or slow up in their training. They lose sight of the fact that their greatest enemy is invisible, Satan the Devil. They are making a serious mistake. Only by active, vigorous and severe peacetime training will we grow strong enough to endure in the contest of persecution and come off victorious.

We must discipline ourselves when conditions themselves tempt us to take things easy. We must deny ourselves, exert ourselves, always keeping on seeking first God’s kingdom. Especially must full-time servants keep on doing this if they would continue to enjoy their peculiar treasure of service. And only by doing likewise can part-time ministers make full use of their opportunities.

Of course, to be on the “team” we must first of all dedicate ourselves and be baptized. Then we must familiarize ourselves with the rules, the chief one of which is love. That means we must diligently, and daily, study God’s Word together with the helps he has provided, as well as take advantage of congregational classroom training. Athletes in active training also watch their diet and so must we. That means not only taking in the right kind of spiritual food, but avoiding anything that we know to be harmful. We dare not let idle curiosity expose us needlessly to Satan’s poison.

Active training that gains God’s reward also means exercising self-control. Like Paul, we must browbeat our bodies and lead them about like slaves, not following their inclinations but letting them serve our goal in life. Closely associated with self-control is guarding our associations, knowing that “bad associations spoil useful habits.”—1 Cor. 15:33, NW.

Especially does active training mean preaching the good news of God’s kingdom at every opportunity: from house to house, in the homes on return visits, on the streets, from the public lecture platform and incidentally, whenever we can find a hearing ear. To each one of us Paul’s words apply: “Really, woe is me if I did not declare the good news!” As with Ezekiel, so with us, our very lives depend upon our warning the wicked concerning Armageddon.—1 Cor. 9:16, NW.

To get results, however, we must train regularly, not spasmodically, not by fits and starts. That means setting aside time for regular study, for regular meeting attendance and for regular preaching of the good news. So buy out the opportune time.

And finally, active training requires watching our spiritual sight, not looking back as did Lot’s wife, but keeping our eyes appreciatively fixed on the Kingdom as did Jesus and his apostles.

So, in keeping with our theme for February, let all dedicated Christian witnesses of Jehovah remember and heed the apostle’s counsel: “Be training yourself with godly devotion as your aim. For bodily training is beneficial for a little, but godly devotion is beneficial for all things, as it holds promise of the life now and that which is to come.”—1 Tim. 4:7, 8, NW.

[Footnotes]

A Missionary in Korea Writes Her Instructor

My dear Judge,a

. . . We’ve learned a lot about new people and new customs but mostly we have come to realize why we went to the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead. At the time we thought we knew, but it takes really living a thing to appreciate its preciousness. Now we know what the word “missionary” means. I had wanted it so long and it surely hasn’t disappointed me.

Korea is a fascinating place to live in. The business people dress in Western clothes and are very much interested in modern things. They are an alert and very clever people; they love to talk and ask questions. To us they are always polite. It surprises them that we come to them speaking their own language. When we preach they listen carefully and sincerely. Even if they do not want literature they hear us out. Therefore, in Seoul there is hardly a person who doesn’t recognize Jehovah’s witnesses.

The clergy in exasperation warn their flocks not to listen to us but you know the result of that. The question most frequently asked is, “How are your beliefs different from the other religions?” To answer that we simply take a subject such as the trinity and knock the foundation out from under it. And once you have shown them one lie you can hardly slow them up enough to study things carefully. All of a sudden they want to know everything at once; they want to study two or three nights a week, or even every day.

They come to the meetings, and once they begin associating with the congregation, it is no time before they dedicate themselves. Although they do come in quickly with little more than basic knowledge they are solid, because the truth becomes their whole life. They love to preach as well as talk the truth among themselves. You cannot help loving them.

After a year and a half it has been thrilling to watch our congregation, one of eight in Seoul, grow and split and now be ready to split again. Besides, we’ve had a share in helping some of our studies mature and be baptized. Now we are grandmothers. Some of the ones we’ve studied with have watched their own good-will interest be immersed. That really gives you a lump in your throat.

The good-will potential here is unbelievable. We have more than we can ever do. I had a nice experience just three weeks ago. Calling at one home I met a young student of about fourteen. He wanted the book “Let God Be True”, but was unable to contribute for it and so I said I would come again and gave him an invitation to the public lecture at the circuit assembly starting that week. After I left the house I wrote down the place and promptly forgot about it. Then at the assembly what should I see but this eager little face peeking up at me. At first I didn’t even recognize him (all students dress alike in regular uniforms), but then it dawned on me. He said I must hurry back to his house because his parents had to see me.

The next night he was back again to see the new movie “The Happiness of the New World Society.” He practically had tears in his eyes as he saw the New World scenes. Later I learned his mother and father were there also. The next Tuesday another missionary and I went to visit them. They welcomed us into their homes with open arms and hearts. They had been Methodists for years but felt that two hours of praying, singing and listening to their moksa’s (minister’s) preaching could not be all that God required of true religion. The father said he wanted a personal knowledge of the Bible. After our study last week they said they felt as if God sent us. Their hearts are satisfied now except that they see the need for more knowledge.

On paper it is a little hard to transmit the glow in their eyes and the joy on their faces, but I felt it was the most wonderful experience I’ve ever had. Here you have many unusual experiences, because you meet many high-ranking people, etc., who take their stand. But of them all, this little close family has been the dearest.

There is no life on earth like this. Our missionary family is close and loads of fun. Our house is wonderful for Korea. Although temporary disappointments come, they pass. Korea feels like home.

I hope you and your wife are well and happy. But how could anyone be otherwise—what could be better than serving Jehovah?

My love to you both,

[signed] Elaine Schiedt

[Footnotes]

Questions From Readers

● Is it proper to refer to the New World society as the modern-day city of refuge?—A. P., United States.

If you review The Watchtower, December 1, 1955, you will find that it does not use the expression New World society as synonymous with city of refuge. It states that the city of refuge is to be identified as Jehovah’s provision for protecting us from death for violating the divine covenant concerning the sacredness of blood by our coming under and remaining under the benefits of the active service of Jehovah’s High Priest, Christ Jesus. It is to be found with Jehovah’s theocratic organization inside the New World society and it is identified specifically as the atonement covering of Christ’s sacrifice. Please see the above-mentioned Watchtower, page 719 paragraph 10, page 722 paragraph 18 and page 724 paragraph 3.

● On page 64 You May Survive Armageddon into God’s New World says: “Jehovah will hide and save them, not only through the first part of the universal conflict, Christendom’s destruction, but clear through it into his new world.” What marks the start of Armageddon?—W. T., United States.

Such pictures of Armageddon as the destruction of unfaithful Jerusalem in 607 B.C. and also A.D. 70 indicate that unfaithful Christendom, which was pictured by unfaithful Jerusalem, along with all other devil religion, will be the first element of Satan’s system to go down at the battle of Armageddon. Other parts of Satan’s system will be maneuvered by Jehovah to bring about the downfall of this unfaithful religious element, just as Babylon was used to topple unfaithful Jerusalem in 607 B.C. and the Roman Empire was maneuvered to fell apostate Jerusalem A.D. 70.

We also have the picture of Gog’s attack on the New World society and how this calls forth Jehovah’s decisive counterattack against Gog or Satan the Devil, which is also involved in the beginning of the battle of Armageddon. Harmonizing these, it appears that along with Gog’s attack on the true religion will go attacks by elements of his worldly system on religion in general, including false brands, and at such time Jehovah’s anger at the assault on his true people will precipitate the battle of Armageddon. Jehovah’s organization of true religion will not, of course, fall to its destruction under these attacks but unfaithful religions of Christendom and heathendom will, and so the fall of unfaithful Christendom and other false religions can properly be spoken of as the opening feature of Armageddon, or as the first victims of that war.

For further information on this please see The Watchtower, issues of September 15, 1953 (page 564), October 1, 1953 (page 604) and July 15, 1954 (page 444).

A Pointed Comment on Our Times

At his death in 1896 Alfred B. Nobel, Swedish scientist and inventor of dynamite, left a $9,000,000 fund, the interest on which was to be distributed yearly to the men who had contributed the most to the benefit of mankind during the previous year. These Nobel awards are made in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine and physiology, literature and peace. Last November 7 the Nobel Peace Prize Committee announced that no one had been found worthy of the peace prize in either 1955 or 1956. The 1955 prize of $36,720 had been available for belated award in 1956; now will never be granted. The 1956 award of $38,634 can be given during the coming year, but at the time the announcement was made no accomplishment in the field of peace was considered worthy of it.

Announcements

GAINING GOD’S REWARD BY ACTIVE TRAINING—1 Tim. 4:7, 8, NW.

What is the most essential training to which we should give attention? Plainly the Bible tells us: “Be training yourself with godly devotion as your aim. For bodily training is beneficial for a little, but godly devotion is beneficial for all things, as it holds promise of the life now and that which is to come.” In obedience to this clearly expressed counsel all of Jehovah’s witnesses want to follow the example of the great Trainer, Christ Jesus, who is our model and teacher. Just as he displayed unquestioning godly devotion by faithful ministerial service, so it is with us today. In accord with his instructions to preach “this good news of the kingdom,” during February each one of us will display godly devotion by active participation in house-to-house work, offering a year’s subscription for the Watchtower magazine for $1. The excellent 96-page booklet What Do the Scriptures Say About “Survival After Death”? will be given free to each new subscriber. Share in this grand activity throughout the month and be richly rewarded.

YOUR PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE

Do you want proof for what you believe? Would you like to believe that you can live forever? Then you should read the outstanding Bible study aid You May Survive Armageddon into God’s New World. Turn to page 367 and note the forty-two points of proof that some persons will escape this world’s end. Then follow each point carefully as, one by one, all unfold into one of the most dynamic and inspiring accounts of your prospects for the future that has ever been written. All establish on a firm Scriptural basis the hope of everlasting life on a beautified earth. Each prophecy considered sheds a little more light on God’s requirements for your survival and all will stimulate your desire to avail yourself of these provisions of Jehovah God for your safety. A sincere interest in you, the reader, and a desire to magnify Jehovah’s name have provided the stimulus for producing this astonishing record. Years of research furnish the factual background. The Bible is the authority. Send for your copy today without fail. It is only 50c.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

March 10: May God Write on Your Heart? and Getting God’s Law on Your Heart, ¶1-3. Page 80.

March 17: Getting God’s Law on Your Heart, ¶4-21. Page 86.

Check Your Memory

After reading this issue of “The Watchtower,” do you remember—

✔ What command of Jesus you might be ignoring today? P. 67, ¶2.

✔ What prompted the translation of the King James Version Bible? P. 70, ¶3.

✔ What illuminating document is missing from most King James Bibles? P. 71, ¶2.

✔ What changes have been made in the “King James Version”? P. 71, ¶6.

✔ Why a simple belief that God exists is not enough? P. 73, ¶4.

✔ How Satan will try to break your faith? P. 76, ¶1.

✔ What joy can overbalance the sorrow of having to break with your family over the truth? P. 77, ¶5.

✔ How a missionary feels on entering truly virgin territory? P. 78, ¶6.

✔ Where Jehovah looks to take your measure? P. 80, ¶3.

✔ How the precepts of Christianity go much deeper than the laws of the state? P. 82, ¶10.

✔ How to get God’s law on your heart? P. 85, ¶3.

✔ How seeds of truth must be thoroughly watered to sprout in the heart? P. 91, ¶18.

✔ How to endure the contest of faith victoriously? P. 93, ¶2.

✔ What will mark Armageddon’s start? P. 95, ¶5.