The Watchtower — September 1, 1958

Not Letting Your Left Hand Know

THE Great Teacher was the keenest observer of human nature this earth has ever seen. Unerringly he detected ulterior motives and unsparingly he spoke out against them. In one of his strictures against a common human failing he once said:

“Take good care not to practice your righteousness in front of men in order to be observed by them; otherwise you will have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens. Hence when you start making gifts of mercy, do not blow a trumpet ahead of you, just as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, They are having their reward in full. But you, when making gifts of mercy, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, that your gifts of mercy may be in secret; then your Father who is looking on in secret will repay you.”—Matt. 6:1-4.

How searching these words of the Great Teacher are! How well the Son of God understood human nature, especially fallen, imperfect human nature! We may not think of blowing a literal trumpet, but we are prone to advertise our own goodness. As the Scriptural proverb states: “A multitude of men will proclaim each one his own loving-kindness, but a faithful man who can find?” Fittingly we are therefore counseled: “May a stranger, and not your own mouth, praise you; may a foreigner, and not your own lips, do so.” A deed may seem to be generous, but if we call attention to it the deed becomes a mere investment in our reputation. Our motives become suspect and we lay ourselves open to the charge of pride and hypocrisy.—Prov. 20:6; 27:2.

But just what did Jesus mean by telling us not to let our left hand know what our right hand is doing in the matter of charity? For one thing, it would indicate the greatest secrecy regarding our giving. Since the left hand works so very closely with the right in almost everything we do, for the left not to know would certainly preclude our boasting about our charitable works to even our closest companion, be that a wife or a husband. By means of this hyperbole Jesus was also driving home the point or vital principle that our chief concern should be to win God’s approval rather than man’s.

Not that there may not be times when calling attention to our own good works would serve a good purpose, as when making a certain point or when endeavoring to stir others to follow a good course. Thus King David pointed to the treasure he contributed to the building of a temple to Jehovah, gold and silver to the value of well over $90 million. Likewise other faithful servants of Jehovah, both before and since his day, including the Son of God, at times made mention of their good works. However, in no instance was this done for the purpose of being “glorified by men.” Rather, it was done for the purpose of glorifying God, as when David went on to say to Jehovah: “And yet, who am I and who are my people, that we should retain power to make voluntary offerings like this? For everything is from you and out of your own hand we have given to you.” Or it may have been done to stir others to do likewise, as when Paul recounted his course of action and the hardships he endured as a Christian minister, missionary and apostle, enabling him to say: “Become imitators of me, even as I am of Christ.”—1 Chron. 29:3, 4, 13, 14; 1 Cor. 11:1; 2 Cor. 6:3-10; 11:12-33.

Truly the Great Teacher, the Son of God, had keen understanding of human nature. He well knew that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?” With the aid of God’s Word and holy spirit or active force Jesus Christ was able to understand the heart of man.—Jer. 17:9, AS.

Blind Man Helps Others to See

LACK of sight is no insurmountable barrier to Gene Cauthron, who, although blind, is an active minister of Jehovah’s witnesses. Working with the Hollenbeck unit of the Los Angeles (California) congregation, Cauthron has become efficient in the handling of Bible discussions as well as preaching from door to door.

This all became possible when another minister of Jehovah’s witnesses called on him back in 1953 and assisted him in gaining an accurate knowledge of the Bible. A short while later this minister supplied him with a Braille Bible and other literature in Braille. Thus Gene Cauthron started on the road of a vocation that has permitted him to become a help to those who, even though possessing normal vision, could not fully understand the Bible and its many truths.

With much effort and determination, Gene has also been able to deliver one-hour Bible lectures on special Bible topics. This is remarkable, considering the fact that all research must be done in Braille. Yet the audience never feels uneasy because of his visual blindness. They experience a feeling of assuredness in all that he says, because all statements are amply supported with Bible proof.

Gene also shares in instructing individuals who are interested in gaining accurate Bible knowledge in the privacy of their own homes. He is currently assisting a family of three in gaining comfort and knowledge from studying the Bible.

Gene experiences much joy in this very important profession of preaching. He now feels that he is contributing something to the everlasting welfare of his fellow man. He regularly engages in the house-to-house ministry and has devised ways of keeping a house-to-house record and delivering oral sermons right at the doors.

In addition to adequately caring for his ministerial duties he supports himself by working as an assembler for a plumbing firm. At the age of thirty-three, Gene finds himself happy in doing his utmost in praising the Almighty God Jehovah, and helping others to see with the eyes of understanding.

“Conformed to This World”

Have the churches of Christendom met the challenge of today’s worldly conformity?

It has long been the tendency of mankind to conform to the crowd. The results have long been unhappy. Despite repeatedly sad results, humans and human organizations continue to conform to the world. Small wander that we have reached what one educator calls “the age of conformity.” Mass communications and educational organizations have been criticized for not meeting the challenge of today’s conformity. Where can the people turn for leadership in resisting worldly conformity?

Many persons look to the churches of Christendom for direction. They feel that, of all organizations today, certainly the churches ought to take the lead in resisting worldly conformity. And should not the churches, of all organizations, conform to Biblical right principles rather than to the world?

Not unreasonably, one should expect religious leaders to adhere to the rule found in the Bible at Romans 12:2, which reads, according to Christendom’s popular modern English translation, the Revised Standard Version, “Do not be conformed to this world.”

Well, then, how are the churches meeting the challenge of today’s worldly conformity? Are they resolutely pointing to Bible principles? Are they, with all clarity, warning professed Christians of the perils of conforming to this world? Are the churches themselves setting the example in not conforming to this world?

A noted educator recently surveyed the religious scene. What he found is recorded in the book The Age of Conformity: “In their efforts to hold their influence over a sensory society, the churches have failed to maintain with uncompromising clarity the spiritual standards of their origins. Some have turned to popular entertainment to lure their constituents at least physically into their houses of worship. Church community centers function with dutiful vigor; coffee is served in the crypt after Communion, and bingo enlivens cathedrals. . . . Sermons have become more mundane and popular, and some churchmen have embarked . . . upon the controversial political and economic seas of their communities. All these attempts do not appear to have won the public to greater spiritual devotion.”

SOCIAL CLUB ATMOSPHERE

When we examine a typical church weekly or monthly program we often find the social club atmosphere. Church bulletins abound with references to a bewildering array of dinners, various kinds of picnics, square dances, social affairs for the young, schedules for sports events, sales and entertainments. “A great many clergymen,” writes J. F. Saunders, “fear that the secondary functions of the church are beclouding and superseding the primary one. There is a tendency to place record memberships above solid spirituality and to mistake a seeking after social activities for religious fervor.”

There is no doubt that giving a church the social club atmosphere does wonders for the church membership roll. But what does it do to the church? Kermit Eby, a University of Chicago social scientist, observes that the trouble today is “the church has become respectable, a please-the-crowd institution instead of an unfettered champion of principle. . . . This trend to respectability and conformity has undermined the church as an instrument of God.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 13, 1956.

Social scientist Eby has indeed furnished food for thought—“a please-the-crowd institution instead of an unfettered champion of principle.” That phrase well describes so many churches; they have conformed to worldly ways to gain members. Instead of conforming to the crowd the early Christians conformed to God’s will as revealed in the Bible. They lived up to the command at Romans 12:2: “Quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and complete will of God.”

ATTEMPT TO SERVE TWO MASTERS

How impossible, then, for true religion to conform to this world! One cannot conform to the world and at the same time conform to God’s will. The Master stated the inflexible rule: “No one can be a slave to two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other.”—Matt. 6:24.

Yet the churches have tried to serve two masters. British prelate H. R. L. Sheppard wrote in his book If I Were Dictator: “What is wrong with the churches is that they try to be both Christian and secular at the same time. Is not this perhaps to give to Caesar the things that are God’s? . . . At the moment the churches are primarily devoted to finance and prestige. . . . They have consented to enter the world’s arena.”

Financially, the results of this policy have been gratifying. Spiritually, the results have been catastrophic. Small wonder that Christendom finds herself in the worst plight in history; the colossus of a moral breakdown stalks throughout Christendom. The churches’ conformity to worldly ways has backfired. Church members are hardly different from nonchurch members. They have not been trained to live according to God’s will. Christianity is not only a way of believing; it is a way of living. Conformed-to-the-world churches have not transformed their members into conformed-to-God’s-will Christians.

It is not surprising, then, that we often hear comments such as that once expressed by American clergyman John Haynes Holmes: “It is a little difficult to think of America as a Christian nation—that is, if one thinks of Christianity in terms not of belief or profession of faith, but of actual life. There are Christian churches enough in this country. . . . But what influence do these churches have upon the thought and conduct of the average citizen, and what difference would it make to the life of the community if they were closed, never again to be opened?”

The answer is only too obvious. Conformity to the world is weakness, not strength, compromise, not integrity. True moral and spiritual power comes from unflinching adherence to God’s will; any other course is spiritually devitalizing. “The Christianity of today cheats itself,” declares Dr. Albert Schweitzer, “with the delusions that it is making its position as a church stronger year by year. It is accommodating itself to the spirit of the age by adopting a kind of modern worldliness. . . . Just in proportion as it gains in external power, it loses in spiritual.”

UNSCRIPTURAL WORLDLINESS

How glaring is the unscriptural worldliness of Christendom’s churches! Powerful Bible truths have been watered down so that sermons become please-the-crowd speeches. “There will be a period of time,” foretold Christ’s apostle, “when they will not put up with the healthful teaching, but, in accord with their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves to have their ears tickled.” Ear-tickling sermons are the specialty of so many churches!—2 Tim. 4:3,

Churches have gone after prestige and financial gain. They have sought glory from the world, despite Jesus’ definite pronouncement: “Woe, whenever all men speak well of you, for things like this are what their forefathers did to the false prophets.” They have initiated all manner of dubious methods to raise funds, including games of chance. They have adulterated God’s Word with philosophy and psychology to please more people, despite the words of the apostle Paul; “We have renounced the underhanded things of which to be ashamed, not walking in craftiness neither adulterating the word of God, but by making the truth manifest recommending ourselves to every human conscience.” Churches have preached politics and dabbled in politics despite clear-cut Biblical warnings: “The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.” “Adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world is constituting himself an enemy of God.”—Luke 6:26; 2 Cor. 4:2; Jas. 1:27; 4:4.

Is it strange that conformity to this world makes one an enemy of God? No, for this world is under the control of the “god of this system of things,” Satan the Devil. (2 Cor. 4:4) This world’s ways are in direct conflict with the righteous requirements of God. And yet, as G. G. D. Kilpatrick, principal of the United Theological College, Montreal, says of the churches: “We have acquiesced in conventions, practices, and aims which are at entire variance with the ideals and spirit of the religion we profess.”

Is there any doubt about Christendom’s churches being conformed to this world? Not in the opinion of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, which said in its 1954 State of the Churches Report: “The average church is so much conformed to the world that people are surprised if it sharply challenges the prevailing behavior of the community.”

Though the churches have conformed to this world despite the unequivocal command, “Do not be conformed to this world,” there is no reason for you to take the same disobedient course. The Bible points out God’s will. Learn that will. Pattern your life according to it. Let this journal help you do that.

Imitating the Shulammite in Exclusive Devotion

“PLACE me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; because love is as strong as death is, insistence on exclusive devotion is as unyielding as Sheol is. Its blazings are the blazings of a fire, the flame of Jah.” Thus a simple Shulammite country girl, with whom King Solomon had fallen in love, expressed her feelings for her lover, a shepherd youth.—Cant. 8:6.a

She was a dusky maiden, due to working in the fields in the sun. In the line of duty she had come across King Solomon’s encampment. He at once became enamored of her, for she was indeed the “most beautiful one among women,” according to the court ladies. Solomon tried to overawe her with the dazzling splendor of his encampment and of his palace in Jerusalem. He also flattered her with pretty speeches, but all in vain. She remained steadfast, faithful to her shepherd lover. In doing so she was truly wise, for she meant everything to her lover; but to King Solomon she was neither his first nor his only love; eventually she would have become just one of a thousand!—Cant. 1:8.

This Song of Songs, or Superlative Song, is part of the inspired Word of God written for our comfort, hope and instruction. In it are pictured the love of Jesus for his body of followers, which love surpasses that of the love of a man for a woman, and the love of his body of followers, his bride, for him and their exclusive devotion to him as the Bridegroom. However, Jesus lovingly died not only for his bride of 144,000 members who will share his throne but also for all his other sheep, all those of mankind who will gain everlasting life upon earth. These latter ones are represented on earth today by a great crowd that have come from all nations and hail Jehovah as God and Christ as King, even as the bride of Christ is represented on earth by a mere remnant. For all of these the Shulammite also set a noteworthy example of exclusive devotion.

By pondering over what Jesus has done for us, by noting his expressions of endearment in God’s Word, as well as his promises regarding the future, our love for him will grow. That love will cause us to give him exclusive devotion, which, in turn, will protect us from materialistic persons who would awaken in us a love or desire for selfish things. And just as the Shulammite was very discreet, so must we be. Yes, far from stumbling others, our conduct should recommend the truth to those on the outside.

To misguided friends who feel sorry for us because of our taking our religion so seriously as to give our Lord exclusive devotion, we want to say as did the Shulammite, ‘Do not try to awaken such love in us.’ While they consider our course foolish, we know that in fact it is a wise one, even as was that of the Shulammite. Not only did our Lord show the greatest possible measure of love for us by dying for us, but he holds out to us endless happiness with him in his new world. (John 15:13) The Solomon-like materialistic world is concerned, not about our welfare, but only in serving its own ends. How foolish to listen to it!

Her shepherd lover praised the Shulammite for her scarlet lips and agreeable speaking. By our preaching the good news of God’s kingdom our Shepherd Lover will also find our lips and speaking to be praiseworthy. Truly the account of the love that the Shulammite and her lover had for each other is part of the inspired things recorded for our comfort, hope and instruction.

[Footnotes]

Priceless Treasure in Earthen Vessels

IN ANCIENT times earthen vessels were used in Biblical lands as containers for the safe preservation of valuables. So at Jeremiah 32:14 (AS) we read that the prophet commanded Baruch to put deeds of purchase in an earthen vessel, “that they may continue many days.” The apostle Paul may have had this custom in mind when he wrote to the congregation at Corinth: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels.” (2 Cor. 4:7) From the context it is clear that by the vessels here spoken of he meant the human organisms of dedicated Christians, himself and his brothers, and this is further corroborated by 2 Timothy 2:20, 21, where he says: “Now in a large house there are vessels not only of gold and silver but also of wood and earthenware, and some for an honorable purpose but others for a purpose lacking honor. If, therefore, anyone keeps clear of the latter ones, he will be a vessel for an honorable purpose, sanctified, useful to his owner, prepared for every good work.”

Now what is the “treasure” that is hidden in these live earthen “vessels”? From Paul’s argumentation we find that it is the ministry entrusted to Jehovah’s faithful slaves, ‘the glorious treasure of service.’ It is true that the members of Christ’s body are receptacles for the truth, but this alone does not meet the apostle’s explanation. For we read: “As we have such a hope, we are using great freeness of speech, and . . . since we have this ministry according to the mercy that was shown us, we do not behave improperly, . . . but by making the truth manifest recommending ourselves to every human conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Cor. 3:12, 13; 4:1, 2) Yes, it is the precious privilege of service that is meant by the treasure. And is it not true that the great God of the universe has granted the invaluable privilege of serving as his witnesses to lowly humans, although the angels would have hailed such an assignment with the greatest joy? It is as Peter tells his brothers: “Into these very things [which have now been announced to you] angels are desiring to peer. Hence brace up your minds for activity.” And: “You are ‘ . . . a people for special possession, that you should declare abroad the excellencies’ of the one that called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”—1 Pet. 1:12, 13; 2:9.

“NO FLESH MIGHT BOAST”

And why has almighty Jehovah chosen such frail earthen vessels, who are in themselves absolutely unworthy of such honor and lacking in power to resist the pressure brought to bear upon them by the enemy? The apostle answers: “That the power beyond what is normal may be God’s and not that out of ourselves. . . . in order that no flesh might boast in the sight of God.” (2 Cor. 4:7; 1 Cor. 1:28, 29) And surely divine power is needed to make these vessels bear up under the heavy pressure, and it is also given in adequate measure. Let us read Paul’s description in the next verses (2Co 4:8-11) here at 2 Corinthians, chapter 4: “We are pressed in every way, but not cramped beyond movement; we are perplexed, but not absolutely with no way out; we are persecuted, but not left in the lurch; we are thrown down, but not destroyed. Always we endure everywhere in our body the death-dealing treatment given to Jesus, that the life of Jesus may also be made manifest in our . . . mortal flesh. Consequently, death is at work in us, but life in you.”

“Death is at work in us, but life in you”! When the apostle wrote these words he referred to himself and to his fellow apostles and other colaborers in comparison with the members of the newly founded congregations of believers in Greece. But how well this expression states the relationship of God’s anointed remnant of treasure-bearing vessels in our day toward his “other sheep,” to whom it has been and is their sweet privilege to minister the life-giving truth and who are zealously and faithfully sharing in the grand service of heralding the Kingdom now established! In Revelation 22:17 we are told: “The spirit and the bride keep on saying, ‘Come!’ And let anyone hearing say, ‘Come!’ And let anyone thirsting come; let anyone that wishes take life’s water free.” These words leave no doubt that the ministry in these days is shared by the two classes. This sacred service they will carry on right into and through the battle of Armageddon, as was indicated by the answer given to Isaiah when he inquired of Jehovah how long he was to continue telling the message to the people: “Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and homes without man, and the land become utterly waste.” (Isa. 6:8-12, AS) After the fall of Christendom testimony will be given against the godless element then in power, until the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” destroys them and his own universal sovereignty stands vindicated forever.

The already “great” multitude of the Lord’s “other sheep” will continue to grow in number, whereas the remnant of Christ’s anointed body members decreases year by year as members thereof finish their course in death, faithful to the end. For them, however, the sweet promise is held out that “the things they did go right with them.” They are experiencing an instantaneous resurrection and enter right into their share in the work of their reigning King and Bridegroom. No wonder Revelation calls them “happy”!—Rev. 14:13.

ODOR OF LIFE, ODOR OF DEATH

In Revelation 22:17 the message preached was likened to life-giving water, which the thirsty ones can come and take “without money and without price,” as Isaiah put it. (Isa 55:1-3, AV) In his letter to the Corinthians Paul uses another illustration that shows the different effect that this ministry has upon people of good will, on the one hand, and upon those of a bad disposition toward the Kingdom, on the other hand. He says: “Thanks be to God who always leads us in a triumphal procession in company with the Christ and makes the odor of the knowledge of him perceptible through us in every place! For to God we are a sweet odor of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the latter ones an odor issuing from death to death, to the former ones an odor issuing from life to life. And who is adequately qualified for these things?”—2 Cor. 2:14-16.

The apostle was here referring to the practice in those days of burning sweet incense all along the route as the triumphal procession of a military victor moved through the streets of the welcoming capital. So, by spreading abroad in this day everywhere the ‘triumphant message of Jehovah’s established kingdom,’ his truthbearing vessels are diffusing and making manifest the sweet fragrance of this message. Honest persons of good will toward God and his theocratic government sense the sweetness of the knowledge thus diffused, and to them the witness work has the smell of health and life. They breathe in the atmosphere of the Kingdom truth, which is an odor of life that leads to life. The message gains victories in that it transforms many, who formerly were enemies of God by wicked works, into witnesses of Jehovah and preachers of the good news of his theocratic kingdom. They render thanks to Jehovah God and to his King, whose triumphal procession they joyfully join, loudly crying out: “Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:10) On the other hand, to those who love the things of this old world the Kingdom message is a stench in their nostrils, ‘an odor of death’ that leads to death.

Not only is the message that Jehovah’s witnesses preach an odor, but they themselves are so also. And so the apostle ended up his statement about the triumphal procession by saying: “And who is adequately qualified for these things?” He then answers his own question in these words: “We are; for we are not peddlers of the word of God as many men are, but as out of sincerity, yes, as sent from God, under God’s view, in company with Christ, we are speaking.”—2 Cor. 2:17.

Those who are opposed to the Kingdom message accuse the witnesses of all sorts of “crimes,” and often the authorities prosecute them as “peddlers,” in an effort to stop their preaching or at least make their activity appear in a bad light. Paul here gives a definite answer to such accusations; and even though some misinformed people may think differently, every real witness realizes that he is doing his preaching work “as sent from God, under God’s view in company with Christ,” and as such it is also realized and appreciated by those who are of good will.

VOLUNTARY LIGHT-BEARERS

In this connection it is worthy of notice that this witness work calls for volunteers, for people who say, as Isaiah of old: “Here am I; send me.” (Isa. 6:8, AV) Hence there should never be any attempt at forcing people to take part in this work. The thing for Jehovah’s witnesses to do, when people show interest in the message, is to study the Bible with them and thus supply them with the needed knowledge of God’s purposes and his will, so that Jehovah’s spirit can operate upon them; and then to show them how they can share their newly gotten invaluable knowledge and joy with others. In this way all persons dedicated to Jehovah God can be light-bearers in this dark and gloomy world.

In Second Corinthians Paul uses another illustration that emphasizes this function as light-bearers and at the same time explains why most people do not see the light that is being radiated from Jehovah’s servants. He refers to the fact that Moses’ face was radiating because of Jehovah’s glory that he had beheld on Mount Sinai. This reflected glory the Israelites could not gaze at, so that Moses had to put a veil over his face when he spoke to them. And Paul explains the significance of this happening and applies it to our ministry as follows: “Moses would put a veil upon his face, that the sons of Israel might not gaze intently at the end of that which was to be done away with. But their mental perceptions were dulled. . . . when there is a turning to Jehovah, the veil is taken away. If, now, the good news we declare is in fact veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through. For God is he who said: ‘Let the light shine out of darkness,’ and he has shone on our hearts to illuminate them with the glorious knowledge of God by the face of Christ.”—2 Cor. 3:12-14, 16; 4:3, 4, 6.

This glorious light, which they have received from God through Christ, Jehovah’s witnesses are faithfully reflecting. And they have, to quote further the apostle’s argument, “renounced the underhanded things of which to be ashamed, not walking in craftiness neither adulterating the word of God, but by making the truth manifest recommending [themselves] to every human conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Cor. 4:2) So if any persons are having the light of truth veiled from their sight, it is certainly not the responsibility of Jehovah’s witnesses, but it is their own.

Especially is this so in view of the statement at Revelation 18:1: “I saw another angel descending from heaven, with great authority, and the earth was lighted up from his glory.” When this prophecy went into fulfillment by the Lord Jesus’ coming in his kingdom power, the prophetic command at Isaiah 60:1, 2 became effective: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Jehovah will arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” And since 1919 Jehovah’s earthen vessels have been active accordingly, with the result foretold in Isa 60 verse 3: “And nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”—AS.

So let each one of the remnant and of the “other sheep” keep on shining as illuminators in the world (Phil. 2:15), in grateful appreciation of their grand and most unique privilege of service, the priceless treasure that they have in their earthen vessels.

Associations Produce Effects

The Bible principle “Bad associations spoil useful habits” illustrates how people are influenced by the association with the wrong kind of people. On the other hand, good associations are conducive to producing and preserving useful habits. Writing in Christian Life and the Unconscious, Ernest White speaks of “the way in which we affect one another in the ordinary relationships of life.” “Long and close friendship with another person,” he says, “often alters us in ways which are imperceptible to us but which may become evident to others. Friendship has a transforming power which is more than the conscious effects of companionship. This transforming influence steals upon us unawares, and it sometimes comes as a surprising revelation to discover how much we have been influenced in our ways of thinking, or even in our habits and our ways of acting, by long years of close companionship with some man or woman whom we love. Similarly, there can be little doubt that parents and teachers may pass on their buried complexes to the children under their charge. Neither the parent nor the child is conscious of this, but it shows itself in reactions of behaviour.” How important that teachers and parents set right examples in thoughts and actions!

Pursuing My Purpose in Life

As told by A. W. Checksfield

ONE day in 1940 at London, England, an elderly woman entered my place of business and presented her testimony card. After perusal I handed it back with the comment, “I’m not interested in religion!”

She, however, being a persistent person, did not accept my polite dismissal, but went right on to explain the vast difference between (true) Christianity and (false) religion. This short sermon really ‘got’ me. I obtained the book Salvation and some copies of the Consolation (now Awake!) magazine. That night I lay on my bed and began reading the book. But after enjoying the brief introduction of “Emergency” I noted some Bible quotations, and with that I flung the book across the room and went to sleep. Strangely enough, what little I did read worried me so much that I kept this book among things of value. So that was my first introduction to the Kingdom message of Jehovah’s witnesses.

The seed was sown. The watering of it came some months later, toward the close of the year, when the witnesses, in their house-to-house ministry, came to the apartments where I was living to call on the people below. I was invited to join them in listening to the phonograph recording of the lecture “Government and Peace” by J. F. Rutherford, and I accepted. A Bible study was arranged, and later started, with the aid of the book Salvation. I made rapid progress, for my keen desire to know more about Jehovah and his Son, Christ Jesus, also the desire to serve them, became very much sharpened. Yes, from that time onward each move made was the laying of the “right foundation for the future” for missionary service.—1 Tim. 6:19.

Three months passed. Then a dedication was made to serve these Higher Powers of the new world. One month later (April, 1941) I symbolized this dedication by water immersion performed in a private pool at the Society’s British branch, London, and I well recall the then branch servant’s admonition, “Keep faithful, brother!” Being filled with the urgency of the times, and also giving heed to my former instructor’s unsound prediction (that ‘Armageddon will be inside of five years at the latest’), I wanted to get right ‘into the Ark’—the new system of things—before 1946; yes, before the “deluge” of Armageddon broke loose! But, behold, instead of Armageddon arriving in April of 1946, there arrived for me an invitation to attend the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, to be trained for foreign missionary service.

Those five years (1941-1946) of “waiting” were the most exciting and strangest of my life. The experiences therein certainly made the “right foundation for the future,” and, most important of all, such brought me to maturity quickly. Four months after being baptized I determined to pursue my purpose in life, and so application for pioneer service was made. By January, 1942, after winding up my business, etc., I began the most blessed, privileged work on earth, that of a full-time minister of the great Creator, Jehovah God. My first assignment of service in this capacity was in a rural district of the Midlands (England), and also to take oversight of a small congregation there. In August, eight months later, I received a most unusual assignment—that of being confined behind prison walls due to my refusal to serve any other powers or “superior authorities” than those described at Romans 13:1. Gladly I accepted this assignment because it was in harmony with Mark 13:9 and Revelation 2:10. Experiences gained in prison life were (1) overcoming the hardship of lack of sufficient material food by partaking of an abundance of spiritual food, and (2) sticking to a daily schedule of Bible reading and study. (Job 23:12) Indeed the term “colleges” used for such places of confinement is very appropriate. In fact, due to my applying the knowledge gained therein relative to the counsel at 1 Peter 3:15, a warder whom I often told of my hope also became a minister and witness of Jehovah!

Incidentally, after attending the 1953 New York assembly I went on to England and there met this warder again for the first time since my release from “college” in 1943. We were overjoyed to see each other. I can almost still feel that big brotherly hug that he then gave me at a Kingdom Hall in London.

Upon completing the terms in the different “colleges” and “graduating” with merit, I received another assignment; this time direct from the “faithful and discreet slave” (through the Watch Tower Society) to work together with an elderly faithful pioneer of the “anointed” class. It was a grand privilege to work with “Mattie” Neate, who had been in full-time service for over twenty-five years. We had a tough assignment, a strong military and religious town in southern England. This was some months before D-day, the military invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. However, after working there a few months, and due to the authorities’ cat-and-mouse methods, I had to serve another term in “college” a local one. Much publicity was given in the local newspapers about my case, in the form of letters from readers, some favorable and some unfavorable, as to wartime neutrality of Jehovah’s witnesses. Later, after “graduating” and after helping to build up a strong congregation (of which I had oversight) in this town, I was assigned by the Society to special work in isolated territory in North Wales with a young pioneer brother from the north of England, whom as yet I had not met.

Eighteen months of working in North Wales, with my new partner, at the seaside and in the mountains, were indeed happy months. Yes, there we met up with hardships in the way of food shortage because of wartime food rationing. One outstanding experience in this respect was when we obtained accommodation in a boarding house before the hard wintry months set in. During a period in the winter of 1944 we were having a lean time when quite surprisingly the owner of the place, an old lady, informed us that she was to visit her daughter down south (Wales) for a month or two and that she would leave the seventeen-room house in our charge, together with a cupboard full of food! Two weeks later the servant to the brethren (now circuit servant) paid us a visit, so we gave him a ‘royal’ time, best room in the house, etc.

Then came the year 1945, the ending of World War II and so the ending of the cat-and-mouse system of in and out of “colleges.” A surprise visit was made to England by the Society’s president, Brother Knorr, and a call went out for brothers to enter foreign missionary service. I made application.

Came 1946, also an invitation to attend Gilead School; and so to start out on the journey, not yet through Armageddon into a cleansed earth, no, but to missionary fields. We left England on the last day of that year’s May, the voyage to the U.S.A., on a 14,000-ton ship that rocked about on the Atlantic rollers like a matchbox, taking fourteen days. Then followed attending the first postwar international assembly at Cleveland, Ohio, and from there to attend the first international class of students at Gilead to receive five months’ strenuous training for foreign service. Those are days long to be remembered.

Having spent the early part of my boyhood among London’s slums at the time when tramcars were drawn along by horses and education was not so advanced as it is today, I became anxious about graduating from Gilead successfully. But with trust in Jehovah and by hard work, plus the president’s counsel (”don’t worry but work”) at the opening of the eighth class, together with the great assistance of the instructors and brothers at Gilead, I successfully graduated with merit, equipped to meet my ambition for missionary service. During the course the question arose: “Since we have only a one-way ticket, where are we going from here?” By graduation day that question was fully answered. My foreign assignment, together with an Australian brother, was to be the Fiji islands. Before departure to Fiji we were privileged to spend a few days at the Brooklyn headquarters and factory to learn office procedure, etc.

Finally we left the U.S.A. shores for our new homeland, taking with us many happy memories of our association and grand days spent with our zealous and generous American brothers. After a fourteen-day sea voyage we arrived on Fiji in April, 1947, eight weeks after graduation day, and six years almost to the day after symbolizing my dedication to Jehovah’s service.

Geographically the Fiji islands are situated in the tropics, so the climate can get very hot at times, especially in wet or hurricane season from November to April. We arrived during the wet and hot spell—incidentally, a day before the Memorial celebration. Arrangements were made and the meeting was held in the Kingdom Hall in Suva, the capital. This meeting afforded us the opportunity of seeing our new brothers and sisters with whom we were to work and serve. Four days later we started out in full sway in the house-to-house work. Each month cartons of books and booklets would be placed, together with many magazines and the obtaining of subscriptions.

Then came my first test, the hot climate, for I have always had a liking for dry cold weather. This is best illustrated by recounting an experience after graduation day, six weeks before our arrival at Fiji, when I dived into the icy water of the pond at Gilead while brothers were cutting ice for storage. The reason for doing this was to show and prove to a few of the American brothers that I could stand up to their wintry weather, in reply to their friendly teasing. However, the first year’s service in Fiji was most thrilling and interesting, working and living among such a mixed population, including Fijians, Indians, Chinese, Europeans, Eurasians, and people from Samoa and other Pacific islands. But the second year came as a kind of challenge; for now the new surroundings, customs of the people, and so on, began to become commonplace. Also, a little “homesickness” set in, the wanting of cooler climate. Then at that time the government became unfriendly by putting restrictions on the importation of the Society’s literature and other irksome actions. This trial of endurance was made harder when my partner left Fiji to return to his former homeland, Australia, because of ill health and to marry. Further, I contracted a disease known as “self-pity.”

Happily I can report that by the close of the third year (1950) this seemingly big trial or combination of difficulties had been overcome. How? By leaning heavily upon Jehovah and his mighty theocratic organization, by keeping busy in His service and by being determined to stick by my post as “the right kind of soldier.” Coupled with this was the encouragement received from headquarters and from the Australian branch, as well as from other brothers overseas. Truly, I have ‘tasted Jehovah’s goodness’ all these past eight years of missionary service.

Yes, what great joy I have received by sticking to my God-given assignment! Happiness in seeing my work’s fruitage that Jehovah has given—that of people whom I contacted during those “trying” years dedicating their lives to Jehovah, then symbolizing such by water immersion and, further, to train them in such happy service! Some hold servant positions in the Suva congregation, and a few have taken up regular and vacation pioneer service. I had to continue alone as a missionary, due to the government not allowing entry of other Watch Tower missionaries to assist us, but the local brothers responded well to the call for pioneer assistance. Three young congregation publishers, Eurasians, a brother and two sisters, joined the happy ranks as Jehovah’s full-time servants. So year after year increase in numbers of the New World society has been manifest. By 1955 we had a congregation of over fifty strong, an increase of 500 percent over 1947, the year of my arrival on Fiji.

Soon afterward I began working in isolated territory on the main island, Viti Levu (Fiji Big), among the Indian sugarcane planters and the Fijians, conducting, on an average, twenty-three home Bible studies a week. These folk become happy when given my reply to their propounded question about my returning to England—that I have no desire to leave Fiji, for there is no better place on earth for me. Also, I become happy when learning of such remarks as that of a dark-skinned Fijian to those who were taunting him because of his interest in Jehovah’s witnesses: “He may have white skin, but, boy, he’s got a ‘black’ heart!” This goes for all the “white” witnesses.

As I write this my partner is at Gilead School and I am looking forward to being present at the 1958 Yankee Stadium assembly to see him graduate. He will be the first Fijian graduate in the history of Gilead. In the meantime I am continuing as missionary and congregation servant for our group at Lautoka. Certainly the years spent here in missionary work have been happy ones and richly blessed. The work is growing rapidly now and we hope some of the brothers who are willing to serve where the need is great will be able to join us here.

I firmly believe that by accepting the Scriptural counsel at 1 Timothy 4:16, of staying with or sticking to one’s assignment, I am laying a “right foundation for the future,” yes, for post-Armageddon assignments of service in Jehovah’s new world.

Methodists, Take Note

In 1754 John Wesley completed his “alterations” of the Authorized Version of 1611 together with his “Explanatory Notes.” As an honest student of the Scriptures Wesley rejected the trinitarian spurious text of 1 John 5:7 as found in the King James translation.—See Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament, by John Wesley, reprinted edition of 1948, p. 917.

“You Ought to Be Teachers”

“For, indeed, although you ought to be teachers in view of the time, you again need someone to teach you from the beginning the first principles of the sacred pronouncements of God.”—Heb. 5:12.

1. (a) What kind of instructor do men today need? (b) Where can they find such an instructor, and why is He best qualified?

WHO can point out the way to sure success? What teacher knows the secret of life itself? No man can fill that role; yet never were men in greater need of such an instructor. No man can truthfully boast that he knows what tomorrow holds. (Prov. 27:1) None among men hold the secret of life, so that they can hold back the hand of death. For the answers to these things it is both reasonable and urgent for us to turn to the One who made man, and who therefore knows what man needs in order to live and be successful. As Elihu, the faithful companion of afflicted Job, truthfully said: “Look! God himself acts exaltedly with his power; who is an instructor like him?” (Job 36:22) He is the one who knows what lies ahead. “I am God, and there is none like me; declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” (Isa. 46:9, 10, AS) As the Source of life, he knows the secrets of life. In his “hand is the soul of everyone alive and the spirit of all flesh of man.”—Job 12:10.

2. How does the formula for success at Joshua 1:8 affect Christians today?

² Since his Word can illuminate the pathway of men and point the way to follow, the divine instruction found in Joshua 1:8 must be conformed to by those who find success: “This book of the law should not depart from your mouth and you must in an undertone read in it day and night in order that you may take care to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way successful and then you will act wisely.” That “book of the law” that Joshua was instructed to give attention to provided prophetic patterns of grander things to come and was written for our instruction. As we both meditate upon those prophetic types and look intently at Jesus Christ, the one to whom they pointed, we find clearly set before us the way that leads to Jehovah’s favor, the way that is successful.—Gal. 3:24; Heb. 12:2.

3. Where do many seek instruction, and why unwisely so?

³ The majority of men have failed to listen to the counsel the Bible gives. Some hopelessly see no solution to mankind’s problems. Others are of the same mind as worldly-wise Bildad, a would-be comforter of Job who relied on the philosophies of men. “Ask, please, of the former generation and direct [your attention] to the things searched out by their fathers. Will not they themselves instruct you, tell you, and from their heart will they not bring forth words?” (Job 8:8, 10) They set aside the Word of God in favor of human traditions. Since they find pleasure only in those teachers who deceitfully tickle their ears, Jehovah says: “‘I will make the wisdom of the wise men perish, and I will shove the intelligence of the intellectual aside.’ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not get to know God, God saw good through the foolishness of what is preached to save those believing.”—1 Cor. 1:19, 21; Mark 7:8; 2 Tim. 4:3, 4.

4, 5. For us to be taught by Jehovah, what attitude must we display?

⁴ To receive instruction from Jehovah God we must come to him as a child to a father whom he loves and deeply respects. Jesus taught us to approach him that way. “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified.” (Matt. 6:9) We are invited to seek his instruction. “If anyone of you is lacking in wisdom, let him keep on asking God, for he gives generously to all and without reproaching, and it will be given him. But let him keep on asking in faith, not doubting at all, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and blown about. In fact, let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from Jehovah; he is an indecisive man, unsteady in all his ways.” (Jas. 1:5-8) Those who can leave the skepticism of the old world behind and who remember that it is not the position of men to call into question the ways of God will receive the instruction they seek. Doubters, scoffers and skeptics will not receive anything from Jehovah, neither wisdom nor life in his new world.

⁵ The psalmist David well stated the attitude of those who learn from the Great Instructor Jehovah God: “He will cause the meek ones to walk in [his] judicial decision and he will teach the meek ones his way. Who, now, is the man fearful of Jehovah? He will instruct him in the way [that] he will choose.” (Ps. 25:9, 12) Their desire is that expressed at Psalm 143:10: “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your spirit is good; may it lead me in the land of uprightness.” They are meek and teachable; they have faith; they acknowledge him as God; they are confident that his way is upright. With such a proper viewpoint, they are in line to learn from him.

INSTRUCTION THROUGH GOD’S SERVANTS

6. How did Adam and Noah serve in Jehovah’s arrangement for instructing his people?

⁶ From earliest times Jehovah used a teaching channel through which instruction was provided. Adam was the first human prophet of God and was used to convey to his wife Eve the communications he received from Jehovah God. Noah was another man used by God as a teacher. From their youth Noah had apparently taken great care to instill in his sons faith and the fear of God, with the result that both they and their wives were acceptable to God. About fifty years before the Flood the Lord God specifically mentioned that they were also in line for preservation. Not only did Jehovah tell Noah that the world was to end, but he gave specific instructions on what steps to take to survive that world destruction. Noah did not fail to give like specific instruction to his sons. Their acceptance of him as the one used by God, their obeying him and following him into the ark resulted in their preservation when the ungodly world went down in destruction.—Gen. 6:13-7:7.

7. What are a few of the things that made Moses’ teaching particularly effective?

⁷ When Moses was sent to lead the Israelites from Egyptian slavery to the free worship of God, Jehovah told him: “I will teach you what you ought to say.” (Ex. 4:12) As one taught by God, Moses knew that certain things would cause instruction to make a deep impression. For that reason he did not fail to show the value of the information he presented: “And now, O Israel, listen to the regulations and the judicial decisions that I am teaching you to do, in order that you may live and may indeed go in and take possession of the land that Jehovah the God of your forefathers is giving you.” (Deut. 4:1) He continued telling them to obey Jehovah and he contrasted the benefits of such a right course with the fate of those who were destroyed for engaging in the disgraceful and God-dishonoring worship of Baal of Peor. He did more than tell the people God’s law. He explained it, illustrated the value of it and for emphasis repeated matter, of special importance.

8. What group regularly taught the Israelites Jehovah’s law, and how did they do their work?

⁸ The privilege of teaching God’s Word was not limited to Moses. In his parting instructions to the nation before his death he bestowed a special blessing upon the Levites, saying: “Let them instruct Jacob in your judicial decisions and Israel in your law.” (Deut. 33:10) Years later they were still faithfully carrying out that assignment. “And they began teaching in Judah and with them there was the book of Jehovah’s law, and they kept going around through all the cities of Judah and teaching among the people.” (2 Chron. 17:9) They did not fail to use the Sacred Scriptures available in their time as the basis for their teaching, but they did not feel that their assignment had been fulfilled by simply telling the people what the Scriptures said or by reading portions of it. Even after their return from captivity years later it was said of their teaching that, along with their reading, there was a “putting of meaning [into it], and they continued making explanation in the reading.” They were teachers.—Neh. 8:8.

9. What kind of teacher was Jesus, and what change in the teaching arrangement among God’s people did he institute?

⁹ In the fall of A.D. 29 another teacher appeared on the scene in Palestine. He was not a Levite; he was of the royal tribe of Judah. He followed the pattern of earlier servants of God in that he went out to the people, instead of requiring that they come to him. “He went round about to the villages in a circuit, teaching.” (Mark 6:6) Men who heard him, even his opponents, said that never had another spoken as he did. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, acknowledged: “Rabbi, we know that you as a teacher have come from God; for no one can perform these signs which you perform unless God is with him.” (John 3:2) And Jesus himself made clear that he did not speak of his own originality. He was the one used by God to instruct His people. With Jesus something new in the field of teaching opened up. No longer was the privilege of teaching limited to the tribe of Levi or other specially appointed persons. Even fishermen and tax collectors were called by Jesus and instructed for this vocation. They were to be teachers. So they traveled about with Jesus to learn from him. (Luke 8:1; John 14:10) As public instructors they would have to learn to deal with the public, to present the message clearly and to answer questions for sincere inquirers. They had the marvelous opportunity to learn from the greatest teacher that has ever walked on earth.

SCOPE OF THE TEACHING WORK

10. In what sense would Jesus’ disciples do greater works than he did?

¹⁰ Although there had never before been on earth a teacher like Jesus, he said: “He that exercises faith in me, that one also will do the works that I do, and he will do works greater than these, because I am going my way to the Father.” (John 14:12) This would be true because, as Jesus said, “I am going my way to the Father.” His work on earth was nearing a close. But his disciples would be able to continue the work for which they had been trained over a period of many years and do so in a wider field.

11. How has the prophecy at Acts 1:8 been fulfilled?

¹¹ He told them: “You will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) When the holy spirit was poured upon them, anointing them, they began their ministry there in Jerusalem as Jesus had said. People from many nations who were gathered there had opportunity to hear the good news in their own tongue. Not long afterward, when Stephen was stoned to death, “great persecution arose against the congregation which was in Jerusalem; all except the apostles were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. However, those who had been scattered went through the land declaring the good news of the word.” (Acts 8:1, 4) In 36 (A.D.) further expansion of the work opened up when the Lord God sent Peter to the Gentile Cornelius and his household to teach them the truth. During the twenty and more years that followed, the apostle Paul was used to further pioneer the way into the nations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Today, in 164 lands, “to the most distant part of the earth,” the good news of the Kingdom is being preached in obedience to Jesus’ command.

12. Through what channel is theocratic education provided today, and how do the Scriptures show this?

¹² In our time, no less than in centuries past, Jehovah has been using men on earth who make up his organization to teach persons of good will. He has arranged that “through the congregation the greatly diversified wisdom of God” may be made known. (Eph. 3:10) It is these members of the spirit-anointed congregation of God that “as living stones are being built up a spiritual house for the purpose of a holy priesthood.” (1 Pet. 2:5) Men of good will in all nations are coming to recognize this as the provision of God for instructing them in his requirements for life. So in increasing numbers they say: “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.” (Isa. 2:3, AS) Here they are taught to follow the example of Christ Jesus, to obey his commands. They learn that the command of Jesus to his people includes them when it says: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am with you all the days until the consummation of the system of things.” (Matt. 28:19, 20) Yes, they learn that now, in this consummation of the system of things, they ought to be teachers of the things commanded by Jesus.

TRAINED TO BE TEACHERS

13. How did the apostle Paul show that the ranks of teachers would be expanded, and who today is doing such a work?

¹³ It is not enough to tell people they should teach others; to be competent for the work they must be properly instructed. Paul provided such training for Timothy by taking him right along with him in the missionary work. Later he wrote to faithful Timothy and encouraged him to continue his Christian growth and to give particular attention to training others for the teaching work that must be done. “You, therefore, my child, keep on acquiring power in the undeserved kindness that is in connection with Christ Jesus, and the things you heard from me with the support of many witnesses, these things commit to faithful men who in turn will be adequately qualified to teach others.” (2 Tim. 2:1, 2) The Society today, doing a work like that of Timothy, has continued to provide for training others to be teachers of the truth.

14, 15. What are some of the provisions made by the Society to equip all to be teachers, and how does each provision contribute to that objective?

¹⁴ Aware of the advice that “you ought to be teachers in view of the time,” the Society makes regular arrangements to help all to progress to that level of Christian maturity. (Heb. 5:12) Since local overseers hold a key role in this program, one of the Scriptural requirements for every overseer is that he be “qualified to teach.” (1 Tim. 3:2) In 16,883 congregations throughout the world the Society has arranged for a regular study of the material in the Watchtower magazine, along with the Bible. It keeps all abreast of the teaching work to be done. Not only is material covered, but those in attendance are given opportunity to express it themselves and hear others comment on it, this equipping them to teach others. No dedicated person or other person of good will who really appreciates Jehovah’s channel for instructing his people would want to miss even one of these meetings if he can avoid it.—Heb. 10:25.

¹⁵ Then there is the weekly ministry school. Teachers are speakers, whether they talk to one or many at a time. They must also be able to dig out information from reference books. These things they learn to do well in the ministry school. The service meeting provides counsel on actual use of knowledge acquired, and this is followed up by practical training from mature ministers in the field service. Instructive Bible talks arranged for the public are also eagerly attended by the Witnesses, who are edified by points drawn to their attention on the relation of Bible prophecy to current world happenings and the application of Christian principles to the problems of modern-day life. They must keep such information at their fingertips in order to be able to teach “all kinds of men.” The weekly congregation book study is conducted following the pattern of the Watchtower study, but since it is usually a much smaller group and there is no set amount of material to be covered, it affords opportunity to discuss more thoroughly the points under consideration. Add to this the circuit, district, national and international assemblies. Consider the wide coverage of material for home reading regularly provided in the Awake! magazine. Has the theocratic organization taken to heart the Scriptural counsel to help God’s people to become qualified teachers? Definitely, yes!

HOME EDUCATION

16, 17. What part does the family play in theocratic education, and how was the need for this emphasized to the Israelites?

¹⁶ However, the congregation has not replaced the home for education in the New World society. Neither educational center can be dispensed with; both are important parts of the New World educational system. Parents are the day-long instructors of their children; and when they carry out a well-arranged program of Christian training in the home, the beneficial effects are enjoyed by both members of the household and all who have occasion to share their fellowship.

¹⁷ The responsibility of parents to teach their children was deeply impressed on the minds of the Israelites before they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy 4:9, 10 the advice is found: “Only watch out for yourself and take good care of your soul, that you may not forget the things that your eyes have seen and that they may not depart from your heart all the days of your life, and you must make them known to your sons and to your grandsons, the day that you stood before Jehovah your God in Horeb, when Jehovah said to me, ‘Assemble the people together to me that I may let them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they are alive on the soil and that they may teach their sons.’” Again in the sixth chapter they were reminded: “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.” And in the eleventh chapter they are again told: “You must also teach them to your sons.” Moses stated the matter several times because of its importance.

18. What regular program of Christian education is there in well-ordered Christian homes?

¹⁸ Part of the program of home instruction carried on in well-organized Christian homes throughout the world is the regular daily consideration of the text provided in the Yearbook in English and found in The Watchtower in other languages. It is best for the father to lead the entire family in this discussion, giving each member of the family opportunity to make some contribution to the discussion. But even if one of the parents is not in the truth and does not care to participate in the discussion, the believer would do well to see that the children benefit from this provision every day. Additionally, it shows deep concern for the spiritual needs of the children when the parents set aside an hour or more a week to conduct a regular home Bible study with them. Time is taken to go to the homes of others to teach them and their families the Bible, so why not provide that same service for one’s own family? It is just as important as other field ministry, and such a regular study conducted with one’s own children who are not yet dedicated may be reported to the congregation as a home Bible study.

19. What traits should parents as teachers endeavor to cultivate in their children, and with what benefit?

¹⁹ Of course, as the children grow up there are many other things they must be taught. For example, respect for others. If it is required of the child at home, it will be natural outside the home. If it is practiced by the parents themselves, the children will have a good example to copy. (Eph. 6:1-3; 1 Tim. 5:17) Dependability is important. It is not learned by children whose parents spend their lives putting things away after the children have used them or finishing jobs the children were given to do. Results are far more happifying when parents teach the children to accept responsibility. (Matt. 25:14-30) It is good to teach children how to think reliably and how to make proper decisions. Reason things out with them, impressing on their minds the Christian principles that guide right conduct, the harm that comes to one from wrongdoing, and the blessings that result from following the right course. (Jer. 10:23; Prov. 3:5, 6) Merely commanding them to “Do this!” or “Don’t do that!” will not achieve that goal. Proper development of these and many other traits is at least as important as proper growth of the body. Parents are entrusted with this important teaching assignment.

20. Who in the New World society “ought to be teachers”?

²⁰ All in the New World society look to Jehovah God and Christ Jesus as their great instructors, the ones who can guide them to everlasting life and to success. They take to heart the inspired counsel that originated with these instructors and that says to them: “You ought to be teachers.” Whether parents or children, whether spending all or part of their time in the ministry, whether overseers or otherwise, they know that there is teaching work in which they can share, and now is the time to do it.

Teaching Men of Good Will

“Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, . . . teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.”—Matt. 28:19, 20.

1. (a) What is the outstanding failure of the old world’s educational systems? (b) What steps are men of good will taking to avoid destruction with the old world?

IMPROPER education will cost this world its life at the battle of Armageddon. It is not the failure of their schools to produce scientists and engineer in sufficient member that is the threat to their lasting security. It is their failure to teach men to fear God that is their downfall. As appropriate to modern-day Christendom as to ancient Israel are the words found in Hosea 4:6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: . . . seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.” (AS) But hundreds of thousands of men of good will are demonstrating their desire for education from a higher source by turning to Jehovah’s New World society. They say: “We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” They want to learn. What they will be taught are ‘the things Jesus commanded.’ And the most effective way to teach them is in the way that Jesus and his apostles did.—Zech. 8:23, AS.

JESUS’ TEACHING

2. What are some of the outstanding things taught by Jesus?

² Briefly, just what did Jesus teach? Primarily he came to bear witness to the truth about his Father, Jehovah, to glorify him and to make known his name. (John 17:4, 26; 18:37) He laid great emphasis on the kingdom of God as the thing for which men should pray and in which they should put their confidence. He taught his disciples to seek it first. (Matt. 6:10, 33) They learned about God’s provision for salvation. The need for love and humility was impressed on their minds. He taught them to demonstrate their faith by works of faith, to become teachers of the truth. And he taught them both to have and to help others to have faith in the Holy Scriptures.

3. What will result if we copy Jesus’ method of teaching?

³ As we carefully study Jesus’ method of instruction we will be happy to find our own teaching ability improve and our fruitfulness in the ministry increase. We should not expect that all will listen; not all listened to him. But the sheep recognized his voice and followed him because he is the Right Shepherd. If we teach the things that Jesus did and in the way he did, then through us the sheep will also be able to recognize the voice of the Right Shepherd and will eagerly turn and follow, not us, but him.—John 10:16.

4, 5. (a) What is the difference between preaching and teaching? (b) What things about the Father did Jesus teach his disciples?

⁴ It is one thing to tell another person, to preach to him; it is quite another to teach a person, to help him to understand and believe. Jesus patiently taught his disciples about the Father, because he knew that their taking in knowledge of Him would mean life. “The fear of Jehovah is the start of wisdom, and knowledge of the Most Holy One is what understanding is.” (Prov. 9:10) When they came to know Jehovah and have the proper fear of him, they would show wisdom, they would know what to do with the things they learned, because wisdom is the ability to use knowledge.

⁵ Jesus not only told them to pray to the Father but showed them how to do it. (Matt. 6:5-15) He taught them to rely on God, to accept the things that sustain life as provisions from their heavenly Father. (Matt. 6:25-34) He built up their confidence in the Scriptures as God’s Word by quoting from them and explaining them. To a Samaritan woman he explained that it would be wrong to limit the worship of God to some city or mountain, because “God is a Spirit, and those worshiping him must worship with spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) In view of man’s relationship to God, he pointed out that it is only right that man’s works should be done, not for self-exaltation, but to praise God. “Likewise let your light shine before mankind, that they may see your right works and give glory to your Father who is in the heavens.” (Matt. 5:16) Jesus had come to glorify his Father and to help men of good will to see their relationship to Him; so he made sure that these points were deeply impressed on the minds and hearts of his disciples.

6. With what illustrations did Jesus show what it means to ‘seek first the kingdom’?

⁶ ‘Seek first the kingdom of God.’ It is easy to say, but how can the point be expressed in such a way that its meaning will be understood and it will govern the life of the hearer? Jesus knew that if the things to be learned could be illustrated from the lives of his hearers, from their daily experiences, their desires and their customs, things would be most easily grasped, because his hearers could visualize the things of which he spoke. He likened the intense desire one should have for that kingdom to the desire a man must have so that, having found buried treasure, he would sell all his belongings to buy the field where it was located. (Matt. 13:44) He compared the ability to recognize the sign that would mark his presence in Kingdom power to the ability of one to observe the change of the seasons. He could learn if he wanted to. (Matt. 24:32, 33) The lack of gratitude for the invitation to the Kingdom was illustrated by the indifferent attitude of men invited by a king to a marriage feast, but who were too preoccupied with other interests to attend. Their disrespectful response to their ruler brought punishment upon them.—Matt. 22:1-14.

7. How did Jesus warn against false teachers and show that not all will inherit the Kingdom?

⁷ Obviously, not all would inherit the Kingdom. Jesus used the attitude of two sons to put the point across. One was outwardly respectful to his father, but he did not obey. The other was at first a bit reluctant to do his father’s bidding, but he regretted his mistake and did obey. “Which of the two did the will of his father?” Jesus asked. “The latter,” they said. What a powerful introduction to the argument that the outwardly righteous religious leaders had failed to respond to the teaching of John the Baptist, but sinners who had not previously responded to God’s Word did repent and now were in line for the Kingdom! (Matt. 21:28-32) He showed how undesirable it would be to go to the false religious teachers for spiritual food by comparing them to dirty dishes, from which no one would want to eat. It is true, he said, they look good on the outside, like “whitewashed graves,” but no one would want to be part of the corruption inside. (Matt. 23:25-28) Others might better understand the point by his reference to fish that would be rejected from a fisherman’s catch, so he used the parable of the dragnet. (Matt. 13:47-50) He made the message live in the minds of his hearers by such fitting illustrations.

8. In what way did Jesus make appealing the acceptance of Jehovah’s means of saving?

⁸ Another point they must learn was that Jesus is the one through whom God provides salvation. The idea did not appeal to everyone, and to many Jesus was “a stone of stumbling and a rock-mass of offense.” (1 Pet. 2:8) Jesus, however, masterfully presented the subject in a way that would appeal to his hearer and for that one’s everlasting blessing. For a hard-working Samaritan woman who daily drew water from a well Jesus associated the benefits of belief with her daily work. “‘Whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty at all, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water bubbling up to impart everlasting life.’ The woman said to him: ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may neither thirst nor keep coming over to this place to draw water.’” (John 4:14, 15) She was interested, and he went on to explain further. For others who opposed him he painted a picture that would be hard to forget. He compared their rejection of him to the foul deed of the cultivators of a vineyard who refused to pay the owner his due and who even murdered his son when he came to see about the matter.—Luke 20:9-18.

9. How and why did he teach them love and humility?

⁹ Jesus knew that love and humility are essential for one to gain life in the new world. To acquire them requires education of the heart. They could best learn by seeing them demonstrated; so he drew their attention to the countless expressions of love that Jehovah had showered upon them. They could also observe love and humility in Jesus’ attitude and his ministry, in the “tender affection” he felt for those he taught, in his prayers to his Father in heaven, when he washed their feet, and when he willingly laid down his life for mankind. As they would reflect upon the things they had seen and heard, that instruction would begin to penetrate to their heart, to soften it and to cause it to respond. “We love, because he first loved us.”—Matt. 9:36; 1 John 4:19.

10. What fine examples of refutation are found in the record of Jesus’ ministry?

¹⁰ When Jesus sent out his disciples he gave them careful instructions on how to perform their work. He told them what to say and do. He prepared them for the opposition they would meet and impressed on their minds the grand privilege that was theirs. (Matt. 10:1-28) They knew that teaching would require that they both present the truth to men of good will and beat back the insincere attacks of the adversaries. As they observed Jesus they learned how he handled the situations that arose. His position was strong; he had the truth. An example of the simplicity and forcefulness of his argument is found at Matthew 9:11-13. The Pharisees tried to make the disciples of Jesus feel uncomfortable by asking, “Why is it that your teacher eats with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus himself answered the question: “Persons in health do not need a physician, but the ailing do. Go, then, and learn what this means, ‘I want mercy, and not sacrifice.’ Accordingly, I came to call, not righteous people, but sinners.” On another occasion his healing of sick persons on the sabbath was called into question. His answer could not be refuted: “Who will be the man among you that has one sheep and, if this falls into a pit on the sabbath, will not get hold of it and lift it out? All considered, of how much more worth is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do right on the sabbath.” (Matt. 12:9-12) When questions were not asked with the desire to learn, his answers were very brief, but they were put in such a way that honest hearers would recognize that he taught the truth.

11. What made Jesus’ teaching so persuasive?

¹¹ What is it that gives such force to the words of Jesus? Why is his speech so persuasive? First of all, because he taught the truth and he had Jehovah’s spirit. Also, it was because he presented it in terms that his hearers could easily grasp. Fishermen would easily grasp the idea when he illustrated his points with fish and nets. Who that knew anything about farming would not appreciate his comments on the harvest, men working in a vineyard, a hen with her chicks, an animal caught in a pit, and the weather? Those affected by chores at home would better grasp the message when he illustrated with patches on worn clothing, the effect of yeast on bread, dirty dishes, and the things children do. To others, references to wages and to Gehenna, Jerusalem’s city dump, would vividly convey thoughts. Jesus was flexible, adaptable in his presentation of the truth. The message itself did not change in the least, but he understood the people he was teaching because he was interested in them, and he approached the subject from their viewpoint. He watched for the reaction of his hearers and then took it into consideration in his further comments. He associated points difficult to accept with things well known to them. He made his counsel clear-cut by using vivid contrast. He is a teacher we should copy.

PAUL TAUGHT JEWS AND GENTILES

12. In a sermon to the Jews, how did Paul present the matter of belief in Christ, and what would particularly make his arguments appeal to his hearers?

¹² Paul, a zealous apostle of Jesus Christ, applied himself wholeheartedly to the work of teaching the truth; and in the record of his ministry too we can find many helpful points. In Acts 13:16-41 is a sermon he gave to the Jews, and here is a fine example for us to follow. It is appealing, persuasive and to the point. Note that at the outset Paul avoided any argument on the superiority of Judaism by addressing himself to them as a people who feared God and then acknowledging that “the God of this people Israel chose our forefathers.” But he was not so tactful that he failed to present the truth. He laid the groundwork for his discussion of the Messiah by presenting accepted historical material that showed the waywardness of the nation. By bringing John the Baptist into the picture, he showed that a then well-known public figure had accepted Christ. He argues that rejection of Christ by the rulers did not discredit him; to the contrary, it fulfilled the prophecies and should confirm their faith in him. Tactfully he tied in belief in Jesus with acceptance of the beloved King David, and then showed the superiority of Jesus’ position. He built his argument on things they knew and believed. In a stirring conclusion, he urged them not to fulfill the prophecies that describe those who would scorn in disbelief. No honest-hearted Jew who is acquainted with the history of his own people and who sincerely believes the things written by the prophets of God could turn his back on the argument there presented.

13. What made Paul’s presentation of the truth both appealing and effective even for those who did not accept the Bible?

¹³ Paul speaks of himself as the one who had the good news entrusted to him by the Lord God for the people of the nations. Preaching to them presented problems quite different from those met with among the Jews. Acts 17:22-31 contains an example of how the good news may be presented to such persons, and it provides a fine guide for those with similar assignments today. Paul was interested in the people he served and observant of their way of life. He begins by remarking interestedly on their religious devotion and commenting on one of their places of worship. He ties in true worship, not with their idolatry, but with their proper desire to worship a God unknown. Since the people worshiped many gods, Paul carefully explained what he meant when he spoke of God. He reasons that the One who is Creator of the world could not be an idol and does not live in a man-made temple. Now is the time, argues Paul, to inform ourselves of his purpose and conform to it so that we might have a favorable standing in the day of judgment. There could be no confusing of this message with what they heard at their temples. While it was tactful, it was also pointed. It made clear who God is, what hope he sets before us, and what we should do. Are your sermons as well presented as that?

MODERN-DAY TEACHING OF TRUTH

14. Illustrate how one can tactfully help householders who say they learn the same things in church.

¹⁴ So today Jehovah’s witnesses call at the homes in obedience to the command of Jesus to teach all nations and to make known to them the “good news of the kingdom.” They want to be sure that the people really do learn, that they see the difference between the message they bring from the Bible and the teachings presented from the average pulpits of Christendom. If you tell the general churchgoer that we must have faith, he will reply that he hears these things in church. Tell him that he must take in knowledge of God, and he will assure you that he knows that. Yes, he believes in God’s kingdom too, he will tell you. The minister who is qualified to teach cannot feel that he has finished his job by merely telling the householder about these things. If the person is willing to listen, the minister wants to be sure that he really understands the message. So the minister may proceed to point out that the faith needed to please God is more than mere belief; it must be based on an accurate knowledge of his Word. (Heb. 11:1, 6) When speaking about God, he may point out that God has a name, Jehovah, and that to really know him we must understand his purposes as set out in the Bible. (Ps. 83:18) Or he may clarify that the Kingdom is a real government operating from heaven that will soon wipe wickedness from the earth, and that now we must conform our lives to God’s requirements if we are to gain life everlasting under it.—Dan. 2:44.

15. As with the early Christians, what makes the teaching done by Jehovah’s witnesses today effective?

¹⁵ Church members today have the Bible and many have heard what it says. They are much like the Jews of Jesus’ day; they had the Scriptures and had often heard them read. But they did not get the sense of them. When Jesus and the apostles taught the people, they were amazed at it. They did not teach as the religious clergy did. They were sincere, they knew that they were teaching the truth, and God’s holy spirit backed them up. (Acts 4:13) So today, when Jehovah’s witnesses perform their ministry at the homes of the people, they use the Bible skillfully, reading appropriate Bible texts and then taking time to draw particular attention to the points of instruction contained in those texts and commenting on their application to our day. They do not only preach; they are also teachers of God’s Word.

16, 17. What excellent counsel does the Bible give on how to perform our ministry when we meet persons who are not interested, and what effect does this have on our teaching?

¹⁶ When Jesus was not favorably received in a certain Samaritan village, James and John were incensed and said: “Master, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and annihilate them?” (Luke 9:54) Jesus reproved them for it. We do well to take the occurrence to heart. There is no reason to get excited about it when we meet indifference or even open opposition. Paul’s counsel is: “A slave of the Lord does not need to fight, but needs to be tactful toward all, qualified to teach, keeping himself restrained under evil, instructing with mildness those not favorably disposed, as perhaps God may give them repentance leading to an accurate knowledge of truth, and they may come back to their proper senses out from the snare of the Devil, seeing that they have been caught alive by him for the will of that one.”—2 Tim. 2:24-26.

¹⁷ We are sent to teach them the truth. A cutting, sharp tongue seldom is a good teacher. “The one that is wise in heart will be called understanding, and he that is sweet in [his] lips adds persuasiveness.” (Prov. 16:21) Our hearts go out to these people who have been “skinned and knocked about like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt. 9:36) Although they may coldly reject the message when we call, we do not hold it against them. ‘Love is long-suffering. It does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury.’ (1 Cor. 13:4, 5) We know that it means life for them if they will embrace the truth. We do not force the message on them, but ‘instruct with mildness those not favorably disposed.’ Because of this loving attitude on the part of Jehovah’s witnesses thousands have learned the truth. “The heart of the wise one causes his mouth to show insight, and to his lips it adds persuasiveness.” (Prov. 16:23) Being wise, his heart, or seat of motive, is stirred by love. That helps him to keep in focus the real situation of the people he serves, to show insight in dealing with them. It causes some to listen to what he has to say, to be persuaded by it, and to “come back to their proper senses out from the snare of the Devil.”

PROGRESS TO MATURITY

18. (a) How do Jehovah’s witnesses demonstrate real love for men of good will? (b) What suggestions are given to enable Christian ministers to be sure that instruction they give will really take hold?

¹⁸ When Jehovah’s witnesses find one who responds to the voice of the Right Shepherd, do they feel that the job is done? Not at all. They help him to come into association with the Shepherd’s fold of his sheep and to grow to Christian maturity. Regularly each week they will call back to study the Bible with the responsive one so that he can see what it tells him to do. Great care should be taken by the one who is teaching to be sure the person of good will is really learning, that he understands the points, and is making progress toward maturity. Not all will progress at the same pace, but by careful organization the spiritual development of each one will receive proper attention. Encourage the new one to express himself. “Let anyone who is being orally taught the word share in all good things with the one who gives such oral teaching.” (Gal. 6:6) And when the comment is given, if it is apparently not given with understanding, show yourself to be a real teacher by discussing the point further and drawing out more comments from the student. Teach the student to reason things out, to see their relation to things previously learned, to include in his answers the scriptures that prove them to be right. Repeat specially important points so they will not be forgotten.

19. What besides accurate knowledge should we also endeavor to teach persons of good will?

¹⁹ More is needed if this person is truly to become a disciple of Christ Jesus. He should learn to look to Jehovah for guidance and cultivate a keen desire to please him. He should be helped to appreciate the viewpoint of the psalmist David, who said: “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your spirit is good; may it lead me in the land of uprightness.” (Ps. 143:10) More than getting the answers in his head, we should help him to get God’s law on his heart. “And this is what I continue praying, that your love may abound yet more and more with accurate knowledge and full discernment, that you may make sure of the more important things, so that you may be flawless and not be stumbling others up to the day of Christ, and may be filled with righteous fruit which is through Jesus Christ, to God’s glory and praise.” (Phil. 1:9-11) Yes, when the truth takes hold and develops in the heart of the individual, he will begin to bear fruit.—Matt. 13:23.

20. How may newly interested ones be prepared for a part in teaching others the truth?

²⁰ It usually is not long until a person of good will begins to see that Christians have work to do. But with some it takes longer than for others to find it in their heart to do it. It does not happen all at once, but there is much a good teacher can do to prepare for it. Each week spend some time to acquaint them with Jehovah’s organization and how it does its work. Acquaint them with the meetings and how they are conducted. Invite them to attend. As you tell them of your own house-to-house ministry during the week, show them briefly from the Bible why you do it that way. (Acts 20:20) Later you may relate an encouraging experience you have had when calling back on a good-will person. That opportunity could be used to show that Jesus commanded that the sheep be fed. (John 21:15-17) On another occasion you might acquaint them with the training program and the fact that new ones are not sent off on their own but are lovingly assisted step by step until they feel qualified to help others. Do not feel you have to invite them in the service the first time you tell them about it. Prepare them for it. As the entire arrangement takes shape in their mind and from your studies they begin to see the urgent need for others to learn, they will want to have a share. Love based on knowledge will remove any fear of telling others what they have learned and will replace it with a burning desire to show their appreciation to Jehovah by serving him.—1 John 4:18.

21. What work is it urgent to do now?

²¹ In all parts of the world there is an urgent need for teachers of the good news. Are you as a Christian qualified to teach? Are you taking steps to progress beyond Christian infancy so you can be a teacher? Are you willing to use the truths and the abilities you now have to help others to learn the truth so they can gain life in God’s new world? If so, now is the time to share in this God-given privilege of service. As you do, whether new or experienced in the ministry, follow the advice recorded at 1 Timothy 4:16: “Pay constant attention to yourself and to your teaching.”

“Manna” Still Being Eaten

THE Bible tells how God fed the nation of Israel on manna for the forty years that they were in the wilderness. It resembled white seeds and was sweet, “like that of flat cakes with honey.” (Ex. 16:13-31) In view of this description it is of interest to note what the American National Geographic magazine had to say in its December, 1957, issue about manna, in its article, “Bringing Old Testament Times to Life.”

“Once again we find a Bible story buttressed by solid fact, for the miracle of the manna from heaven recurs annually in Sinai. Every summer without fail, white droplets of a sweet and nourishing substance appear mysteriously on the bushes. At peak season a man can gather more than two pounds of it a day.

“In 1927 a zoologist of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, Professor F. S. Bodenheimer, journeyed to the Sinai peninsula in quest of the secret of manna. His trained eye quickly unraveled the mystery: the little honeydew drops are given off by scale insects.

“These tiny creatures suck up plant saps which, while poor in the nitrogen the insects require to balance their metabolism, are rich in carbohydrates. Using the nitrogen, they excrete the excess sap as sweet drops. Evaporation quickly converts the liquid into a sticky solid.

“To this day, manna is a favorite confection in the Near East. The most famous variety comes from Kurdistan, and venders hawk cakes of it on the streets of Bagdad under the name of man.”

While without doubt a miracle was necessary to supply all the Israelites with enough manna and especially to supply twice as much on each Friday and none on their sabbath or Saturday, yet it truly is of interest that this manna may have a natural basis and may still be found (apparently only) in that part of the world where the Bible records that the Israelites subsisted upon it.

Material Remedies Inadequate

In The Humanities After the War W. MacNeile Dixon writes: “Pursued though it be through weary days and sleepless nights, the search for material remedies to soothe or cure our spiritual distresses can have only one end—failure. Much more will be needed than to feed the hungry, house the poor, clothe the destitute, however generously contrived and devotedly administered these undertakings may be. The day of acceptance of the great truth approaches, than which a greater was never yet proclaimed, that ‘man does not live by bread alone.’ With its acceptance and not till then will be laid the foundation stone of a civilization worthy the name.”

Questions From Readers

● Is it not true that only pessimists and alarmist say there is a moral breakdown in the world today?—J. G., United States.

Many individuals sincerely believe that nothing has happened to morals, that morals are no worse now than at any other time. Yet other well-informed persons who are really in position to evaluate present conditions cite today’s blindness and callousness over corrupt government, business and sex practices as proof that society’s morals have collapsed.

Gerald Heard, in his book The Third Morality, said: “No one can look at civilization today without the liveliest concern. That is a truism—a truism so painfully obvious that we have ceased to be able to respond to it.” A prominent news columnist wrote: “What is happening to us is essentially a moral collapse. The gap between what we pretend to believe and what we do in practice has been constantly widening.” Clergyman R. J. McCracken pointedly asks: “Is the moral tone of the nation—its politics, its business life, its literature, its theatre, its movies, its radio networks, its television stations—Christian?” Wherever you look morals are missing. Howard Vincent O’Brien is quoted as saying: “We strive to get as much as possible for doing as little as possible. . . . Simple honesty is rare enough for amazed comment. The thief has become respectable. The shadow of corruption hangs over the land. And poor witless clowns think they can do something about it by making agreements and passing laws. But the soul of man is sick. It will take more than this to cure him.”

These are the words, not of pessimists and alarmists, but of clear-thinking men who are aware of conditions and are concerned about world trends. Christendom’s moral breakdown was accurately portrayed in Bible prophecy. Isaiah wrote: “Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street.” “The whole head [of Christendom and of the world] is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it.” The international immorality is a warning sign of this world’s complete collapse at Armageddon.—Isa. 59:14; 1:3-6, AS.

● May an anointed brother once disfellowshiped but now reinstated and on probation be used to pray at Memorial time?—C. O., United States.

It is true that if a brother has been reinstated in the congregation after disfellowshipment and is on probation he may be served with the emblems of the Lord’s Evening Meal in order that he as one of the anointed followers of the Lord Jesus Christ may obey Jesus’ command to partake thus in remembrance of him. However, when the reinstated brother is put on probation it would mean certain restrictions are imposed upon him. He may not be used in a representative capacity to speak and act for the entire congregation. For that reason even though he may be the only anointed one in the congregation he should not be used in offering prayer at the opening or the closing of the meeting, nor in prayer pronounced over either of the emblems, any more than he should be used in giving the talk regarding the Lord’s Evening Meal. If his period of probation ends before the actual arrival of the celebration, then he could be used in offering prayer.

Fragments of the Book of Daniel

Writing in Archaeology and Bible History, Joseph P. Free reports: “Among the manuscripts found with the Isaiah scroll in the cave at the north end of the Dead Sea, three fragments examined by John Trever have proved to be sections of the book of Daniel (1:10-16; 2:2-6; 3:23-30). The forms of the letters are similar to the Isaiah manuscript, pointing to the first or second century B.C. as the date for these fragments of the Daniel text. It is significant that the text is substantially the same as that in the Hebrew Bibles which we now have, the chief differences having to do with the spelling of words. This provides another piece of evidence for the care with which the text of the Biblical books have been brought down to us.”

Announcements

IMITATING THE SHULAMMITE IN EXCLUSIVE DEVOTION—Cant. 8:6.

“Place me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; because love is as strong as death is, insistence on exclusive devotion is as unyielding as Sheol is.” (Cant. 8:6) These words of the Shulammite country girl show how fervently she desired the love of her shepherd lover. In this she pictures the faithful bride class of Christ and their undying love for him and his service. The “other sheep” likewise are desirous of proving their devotion to him, though not of the bride class pictured by the Shulammite. Throughout September all will prove their devotion by telling others of Jehovah God’s loving provisions through the Right Shepherd, Christ Jesus. Two Bible-study aid books and two booklets will be offered on a contribution of $1.

GOD’S KINGDOM RULES—IS THE WORLD’S END NEAR?

When Christ was on earth he taught men to pray, “Let your kingdom come. Let your will come to pass, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matt. 6:10) We are now living at the time when God’s kingdom has been born and we are rapidly approaching the time when it will cause his will to be done on earth as it is done in heaven. What will this mean for the world with its many nations that are not doing the divine will? Will it mean their end? What is the right course for us to take now to prepare for all the possibilities ahead? The answers to these questions can be found in the new booklet God’s Kingdom Rules—Is the World’s End Near? This thirty-two-page booklet can be had for five cents, or three copies for ten cents. Send right away and learn what God’s kingdom will do.

THE ANNUAL MEETING IN PITTSBURGH

At ten o’clock in the forenoon of Wednesday, October 1, 1958, the annual meeting of the members of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania will be held at the Society’s office located at 4100 Bigelow Boulevard, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. All members should be certain that the secretary’s office has their present addresses so that the letters of notice will reach them shortly after September 1.

Along with the notice of the annual meeting which will be mailed to all the members of the corporation, proxies will be sent. The proxies are to be returned so as to reach the office of the secretary of the Society not later than September 15. Each member should complete and return his proxy promptly whether he is going to be at the meeting personally or not.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

September 28: “You Ought to Be Teachers.” Page 529.

October 5: Teaching Men of Good Will. Page 535.

Check Your Memory

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

✔ What is meant by not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing? P. 515, ¶4.

✔ What part entertainment plays in the program of many churches? P. 518, ¶1.

✔ How the ancients preserved their valuables in earth without burying them in the ground? P. 521, ¶1.

✔ What is an odor of life and at the same time an odor of death? P. 523, ¶1.

✔ How a person must come to God when seeking instruction from him? P. 530, ¶4.

✔ What that was new in the field of teaching began with Jesus? P. 531, ¶9.

✔ What is the responsibility of parents toward their children? P. 534, ¶17.

✔ Why improper education will cost the world its life? P. 535, ¶1.

✔ Why Jesus compared some religious leaders to dirty dishes? P. 536, ¶7.