The Watchtower — January 1, 1960

Prayers for God’s Kingdom Not in Vain

“THY kingdom come.” This petition, together with the rest of the model prayer Jesus Christ taught his disciples, doubtless is the best known of any part of the Bible. Through the years it has been repeated numberless times by countless millions of people.—Matt. 6:10, AV.

More than nineteen centuries have flown by since Jesus first gave that prayer. Could it be that this prayer never will be answered? If so, then all these prayers will certainly have been in vain. We need have no fear of that. Jesus Christ taught us to pray for God’s kingdom because he knew that in God’s due time it would be established, that it would come against Satan’s world to destroy it, and that it would restore paradise to earth. Prayers made in faith are heard.—Matt. 17:20.

The Bible leaves no doubt about it. Jehovah is bound to act because he is the Almighty God and is supremely good. He has both the will and the means. Besides, present conditions put in question his supremacy. He will therefore answer the prayers for his kingdom so “that people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth.”—Ps. 83:18.

When will all this be? Surely not in our time, some say. On the contrary, fulfillment of Bible prophecy shows that God’s kingdom has already been established, as noted at Revelation 11:15-18. There the establishment of God’s kingdom in the heavens is shown to coincide with the nations’ becoming wrathful, which they certainly have done since 1914.

Further, Jesus linked the coming of God’s kingdom with his own second presence and told us how we could tell when he had returned: by the prevalence of unprecedented wars, famine, earthquakes, wickedness and the preaching of God’s kingdom—all of which conditions have been with us since 1914. The generation that witnessed these things, Jesus further said, would not pass away until all was fulfilled. So we can be fully assured that this generation will see the full answer to prayers for God’s kingdom.—Matt. 24:7-14, 34; Luke 19:12, 15.

These prayers have not been in vain. They will be fully realized. Such prayers have also served to keep God’s kingdom foremost in the hearts and lives of his servants, aiding them to ‘keep on seeking first the Kingdom.’ So keep on praying, “Thy kingdom come,” for in this generation it will come against Satan’s world to destroy it, ushering in a righteous new world.—Matt. 6:33.

Ordained Ministers of God

“We also thank God incessantly, because when you received God’s word which you heard from us you accepted it, not as the word of men, but, just as it truthfully is, as the word of God, which is also at work in you believers.”—1 Thess. 2:13.

1. What contrast is there between ordination ceremonies of Christendom’s clergy and Jesus’ ordination?

RELIGIOUS organizations, such as the Protestant and the Catholic, make much ado about ordaining their clergy. A pastor of a congregation must have first studied in a theological seminary for a number of years, and after he graduates then he is presumed ready to enter the clergy class. Now comes an elaborate ceremony with much pomp and pageantry. Many dignitaries are on hand to officiate and watch the ceremony. The individual is consecrated or set apart to the service and worship of his God. As the clergyman advances in his religious rank from priest to bishop or archbishop, it is necessary for him to go through more ceremonies with even greater splendor and display on the part of the ecclesiastical body. Many of the clergy of Christendom are ordained or invested with sacerdotal functions, in great costly cathedrals with lavish display so as to be an elaborate public spectacle. But the founder of true Christianity was ordained with holy spirit from heaven after his being dipped under the waters of the Jordan River by a man with “clothing of camel’s hair and a leather girdle around his loins” and whose “food . . . was insect locusts and wild honey.”—Matt. 3:4.

2, 3. Though he had no theological schooling, what shows Jesus was well qualified to take up the ministry?

² What a difference in ordination! Jesus went through such a simple procedure to become Jehovah’s ordained minister. Furthermore, there is no record in the Scriptures that Jesus went to any particular school to be trained for the ministry, though certainly as a young man he studied the Word of God, the Hebrew Scriptures. It is quite evident that he was not taught at a special school by the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day. We do read, though, that at twelve years of age Jesus was about his Father’s business questioning such men, that is, the scribes and Pharisees. Luke, the historian, said that his parents were looking for him after the Passover while on their way home from Jerusalem and “began to hunt him up among the relatives and acquaintances. But, not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem, making a diligent search for him. Well, after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers and listening to them and questioning them. But all those listening to him were in constant amazement at his understanding and his answers.”—Luke 2:44-47.

³ This young lad, only twelve years old, said to his parents: “Did you not know that I must be in the house of my Father?” However, Jesus traveled home with his parents, and the account reads: “Jesus went on progressing in wisdom and in physical growth and in favor with God and men.”—Luke 2:49, 52.

4, 5. (a) What time of decision came for Jesus, and how did his Father show his approval of his choice of work? (b) Was his ordination a lavish display of ceremony?

⁴ The time came, however, for Jesus to be at his Father’s business all the time, and when he reached the age of thirty he went to John the Baptist, a prophet of Jehovah who was baptizing in the river Jordan. In this out-of-the-way place there was “a voice of a man crying out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of Jehovah, make his roads straight.’” He was John the Baptist, and he put Jesus completely under the water and raised him up out of it. In this way Jesus symbolized his dedication to the doing of his Father’s will, and Jehovah acknowledged him as his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased. “After being baptized Jesus immediately came up from the water; and, look! the heavens were opened up, and he saw descending like a dove God’s spirit coming upon him. Look! also, there was a voice from the heavens that said: ‘This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved.’” (Matt. 3:3, 16, 17) Jesus was now the Christ, the anointed one. He was ordained of God and must begin his great preaching work as an ordained minister. “Furthermore, Jesus himself, when he commenced his work, was about thirty years old.”—Luke 3:23.

⁵ No one can say that the ordination of Jesus was one of show, done with many priests or clergymen around. There was no procession. Neither was he a graduate of any prominent theological school. He was a carpenter’s son, a carpenter himself, who had now stepped forward to take up the vocation of the ministry.

6. How did Jesus’ disciples become ordained ministers, and how many in those days who became Christians were ordained for the ministry?

⁶ All of Jesus’ disciples were similarly baptized, fully immersed in water, and, after instructing them concerning God’s kingdom as being at hand, Jesus sent them out to preach the Kingdom message just as he was doing. They were well trained. They knew the word and will of God and lived as Jesus told them to live. No theological seminary for them, but still they were ordained ministers of God. Jehovah later used them to organize the early Christians into congregations and they appointed overseers to shepherd the flock of God, not to lord it over them. In those days every person who became a Christian became an ordained minister, because Jehovah made them “ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making entreaty through [them].”—2 Cor. 5:20.

7. What command of Jesus shows his disciples were ordained for the ministry?

⁷ It was after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead that he spoke to his assembled disciples and said: “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.” (Matt. 28:19, 20) The apostles were not told to do anything different in the way of baptizing true followers of Christ Jesus from what had been done in their own case, or from the example that Christ Jesus set. So, then, there is no formalistic religious ritual that one must go through in order to become one of God’s ordained ministers. Christ Jesus set the simple pattern.

8. In truth and fact who does the ordaining of God’s ministers, and what connection does baptism have with the matter?

⁸ of course, being baptized in water does not make one an ordained minister. God does the ordaining of the one being baptized, who has already recognized Jehovah God as the sovereign Ruler and Christ Jesus as his Savior, recognizing also that he himself is a sinner and that he needs the merit of Christ’s sacrifice in order to have a proper standing before God. When one is baptized in water it has great meaning, for here the baptized one is declaring publicly that he is dedicated or set aside for Jehovah’s service and worship. Of course, he must know what he is doing and must continue to prove himself worthy of this very high purpose. God accepting the baptized one, he ordains him to the divine ministry.

9, 10. (a) What does it mean to be ordained? (b) How did Jesus show what that authority meant for him to do?

⁹ To be ordained means to be invested with ministerial functions, or to be appointed authoritatively. Jesus was appointed authoritatively by God to do specific service, which was God’s will for him. Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth read his ministerial functions from the scroll of Isaiah: “‘Jehovah’s spirit is upon me, because he anointed me to declare good news to the poor, he sent me forth to preach a release to the captives and a recovery of sight to the blind, to send the crushed ones away with a release, to preach Jehovah’s acceptable year.’ With that he rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were intently fixed upon him. Then he started to say to them: ‘Today this scripture that you just heard is fulfilled.’”—Luke 4:18-21.

¹⁰ It was prophesied at Isaiah 61:1, 2, that Christ would do this work, and that is why Jesus could quote this scripture and say that he was fulfilling it. Jesus was ordained, appointed to this service, at the Jordan River at the time of his baptism. There Jehovah’s spirit came upon him and now he was authorized to do God’s work. It was now time for him to speak and to make a public declaration. Jesus certainly did that!

11. Our reading of the Christian Greek Scriptures tells us what about Jesus’ work, and was his commission to do that work passed on to others? To whom?

¹¹ All persons who have read the Greek Scriptures know of the tremendous preaching and teaching program Jesus carried out during his three and a half years of ministry. They also know of the work the apostles did, work of which the apostle Paul spoke when he said: “For with the heart one exercises faith for righteousness, but with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation.” (Rom. 10:10) Christians today can do no different. The same commission that fell upon Jesus to declare good news, to preach a release to captives, to bring sight to the blind, and to preach Jehovah’s acceptable year, was passed on to his faithful Christian followers. A similar and very positive expression of this matter was made for our day by Jesus himself when on the Mount of Olives. He said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come.” (Matt. 24:14) But the apostles and all of Jesus’ followers were to make the preaching of good news their commission in life.

SCOPE OF THE MINISTRY

12. How important is the work of the ministry, and what timely questions are propounded?

¹² This matter of one’s being an ordained minister before God or before worldly governments is not a light matter. It involves one’s every word, thought and action, a real following of the principles as set down by Christ Jesus, yes, walking in his footsteps. Just how far-reaching is this ordination of a Christian before God? Is a minister one ordained just during the time he is preaching this good news to someone? Or is this ordination, because he is dedicated to Jehovah God, a twenty-four-hour-a-day ordination? Can an individual step out of his professed vocation for a short period of time and act differently, or is he obligated to keep his ministerial garments on constantly? The Scriptures show that Jesus as a young man was a carpenter, but he changed his vocation. He would have liked to change his vocation earlier in life, but it was not God’s will. He had to reach thirty years of age first, the age for a Levite to become a full-fledged priest under Jewish Law. Then when he was ordained by God he put foremost in his mind the doing of his Father’s will, which was the preaching of the kingdom of the heavens as being at hand. His disciples he trained to do the same kind of work, or follow the same vocation.

13. What is the theological meaning of the word vocation? Who must follow such a course?

¹³ The theological meaning of the word vocation is: “A calling to the service of God in a particular station or state of life, esp. in the priesthood or religious life, as shown by one’s fitness, natural inclinations, and, often, by conviction of a Divine invitation. The station or state of life to which one receives such a calling. An official invitation to a particular ecclesiastical office, as a pastorate.” Jesus indeed had “a calling to the service of God.” He had a summons to a particular activity or career. His vocation was now “seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness.” (Matt. 6:33) So, too, any individual becoming an ordained follower of Christ Jesus must henceforth live a Christian life in that way. Jesus’ apostles had to do this in order to prove that their vocation was that of an ordained minister before God, even though before worldly governments men looked upon them as fishermen, tax collectors or tentmakers.

14. (a) When do vocations like those of a carpenter, a mason, an engineer or a doctor take second place? (b) Why may one never quit once he is ordained?

¹⁴ Being a dedicated Christian today is not a part-time occupation any more than it was then. It is a full-time vocation. A true Christian is not just a Christian on Sunday for a few hours while he is in his church or at a prayer meeting. A truly dedicated person, an ordained minister before God, must be a Christian his whole life from the time he takes up following Christ Jesus and walking in his footsteps. In the world an individual may say that his vocation is that of a carpenter, a mason, an engineer, a doctor, and that he makes his living by such occupation. But if that particular individual dedicates his life to Jehovah God and is baptized in water, then that secular occupation he pursues becomes secondary and his Christian ministry must become the thing of first importance, really now his vocation, because he was called to God’s service. Jesus said: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.” A Christian’s first job, his principal interest, then, is his call to a Christian life. It must be that. His vocation must be that of an ordained minister before Jehovah God. He may quit his secular work, but he may never quit his divine call to God’s service. If a Christian quits the ministry he loses his eternal life. Which is more important, then?

15. One making a dedication declares what, and how does he view God’s Word?

¹⁵ Dedication to Jehovah’s service and symbolizing that dedication by water baptism is not a joining of some earthly religious organization. It is not such a minor step as that. It is the biggest thing that one has ever done in his life. His being immersed in water is a declaration to all fellow Christians and peoples of the world that henceforth he is dedicated to God, to serve as his minister. This is his vocation, and from then on the whole word of God as it is set forth in the Bible must be his guide. He as a true Christian has acted as Paul said: “When you received God’s word which you heard from us you accepted it, not as the word of men, but, just as it truthfully is, as the word of God, which is also at work in you believers.”—1 Thess. 2:13.

16, 17. (a) When one has accepted God’s Word, what is involved? (b) How did Paul show this?

¹⁶ ‘You have received God’s word and accepted it,’ have you? What, now, is involved? The apostle Paul said it involved even one’s eating and drinking. That may sound absurd, but let us read what he wrote to the Corinthians: “Therefore, whether you are eating or drinking or doing anything else, do all things for God’s glory. Keep from becoming causes for stumbling to Jews as well as Greeks and to the congregation of God, even as I am pleasing all people in all things, not seeking my own advantage but that of the many, in order that they might get saved.” (1 Cor. 10:31-33) Paul was interested in saving lives through his “eating or drinking or doing anything else.” But how does one’s eating and drinking tend to save lives? Paul explains it in the eighth and tenth chapters of First Corinthians 8, 10.

¹⁷ Paul knew that Christians were ‘to keep themselves from things sacrificed to idols’ (Acts 15:29); but he explained to the Corinthians: “Everything that is sold in a meat market keep eating, making no inquiry on account of your conscience, for ‘the earth belongs to Jehovah, and so does its fullness.’ If anyone of the unbelievers invites you and you wish to go, proceed to eat everything that is set before you, making no inquiry on account of your conscience. But if anyone should say to you: ‘This is something offered to a god,’ do not eat on account of the one that disclosed it and on account of conscience. ‘Conscience,’ I say, not yours, but that of the other person. For why should it be that my freedom is judged by another person’s conscience? If I am partaking with thanks, why am I to be spoken of abusively over that for which I give thanks?” (1 Cor. 10:25-30) It may have been that the meat sold in the meat markets had been offered to idols, but how would a person know? He might not have inquired whether the animal, or even the part of it that he bought, was offered to an idol. So, Paul says, if a person invites you to dinner, eat what he has. Paul knew “that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no God but one.” (1 Cor. 8:4) But, if someone eating with you says, “This is something offered to a god,” then because of that man’s conscience do not eat any of it. Because of your own conscience? No, but because of the conscience of the other person. You may stumble that one by your eating.

18, 19. (a) Why was Paul concerned so much about his brothers’ conscience? (b) Should Christ’s followers today be likewise concerned? Why?

¹⁸ Paul argued that a Christian’s freedom or knowledge should “not somehow become a stumblingblock to those who are weak.” If you should eat the food offered to idols after thanking God for it you might still ruin a man. “But when you people thus sin against your brothers and wound their conscience that is weak, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat flesh at all, that I may not make my brother stumble.” (1 Cor. 8:9, 12, 13) Paul’s ordination, his being set apart for God’s service, included how he ate and drank. It involved his every action in everyday things. Paul was interested in saving lives. So he said: “Do not by your food ruin that one for whom Christ died. . . . For the kingdom of God does not mean eating and drinking, but means righteousness and peace and joy with holy spirit.” “All things are lawful; but not all things are advantageous. All things are lawful; but not all things build up. Let each one keep seeking, not his own advantage, but that of the other person.”—Rom. 14:15, 17; 1 Cor. 10:23, 24.

¹⁹ May Christians today look at things differently and allow their eating or drinking to stumble a Jew or a Greek or a brother in the congregation? No! We are in the same position as was Paul. He would rather be “pleasing all people in all things, not seeking my own advantage but that of the many, in order that they might get saved.” (1 Cor. 10:33) Would you do the same? If you are an ordained minister like Paul you would.

EATING, DRINKING, SPEECH AND WORK

20. (a) While eating of foods may not be an issue to Christians now, what is, and what arguments are advanced for its use? (b) Yet what must be considered in our drinking habits?

²⁰ But, someone says, things like that do not happen today. People do not offer food to idols. Well, then, how about your drinking habits? There is plenty of drinking done today, and Paul mentions drinking as something to watch. People drink all kinds of beverages, but the drinking causing the most disturbance in the minds of some people is the drinking of alcoholic beverages. Maybe a person who wants to drink wine will argue that Paul admonished Timothy to drink a little wine for his stomach’s sake. Another may say that Jesus’ first miracle was the making of wine. Still another will say that wine makes glad the heart. What is said is true, and in most countries and states it is lawful to have and use alcoholic beverages, but is it to the advantage of another brother? Will your drinking such a beverage serve to “build up”? Let us think not of our own advantage, but of that of the other person.

21, 22. (a) What bad example could be set before brothers by a thoughtless overseer? (b) Who else besides brothers could be stumbled?

²¹ Suppose there is an overseer in a congregation of God’s people, a man of influence, one looked up to, who goes out some evening with friends but he does not control his drinking of intoxicating liquor and he becomes drunk. The Bible states very definitely that drunkards will not inherit the Kingdom. “What! Do you not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, . . . nor thieves, nor greedy persons, nor drunkards . . . will inherit God’s kingdom.” (1 Cor. 6:9, 10) Even though some of you were like this before coming into the truth, Paul says, you were washed clean. So why go back to this sort of practice again and stumble your brother? Now a brother may see this intoxicated overseer walking down the street in a zigzag fashion. This observer is shocked, disturbed and offended that an ordained minister of his congregation should think so little of his ordination before God that he should become a drunkard. This carelessness in drinking has become a cause for stumbling a brother in the congregation of God.

²² Let us follow this drunken man a little farther. As he nears his home his neighbor with whom he studies the Bible observes his drunkenness, and he, too, is stumbled, because he thought that this ordained minister was living a Christian life. Well, the neighbor decides he will no longer study the Bible with this individual, and says to his wife: “If that is what the Bible did for him, there are better men than that to associate with who do not even have faith in God. Why should I change my way of life and take up something new when here one of the prominent ones in the congregation, who claims to be an ordained minister, is drunk?”

23. In what way are the words of Paul in letters to the Corinthians and Romans very timely?

²³ How very right Paul was when he said: “Therefore, whether you are eating or drinking or doing anything else, do all things for God’s glory.” (1 Cor. 10:31) Was this to God’s glory? Certainly a Christian does not want to stumble a Jew, a Greek, a neighbor, a friend, or one of his brothers in the congregation of God. What every ordained minister must be interested in is saving the lives of all people for God’s new world. “So, then, let us pursue the things making for peace and the things that are upbuilding to one another. Stop tearing down the work of God just for the sake of food. True, all things are clean, but it is injurious to the man who with an occasion for stumbling eats. It is well not to eat flesh or to drink wine or do anything over which your brother stumbles.”—Rom. 14:19-21.

24, 25. In what other ways must a Christian watch his step?

²⁴ A Christian must watch his step in other things too. Paul presents this truth when writing to the Colossians: “Let the word of the Christ reside in you richly in all wisdom. Keep on teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, praises to God, spiritual songs with graciousness, singing in your hearts to Jehovah. And whatever it is that you do in word or in work, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, thanking God the Father through him.”—Col. 3:16, 17.

²⁵ Paul says to watch your words and work, which take up a good part of our time every day. Just how do we speak to people and how do we work for our employer? One’s Christian training certainly expresses itself in these two things.

26. What kinds of words should ordained ministers use and why is it difficult at times to control our speech?

²⁶ Are the words that come out of our mouths decent, clean, helpful and respectable? Would we be pleased to have God listen to us in everything we say? James wrote about our words when he said: “A fountain does not cause the sweet and the bitter to bubble out of the same opening, does it? . . . Neither can salt water produce sweet water.” As for that little member in the body, he says: “The tongue is a fire. . . . Not one of mankind can get it tamed. An unruly injurious thing, it is full of death-dealing poison. With it we bless Jehovah, even the Father, and yet with it we curse men who have come into existence ‘in the likeness of God.’ Out of the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing. It is not proper, my brothers, for these things to go on occurring this way.” The mouth of an ordained minister should be teaching and admonishing others with graciousness. There should be no such thing as bragging and lying against the truth. The mouth should always praise Jehovah. “Moreover, the fruit of righteousness has its seed sown under peaceful conditions for those who are making peace.”—Jas. 3:6-12, 18.

27. Can an ordained minister have two vocabularies? What do Paul and Peter say in this regard?

²⁷ Ordained ministers of Jehovah cannot have dual personalities with two vocabularies, one clean and upright, the other filthy and wicked. A Christian can train himself and be able to use good words that express his thoughts clearly and forcefully. The Christian does not have one vocabulary he uses in the congregation of God’s people and then another set of cruel, harsh, dirty words to be used where he works. Remember what Paul says: “Whatever it is that you do in word. . . , do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, thanking God the Father through him.” Peter confirms this, too, using good expressive words: “For, ‘he that would love life and see good days, let him restrain his tongue from what is injurious and his lips from speaking deceitfully, but let him turn away from what is injurious and do what is good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For Jehovah’s eyes are upon the righteous and his ears are toward their supplication, but Jehovah’s face is against those doing injurious things.’”—1 Pet. 3:10-12.

28. (a) How should the ordained Christian minister view his secular occupation? (b) How else, besides by outright taking of others’ goods, can one be a stealer?

²⁸ Then there is that other part of the Christian life—work. Considerable time is spent at some kind of labor, but how does one perform his work and earn his daily bread? All individuals in effect make a contract or an agreement with their employer. When an employer hires a man to do a certain work he agrees to pay the worker a certain wage. The employee should not shirk his work, do less than he agreed to do. He should be honest and give his employer full measure. If one is hired as a carpenter for so many hours a day and he receives so much pay for those hours, then certainly during that period of time he should be diligent in doing good carpenter work for all those hours. He is not paid to loaf. He is paid to work. If a Christian is working in a store owned by a rich man he has no right to steal from that rich man because he is wealthy, nor has he the right to steal from customers by charging them more than the goods are worth and keeping the difference. That is stealing. A man can steal, too, from his employer by loafing on the job. The man expects to be paid by his employer. Why cannot the employer expect the work to be done for the money he pays out? “Whatever it is that you do . . . in work, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Do you?

29. What attitude did the apostle Paul take toward the slave Onesimus, once he became a Christian?

²⁹ Paul did not feel that Onesimus, a slave of Philemon, should be kept from his employer. When Onesimus became a Christian, Paul found out he was a slave and sent him back to his owner. The slave, now a Christian, still belonged to Philemon even though Philemon was a Christian too. Paul, writing about Onesimus, said: “I am exhorting you [Philemon] concerning my child, to whom I became a father while in my prison bonds, Onesimus, formerly useless to you but now useful to you and to me. This very one I am sending back to you, yes, him, that is, my own heart.” Even though Paul found Onesimus, who had run away from his owner, most helpful to himself, yet Paul wanted him to go back to his owner, because that was right, and there was where he belonged by law, and so that Philemon might “have him back forever, no longer as a slave but as more than a slave, as a brother beloved, especially so to me, yet how much more so to you both in fleshly relationship and in the Lord.” (Philem. 10-12, 15, 16) The Scriptures indicate that no matter what condition one finds himself in, as a slave or a free workman, a Christian should work as though he were doing it “in the name of the Lord Jesus, thanking God the Father through him.”

30. So, then, what must Christians be?

³⁰ Christians must be honest. They must be truthful. They must prove they are ordained ministers, not only when they preach the good news, but in everything they do, so that all kinds of men might get saved. By this they prove that ‘the word of God is at work in believers.’ Are you a Christian doing good works in your eating, drinking, talking, working, preaching or doing anything else, doing all to God’s glory in order that someone might get saved? Are you ‘seeking peace and pursuing it’? A Christian knows “Jehovah’s eyes are upon the righteous,” his ordained ministers.—1 Pet. 3:11, 12.

“Become holy yourselves in all your conduct.”—1 Pet. 1:15.

Do You Let Your Light Shine?

1, 2. Why is it appropriate to compare the activity of an ordained minister with a city situated on a mountain and with a lamp that is lit?

AN ORDAINED minister of God carries a heavy responsibility. He starts in where Jesus left off. It was the Master who said to his faithful followers: “You are the light of the world. A city cannot be hid when situated upon a mountain. People light a lamp and set it, not under the measuring basket, but upon the lampstand, and it shines upon all those in the house. 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. 5:14-16) This light of truth shines in the world day and night because of the activeness of true Christians. When ordained ministers preach from house to house, the light shines. But that is not the only time he lets his light shine. It must shine during his eating, during his drinking, during his general conversation, during his working as well as when he is in the congregation of God’s people. At no time can a Christian hide or turn off his light. “You are the light of the world. . . . Let your light shine before mankind.”

² An ordained minister of God looks to the future. So, then, if he would “love life and see good days, . . . let him seek peace and pursue it.” (1 Pet. 3:10, 11) While pursuing peace he has no time for wrongdoing and so getting out of harmony with God’s Word. If he does, it will be seen. As a minister he must for twenty-four hours a day prove that he is living a Christian life. He is observed just like a city situated on a hill; there is no hiding it. It is there to be seen for many miles around. You cannot hide that city any more than you can hide the light of a true Christian. An ordained minister’s light shines continually. It is always aglow, unless the minister deliberately smothers the light by the way he eats, drinks, talks, works or preaches the good news of God’s kingdom. But never let that happen! Let people of all kinds see your right works, because when they see your right works all kinds of men will give glory to your Father who is in the heavens.

3. Aside from the Christian’s right work in preaching, what else should people be able to observe favorably?

³ The house-to-house preaching that the kingdom of God is at hand is vital, very important; and this good news helps people to see more clearly the great blessings God has in store for believers. But let them also observe the Christian’s right works, the way he lives, how he conducts himself at work and at play, the way his children behave themselves, the way he mixes with people in the congregation, along with his teaching ability. Yes, all this tells if he lets his light shine.

4, 5. (a) Is there such a thing as a part-time Christian, and why? (b) Can all Christians devote the same amount of time to preaching the good news? (c) What conclusion do we thus reach in the matter?

⁴ An individual who has dedicated himself to Jehovah’s service and has been baptized in water cannot say that he is a part-time Christian. He must be a full-time Christian. He may not be able to spend all his awake hours preaching from house to house and conducting Bible studies as do pioneers and missionaries. But that makes no difference as to being a Christian. God’s commandments are the same for all Christians. Many Christians among Jehovah’s witnesses are referred to as pioneers and missionaries, full-time preachers. These individuals have been able to arrange their affairs so that they can spend all their time in teaching and ministering to other persons by going from house to house and conducting Bible studies in the homes of believers. It is easily seen that not all persons who have dedicated their lives to Jehovah God and have been baptized can devote all their time to the preaching work, but certainly they must devote all their time to the Christian life. They must prove that they are ordained ministers before God just as surely as one who evangelizes all his wakeful hours. All Christians must be full-time light bearers just as Jesus was, because they are walking in his footsteps.

⁵ What, then, must we conclude? This: A Christian, whether he be a pioneer, a missionary, or a person known as a congregation publisher, must be an ordained minister before God full time. According to the Scriptures, in Paul’s writings as well as Peter’s and in Jesus’ own words, one living a Christian life must “keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness.” Furthermore, Jesus said: “If you observe my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have observed the commandments of the Father and remain in his love.” (John 15:10) There are no exceptions; all Christians have the same commandments, the same Redeemer, the same God.

WORKS BECOME MANIFEST

6, 7. How might we explain 1 Timothy 5:24, 25 in relation to people’s evil works?

⁶ What a person really is will eventually manifest itself. Paul pointed out to Timothy: “The sins of some men are publicly manifest, leading immediately to judgment, but as for other men their sins also become manifest later. In the same way also the right works are publicly manifest and those that are otherwise cannot be kept hid.” (1 Tim. 5:24, 25) A simple example will help us see Paul’s point. There was a thief in a certain city who had been robbing homes for two years and another man who for the first time tried to rob a home. On the novice’s first venture of this kind he was caught leaving the house with the stolen goods. He was turned over to the police. The trial was held. The witnesses gave their testimony and he was proved to be a thief. The judgment: six months in prison. This man’s sins were “publicly manifest, leading immediately to judgment.”

⁷ But how about the first thief, who has been stealing for two years now? He decides to make another robbery. This time, however, he is apprehended. The police arrest him. He is brought before the court, and in the evidence presented it is proved not only that he robbed in the last home he unlawfully entered, but that he had robbed many other homes during the past two years! While this thief may have had a good reputation in the community up to this time, now his “sins also become manifest,” but only later, after two years. One cannot always hide his real way of life. If he is a thief, eventually it will become manifest.

8. How might the works of a righteous person become manifest at once?

⁸ Paul reasons that just as the sins of some people are manifest immediately and other men’s sins become manifest later, so the same is true with the right works of some persons. Maybe another illustration will show this truth clearly. A woman zealous in preaching the good news from house to house has excellent success in interesting people in God’s Word, resulting in many home Bible studies. By her right works, in but a short period of time several persons come to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s witnesses, study with the congregation, start preaching the good news themselves, dedicate their lives to Jehovah’s service and are baptized. This woman’s right works are publicly manifest immediately to all in the congregation.

9, 10. Why might the right works of another person be hidden for a long time?

⁹ On the other hand, there is another woman in the same congregation just as zealous in going out in the witnessing work, but for some reason the people she meets and has studies with do not come to the Kingdom Hall so quickly. She studied with them for well over a year, but no results yet.

¹⁰ It so happens that the husband of this second woman is not interested in the Bible and its message and for two years he has been very much opposed to her taking up the ministry work. When they were married ten years ago they were very worldly people, going out to parties, night clubs and getting drunk. It was a wild life but a rather unhappy one, with many family brawls during their sobering-up period and at other times. Their children kept them home some a little later on, but real happiness was missing. There was no peace at home. However, a little over two years ago this woman began studying the Bible with one of Jehovah’s witnesses. It did not take her very long to appreciate what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “We also thank God incessantly, because when you received God’s word . . . you accepted it, not as the word of men, but, just as it truthfully is, as the word of God.” (1 Thess. 2:13) She wanted salvation, for now she learned she could enjoy a better life. She dedicated herself to Jehovah’s service. She was baptized in water and proved herself to be an ordained minister, making her mind over and living a good Christian life along with her preaching work. She let her light shine. She attended all the meetings at the Kingdom Hall and brought her children with her in addition to studying with them at home. But her husband never came to the Kingdom Hall with her. Her fellow witnesses in the congregation did not know much about her husband or her home life, because the husband would not allow any of Jehovah’s witnesses to come into his home.

11. During the time the person’s right works are hidden, what advice of Peter is being followed?

¹¹ This woman, now an ordained minister, had to show right works at home as well as on the outside, always following the commandments of God. She looked to Peter for advice, who wrote under inspiration of holy spirit: “In like manner, you wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, in order that, if any are not obedient to the word, they may be won without a word through the conduct of their wives, because of having been eyewitnesses of your chaste conduct together with deep respect. And do not let your adornment be that of the external braiding of the hair and of the putting on of gold ornaments or the wearing of outer garments, but let it be the secret person of the heart in the incorruptible apparel of the quiet and mild spirit, which is of great value in the eyes of God. For so, too, formerly the holy women who were hoping in God used to adorn themselves, subjecting themselves to their own husbands, as Sarah used to obey Abraham, calling him ‘lord.’ And you have become her children, provided you keep on doing good and not fearing any cause for terror.”—1 Pet. 3:1-6.

12-14. After people observe what right works do such works become manifest to all?

¹² This dedicated woman, a good housewife, a loving mother, was not allowed to speak the truth to her husband. This he forbade. However, the great change he saw in her through her right works spoke louder than words. No longer would she become drunk. Her disposition changed. Her home was clean and always in order; her meals were better and served on time. The children were well behaved and taught to love and respect their father. Conditions at home were much better than they used to be. But why?

¹³ Well, after two years of living as a Christian and at the same time putting up with some rough treatment, one day on her coming home from the field service her husband said to her: “There has been a great change in you. What made it?” Of course, the only answer was: “I am trying to live according to the Word of God, seeking peace and pursuing it.” He answered: “If the word of God made you do so many right works, maybe if I let the Word of God work on me, I, too, can become a believer.” He did!

¹⁴ So in the life of this woman we see her right works “manifest later.” Yes, God’s Word is true: “In the same way also the right works are publicly manifest and those that are otherwise cannot be kept hid.”—1 Tim. 5:24, 25.

15. What comfort, then, is there for all of us, and so what do we want to prove ourselves to be?

¹⁵ While some people’s right works produce good results quickly, still other persons’ right works become manifest eventually, even after many years. Never become discouraged because there seem to be no results from your right works. Keep on being a Christian. Salvation will come to some because of your letting your light shine even though it be observed in small things, eating, drinking, conversation, working or doing anything else. Be sure that, whatever you do, it is for God’s glory. One should not be seeking one’s own advantage, but that of the many in order that they might get saved! Remember, this Christian woman was not seeking her own advantage, but that of her husband, so that he, too, might get saved and share the joys of living in God’s new world. Be a Christian all day long, prove yourself to be a full-time ordained minister before God.

16. Are the right works of an ordained minister performed only to be seen of men? If not, why not?

¹⁶ An ordained minister in his going from house to house or doing right works for his employer or at home toward his wife and children, and conducting himself properly in the congregation is not trying to show off. The Word of God must be guiding him, and, because of his following the Word, life becomes pleasant and peaceful. “For Jehovah’s eyes are upon the righteous and his ears are toward their supplication.” (1 Pet. 3:12) We are admonished to “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.” (Matt. 6:1) “Do all things for God’s glory.” Do not be a hypocrite!

17. (a) How are we warned in the matter of our doing right works? (b) What fitting words of Jesus do we have on right and wrong conduct?

¹⁷ Do not do the things you are doing to be seen of men, but, whatever you do, do it as to Jehovah God and let him give you the reward. Do not appear to be a minister of God in the same way as the clergymen do in the world today by putting on an appearance of holiness before their congregations. Do not be classed or described by Jesus as the scribes and Pharisees were in his days. Jesus said of them: “All the works they do they do to be viewed by men . . . They like the most prominent place at evening meals and the front seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by men. . . . Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut up the kingdom of the heavens before mankind; for you yourselves do not go in, neither do you permit those on their way in to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you traverse sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one you make him a subject for Gehenna twice as much so as yourselves.” (Matt. 23:5-15) A real ordained minister directs the attention of people to God, not to himself. By paying constant attention to God’s Word and preaching it one will not only save himself but those who listen to him.—1 Tim. 4:16.

CONTROLLED BY GOD’S WORD

18. How much of Matthew 6:33 do some people read?

¹⁸ A Christian’s whole life must be controlled by the Word of God. He must believe what it says and delight to do Jehovah’s commandments. He must appreciate God’s righteousness and want to live according to what is written in the Bible. It was Jesus who said: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.” (Matt. 6:33) Some individuals when reading this text only read “keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom,” for that is the extent of their interest. They are anxious for Armageddon, the battle of the great day of God the Almighty, the time when Jehovah will destroy all wickedness from the earth and establish his righteous new world. Why so anxious? Because they want to live in paradise, have perfect life, peace and happiness, food and shelter and all the good things that the new world offers.

19. What else is there to consider in Matthew 6:33?

¹⁹ However, those persons seeking only the Kingdom and not Jehovah’s righteousness now should read the whole text. Jesus said: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness.” His righteousness, too, is something to keep on seeking. It is now that we must know Jehovah’s principles of truth and righteousness and how to live. If a Christian is seeking Jehovah’s righteousness, then he will want to know what a Christian should do. For example, the Bible says that a single man or woman should not live in fornication. “If they do not have self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to be inflamed with passion.” (1 Cor. 7:9) When married, neither mate can live in adultery, because that is not seeking his righteousness. “You heard that it was said, ‘You must not commit adultery.’”—Matt. 5:27.

20. What kinds of advice do we find in the Word of God?

²⁰ In the Word of God there is excellent admonition on how single persons should live and on the conduct of married couples, on the raising of children, on the work to be done by the congregation of God, and on how overseers should deport themselves. There is counsel given on loving our neighbors and being hospitable to strangers. Advice is given on one’s moral way of life as to his language, his eating, his drinking, his working, his honesty, his general disposition. He surely cannot be a murderer, a thief, a drunkard, an idolater, a liar, a greedy person, an extortioner, a reviler. A Christian’s whole life is governed by Scriptural principles set out clearly in God’s Word. So, then, let us keep on seeking God’s righteousness as well as the Kingdom, but not just the Kingdom. If you do right, the promise is that all other things will be added to you.

21, 22. What are the fruits of the old personality? the new personality?

²¹ By doing what is right a Christian puts on a new personality and conforms his life to God’s will in true righteousness and loving-kindness. The apostle Paul in writing to the Ephesians said so: “You should put away the old personality which conforms to your former course of conduct and which is being corrupted according to his deceptive desires; but that you should be made new in the force actuating your mind, and should put on the new personality which was created according to God’s will in true righteousness and loving-kindness.” (Eph. 4:22-24) A Christian knows that Satan, the god of this world, “has blinded the minds of the unbelievers” and keeps them in darkness. The Devil wants all human creatures to conduct themselves according to their own deceptive desires. “Because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world.” (1 John 2:16) So the Devil would like to keep everyone ‘conformed to his former course of conduct which is being corrupted.’

²² But when one learns the truth he can change his personality, putting away the old one with its ugly language that he once used. He will also put away his lazy or dishonest working habits, and so many other bad habits that would interfere with letting his light shine. He knows that “Jehovah’s face is against those doing injurious things.” So the Christian makes a big change in order to “seek peace and pursue it,” for he knows that “Jehovah’s eyes are upon the righteous.”—1 Pet. 3:11, 12.

23. (a) How can one acquire the new personality? (b) Originally what kind of personality did Adam possess?

²³ The Word of God has a powerful effect upon an individual who is sincere. Hundreds of thousands of persons have allowed God’s Word to guide them until they have seen the importance of becoming an ordained minister before God, even though most of the worldly governments do not recognize them as such. Still they keep letting their light shine. No longer do they conform themselves to the old course of conduct, but they take on an entirely new outlook as regards life, knowing that the Word of God is at work in still other believers and that these other believers are letting God’s Word have an effect upon their lives. Paul knew that “you should be made new in the force actuating your mind.” And what is that force that actuates the mind? It is God’s spirit, his active force, which is revealed to us through his Word. Study the Word of God so as to put on the new personality, one befitting a full-time ordained minister and pleasing to God. Surely the personality that God gave Adam in the original creation in the garden of Eden was according to God’s will; and it was in true righteousness and loving-kindness that he made this man. He was a perfect creature. He was put on a perfect earth. His personality must have had the quality of one seeking peace, for there in the garden of Eden he was at peace with all the animals, a condition that the prophet Isaiah describes will exist in the paradise earth under the kingdom of heaven after the battle of Armageddon.

24, 25. What is Jehovah’s will for ordained ministers and how will they respond to His will?

²⁴ It is certainly God’s will today for one to seek peace with God and show meekness and righteousness, for it may be that he will be hid in the day of Jehovah’s anger. (Zeph. 2:3) Jehovah’s witnesses in all parts of the world want to prove themselves worthy ministers of God by steadfastly preaching the good news of God’s kingdom. They want to show appreciation for the ordination they have received from Jehovah and prove by right works that they can live Christian lives. Their vocation is their call to the divine service of their God. By putting on this new personality, which was created according to God’s will in true righteousness and loving-kindness, they can serve better and accomplish more. Jehovah’s witnesses, God’s ordained ministers, will devote their full time to Christian living and will conduct themselves in this old world as Jesus did. They remember what he said: “If you were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own. Now because you are no part of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, on this account the world hates you.” (John 15:19) But even though the world hates them, Jehovah’s witnesses are going to show love toward all persons in the world and are going to stay at peace with them. They “will seek peace and pursue it. For Jehovah’s eyes are upon the righteous.”

²⁵ As ordained ministers before Jehovah God, Jehovah’s witnesses will carry out His will. “In fact, to this course you were called, because even Christ suffered for you, leaving you a model for you to follow his steps closely. He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. When he was being reviled, he did not go to reviling in return. When he was suffering, he did not go to threatening, but kept on committing himself to the one who judges righteously.” (1 Pet. 2:21-23) To him also his ordained ministers commit themselves in ever doing right.

The Peace and Unity of Jehovah’s Witnesses

1. What is the essential for peace and unity among Jehovah’s witnesses?

TO DO the right thing always brings satisfaction and an inward peace. The doers of Jehovah’s will know that “abundant peace belongs to those loving your law, and for them there is no stumbling block.” (Ps. 119:165) This is certainly true concerning Jehovah’s witnesses, who live together in peace and unity world-wide. As ordained ministers they recognize that loving Jehovah’s law and abiding by it are essential to peace and happiness in life. Seeking peace and pursuing it is the wise course, and one can be confident that Jehovah’s eyes will be upon him.

2, 3. To insure peace and unity, what example set by the angels can humans take to heart?

² While many men do not recognize or believe that real satisfaction in living can come from doing Jehovah’s will, yet others rejoice to learn what the will of God is and then do it. The Bible informs us that the angels listen to the voice of his word. Should not we humans? “Jehovah himself has firmly established his throne in the very heavens, and his own kingship has held domination even over everything. Bless Jehovah, O you angels of his, mighty in power, carrying out his word, by listening to the voice of his word. Bless Jehovah, all you armies of his, you ministers of his, doing his will.”—Ps. 103:19-21.

³ Surely the angels of heaven in Jehovah’s organization are not obstinate. Rather, they appreciate Jehovah’s sovereignty over everything and that his will is done. Furthermore, “you ministers of his,” Jehovah’s ordained ministers on earth, must recognize that Jehovah is the Sovereign Ruler and that you, too, must be “doing his will.” His will is for you to preach this good news of the Kingdom in all the world for the purpose of a witness.

4, 5. (a) Why cannot Jehovah’s people he isolationists and how does Paul show unity must exist? (b) Therefore, how is unity maintained?

⁴ Without question, Jehovah God has a visible and invisible organization. As to Jehovah’s visible organization the apostle Paul says that it will work together as one man. No one individual can claim really to be a Christian and still say that he is not needed in God’s organization and separate himself from it. Isolationism does not fit in with the doing of Jehovah’s will. Paul had this fact very clearly in mind when he wrote to the Corinthians, saying: “If the foot should say: ‘Because I am not a hand, I am no part of the body,’ it is not for this reason no part of the body. And if the ear should say: ‘Because I am not an eye, I am no part of the body,’ it is not for this reason no part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If it were all hearing, where would the smelling be? But now God has set the members in the body, each one of them, just as he pleased.” (1 Cor. 12:15-18) So all Christians must be in this body or the one organization that God is using. There is no isolationism in your own body, is there?

⁵ One who professes to be a Christian must always be part of Jehovah’s visible organization. He must always be a “working part” of the body, not dead tissue and waste or useless matter, which are cast off through the proper channels. To be a part of this Christian body one must always be a full-time minister, “listening to the voice of his Word” and “doing his will.” No Christian can ever say to another Christian, “I have no need of you.” Only peace and unity, oneness in organization, must exist for Christians to be really doing the will of God. Paul went on to describe this oneness of Christians: “The eye cannot say to the hand: ‘I have no need of you’; or, again, the head cannot say to the feet: ‘I have no need of you.’” (1 Cor. 12:21) Jehovah’s witnesses recognize this principle and that is why there are no divisions in the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses. All of them together are his ordained ministers and individually they must live as Christians. All of them have an obligation to preach the good news and around the world they do just that.

THE RESULTS OF DILIGENT SERVICE

6. What growth has taken place among Jehovah’s unified servants in the past ten years?

⁶ In their preaching assignment Jehovah’s witnesses’ sole desire is to help others understand the Word of God. They are diligent in their teaching work and that of helping others to seek peace and pursue it. In the year 1959 there were 803,482 of Jehovah’s witnesses, on the average, who preached the good news of God’s kingdom every month. Comparing this with ten years ago, there were 279,421 preaching regularly every month throughout the year 1949. This means a growth in the organization in but ten years’ time of 524,061 of Jehovah’s witnesses. It was peace and unity in the organization that made this possible. “For Jehovah’s eyes are upon the righteous.”—1 Pet. 3:12.

7, 8. What has been the growth in just one year, and what new peak of Kingdom proclaimers was attained?

⁷ Let us see just how much growth took place during the year 1959. In the year 1958 there were, on an average, 717,088 of Jehovah’s witnesses preaching every month, and 803,482 in 1959. That means that during the year 86,394 persons from all nations, kindreds, tongues, tribes and languages have joined themselves with Jehovah’s witnesses so that they, too, may declare this peaceful message to the world. A 12-percent increase in the number of those who “seek peace and pursue it” was made.—1 Pet. 3:11.

⁸ But note this too: before the service year of Jehovah’s witnesses ended there were 871,737 persons who associated themselves with Jehovah’s witnesses and did ministerial work. That means that from the average number of ministers in 1958, which was 717,088, to the peak in 1959 there was an increase of 21.5 percent.

9. How did Jehovah’s people render sacred service day and night during the 1959 service year?

⁹ These are not just people who have associated themselves with Jehovah’s witnesses—that number is far greater—but these are Christian persons preaching the good news. How can it be proved that they have been doing good work? Consider their hours in field service! The 1959 service year report shows that these men and women from all walks of life have preached 126,317,124 hours. This is an increase of 15,926,180 hours more than during the previous year. You may remember how John, in the writing of the Revelation account, in the seventh chapter, said: “I saw, and look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, . . . and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple.” (Rev. 7:9, 15) We can say that this great crowd is literally doing this now. If you reduce this 126,317,124 hours to represent days and people, it means that there would be 14,414 individuals preaching twenty-four hours a day, day and night, for 365 days of the year. Where is there another organization today that has that many ministers preaching twenty-four hours each day from house to house, actually talking to other persons about the wonderful promises of God?

10. What accounts for the great increase in Kingdom proclaimers?

¹⁰ Many individuals ask why Jehovah’s witnesses are having such a marvelous increase in numbers. Why this fast upsurge in persons wanting to do good? It is because Jehovah’s witnesses are preaching the truth from the Bible, and the truth frees them from false religious error. It is as simple as that. God’s ordained ministers have a real faith in the Bible and they want others to have that same faith. They do not hide their faith. They let their light shine, and when other persons see the truth they let that truth in them shine too.

11. How many were in attendance at the Memorial celebration of Christ’s death, and how do Jehovah’s witnesses declare their belief in the ransom sacrifice?

¹¹ On March 23, 1959, Jehovah’s witnesses celebrated the death of Christ Jesus, and there were 1,283,603 persons at their meetings around the world. There were only 14,511 of those in attendance who claimed to be of the body of Christ and who properly partook of the emblems, the wine and bread. The rest so declared themselves to be, or wanting to be, of this “great crowd” who are before the throne of God rendering sacred service day and night along with God’s anointed remnant. Very likely, on the tenth day of April, which falls on Sunday in 1960, there will be many more joining this great throng in the celebration of the death of Christ Jesus. This day is truly worth celebrating because “salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:10) Salvation comes no other way, and Jehovah’s witnesses are happy to declare that they believe in the ransom sacrifice of Christ Jesus, not only by going to this celebration of the Memorial just once a year, but, in addition, by working one with the other, doing the will of their God all year long.

12, 13. Before 86,345 people symbolized their dedication by water baptism, what work had Jehovah’s witnesses performed toward them?

¹² In 1959 many more persons in the world wanted to show their faith in Jesus Christ and be Christians and they proved it by their works. There were 86,345 men and women who were baptized by being completely immersed under the water, indicating that they had dedicated their lives to the service of Jehovah and that henceforth they were going to live full Christian lives to Jehovah’s praise. They are now demonstrating their faith by good works.

¹³ These individuals who were baptized during the year were first helped to understand the Bible by having Bible studies in their own homes. Jehovah’s witnesses visit the homes of interested persons weekly and carry on a one-hour-long free Bible study in one of the publications of the Society along with the Bible itself. During the 1959 service year Jehovah’s witnesses in all the 175 lands in which they are carrying on their work conducted 606,075 Bible studies every week.

14, 15. What increase in Bible study activity took place? Why are Bible studies important?

¹⁴ What a marvelous increase in the number of Bible studies has been achieved! Comparing 1958 with 1959, we see there was an increase of 97,755 Bible studies. Ten years ago Jehovah’s witnesses were conducting 174,404 Bible studies every week. Now they are going into 606,075 homes weekly presenting God’s message for mankind. How far-reaching this good work is Jehovah knows, for his “eyes are upon the righteous.”

¹⁵ Jehovah’s witnesses appreciate that if they can sit down in peace and quiet in the homes of the people and use the Bible of the person with whom they are studying, they can show him what the true purposes of God are and what his will is. Any individual that will study the Bible one hour a week with a teacher is going to be amazed at what he will learn in that very short period of time. The more time one spends in the study of God’s Word, the more anxious he will be to see fulfilled that prayer that most persons throughout Christendom have prayed some time or other: ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.’ True Christians want to do that will now and forever.

16. What are the various means Jehovah’s witnesses employ to carry on preaching, and what did they do in 1959 by these various means?

¹⁶ Jehovah’s witnesses, in trying to help as many people as they possibly can, augment their preaching work by offering Bible-study helps to interested persons. They distribute Bibles, bound books, booklets, obtain subscriptions for the Watchtower and Awake! magazines and distribute individual copies of these magazines. Millions of tracts that arouse interest in Bible study are distributed yearly by them. They sponsor public talks at their Kingdom Halls, and all these different avenues of preaching the good news have a tremendous effect on those who will listen and learn. To give you an idea of what Jehovah’s witnesses do in a year, the comparison of work done in 1958 and 1959 is set out in the following table.

1959 1958 DIFFERENCE

BOOKS PLACED 3,952,160 3,394,524 557,636 MORE

BOOKLETS PLACED 11,472,134 12,643,921 1,171,787 LESS

SUBSCRIPTIONS 1,247,972 1,255,047 7,075 LESS

MAGAZINES PLACED 92,310,778 86,498,251 5,821,527 MORE

BACK-CALLS MADE 44,240,218 36,398,025 7,842,193 MORE

PUBLIC MEETINGS HELD 631,906 531,653 100,253 MORE

17. How extensive, language-wise, is the work of Jehovah’s witnesses?

¹⁷ The work of Jehovah’s witnesses was not confined to just one country or one language. The literature of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is published in 128 different tongues. Its principal journal, the Watchtower magazine, is printed in fifty-five languages semimonthly and monthly. Awake!, its companion, is printed in twenty-one different languages. The truth is available for practically everyone in the world in some form or other if he wants it.

BEARING THE LOAD

18, 19. With the help of God’s people everywhere what work did the Watch Tower Society carry on in 1959, and to what extent financially?

¹⁸ Under the supervision of the Watch Tower Society Jehovah’s witnesses try to reach into every nook and corner of the earth so as to carry on missionary work. Many individuals put in their full time preaching from house to house and conducting Bible studies. There were 28,688 individuals, called pioneers, who devoted all their time to the preaching of the good news. Out of this group there were 5,442 that the Society calls special pioneers who were sent into isolated territory to start new congregations, and these were helped financially by Jehovah’s witnesses through the Society. Many of the special pioneer groups are missionaries who were trained at Gilead School and sent into foreign service.

¹⁹ For the Society to carry on its foreign service, help to support special pioneers and serve the congregations with circuit and district servants world-wide, it cost the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society $2,282,026.14. Breaking this amount down into its component parts, the Society spent $471,267.66 to support the missionary work in foreign fields, $1,451,145.74 to aid the special pioneers in various countries under the eighty-five branch organizations, and the balance, $359,612.74, for circuit and district servants as they traveled from congregation to congregation. However, in the latter case, this is by no means all the expense, because the circuit and district servants are usually taken care of by the brothers that they visit. These are housed by congregation publishers and food is provided for them, because the brothers deeply appreciate their services rendered to the congregations.

20, 21. Outline the increases enjoyed in various fields during the 1959 service year by God’s organization.

²⁰ At the close of the 1959 service year there were 19,982 congregations in 175 lands of the world, and these were divided up into 1,492 circuits and 180 districts. Regular circuit and district assemblies are held each year so that Jehovah’s witnesses of the various congregations can assemble together for additional spiritual help and training in their ministerial work.

²¹ At the eighty-five branches throughout the world there are large and small Bethel families, and in this group there are 1,236 persons. They have had the wonderful opportunity of making and distributing the literature of the Society and keeping all the ordained ministers supplied with their needs of Bibles and other printed literature, and during the past year they have produced in their printing plants 5,367,197 books, 19,443,542 booklets, 89,007,520 copies of The Watchtower, 71,392,713 copies of Awake!, as well as 477,086,675 other pieces of printed matter like tracts, handbills advertising public lectures, 72,348,403 copies of the Resolution in fifty-three languages, calendars, letterheads and other office supplies.

22. Did the work decline in the face of opposition during the past year?

²² This work and this distribution of the literature in printed form and the preaching from house to house were not all accomplished without any difficulties. As far as the organization itself is concerned, there was peace and unity among these Christians, but great opposition was brought to bear against many of God’s people, particularly behind the Iron Curtain and in communistic countries. But even there it is wonderful to see that there has been an increase in the work despite working underground, because today there are, on an average, 120,952 publishers preaching in communistic lands and they have reached a new peak of publishers, 131,996, during the 1959 service year. In fact, in the communistic countries there has been a 22-percent increase in the number of those associating themselves with God’s people, dedicating their lives to his service and going out preaching the good news of the Kingdom.

23. (a) What will be evident from a reading of the Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses? (b) What blessed condition among Jehovah’s people will continue?

²³ One who reads the 1960 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses will see that being a Christian in this old world is not easy. It has its hardships and its blessings beyond measure. Paul stated it very well: “If one member suffers, all the other members suffer with it; or if a member is glorified, all the other members rejoice with it.” (1 Cor. 12:26) How true that is! Jehovah’s visible organization is bound together so closely that if anything affects one part of the organization it is felt by the other members too, because they are all one body, one in spirit, one in mind, one in faith, serving Jehovah. Within the organization of Jehovah’s witnesses itself there is peace and unity, and no matter what pressures are brought upon it from the outside they will stand these pressures and together press on, proving themselves to be God’s Christian ministers pursuing peace and praising Jehovah day and night.

[Chart on page 20-22]

1959 SERVICE YEAR REPORT OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES WORLD WIDE

(See bound volume)

Part 29—“Your Will Be Done on Earth”

During the course of the centuries since the conflict between the king of the north and the king of the south began in the fourth century before the Christian era, the identity of the two kings has changed. In 64 B.C. the rulers of the Roman Empire assumed the role of the king of the north. At the death of the Roman Emperor Theodosius in 393 (A.D.) the empire became divided into an eastern and a western part. But it was not till the Roman Catholic pope, Leo III, crowned the Frankish king, Charlemagne, as emperor of the western empire that it became historically correct to speak of the Western Empire as well as of the Eastern Empire, which latter empire had its capital at Constantinople. That was on Christmas Day of the year 800.

78. When emperorship of the West became elective, to whom did it finally come, to remain till the end, and how was the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation established and brought to an end?

⁷⁸ In 911 (A.D.) the emperorship of the West became elective. Five centuries later it was obtained by the members of the house of Hapsburg of Austria, and was held by them till 1806, when the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved. The German Empire received this title during the reign of Otho (Otto) the Great. In 961 he was crowned as king of Italy; and on February 2, 962, Pope John XII crowned him at Rome as Otho I, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. It had its capital in Germany, and the emperors and most of their subjects were Germans. So under Otho I Germany and Italy were brought into close relationship, but with Germany on top, for Italy was treated finally as a conquered province. Napoleon Bonaparte was the one that brought the Holy Roman Empire to its end in 1806. When he, as emperor of the French, refused to recognize the Holy Roman Empire as existing, Emperor Francis II released the Germanic states from their allegiance to the Holy Roman Empire. He resigned from the Roman Imperial dignity and withdrew to his national government as emperor of Austria. Thus after 1,006 years the Holy Roman Empire, which had been founded by the Roman Catholic pope and by Frankish Charlemagne, came to an inglorious end. It had proved to be no millennial kingdom of God.

79. When was the new German Empire established, and what triple alliance was formed?

⁷⁹ In 1870 Italy was established as a kingdom independent of the Roman popes of the Vatican. In the next year the new Germanic Empire was begun, with William I being declared Caesar or Kaiser. The modern king of the north was becoming identifiable. In time Germany and Austria-Hungary and Italy entered into an alliance, in which the outbreak of World War I found them.

80. How did the seventh world power come into existence, and when particularly did it come into the position of king of the south?

⁸⁰ Great Britain took on imperial power in the beginning of the seventeenth century and rose to the position of the seventh world power of Bible history, it being joined in this position by the United States of America to form the Anglo-American dual world power. During Britain’s war with Napoleon Bonaparte the British army drove the French out of Egypt, the whole of which the French had conquered in 1798. Although Egypt came again under the overlordship of Turkey, the British government virtually controlled Egypt since 1882. Egypt was in fact a British dependency, although under its native khedive, for the British army stayed in Egypt and the British will was really the law. Then in 1914, because the Egyptian khedive sided with Turkey, which had joined Germany in the first world war, the British took over in Egypt, deposed the khedive and declared Egypt a British Protectorate. Thus democratic Britain and America became opponents of the prophetic king of the north, and together they came into the position of the king of the south.

81. From this standpoint, what does the rest of Daniel’s prophecy take on for us?

⁸¹ From this standpoint, the rest of the historical preview that Jehovah’s angel brought to Daniel in the third year of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes on a gripping meaning for us in this “appointed time of the end” of this old world.—Dan. 8:19, JP; RS.

CHAPTER 11

“THE APPOINTED TIME OF THE END”

1. In this “appointed time of the end.” what has the warfare between the king of the north and the king of the south threatened, and why?

IN THE “appointed time of the end” the warfare cold and hot between the king of the north and the king of the south has threatened modern man-made civilization with ruin. The two kings have carried on their deceptive diplomacy and their warfare not only without regard for the best interests of mankind but also without respect for the kingdom of God, the rightful government of all the earth. Bringing the long-range prophecy down to our times, God’s angel said to the prophet Daniel: “And as for both these kings, their heart is bent on mischief, and at one table will they speak lies; but it shall not prosper; for the end is yet for the time appointed.”—Dan. 11:27, Le; JP.

2. From 1871 onward what interests began to clash and yet what conviction concerning peace was voiced?

² Shortly after the re-establishment of the German Empire on January 1, 1871, the interests of this king of the north began to clash with those of the modern king of the south, the Anglo-American dual world power. The Germanic king of the north was the most lively and mighty champion of the former sixth world power of Rome. When the German parliament opened in October of 1871, Emperor William I voiced the conviction that “the new German Empire will be a reliable shield of peace.” Did this prove to be the truth or a lie?

3. In what way were the hearts of these two kings “bent on mischief”?

³ The king of the north and the king of the south were seated “at one table,” having mutual contacts and expressing friendliness. But their hearts were bent on mischief, if not toward each other, then certainly toward the promised, prayed-for kingdom of God. The two kings claimed to rule “by the grace of God” and to rule by divine right as the “higher powers” that were “ordained by God.” (Rom. 13:1, AV; Luther) The king of the south already held world empire, the greatest that the world had known till then. It resented the rising power of the new German Reich or Empire.

4. Evidently for what did Kaiser Wilhelm II plan, and what moves did he make to that end?

⁴ In 1888 the grandson of William I came to the German imperial throne as William II, commonly called Kaiser Wilhelm. Says one authority: “He was a firm believer in the divine right of kings and of kaisers in particular. On numerous occasions he spoke of himself as ‘the instrument of the Lord,’ and took such excessive interest in the army, . . . But his selfish ambition had no bounds. It is now generally conceded that almost from the first day of his reign he began to plan for world domination; that he . . . resolved that he, William, would show the world that one man could raise himself to the topmost pinnacle and not only rule Germany, but through Germany might rule the civilized earth.”a “He declared that he owed his ‘awful responsibility toward the Creator alone, wherefrom no man, no minister, no parliament, no people can relieve the sovereign.’ . . . ”b He built up a powerful, well-trained army in which he had great confidence: he also developed a mighty navy, including many untersee boats or submarines; he launched out on great commercial and colonial expansion of the German Reich. He extended the Reich’s influence to Turkey and Asia Minor, seeking a direct railroad route to the Persian Gulf. He built up German interests in the Far East, Africa and South America. Mischief afoot!

5. At what “one table” were the two kings seated, and what did they speak there?

⁵ Both kings became members of the Hague Court of International Arbitration. So presumably they were for peace between themselves and other nations, but hardly for “peace with God” or peace with his coming kingdom. What else could be expected but that they should “speak lies” diplomatically “at one table”? Not at the “table of Jehovah,” which is a table of truth, but at the “table of demons,” which is the table of “teachings of demons.” (1 Cor. 10:20, 21; 1 Tim. 4:1, 2, NW; RS; Mal. 1:7, 12, AS) However, this lying course of speech and conduct toward each other and toward Jehovah God and his Christ did not prosper into a peaceful world or toward any willing submission to the oncoming kingdom of God and of his Christ. It did not prosper for their perpetually holding on to political, commercial and military power, because the end of both “kings” is “yet for the time appointed” by Jehovah God.

6, 7. (a) How did the king of the north now “return into his land with great riches”? (b) The favor of what religious potentate did he win?

⁶ Having the king of the north in mind, Jehovah’s angel said to Daniel: “Then will he return into his land with great riches, and his heart will be against the holy covenant: and he will do it, and return to his own land.” (Dan. 11:28, Le) Kaiser Wilhelm returned to the land or earthly condition of the ancient king of the north by building up an absolutist imperial form of rule, for increasing the German Reich and extending its influence to all quarters. By this course “great riches” in many ways resulted to imperial Germany. He made Germany the chief part in a Triple Alliance or Dreibund made up of Austria-Hungary, Italy and Germany, with the favor of the pope of the Vatican. To quote an authority:

⁷ “Notably in maintaining the Triple Alliance, the emperor followed the policy of [Chancellor] Bismarck. . . . Bismarck’s [anti-Catholic] kulturkampf legacy William sagaciously disposed of through concessions which he turned to profit by making an implicit alliance of the Vatican and the German schools in his anti-revolutionary policies and by remodeling the schools themselves.”c

8. Which did the pope favor, the Triple Alliance or the Triple Entente, and why?

⁸ Since not only Italy but also Austria-Hungary was Roman Catholic and intimate with the Vatican pope, it was only to be expected that the pope would favor the Triple Alliance (Dreibund) against the king of the south and his Triple Entente of Protestant Britain, republican France and Russian Orthodox Czarist Russia.

9. How was this king of the north at heart “against the holy covenant”?

⁹ In the early days of the revived German Empire, in fact, from 1877 onward, Jehovah’s dedicated people of his “sanctuary” class were openly declaring in their publications that the Gentile times or “appointed times of the nations” would end in 1914. In that year the kingdom of God was to be fully established in the heavens to see that His will should be done on earth. This was in harmony with Jehovah’s covenant with King David for an everlasting Kingdom in the hands of his permanent Heir, Jesus Christ. (2 Sam. 7:12-16; Ps. 89:28-37; Luke 22:28, 29) Kaiser Wilhelm as well as the other worldly rulers treated the message of Jehovah’s sanctuary class concerning the end of the Gentile times in 1914 with contempt. Yet the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society had had a vigorous branch office in Barmen-Elberfeld, Germany, since 1903. Undeniably the heart of the Germanic king of the north was against the holy Kingdom covenant of Jehovah God. The Kaiser’s plans were not for handing over the imperial sovereignty to Jesus Christ at his heavenly enthronement in 1914, the Kaiser thus to acknowledge him as the rightful Heir of the kingdom over all the earth. So he “did it” or acted with effect and returned to his own schemes of an earth dominated by the German Kaiser. By commercial rivalry and military buildup he sowed the seeds for hot war, World War I.

10. From 1870 onward, how did the question of world domination become a sizzling one?

¹⁰ The question of world domination was becoming a sizzling one. During the four decades from 1870, when the Franco-Prussian war began and the German Reich again sprouted, down to 1910 there was more headway made in the “European domination of the world” than during the four preceding centuries.d It was due to materialism! Already in 1895 Kaiser Wilhelm declarede that “the German Empire has become a world empire.” He mixed himself in with the Middle East, for, four years later, a group of German bankers got from the Turkish sultan a concession for building a railroad across Asiatic Turkey from the Straits of Bosporus, opposite Constantinople, southeastward to Baghdad in Mesopotamia (now Iraq). Looking to further imperial communications, he said: “Germany’s future lies upon the water.” The total tonnage of his navy became second only to that of Britain. The king of the south looked on nervously.

11. How was a world conflagration finally sparked, and how was it “at the time appointed”?

¹¹ With so much inflammable material piled up, it needed only a spark to touch off a world conflagration. It was struck—on June 28, 1914, by the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and his wife in Bosnia, which Austria-Hungary, Germany’s ally, had annexed in 1908. The king of the north seized upon this to realize his scheme of world domination at the expense of the king of the south. Jehovah’s angel had said: “At the time appointed will he return, and enter into the south; but not as in the former will it be in the latter time.” (Dan. 11:29, Le) The “time appointed” was the year 1914, which God’s time schedule had marked for the 2,520 years of the “appointed times of the nations” to end in the fall of the year. At that time their allowance from Jehovah God to enjoy terrestrial rule without interference from God’s kingdom ended. That was “seven times” from 607 B.C., from the Gentile overturning of Jehovah’s typical kingdom in Jerusalem, the destruction of his typical sanctuary in that city, and the desolating of the kingdom realm of Judah.—2 Chron. 36:17-21; Luke 21:24.

12. For what to be restored was it the time in the fall of 1914?

¹² In the fall of 1914, therefore, was Jehovah’s appointed time for his kingdom to be restored, not on earth at Jerusalem, but up in heaven at his right hand where his Son, Jesus Christ, had sat waiting for his enemies to be made his footstool.—Ps. 110:1; Heb. 10:12, 13.

13. At the Kingdom’s establishment in 1914, did the nations of Christendom share the gladness of the “twenty-four elders”?

¹³ In 1914, were the nations of “Christendom” glad that the time was at hand for the kingdom of God to be fully set up, as proclaimed by Jehovah’s people of the “sanctuary” class? The symbolic twenty-four elders seated before God upon their thrones were glad and said: “We thank you, Jehovah God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun ruling as king.” But prophecy said that the worldly nations would not be glad: “But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came, and the appointed time . . . to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” (Rev. 11:16-18) Even before the “seven times” expired in the fall of 1914 the nations put themselves in no condition to hail and accept the then-to-be-restored kingdom of God.

14. How did the king of the north “return, and enter into the south” in 1914?

¹⁴ Austria-Hungary, having had her heir to the royal throne murdered, declared war on Serbia on July 28. Her partner in the Dreibund, Germany, backed her up and declared war upon Russia on August 1, then upon France on August 3. The next day the king of the south, through Britain, declared war upon Germany. Italy, a member of the Dreibund, declared neutrality, but joined the king of the south in war the following year. Turkey and Bulgaria joined Germany. After that Britain took over Egypt as her protectorate, to block the troops of the Kaiser and of Turkey in Palestine from cutting off the Suez Canal and invading Egypt, the ancient land of the king of the south. Britain being now in control of Egypt, the king of the south now represented the system of liberal democracy or constitutional rule, together with free, capitalistic enterprise.

15. For the king of the north, how was it “in the latter time” not as “in the former”?

¹⁵ Thus for the autocratic king of the north in this “latter time,” in 1914, it was not “as in the former” time when he was the Roman imperial world power, the sixth world power of Bible history. In this “latter time” the second-rate king of the north had to face the king of the south, who was holding the role of the seventh world power, the greatest of the seven world powers. Not only that, but from about October 1, 1914, the king of the north had to face also the restored kingdom of Jehovah God ruling in the heavens for universal domination.

(To be continued)

[Footnotes]

[Map on page 28]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

BRITISH EMPIRE (A.D. 1914)

Crown colonies or protectorates: MALTA

Self-governing dominions: INDIA

GREAT BRITAIN

IRELAND

DOMINION OF CANADA

LABRADOR

NEWFOUNDLAND

BR. GUIANA

SIERRA LEONE

GOLD COAST (GHANA)

NIGERIA

EGYPT

EGYPT SUDAN

UGANDA

KENYA

BR. SOMALILAND

RHODESIA

BECHUANALAND

UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA

EMPIRE OF INDIA

KASHMIR

BURMA

CEYLON

SARAWAK

BR. NEW GUINEA

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

TASMANIA

DOMINION OF NEW ZEALAND

BERMUDA

BAHAMAS

JAMAICA

BR. HONDURAS

ANTIGUA

BARBADOS

TRINIDAD

FALKLAND IS.

GIBRALTAR

GAMBIA

ASCENSION

ST. HELENA

MALTA

CYPRUS

ADEN

SOCOTRA

SEYCHELLES

ZANZIBAR

MAURITIUS

Wei-hai-wei

Hong Kong

MALAY STATES

Singapore

FIJI

TONGA IS.

UNITED STATES

(SOUTH AMERICA)

(EUROPE)

(AFRICA)

RUSSIA (U.S.S.R.)

North Atlantic Ocean

South Atlantic Ocean

Indian Ocean

North Pacific Ocean

Arctic Circle

Equator

Questions From Readers

● What is the meaning of the illustration appearing on page 220 of the book “Your Will Be Done on Earth”?—B. T., U.S.A.

This picture illustrates the theme of chapter ten, The North Against the South. The South is pictured by the pyramids, which are associated with and stand for Egypt, the king of the South. The North is pictured by a Syrian shepherd, as Syrians were great sheep herders and Syria played the part of the king of the North.

● In the New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures “Jehovah” is listed as YHWH. Should it not be YHVH?—B. Y., U.S.A.

It is rendered this way in the New World Translation, instead of “Y H V H,” because the Jewish letter, the third one in the name, is pronounced like a “W” instead of like a “V.” This fact is shown up in that some translators render the divine name into English as “Yahweh” instead of “Jahveh.”

Making the Mind Over for the New World

THE commission Jehovah God gave to Jeremiah required him to make over his mind. Though in his own estimation he was a mere boy, Jeremiah accepted that commission and proved faithful to it, letting God dictate both the substance and manner of presenting his message. The same principles apply to Jehovah’s spokesmen today. If we would faithfully carry out our commission we must ‘be made new in the force actuating our minds.’—Eph. 4:23.

To make over our minds requires, first of all, that we study God’s Word, together with the helps he has provided. Meditation on the things we have learned is also essential. More than that, we must associate with our brothers at the congregational meetings. And not to be overlooked is prayer.

What does all this mean to us in practical application and within the prophetic picture made by Jeremiah? That by both our words and our actions we must say: “Down with the old! Up with the new!” It means that we will divest ourselves of all sentimental and erroneous notions as to Jehovah God’s purpose regarding an apostate people called by his name. Christendom will be deservedly destroyed just as surely as was ancient Jerusalem. We may therefore no more pray for it—or sing its patriotic songs that are in effect a prayer on behalf of a part of Christendom—than Jeremiah was permitted to do.—Jer. 7:16.a

Back there Jehovah God gave Jeremiah a twofold commission: “See, I have commissioned you this day . . . to uproot and to pull down and to destroy and to tear down, to build and to plant.” Jeremiah uprooted and pulled down .Jerusalem by predicting that it was doomed. He was also commissioned to plant and to build. This he did by telling of a miraculous restoration of Jehovah’s people.—Jer. 1:10.

Likewise we, the Jeremiah class of today. have a twofold commission to carry out. By fearlessly warning of Jehovah’s vengeance to be executed at Armageddon, we are doing a tearing down and destroying work. And by preaching this good news of the Kingdom’s having been established and the blessings that it will soon bring to the world God loved so much, we are doing a building and planting work. In response to the message, a great crowd of sheeplike ones have taken their stand and join in the preaching work.

Fraught with meaning for us today is also the prophetic picture of the yoke. Just as Jeremiah back there warned of an iron yoke that would replace the wooden yoke that false prophet Hananiah broke, so we today must warn all those of good will toward God that unless they voluntarily submit to the wooden yoke of dedication to God they will come under the iron yoke of destruction at Armageddon. To take the yoke of the reigning King Jesus Christ means sweet refreshment to one’s soul.

Truly, we have a striking theme with which to start off the new year and a new Watchtower subscription campaign!

[Footnotes]

Announcements

FIELD MINISTRY

As an aid to “making the mind over for the new world,” during January Jehovah’s witnesses will offer to all persons of good will a year’s subscription for The Watchtower and three informative Bible booklets, for $1.

DON’T MISS IT’

“The most thrilling report yet published”—that is what you will say when you read the 1960 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It will convince you that the multitudes foretold as assembling in worship of Jehovah God are truly coming together in peace. Your copy is only 50c. Send 25c more and get the beautiful calendar illustrating this theme.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

February 7: Ordained Ministers of God, ¶1-23. Page 4.

February 14: Ordained Ministers of God, ¶24-30, and Do You Let Your Light Shine?, ¶1-20. Page 10.

February 21: Do You Let Your Light Shine? ¶21-25, and The Peace and Unity of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Page 16.