The Watchtower — October 15, 1962

Why a Fearful World?

IS THIS world fearful! People are in fear of the criminal elements, from the teen-age gangs to the powerful underworld criminal syndicates such as the Mafia; they are in fear of cancer and other ills; they are fearful of depression and unemployment, of losing loved ones, of the population explosion, of atomic fallout and of nuclear war.

In particular are the heads of the various nations in fear of one another, fearful lest there be another world war. Striking proof of this fear was recently given by the United Nations bulletin Disarmament and Its Economic and Social Consequences. It showed that the nations of the world are presently spending $120,000 million annually on arms, this representing an outlay of between 8 and 9 percent of all the world’s output of goods and services, or two-thirds of the entire national income of all undeveloped countries. Additionally, the number of men in the armed services throughout the world is 20,000,000, and the number engaged in the production of military goods is 30,000,000, making a total of 50,000,000 men taken from peaceful pursuits because of fear.

Why all these fear-inspiring conditions? Because of lack of love and trust between nations and peoples, because of conflicting ideologies, because of human selfishness, weakness and imperfection. And, in particular, because of the influence of Satan the Devil, whose rage is great because he knows his time is short. (Rev. 12:12) That is why Jesus’ words are being fulfilled: “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish of nations, not knowing the way out because of the roaring of the sea and its agitation, while men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth.”—Luke 21:25, 26.

But not all persons are gripped by these fears. It is those who do not understand the reason for the world distress, those who ‘do not know the way out,’ those who see no solution to the problems that are faint out of fear. Others, who have applied themselves to a study of the Word of God, the Bible, and who exercise faith in it, although they live in the midst of the same world, are not filled with such fear. In the pages of the Bible they have found the truths that make it possible to face the problems of life with success and to look to the future with confidence.

Take Courage—God’s Kingdom Is at Hand!

1, 2. (a) What quality is appropriate at this time? (b) Why should any of us take courage at the fact of the nearness of God’s kingdom?

THIS is a time that calls for courage! This is a time to take courage! Why? Because God’s kingdom is at hand!

² Nineteen centuries ago a message like this electrified the people who had the right expectations. Today countless numbers have not heard about God’s kingdom. Hundreds of millions of others have heard God’s kingdom mentioned but have not understood what this divine government means to mankind. So why should these take courage at the nearness of God’s kingdom? For that matter, why should any of us take courage at that fact? It is because of the relief and the blessings that God’s kingdom will bring, not after our day, but within our very own generation. With lasting relief at hand, why should not lovers of what is right take courage? All the courageous ones today want to help others to take courage.

3. As we look at the earth and the heavens, what contrast do we note, but what do we not need to fear in this age of rockets?

³ We must all admit that here on earth this is a most disordered world. Mankind has never before known the like of it. But we look up and beyond into outer space, and there we see awe-inspiring order, regularity, balance and interdependence among the heavenly bodies, day and night. This beautiful, wonder-inspiring system in the heavens existed billions of years before modern nations rocketed men into outer space, with a threat of carrying man’s disorder into outer space. But we do not need to fear that, by means of rockets and satellites and spacemen, humans will be able to disarrange and disturb the visible universe. Rather, the lovely order and harmony of the heavens will be brought down here to earth and set upon a foundation that no evil-minded men can ever overthrow.

4, 5. (a) As respects our earth, what question do we ask about the great Creator of those heavenly bodies? (b) Why can no one be compared to him?

⁴ Would you not like the orderliness and peaceful relationship of the visible heavenly bodies to be established on earth in our generation? Surely the great Producer, the great Creator, who hung all those countless heavenly bodies in outer space in such a beautiful arrangement and scientific order can bring order at his own chosen time to our earth, a mere tiny speck in a boundless universe. Listen to what he himself said and caused to be written, as translated from the ancient language that he spoke into modern speech:

⁵ “To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? . . . Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nought, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. . . . To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. . . . Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable.”—Isa. 40:18-28, Revised Standard.

6. What did a poetic ancient king write about the heavens and their Maker?

⁶ Also, an ancient king who observed the heavens wrote these poetic words, as translated into modern speech: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language; their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course. His going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul: the testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart.”—Ps. 19:1-8, American Standard.

7. What truth do the heavens bear out about God, and what, therefore, will his kingdom mean to all mankind?

⁷ Anyone’s thoughtful study of the heavens bears out the truth written long ago by an Oriental: “God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.” (1 Cor. 14:33, AS) For order and peace to take the place of selfish, deadly confusion here on earth it will require action by this God, whose law is perfect, whose testimony is pure, whose precepts are right, whose glory is seen in all the heavens though he himself is not seen by man of feeble eyesight. One thing, therefore, that God’s kingdom will mean to all mankind is universal peace and good order, the removal of wild confusion.

8. What will having God the Creator as king mean as regards the religious rulerships over earth up till now?

⁸ Just think of having God as king over all the earth! Being the Creator of earth and of man, he deserves to be king. We could have no one higher than he is as king. This does away with any human god ruling over us, like ancient Pharaoh of Egypt, who claimed to be God and before whom his subjects had to crawl on their belly in approaching him; or any human god like the deified Caesars of Rome, who used to be addressed as “Your Divinity”; or like the emperor of Japan, who on December 31, 1945, proclaimed the principle that the Japanese Tenno or Emperor was not a god descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu. Another thing: Having God as king does not mean an earthly theocracy with the Roman Catholic priesthood or the Greek Orthodox priesthood ruling on golden thrones and dictating to politicians, businessmen, judges and police and the people in general. It means no human theocracy by the Buddhist priesthood, or the Hindu priesthood, or the Moslem priesthood, or the Shintoist priesthood, or the Protestant religious clergy, to act as deputies for the heavenly King. We have had these religious authorities dominating the lives of the people for centuries, and what do we have for it today? Nothing but the present earthly mess!

9. As regards earthly rulerships, what has God permitted particularly since 607 B.C.E.?

⁹ God’s kingdom spells something vastly different for mankind’s benefit than having such religious authorities to run things, dictate things, control business and employment, playing favorites to the politically great and to the wealthy and regulating the lives of the masses of the people for them. It was in 607 B.C.E., or about 2,570 years ago, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon became the world ruler. Since then particularly God permitted the nations to have their own preferred political rulers. He has let men have their way about kings and kingdoms, even if they wanted to do away with kings and set up peoples’ rule such as democracies or republics.

10. How have believers in God’s kingdom acted toward such political movements, and why?

¹⁰ But the true believers in God’s kingdom have taken no part in those political movements. They have acted in harmony with the rule of action that God’s inspired writer laid down for the Christians in the Rome of the Caesars of nineteen centuries ago, saying: “Everyone must obey the authorities that are over him, for no authority can exist without the permission of God.” (Rom. 13:1, An American Translation) The true Christians have obeyed this rule of action, because they have believed in God’s kingdom and have prayed and waited for it to take worldwide control of the earth, for the glory of God and the endless blessing of the people.

11. (a) After all the human rulership permitted by God, what do the people want today? (b) However, what is it God’s time for doing?

¹¹ God has let the people and their rulers have their own way on earth long enough. After all the experience that mankind have had till now, they should by now have had enough of human rule without the true God. But today, largely because of refusing to know anything better or because of having faith in nothing better, the people choose to be ruled by so-called Higher Powers or “superior authorities” of the human kind, including democracies or republics of the Western style or of the Eastern style. The people have had their opportunity; and God’s permitting them to have their own way or choice has let them come to the present world-state of affairs. Their having their own way has not benefited them, to judge by the results. Still they do not want God as king. But regardless of the desires of the people and their political, commercial and religious leaders, God’s time for permitting this way of running the earth is near its end. His time is at hand to set up the Kingdom.

12. (a) Why has God the right to set up his kingdom over earth? (b) Why is it to be expected that he will do so?

¹² Who dares to deny that God has the right at any time to set up his kingdom? The earth is his creation and belongs to him, and all of us are his creatures, dependent upon him for life and all other good things. (Ps. 24:1) This God, who produced the orderly movement and arrangement of all the heavenly bodies above us, has the power and wisdom to set up a perfect, righteous kingdom over us who inhabit His earth. He has promised to do so at a definite time. His promise is written down in the Book that he inspired his faithful servants to write, the Sacred Bible. When his Son Jesus Christ was on earth as a man nineteen centuries ago, he taught the worshipers of God to pray to God: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matt. 6:9, 10) That prayer, long prayed by the true followers of Jesus Christ, will get an answer from Almighty God, for it is in harmony with his own will.

13. Why was any religious group trying to transform the political powers into God’s kingdom bound to fail, and who has actually failed in it?

¹³ By God’s permission during his time allowance for it we have had the so-called Higher Powers or “superior authorities” in political control of the earth till today. These have been established by God’s permission according to his arrangement of man’s affairs. Hence any religious group that tried to transform these worldly Higher Powers into God’s kingdom by Christ was bound to fail with such a religious counterfeit. The world conditions today prove that Christendom has failed. She is proved to be no instrument in God’s hands, no part of God’s kingdom.—Rom. 13:1, 2.

14, 15. (a) According to what lesson taught in Nebuchadnezzar’s day will the ruling authorities be put in office in God’s new world? (b) Who, therefore, will be put in worldwide rulership?

¹⁴ When God displaces the present Higher Powers with his own kingdom over mankind, God will directly appoint and put in office the Ruling Authorities of his righteous new world. He will demonstrate the lesson that he taught King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon twenty-five centuries ago. The lesson is this, that “the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind and that to the one whom he wants to, he gives it and he sets up over it even the lowliest one of mankind.” (Dan. 4:17, 25, 32) That one is his heavenly Son, who became the lowly man Jesus Christ; and this one will share the kingdom with his congregation of faithful lowly followers whom he will exalt from earth to heaven. In our time God will bring to reality the vision that his prophet Daniel had in ancient Babylon:

¹⁵ “See there! with the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man happened to be coming; and to the Ancient of Days he gained access, and they brought him up close even before that One [Jehovah God]. And to him there were given rulership and dignity and kingdom, that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him. His rulership is an indefinitely lasting rulership that will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be brought to ruin.”—Dan. 7:13, 14.

WHAT IT WILL SIGNIFY TO US

16. What did Jesus Christ, when on earth, demonstrate will be true as to feeding mankind under God’s kingdom?

¹⁶ Oh what that will mean for all peoples and national groups of every language! Today famine afflicts large parts of the earth, and as a regular thing half the world’s population does not get enough to eat but is undernourished. When Jesus Christ, who called himself “the Son of man,” was here on earth, he refused to do a miracle to turn stones into bread so as to satisfy his hunger. But one day, after teaching the people, he fed the crowd of more than five thousand, and on another day his audience of more than four thousand, by miraculously multiplying a few bread loaves and fishes. Because Jesus Christ had this power to feed the people miraculously, many of them wanted to take him and make him their earthly king. But he refused to let this happen. (Matt. 4:1-4; 15:29-38; John 6:1-15) But when he lets God make him king over all mankind and when he takes the place of the present Higher Powers over the people, he will see to it that all those who become his obedient subjects on earth get well fed. Never will there be a famine.

17. (a) In this regard what will Jesus Christ do in living up to Psalm 72? (b) How will he thus prove himself to be “something more than Solomon”?

¹⁷ As God’s appointed king over mankind Jesus Christ will live up to this prophecy concerning his reign, which reads: “He will deliver the poor one crying for help, also the afflicted one and whoever has no helper. He will feel sorry for the lowly one and the poor one, and the souls of the poor ones he will save. From oppression and from violence he will redeem their soul, and their blood will be precious in his eyes. There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth; on the top of the mountains there will be an overflow. His fruit will be as in [Mount] Lebanon, and those who are from the city will blossom like the vegetation of the earth.” (Ps. 72:12-14, 16) The plentifulness of food will rival that of the days of wise, peaceful King Solomon, of whom the Bible says: “[The people of] Judah and Israel were many, like the grains of sand that are by the sea for multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing. And Judah and Israel continued to dwell in security, everyone under his own vine and under his own fig tree, from [the city of] Dan to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.” (1 Ki. 4:20, 25) This is one remarkable way in which Jesus Christ will prove himself to be what he said, “something more than Solomon.”—Matt. 12:42.

18. Even in his own case what food did Jesus Christ put ahead of the material kind, and how will he show this in his kingdom?

¹⁸ However, Jesus Christ put the spiritual food ahead of the material food when he said to our great enemy, Satan the Devil, these words from the Holy Bible: “Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.” (Matt. 4:4; Deut. 8:3) In his kingdom he will take care of not only the material needs but especially the spiritual needs of all his faithful subjects. He will feed them spiritual food, just as he did when he was here on earth. He will give them the pure truth about Jehovah God and the correct way to worship and serve him by doing his perfect will. This will feed them and strengthen them to gain everlasting life in God’s new world; and never will they be corrupted by material abundance so as to make their bellies their god. By sheer love and appreciation of the great heavenly Provider of all this they will be impelled to worship and adore him.

19. How does Isaiah, chapter 25, foretell such an effect of God’s goodness upon mankind under his kingdom?

¹⁹ Such an effect of God’s goodness upon men is foretold in Isaiah’s prophecy in these words: “And Jehovah of armies will certainly make for all the peoples, in this mountain, a banquet of well-oiled dishes, a banquet of wine kept on the dregs, of well-oiled dishes filled with marrow, of wine kept on the dregs, filtered. And in this mountain he will certainly swallow up the face of the envelopment that is enveloping over all the peoples, and the woven work that is interwoven upon all the nations. He will actually swallow up death forever, and the Lord Jehovah will certainly wipe the tears from all faces. And the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for Jehovah himself has spoken it. And in that day one will certainly say: ‘Look! This is our God. We have hoped in him, and he will save us. This is Jehovah. We have hoped in him. Let us be joyful and rejoice in the salvation by him.’” (Isa. 25:6-9) Because of the proper spiritual food for heart and mind the faithful subjects of God’s kingdom will not make materialism their god.

A PARADISE OF HEALTH

20. (a) What will this providing of plenty of food have to be attended by? (b) How will Jehovah stand out in contrast to the gods to whom the nations pray?

²⁰ The providing of plenty of food to feed a world population far exceeding that of today will have to be attended by changes in earth’s climate and the condition of the soil and also by insect control. Lack of rainfall on large stretches of the earth, for season after season, afflicts millions of people with famine. The system of distributing what available food supplies there are is unable to meet the needs of the situation. Many are dying for want of food and drink. Countless millions are weak and haggard from not enough food; and the spirit of rebellion against the earthly Higher Powers is rising and spreading. This stands out in grim contrast to the ideal conditions of climate and soil and irrigation that are bound to exist under God’s kingdom. In sharp contrast to the gods of the nations to whom the people pray or look for rain to quench the parched earth, Jehovah God is the great Rainmaker. Even his prophets of ancient time knew that; and his prophet Jeremiah turned to him and said: “Do there exist among the vain idols of the nations any that can pour down rain, or can even the heavens themselves give copious showers? Are you not the One, O Jehovah our God? And we hope in you, for you yourself have done all these things.” (Jer. 14:22) History proves that he has done them.

21. What did Jehovah do about water supplies for Israel in the wilderness, and according to Isaiah 41:17-20 what does he promise to do?

²¹ It is well-known history that Jehovah God miraculously opened up sources of water when he led his chosen people by the hand of Moses through the wilderness to the “land flowing with milk and honey.” He himself uses those historic events as examples of what he will do for the people through his kingdom. Here is a prophetic promise of his: “The afflicted ones and the poor ones are seeking for water, but there is none. Because of thirst their very tongue has become dry. I myself, Jehovah, shall answer them. I, the God of Israel, shall not leave them. Upon bare hills I shall open up rivers, and in the midst of the valley plains, springs. I shall make the wilderness into a reedy pool of water, and the waterless land into sources of water. In the wilderness I shall set the cedar tree, the acacia and the myrtle and the oil tree. In the desert plain I shall place the juniper tree, the ash and the cypress at the same time; in order that people may see and know and pay heed and have insight at the same time, that the very hand of Jehovah has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has himself created it.”—Isa. 41:17-20.

22, 23. (a) With such water provisions, what will happen to this earth, and how did Jesus confirm this before he died? (b) How will this compare with the Paradise in which Adam and Eve once lived?

²² Under such irrigating of the arid parts of the earth and the proper distribution of the water supplies, what will happen to this earth? By these provisions of God and by his blessing on the work performed by the subjects of his kingdom the whole earth will become a paradise, a lovely park for obedient mankind’s eternal home. Nowhere will the condition of this earth be a reproach to God’s kingdom that governs it, but everywhere it will be a glory to God its Creator. Even Jesus Christ, when he was dying sacrificially on a stake outside the walls of Jerusalem, looked forward to the restoring of paradise to this earth after God would raise him from the dead and install him in the Kingdom. When a sympathetic man dying alongside Jesus said to him: “Jesus! remember me whensoever thou shalt come into thy kingdom,” Jesus answered: “Verily I say unto thee this day: With me shalt thou be in Paradise.” (Luke 23:42, 43, Rotherham translation) For beauty, delightfulness and life-sustaining fruitfulness this Paradise will be the equal of that which the first man and woman lost because of sinning against God.

²³ But it will not be only in the Middle East that this Paradise will be. The whole earth will be made a paradise, full of perfect people. This project that the first man and woman failed to carry out, God’s kingdom by Christ will gloriously accomplish.

LIFE AND RESURRECTION

24. How long will living in that Paradise be possible, and how will the state of health be affected by living there?

²⁴ When we think of it, it would be terrible to die and leave such a lovely place as that Paradise. Yes, it would be; but God’s kingdom will enable the obedient people to live in that Paradise forever, in peace with God and his King Jesus Christ and with one another and with all the animals, birds, and creatures in the waters. There will be no wars to kill off anybody. There will be complete and universal disarmament; and the credit for this will go, not to ungodly Communism or to the United Nations, but to God’s kingdom. (Mic. 4:1-5) With a perfect government over them, and with a peaceful Paradise in which to live, with pure air to breathe and unpolluted water to drink and plenty of wholesome foods to eat, the health of the people should improve and become perfect.

25. (a) Because of his sacrificial death, what will the King Jesus Christ be enabled to do for mankind? (b) How does Isaiah 33:22, 24 associate rulership and health together?

²⁵ However, their King Jesus Christ once died for them, laying down his perfect humanity in sacrificial death for them. This fact will enable him to lift the condemnation of death under which all men were born because of the sin of our first parents. (Rom. 5:12-14) Thus God’s kingdom by Christ will be in position to lift faithful, obedient mankind up to the human perfection that their first parents, Adam and Eve, had when God created them and put them in the Paradise of Eden. Death-dealing sickness will be wiped out, just as certainly as Jesus Christ, when he was on earth, healed the sick, made the blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the lame walk, and cleansed the lepers and raised the dead to life, one man having been dead for four days. This will result from having God as King ruling by his Christ. Isaiah’s prophecy (Isa 33:22, 24) associates rulership and health together, saying: “Jehovah is our Judge, Jehovah is our Statute-giver, Jehovah is our King; he himself will save us. And no resident will say: ‘I am sick.’ The people that are dwelling in the land will be those pardoned for their error.”

26, 27. (a) Why will not those things be fine for only the people living then? (b) What kind of God was he to be to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, according to what he said to Moses at the thornbush?

²⁶ Very fine for those living, you say, but what about the billions of dead people? What about the faithful prophets of God who died thousands of years ago, like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Moses? We are glad to answer that there is bright hope for the dead. We are not like the religious sect of the Jewish Sadducees who held out no hope for the dead people, not believing that the dead would be raised to life again under God’s kingdom. To those disbelievers in a resurrection, Jesus Christ said regarding those raised to life again: “They are God’s children by being children of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised up even Moses disclosed, in the account about the thornbush, when he calls Jehovah ‘the God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob.’ He is a God, not of the dead, but of the living, for they are all living to him.”—Luke 20:36-38.

²⁷ Looking ahead, God saw Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the rest of the dead all living again under his kingdom by Christ. Although Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were dead by the time that their descendant Moses lived, God was so certain of carrying out his purpose to raise the dead that he spoke of being, not a past God, but the future God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as if they were then alive.

28. What resurrection did God accomplish as a guarantee that he would raise the dead under his kingdom?

²⁸ To give us a proof or guarantee that he would raise the dead under his kingdom, God raised from the dead the very one whom he makes king of all the earth, namely, Jesus Christ his Son. The Christian apostle Paul, who miraculously saw and talked with Jesus Christ after he was raised from the dead, says the following: “Now Christ has been raised up from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep in death. For since death is through a man [Adam, the husband of Eve], resurrection of the dead is also through a man [the sacrificed Jesus Christ].” This same witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ said also to the highest court of judges in ancient Greece: God “has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and he has furnished a guarantee to all men in that he has resurrected him from the dead.”—1 Cor. 15:20, 21; Acts 17:31.

29, 30. (a) Are the human dead in a spirit world or transmigrated? (b) Why will their resurrection not be a transmigration of the soul, and how long will they have the opportunity to live?

²⁹ Our human dead are not alive somewhere in an unseen spirit world. Their souls have not transmigrated from their personal human bodies into the bodies of animals, birds, insects, fishes, or some other human person. God’s Word says that they are dead souls, sleeping in death and waiting for a resurrection under God’s kingdom, even though they never heard of God’s kingdom when alive. The many billions of them are not too many for God to remember, inasmuch as the countless billions of stars are many times more than all our dead, and yet God knows and names all those stars.

³⁰ God has a perfect record of all the dead and can reproduce them here on this earth. God’s record has not faded because the people have been dead so long. His resurrection of them by Christ will be a re-creation of them with their same personality and mental growth. So the resurrection will not be a transmigration of the dead into the bodies of new people born for the first time under God’s kingdom. The people of this generation who live on into the Kingdom time will know their dead friends and loved ones when these are resurrected. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will know one another in the resurrection. That will be true of all others, including that friendly man who Jesus said would be in Paradise when Jesus comes into his kingdom. All these resurrected ones will have the grand opportunity of gaining eternal life under God’s kingdom by doing God’s will and obeying his King, Jesus Christ. They will enjoy living in Paradise, under the moon, not wanting to go to the moon.

AT HAND!

31, 32. (a) Because of the desirableness of God’s kingdom, what is naturally our wish, and as to this what may now be said? (b) What would happen if the coming of God’s kingdom depended upon Christendom, and what arithmetical proof shows that?

³¹ Truly God’s kingdom will mean all that mankind could desire. Naturally the wish of all humans who cultivate faith in that kingdom is that it may come in our day! To all such we can Biblically say that God’s kingdom is at hand. That is why they should take courage, for they may live on to enter into its indescribable blessings and joys. But why are we so confident that God’s kingdom is that near at hand that this generation will live to experience its benign rule? Why is not the Kingdom thousands of years off, until Christendom has converted the world to Christianity? Well, if God’s kingdom had to wait until Christendom converted the world to Christianity, God’s kingdom would never come.

³² To illustrate: The World Almanac for 1955 gave the world population as 2,400,000,000 at that time, of which 787,016,933 claimed to be Christians. Seven years later, The World Almanac for 1962 gave the world population as 2,971,800,000, of which 888,803,026 claimed to be members of Christendom. That means 101,786,093 more “Christians” in seven years’ time. But what about the world population? It became 571,800,000 greater in those seven years’ time. In other words, the world population had increased 5.61 times as fast as the number of so-called Christians. In 1955 there were 1,612,983,067 non-Christians, but in 1962 there were 2,082,996,974 non-Christians. So instead of the gap between the number of non-Christians and the number of “Christians” getting narrower, it gets tremendously wider every year. That is only as it should be, since the Bible does not prophesy that Christendom will ever convert the world to Christianity and thus establish God’s kingdom. Rather, the Bible prophesies the falling away from the true Christian faith. Christendom herself is an evidence or expression of this falling away from Christianity. That is why Christendom has no peace and unity today.—2 Thess. 2:1-12.

33, 34. (a) So to what information must we look for the spirit of courage, and why? (b) Since 1914, what have we lived through, for which we want to know the meaning?

³³ To depend upon Christendom to convert the world and bring God’s kingdom would lead to loss of courage. So we must look to God’s Word, the Bible, for the spirit of courage. God’s Word is the Book that puts meaning into human history, the true meaning. It gives the true interpretation of the events of history since the year 1914. We have lived through a fear-inspiring time since 1914, and the end of it is not yet. What does it mean? Since 1914 we have gone through two world wars, the second being worse than the first. We have seen atomic power introduced into modern warfare, under the shield of the most powerful nation of Christendom. We are not yet done with the pestilences, the famines and the earthquakes that have cut deeply into the world population. We have seen an increase in lawlessness, with violence that must be worse than that which prevailed in Noah’s days before the flood in which the whole old world was destroyed.—Gen. 6:11-13; 2 Pet. 3:6.

³⁴ To this we must add the moral breakdown everywhere, the increase of social diseases, the breakup of empires, a world population explosion with inadequate food distribution, missile weaponry with nuclear warheads, the blasting off of which would be followed by a fire storm that would burn up a far greater area than that of Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities of the Jordan plain.

35. What is the latest weapon that is proposed for warfare, with far-reaching effects?

³⁵ And now the latest thing proposed is an “asteroid bomb,” which would be a rocket powerful enough to propel a small planet out of its orbit around the sun and send it crashing into a target area here on earth. In describing it, a scientist said: “A single asteroid bomb striking Kentucky would knock out the entire eastern half of the United States,” this to be followed by earthquake shocks that “would topple buildings all over the North American continent.” The scientist said that the Soviet Union should have such a rocket by or before 1970. Is this not indeed a time for fear?—New York Times as of January 19, 1962.

36. What words of Jesus show whether this should be a time for fear on the part of his followers?

³⁶ A time for fear? No! says a man who conquered the world. That man was Jesus Christ, the King appointed for God’s promised kingdom. On the Jewish passover night of 33, just some hours before he was put to death on a stake for preaching God’s kingdom, Jesus said to his loyal apostles: “I have said these things to you that by means of me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage! I have conquered the world.”—John 16:33.

37. Yielding to fear today or taking courage would be the following of what course?

³⁷ Today, for anyone to yield to the spirit of fear means to go the way of the world. But to take courage means to obey what Jesus Christ tells us to do and to find peace and fearlessness by means of him. Nineteen centuries ago, when he stood within a few hours of being nailed to a stake to die, he was able to tell his followers to take courage despite the tribulations that they would have in the world, tribulations no greater than the tribulation through which he was then passing. Back there he, their Leader, had conquered the world because he did not let the world crack his loyalty to God’s kingdom by bringing tribulation upon him.

38. Why has Jesus all the more reason today to tell us to take courage, and how can we know that this reason is sure?

³⁸ Today Jesus Christ has all the more reason to tell us to take courage. Why? Because now he has come into his kingdom as God’s anointed, installed King for the new world. There remains no room for doubt about this. The very things that we have experienced in this world since the year 1914 are a proof that he has come into his kingdom. We can know this, because he foretold that these world events and conditions would be visible, tangible proof that he had been installed in the heavenly throne in 1914. That was the year when World War I broke out and all this trouble began to come.

39, 40. (a) How did Jesus provide the true interpretation for the events of our generation since 1914? (b) According to things he said, of what are the tribulations upon his followers a proof?

³⁹ Jesus Christ the King foretold these things in great detail, taking up four chapters of the Bible, in answer to the question of four of his apostles: “Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?” (Matthew, chapters 24, 25; Mark, chapter 13; Luke, chapter 21) Jesus provided the true meaning, the true interpretation, for the events of our generation since 1914. His interpretation is that he became present in his promised heavenly kingdom in 1914, the year when this worldly system of things entered into its time of the end. Furthermore, the very tribulations that his true followers of this generation have undergone since 1914 are part of the “sign” or visible proof that the Kingdom is at hand and that this system of things faces its complete end. In giving his prophecy Jesus said to his apostles, in Matthew 24:9-13:

⁴⁰ “Then people will deliver you up to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be objects of hatred by all the nations on account of my name. Then, also, many will be stumbled and will betray one another and will hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and mislead many; and because of the increasing of lawlessness the love of the greater number will cool off. But he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved.”

41. (a) How is it that there is a remnant of faithful anointed followers yet on earth? (b) According to Jesus, what attitude must they adopt because of the things occurring?

⁴¹ A remnant of these faithful anointed followers are here on earth with us to this day, despite all that tribulation since 1914. This is because they have conquered the world, like their Leader Jesus Christ. But their final victory is not yet. They must yet complete their conquest of this world. To do this, they must continue enduring tribulation to the end of this world or system of things. So the triumphant words of Jesus Christ must keep ringing in their ears: “Take courage!” They must keep the attitude that he told them to adopt in his prophecy that predicted the evidences marking the end of this worldly system of things. After he had foretold the world situation that would develop from 1914 onward, he said to them: “Men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But as these things start to occur, raise yourselves erect and lift your heads up, because your deliverance is getting near.” Would that not be reason enough for them to take courage?—Luke 21:26-28.

42. (a) The fact that deliverance is near for these means also what else? (b) What appropriate thing in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount do they now believe in?

⁴² Deliverance is now near for the faithful remnant of these heirs of God’s heavenly kingdom. Happily this means that deliverance is near also for persons of all nations, races, colors and languages who now interest themselves in God’s kingdom by Christ and who give it the first place in their lives. These persons believe in Christ’s famous Sermon on the Mount. They believe in all of it, not just in the so-called Golden Rule found in it, namely: “All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them.” They believe also in these words of that Sermon: “So never be anxious and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or, ‘What are we to drink?’ or, ‘What are we to put on?’ For all these are the things the nations are eagerly pursuing. For your heavenly Father knows you need all these things. Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.”—Matt. 7:12; 6:31-33.

43. (a) To have courage to follow those words, what must we have? (b) Why is God’s kingdom the most popular thing in all creation?

⁴³ It takes courage to follow these words of the Sermon on the Mount. To have such courage we must have faith in God the heavenly Father. Yet we have reason to have faith that God’s established kingdom is at hand and that this kingdom is backing us up. Even in these days of the United Nations with a membership of over a hundred nations, God’s kingdom is the most popular thing in all creation visible and invisible. But how is this so, when there is such international opposition to it and when preachers of it are hated and persecuted? It is because all the holy angels of God’s heavens are in favor of his kingdom by Christ. These angels are on our side if we are in favor of the same thing as they are.

44. (a) What may be said regarding those angels as an army? (b) When will they fight the climactic battle, and with what outcome?

⁴⁴ Those angels, whose numbers are innumerable to us, are the finest army in all creation. They have never lost a battle, to bring any disappointment to their God or any reproach of defeat upon his glorious name. Already, according to Bible prophecy that describes the order of events in the unseen spiritual heavens, they have fought for God’s kingdom, after it was installed in 1914. As a result the chief Kingdom opposer, Satan the Devil, and his demons have been cast out of the holy heavens down to our earth to await here their Armageddon of defeat. And in that universal war of Armageddon God’s angels will fight the climactic battle for God’s kingdom, under the leadership of his King Jesus Christ. This world, that is to say, this system of things, will go down into destruction. God’s kingdom will come forth victorious, to reign forever for mankind’s blessing.—Rev. 12:1-12; 19:11-21.

HOW TO TAKE COURAGE

45, 46. (a) What will Armageddon be in mankind’s experience? (b) What will not then be moved, and so whose expressed confidence can we have during the distresses of the world?

⁴⁵ Armageddon’s destruction of this worldwide system of things will bring the greatest time of trouble that men have ever experienced since the global flood of Noah’s day. That is what Jesus’ prophecy says. (Matt. 24:21, 22, 37-39) The very foundation of this troubled system of things will be moved from under it and plunged, as it were, into the dark depths of the oceans. It will be as if the very ground were being moved from beneath men. But God’s kingdom will never be moved or removed; and as long as we seek it first and anchor our hope in it, we can have the confidence that we find expressed in prophetic Psalm 46, verses 1 through 7:

⁴⁶ “God is for us a refuge and strength, a help that is readily to be found during distresses. That is why we shall not fear, though the earth undergo change and though the mountains totter into the heart of the vast sea; though its waters be boisterous, foam over, though the mountains rock at its uproar. There is a river the streams of which make the city of God rejoice, the holiest grand tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it will not be made to totter. God will help it at the appearance of morning. The nations became boisterous, the kingdoms tottered; he sounded with his voice, the earth proceeded to melt. Jehovah of armies is with us; the God of Jacob is a secure height for us.”

47. (a) Where will those having such godly courage align themselves, and with what prayer? (b) What apostolic instructions regarding the political powers will they follow, and how?

⁴⁷ Those who have this true godly courage today will keep in alignment with Jehovah of armies, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They will pray for his kingdom to come with destruction upon this worldly system of things, just as Jesus Christ taught us to pray in his Sermon on the Mount: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matt. 6:9, 10) They will not run ahead of that coming of God’s kingdom and secretly set up a rebel government in exile and use violence to force people onto the side of God’s kingdom. They will peacefully follow the apostle’s instructions in Romans 13:1, 5: “Let every soul be in subjection to the superior authorities, for there is no authority except by God; the existing authorities stand placed in their relative positions by God. There is therefore compelling reason for you people to be in subjection, not only on account of that wrath [expressed by these superior authorities] but also on account of your conscience.” True Christians know that they can never overthrow this worldly system of things. They know that God’s time is at hand to do it.

48. How can we take courage, and why is it necessary even in Christendom?

⁴⁸ It is easy to say to people, “Take courage!” but how can they take courage when the movement of world affairs today is so frightening? The only way to do so is by studying God’s Word, the Holy Bible. It tells us convincingly who God is and what his kingdom means to us. Today disbelief in the God of the Bible is general, even in Christendom. Hence even to profess faith in this God calls for courage in the midst of a scoffing world. Furthermore, to believe that this God will set up his kingdom, not by means of world conversion through Christendom, but by direct action on God’s part with a world calamity, requires still more courage.

49. What do we have to do about the Bible and what it promises?

⁴⁹ But how can we seek this God who is a shelter for us unless we learn about him? How can we seek first his kingdom if we keep in ignorance of it and its vital importance to us? So it is absolutely necessary for us to get a Bible and study it and learn its heartening promises and believe them. We need to pray to this God who has made all these precious promises, assuring us that this world will be removed and God’s kingdom will be established and will bring in a righteous new world, along with the resurrection of the dead and the cultivating of a paradise earth-wide.

50. Through the Bible what must we learn, and how must we display our courage of conviction?

⁵⁰ Therefore familiarize yourself with the Book of the Kingdom, the Bible. Learn to know its King, Jehovah God, and his Christ, Jesus, who loved mankind and died sacrificially for them. Learn why the Kingdom and its triumph in our generation are a certainty. Learn why it is the inevitable government for all our earth and for all peoples. Then share this lifesaving knowledge with others. Display your courage of conviction by taking part in the fulfillment of a glorious prophecy that applies during the “time of the end” of this system of things. Which prophecy? The one that Jesus said would come true as part of the evidence that he is present in his kingdom and that this world is in its “time of the end.” This is the prophecy: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”—Matt. 24:14; Dan. 12:4.

51. (a) Why is it not necessary to do this preaching alone? (b) Why is meeting with them necessary, and in obedience to what counsel from the book of Hebrews?

⁵¹ You will not have to do this Kingdom preaching alone. You have all the active witnesses of Jehovah in 187 lands around the earth with whom to do this preaching, in more than 150 languages. They have made “Jehovah of armies” their refuge, their strength and their ready help. To take courage these days you need to meet with these Kingdom witnesses of Jehovah, in order to imbibe their courage as they study God’s Word with you. In this regard follow the Bible’s timely word of counsel: “Let us consider one another to incite to love and fine works, not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, . . . but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you behold the day drawing near.”—Heb. 10:24, 25.

52. (a) In view of the new world ahead, why is it necessary to build up Christian courage now? (b) What will be the experience of the courageous during the war of Armageddon?

⁵² All the evidences are that the “day” is drawing near! Take all positive steps, then, to build up your courage, Christian courage. Only the people having the courage like that of Christ are going to pass through the world-consuming Armageddon that is ahead. The worldly cowards will not pass through that universal war, for the cowards are not on God’s side today nor on the side of his Son, the King Jesus Christ. The Bible is positive in saying that God’s new world of righteousness is not for cowards. (Rev. 21:8) At the decisive war of Armageddon between the forces representing the two worlds the courageous will hold true to God’s kingdom and will never stop preaching it until it has gained a magnificent victory over Satan’s old world and brought in the new world of righteousness. These courageous ones will have God’s protection and will pass through the warfare into the promised new world under God’s triumphant kingdom by Christ. There is every valid reason now for us to heed the exhortation that comes forth from the Bible, Take courage! For God’s kingdom is at hand!

Bible-based Society of Kingdom Witnesses

THE establishment of God’s kingdom is news of the greatest importance to all peoples and national groups. (Dan. 7:14) Not only survival, but their eternal life depends upon coming into peaceful relationship with God’s King and kingdom before the great war of Armageddon breaks. (Ps. 2:1-12; Rev. 16:14, 16) To make this important information known around the world Jehovah God has raised up a society of Kingdom witnesses who are active in 187 lands. You know them as “Jehovah’s witnesses.”

In fact, you may be one of the hundreds of thousands of persons of goodwill who receive Jehovah’s witnesses into your home every week for an interesting Bible study. Perhaps you have wondered: Who authorized Jehovah’s witnesses to do this work? How did they get their knowledge of the Bible? What is their organization like?

The answers to these questions are important to you because of the command stated by the apostle Paul at Hebrews 10:23-25: “Let us hold fast the public declaration of our hope without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to incite to love and fine works, not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, as some have the custom, but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you behold the day drawing near.”

Obeying that divine command is not a matter of joining just any convenient church. The apostle calls for association with true Christians who see Jehovah’s day drawing near and who regularly and zealously make public declaration of their faith. He urges association with those Christians whose meetings increase your love for God and neighbor, causing you to do fine works. That is why the following information is provided. Life is involved in your recognizing the Bible-based society of Kingdom witnesses and associating with it, “not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together.”

WHY ARE THEY CALLED “JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES”?

Jehovah’s witnesses follow Christ Jesus, not any man or man-made organization, and for that reason they call their organization by the name of no man. Like Jesus, their chief work is to “bear witness to the truth.” (John 18:37) God’s Word is truth, so their witnessing is in behalf of God, whose name alone is Jehovah. (John 17:17; Ps. 83:18) Those faithfully speaking on his behalf Jehovah calls his witnesses: “‘You are my witnesses,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘even my servant whom I have chosen.’” (Isa. 43:10) Early witnesses of Jehovah brought praise to his name by various acts of faith. (Heb. 11:4–12:2) Jehovah’s modern witnesses faithfully take the good news of God’s established kingdom to “all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations.” (Matt. 24:14) Appropriately, their God and his important work are identified by the Scriptural name “Jehovah’s witnesses.”

IS EVERY WITNESS A MINISTER?

Yes, in the true Scriptural sense of the word. A minister of God is a public servant (Greek, diákonos, “through the dust”) of Jehovah God, one who follows in Jesus’ footsteps, getting out in public, even traveling dusty roads, to preach the good news of God’s kingdom. There is an urgency about it, as the apostle Paul emphasized when he said: “I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, . . . preach the word, be at it urgently.” (2 Tim. 4:1, 2) Every true Christian gladly renders such ministerial service as a regular part of his worship leading to salvation. As Romans 10:10 states: “With the heart one exercises faith for righteousness, but with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation.” Authority to minister comes to dedicated men, women and youths from the highest Source, God himself. “Praise Jehovah from the earth, . . . you young men and also you virgins, you old men together with boys. Let them praise the name of Jehovah.” (Ps. 148:7, 12, 13) Everyone who wants God’s approval responds to that command, bearing in mind the words of James: “You see that a man is to be declared righteous by works, and not by faith alone. Indeed, as the body without breath is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” (Jas. 2:24, 26; Rev. 22:17) If you embrace the teachings of the Bible and live your faith, you will be God’s minister too.

WHO ORDAINS JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES?

The only valid ordination to the Christian ministry comes from God. (2 Cor. 3:5, 6; Isa. 61:1, 2) Those who are ordained by an organization of men are ministers of such organization, but those ordained by God are his ministers. In the Bible God outlines the requirements for those who become his ministers. They must study his Word to learn his will and then bring their lives into harmony with it. If one does this, God requires that one make a personal dedication to do His will. (Rom. 12:1) This dedication, this vow to do God’s will, is made in private prayer to Jehovah God through Christ. Then, in symbol of such dedication, one must be baptized in water as Jesus was. (Matt. 3:13-17) He now becomes God’s ordained minister.

He did not ordain himself by vowing to serve God, nor did the one baptizing him ordain him. God’s commission to all those dedicating themselves to do His will is what constitutes the ordination of such persons as his ministers, and He backs them up with his holy spirit. Not only men, but women and qualified youths may receive this Scriptural ordination. (Ps. 68:11; Acts 2:17, 18; Rom. 16:1; Eccl. 12:1) While God’s commandment to preach the Kingdom good news is there in the Bible for all to read, it constitutes the ordination only of those who meet his requirements. It may be compared to the issuing of a diploma to a school graduate. While the wording of the diplomas is basically the same, and anyone can read them, what they say does not apply to everyone. One’s name belongs on such a diploma only when he meets the requirements. Likewise, it is after study, dedication and baptism that the commission of God recorded in the Bible constitutes one’s ordination. Of course, seminary training and written certificates of ordination are not requirements for Scriptural ordination. (John 7:15; Acts 4:13; Gal. 1:11, 12, 15-17) Rather, ministers ordained by Jehovah and backed up by his holy spirit produce living letters of recommendation. (2 Cor. 3:1-3) Every sincere student of God’s Word will appreciate that the real purpose of studying the Bible is to qualify for this ordination that means life for others as well as for himself. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17; 1 Tim. 4:16) Of course, students newly associated with the society of Kingdom witnesses may share in giving the public witness, but they become ordained ministers only when they make a dedication and are baptized in obedience to God’s will. (Matt. 28:19, 20) Toward that end they study diligently.

WHY DO THEY PREACH FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE?

Jehovah’s witnesses take the good news to the homes of the people because this is the example set by Jesus and his apostles. Luke 8:1 says of Jesus: “He went journeying from city to city and from village to village, preaching and declaring the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him.” Regarding the apostles, Acts 5:42 states: “And every day in the temple and from house to house they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus.” At Ephesus Paul taught Christians how to preach “publicly and from house to house.” (Acts 20:20) Early Christians made return visits on interested persons, and this Jehovah’s witnesses also do. Of course, modern means of communication, such as radio and the printed page, are used extensively, but basically their work is done by going from house to house in the early Christian manner. This is the best way to ensure that no one hungering and thirsting for righteousness is overlooked. (Matt. 5:6) Love motivates Christians to go from house to house.

WHAT KIND OF MEETINGS DO JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES HOLD?

Like the early Christians, Jehovah’s modern-day witnesses congregate for Bible study and to equip themselves for preaching the Kingdom message. Jesus said: “Where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there I am in their midst.” (Matt. 18:20) This is true whether his followers meet in private homes or in modest auditoriums called “Kingdom Halls.” (Rom. 16:5; Acts 20:8) The congregation schedules five hours of meetings each week, as follows:

Congregation Book Study. Early in the week Jehovah’s witnesses and persons who have been studying the Bible with them go to the nearest home designated by the congregation for a one-hour group study, using the Bible and a textbook provided by the Watch Tower Society. Here you can get acquainted with your closest neighbors who are interested in serving Jehovah and living in his righteous new world. (Mal. 3:16-18; 2 Pet. 3:13) The small size of the group enables you to speak up freely and get accustomed to declaring your faith before others. (Heb. 13:15) At the same time your knowledge is sharpened by the comments of others present.—Prov. 27:17.

The home where such book study is held is known as a Service Center, because those associated meet there at convenient times to go out to the neighboring homes and preach the good news of God’s kingdom. Arrangements are made for students and newly baptized Witnesses to receive assistance and training from a mature Witness for as long as they need it. They learn how to give an effective witness at the door, how to keep a record of interested persons and the best way to follow up such interest until the seed that is planted becomes fruitful.—1 Cor. 3:6.

Theocratic Ministry School. Nineteen centuries ago Jehovah’s witnesses were very much interested in improving their ability to preach. That is why Paul wrote Timothy: “Become an example to the faithful ones in speaking, . . . continue applying yourself to public reading, to exhortation, to teaching. Ponder over these things; be absorbed in them, that your advancement may be manifest to all persons.” (1 Tim. 4:12, 13, 15; 2 Tim. 2:15) Because Jehovah’s witnesses today are also interested in continual improvement they enroll in the Theocratic Ministry School that is held at the Kingdom Hall one evening each week. This is a perpetual training school for men, women and children Students give short talks to the group and practice sermons meant for individuals, as well as give Bible readings. There are special textbooks, speech counsel slips and a qualified counselor who offers helpful suggestions for improvement. In the course of this training the Bible is read all the way through and a wide range of Bible doctrines and topics are covered. As a result of this excellent training the men are able to give informative Bible lectures, and women and children are able to give more effective sermons from house to house. Any who attend meetings at the Kingdom Hall and who want to enjoy the satisfaction of improving the quality of their praise to God may enroll for the free training offered in the Theocratic Ministry School.

Service Meeting. Generally on the same evening as the Theocratic Ministry School the congregation holds a weekly Service Meeting patterned after the meetings held by Jesus and the apostles for their instruction. (Luke 10:2-16; Acts 4:23-31; 1 Cor. 14:26) Following the example set by Jesus, counsel is given on proper preaching methods. The Service Meeting is based on instructions provided in a monthly pamphlet entitled “Kingdom Ministry.” A variety of speakers discuss and demonstrate new door-to-door sermons, how to increase and follow up placements of Bible literature, and the best way to conduct a home Bible study. By attending Service Meetings both experienced Witnesses and new ones improve their ability in the service of God. Thus one’s preaching becomes more pleasing to God, gets better results and is more enjoyable.—Prov. 1:5; 11:14.

Public Talk. Most congregations take advantage of Sunday morning for house-to-house preaching. That is why the entire congregation usually assembles at the Kingdom Hall on Sunday afternoon or evening for the weekly public talk and Watchtower study. At the congregation meetings you can obtain attractive handbills to use for inviting others to attend the public talk, which is patterned after the Bible lectures given in early Christian times. (Matt. 5:1–7:29; 13:1-36; Acts 5:42) The speakers are local or visiting Witnesses who have qualified by training, maturity and zeal in the ministry. Each year the Watch Tower Society provides new talk topics and printed outlines that guide the speakers in working up informative, one-hour Bible lectures. In any one year, more than twenty-four different topics are scheduled. Each lecture helps you to get a better grasp of an important Bible subject. To accomplish this the speakers spend many hours researching, preparing and rehearsing their material for the upbuilding of the congregation and those persons of goodwill who are studying with Jehovah’s witnesses. The congregation appreciates the valuable efforts of these mature speakers “who work hard in speaking and teaching.” (1 Tim. 5:17) Your presence at the one-hour public talk brings you the benefits of their many hours of careful Bible study—a precious bargain that is yours “without money and without price.”—Isa. 55:1-3.

“Watchtower” Study. The Sunday public talk is generally followed by the most important congregation meeting, the Watchtower study. This is a question-and-answer discussion resembling the congregation book study except that the material is found in the Watchtower magazine and the entire congregation meets in one place. The discussion differs from the book study in that the Watchtower study material usually is more personal. It deals with the application of Bible prophecies and Christian principles to your daily living and warns against the pitfalls of unchristian conduct. (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 13:5) Through the columns of The Watchtower comes increased light on God’s Word as Jehovah makes this known. (Prov. 4:18) Some of the recent lessons were entitled: “Why Be Baptized?” “Children, Do You Obey Jehovah?” “Christian Conduct in a Divided Household,” “Be Courageous and Strong Through Faith,” “Respect for the Sanctity of Blood,” “Avoid the Pitfalls,” “Watch Your Associations in the Time of the End,” “Manifesting Christian Manners,” “Training Your Perceptive Powers,” “Patience and Endurance.” Because of the vital nature of these discussions the Watchtower study is a most important meeting for all of Jehovah’s witnesses and persons of goodwill. It enables all to be fitly united in the same line of thought. (1 Cor. 1:10) Come prepared to participate and you will find the words of Proverbs 15:23 true: “A man has rejoicing in the answer of his mouth, and a word at its right time is O how good!”

CONVENTIONS OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

The coming together of large numbers of Jehovah’s people has long been a feature of true worship. (Deut. 16:1-16; 31:10-13) During the festival of Pentecost, A.D. 33, reverent Jews from fifteen nations and provinces heard Jesus’ disciples bear thorough witness to the good news about Christ. (Acts 2) So today, conventions of Jehovah’s people afford an opportunity to give a witness to God’s kingdom in an impressive way. The very fact that so many Christian persons have come together makes people ask questions, as they did at Pentecost. Then, too, the effect of God’s holy spirit is seen on the congregated throngs who come from distant places and different lands and yet manifest Christian love and unity, free from the world’s prejudice and discord. (Ps. 133:1) Further, the love that motivates these Witnesses to contribute their time and labor to serve their Christian brothers by operating the various assembly departments is a source of amazement to the world, resulting in an effective witness. (John 13:34, 35) Twice a year congregations tied together as a “circuit” meet for a three-day circuit assembly. In addition to special talks and demonstrations an opportunity is presented for those who have recently made a dedication to symbolize it by public baptism. At intervals many circuits come together for a district assembly. There are also national and international conventions. All these Christian conventions provide a fine witness to God’s kingdom and afford occasion for Jehovah’s ministers to “keep comforting one another and building one another up.”—1 Thess. 5:11.

DO THEY HAVE PRESIDING MINISTERS?

Yes, each congregation has a presiding minister known as the congregation servant or overseer. He is not the “leader” of the other ministers, but is appointed by holy spirit to shepherd God’s flock and set the right example. (Matt. 23:8-12; 1 Pet. 5:2; Acts 20:28) Qualifying as the congregation servant is not a matter of seniority. Rather, it is spiritual maturity as a Christian that counts. The Scriptural qualifications for an overseer are found at 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. His duties are to see that all living in the territory assigned to the congregation receive a regular and thorough witness and that all in the congregation are aided to fulfill their dedication in a manner acceptable to God. To equip him to do this better he is given special training at the Kingdom Ministry School operated for this purpose, usually at the branch office of the Society. The overseer must copy Jesus in showing love and hospitality to the “sheep” and the strangers who associate with the congregation. Under the gaze of Christ the King, each overseer “must prove to be like a hiding place from the wind and a place of concealment from the rainstorm, like streams of water in a waterless country, like the shadow of a heavy crag in an exhausted land.” (Isa. 32:1, 2) In this responsibility of shepherding God’s flock the overseer has a number of assistants called ministerial servants.—1 Tim. 3:8; Phil. 1:1.

THE DUTIES OF MINISTERIAL SERVANTS

To be a ministerial servant one must meet the requirements stated at 1 Timothy 3:8-13. Like the overseer, he must copy Jehovah and Christ Jesus in tenderly shepherding God’s people. (Isa. 40:11; John 10:11) Ministerial servants are appointed, not merely to assist the overseer, but to give personal help to the congregation. (1 Cor. 10:24) Here are their duties:

Assistant Congregation Servant. This mature minister has oversight of the congregation in the overseer’s absence. His duty is to aid in coordinating the rendering of assistance to all through the individual service centers. He knows who is in need of aid because he tabulates the reports turned in by each Witness. As in Bible times, Jehovah’s modern witnesses keep accurate records of their ministry. (Ezek. 9:11; Acts 2:41; 4:4) Each minister reports his hours devoted to preaching, literature placements, return visits and Bible studies conducted. These are posted on individual Publisher’s Record cards, which not only reveal which publisher needs aid, but enable the congregation to recommend qualified Witnesses to the Watch Tower Society for appointment to special privileges of service. (1 Tim. 3:10; 5:22) Once a month the congregation’s combined report goes to the Society’s branch office. Eventually all branch reports go to the world headquarters of the Society in Brooklyn, New York. An annual Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses is then printed containing interesting experiences and encouraging reports from the worldwide society of Kingdom preachers. The assistant congregation servant lovingly encourages all to have a regular part in the witness now being given.—Matt. 24:14.

Bible Study Servant. Because all of Jehovah’s witnesses are teachers they make return visits on interested persons and conduct home Bible studies. (Dan. 11:33; 12:3; Gal. 6:6) On the basis of the Bible Study Reports turned in by each minister the Bible study servant can make helpful suggestions. He is eager to help those in the congregation start new Bible studies and conduct them in the most beneficial manner. Through his faithful and patient efforts more people receive a better knowledge of God’s Word and purpose.

Literature Servant. You have noted that Jehovah’s witnesses use printed sermons when they teach. The books and booklets containing such sermons are ordered and cared for by this ministerial servant at the congregation’s literature counter. Newly interested persons also are welcome to obtain publications from him for distribution to friends and acquaintances.—2 Tim. 4:13; Eccl. 11:6.

Magazine-Territory Servant. The congregation places many copies of each issue of The Watchtower and Awake! in its territory. These magazines are ordered and cared for by the magazine-territory servant. Many newly associated with the congregation find witnessing with the magazines an easy way to take their first step in door-to-door preaching. This ministerial servant aids new and experienced Witnesses to present these printed sermons effectively and give them the widest possible distribution. He reserves whatever quantity of magazines each one wishes of each issue for personal distribution. Of course, whether they are using magazines or books and booklets, confusion would result if homes were covered in a hit-and-miss fashion. To prevent this, each congregation is assigned a certain territory by the Society. (Matt. 13:38; 2 Cor. 10:13-16) By assigning small portions of that territory to individual ministers, the magazine-territory servant ensures an orderly coverage of all the homes within the congregation’s boundaries.—1 Cor. 14:33.

Accounts Servant. While salaries are not paid the overseer or the ministerial assistants, maintaining a Kingdom Hall and ordering literature involve expenses. These are met by voluntary contributions. There are no collection plates, tithes, envelopes or lists of contributors. (Matt. 6:1-4) Each one is free to drop a gift into the contribution box “as he may be prospering.” (2 Ki. 12:9; 1 Cor. 16:2) The accounts servant cares for these funds and sees that contributions are used to advance the preaching work and Kingdom interests.

Other Appointments. Earlier we discussed the Theocratic Ministry School, the Watchtower study and the book study. A minister is appointed by the Watch Tower Society to preside over each. They are known as the school servant, Watchtower study servant and book study conductor. As with the other ministerial servants, their chief concern is lovingly to aid each one in the congregation to get the full benefit out of the meetings that they conduct. (1 Thess. 2:8) They take a personal interest in showing new ones and others needing help how to study and make regular advancement as servants of God.—Phil. 2:4.

The Society also appoints ministers to a variety of service privileges open to dedicated ministers. These are vacation, regular and special pioneer ministers, circuit, district and zone servants, missionaries and branch office staff members who live as Bethel families. Wherever one serves in Jehovah’s organization, he is interested in his neighbor’s salvation as well as his own.—Matt. 22:36-40.

A CLEAN ORGANIZATION

No one is invited to go out in the witness work if he is living an immoral life, gets drunk, or is dishonest in his business dealings. One must change from that way of life if he is to serve God acceptably and enter God’s new world. (1 Cor. 6:9-11) When one has been washed clean from those practices, Jehovah requires him to remain clean. (2 Pet. 2:20-22) In order to have God’s spirit and prosper, the congregation must carefully guard that no unchristian conduct is tolerated. A service committee composed of the congregation overseer, assistant congregation servant and Bible study servant are primarily charged with that responsibility. If they find that through immaturity or imperfection one makes a misstep before he is aware of it, and he is sincerely repentant, the committee may show mercy and place such one on probation. (Gal. 6:1) But anyone making a practice of sin must be disfellowshiped. (1 Cor. 5:9-13; 2 John 10, 11) One disfellowshiped and later reinstated cannot be recommended as an overseer or ministerial servant, since his reputation is not above reproach. (2 Cor. 2:5-11; 1 Tim. 3:1, 2, 7; Titus 1:7) The committee and the Society will take appropriate disciplinary action against any dedicated minister who does wrong, regardless of his position in the organization. Since each Christian follows Christ and not men, this action should not be a cause for stumbling to one who loves righteousness. (Heb. 12:1, 2; Luke 17:1; 2 Pet. 2:1, 2) Rather, it is an assurance to you that you are associated with a clean organization, one that God will bless.—Eph. 5:27; 1 Pet. 1:15, 16.

WHAT ABOUT WORSHIP AT HOME?

The importance of worshiping Jehovah at home and frequently discussing God’s Word there is illustrated at Deuteronomy 6:6, 7. There are many opportunities to do this, such as in prayer at meals, individual prayers at bedtime, and personal and group Bible study among family members. Parents and children, young and old, all prosper the most when the family circle operates in harmony with Christian principles. (Eph. 5:22–6:4) Jehovah’s witnesses find the daily Bible text and comment provided in the Yearbook a helpful topic of breakfast discussion. Make your home the place to start each day right by seeking first the Kingdom.—Matt. 6:33.

SUMMARY

From this discussion you now have a general picture of the Bible-based organization of Kingdom witnesses. You will note from the scriptures quoted herein that it operates strictly in harmony with Bible principles. This is the organization that brings the life-giving message of Jehovah’s Word and kingdom into your home. (John 17:3) This is the congregation that incites you to love and fine works. This is the Christian society that is willing and ready to encourage you in faithfulness to God. (Heb. 10:23-25) Its existence is a credit to Jehovah God, its Creator. Because his spirit backs it up, sincere observers in all parts of the world cannot help but agree with the conclusion stated by Charles Samuel Braden, professor of history, in his book These Also Believe:

“As witnesses under divine constraint to make known the imminence of the end of the age and the coming of the Theocracy, they seek by every conceivable means to get their message to the people. One need never be surprised at any new method they may evolve. Jehovah’s witnesses have literally covered the earth with their witnessing. . . . It may be truly said that no single religious group in the world displayed more zeal and persistence in the attempt to spread the good news of the Kingdom than the Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

If you are one who is interested in doing the divine will, if you want to have a share in the Kingdom preaching work that is now being done in all nations, Jehovah’s witnesses welcome you to associate with them and benefit from these provisions that Jehovah God has lovingly made to qualify his Kingdom witnesses for the work that he has given them to do.

Preaching in All the Inhabited Earth

JUST two days before his death Jesus uttered a prophecy that was to find fulfillment during his second presence, just prior to the end of the system of things. Among other things, he said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations.”—Matt. 24:14.

Focus your attention on these words of Jesus for a moment. Consider what would be necessary to fulfill them. Think of the time, energy, money, manpower and organization involved, not to mention the willingness, determination and courage of the preachers! What a tremendous undertaking, to preach God’s kingdom to the billions of earth’s inhabitants!

But since Jesus said that such Kingdom preaching would be done, and since the unparalleled events of this generation mark this as time for it to be accomplished, the question arises, What is being done about it? More than many persons realize. Having identified with us, in the preceding article, the organization that is carrying out the Kingdom witnessing in the way the Bible outlines, you will greatly benefit by a view of its worldwide operations.

PRESENT HEADQUARTERS

Just as Jerusalem was the place where the headquarters of the first-century Christian congregation was first located, so today the headquarters directing the worldwide Kingdom preaching work is strategically situated in Brooklyn, New York. If one enters Brooklyn over either the Manhattan or Brooklyn Bridge he will see two large cream-colored, green-trimmed buildings stretching from one bridge to the other. In this ideal location, close to the best shipping facilities in the world, and where they can be seen by thousands of persons every day, are the headquarters printing factories of Jehovah’s witnesses that daily produce hundreds of thousands of Bibles, books and magazines advertising God’s kingdom.

A short ten-minute walk away, overlooking famous New York harbor and just across the river from the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan, are two attractive twelve-story red-brick buildings surmounted by rectangular towers. This is the Watchtower Society’s international headquarters, and is the home of the headquarters staff and the students attending the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead. This Bible school, the offices directing the worldwide preaching work and the Society’s United States branch are all found in these buildings. But exactly what is done here in connection with the worldwide Kingdom preaching work that Jesus foretold? Let us visit the Watchtower headquarters and see for ourselves.

VISIT TO BETHEL

As the two large headquarters buildings in the pleasant residential neighborhood of Columbia Heights come into view, a visitor is immediately impressed by their size. Each towers well over 100 feet in the air and they cover the better part of two city blocks. One is therefore not surprised to learn that they can comfortably accommodate 950 persons, two in a room. To reach the entrance of the newer of the two buildings one enters a wrought-iron gate and proceeds down a 125-foot walk that leads through a beautiful garden decked with a profusion of multicolored flowers. This place is called Bethel, for that name means “House of God.”

All of those who live at Bethel are ordained ministers of Jehovah’s witnesses, who, like their more than 900,000 fellow ministers throughout the world, are keenly interested in seeing the message of God’s kingdom preached in all the inhabited earth. For that reason each one of them considers it a privilege to perform any task at Bethel to advance that preaching work. This they do voluntarily without any material recompense except the food and shelter of the home and an allowance of $14 a month for personal necessities.

While twelve years ago only 355 persons were needed to take care of the work at Bethel, today there are 654 members of the family, who represent 33 nationalities. In addition, 103 Gilead students from 52 countries presently go to school here, and a new class is enrolled each year. Truly an international family, and yet what marvelous unity and love exist among them! An insight as to how this family, as well as Jehovah’s witnesses worldwide, can live in such peace and unity will be obtained by considering the beginning of a typical day.

At 6:30 a.m. a bell sounds throughout the two buildings to rouse the family, and at a few minutes before seven they begin pouring out of their rooms and filing down the stairs to the basement, where two huge dining rooms, capable of accommodating 950 persons, are located. Those living in the new building can reach the dining rooms by way of a spacious underground passageway beneath the street.

At seven o’clock sharp the president, or if he is absent, the vice-president, asks for the Scripture text for the day to be read from the Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Then he calls on certain ones who have been notified in advance, and they answer questions relative to the Bible text for the day. Each of them has spent considerable time in preparation, and their fine comments are heard over the loudspeaker system in both dining rooms. Every few weeks each member of the family has his turn to participate in the morning discussions, at the conclusion of which the president adds his remarks. Prayer is then offered before breakfast is served. These twenty- to thirty-minute daily spiritual considerations impress God’s righteous law on the mind and heart, and encourage one to follow His Word throughout the day. It is to such a consideration of God’s Word that Jehovah’s witnesses urge people in their earthwide preaching work. Real benefits result.

After fifteen or twenty minutes, breakfast is concluded with prayer and the members of the family head to their assigned tasks in the home and the factories, and the students cross the street to their classrooms on the second floor of the new building. By 8 a.m. printing presses are rolling, typewriters are clicking and housekeepers are busy making beds and cleaning the home.

VISIT TO THE FACTORIES

You may wonder what the 420 ministers who head for the factories do. On approaching the two buildings, one of which reaches nine stories and the other thirteen stories into the air, and covering two city blocks, you can appreciate that it would take at least that many persons to man them. Why these factories have 354,000 square feet of floor space! But this is needed to care for the large amount of work necessary to facilitate the worldwide Kingdom preaching.

On the thirteenth floor of the new factory over 1,500,000 magazine address stencils of Watchtower and Awake! subscribers are on file. There you will also see sixteen graphotype machines that cut the stencils. Down in the sixth-floor pressroom, where the two buildings are joined by a bridge that spans the street, are two flatbed and sixteen large rotary printing presses, three of them each capable of turning out nearly 500 magazines a minute. Half of these presses have been purchased in the last six years to keep pace with the tremendous demand by Kingdom publishers for Bible literature.

During 1961, 115,111,230 Watchtower and Awake! magazines, 5,567,364 Bibles and bound books, as well as millions of booklets, were printed. All together, literature is printed in 128 languages in Brooklyn. In other Watch Tower printing plants throughout the world, where literature is printed in thirty-four additional languages, another 69,000,000 Watchtower and Awake! magazines were produced in 1961. That represents over a half million magazines every day of the year flowing out to be used by Kingdom publishers.

During your visit to the factory you will be interested in seeing the twenty-two linotype machines—more than are found in many large newspaper plants. They are used to set these scores of publications in metal type. The plate department makes curved plates from the metal type for printing on the rotary presses, and the two large nickel tanks coat the plates with a film of nickel so that they can print more than a million magazines without wearing out. On the tour through the plant thirteen smaller flatbed and job presses are also seen. Each year these print countless millions of forms of various kinds, as well as some 145 million leaflets advertising Bible talks.

You will not want to miss the bindery. It is fascinating to watch the books progress through the backliner and finally to the casing-in machine, where the cover is put on. With the three such machines used here, 30,000 books and Bibles are bound on an average day. Already the bindery has made more than 2,300,000 copies of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures since the first one was completed in April of 1961.

But perhaps you will find the ink room, machine shop and carpenter shop just as interesting. Yes, the Watchtower Society makes its own ink, over a hundred tons of it a year in some fifty colors! It also manufactures all its own paint, over 2,500 gallons last year, to keep its buildings inside and out attractive. Eighty tons of paste and glue were also made here for use in binding the books and Bibles and wrapping the magazines.

The beautiful dressers, bookcases and desks used to furnish the rooms of the Bethel home were all made in this modern carpenter shop. And various machines seen on our tour through the factory, such as those four magazine wrappers and the endsheeter, were designed and manufactured by the ministers working in the machine shop. These departments save tens of thousands of dollars every year in operational expenses, which money can be used directly to facilitate the preaching work.

As one returns to the Bethel home to enjoy the midday meal with this large Christian family, one cannot help but appreciate that here is an organization that is serious about fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy concerning the preaching of the Kingdom message in all the inhabited earth.

WATCHTOWER SOCIETY FARMS

While seated in the dining room you may marvel at the tremendous amount of food needed to feed these hundreds of hungry workers. Why, just to serve chicken at one meal it takes 140 chickens, and the family will consume the equivalent of a good-size steer in just two sittings! It may interest you to learn that most of this food is produced on the two farms the Watchtower Society operates: one located about seventy miles west in New Jersey, known as Mountain Farm, and the other 255 miles upstate near Ithaca, New York, called Kingdom Farm. On each of these farms a family of ministers works to supply the material needs of their Christian brothers at Bethel.

SCHOOLS EXPAND KINGDOM PREACHING

Also located at Kingdom Farm is a Kingdom Ministry School that offers a one-month course of specialized training and Bible study to congregation overseers and special representatives of Jehovah’s witnesses throughout the United States. Since its beginning in March of 1959, 2,281 students have finished the course here, and such schools are also in operation in many other countries throughout the world. But you may wonder what the difference is between this school and Gilead School, whose beautiful classrooms and 10,000-volume library are found at Bethel in Brooklyn.

During the second world war the president of the Watch Tower Society conceived the idea of a school to train missionaries to carry the Kingdom message to distant places. This idea met with the enthusiastic approval of the board of directors, and in February, 1943, the first class of Gilead School opened at Kingdom Farm. Up until this school was moved down to the Brooklyn headquarters in 1961, 3,638 students from 95 countries had completed its five-month course and had been sent to more than 100 different countries. They opened up the preaching work in many of these places, and in the course of years were joined with literally thousands of fellow ministers who responded to the message.

The Gilead School in Brooklyn now has a ten-month course through which it is training mature ministers to care for this large organization of preachers that has been built up in other lands. In this way the worldwide organization of Jehovah’s witnesses is directed in harmony with the Scriptures and the pattern followed at headquarters. These men are also being given practical instruction and experience in all features of printing so that the factories in other countries will operate efficiently.

In 187 lands throughout the world Jehovah’s witnesses preach one united message concerning God’s kingdom. The growth of this preaching work and how it is carried on will prove interesting to you, for although the message is the same, customs of the people and the way they react to the message are often very different.

EURASIA

War-ravaged Europe has been a fertile field for the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom, whereas in Asia progress has been slower due to the enslavement of the peoples to deep-seated pagan traditions that make acceptance of Bible truth difficult. Although the war year of 1942 saw only 22,796 of Jehovah’s witnesses in thirteen lands in Europe and 406 ministers in six Asiatic countries, ten years later the combined number had increased nearly sevenfold, to 161,141 in forty-three countries. Since then the number of Kingdom preachers in Europe and Asia has doubled, going over 349,000, and they are active on both sides of the Iron Curtain.

In ten countries behind the Iron Curtain over 120,000 of Jehovah’s witnesses are busy preaching the message of God’s kingdom, and for many this has resulted in imprisonment and death. Four of the students attending the present class of Gilead spent a total of twenty-five years in Communist prisons; nevertheless, they continued to study and preach. Recently one of them told how they did this: “During our fifteen-minute march in the prison yard each day we would whisper to the prisoner up ahead when the guard was not looking. We knew that if we were detected it would mean three weeks of isolation. But the preaching had to be done and so we used this method to do it. Really our brothers were a problem to the prison guards. They knew that if they put us together we would study all day, and if they took us apart we would preach to everyone possible.”

In western Europe the preaching work is done free from the restriction encountered behind the Iron Curtain, and it is increasing marvelously. As the people and authorities become better acquainted with what Jehovah’s witnesses are doing they listen to their message, and are glad to have them hold assemblies in their cities. For instance, in the Netherlands, where following the war Jehovah’s witnesses were generally viewed with suspicion and animosity, their work is now favorably mentioned in the press, and recently they were invited by an Amsterdam radio station to put on a program explaining their organization and beliefs.

Most of the literature used throughout Europe is printed in its various countries. In Great Britain, where a peak exceeding 49,000 publishers has been reached, over 18 1⁄2 million Watchtower and Awake! magazines were printed in their new factory in 1961. In West Germany there are over 70,000 of Jehovah’s witnesses preaching, and they have a large Bethel home and factory situated in a beautifully wooded area near Wiesbaden. Last year nearly 19 million copies of the German Watchtower and Awake! were printed there. Factories in Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland also annually turn out millions of copies of these Bible magazines in various European languages.

Although the preaching work in Asia is not as widespread as in Europe, good progress is being made in some places. Talking to these people of the Orient about God’s kingdom is quite different from talking to Europeans. It is interesting to listen to ministers from places such as Japan and Korea describe the preaching work there. The people are very polite and courteous, they say. At many homes a person is invited inside and given an opportunity to give his Bible sermon. But, of course, you must remove your shoes before stepping into their homes; then you may be offered a cushion on which to sit on the floor.

Asiatic people like education and are usually willing to discuss matters. As a rule they will readily accept Bible literature when it is offered. However, the family ties that hold them under centuries-old religious traditions are very strong, and it is often difficult for them to break away and take a stand for Bible truth. But when they do, as increasing numbers are, the truth has an amazing reformatory effect on their lives, and they become zealous preachers of it. Some 7 percent of Jehovah’s witnesses in Korea are full-time ministers spending at least a hundred hours preaching each month, and well over 1,000 of the 4,200 Witnesses have at some time had a share in this full-time ministry.

Although response to the preaching work has been slow in India, with fewer than 2,000 Witnesses there, some newly interested ones have shown exceptional zeal. A letter recently received from there tells about several large families who have accepted the truth. “They have built their own Kingdom Hall and are zealous and united in the truth. Even the little children of ten are able to give the entire sermon boldly and effectively on their own. Their use of the Bible is commendable. . . .

“Some of the territories have distance and traveling problems. In order to reach the territory at ten o’clock they must leave at 7:30 a.m. and start out in two or three small rowing boats on the river. They reach the territory only after going four or five miles on the river and walking three or four miles on foot through fields and jungles, and then catching a bus for three miles.” But they are determined to have a share in preaching the good news.

AFRICA

In probably no other continent has the preaching work of Jehovah’s witnesses had such a tremendous effect as in Africa. Among those becoming Witnesses pagan superstitions, beliefs and practices have been put away and the Bible’s high moral standards conformed to, including the requirement to be faithful to just one marriage mate. Appreciation for Bible truth has motivated these Africans to become effective ministers, with the result that the number of Kingdom preachers in Africa increased sevenfold in ten years, from 10,070 in 1942 to 72,228 in 1952. Since then these have nearly doubled, to over 134,000 ministers of the good news.

Government officials and employers are simply amazed at the transformation in the Africans that become Jehovah’s witnesses. They become the most reliable and trustworthy workers, and most of them are literate as a result of the reading and writing classes conducted in the Kingdom Halls. But most noteworthy of all are their huge assemblies, where, on occasions, over 30,000 of Jehovah’s witnesses from many different tribes have met together in peaceful fellowship. Government officials who have attended to see for themselves how it could be accomplished have marveled.

In places whole villages have become Jehovah’s witnesses, necessitating their traveling to other places in order to preach. Such remarkable expansion of the preaching work has brought it about that Northern Rhodesia has one Kingdom publisher for every 81 persons; Nyasaland, one for every 194 persons; and Southern Rhodesia, one for every 245 inhabitants. Three years ago a large Bethel home and factory was opened up in Johannesburg, South Africa, where over two million Watchtower and Awake! magazines a year are printed in nine African languages. No longer can Africa be labeled the dark continent, spiritually speaking.

ISLANDS OF THE SEA

The Kingdom message has even penetrated to the far-flung islands of the Atlantic, Caribbean, Mediterranean and the Pacific. In many of these islands, including the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand, the good news of the Kingdom has enjoyed a warm reception. Whereas back in 1942 there were only 5,570 Kingdom preachers on nine islands, ten years later the number had increased to 44,111 preaching on 27 islands. But now the number of preachers has doubled, rising to over 89,000, who are carrying the good news to more than 60 islands and groups of islands of the sea.

A letter received recently from the Solomon Islands gives an idea of what a remarkable reception is sometimes given the Kingdom message. Some villagers had become dissatisfied with the religion brought by Christendom’s missionaries and so set up their own. As they were interested in religion, when they heard about the work of Jehovah’s witnesses they sent some representatives to the capital city of Honiara to investigate. These brought back a favorable report. In fact, one of them was so impressed that he built a Kingdom Hall in anticipation of the time that Jehovah’s witnesses would come.

Finally, when four Kingdom publishers arrived, over 450 of the native folk assembled to hear the public talk. Afterward arrangements were made to conduct a teaching program during the following week. Classes were held with about 150 in attendance. They began at 6:30 in the morning and continued till after midnight. The result? “After much convincing and argumentation that is impossible to put into one letter every last one of the teachers and pastors decided for the truth. The twenty-odd churches were renamed Kingdom Halls and all twenty-eight villages are studying the nine sermons left with them. All of them were really enthused and they sent twenty pounds with me to buy blackboards and chalk. The former teachers and pastors are now publishing and teaching the others through the sermons. They have left all of their rituals and are trying to follow the way we do things as closely as possible.” And so it is that the Kingdom message reaches into the remote islands of the sea.

SOUTH AMERICA

After centuries of Roman Catholic control illiteracy is the general rule among the people of this continent, illegitimate children are many and consensual marriage is the normal practice. Under such an atmosphere Kingdom preaching had a slow start, with only 807 ministers in 1942; by 1952 these had increased to 11,795, but now over 45,000 are busy preaching in all the countries of South America. In recent years the work of Jehovah’s witnesses has gained widespread public attention in every country of South America.

In the city and suburbs of São Paulo in the south of Brazil, for example, there are over 70 congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses and more than 5,500 Kingdom preachers. Weekly the Kingdom message is kept before the attention of the people of this area by means of a television program that is calculated to have 1,500,000 viewers.

This January when Jehovah’s witnesses held a national assembly in São Paulo the officials welcomed them and helped to overcome various problems in connection with the assembly. By means of radio, TV and 3,900 column-inches of news publicity the assembly was well advertised. What was the public response? Amazing! Although there are fewer than 30,000 Kingdom publishers in all Brazil, over 48,000 turned out to hear the public talk “When All Nations Unite Under God’s Kingdom”!

NORTH AMERICA

In North America, where the headquarters directing this worldwide preaching work is located, steady increases have been realized, not only in the United States, but also in Canada, Mexico and Central America. The number of preachers has grown from 75,589 in 1945, to 168,752 in 1952, to over 345,000 who are now carrying the message of God’s kingdom to the peoples from Alaska to Panama.

Throughout the world the number of Kingdom preachers is well over 950,000. Every week they contact tens of millions of persons, and with many of these they hold Bible discussions in their homes. “In all the inhabited earth” this good news of the Kingdom is being preached, in imitation of the example set by Christ Jesus and in fulfillment of his prophecy concerning our day. It is not being done in a perfunctory manner, but with the greatest urgency, because, as Jesus said, the preaching of the Kingdom good news will be followed by the end of this wicked system of things at God’s war of Armageddon.—Matt. 24:14; Rev. 16:16.

Hundreds of thousands of dedicated men, women and youths, moved by love of God and love of neighbor, are zealously sharing in this vital work, regardless of the obstacles with which they are confronted. Tens of thousands more are joining them in the work each year. Now is the time for you too to avail yourself of the opportunity to take your stand for Jehovah God and his kingdom and so come in line for the everlasting blessings of his righteous new world!

[Picture on page 634]

International Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses

[Picture on page 635]

Watchtower Printing Plants, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Announcements

FIELD MINISTRY

Like refreshing dew and copious showers, Jehovah’s witnesses bring refreshment to persons who are of goodwill toward God. This they do by making known the truths of God’s Word. As a part of this work, during October they will feature the Awake! magazine. A year’s subscription for Awake!, with three Bible study booklets, will be offered for $1.

TWO MILLION IN ONE YEAR!

Two million copies of a single edition of the complete Bible—printed and distributed in one short year! That is the amazing record of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. But if you could hold a copy in your own hand, open it and read just a few pages, you would understand why. It is in modern English, printed on thin Bible paper and bound in a gold-embossed green cover. It contains 1,470 pages and a comprehensive concordance with maps and drawings. It is only $1! Send for your copy today.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

November 25: Take Courage—God’s Kingdom Is at Hand!, ¶1-27. Page 612.

December 2: Take Courage—God’s Kingdom Is at Hand!, ¶28-52. Page 619.