The Watchtower — December 15, 1969

Can Your Marriage Be Saved?

IT IS an unhappy fact, but the marriages of more than a million persons a year are severed by divorce in just the United States alone. This amounts to about one divorce every minute on the average!

It is sad that so many persons who expect to enjoy happiness in marriage find just the opposite. One United States marriage counselor observed concerning those marrying today: “One-fourth will end up in divorce court, while another one-fourth will keep their marriages legally intact for a variety of reasons, but will get little satisfaction from them.”

Clearly, the marriages of millions of persons are in need of help. Possibly your marriage, too, is in trouble. What can you do to strengthen it? How can the happiness that you originally expected from marriage be realized?

LOOK TO THE RIGHT SOURCE FOR HELP

Men and women are marvelously designed for each other. They are inherently equipped to live together as husband and wife. Still many marriages fail. Why? Because they ignore an important requirement.

A basic requirement for genuine success in marriage is to consult regularly the advice of its originator, man’s Creator, Jehovah God. In his written Word the Bible he has provided the counsel that, if applied by both marriage partners, is certain to assure the happiness of their marriage.

This is not simply theory, or an idle, unsupported assertion. It is a fact. For when persons have really endeavored to cultivate in their marriage the qualities the Bible recommends, remarkable improvements have occurred. Are you willing to make an earnest effort to save your marriage by accepting the counsel of the foremost marriage counselor, Jehovah God?

WHEN THERE ARE SEVERE DIFFICULTIES

But perhaps you feel that your marriage is beyond help, that the problems are too severe. Your husband may be a drunkard. He may even physically abuse you at times, and voice great disrespect for God and his Word. What can be done in such a case?

The situation is not hopeless. There were cases in the first century where husbands had no regard for Christian principles. Note the divine counsel given to Christian wives faced with such circumstances: “You wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, in order that, if any are not obedient to the word, they may be won without a word through the conduct of their wives, because of having been eyewitnesses of your chaste conduct together with deep respect.”—1 Pet. 3:1, 2; Titus 2:4, 5.

This counsel has proved beneficial time and again. By exhibiting chaste conduct and deep respect Christian wives have often been instrumental in saving their marriages, turning them into happy unions. “But how does one show respect for a man who gets drunk and disrespects God?” you may ask.

True, this is not easy. You cannot, of course, approve of drunkenness or other ungodly conduct. But you can work to increase respect for your husband’s office or position as head of the family.

Also, while there may be unpleasant things you have discovered about him as an individual since marrying him, no doubt, if you looked for them, you could find new aspects of his personality that you consider desirable. Also, can you not continue to develop love and respect for the things about your husband that initially kindled your love for him, if he still has those same qualities, as well as those good things you have discovered since? Are there things you personally can do that will emphasize his good qualities and minimize his undesirable ones?

Some wives have given serious thought to such matters. And they have also cultivated the Christian quality of endurance, remaining chaste and respectful through years of abuse by husbands who opposed their Christian course. The results at times are absolutely thrilling. For example, one husband some time ago wrote:

‘For twelve years I was the worst enemy of my own wife. I threatened her and we quarreled every day; that is to say, I always sought the strife and I even began to beat her. Very often I came home drunk and would then beat both my wife and my child. But all in vain; my wife stuck to her study of the Bible and worship of God.

‘Only a relatively short time back they felt relieved every day when I went to work and dreaded the moment when I would come back. Then, a short time ago, I had a discussion with a Christian minister of Jehovah’s witnesses. Afterward I sat and reviewed the past twelve years of my life. This analysis was crushing for me. I saw how terribly mean I had been toward my wife, while she had borne everything with humility, like a piece of granite against which the waves of my insanity crashed in vain. The more cruel I was, the more love and mercy she showed.

‘Yes, it is only now that I see all this. And as I began to see it, I took the Bible; and, thanks to its instruction, I am now like a newborn man. I no longer get drunk and have stopped smoking, have left the rabble, and now share with my dear ones regularly in study of God’s Word.’

There are many such examples of wives who have, by their chaste conduct and deep respect, won their husbands over to Christianity. Even though this may have required years, how happy these wives are that they did not give up and leave their husbands! Real blessings can be realized as a result of endurance.

AVOIDING SEPARATION AND DIVORCE

It is true that Jehovah God has made allowance in his law for divorce. But his law does not allow many reasons for breaking the marriage tie by divorce. God’s Son Jesus said: “I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on the ground of fornication [or adultery], and marries another commits adultery.” (Matt. 19:9) Thus, Scriptural divorce is limited. Adultery is the only ground permitted by God’s law for divorce and remarriage.

But what about separation of married partners, where adultery has not been committed and where a divorce may not be contemplated? What does God’s Word say on this matter?

This question came up in the first-century Corinthian congregation, and God inspired this counsel: “A wife should not depart from her husband; but if she should actually depart, let her remain unmarried or else make up again with her husband; and a husband should not leave his wife.” (1 Cor. 7:10, 11) Thus, although it is acknowledged that not all couples would stick together, the Bible shows that Christian couples should do all they possibly can to resolve differences that may arise and not to separate.

The reasonableness of this is obvious, because where both mates profess to be dedicated Christians, they are under obligation to perform God’s will, and God’s will for Christian couples is to ‘stick together’ and not to break the marriage tie. (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4-6) Really, no problem should come up in the lives of Christian husbands and wives that cannot be resolved by applying the wisdom from God and by showing real love for each other.

But what of the situation where one mate is a dedicated Christian and the other an unbeliever? In this case the Bible counsels: “If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and yet she is agreeable to dwelling with him, let him not leave her; and a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and yet he is agreeable to dwelling with her, let her not leave her husband. . . . But if the unbelieving one proceeds to depart, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not in servitude under such circumstances, but God has called you to peace.”—1 Cor. 7:12-15.

The Scriptures, therefore, lay the primary emphasis on not breaking the marriage tie. If it is to be broken, the Christian should endeavor not to be the one that makes the break. However, if the unbeliever separates, the Christian would let him depart.

There are distinct advantages in remaining with one’s mate, even though that person is an unbeliever. First of all, there is the possibility that you as a Christian believer, may win your mate over to Christianity. Surely the unbeliever is in an advantageous position, for he is in touch with true Christianity by being with you.—1 Cor. 7:16.

Then, too, if you were to separate, and adultery was not the basis for the separation, you would not be Scripturally free to remarry or to have sex relations with anyone else even if you got a divorce. Think of the pressure such a separation might exert on you. What if it resulted in your falling into immorality? How sad that would be!

Another important factor to consider is the children, if you have any. Is the care and love of only one parent going to be sufficient? Will you be able to handle matters from a financial standpoint, as well as in other ways?

True, if the circumstances are extremely severe, you may choose to resort to separation. But this should be a step taken only as a very last resort, after all other efforts to correct the situation have been exhausted, and after prayerful consideration.

WORKING TO PRESERVE YOUR MARRIAGE

On the other hand, it is so much better when you can work out your problems and learn to enjoy each other’s companionship. This can be accomplished if you both really want to preserve your marriage, and if you look to God’s Word for help in doing so.

Each mate needs to appreciate that there is a fundamental reason why the marriage is in difficulty. And that is because either you or your mate, or both of you, are not applying Bible principles. Somewhere these vital principles are being pushed aside, ignored, and personal inclinations have taken their place. Therefore, to save the marriage this situation must be corrected.

For example, the problem may be that the Bible principles of headship and love are not being applied. The Bible says: “Let wives be in subjection to their husbands as to the Lord, because a husband is head of his wife as the Christ also is head of the congregation . . . husbands ought to be loving their wives as their own bodies.”—Eph. 5:22, 23, 28.

To be head of his wife means that the husband bears the principal responsibility for making decisions about family matters. Thus, the occasion may arise in which your husband decides to move the family elsewhere. You, as wife, may realize that this will pose problems, but if you apply what the Bible teaches on headship you will yield to your husband’s wish, for he has the right to decide on such matters.

On the other hand, you, as a husband who applies the Bible principle of ‘loving his wife as himself,’ will discuss the matter of moving with your wife before making your decision. You will get her feelings and suggestions, and take these into consideration. But with you, the husband, rests the final decision, and this decision is to be respected and supported by the Christian wife.

So, whereas in some families displeasure over living quarters may become so grave that there is a desire to resolve the problem by separation, by applying Bible principles such problems can be averted entirely. This really works! When couples are willing to bring their lives into harmony with God’s Word, their marriage can truly be a happy one.

SHOWING INTEREST IN EACH OTHER

One Bible principle that it is vital for couples to apply in their marriage is to show loving interest in each other. “Let each one keep seeking, not his own advantage, but that of the other person,” the Bible encourages. (1 Cor. 10:24; Phil. 2:4) Many marriages have been saved when husbands and wives have made a real effort to do this.

When you and your mate were courting each other before marriage, each made an endeavor to cultivate interest in what the other liked, is that not so? This no doubt was a factor that endeared you to each other. Why not, then, continue this practice? Of course, you may not be interested in some activities your husband likes. He may not be a Christian believer, and thus he may not have the interest in Bible study that you do. Nevertheless, you would do well to cultivate an interest in certain of his activities for the sake of the marriage. It is difficult to make love grow when husband and wife do not do things together.

Therefore, where there is no compromise of principle involved or Biblical issue violated, the believing mate does well to subordinate personal desires and spend some time doing what the unbeliever wants, thus demonstrating Christian reasonableness. This is the loving course and may cause the unbeliever to inquire into a faith that results in such consideration for one’s mate.

Recently a Christian woman who was having severe marital difficulties admitted her failure in this regard: “I have been wrong in excluding my husband’s desires,” she explained. “I haven’t cultivated an interest in the things pleasing to him. He enjoys bowling, hunting trips, baseball games, and so forth. Although years ago he used to invite me, I never went.”

This woman responded to encouragement to share in some of her husband’s activities. Happily she wrote: “I told him that I had been wrong in many instances, and that I was going to try to do better. I told him I’d like to go bowling one day a week, possibly on a Saturday afternoon if he’d like. A few days later I invited him to our Bible study and was so surprised when he accepted. My heart felt such compassion for him when he said he was going because he wants to learn to do what is right.”

A Christian husband should likewise endeavor to show interest in his wife, and in the activities she performs in behalf of the family. Even if she does not now embrace true Christianity, spend time with her, consider her, compliment her. Show her your concern. Never be too busy with other pursuits to devote some time to her and to reassure her of your love.

Simply being alert or ‘tuned in’ to each other’s interests and needs is vital to a harmonious marriage. One young married woman, who had failed to do this, complained regarding her husband: “He keeps making up excuses to be away from me more and more.” The reasons why her husband might be acting this way were discussed with her. She admitted that she had become less interested in caring for her personal appearance of late. Also, she said that her husband’s conversation bored her, and that she had little interest in communicating with him.

The wife was helped to see the need of showing more interest in her husband. Thus, she began to be more attentive to him, and took a greater interest in what he was doing. She made a point to fix his favorite foods more frequently, and paid more attention to being physically attractive to him. The husband responded by becoming eager again to come home to his wife.

True, it may be easy to see what your marriage mate is doing wrong. But the Christian wife should ask herself, “What can I do to contribute to the success of the union? If my husband does not come home at night and goes out and gets drunk, is it because there is something about the home to which he does not like to return? Do I nag him? Am I always lecturing him? Are the children out of hand?” Such honest self-analysis can be extremely revealing and valuable.

TALK TO EACH OTHER

An interchange of communication is an obvious and yet vital way for marriage mates to show each other loving interest. Before you were married you no doubt made an effort to carry on an interesting conversation with your wife-to-be. She obviously enjoyed this. Then, wisely continue to make this effort to talk. Your wife will appreciate it.

A wife, on the other hand, should use discretion when making conversation. Do not greet your husband with a barrage of problems as soon as he arrives home and before he has time to get settled. Think of pleasant things that you might speak about. And when there are problems to discuss, pick a time when he is in a frame of mind best to consider them. Such loving consideration is certain to contribute to improved marriage relations.

ADVANTAGES ENJOYED BY CHRISTIANS

Christian husbands and Christian wives have real advantages. First of all, they can confidently go to God’s Word together and consider their problems in the light of its wise counsel. Also, they can take their problems together to Jehovah God in prayer, humbly requesting that he help them. (Ps. 139:23, 24) After thus joining in prayer they will hardly be inclined to treat each other harshly or coolly.

Then, too, if differences are extreme, Christian mates have a fine provision for help in the Christian congregation. Here mature overseers and older men who have God’s mind on marital matters may be consulted for counsel from the Scriptures. By applying this counsel, those who experience marital difficulties are certain to be benefited.

This does not mean that you who are not members of the Christian congregation cannot enjoy these advantages. Jehovah’s witnesses will be happy to help you gain a knowledge of Bible teachings and principles, including those that concern relations between husbands and wives. In fact, a part of the free Bible-study course they offer, using the publication The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, is consideration of the subject “Building a Happy Family Life.” Do not hesitate to avail yourself of this provision by asking one of Jehovah’s witnesses to visit you in your home.

So, if you are now experiencing marital difficulties, do not be disheartened. You can do much that may improve the situation. And remember, if a husband and wife really want to preserve their marriage, and if they look to God’s Word for help in doing so, their marriage can be saved.

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A basic requirement for success in marriage is to consult regularly the advice of its Originator, Jehovah God, as found in the Bible

Learning to Live in Peace

● In Papua, an international assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses was held late in October. Unable to obtain adequate facilities, the Witnesses built their own town for use during the assembly. 1,116 persons gathered from many tribes and thirty-one nations. In a country noted for tribal massacres, this peaceful assembly provided a fine example of how God’s Word changes the lives of those who heed it.

During October the “Peace on Earth” International Assembly convened in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Australia, in addition to Papua, with a combined peak attendance of 120,403 to hear the Bible’s message of peace. At these assemblies, it was heartwarming to see 5,573 persons get baptized in symbol of their dedication to do the will of Jehovah God.

“Go . . . Make Disciples . . . Baptizing Them”

“Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them.”—Matt. 28:19.

1. According to news reports, how did an emergency form of baptism come about on a beach at San Francisco, California, on May 7, 1959?

IT WAS May 7, 1959, at San Francisco, California. Shirley and Albert were swimming at the entrance of the bay. A shark, too, was swimming there! First to see it, Albert warned Shirley. She should swim for shore. Then the shark attacked. Albert’s left arm was nearly ripped off. Braving the shark’s attack on her, Shirley swam back and began to pull Albert to the beach. She finally got him ashore. Albert was mortally wounded. He had not been baptized as a Christian. So Shirley scooped up some sea water and let it run over Albert’s head. Said Shirley: “I baptized him in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, making the sign of the Cross . . . ” She told him to repeat after her the act of contrition, saying: “ . . . I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend thee, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love.”—Time, and Newsweek, of May 18, 1959; New York Times, March 24, 1961.

2. What questions arise as to what was accomplished by this ritualistic baptism?

² Shirley had saved Albert from further attack by the tiger of the sea. Conscientiously she afterward tried to save him from the fate of an unbaptized person according to the religious teachings of her church. Some persons, while admiring her courageous act, were caused to wonder. By performing a religious ritual of Christendom had she saved Albert from everlasting fire, after having saved him from the shark-infested water? Had she made him a disciple of Christ before he died in the hospital soon after?

3. In contrast, what mass baptism took place on a New York beach on July 30, 1958, and of what mass baptism in the year 33 C.E. did it remind one?

³ One’s mind here turns from the waters of the Pacific Ocean toward which San Francisco Bay fronts to the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. On July 30, 1958, less than a year before Shirley had ritualistically baptized Albert, there was a baptism on another beach, Orchard Beach, New York. The 7,136 who voluntarily desired to be baptized did not stay on shore for this. They waded out into the salt waters, where men, dedicated Christians, totally immersed them. This mammoth baptism was the spectacle of the day in the New York city area, where the “Divine Will” International Assembly was being held simultaneously in Yankee Stadium and the nearby Polo Grounds baseball park. It reminded one of another large-scale baptism that took place 1,925 years earlier when about three thousand believers were baptized at Jerusalem by the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, at the time of a convention at Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of Pentecost of the year 33 C.E. (Acts 2:1-42) These thus gave public testimony of their determination to be disciples of Jesus Christ. The 7,136 baptized at Orchard Beach in 1958 likewise desired to become dedicated disciples of this same one.

4. (a) Because of Christendom’s failing to convert the world and because of her decline, what questions arise as to baptizing disciples of Christ? (b) Because of what fear are there many hypocritical Christians today?

⁴ Here we are now in the end of the year 1969 C.E. Because of the failure of Christendom to make disciples of all the people of the world and thus bring about world conversion and because of her religious decline and loss of influence someone has suggested that this be called “the post-Christian Era.” Are disciples of this Christ of the first century still being made in these increasingly irreligious years of the twentieth century? Is it still the proper thing to make disciples of that one who died more than nineteen centuries ago, or is it outmoded? In these so-called “revolutionary” days, when old values are being discarded, these are serious questions. Many persons today who are afraid of what their neighbors think are anxious to be called “Christian” because otherwise they would be labeled as “pagan,” or even Communist. But are such people really hypocritical Christians? Are these so-called Christians really what a Christian ought to be? A real disciple of Christ is not a hypocritical Christian.

5. For answers to these questions, to what authority are we obliged to go, and why to that authority?

⁵ To what authority shall we go for answers to these questions? For the straightforward answers we shall have to go, not to the religious clergy of Christendom, but to that very Teacher of the first century, Jesus Christ himself. His faithful disciples of the first century put him inerasably on record in the last twenty-seven books of the Holy Bible. This Record does not dodge any questions about these matters or soft-pedal truths and facts in order not to offend us or our religious sensitiveness. Belittle that first-century Teacher as much as unbelieving scoffers care to, yet he has affected the world of mankind more than any other man that has ever walked on the face of our earth. He looked farther ahead than any other man on earth. Did he look forward to our day, this twentieth century? Yes. He was interested not merely in making disciples back there during the three and a half years of his teaching and preaching the kingdom of God. He was interested in making further disciples in this twentieth century. And he is making them. How do we know?

6. The words quoted in this regard were said by Christ at what stage of his life, and how had he designated the place where he was to say them?

⁶ When we here quote what he said in this regard we quote from him after he was raised from the dead. Where he spoke these words is a definite place on earth. It is a mountain in what was then called the land of Galilee in his day, the region of the Sea of Galilee of today. Before his death he had pointed out this region for a meeting with them after his resurrection from the dead. On the night before his death on an execution stake and after he had set up what is called the Lord’s Supper, he said to his eleven faithful apostles: “All of you will be stumbled in connection with me on this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered about.’ But after I have been raised up, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”—Matt. 26:31, 32; Mark 14:27, 28.

7. How was this locality confirmed on the day of Jesus’ resurrection, and how did the disciples comport themselves there?

⁷ Two days later, on the morning of his resurrection from the dead, an angel said to some women who came to the now opened and vacated tomb: “Go quickly and tell his disciples that he was raised up from the dead, and, look! he is going ahead of you into Galilee; there you will see him.” On their way to tell the disciples, these women were met by the resurrected Jesus himself. “Have no fear!” he said. “Go, report to my brothers, that they may go off into Galilee; and there they will see me.” More than a week later the disciples did so. “The eleven disciples went into Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had arranged for them, and when they saw him they did obeisance, but some doubted.”—Matt. 28:3-10, 16, 17; Mark 16:7.

MORE THAN A MAN’S COMMAND

8. (a) Why have creatures on earth no right to interfere with the carrying out of Christ’s command there given? (b) What did the apostles John, Paul and Peter say regarding his status now?

⁸ What the disciples heard in that unnamed mountain in Galilee was something from more than a mere man; and no man, government or nation on earth has a right to interfere with the carrying out of what that one commanded. O yes, men do interfere, but this is only by God’s permission, and they do not gain divine approval by their doing so. In spite of them many baptisms have been performed in secret. The Jesus who appeared to his disciples at that Galilean mountain was the first one to be raised from the dead to endless life, indeed to immortal life. Uniquely he is called “the first-born from the dead.” (Rev. 1:5) A man who miraculously saw Jesus Christ some months after his resurrection from the dead was inspired to say concerning him: “He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that he might become the one who is first in all things.” (Col. 1:1, 18) Also, a disciple who met with him in the Galilean mountain writes: “Christ died once for all time concerning sins, . . . he being put to death in the flesh, but being made alive in the spirit.” (1 Pet. 3:17, 18) He ranks first among God’s spirit sons.

9. With what authority did Christ there issue his command to his disciples, and what did it state?

⁹ Rightly, then, he could issue his command with superhuman authority and could put his command above any command of mere human governors and rulers, saying to his disciples there in Galilee: “All authority has been given me in heaven and on the earth. Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.”—Matt. 28:18-20.

10. How long lasting is the power in the words of his command, and why?

¹⁰ There was power in those words. And, today, after nineteen centuries, there is still as much power in those words, for they are the words of an Authority whom no creature in heaven or on earth dares to defy or ignore. “All authority . . . in heaven and on the earth” has been given to him by the Almighty God, who is the divine Source of all authority. He is the heavenly Father of Jesus Christ and is the one who raised him from the dead to immortal life on the spirit plane of existence. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, now in a new and higher relationship with the heavenly Father by reason of this resurrection from the dead. With the value of his perfect human sacrifice, the resurrected Jesus Christ entered into the very presence of the Most High and Almighty God, his heavenly Father. To him he presented the value or merit of his human sacrifice for the sake of all mankind, living and dead. In order to back up or implement the “all authority” that God gave to him, Jesus Christ also received the “holy spirit,” that invisible active force of God, to exercise it and to pour it out on his disciples.

11. (a) What should nobody of this modern day think as regards the authority of the resurrected Christ? (b) What can be said about the handling of his authority and its enforcement at this stage of the system of things?

¹¹ Let nobody think to himself, “Well, that was nineteen hundred years ago. That authority claimed by Jesus Christ does not apply in our modern, scientific, revolutionary age. His authority has weakened or diminished, like the influence of Christendom, and it does not operate today. We are in power here on earth today. We are the ones actually having the authority, and we humans shall use this possessed authority just the way we want it, regardless of what someone said nineteen centuries ago.” But let no one fool himself. Jesus Christ is a historic person, not a myth, and he has never let go of his authority or yielded it to any man or group of men on earth today, whether at Vatican City or at Geneva, Switzerland, or Moscow, Russia, or anywhere else. He still has it today, it being enforced today more than ever before. To assure his disciples of this he followed up his authoritative command by saying: “And, look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.” (Matt. 28:20) This system of things is still with us today, but we are very evidently in the time period of its conclusion.

12. (a) How do some underestimate Christ’s authority today, and why should they make a reconsideration? (b) What should be the reaction of his disciples today to his command, and why?

¹² The unending, superhuman, universal authority with which the resurrected Jesus Christ has been clothed should make all those who scoff at him pause for reflection; it should make all who say, “Christianity is dying out today, and we are more popular and more important than Christ,” stop and make a proper estimate of Christ the heavenly Son of God. It should also make all who are his true, genuine disciples today take most seriously his command to them, so that the carrying out of his command becomes the biggest thing in their lives, just as it was in the lives of the first-century disciples. The realization and appreciation of the authority behind Christ’s command should fire them never to cease carrying it out till the utter end of this “conclusion of the system of things.” They have him with them “all the days” until that occurs. So they have his backing.

EXPANSIVE WORK

13. (a) Discipleship was meant to obtain in what area on earth? (b) In what way was the movement of matters not to be as in the days of King Solomon when his wisdom was known earth wide?

¹³ One’s being a disciple of the resurrected Jesus Christ is not a passive, easygoing, self-centered, unexpressive religion. It gives open expression to itself; it is productive and reproductive, unable to be held down or suppressed. Discipleship was not meant to be confined to a small corner of the earth, as something not to be shared by the rest of the world. If anything was to be made known and to be made available world wide, this was. It was not as in the case of wise King Solomon of Jerusalem of the eleventh century B.C.E., concerning whom the historic record says: “They kept coming from all the peoples to hear Solomon’s wisdom, even from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.” (1 Ki. 4:34) Even the queen of Sheba came from what was called “the ends of the earth” all the way to Jerusalem to hear and see the evidence of Solomon’s wisdom. (Matt. 12:42; 1 Ki. 10:1-13) Jesus Christ, even when on earth, spoke of himself as being “something more than Solomon.” His life and death have affected all mankind far more than did Solomon’s. Instead of inviting and obliging men to come from the four corners of the earth to earthly Jerusalem to hear his wisdom and learn of him, he commanded his disciples there in Galilee to go to all the people: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations.” (Matt. 28:19) They were not to wait upon the people to come to them, but were to go to the people everywhere.

14. For whom was the message of salvation through Jesus Christ meant, and how did he indicate this on the Mount of Olives before his ascension?

¹⁴ Although Jesus, when on earth, was a natural, circumcised Jew, born under the Law of Moses, yet the message concerning him was not for the Jews alone. Only as a favor from God, the Jews got it first. But this message of salvation by means of Jesus Christ was for all mankind, and it must go to all of them. The resurrected Jesus Christ indicated this not only in the mountain in Galilee but some time afterward before he departed from this earth and ascended back to heaven to his divine Father, Jehovah God. On the famous mountain to the east of Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, from which he was to ascend to heaven, he said to his disciples who accompanied him there: “It does not belong to you to get knowledge of the times or seasons which the Father has placed in his own jurisdiction; but you will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.”—Acts 1:7, 8.

15. (a) In a Bible study just before this, how did Jesus indicate to his disciples to what extent forgiveness of sins through him was to be preached? (b) Why was the witness to start out from Jerusalem?

¹⁵ This witness concerning Jesus’ vital part in God’s program for the salvation of mankind was not to be confined to just the natural circumcised Jews who were scattered to the ends of the earth but was to be presented also to Gentile (non-Jewish) persons. So Jesus had said a short time before this in a Bible study with his disciples, in these words: “In this way it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from among the dead on the third day, and on the basis of his name repentance for forgiveness of sins would be preached in all the nations—starting out from Jerusalem, you are to be witnesses of these things.” Why were they to start out from Jerusalem? Because they were to be baptized with the holy spirit on the following festival day of Pentecost at Jerusalem, and their first witnessing about the repentance for forgiveness of sins through Christ was to be given to Pentecostal celebrators there in that city.—Luke 24:46-49.

16. According to Acts, chapter two, how did it happen just that way at Jerusalem?

¹⁶ It actually happened that way, and on that day of the festival of Pentecost in the year 33 C.E. the apostle Peter said to a big crowd of inquiring Jews and proselytes: “Repent, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the free gift of the holy spirit.” About three thousand of these Jews and proselytes who were already dedicated to Jehovah God repented of their previous wrong attitude and action toward Christ and were baptized in his name as being now his followers. That was only a start for them. They desired to know more from Christ’s twelve apostles, and the apostles were willing to give them more instruction. And so, after baptism in water, “they continued devoting themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to sharing with one another, to taking of meals and to prayers.”—Acts 2:37-42.

FIRST-CENTURY EXPANSION

17. How did the good news come to be spread earth wide by those baptized at Jerusalem at Pentecost, but among whom earth wide?

¹⁷ Since God’s provisions for the rescue of all mankind were to be made available world wide, how wise it was that Jehovah poured out his holy spirit through Christ there on the day of Pentecost, at Jerusalem. Those converted, baptized Jews and proselytes had come from many parts of Asia, Europe and Africa, indeed, “from every nation of those under heaven.” So now after receiving sufficient instruction from Christ’s apostles they went back to their own lands and spread the good news there. But they did this only among the natural circumcised Jews in those lands. (Acts 2:5-12; 11:19) But what about the province of Samaria that lay in between Judea and Galilee?

18. How did the harvesting of baptized, spirit-filled Christians extend itself into the province of Samaria?

¹⁸ Jesus had once preached to the Samaritan inhabitants of the town of Sychar, and as a result those Samaritans said: “We have heard for ourselves and we know that this man is for a certainty the savior of the world.” Ah yes, not of the Jews only, but “of the world” of mankind. Well was it that Jesus while there in Samaria said to his apostles: “Lift up your eyes and view the fields, that they are white for harvesting. Already the reaper is receiving wages and gathering fruit for everlasting life.” (John 4:35, 36, 38-42) But it took the scattering power of persecution to thrust the disciples into the fields of Samaria to do harvesting work. After his resurrection from the dead and before his ascension to heaven Jesus had authorized them to give the witness to the Samaritans. So Philip the evangelizer, when forced out of Jerusalem and Judea by persecution, entered Samaria and preached and baptized many Samaritan believers. Then the apostles at Jerusalem sent down Simon Peter and John the son of Zebedee, and these imparted God’s holy spirit to these believing Samaritans.—Acts 8:1-17.

19. What further expansion was there yet to occur, but who were evidently hesitant about it?

¹⁹ Yet there was to be still more expansion! Not yet had the uncircumcised Gentile “people of all the nations” of the inhabited earth been touched, nor any ingathering made from them. The Jewish Christians were hesitant, if not also prejudiced, about giving the Messianic witness to the uncircumcised Gentiles or non-Jews. (Acts 10:9-29) For the Jewish Christians to continue treating the uncircumcised Gentiles that way would have hindered the expansion of the Christian congregation at the due time for its expansion.

20. What prophetic week was then running out, and so whom did God send, and to whom and how equipped?

²⁰ Although the Jewish Christians were unaware of it, the seventieth week of years of exclusive favor from Jehovah God to the natural Jews was running out and due to end about the close of the summer of the year 36 C.E. It then became his own appointed time for God to unlock and open the door to Kingdom activity among those Gentiles. (Dan. 9:24-27; Matt. 16:18, 19) So in behalf of fulfilling Daniel’s prophecy of the seventieth week, Jehovah God sent the apostle Peter, with the second of the “keys of the kingdom of the heavens,” to preach the Kingdom message to the first uncircumcised Gentile believers.

21. Who now were admitted to the Christian congregation, and this allowed for expansion how far, as Paul indicates in his letter to the Colossians?

²¹ After these believing Gentiles received the holy spirit and its gifts, they were baptized in water according to Peter’s directions. (Acts 10:1-8, 30-48; 11:12-18) This opened the way for the Christian congregation to expand among the uncircumcised Gentiles to the most distant part of the earth. Other Jewish Christians entered through the newly opened door into the field of activity among the Gentiles. Gentiles were admitted to already established congregations that had consisted entirely of natural Jews, Samaritans and proselytes. About twenty-eight years after Jesus’ farewell words on the Mount of Olives, the apostle Paul could write from Rome to the congregation at Colossae and say: “The hope of that good news which you heard, and which was preached in all creation that is under heaven.” (Col. 1:23) During their lifetime the apostles and their fellow disciples were indeed carrying into effect Christ’s commission to them.

MODERN-DAY EXPANSION

22. How was Jesus Christ not proved to be a false prophet as regards the extent of the disciple-making in this twentieth century?

²² Since then new continents have been discovered by men of Europe and opened up to the disciple-making work of true Christians. But mankind has really had to wait till this twentieth century to see the making of disciples of “people of all the nations” to the ends of the earth, or to its four corners. Jesus Christ was not a false prophet when he foretold the worldwide expansion of the disciple-making activities of his true followers. He did not ask too much of his faithful followers, for with the help of God’s spirit they have shown a willingness to go as far into the distance as Jesus indicated in his command, “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations.”—Matt. 28:19.

23. In view of her tremendous church population, has Christendom done the disciple-making commanded, and how do we know whether or not?

²³ Today Christendom numbers her church people into the hundreds of millions, up to nearly one thousand million, but she has not really done this disciple-making work. True, she has distributed Bibles and portions of the Bible in some 1,337 languages, over two thousand million copies in all parts of the earth. This, however, has not of itself made disciples of Christ. In fact, Christendom has used fire and sword and religious persecution in bringing droves of people into her religious systems. That is not the way that Jesus Christ authorized his apostles and their anointed fellow laborers to go and “make disciples.” The fact that it was not the right way is proved by the kind of professed Christians that she has made, baptizing them in her style of baptizing. Divided up among the hundreds of different religious sects, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant, they are not what the Holy Bible describes as Christian.

24. Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:19, 20 do not allow for what methods of Christendom in making disciples?

²⁴ According to Jesus’ own words, what was the way for his true followers to carry on the work of making disciples of all people without distinction as to nationality? He said: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19, 20) Such words do not allow for the forcing or compelling of anyone under threat of torture or persecution. Neither did those words include the idea of killing off, massacring, those who refused to become disciples for conscientious reasons. Because Christendom has used those methods, it does not mean that these were the methods that Jesus authorized for his obedient, faithful followers.

25. Those made disciples according to Matthew 28:19 are to be made really the pupils of whom?

²⁵ The command, “make disciples,” according to the Greek verb used in Matthew 28:19, means “make learners or pupils.” In illustration of this, The New Testament—An Expanded Translation, by K. S. Wuest, reads, in Matthew 28:19: “Having gone your way, therefore, teach all the nations, making them your pupils.” Of course, those who receive teaching from the followers of Jesus Christ, become pupils of these, become learners from them. But the teaching is really to be about Christ, and they are to be taught to observe the things that he commanded his followers, and so he is really the Teacher. It is to be just as he told his disciples: “Do not you be called Rabbi, for one is your teacher, whereas all you are brothers.” (Matt. 23:8) So the ones who are made disciples are really to be the disciples of this one Teacher, Jesus Christ, who gave the command.

26. Who remains the unchanging Teacher of such disciples?

²⁶ The human teacher can die off or depart somewhere else, but Jesus Christ continues to be the Teacher of his disciples all the time. It is as the New English Bible—New Testament words it: “Go forth therefore and make all nations my disciples; baptize men everywhere.”

27. What is the only authorized way of making disciples, and about what must they learn, to be baptized with the right baptism?

²⁷ Thus the use of fire and sword or scimitar and torture and inquisitions in order to force people into Christianity is absolutely barred by Jesus Christ himself. The only way to make real disciples of the Teacher Jesus Christ is by the peaceful, loving way of presenting the Bible witness concerning Jesus Christ and helping them to become disciples of him, not of the person who gives them the witness. They must learn not only about the Son, but also about his heavenly Father and about the holy spirit, that is to say, the invisible active force of God by which he accomplishes his will. Otherwise, how can the learner be baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit”?

28. How was the need of such learning illustrated in the case of the twelve men whom Paul encountered at Ephesus?

²⁸ For example, there were about a dozen men in ancient Ephesus who had been baptized with what they understood to be the baptism practiced by John the Baptist. But they did not know about the holy spirit of God, and they had not been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Though they knew about God, they did not know or recognize him as the Father of Jesus Christ, as His Son. Therefore the apostle Paul had to give them a witness about Jesus Christ. After that they had to be baptized again, this time “in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Then when Paul laid his hands upon these newly baptized ones, they received God’s holy spirit and began prophesying under its influence, something that they had not done before because of not knowing about the spirit or receiving it.—Acts 19:1-7.

29. What shows whether, after his baptism, the disciple’s being a learner is all over?

²⁹ Even after water baptism, the disciple needs to be taught further. Jesus said that there was to be not only baptizing but also a teaching of the baptized ones “all the things I have commanded you.” He needs to continue to be a learner, a pupil, of the Teacher Jesus Christ. They are not to be forced or tortured to “observe all the things I have commanded you,” but are to be patiently, peacefully, lovingly taught to observe all of Christ’s commands. That is the way that the Bible’s record shows that the apostles did the discipling work, which fact proves this way, not Christendom’s way, is the right way.

30. The discipling work was to be done in conjunction with what other work foretold by Christ, and how was this fact illustrated by Paul and Barnabas in Asia Minor?

³⁰ This making of disciples is, of course, to be done in conjunction with the other work that was foretold by Jesus Christ in his prophecy in Matthew 24:14, namely: “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.” But this proclaiming or heralding of the Kingdom is more of a public work, and it is to be done “for a witness to all the nations,” not for the conversion of all nations. That it was done in conjunction with the preaching is made certain from the account of Paul and Barnabas when working in Asia Minor, which reads: “And after declaring the good news to that city and making quite a few disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them.”—Acts 14:21, 22, NW; AS; RS.

31. Aside from the preaching work, what does the disciple-making involve on the part of the one making disciples and the disciple himself?

³¹ But the disciple-making work is a more personal, intimate work than the mere public witnessing work by means of the heralding or proclaiming of the Kingdom. The making of disciples calls for teaching besides having first given the witness. The witness given publicly may be ignored or rejected by the public in general, but one’s becoming a disciple, learner, or pupil means accepting the information given by the instructor and then becoming a follower of the Teacher Jesus Christ. It means getting baptized in water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit and thereafter continuing to take and apply teaching from the one Teacher, Jesus Christ.

32. How is it shown whether the one baptized becomes the disciple of the baptizer or other man on earth?

³² No believer getting baptized in that prescribed way does so to become the disciple of some mere man in the flesh on earth. Neither is the one thus getting baptized thereby made the disciple of the dedicated man who baptized him in water. (1 Cor. 1:12-17) That those who became baptized became disciples of Jesus Christ is plain from the record in Acts 11:26, which reads: “It was first in Antioch [Syria] that the disciples were by divine providence called Christians [not Paulists].”

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At the “Divine Will” International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York city 7,136 persons were baptized

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At this year’s “Peace on Earth” International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nuremberg, Germany, 5,095 persons were baptized. Throughout the world during the 1969 service year 120,905 persons were baptized

“Make Disciples”—Till When?

1. What raises the question as to whether a limit was set as to the number of disciples to be baptized?

WERE disciples of Christ to be baptized up to a certain number of them? Since, in Revelation 7:1-8 and Re 14:1-3, he revealed that 144,000 spiritual Israelites are to be joint heirs with him in the heavenly kingdom, did he not thereby set a limit on the number that were to be baptized as his disciples?

2. (a) When commanding the disciple-making, did Christ specify any number? (b) What discrimination would result in very few “Christians” being baptized nowadays?

² Not necessarily, for, at Matthew 28:19, 20, he set no limit on the number but said simply: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them.” Certainly he could know and he would know when to halt the baptizing of learners, pupils, disciples of him, for he is the one Teacher of them and would know when he had as many of them as he wanted. Consequently his obedient followers can only continue on making and baptizing followers of him for as long as he permits. Certainly if we baptized only those believers who, after making a complete dedication of themselves to God through Christ, claimed to have the witness of God’s spirit that they were spiritual Israelites, heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, we would be baptizing very few “Christians” today. Why do we reason so?

3, 4. (a) According to reports published since 1942, what has happened to the number of baptized Christians claiming to be begotten of God’s spirit? (b) How do the number of those baptized as contrasted with those partaking of the emblems at the Lord’s Supper during 1969 and the preceding year illustrate this?

³ According to the published reports since the year 1942 the number of baptized Christians who make up the “remnant” that claim to be begotten of God’s spirit as spiritual joint heirs of Jesus Christ has decreased each year.

⁴ For example, this past April 1, 1969, there were just 10,368 of this anointed spiritual remnant that attended the annual Lord’s Supper and partook of the Memorial bread and wine. But in stark contrast with this, during this past year of Kingdom proclamation there were 120,905 new believers who were baptized in water in symbol of their dedication to God through Christ. During the previous year of activity there were 10,619, or 251 more that partook of the bread and the wine at the Lord’s Supper. Thus during this past service year there were hundreds less that claimed to be of the 144,000 spiritual Israelites. How many of these 10,368 remaining were among the 120,905 who were baptized in water in the 1969 service year? If it depended upon such ones, how few baptisms in water would have been conducted in the 1969 service year? And yet the report shows 120,905 baptized.

5. (a) How long, or till when, were the making of disciples and the baptizing of them to continue? (b) Since the Kingdom preaching continues on as foretold since 1914, what related work would continue along with it?

⁵ How long, or till when, were the making of disciples of Christ to be kept up, together with the baptizing of them? Jesus Christ indicated this, for after giving his command in Matthew 28:19, 20 concerning discipling and baptizing, he said: “And, look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.” Ah, then, this work was to continue into the “conclusion of the system of things.” That is where we find ourselves since the end of the “appointed times of the nations” in early autumn of the year 1914. (Luke 21:24) At the present time the worldwide preaching of “this good news of the kingdom” is going ahead on a scale never before realized since 1914, in a climactic fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:14 concerning the “conclusion of the system of things.” Logically, then, if under Christ’s direction this Kingdom preaching has gone on increasingly until now, the discipling and baptizing would continue on along with it.

6. (a) As what were those tens of thousands baptized according to Matthew 28:19? (b) Since 1923 on what prospect were many of those accepting the message setting their hope?

⁶ Well, then, are those tens of thousands of baptisms that have been reported annually in recent years baptisms of “disciples” of Christ? Yes! That is the only type of persons that dedicated Christians are instructed in Matthew 28:19, 20 to baptize and teach. It is true that, after praying in behalf of his “little flock” of spiritual sheep Jesus Christ went on to say: “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10:16) These “other sheep” were to have an earthly hope of eternal life in a terrestrial paradise, and not a heavenly hope. It is true, also, that since the year 1923, when the parable of the sheep and goats was explained at the Los Angeles (California) convention and later published in The Watch Tower of October 15, 1923, many hearers of the Kingdom witness have set their hopes on being of the “other sheep” class and inheriting the earthly paradise under God’s heavenly kingdom. But for years they were not advised to get baptized.

BAPTIZED AS BEING WHAT?

7. When instructed to be baptized, what were they authorized to be baptized to be?

⁷ It is true that since the counsel given in paragraph 34 on page 250 of The Watch Tower of August 15, 1934, persons desiring to be of these “other sheep” have been baptized in water in symbol of their dedication of themselves to God through Christ. But what were they authorized to be baptized to be? Specifically to be “other sheep”?

8. What question arises as to what those baptized on Saturday, June 1, 1935, at the Washington, D.C., convention were baptized to become, and why?

⁸ It is further true that in the following year at the spring convention held in Washington, D.C., capital of America, the prophecy in Revelation 7:9-17 was explained and the “great multitude” (AV) therein described was declared to be made up of present-day “other sheep” with earthly hopes, this startling explanation being later published in The Watch Tower as of August 1 and 15, 1935. And on the day following that joy-inspiring speech many of the conventioners who were hopeful “other sheep” were baptized. But on that Saturday, June 1, 1935, at the Washington convention those many who were immersed were baptized as being what? As being “other sheep”? As being members of the “great multitude” legitimately holding paradise hopes? Is that what they had dedicated themselves to God to become?

9, 10. (a) How do Matthew 25:41-46 and Revelation 7:9-17 indicate this to be the time for a “great crowd” of “other sheep” to appear? (b) What question therefore arises as to baptizing believers into classes?

⁹ In Scripturally confronting this question we can with safety refer only to what Jesus commanded his followers on the subject. It is a fact that Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats is part of his prophecy regarding the “conclusion of the system of things” and that this particular parable applies within the time of the “conclusion of the system of things,” that is to say, in the present time. It is likewise evident that the vision of the “great crowd” (Rev. 7:9) was given to John the apostle after he had the vision of the 144,000 sealed spiritual Israelites. Hence this vision would apply now, specifically since 1935, when the sealing of the 144,000 spiritual Israelites appears coming to its close.

¹⁰ Also in accord with that fact the number of the anointed remnant of spiritual Israelites who observe the Lord’s Supper gets smaller and smaller. And yet today the baptized and dedicated witnesses of Jehovah number around one million. These Christians hope to survive the oncoming “great tribulation” on the coming day of God’s vengeance and enter into God’s new order on earth. So this is evidently the appointed time for the coming forth of this unnumbered “great crowd” of “other sheep.” Down till this “conclusion of the system of things” Jesus said he would be with his obedient followers “all the days” as they carried on the discipling and baptizing. But did Jesus command them that they should baptize some dedicated ones as members of the “little flock” to whom it is the heavenly Father’s good pleasure to give the celestial kingdom? And to baptize others dedicating at this time as “other sheep,” as members of the unnumbered “great crowd” who are to be heirs of the earthly paradise under God’s kingdom?

11. (a) Why does the Scriptural answer to the questions call for a reexamination of the matter of dedication? (b) What is it proper for us to expect God to give to an individual after his baptism?

¹¹ The Scriptural answer is No! What Jesus simply said was: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them.” (Matt. 28:19, 20) This calls for us to get the correct understanding of Christian dedication. When dedicating ourselves to God through Christ we do not lay down any terms for God according to which only he is to accept our dedication. When we dedicate ourselves, we present ourselves to God as Jesus his Son did, saying: “Look! I am come to do your will.” (Heb. 10:9, 10; Ps. 40:7, 8) Thus we express no choice of our own, but we leave it to Jehovah God to decide what our eternal destiny shall be. If it is his will that we desire to be done in our case, then we shall accept his assignment of us and will be satisfied with it, happy in it. (Rom. 9:16) It is proper to expect that after one’s baptism God would give a witness to the dedicated, baptized one what his decision has been in that one’s case. To the one whom he begets by his spirit he will give a son’s witness.—Rom. 8:16, 17.

12. (a) Certainly, then, we are baptized to be what, and after doing what figuring? (b) Of whom do we want ourselves as well as others to be the baptized disciples?

¹² In all certainty, then, what we are baptized as being is, without exception, disciples of Jesus Christ. Our baptism is according to his command, yes, in imitation of him. Our coming to God with the decision to do his will is likewise in imitation of Jesus Christ, after we have followed his counsel to figure out the expense first. (Luke 14:25-33) As dedicated, baptized servants of God, we can be disciples of no one else but his faithful Son. For at the transfiguration of Jesus on the high mountain after the Passover of 32 C.E. Jehovah God said to the apostles there present: “This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved; listen to him.” (Matt. 17:1-5) One truly dedicated to God desires to be a disciple of no one else but God’s own choice. He does not want any other dedicated, baptized persons to be a disciple of anyone else but of Jesus Christ. Just as the apostle Peter, who witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration, wrote: “Christ suffered for you, leaving you a model for you to follow his steps [not Peter’s] closely.”—1 Pet. 2:21.

13. (a) In view of the time and the foretold events, what should a candidate not conclude as to his baptism? (b) What should he expect God to indicate to him in due time after his baptism?

¹³ So then, just because we are living in the “conclusion of the system of things” and because Jesus Christ is present on “his glorious throne” and separating the symbolic “sheep” from the “goats,” it is no reason for anyone who is being baptized since 1934/1935 C.E. to think that he is being baptized as one of the “other sheep,” or as a modern-day Jonadab, or as one of the “great crowd” who are not spiritual Israelites. (John 10:16; 2 Ki. 10:15-23; Rev. 7:9-17) He should not think so even though he knows that already the dedicated, baptized witnesses of Jehovah number around a million world wide, or far more than the 144,000, the number to which the spiritual Israelites with heavenly hopes are limited. He should bear in mind that he is being baptized as a disciple of Jesus Christ, a learner, a pupil, of him. After his baptism he may rightly expect that Jehovah God, to whom he has dedicated himself without laying down any terms, will in due time give him a witness as to whether he has been assigned to the “great crowd” of present-day “other sheep” or not.

14. Regardless of what is thus indicated to them, what do they fundamentally remain, and what requirement is expected to be met by them unitedly?

¹⁴ Whether in due time the dedicated, baptized person has the indication from God that he was begotten by God’s spirit to be a spiritual Israelite or has been made a member of the sheeplike “great crowd,” one fact remains: he is fundamentally a baptized disciple of Christ. The same degree of faithfulness to God is expected of the disciple who is one of the “other sheep” as of the disciple who is one of the remnant of spiritual Israelites. A disciple is a disciple. All the disciples, regardless of whether of the “little flock” or of the “great crowd,” are now “one flock” under the “one shepherd,” the Lord Jesus Christ, who laid down his life and surrendered his earthly soul for all the sheep. (John 10:15, 16; Luke 12:32) They are not followers of different religious men on earth, but are followers of the “one shepherd.” They are learners, pupils, of this Shepherd, through whom they receive instruction from God. (John 6:44, 45) What they learn they must apply, put to use and live by faithfully. Otherwise they are not Christians. Only as disciples of Christ can they expect to survive the war of Armageddon.

DISCIPLES MAKE OTHER DISCIPLES

15. According to Matthew 28:16-20 those who were already disciples were told to do what, and whom do they imitate in this respect?

¹⁵ One important thing is to be noted from the account of Matthew 28:16-20, and it is this: The account there says: “However, the eleven disciples went into Galilee to the mountain . . . And Jesus approached and spoke to them, saying: ‘ . . . Go therefore and make disciples.’” It was those who were already disciples whom the resurrected Jesus told to do the discipling work in all the nations. This means, therefore, that a disciple of Christ is not to be merely a learner or pupil of him but is to make disciples of others, disciples of the ‘one teacher,’ Jesus Christ. In doing this he is imitating his one Teacher, Jesus Christ, himself, for Jesus Christ also made disciples. (John 3:25, 26; 4:1) Women as well as men have the privilege of becoming his disciples. Tabitha or Dorcas of Joppa is specially named as a disciple. (Acts 9:36) Women as well as men were baptized in water as Christ’s disciples, as believers in him.—Acts 8:12; 16:15.

16. According to that command of Christ what work still goes on, but what about further continuance of that work?

¹⁶ Although we are living in the “conclusion of the system of things,” this making of disciples and baptizing them is still going on. But the fact that we are so far advanced in this concluding period since 1914 C.E. is an indication that the time left for making and baptizing disciples in all the nations is near its end. According to his promise the resurrected, glorified Jesus Christ is with us in this work that he himself commanded us as his disciples to do.—Matt. 28:20.

17. What other baptism did John the Baptist describe that Jesus is now preparing to perform?

¹⁷ While Jesus is supervising the work of discipling and baptizing in water during this “conclusion of the system of things,” he is also preparing for a baptism of another kind in the very near future. Concerning him John the Baptist said before even Jesus himself was baptized in the Jordan River nineteen centuries ago: “That one will baptize you people with holy spirit and with fire. His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will completely clean up his threshing floor, and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn up with fire that cannot be put out.”—Matt. 3:11-13.

18. (a) When did Jesus begin baptizing with holy spirit? (b) When did he baptize the Jewish people with “fire”?

¹⁸ Jesus began baptizing his disciples with holy spirit on the festival day of Pentecost in 33 C.E. (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4 to 2:33) In the year 70 C.E. he became a baptizer with fire upon the Jewish people in the province of Judea and in Jerusalem, when Jerusalem and her temple were immersed in fiery destruction, 1,100,000 Passover celebrators in the city were killed and Judea was desolated as 97,000 surviving Jews were dragged off into slavery throughout the Roman Empire.

19. According to that first-century type, what is now due to be baptized with “fire,” and why?

¹⁹ That was a prophetic type of the larger and final fulfillment of the prophecy upon the modern-day antitypical unchristian Jerusalem, namely, worldly Christendom. Because of her not being really a disciple of Jesus Christ but being rather a follower of Nimrod, the “mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah” and the founder of ancient Babylon and her pagan religion, Christendom is really a part, in fact, the outstanding part, of modern Babylon the Great. When this world empire of false Babylonish religion goes down, Christendom will be destroyed with it, she being baptized with fire as were the first-century Jerusalem and Judea.—Gen. 10:8-10; Rev. 17:1 to 18:18.

20. What words of counsel are now being said like those of Peter to inquiring Jews on the day of Pentecost, and hence with what baptism is it better to be baptized?

²⁰ Thirty-seven years before the desolation of Jerusalem and Judea in the year 70 C.E., the apostle Peter told the inquiring Pentecostal celebrators at Jerusalem to get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and urgently entreated: “Get saved from this crooked generation.” (Acts 2:37-40) Similar words of the utmost urgency are today being said by the dedicated, baptized witnesses of Jehovah to all those who till now have kept on celebrating religiously in antitypical Jerusalem, or Christendom. Truly it is far better to be baptized now in water as a dedicated disciple of Christ than to be baptized in the near future in the fire of destruction into which Christendom will be plunged, thus to perish with her “crooked generation.”

21. (a) What can be said as to whether only those in Christendom need to heed the warning message? (b) Who will survive the fiery destruction, and what command does this class now continue to obey?

²¹ “People of all the nations” outside of Christendom need likewise to take heed to the urgent message, for along with Christendom, all Babylon the Great, the world empire of false Babylonish religion, “will be completely burned with fire, because Jehovah God, who judged her, is strong.” (Rev. 18:8) The dedicated, baptized disciples of Jesus Christ will be the ones to survive this approaching time of fiery destruction and to enter into God’s righteous new order, a truly Christian new order. With that in view, Jehovah’s witnesses as disciples of Christ continue to obey his command: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them.”—Matt. 28:19.

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Those who partook of the Memorial emblems last April numbered just 10,368. In contrast with this, 120,905 new believers were baptized during the past service year

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A disciple of Christ is not merely his pupil but should teach others, making them also disciples of Jesus

The Battle for Men’s Minds

HISTORY’S pages are filled with the accounts of great battles waged for the selfish acquisition of riches and power. But did you know that there has been a continuing battle waged throughout the almost six thousand years of human history, with vaster stakes in view? Every type of strategy has been employed, every kind of weapon you can imagine. And the spoils of this battle? Not territorial expansion, not the literal wealth of commerce, but the minds of men.

Who is it that is battling for possession of the minds of men? An unseen enemy who, wielding superhuman powers, seeks to bring every human mind into the orbit of his malevolent influence. The enemy is Satan the Devil, aptly described in the Bible as “the great dragon” and “the original serpent.” (Rev. 12:9) These terms reveal at once the methods and the aim of this invisible menace. “Serpent” suggests the stealthy, slithery, slimy deceptiveness of his campaign, while “dragon” or “devourer” exposes his aim to swallow down all who oppose him, to grow fat at their expense, their submission feeding his own ego.

How does this battle affect you? Is it not a fact that your mind is one of the spoils that Satan would wish to acquire? Indeed, he has already besieged it, cast up intellectual mounds against it, done his best to sap it at its very foundation. Your succumbing to his onslaught could make you his. And that would mean for you God’s disapproval and ultimate condemnation. How very important, then, to be on guard against that ‘roaring lion who seeks to devour’!—1 Pet. 5:8.

THE START OF IT ALL

Note how this campaign for the capture of minds began in Eden. Our first mother, Eve, was so conversant with God’s law respecting the forbidden fruit that she could quote it verbatim to the serpent. Subtly the serpent argued: ‘Is it really so that God has deprived you of the privilege of eating this perfectly fine fruit? The reason he does not want you to eat it is that he does not want you to be as smart as he is. So, get smart! Eat! You will not really die.’—Genesis, chapter 3.

In that, his first sally, Satan was successful. Eve succumbed to his twisted reasoning, his big lie. He carried off her mind as his spoil. And here is how the apostle Paul aptly described Satan’s success: “But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent seduced Eve by its cunning, your minds might be corrupted away from the sincerity and the chastity that are due the Christ.”—2 Cor. 11:3.

The Scriptures tell us that Eve was deceived. (1 Tim. 2:14) But how? Was she deceived into thinking that she was doing right? No, rather the deception lay in the fact that she was promised something she did not get. She had been cheated. Her selfish grasping after something unauthorized brought her into disastrous collision with God’s law. She was justly sentenced to death.

Adam, on the other hand, was not deceived. He had no reason to believe in the Devil’s false promise to his wife. He, like many other persons even today, chose to go along with his mate into destruction, rather than take a stand for righteousness. Yes, Adam also succumbed to Satan’s battle for his mind. The adversary played upon his selfish desire to hold on to Eve at any price. And so the whole world of mankind was plunged into sin and death.—Rom. 5:12.

Through the centuries the battle has continued. Satan waged a stubborn campaign for the minds of the Israelites, whom Jehovah had selected as his typical people. Here the adversary produced different weapons from his arsenal. Through the debased idolatry and immorality of the pagan nations round about he strove by example to corrupt their minds. Eventually, he succeeded. They came to despise the commandments of Jehovah, to defile his place of true worship.

THE CAMPAIGN INTENSIFIES

Eventually God sent his only-begotten Son to earth as the chief witness to His truth. This beloved Son became the target for an intensified campaign on Satan’s part. Can any doubt that the Devil was battling for control of Jesus’ mind when he subjected him to temptation, even offering him rulership of the entire world in exchange for Jesus’ worship? (Luke 4:5-8) Just think! Jesus could have gone over to Rome and in effect told Caesar: “Get out! I’m taking over.” But God’s Son wanted no part of the Devil’s corrupt and blighted system of things. He wanted God’s kingdom!

Jesus’ disciples of the first few centuries were subjected to a heinous campaign of persecution as they fought to thwart Satan’s attempts to control their thinking. They were thrown to the beasts in the arena, they were used as human torches, their families were broken up and banished to remote lands. As the years went on, the devilish pressures and cajoleries had their effect. A formalistic pagan religion with a Christian veneer developed. Satan’s relentless war for the minds of men continued.

FINAL SHOWDOWN NEAR

Today we are living in the time of gravest danger. We have reached the “last days” of this system of things. (2 Tim. 3:1-5) Since his being cast out of heaven and down to earth, Satan knows that his time is short before the showdown. His battle for men’s minds is all out.—Rev. 12:12.

Consider how entrenched is the Devil’s power. He controls and gives authority to every political system on earth. (Rev. 13:1, 2, 7) He promotes authoritarian methods. Through fear he has captured the minds of many. They fear to be different. And Babylon the Great, the world combine of false religions, continues for a short time to serve Satan’s purpose, namely, to ‘blind men’s minds’ to the sure promises of God’s kingdom.—2 Cor. 4:4.

Wave after wave of commercial, materialistic advertising brainwashes the population into thinking they must keep up with the Joneses. Even professed Christians can be affected. Satan is putting on the greatest propaganda campaign of all time in his efforts to capture men’s minds. In these perilous days he has managed to transform the multitude into “lovers of pleasures.” The news media, including billboards, combine to promote the idea that pleasure and material possessions are the sole legitimate goals in life.

One of the Devil’s cleverest schemes is to have countless multitudes submit to brainwashing for hours on end—a process that flashes before their eyes scenes of horror, scenes deluging the mind with rape, murder, larceny, arson and every other crime. Yes, the brainwashing is done by means of television programs. To protect their minds from such onslaughts, Christians need to use selectivity when it comes to enjoying TV programs.

Abuse of sex is another of the Devil’s weapons. Sex is used to sell every kind of product. Adultery, fornication, homosexuality are all rampant, and even clergymen are excusing such immoralities. Plays and motion pictures get bolder and bolder as they depict on stage and screen sex intimacies that are legitimate only in the privacy of the marriage bed. As the apostle Paul accurately described it, peoples of the nations “walk in the unprofitableness of their minds,” “having come to be past all moral sense.” (Eph. 4:17-19) And Satan’s battle for men’s minds continues without letup.

BE ON GUARD!

Remember! The Devil is after your mind! He aims to capture you and corrupt your thinking. How can you thwart him? By guarding your spirituality. “For the minding of the flesh means death, but the minding of the spirit means life and peace.” (Rom. 8:6) You need to have God’s law in your heart and mind, something that is achieved only by good associations, by Bible study and prayer. Only thus can you “brace up your minds for activity.”—1 Pet. 1:13.

Another way you can foil Satan’s bid for your mind is by following this wise counsel: “Make my joy full in that you are of the same mind and have the same love, being joined together in soul, holding the one thought in mind, doing nothing out of contentiousness or out of egotism, but with lowliness of mind considering that the others are superior to you.” “Keep this mental attitude in you that was also in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 2:2, 3, 5) Yes, a mind unified with fellow Christians and lowliness of mind are the characteristics of Jesus’ true followers. Pride must be avoided, for the one who is proud refuses timely counsel and walks head on into disaster. The Bible describes such a one as “puffed up with pride, not understanding anything, but being mentally diseased.”—1 Tim. 6:4.

Laziness of mind is another trap that can bring people under Satanic control. “Well, I’m just not a student,” someone may say. Then apply yourself the harder. There is no easy way. Our minds must keep alert to remain up-to-date as to God’s will and way. We do not want to be like the Jews of the first century who rejected God’s Son because “their mental perceptions were dulled.”—2 Cor. 3:14.

Nor can we be double-minded, ‘indecisive and unsteady in all our ways.’ (Jas. 1:6-8) Yet some, in contact with Jehovah’s people for many years, never get to the point of dedication and baptism. They enjoy the company of Jehovah’s witnesses, but never become one. Such ones are not fully equipped to resist the Devil’s machinations. Without the spiritual suit of armor from God, without the aid of his spirit that rests upon his organized, active worshipers, they are vulnerable to Satan’s onslaught upon their minds.—Eph. 6:13.

Some hold back from being active Witnesses to God’s truth. Why? Because of fear—fear of neighbor, of relatives, of employer. That spirit of fear lays them open as easy targets of the Devil. But love of God can dispel that fear. (1 John 4:18) And what reasons there are to love him, because he is the one who makes the gift of eternal life available, and he is the one who offers us deliverance through the end of Satan’s entire system of things! The fearful, cowardly ones are destined to share the fate of Satan and his demons. (Rev. 21:8) Wise thinking, thinking that causes one lovingly to submit one’s life to God’s requirements, is what will defeat the devilish attempts to enslave your mind.

Work hard to foil his attempts upon you. When wrong desire fills your mind, ask yourself, Am I going to give Satan the victory over my mind? When anxiety or greed over material things assails you, ask, Who is controlling my mind? When anger rises up, inquire, Who is gaining control of my mind now?

Take advantage of all of Jehovah’s provisions for your protection against Satan’s cunning moves. Follow the fine example of the apostle Paul and accept his counsel: “Brothers, I do not yet consider myself as having laid hold on it [God’s reward of life]; but there is one thing about it: Forgetting the things behind and stretching forward to the things ahead, I am pursuing down toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God by means of Jesus Christ. Let us, then, as many of us as are mature, be of this mental attitude; and if you are mentally inclined otherwise in any respect, God will reveal the above attitude to you. And the peace of God that excels all thought will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13-15; 4:7) Guard your minds, refuse to capitulate to Satan, and Jehovah will reward you with rich blessings.

Why Serve Jehovah?

IS IT just in recent times that you have taken up the service of Jehovah? Are you finding pleasure in it? No doubt you are, because there is much satisfaction that comes from doing the will of God, and association with other persons who engage in upright conduct and who truly love one another surely makes life pleasant.

But will you endure in Jehovah’s service? That depends to a considerable extent on why you are serving Jehovah. If you truly love Jehovah and serve him out of a heart that is filled with appreciation for what he has done, perseverance in his service will not be difficult. But if anyone takes up the service of God with the thought that he is going to serve until a particular year and, if God has not put an end to the wicked system of things by that time, then he will quit, he obviously has a wrong motive. And, while there are many benefits that come to one who serves Jehovah and it is important to appreciate them, if a person serves only for what he gets out of it, then he may quit when faced with hardship and persecution.

Why, then, should we serve Jehovah? There might be said to be three basic reasons for serving Jehovah, and which reasons serve as a threefold cord that is not easily broken.—Eccl. 4:12.

THE WISE THING TO DO

Serving Jehovah is the wise thing to do. Why so? Because, first of all, we can enjoy nothing without life, and Jehovah has made life, yes, everlasting life, dependent upon our serving Him. A wise person wants to live; in fact, Jehovah put in us a love of life. The way to choose life is by loving Jehovah, listening to him, sticking to him. Yes, “the wages sin pays is death, but the gift God gives”—to those who serve him—“is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord.”—Rom. 6:23; Deut. 30:19, 20.

Serving Jehovah is also the wise thing to do because it sets one free from many forms of bondage. To serve Jehovah one must become a disciple of Jesus Christ, and he promised freedom to his disciples. (John 8:31, 32) He who lives a life of dedication to Jehovah God becomes free from selfish ambitions, from the fear of man, from bondage to false religion and from the love of money, which “is a root of all sorts of injurious things.” He also becomes free from bondage to sin. He no longer lets sin rule as king in his mortal body to obey its desires.—1 Tim. 6:9, 10; Rom. 6:12-20; Heb. 13:6.

To serve Jehovah God is also the wise course because it means safety and security. As the writer of Proverbs so well noted: “The name of Jehovah is a strong tower. Into it the righteous runs and is given protection.” And since, as the apostle John noted, ‘the whole world is lying in the power of Satan,’ our only protection from him is to serve Jehovah. Yes, unless you are serving Jehovah God you are serving the Devil, and how foolish it is to serve your worst enemy!—Prov. 18:10; 1 John 5:19; 2 Cor. 4:4.

True is the saying, “the blessing of Jehovah—that is what makes rich, and he adds no pain with it.” (Prov. 10:22) By serving Him one learns to live in a way that is conducive to mental and physical well-being. (1 Tim. 4:8) One also becomes part of a large family of Christian brothers and sisters who are devoted to Jehovah’s principles of truth and righteousness. As Jesus promised, those who leave all to be his followers will receive a hundredfold now in this period of time, mothers, sisters and brothers.—Mark 10:28-30.

Moreover, the wise person appreciates happiness, and the service of Jehovah means the greatest happiness. How so? In that “there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving,” and to serve God today largely means giving of one’s time, energy and means to tell others about God’s kingdom.—Acts 20:35; Matt. 24:14.

THE JUST, THE RIGHT THING TO DO

An even stronger reason for serving Jehovah is that it is the right thing to do. We owe Jehovah God our service. How so? Because, first of all, he is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. All lawful authority resides in Him. He has the right to tell all his creatures what they may and may not do. As the prophet Jeremiah expressed it: “To earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.” More than that, as the Creator of all things seen and unseen, he is the Owner of all his creatures. They are settlers on God’s earth, on his property. “It is he that has made us, and not we ourselves.” It is only right therefore that we serve Jehovah’s purposes and not our own selfish ones.—Jer. 10:23; Ps. 100:3.

More than that, Jehovah God not only gave us life in the first place but also sustains our life, furnishing sunshine and rain and all else necessary to continue living. As the apostle Paul told the Greek philosophers on the Areopagus or Mars’ Hill: “For by him we have life and move and exist.”—Acts 17:28; Ps. 36:9; Matt. 5:45.

Serving Jehovah God is simply giving him what is his due, what we owe him. Most fittingly, therefore, Jesus said: “Pay back . . . God’s things to God.” (Mark 12:17) God gave us life, and our intellectual, emotional and physical faculties and capacities. These we must pay back to him by serving him. It can be no other way. By the very nature of things we can fit into God’s arrangement of things only if we obey his two great commandments, to love Him with our whole heart, soul and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Matt. 22:37-39) So we should serve Jehovah God because it is the right, the honest, the just thing to do. We owe him our service. This may be said to be the second strand of this threefold cord.

THE LOVING THING TO DO

However, the best of all reasons for serving Jehovah is that it is the loving thing to do; to serve him out of loving gratitude not only because of what he has done for us but also because of who he is.

Jehovah God is the most just, the wisest, the most loving Master that anyone could possibly serve. In ancient Israel when a bond servant found himself blessed with an unusually kind, loving and considerate master, he might not want to be set free after his time of servitude was over. If so, he could ask to remain as a bond servant for the rest of his life because of his love for his kind master. Jehovah God is such a loving, kind and considerate Master that every one of his creatures should out of love for him want to continue as his bond servant forever.—Deut. 15:12-17.

Yes, sheer loving gratitude should cause us to want to serve Jehovah God. He is the Giver of every good gift and perfect present. (Jas. 1:17) He himself is love, the very embodiment of unselfish, principled affection. (1 John 4:8) He loved the world of mankind so much that he sent his only-begotten Son to earth to die for humankind, to be the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. As the apostle wrote: “The love is in this respect, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent forth his Son [to die] for our sins.”—1 John 4:10; John 1:29; 3:16.

Not only love for Jehovah God but also love for our fellowman should make us want to serve Jehovah. The greatest possible good we can do for our neighbor is to help him take in knowledge of Jehovah God and Jesus Christ. Why? Because as Jesus himself said, “This means everlasting life”—and what greater blessing can one receive than the prospect of everlasting life?—“their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”—John 17:3.

Truly, serving Jehovah God is the wise thing to do, for it offers many rewards both now and in the future. A better reason for serving Jehovah is that it is the right thing to do. And the best of all reasons to serve Jehovah is because of love, because of loving appreciation of who He is and what he has done and will yet do for us. These three basic reasons can truly serve as a threefold cord, both for causing one to serve Jehovah and for keeping our service to Jehovah unbroken regardless of the time remaining for this system of things.

Questions From Readers

● We have received quite a number of inquiries from married persons asking about sexual matters, as a result of views that have been widely publicized by worldly sources. These questions have dealt with conjugal acts, birth control, sterilization and abortion. We herein comment on such matters to the extent that we feel authorized to do so.

Marriage stems from a divine source, Jehovah God. It was man’s Creator who provided a wife as a complement for Adam. Was this just for platonic companionship, devoid of sexual acts between husband and wife? Not according to the Bible. It says that God instructed the first pair: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth.”—Gen. 1:28.

This helps us to see how Jehovah himself looks at marriage. It has as a primary purpose reproduction or childbearing. (Gen. 1:28; 2:18) This was not to be accomplished by parthenogenesis, the development of an egg without fertilization. Rather, obeying God’s instructions necessitated sexual relations or conjugal acts between the man and his wife. Thus, such chaste and pleasurable intimacy ought not be viewed as wrong or ignoble. It is honorable and sacred, a means to transmit human life. The Bible plainly shows, though, that among Christians intercourse must be restricted to between a husband and his wife. The Creator condemns sexual relations outside of this sphere: “God will judge fornicators and adulterers.”—Heb. 13:4.

Nonetheless, knowing that marital relations also serve to satisfy passionate desires, some persons have asked about certain sexual practices. We have been obliged to respond that it is not the place of outsiders to dictate to a married couple as to what they will do in this intimate aspect of their marriage.

The male and female sex organs were provided by God to be used in fulfilling the noble assignment to be “fruitful and become many.” We need not describe how these organs cooperate to that end. Their design is quite apparent. Married persons recognize the obvious way in which the husband’s organ fits into his wife’s birth canal to serve the serious purpose of reproduction.

Some have contended, however, that absolutely anything done between husband and wife is permissible. However, that view is not supported in the Bible. In Romans 1:24-32, where it speaks of both men and women who participated in immoral sex practices, including lesbian and sodomite acts, the Bible mentions a “natural use of the female.” Thus it shows that to indulge in such perverted use of the reproductive organs so as to satisfy a covetous desire for sexual excitement is not approved by God. This would also be true in connection with married couples; they should not pervert this “natural use of the female.” In many places even the law of the land backs this up, making certain acts between husband and wife illegal. For example, speaking about the United States, Time of August 8, 1969, observed: “Sodomy is illegal in nearly every state, even between spouses.” (Those who have not learned how such perversions are practiced ought to be grateful for that, for Jehovah God urges Christians to “be babes as to badness.”—1 Cor. 14:20.)

In view of their mutual needs marital relations are a way for husband and wife to express tender love and deep affection for each other. Would it be consistent with that selfishly to ask one’s mate to share in a degradation of the reproductive organs, acting in a way that the mate found to be repulsive, just so as to gratify one’s own senses? Would that be the tender, loving course? No sane person would abuse his or her own human body, or force upon it a practice that was revolting. The Scriptures speak of husband and wife as one flesh. (Eph. 5:28-31) So would a sane and loving husband or wife request sex acts that the other mate rightly regarded as unnatural and disgusting? Obviously authority over the body of one’s mate is not unlimited or unaffected by Bible principles.—1 Cor. 7:1-5; Prov. 5:15-19.

Sometimes individuals feel that self-control as to sex is necessary for a single person but that once one is married it is not needed. This view, however, is not correct. Self-control is a fruit of the spirit and it should be manifested in all of one’s dealings. (Gal. 5:22, 23) The fact that usually the male has the greater sexual desire suggests that he display a greater measure of self-control, even though his wife lovingly wants to satisfy him. He should assign her “honor as to a weaker vessel, the feminine one.” (1 Pet. 3:7) And in part he can do this by recognizing that her sexual nature is different from his. Dwelling with her “according to knowledge,” he ought not think only of quickly satisfying himself however and whenever he wants, but he should be considerate of her both physically and emotionally.

However, beyond the above observations about conjugal acts we cannot go. With love, respect and unselfishness, marriage mates themselves must decide what they will do. They can keep in mind the importance of self-control and that “there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.”—Acts 20:35.

Related to this matter is the question of birth control. As we mentioned at the outset, reproduction is a prime purpose of marriage, according to the Bible. We firmly believe that children are a blessing, or as Psalm 127:3 puts it: “The fruitage of the belly is a reward.” Does this mean, though, that all Christians are obliged to marry and produce children? Are God’s servants today responsible to apply personally the instruction God gave Noah and his sons, “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth”?—Gen. 9:1.

No, the Bible does not say that this is an obligation today. Jesus himself pointed out that certain disciples would avoid marrying “on account of the kingdom of the heavens.” (Matt. 19:10-12) And under inspiration the apostle Paul specifically explained that singleness affords greater freedom for serving the Lord. (1 Cor. 7:32-34, 38) Some married Christians, too, in order to enjoy greater freedom to serve God, or for health or economic reasons, have decided to limit the size of their families by practicing birth control. The Bible does not directly discuss birth control, and so each couple can consider the above points and reach their own conclusion. Those who seek to avoid having children now are not violating any command of God to Christians, but neither are those who do have offspring now acting improperly in doing so.—Gal. 6:5.

There are numerous birth-control methods. It is not our place as a Bible society to recommend or endorse any of these. If a married couple want to practice birth control—and let us emphasize that this is entirely a personal decision—they have to conclude how to do that. There might be physical side effects from certain contraceptive methods. Hence, that should be considered. Another aspect to evaluate is whether a particular method might violate Christian principles in some way.

For instance, scientists themselves are not sure of the mode of operation of the intrauterine device (IUD), sometimes called the “loop” or “coil.” A 1968 report from the United Nations World Health Organization stated: “Whether or not the presence of an IUD affects fertilization in the human female has not been conclusively demonstrated. . . . The findings in other species suggest that the prevention of egg-sperm union [conception] in the [fallopian] tube is not the explanation of the antifertility action of IUD’s in mammals.” (Technical Report Series No. 397, page 11) IF this device allows conception but interrupts the development of the fertilized ovum at some later state, it would amount to abortion from a Biblical standpoint. (Abortion will be considered later.) We as a Society have not performed experiments with IUD’s and so cannot say one way or the other. The individual couple must weigh the factors and be willing to shoulder before God the responsibility for their decision.

One contraceptive measure that has many supporters in the world is voluntary sterilization. Surgical operations have been devised by which a male or a female can be rendered sterile for birth-control purposes. Sometimes these operations are termed “temporary” in that it is claimed that they can be reversed. But the fact remains that among the reported 4 percent who seek such a reversal, less than half are successful and even then there are for women extraordinary risks with subsequent pregnancies. With good reason, then, one writer observed that “sterilization must be considered a permanent, irreversible procedure.” (We are, of course, referring to an operation with sterilization as its objective, not an operation to remove diseased tissue such as cancer of the womb. In this latter situation, the loss of one’s reproductive ability might be a sad and possibly unavoidable result, and not the purpose of the operation.)

Whether called “temporary” or not, just what is the Bible view of sterilization? God did not allow sterilization among the Israelites. To the contrary, he forbade his nation to make eunuchs, saying: “No man castrated by crushing the testicles or having his male member cut off may come into the congregation of Jehovah.” (Deut 23:1) Further, he gave laws that protected the reproductive powers. If a married woman endangered the reproductive powers of a man in a fight, she was severely punished for her act.—Deut. 25:11, 12.

It is true that Christians are not under the requirements of the Mosaic law. (Rom. 6:14) But does one really want to know God’s thinking on the matter of sterilization? The above information is the only indication we have in the Bible. Those who are spiritually mature deeply appreciate having insight into God’s view so they can guide their steps accordingly. True, to some persons sterilization might seem to be a course that would require less in the way of self-control or would avoid the dangers associated with pregnancy for a woman in poor health, but note the attitude reflected in Psalm 143:10: “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your spirit is good; may it lead me in the land of uprightness.” Mature Christians today manifest that same attitude in making their decisions.

One final matter appropriate to this discussion is abortion. There is an increasing clamor in the world for reform of laws on abortion. Proponents often state that abortions should be legalized when a licensed physician “believes there is substantial risk that continuation of the pregnancy would gravely impair the physical or mental health of the mother or that the child would be born with grave physical or mental defects,” or some variation of this. We do not take sides one way or the other in this legal matter, but we can comment on what the Bible says that relates to the question of whether abortion is licit for a Christian.

Fundamental to this question is the Biblical view that life is a gift from God and is sacred. Both to Noah as the progenitor of the post-Flood human race and to the nation of Israel Jehovah forbade murder or the taking of the life of another human. (Gen. 9:5, 6; Ex. 20:13) But when does a human life begin? Theologians and scientists have argued this point back and forth. However, what is of concern to Christians is Jehovah’s view.

According to God’s law given through Moses the developing human fetus or embryo was considered a life or soul. God declared: “In case men should struggle with each other and they really hurt a pregnant woman and her children do come out but no fatal accident occurs, he is to have damages imposed upon him . . . But if a fatal accident should occur, then you must give soul for soul.” (Ex. 21:22, 23) Note that God did not say that this applied only after a certain number of weeks of the pregnancy had elapsed. If the woman had conceived and was pregnant, action that resulted in killing the developing child in her—that which would in time under normal circumstances live as a separate soul—would be murder.

Consequently, abortion simply to get rid of an unwanted child is the same as willfully taking a human life. (1 John 3:15) The same is true when it comes to getting an abortion just because a doctor theorizes that allowing the pregnancy to go full term will be harmful to the health or life of the mother.a It is good to remember that medical opinions, no matter how sincerely motivated, are still opinions. According to a UPI report, one woman in Hull, England, had such a serious heart problem that she had to rely on an electric device to stimulate her heart. After she became pregnant doctors said “the strains of labor would be too much.” They advised her to have an abortion. Yet she refused to have an abortion. She sought medical aid to stay alive. Finally she gave birth to a healthy daughter and, holding the newborn child in her arms, said: “She’s worth the risk.”

Because of the effects of imperfection there are dangers associated with every human pregnancy. How grateful we can be that God has promised to change things in the future, restoring human perfection and health, even resurrecting those who have been faithful to him. So surely it is the wise course today to do what one can to preserve the degree of life and health one has, but to avoid doing anything that would result in forfeiting one’s hope for eternal life in perfection.—Matt. 16:25-27; Rev. 21:8.

In conclusion, let us mention that we realize that when it comes to birth control and marital relations there are many personal views. We have not tried to discuss all such nor will we. This consideration is to set forth what we find in the Bible. Some persons might desire us to give them more detailed advice on these topics or make decisions for them. This we cannot do. It is our hope, though, that this discussion will prove helpful.

[Footnotes]

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What would you do if you knew that your friends, loved ones and neighbors were in danger of losing their lives? You would warn them, would you not? This is what Jehovah’s witnesses are now doing in helping people to see what the Bible says about the impending destruction of this system of things and how they can enjoy God’s protection during that time. Jehovah’s witnesses are happy to assist lovers of truth by means of a free home Bible study. Throughout December they will also be offering to interested persons a copy of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, along with a copy of the 192-page book Is the Bible Really the Word of God?, for $1.25.

“1970 YEARBOOK OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES”

Expansion! is the keynote of the report of results of the preaching work of Jehovah’s witnesses for the past service year. With an all-time high in number of ministers active in the field, it is significant also that meeting attendance is also increasing. While Christendom’s churches are reporting declines—in one country, “only eight out of every 100 baptized persons worship on Easter”—note the contrast: during April, with 1,322,000 reporting ministerial activity, over 2,719,000 attended the celebration of the Memorial of Jesus’ death and resurrection! Read the full account of the worldwide expansion and preaching to Jehovah’s praise in the 1970 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Only 50c. Send also for the beautiful 1970 calendar. Only 25c.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

January 4: “Go . . . Make Disciples . . . Baptizing Them,” ¶1-28. Page 745. Songs to Be Used: 61, 63.

January 11: “Go . . . Make Disciples . . . Baptizing Them,” ¶29-32, and “Make Disciples”—Till When? Page 753. Songs to Be Used: 62, 64.