The Watchtower — November 1, 1971

What Is Going On in the Churches?

THE recent fighting between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland is just one facet of life in which the churches are in the limelight. In the news, too, is the apparent surge of interest of youths in religion​—many of them caught up in what is called “The Jesus Revolution.”

The way the churches and their leaders are reacting to such happenings is often reflected in news reports.

CHURCH SERMONS

The titles of sermons at times mirror the world’s distress. For instance, subjects of church sermons recently advertised in the Boston “Globe” include: “Deliver Me from the Hand of My Brother,” and “A Liberal Religion for a Confused Age.”

Often sermon titles seem deliberately vague, causing one to wonder what they are about. In the Washington, D.C., area some subjects were: “The Persistent Cipher Is Incredible,” and “Stripped Bare.” What would you expect to hear in those sermons?

Other titles imply shortcomings of God, or even question the rightness of his dealings. A Washington, D.C., United Presbyterian church advertised: “God’s Great Nevertheless.” And a United Church of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio, announced in front of its place of meeting: “Lord, We Have Considerable Doubts About the Way You’re Running the Universe.”

CHURCH SERVICES

Despite talk of a decline in religious interest, some churches report large attendances. But is this necessarily evidence of spiritual strength? Consider the following news items:

In a syndicated column, AP religion writer George W. Cornell reported: “At the Clen-Moore United Presbyterian church in New Castle, Pa., the pastor, the Rev. Jack Heinsohn, sometimes puts on clown’s makeup and goes through acrobatics on a trampoline to get across points to younger members.”​—“The Express,” Easton, Pa., July 10, 1971.

Equally strange are the goings-on in certain Baptist churches. People are invited to see ten inches of concrete broken “with Hand and Head.” Besides the use of karate, Baptist evangelist Mike Crain performs feats with samurai swords. “The News,” Frederick, Maryland, reports: “Rev. Crain demonstrated the full extent of his skills Sunday evening at People’s Baptist Church when he placed a watermelon on the stomach of David Gilbert, a congregation member, and, blindfolded, sliced the melon into two sections.”

Reporter Daryl Lembke notes that in San Francisco “there’s never a dull moment Sundays at Glide Memorial Methodist Church.” He explains that the church has sponsored various unorthodox events but that it “didn’t really achieve standing-room-only status until the summer of 1969. That’s when the paid choir and organist were let go and replaced by Meridian West [a jazz group]. About the same time, the chancel was cleared by removing the altar and the pulpit. Room had to be made for the band and the crowd that gyrates with it.”​—Atlanta “Journal,” May 26, 1971.

These activities are not confined to Protestant groups. A heading in the Miami “Herald,” August 6, 1971, says: “PRAYER TO ROCK BEAT REACHES JEWISH FAITH.”

And the Chicago “Tribune” of August 1, 1971, observes: “Folk masses, like the one at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Hyde Park, were unique not long ago. Today, because of the realization that survival means accommodating the young, they are a common occurrence.” The conservative Catholic paper “The Defender’s Trumpet” complains that the Mass “has been turned into a three-ring circus.”

Although such tactics may attract more people to church, the question may be asked: Is this really a sign of genuine spiritual strength?

CLERGY IN THE MILITARY

Especially reflected in the churches is the world’s division and disagreement on the issue of war. On one hand, thousands of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish clergy serve in the armed forces as chaplains, being endorsed by their various denominations. The United States currently has 1,704 chaplains in the Army, 1,129 in the Air Force and 994 in the Navy, and these also serve the Marine Corps. In all, there are some 30,000 active and inactive American chaplains, about 3,000 having thus far served in Vietnam.

Chaplains have the military rank of officer. And to illustrate that chaplains share much of their fellow officers’ support for the war efforts, the New York “Times,” June 22, 1971, observed:

“A convention in Washington last month of the Military Chaplains Association appeared at times to turn into a rally in support of the United States’ effort in Vietnam and against anti-war demonstrators and hippies.”

On the other hand, some clergymen are bitterly opposed to United States’ war efforts, and do all they can to disrupt them. For instance, recently three clergymen were captured when they tried to steal or destroy FBI documents and federal draft records in Camden, New Jersey. “Time” magazine, September 6, 1971, reported: “Among those apprehended were two Roman Catholic priests . . . [also] a Lutheran minister.”

POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT

The growing involvement of churches in political and social reform movements is a distinctive feature of today’s news.

The Los Angeles “Herald-Examiner,” July 24, 1971, said: “The Rev. Neil McLaughlin, a Baltimore priest indicted on charges that he plotted with others to kidnap presidential adviser Henry A. Kissinger as a tactic to support peace in Vietnam, says: ‘Priests and nuns must become more involved.’

“The Rev. Carl Lezak, a Chicago priest active in precinct politics, says: ‘You will see more priests in politics.’”

But in view of the serious problems within churches and the conflicting opinions of clergymen, one may well wonder why greater clergy involvement in politics should be expected to improve the workings of governments.

NEW ROLE OF WOMEN

In keeping with the Scriptural injunction not to “permit a woman to teach, or to exercise authority over a man,” women traditionally have not held positions of oversight in churches. (1 Tim. 2:12) But in more and more religious areas there is an abandoning of this position. As religion writer Richard Dalrymple observes:

“Altar boys in one Roman Catholic Church are now being replaced with girls . . . Lutherans have a woman minister . . . and next year a woman rabbi is expected to be ordained.

“Last month, Seattle peace activist Mrs. Marcus Rohlfs was elected president of the American Baptist Convention. When Mrs. Lois Stair was voted into the highest office of the United Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian moderator, she became the first woman to hold that post.”​—Los Angeles “Herald-Examiner,” June 12, 1971.

There is no doubt that unusual things are going on in the churches. The real question, of course, is, What does God think about these attitudes and practices? Do they harmonize with his standards and so meet his approval? Have you read the Bible enough to know his mind on these matters? It would be worth your while to investigate.

Whose Name Do You Respect More​—Your Own or God’s?

“A name is to be chosen rather than abundant riches; favor is better than even silver and gold.”​—Prov. 22:1.

1. With what proverb on a name are we asked regarding our agreement?

DO YOU agree with ancient King Solomon when he said that “a name is to be chosen rather than abundant riches”? Of course, he meant a favorable name, for in the parallel line of this proverb Solomon added: “Favor is better than even silver and gold.” (Prov. 22:1) Silver and gold are riches.

2. (a) How did King Solomon come to have both name and riches? (b) As to a choice between name and riches, what do we agree to be the wise choice, and why?

² Many men try to gain abundant riches regardless of how it affects their name. Others try to protect their name by hiding the underhanded methods and crooked means by which they got their “abundant riches.” However, King Solomon had both name and riches, and that with honor. The God whom Solomon worshiped made him rich with silver and gold and other material possessions, just as his God promised to do, saying: “Also what you have not requested I will give you, both riches and glory, so that there will not have happened to be any among the kings like you, all your days.” (1 Ki. 3:13) When it comes to making a choice between a favorable name and abundant riches, the wise choice would be that of a favorable name. Human experience proves that to be so. Even we will agree that that is so, for the reason that we are self-respecting.

3, 4. (a) As regards our attitude toward our name, how do we image God, and why? (b) How did Solomon’s people learn the truth of what that Third Commandment says, and what does this prove to us?

³ Like almost everybody else, you respect your name. You should do so, for your name means you. Your Maker made you that way, with that quality of self-respect. In this regard we image Him, for he too has self-respect. He respects his own name. We have reason to appreciate this fact, for we remember the Ten Commandments that he gave to the people of King Solomon. In the Third Commandment thereof he said: “You must not take up the name of Jehovah your God in a worthless way, for Jehovah will not leave the one unpunished who takes up his name in a worthless way.”​—Ex. 20:7.

⁴ It was in the year 1513 before our Common Era, in the days of the prophet Moses, that the God of King Solomon said that; and during their long history after they got that commandment, Solomon’s people learned in a hard way that God meant what he said. Their history proves that it does not do anyone good to take up God’s name “in a worthless way,” in a way that serves no good use, in a misuse of His name, in making a wrong use of His name.

5. How do we show that we respect our own name more than God’s, and why is it advisable for us to consider now the personal question about this matter of respect?

⁵ If we make wrong use of God’s name, using it as if it were something worthless, we make it plain that we do not respect the divine name. Then it must be that we respect our own personal name more than we respect that of God. Will our doing so work out in good for us? Will we go unpunished for this? Not according to what God stated in the Third Commandment. Although most people do not realize it, God’s name is involved with world affairs today. It is advisable for us to consider the question directed to each one of us, Do you respect your own name more than God’s? It is very urgent upon us to study over this question, for very soon now the world will pay the penalty for its disrespect toward God’s name. We would hardly want to suffer that penalty with the world.

6. (a) How did Solomon compare perfumed oil on a person and a good name? (b) How did Jacob feel about his name because of the massacre committed by Simeon and Levi?

⁶ When you are absent and your name is mentioned in the presence of someone else, what impression is the one using your name trying to create about you, or what image of you comes up in the mind of the hearer? You would like it to be favorable, would you not? You would not want your very name to stink, as if you were an offensive person. In ancient times perfumed oil on a person made his physical presence agreeable, sweet-smelling. Is the effect of the mention of your name like that? King Solomon thought so, for he said under inspiration from God: “A name is better than good oil.” (Eccl. 7:1) King Solomon’s ancestor, the thirteenth back, Jacob (Israel), felt that way about it. When his two sons, Simeon and Levi, carried out a massacre at the town of Shechem, Jacob rebuked them and said: “You have brought ostracism upon me in making me a stench to the inhabitants of the land.” (Gen. 34:25-30; compare 2 Samuel 10:6.) Jacob, whom the inhabitants of the land associated with his God, Jehovah, did not like to have his own name be made foul-smelling.

7. What odor have the clergy of Christendom made God’s name have, and why have they made no alteration about this?

⁷ No less would we like to have our name made foul-smelling among people by the way others spoke about us or acted toward us. We can realize, therefore, what God’s feelings are with regard to his own name. It has so happened that those who claim to be his closest friends on earth have brought the greatest reproach upon his name. The religious clergy of Christendom have made God’s name stink to the high heavens throughout the whole earth. They know, or should know by reason of their theological education, that the Holy Bible sets forth God’s name as being Jehovah. Over the centuries these clergymen have taught that this God of the Bible is a God who delights in eternal torture of his own creatures, that He prepared a place called “hell” filled with fire burning forever with brimstone (or sulphur), and that there he keeps alive sinful human souls after death to be tormented forever, without any relief. The clergy twist the meaning of things said in the Bible in order to teach this, and to this day they have never erased this teaching from their church creeds, thus declaring it to be absolutely false and a God-dishonoring, demon-inspired teaching. They do not want to admit to teaching lies.

8. For the sake of whose name do they let lies stand, and on the names of whom have they brought reproach?

⁸ For the sake of their own name the clergy prefer to let their lies against God stand. They not only bring God under reproach, but also bring reproach upon the Chief One of God’s family, his Son Jesus Christ, for they claim that Jesus Christ taught such lies in his heavenly Father’s name.

9. In what warfare do Christendom’s clergy implicate God, and how?

⁹ The clergy also connect up this God of the Bible with all their spilling of blood in violent wars. How? By praying to him to grant victory to their own nation as against the other nation, even putting on the belts of the soldier boys the words “God with us.” They have prayed the warriors of their nation into heaven by claiming that the soldiers dying on the battlefield for their political rulers have an immediate passport into heaven to be with God and Jesus Christ. It does not matter to the clergy whether their soldier boys prove to have fought for the losing side, and apparently the wrong side; they still go to heavenly bliss for having died under the blessing of their religious clergy who pray for them. Thus they picture Jehovah as a God that has backed up all this war and bloodshed committed by Christendom for the past sixteen centuries.

10. (a) Among whom have the clergy made God’s name to be foul-smelling, and has this been without concern on God’s part? (b) What did Jesus teach us to pray about that name, and how does violation thereof affect him?

¹⁰ No wonder that God’s name stinks in the nostrils of those who bitterly declare that “religion is the opium of the people,” yes, even in the nostrils of those hundreds of millions of people whom Christendom calls heathen or pagans in non-Christian lands! And then, are we to think that God takes no account of this, that he is dead and indifferent to this, that he has no feelings at all about this? How unrealistic for us to think so! How could so-called Christian people think so, who go to church and join with the clergyman and the congregation in the prayer that Jesus Christ taught, saying: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name”? (Matt. 6:9, Authorized Version) Jesus Christ taught his followers to pray for the hallowing or sanctifying of his heavenly Father’s name, and not for the making of that holy name a universal stench. So, when people who profess to be his followers violate that prayer and pollute the name of his heavenly Father, are we to think that Jesus Christ has no feelings about the matter, that he has so little respect for his Father’s name as not to care? Not at all! For Jesus Christ respects his Father’s name above his own name.

THE QUESTION FOR PEOPLE WITH RELIGIOUS CONNECTIONS

11. What question should we respecters of God’s name ask about any religious denomination to which we may belong, and to escape community responsibility, what action must be taken?

¹¹ We personally may not desire to show disrespect for God’s name, but, if we have any religious connection, the question for us to ask ourselves is: Do I belong to a religious denomination that disrespects and defames God’s name in these and other ways? Suppose that any of us do. Well, then, we should know the course for us to take if we respect God’s name. What? This, namely, to disengage ourselves from sharing in the community responsibility of such a religious denomination before the Bible God, who is jealous for his name.​—Ezek. 39:25, AV.

12, 13. (a) Why are we and our personal name of little importance? (b) What does Psalm 148:11-13 tell all classes of people to do?

¹² When we come to think about it, the personal name of each one of us human creatures is of comparatively little importance. We live imperfect lives for some few years, then we die and are soon forgotten by those who survive us. Or our name, even if it is preserved in memory by some means, finally fades in importance and potency. But is that the case with God’s name? Far from it! For, in Psalm one hundred and forty-eight, Ps 148 verses eleven through thirteen, the inspired songwriter addresses himself to “you kings of the earth and all you national groups, you princes and all you judges of the earth, you young men and also you virgins, you old men together with boys,” and then says:

¹³ “Let them praise the name of Jehovah, for his name alone is unreachably high. His dignity is above earth and heaven.”

14. (a) How have men tried to rival Jehovah in name and why with failure? (b) In whose days was a start made of calling on Jehovah’s name, and what world event reveals the true nature of that?

¹⁴ The dignity of this Bible God, Jehovah, his worthiness, his respectability, his importance​—all these things tower heaven-high above the earth. Not a single human creature on earth, no matter how famous he has made himself in human history, has elevated his name and fame above that of this God or even as high as God’s name. No creature in heaven and earth can exalt his name as high as that of Jehovah, for “his name alone is unreachably high.” Yes, “his name only is supreme.” (Ps. 148:13, New World Translation; Moffatt) It is true that men have disrespectfully striven to put their name on a level with Jehovah or even above that name. For instance, just some two hundred and thirty-five years after the first man was created, his sinful descendants began to misuse the divine name. One of Adam’s grandsons was named Enosh, and concerning his days the record in Genesis 4:26 says: “At that time a start was made of calling on the name of Jehovah.” This was in a hypocritical or sacrilegious way. That was why, 1,656 years after man’s creation, the global deluge came, in Noah’s day, and destroyed them all.

15, 16. (a) How did Nimrod elevate his rank among his admirers and followers, and what about God’s viewpoint of him? (b) How did a late successor of Nimrod on Babylon’s throne express his ambitions against Jehovah?

¹⁵ Then, too, there was the thirteenth man in line of descent from Adam. This man was named Nimrod. He made himself so prominent that he was ranked as someone with whom to be compared. Genesis 10:8-10 says of this great-grandson of Noah: “He began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before Jehovah: wherefore it is said, Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Jehovah. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel [Babylon].” (American Standard Version) Does that mean that he was a “mighty hunter” from Jehovah’s standpoint and in Jehovah’s favor? No! For his hunting was directed also against human prey and so extended itself to military campaigning that results in shedding human blood. The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures presents the matter in the right, Scriptural light, by rendering the account: “Just like Nimrod a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah.” Nimrod showed no respect for the name of the only living and true God; Nimrod’s name bedimmed the name of Jehovah in the minds of his admirers and followers. Fifteen centuries later a successor of Nimrod on Babylon’s throne said:

¹⁶ “To the heavens shall go up. Above the stars of God I shall lift up my throne, and I shall sit down upon the mountain of meeting, in the remotest parts of the north. I shall go up above the high places of the clouds; I shall make myself resemble the Most High.”​—Isa. 14:4, 13, 14.

17, 18. (a) How did Jehovah’s name prove to be unreachably high for Nimrod and his royal successors? (b) How does Psalm 126:1-3, show how a favorable impression concerning Jehovah’s name was made among the nations?

¹⁷ However, the name of Jehovah proved to be unreachably high for the hunter-king of Babylon, Nimrod, and his successors. In the year 539 before our Common Era the line of Nimrod’s successors was overthrown when the imperial city of Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians. Less than two years later, in 537 B.C.E., the name of Jehovah went up when His spirit moved the Persian conqueror, Cyrus the Great, to issue the famous decree authorizing the exiled people of Jehovah to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple of Jehovah at Jerusalem. (2 Chron. 36:19-23; Ezra 1:1-11) Almost too good to be true, this seemed like a dream to the exiled Jews or Israelites, but it made an impression upon the Gentile nations that was favorable to Jehovah. Psalm 126:1-3 beautifully sets this forth, saying:

¹⁸ “When Jehovah gathered back the captive ones of Zion, we became like those who were dreaming. At that time our mouth came to be filled with laughter, and our tongue with a joyful cry. At that time they proceeded to say among the nations: ‘Jehovah has done a great thing in what he has done with them.’ Jehovah has done a great thing in what he has done with us. We have become joyful.”

19. By their trinity doctrine, how do the clergy not give glory to Jehovah as God, but, rather, downgrade his name?

¹⁹ Today the clergy of Christendom do not give glory to Jehovah as God. They have shoved his name into a corner. By their teaching of a trinity composed of a God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, they have made Jehovah’s Son Jesus Christ equal with Him the Father, and also the “Holy Ghost” equal with Jehovah who pours out this holy spirit. To suit their religious purposes the clergy have put the designation Jesus Christ to the fore. Look into your copy of the King James Version of the Bible and see how many times you can find the divine name, Jehovah. Look into the Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible, of the year 1952, and see whether you can find the name Jehovah at all. Look into The New American Bible, published by Roman Catholics in 1970, as well as into the Douay Version Bible of 1610, and see whether you can find the name Jehovah (or even Yahweh) in the Bible text. The claim is made that when the New Testament writers called Jesus Christ Lord or the Lord, this meant that he was Jehovah or Yahweh himself. Certainly all this is a downgrading of God’s name.

20. What does the apostle Paul say about the Son of God in Philippians 2:5-11?

²⁰ What, though, does the Christian apostle Paul say? He describes the humbling of the Son of God and then the glorification of his faithful Son, saying, according to The New English Bible, of 1970: “Let your bearing towards one another arise out of your life in Christ Jesus. For the divine nature was his from the first; yet he did not think to snatch at equality with God, but made himself nothing, assuming the nature of a slave. Bearing the human likeness, revealed in human shape, he humbled himself, and in obedience accepted even death​—death on a cross. Therefore God raised him to the heights and bestowed on him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow​—in heaven, on earth, and in the depths—​and every tongue confess, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’, to the glory of God the Father.”​—Phil. 2:5-11.

21. (a) How does that statement show that Jehovah’s name remains unreachably high? (b) To what extent do we Christians show respect toward Jehovah’s name?

²¹ From this inspired statement we see that God the Father rewarded his Son Jesus Christ with a name above that of all other sons of God or creatures of God. Hence all other creatures must recognize that exalted name and bow at it. But to whose glory must they do this? To the glory of the highly exalted Jesus Christ? No! But, as the apostle Paul says, “To the glory of God the Father.” The highly exalted Jesus Christ is called “Lord,” but he is not called God nor is he called Father, for always he remains the Son of God. The rank and title of “God the Father” always remain with Jehovah. He did not give his heavenly Son a name higher than His own nor a name even equal to His own. His name remains supreme, unreachably high. Jesus Christ in heaven recognizes it as such. So in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we Christians still pray to Jehovah God: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” (Matt. 6:9, AV) We do not misuse that name but respect it as the highest name in all existence. We separate ourselves from all religions that defame God’s name.

WHEN HE WENT TO MAKE A NAME FOR HIMSELF

22, 23. (a) Should the divine name go out of respectful use, and why should we never take Pharaoh’s attitude toward it? (b) How did God specially claim the name when first appearing to Moses?

²² The original divine name has not passed out of fashion and it should not pass out of use in a respectful way. We should never let ourselves get like the ruler Pharaoh of ancient Egypt and oppose that name and get stubborn toward it as when he said: “Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go.” (Ex. 5:1, 2, AS) Refusal to recognize Jehovah got Pharaoh nowhere​—except into destruction in the Red Sea. The Most High God specially claimed the name when he sent his prophet Moses to appear before Pharaoh and demand that the enslaved people of Israel be let go that they might take possession of the Promised Land. By the use of an angel God manifested himself to Moses the Israelite at the foot of Mount Horeb (or Sinai) in the Arabian Peninsula. On being told to go back to Egypt, Moses inquired as to what he should announce as the name of the God who was sending him. From The New English Bible, of 1970, we now read the answer:

²³ “God answered, ‘I AM; that is who I am. Tell them that I AM has sent you to them.’ And God said further, ‘You must tell the Israelites this, that it is JEHOVAH the God of their forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, who has sent you to them. This is my name for ever; this is my title in every generation. Go and assemble the elders of Israel and tell them that JEHOVAH the God of their forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to you.’”​—Ex. 3:13-16.

24. (a) Why, then, have Christians no right to change matters respecting God’s name? (b) What action was appropriate as taken by dedicated, baptized Christians met in general convention in 1931?

²⁴ Since he said that Jehovah is his name forever and is his title in every generation, it is his name and title today, in our generation. We, even as Christians, have no right to change that. “Jehovah” is his Memorial name, according to the American Standard Version Bible, which does not use the word “title” but says: “This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.” (Ex. 3:15, AS) It was his memorial in the very first generation of mankind, for in the second chapter of the Holy Bible and in the fourth verse we read these words: “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven.” (Gen. 2:4, AS) As a memorial it is his name by which to be remembered forever, in all generations. Was it out of order, therefore, when thousands of dedicated, baptized Christians, when met together in general convention in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday, July 26, 1931, embraced the Scriptural name, Jehovah’s witnesses? No; it was most fitting.

25. (a) In 1925 these Christians began to perceive that the time had come for what action on God’s part? (b) Appropriate to this, what did the January 1, 1926, issue of The Watch Tower say in its leading article?

²⁵ Already, back in the year 1925, the Christians embracing that designation for themselves had begun to perceive that the time had come for the one true and living God to “make him a name.” (2 Sam. 7:23, AV) Quite appropriately, then, in the Watch Tower issue of January 1, 1926, the leading article was entitled “Who Will Honor Jehovah?” On page 7, under the subheading entitled “Himself a Name,” paragraphs 37 and 38 said:

“The natural descendants of faithful Abraham were domiciled in Egypt. The name of God was then ignored, and was not in the thoughts of the people of that nation nor of any other nation of the world. David records the fact that God went down to Egypt to deliver his people and to make a name for himself. (2 Samuel 7:23) Now a like condition exists. Those who are of the faith of Abraham are domiciled in this wicked world, all the organizations of which have forsaken God and have defamed his holy name.

“The time approaches when God will make for himself a name. God will have somebody to be his witnesses in the earth. And who could we expect would have the privilege of filling that place? Surely none other than Zion, God’s organization, some members of which are on earth. To such Jehovah says: ‘Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.’​—Isaiah 43:10-12.” [Authorized Version]

26, 27. The prophet Isaiah foresaw the need for what repeat performance, and so what did he write in Isaiah 63:11-14?

²⁶ In addition to what King David of Jerusalem said regarding God’s making a name for himself at the time that he delivered his chosen people of Israel from slavery in ancient Egypt, the later prophet Isaiah foresaw the time for Jehovah to repeat this performance by delivering his chosen people from their dire straits. The same God is to be looked for in behalf of this deliverance, and so the prophet Isaiah goes on to say (in Isaiah 63:11-14):

²⁷ “And one began to remember the days of long ago, Moses his servant: ‘Where is the One that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is the One that put within him His own holy spirit? The One making His beautiful arm go at the right hand of Moses; the One splitting the waters from before them in order to make an indefinitely lasting name for his own self; the One making them walk through the surging waters so that, like a horse in the wilderness, they did not stumble? Just as when a beast itself goes down into the valley plain, the very spirit of Jehovah proceeded to make them rest.’ Thus you led your people in order to make a beautiful name for your own self.”

28. At the time of Israel’s deliverance, who in Egypt came to fear the divine name, and what action did they take, with what experiences resulting to them?

²⁸ At the time of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, so many of the non-Israelite people in that land came to fear the divine name, that they took appropriate action. How? Well, when the Israelites marched out of Egypt after celebrating their first Passover, then, as the record in Exodus 12:38 says, “a vast mixed company also went up with them.” When God parted the waters of the Red Sea, this mixed company marched through with the Israelites. And when God brought the seawaters back upon the pursuing horses, chariots and horsemen of Pharaoh, and drowned these bloodthirsty pursuers, this mixed company heard the Israelites sing in safety on the shore of the Sinai Peninsula: “Jehovah is a manly person of war. Jehovah is his name. . . . Jehovah will rule as king to time indefinite, even forever.”​—Ex. 14:31–15:18.

29. What has happened to the effect of the impact that Jehovah’s miracle made upon the nations then, and what did the Israelites come under the obligation to be and to do?

²⁹ The terrific impact that that stupendous miracle made upon the nations back there in that year 1513 before our Common Era has since lost its stunning effect. The name that Jehovah made for himself back there, so long ago, has little appeal for the nations today, even for the so-called Christian nations of Christendom. They neither fear it nor respect it. Christendom has lapsed into a condition like that of ancient Egypt, the oppressor of the people of Jehovah. (Rev. 11:8) Those natural Israelites away back there were actually eyewitnesses of what Jehovah did and they were made to know and appreciate his name as their faithful forefathers never had done. (Ex. 6:2, 3) By force of circumstances they were witnesses of Jehovah, and they were therefore obligated to bear witness to future generations about Jehovah’s name and deeds. Through the prophet Isaiah Jehovah plainly told them that they were his witnesses. They should have respected the name that Jehovah made for himself and should have lived up to their obligations to be witnesses of Him as the only living and true God. A similar status holds true for Christendom today.

30. Why is Christendom today under obligation to be witnesses for the same God of ancient natural Israel?

³⁰ Today, as well as for centuries past, Christendom claims to be a spiritual Israel, a Christian Israel. Inescapably, then, her God must be the God of ancient natural Israel. So, just as much as natural Israel of old, Christendom is under obligation to be witnesses of that same God of ancient Israel, who is at the same time the God of the Messiah, Jesus, the Son of God. Being a witness for Jesus the Messiah or Christ does not excuse one from being also a witness for Jehovah, and that primarily.​—Acts 1:8; 5:27-32.

31. According to what Christendom and her churches do and say today, the time has come for God to do what, and this will bespeak what for modern-day peoples and nations?

³¹ But look at the nations of Christendom and their churches. Listen to what they are saying. In the light of the Holy Bible, examine what they are doing. Where do the facts show that these nations and churches of Christendom are witnesses of Jehovah? The bald facts plainly indicate that, once again, the time has come for Jehovah to make a name for himself before all nations and peoples who proudly and stubbornly refuse to acknowledge, respect and fear his divine name. The historic example of Pharaoh and his military forces at the Red Sea bespeaks disaster for such modern-day nations and peoples when Jehovah again makes a name for himself in the coming “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon!​—Rev. 16:14-16; 19:11-21.

32. Do all the nations of today have good reason not to know of all this, and what is it that the antagonistic disputants in Christendom cannot wipe out regarding Jehovah’s Christian witnesses?

³² By now, in this year 1971, do all the nations have good reason not to know of all this? Due to the failure of Christendom with her more than nine hundred million enrolled church members, has Jehovah failed to have his faithful, outspoken witnesses in this twentieth century, in our very own generation? Absolutely No! The church-bound peoples of Christendom may dispute that those internationally known as Jehovah’s Christian witnesses today are really witnesses of the Most High God. They may say that these have no right to that name and are false prophets. They may accordingly oppose, misrepresent and persecute them so as to force them to stop doing the witness work all around the globe. But those antagonistic peoples of Christendom as well as those of so-called heathendom can never wipe out the record that these Christian witnesses of Jehovah of this twentieth century have made in more than two hundred lands and in some one hundred and sixty languages.

33. So what are the opposing peoples of all Christendom obliged to admit respecting the work of Jehovah’s witnesses, and why has this been so?

³³ They can never disprove that God’s name as set out thousands of times in the real text of the Holy Bible has been made known to the people world wide and that hundreds of thousands of persons of all races, nationalities, tribes and social groups have been helped to know and fear and serve Jehovah, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is something that false prophets could never accomplish. (Deut. 18:15-22) Yes, those opposing peoples of all Christendom are obliged to admit that they have failed to stop the worldwide preaching and teaching on the part of these Christian witnesses of Jehovah till now. Why is this? It is because they have refused to heed the legal counsel that the religious lawyer Gamaliel gave to the first-century opposers of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses back there, when he said: “I say to you, Do not meddle with these men, but let them alone; (because, if this scheme or this work is from men, it will be overthrown; but if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them;) otherwise, you may perhaps be found fighters actually against God.”​—Acts 5:34-39.

“PEOPLE FOR HIS NAME”

34. In that first century C.E., what happened to those meddlers with apostolic Christianity, and why has that raised a question as to the existence of Jehovah?

³⁴ What became of those who meddled with those first-century Christian apostles and fellow believers? In the year 70 of our Common Era, instead of having overthrown apostolic Christianity, their own religious system was overthrown when old walled Jerusalem and her temple were destroyed, never to be rebuilt by Jewish hands. Their priesthood ceased to exist or maintain its identity. Let the facts speak as to whether those intolerant religious meddlers were “fighters actually against God.” That tragic event of the year 70 C.E. by no means meant that Jehovah ceased to exist, as if he were a God of the Israelites only, a national God that existed only as long as his historic nation existed. The immortal Jehovah, who is God without beginning and without end, has lived on, and still lives, despite the denials of all atheists. But, because of what happened in the year 70, has he since been without a nation?

35. Why was the ancient nation of Israel a “people for his name,” and why is there a problem as to their being Jehovah’s “people for his name” today?

³⁵ It is a fact that, in the year 1473 B.C.E., when the prophet Moses was giving his farewell instructions to the nation of Israel before they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, he said to them: “Jehovah will establish you as a holy people to himself, just as he swore to you, because you continue to keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, and you have walked in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth will have to see that Jehovah’s name has been called upon you, and they will indeed be afraid of you.” (Deut. 28:9, 10) As Jehovah said to them, they had “become my special property out of all other peoples.” (Ex. 19:3-5) Through having His name called upon them, they were a “people for his name.” (Jer. 14:9; Dan. 9:19) But have the people of Israel continued to be a “people for his name” to this day? Has the setting up of the independent, untheocratic Republic of Israel in 1948 C.E. confirmed them as the “people for his name,” even though they do not keep the law of Moses and have no temple at Jerusalem that is called by the name of Jehovah? It is important for us to know.

36. Was Jesus a member of Jehovah’s “people for his name,” and how did Jehovah show his decision as to whether His name should be transferred from natural Israel?

³⁶ The first century of our Common Era was the critical time for determining this question. Certainly Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem-Judah in the family line of King David, was by birth a member of the “people for [Jehovah’s] name.” His very name Jesus includes the divine name, for it means “Jehovah Is Salvation.” But Jesus’ own nation disowned him. As for his followers, who were a small remnant of the Israelites, they became separated from the nation of Israel, and they became a spiritual nation. Under this situation, did the nation of natural, circumcised Israel continue to be the “people for his name” (Jehovah’s name), or was Jehovah’s name transferred and called upon the spiritual nation of Jesus’ followers? God himself decided the answer to this problem. On the day of Pentecost of the year 33 C.E. he poured out his holy spirit in fulfillment of His prophecy in Joel 2:28-32. Upon whom? Not upon the non-Christian Jews at the then-standing temple in Jerusalem, but upon the twelve apostles and other disciples of Jesus. Filled with spirit, they proclaimed God’s name.​—Acts 2:1-36.

37, 38. (a) How many Jews became a part of Jehovah’s new “people for his name”? (b) When did Jehovah open the door for non-Jews to be added to this “people for his name”?

³⁷ There, more than nineteen centuries ago, Jehovah began taking out a new people upon whom his name should be called or who are called by his name. (1 Pet. 2:9) Thousands of natural, circumcised Jews accepted Jesus as Messiah and became part of this “people for [Jehovah’s] name.” Not quite three and a half years later, Jehovah. God opened up the opportunity to the non-Jewish or Gentile nations. He sent the apostle Peter to enter a Gentile home in Caesarea and to proclaim the good news about Jesus the Messiah to Cornelius and his friends. Because of their belief, Jehovah poured out his holy spirit upon them. Thereby he made these believing Gentiles a part of the “people for his name.” Thereafter membership in this spiritual “people for his name” was open to all non-Israelite or Gentile nations. (Acts 10:1 to 11:18) This is true, not because we say so, but because the inspired disciple James, the half brother of Jesus Christ, said so. This was about thirteen years after the conversion of Gentile Cornelius and his friends. Speaking before a conference in Jerusalem, James said:

³⁸ “Symeon [Peter] has related thoroughly how God for the first time turned his attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name. And with this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘After these things I shall return and rebuild the booth of David . . . in order that those who remain of the men may earnestly seek Jehovah, together with people of all the nations, people who are called by my name, says Jehovah, who is doing these things.’”​—Acts 15:12-18; Amos 9:12.

39. (a) Why has Jehovah not ceased to have a “people for his name” since Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 C.E.? (b) What is Jehovah completing today that he began nineteen centuries ago, and what proof thereof do we have?

³⁹ Consequently, Jehovah did not cease to have a “people for his name” after the destruction of old walled Jerusalem and its temple in the year 70 C.E. and the dispersion of the natural circumcised Jews. He had the newly formed Christian “people for his name.” What Jehovah began back there in the first century, he is finishing up today in this twentieth century. Now, before the outbreak of the greatest tribulation of all human history upon this system of things, he is completing this spiritual “people for his name,” and today there is still a remnant of them on earth. If this is not so, then how can we account for what is now taking place on all inhabited continents and the islands of the seven seas? What? The name Jehovah is being made known and exalted on a scale never before realized since tremendous reproach was brought upon the divine name by the destruction of Jerusalem and its famous temple in the year 70 C.E. Let there be no mistake about it: Jehovah has his “people for his name” on earth today, and they are proving themselves to be just that, even if they are only a remnant.

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Do the teachings and practices of your church glorify the name of God? Does it teach hellfire, the Trinity? Has it ever shared in blessing the wars of your nation?

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Showing respect for the Divine Name, thousands of Christians at this assembly in Columbus, Ohio, July 1931, embraced the name “Jehovah’s Witnesses”

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Just as Jehovah made a great name for himself at the Red Sea, he will again make a name for himself at the coming war of Armageddon

The People Who Respect God’s Name More Than Their Own

1, 2. (a) This is a day of religious liberation from what? (b) What does Isaiah 12:3-5 declare, and who take those words to heart so as to carry them out?

WHAT is to be expected, what should we expect, of a “people for his name”? Why, this: That they would consider it an honor to bear that name, they would not be ashamed of that name, they would sound forth the praises of that name in all the earth, both inside of Christendom and outside of Christendom. In these “last days” of this world system, when religious liberation is being gained from Christendom and all the rest of the world empire of false religion, the liberated remnant take to heart their obligation to carry out the prophetic words of Isaiah 12:3-5:

² “With exultation you people will be certain to draw water out of the springs of salvation. And in that day you will certainly say: ‘Give thanks to Jehovah, you people! Call upon his name. Make known among the peoples his dealings. Make mention that his name is put on high. Make melody to Jehovah, for he has done surpassingly. This is made known in all the earth.’”

3, 4. (a) Since the anointed remnant began taking part in the fulfillment of that prophecy, how has Jehovah done? (b) How has the result been just like what David mentioned as the reason for his lauding Jehovah, in Psalm 138:1, 2?

³ Since the anointed remnant of Christian witnesses of Jehovah have put themselves to work to have a part in the fulfillment of that prophecy, Jehovah has “done surpassingly,” he has done splendidly, he has triumphed! Over his own name he caused his word of promise, his prophetic word, to be written down. With his name he backs up the Holy Scriptures. With his own name he guarantees the Sacred Bible. Either the Bible is true, or his name means nothing! But his word of promise and of prophecy stands proved true, stands vindicated! The faithful carrying out of his word proves that he has lived up to his name, to the glory of his name. Furthermore, in his actually carrying out his word he has surpassed what his name, which was attached to his word, has led us to expect. The result has been just like what King David of Jerusalem mentioned as a reason for his lauding Jehovah, saying:

⁴ “I shall laud you with all my heart. In front of other gods I shall make melody to you. I shall bow down toward your holy temple, and I shall laud your name, because of your loving-kindness and because of your trueness. For you have magnified your saying [your spoken word] even above all your name.”​—Ps. 138:1, 2.

5, 6. (a) How does Jehovah magnify his saying above all his name? (b) How can we illustrate this in the case of prophecy and in the case of providing the Messiah?

⁵ What is this that David is saying? Is God’s spoken word or saying greater than his name? No! Well, how, then, does he magnify his saying above all his name? In this way: His meaningful name, because of being attached to his “saying” or word of promise and of prophecy, caused us to look for much in the way of fulfillment. But actually he carries out his “saying” in a magnified way, in a way that is grander than what the guarantee of his name leads us to expect. He did not need to do so much in order to prove to us that his name is reliable as a guarantee of fulfillment.

⁶ So he magnifies his “saying” by making the carrying out of it produce more than we anticipated. He does surpassingly! For example, in many vital cases his prophetic “saying” has proved to have, not just a primary literal fulfillment, but also a miniature spiritual fulfillment and even a major, complete spiritual fulfillment. Note, too, that he gave his “saying” or word of promise to bring forth the Messiah in King David’s line of descent. But actually he magnified that promissory “saying.” How? By giving more than a mere human Messiah in David’s royal family. Jehovah brought forth a spiritual Messiah, one begotten by Jehovah’s spirit, raised from the dead and exalted to immortal life and royal glory in heaven at God’s right hand. As Jehovah delivered David from his enemies, so he delivered Jesus Christ from his earthly enemies, who had put him to death, by resurrecting him from the dead to heavenly glory.​—Ps. 138:3-7.

7. How did Jehovah complete that which was in David’s behalf, and how does He do this respecting David’s descendant, Jesus?

⁷ Jehovah left nothing more for David to expect as respects the carrying out of the divine word of promise. Right well David could confidently say, in the same psalm: “Jehovah himself will complete what is in my behalf.” (Ps. 138:8) No less so, Jesus Christ the Messianic descendant of King David can say the same for himself. Jehovah will fully accomplish his purpose for Jesus the Messiah. He will leave nothing of his word of promise and of prophecy respecting him undone. No wonder that David was moved to say to his heavenly Deliverer, Jehovah: “In front of other gods I shall make melody to you. . . . For you have magnified your saying even above all your name.”​—Ps. 138:1, 2.

MAGNIFYING HIS “SAYING” ABOUT THE “GREAT CROWD”

8. How is the anointed remnant moved to laud Jehovah for the same reason as stated by David, because of what has happened since 1914 C.E.?

⁸ Are we today moved to say anything like this to the only living and true God? The anointed remnant of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses are moved to do so, as a “people for his name.” By his very dealings with them and by the marvelous fulfillments of Bible prophecy in world events since 1914 C.E., they see Jehovah’s saying his word of promise and of prophecy, coming true in a way that they had never expected to experience. They see the evidences multiplying to prove that, at the close of the Gentile Times in 1914 C.E., this God of loving-kindness and trueness fulfilled his “saying” and established the heavenly kingdom of the Son of David, Jesus Christ. They see how this Messianic kingdom is moving irresistibly forward to the vindication of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty and holy name in the approaching “war of the great day of God the Almighty.” Much persecution, yes, many threats against their very existence as a “people for his name” they have had to endure since 1914 C.E., but, because Jehovah has delivered and preserved them till now, they make known his name everywhere.

9. As depicted in Revelation, chapter fifteen, what song are the anointed remnant singing, with what words?

⁹ As depicted in the last book of God’s Holy Word, this anointed remnant are singing the “song of Moses the slave of God and the song of the Lamb [Jesus Christ]” and saying: “Great and wonderful are your works, Jehovah God, the Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways, King of eternity. Who will not really fear you, Jehovah, and glorify your name, because you alone are loyal? For all the nations will come and worship before you, because your righteous decrees have been made manifest.”​—Rev. 15:2-4.

10. Who among the countless hearers of that song are responding affirmatively to the question as to fearing Jehovah and glorifying his name, and with what determination?

¹⁰ Countless numbers of people today are hearing the remnant of the “people for his name” singing those words: “Who will not really fear you, Jehovah, and glorify your name?” Hundreds of thousands who are hearing that challenging question are showing that they feel about it as the anointed remnant do, namely, that Jehovah is worthy of being feared and his name worthy of being glorified. Openly, before all the false gods of this world, they are saying: The majority of mankind may not today fear Jehovah and glorify his name; but, as for us, we will fear Jehovah as the one living and true God, and we will respect his name more than our own and will glorify his name. How are they doing this?

11. How are such ones doing that?

¹¹ They are doing this by accepting the Holy Bible, not as the word of fallible men, but, just as it actually is, the word of God. They believe that its prophecies concerning the Messianic kingdom are now reaching the climax of their glorious fulfillment. They are approaching God through his sacrificed Lamb Jesus Christ and are dedicating themselves entirely to him. In imitation of Jesus Christ they are being baptized in water “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit,” and thus becoming full disciples of Jesus Christ. (Matt. 28:19, 20) Recognizing that Jehovah has a “people for his name” today in the earth, they loyally associate themselves with this people, even though it is a small remnant. They share with these in making known to everybody Jehovah’s name and in glorifying it. By thus witnessing to Him, they prove that they are not ashamed to be Christian witnesses of Jehovah.

12. (a) Hence, what portion of the words of the “song” do the anointed remnant already see undergoing fulfillment? (b) What kind of person will yet take his place among the “great crowd,” and in what hope may he share?

¹² From all nations this “great crowd” of God-fearing persons has come. (Rev. 7:9, 10) In these the anointed remnant of singers see already undergoing fulfillment the words of their prophetic song: “All the nations will come and worship before you, because your righteous decrees have been made manifest.” (Rev. 15:4) The gathering of all of this numberless “great crowd” is not yet over. The question is, Who will yet be taking his place among this “great crowd” before Jehovah fully manifests his righteous decrees by destroying all the godless in the coming “great tribulation,” the like of which has never taken place before? Everyone who does so will be a person that respects God’s name more than his own. He will be one that gladly does as Psalm 96:8 says: “Ascribe to Jehovah the glory belonging to his name.” He may share with the “great crowd” in the hope of surviving the “great tribulation” and entering into the righteous new system of things where “every breathing thing” will praise Jehovah.​—Rev. 7:13-15; Ps. 150:6; 29:2.

How Should You View Discipline?

YOU probably have known someone​—maybe a fellow student, a neighbor, or even a teacher—​who never wanted to admit to making a mistake or being wrong. How do you feel personally about someone like that? Would your opinion of him go up or down if one day he came right out and said, “I’m sorry; I see I was wrong”?

Really, we all make mistakes, do we not? That is because none of us are perfect, or faultless, in the full sense of the word. The Bible tells us that. It shows that, due to our first parent Adam’s disobedience, all men are born with an inheritance of imperfection, sin.​—Rom. 5:12.

Not all mistakes come from just ‘not knowing.’ Many mistakes are because of not caring. For example, on an airplane flight over water a passenger might pay no attention when the stewardess explains the proper use of life jackets or the plane’s oxygen supplies. If, during a sudden emergency, the passenger failed to use these provisions and lost his life, it would not be simply because he did not know. It would be because he did not care to know.

So not all wrongs a person commits can be chalked up to simple error. Willful ignorance is often the cause. Worse, a person may do what he knows is wrong​—excusing himself for some reason or other that looks good to him at the time.

All this shows our need for discipline, which involves correction. We all need correction, no matter whether we are young or old. In fact, if there were no discipline or correction there could be no progress​—in any field of human living. People would keep on making the same mistakes, believing the same wrong ideas, never advancing in knowledge or ability.

Discipline means more than just instruction. It is training that corrects, molds, strengthens, or perfects. So, it often involves reproof; it can include punishment or chastisement, though this does not have to be the case. But it is never punishment just for the sake of punishment​—it is always done with a view to correction and improvement for the future.

WHY HARD TO TAKE

But if discipline is so beneficial, why do most persons find it so hard to take? The same cause that makes us need discipline, namely, imperfection, also makes it hard for us to accept it.

Discipline can cause us to feel embarrassed, hurt or discouraged. The Bible recognizes that discipline does bring some unpleasantness. The apostle Paul writes: “True, no discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but grievous; yet afterward to those who have been trained by it it yields peaceable fruit, namely, righteousness.”​—Heb. 12:11.

Humility takes most of the sting out of discipline. Many persons, however, let pride and stubbornness cause them to resist discipline. But when the correction or reproof is well founded, and others can see that it is, the person who stubbornly rejects it simply makes himself look foolish in the eyes of those observing. Some politicians are like this, trying to “weasel out” of responsibility for false or rash statements made, or wrong deeds committed. But who wants to have a reputation like theirs? God’s Word says: Wisdom and discipline are what mere fools have despised.”​—Prov. 1:7.

By contrast, we read: “Give a reproof to a wise person and he will love you.” Why? Because he knows that through correction “he will become still wiser.” Yes, “a wise person will listen and take in more instruction, and a man of understanding is the one who acquires skillful direction.”​—Prov. 9:8, 9; 1:5.

HOW WILL YOU REACT?

The real question, then, is: What do you want to do with your life? Do you just want to drift along, doing only what you feel like doing? Or are you willing to work toward a worthwhile future? God’s Word advises: “Listen to counsel and accept discipline, in order that you may become wise in your future.”​—Prov. 19:20.

We can find discipline more pleasant if we always remember that it is God’s arrangement. That is why Psalm 50:17 says that anyone who hates discipline is, in effect, ‘throwing God’s words behind him.’ Discipline rightly comes from an authorized source. God has assigned that job to parents, for they are responsible for their children’s lives. (Prov. 1:8, 9; Eph. 6:4) And, within the Christian congregation, God has provided spiritually “older men” who are “able both to exhort by the teaching that is healthful and to reprove those who contradict.”​—Titus 1:5-9.

Remember, too, that those disciplining us are not trying to “hobble” us so that we are cramped in walking life’s highway. Rather, they are trying to help us make fast and pleasant progress. Discipline protects against harmful accidents, keeps us free from the things that will tie us up with disagreeable problems, making our way difficult or even sidetracking us on a dead-end road. (Prov. 5:11-13, 22, 23) If we accept correction, the Bible promises: “When you walk, your pace will not be cramped; and if you run, you will not stumble. Take hold on discipline; do not let go. Safeguard it, for it itself is your life.”​—Prov. 4:10-13.

Do you sometimes feel inclined to resent your parents’ discipline? Suppose they just let you go your own way, paid no attention, gave no correction. Would that show genuine love? Is that not the way men who father illegitimate children usually do​—ignoring their offspring? Do we want to be treated like that? Using that same illustration, the apostle Paul reminds us that discipline is really an evidence of God’s love and interest in us.​—Heb. 12:4-10; compare Proverbs 3:11, 12.

If you find yourself getting upset over someone’s offering counsel or reproof, stop and ask yourself this: Why did they take the time and effort to do it? Just because they enjoy it? In most cases you can see that giving reproof is not exactly pleasant and easy for them. But they do it because they care enough about you to make the effort. That alone should be enough to make you think seriously about what they say and make you try to understand their reasons.​—Prov. 17:10.

True, it takes strength to face up to our mistakes. But we can go to God in prayer and ask for the strength and courage to shoulder the blame and apply the reproof, seeing its rightness and benefiting from it with a right spirit, as David did. (Ps. 51:1, 2, 10-12; Isa. 26:16) We can be like the apostle Peter. He was publicly reproved by the apostle Paul for a certain wrong course of action. But Peter was man enough, and above all Christian enough, to take the reproof. He harbored no resentment and later referred to Paul as “our beloved brother.”​—Gal. 2:11-14; 2 Pet. 3:15, 16.

Of course, you don’t need to wait for others to correct you. You can practice “self-discipline.” By being alert, you can recognize many of your own mistakes and take steps to correct them.​—1 Cor. 11:31, 32.

So many benefits come from being receptive to discipline. To admit mistakes or faults in a straightforward way gives one a healthier, cleaner feeling inside. It strengthens one’s heart and mind for what is right. It makes for good relations with others; they recognize you as a person who is honest, humble and balanced, refreshingly different from so many persons today. And, most important, it assures you God’s approval and blessing. Yes, “the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.”​—Prov. 6:23.

Christian Maturity​—an Elusive Goal?

JUST what is “Christian maturity”? How would you define it? Do you have it? Or are you still seeking to attain it?

There is real value in our having the right understanding of Christian maturity. For one thing, the wrong understanding can lead to discouragement. It can make Christian maturity seem like a will-o’-the-wisp, a mirage, that tantalizingly moves away just when one thinks one is reaching it. The attaining of Christian maturity is no such elusive goal.

Then, too, the wrong understanding can lead to false standards in esteeming or judging others. It can cause us to fail to see and appreciate their good qualities. A false concept of Christian maturity could make a person tend to downgrade others and elevate himself in his own estimation, or to favor some mistakenly over others.

OUTGROWING SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD

In the ordinary sense, a “mature” person is one who has come out of childhood into adulthood. Physical growth reaches a certain point and then levels off. Emotional maturity develops somewhat similarly but often takes longer than physical growth.

There is also a growth for Christians from spiritual childhood into spiritual adulthood, Christian maturity. How can you know if you have attained spiritual adulthood?

Those who are still “babes in Christ” need to be fed only the “milk” of Christian truth. Such “babes” are not sure as to what is the truth, and so they are inclined to totter and be easily led astray by the trickery and cunning of men who advance false teaching. In this puerile state they can contribute little to the growth of “the body of the Christ,” the Christian congregation, in “the building up of itself in love.” (Eph. 4:12-16) They are still “fleshly,” perhaps inclined to jealousy, strife and sectarianism and must outgrow these worldly ways in order to become “spiritual men,” not babes.​—1 Cor. 3:1-4.

Are any of us like that​—unstable, lacking conviction as to Christian truth, still inclined to follow men, not having entered into unity with those who are our spiritual brothers, thus not having developed the love that upbuilds and strengthens the Christian congregation? Then we do indeed need to strive to attain Christian maturity. We should realize, too, that outgrowing spiritual childhood and coming into spiritual adulthood is not automatic, as is physical growth. It requires sincere effort and cooperation on our part with God and his Son and the means they provide for attaining spiritual adulthood or completeness.

ACCEPTING THE FULL RANGE OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH

A major part of the process of spiritual growth to Christian adulthood, then, is progress in accepting the full range of Christian truth. Some Hebrew Christians of the first century failed to progress beyond the “elementary things of the sacred pronouncements of God” and so they were like those still on a ‘milk diet,’ not ready for the solid spiritual food that “belongs to mature people, to those who through use have their perceptive powers trained to distinguish both right and wrong.” For this reason Paul wrote to them, exhorting them to “press on to maturity.” How would they do this? How can we do this if we have not already done so?

The apostle showed them they should not be like builders who never get beyond the foundation of the building, in this case the “foundation” being the elementary or primary doctrines about Christ. They should pass on to the ‘superstructure’ that rests on that foundation, namely, the more advanced teaching about God’s purpose revealed through his Son, teaching that is harder to be explained than the elementary teachings.

There was urgent need to progress in this way, it was vital to do so. Why? Because they could not stand still indefinitely; eventually they must either progress or go backward. What would going backward mean? It would mean apostasy, a falling away from true faith, and that would bring destruction.​—Heb. 5:11-6:8.

Of course, their advancement in understanding of these more difficult doctrines would have to be accompanied by corresponding growth in their spiritual outlook and Christian personality. Head knowledge alone would not suffice. Those advanced truths should have an effect on their lives, even as the “elementary” teachings had already had.

Today we have the complete inspired Word of God. Do we accept the full range of its teachings and are we sincerely endeavoring to live in harmony with them? Or do we pick and choose, as is the case with many today who are only nominal Christians? Such ones observe only what they want to observe but do not want to go all the way as to being disciples of God’s Son and they are therefore divided into Christendom’s many sects. Is that the case with us? Our answer to these questions will aid us to determine whether we have reached Christian maturity or not.

CHRISTIAN MATURITY NOT THE END OF PROGRESS

But is it not a fact that as time goes along we understand God’s Word better, get increased knowledge of certain truths, including some ‘fine points’ of understanding? True. Well, then, do we ever really reach maturity? Or is it always there ahead of us so that we are on a sort of treadmill, never actually reaching maturity as a goal? No, that is not the case. Let us see why not.

Consider the example the Bible uses of babyhood and manhood or adulthood (‘being full-grown’ [Eph. 4:13], which translates the same Greek word [te·lei·oʹtes] as does “maturity”). When a child grows up and becomes an adult, does this mean that such adult now has all the knowledge, experience and discernment he or she will ever have? Obviously not. A person continues to progress in his adult life.

A mature Christian also should continue to progress in knowledge, love, faith, wisdom and all the other qualities that are fruits of God’s spirit. Could we say that he thereby becomes ‘more mature’?

No, no more than we would say an adult becomes ‘more adult’ because of the experience and knowledge he adds after attaining adulthood. Is a man fifty years of age ‘more adult’ than one of forty? Or would we speak of a sixty-year-old man as ‘very adult’ and a seventy-year-old man as ‘extremely adult’? No, for this is not the sense of the word. Neither is it the sense of the word “maturity.”

In the first century, mature Christian men who showed wisdom and who were qualified to teach, to exhort and reprove, were appointed as “older men” in the congregations. (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9) Did this mean they were the only mature ones and that others not so appointed were ‘immature’? No, for the qualities that these men had, and that qualified them to serve in this way, were in addition to their already being mature Christians. For example, in normal life a son who grows up, marries, and has a family of his own, may still look to his father or other elderly men for counsel and guidance in certain matters, due to recognizing their greater experience and wisdom. So, too, Christians, though themselves spiritually mature, may benefit from the help of spiritual “older men” in the congregation.​—Acts 20:17, 28; Eph. 4:11, 12.

Even as a child should feel that his goal in life is more than simply to become an adult, so we should look on the attaining of Christian maturity as a desirable state but not as our ultimate goal. It is after we have become mature Christians that we can make greater strides and develop the wisdom and endurance that will enable us to render fine aid to our brothers and that will bring us to our ultimate goal, that of gaining God’s final approval to life everlasting.

Thus, we find the apostle Paul urging his Christian brothers onward to their goal, the prize of the heavenly calling, saying: “Let us, then, as many of us as are mature, be of this mental attitude; . . . to what extent we have made progress, let us go on walking orderly in this same routine.”​—Phil. 3:12, 14-16.

Properly viewed, then, maturity is seen as a helpful platform upon which to work​—not as a disheartening ladder whose rungs keep multiplying endlessly the higher we go.

RETROGRESS TO IMMATURITY?

But suppose a Christian uses poor judgment in a certain spiritual matter or acts in a way out of harmony with Christian principles. His action may not be sufficiently grave to warrant his being disfellowshiped from the congregation, but nevertheless it shows a failure to apply fully certain Bible counsel. Does this mark him as ‘immature’?

Not necessarily. He may be immature, for he may be young in years or he may be a ‘newly converted’ person (1 Tim. 3:6), and hence not firmly established in the truth. On the other hand, he may be a mature Christian with a long record of Christian service. It is not the gravity, great or small, of the act itself that determines what the person is​—either mature or immature. True, poor judgment and weakness are characteristic of children. But even adults can be guilty of these things on occasion. Have you, as an adult, ever found yourself ashamed of having acted or spoken in a “childish” way? Yet you did not thereby return to being a child in reality; you remained an adult.

The wrong course taken by the mature Christian may be due to the fact that he has become ‘spiritually ill,’ perhaps due to neglecting study of God’s Word, or because of allowing wrong desires to enter into his heart and weaken his devotion to God and Christ. A grown-up person who gets sick can become ‘as weak as a baby,’ yet he is still an adult. He may need to feed on food suitable for babies, milk or other soft nourishment, for a time because of his illness. Similarly, the spiritually ill Christian, though mature, may for a time need others to help him and care for him, even nourish him spiritually to restore him to spiritual health and strength.​—Compare Hebrews 12:5, 6, 12, 13; James 5:13-16.

Of course, instead of being spiritually ill, the mature Christian may go bad, become a delinquent or an apostate. But he does not return to being immature. A ripe (or mature) fruit that goes bad does not become green (immature) again. It becomes corrupt, rotten.​—Heb. 6:1-8; 12:15.

VARIETY AMONG MATURE CHRISTIANS

So, then, we do well to avoid using the word “maturity” as a sort of “catchall” expression, so broad and vague as to be all-inclusive. Nor would we want it simply to come to stand for our own imagined ideal of what a Christian should be. Not all mature Christians will be precisely alike in their personality or their manifestation of spiritual qualities. As an illustration, two orchards, each containing different kinds of fruit trees, might both be “mature,” that is, having fully developed, fruit-bearing trees. Yet, one orchard might have more apple trees than pear trees, while the other might have more pear trees than apple trees.

So, too, mature Christians may show themselves stronger in one aspect than another as to producing the fruits of God’s spirit. (Gal. 5:22, 23) One may be outstanding in knowledge, another may be especially notable in kindness or patience, another may be exceptional in good judgment or discernment as to problems, another may be unusually generous or hospitable, another may have very good directive ability. (Compare 1 Corinthians 7:7; 12:4-11, 27-31.) Yet this variety is no sign of immaturity. It does not mean that such ones are not all ‘adult’ Christians. They do not all have to be equally strong or capable in all aspects to be “mature.” Nor are they stereotypes one of the other. Each in his own way contributes something as a mature Christian to the ‘building up of the body of Christ.’​—Eph. 4:15, 16.

We must also avoid being guided by worldly standards as to Christian maturity, characterizing some as ‘immature’ because of apparent inabilities in worldly education or experience in worldly methods of doing things. Certainly if the first-century apostles were to be thrust into a modern industrialized, office-directed society of our day, there would be many factors that would be strange, unfamiliar and, temporarily at least, bewildering to them. Would this make them immature Christians? Obviously not. For Christian maturity is not determined by knowledge, experience or efficiency in modern business methods or city life. It is determined by spiritual qualifications set forth in God’s Word. These qualifications apply equally everywhere, to all persons and at all times, so that geographical location, profession or social position are not decisive.

Some first-century fishermen became mature disciples of God’s Son, while highly educated scribes and religious leaders generally failed to do so. Bible principles are what the mature Christian works with and these are applied as well on a farm as in a city, as well in a “backward” primitive country as in an “advanced” industrial nation. Thus, no Christian need feel discouraged about attaining Christian maturity because of his lack of ability as viewed from worldly standards.​—Compare 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; 2:3-6; 2 Corinthians 1:12.

So, then, if we have not reached maturity, let us “press on” to it. Are we mature Christians? Then let us use our maturity to good advantage, ‘carrying on as men, growing mighty,’ aiding immature ones and continuing in the same fine routine that brought us to maturity and that will bring us to our final goal, God’s approval to life.​—1 Cor. 16:13, 14; Gal. 6:1, 2; Phil. 3:15, 16.

“Keep On Seeking, and You Will Find”

As told by Richard S. Cotterill

HAVE you ever thought of a certain Bible verse as summing up part of your life? One scripture that is most pertinent to my life is Matthew 7:7: “Keep on asking, and it will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you.” Yes, these words of our Lord Jesus Christ have special meaning to me.

This is because as a young man I was constantly seeking for a real purpose in life. I wanted to know the truth about God.

As a youth, questions about life were frequently in my mind. Born in Manchester, England, in 1908, I had been baptized in the Church of England. When I was quite young, I would wonder whether God would really torture people eternally in a hellfire. I thought, too, about the Dark Ages, when religious people cruelly tortured one another, and I wondered how that could be right. I prayed earnestly.

In 1925 my father died suddenly. It was the first time that death had come into my own life. Life now seemed more uncertain. After my father’s death I studied law, accounting, economics and other subjects. But I was perplexed. For what was I aiming? What was my real purpose in life?

SEEKING IN A TIME OF CRISIS

As I was a shy person I took a course in self-improvement, but I experienced difficulties because I had not decided what my purpose was in life. That was the question I was asking.

As I was seeking, I visited an architecturally modern church. The clergyman there was associated with the “Oxford Group,” and he wanted me to get deeply involved in church affairs. I taught in the Sunday school, aided on the church council, was a crossbearer (leading the choir into the church dressed in cassock and surplice) and aided in the boys’ club at the church. I also helped with a boys’ club in the Manchester slums. Despite a wide variety of activities, I felt that something was missing.

I was searching for a purpose in life, so I read all kinds of books​—many on psychology and philosophy. I also attended “Peace Conferences” and groups and joined in with activist pacifists. But at the same time I read the Bible regularly and attended all kinds of religious meetings, including Roman Catholic, Unionists and the Society of Friends. Who was right? Did any group really know God’s truth?

Finally I handed in my resignation from my job and decided I would try to serve God. But how? For months I lived on my savings, seeking to find just what I should do to serve God. I inquired about ordination in the Church of England, but there was too much emphasis on certain education qualifications and on money. I inquired about church missionary work in Canada. The more I investigated the church the more I began to dislike it. I felt out of harmony with many of its practices and with its support of war.

September 1939 came and Britain was at war with Nazi Germany. This intensified my searching and seeking. Then one day a friend of mine suggested that I speak with one of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses by the name of Richard Hayley. I did. For hours we discussed the Bible and what I believed and thought. This Witness lovingly answered my many questions from the Bible. I realized I had found something valuable. I asked: “Are there any Jehovah’s witnesses in Germany?” He told me about the faithful Witnesses there who also supported God’s kingdom and who were neutral in politics and wars. I was glad to learn about this because I really believed that true Christianity would embrace people of all nations and would unite them.

Soon I was going to the meetings of the Witnesses at their Kingdom Hall. Eventually so-called friends of an activist pacifist group tried to get me to stay with them. An activist group leader came with me to talk with the Witness who was answering my questions. We discussed the Bible and other matters late into the night. For the most part I sat back and listened. On one side I noticed that human philosophy and human wisdom predominated. On the other side, that of Jehovah’s witnesses, there were answers direct from the Bible​—God’s wisdom predominated. So what would I choose, human philosophy or Bible truth? Witness Hayley concluded the discussion that evening by quoting the Bible’s words at Joshua 24:15: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve; . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.”​—American Standard Version.

I DECIDE FOR BIBLE TRUTH

So with whom would I go? I visited this witness of Jehovah again and again and studied the Bible regularly. Our studies would continue even though there were air raids, bombs dropping not far away.

Soon I realized I had found a real purpose in life. I had found what I was seeking. Now I knew how I could serve the true God. But first I wrote letters of resignation to break off all connections with the Church of England and other groups. I wanted to break free from all false religion and to be truly neutral with regard to political matters, and so live in harmony with Bible principles.

In June 1940, I began to share these Bible truths with others, going from house to house. I had been so shy and timid and introverted​—and here I was now speaking to others about God’s Word, even sharing publicly in the distribution of The Watchtower. and its companion magazine, often using a magazine bag, wearing it in business districts through the war years.

Then on September 1, 1940, I was baptized at a convention in Manchester in symbol of my dedication to God. What now would be my course in life? I had the full-time ministry as a pioneer in mind.

PROCLAIMING BIBLE TRUTH FULL TIME

In September 1940, I turned in an application for the pioneer ministry, full-time preaching under the direction of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. My first assignment was Carlisle, not far from the lovely English Lake District. Here I had to find accommodations. So I left my few belongings in the Kingdom Hall and happily I found a person interested in God’s Word who offered me a place to stay.

In wartime fire-watching duties were imposed. I was assigned to fire-watch Carlisle Cathedral! Having abandoned the churches, I refused this duty; moreover I had already been accepted to fire-watch for the building where the Kingdom Hall was located. I was summoned to court and fined, with an alternative of one month’s imprisonment. As I refused to pay the fine, I was given one month to pay​—or prison. I landed in Durham prison, with meager wartime rations. After my release I was back in the pioneer ministry.

As I preached the Word of God in Chester-le-Street and later in Washington, County Durham, and Sunderland, the war years passed by quickly. In 1945 I had the privilege of visiting the Minister for War in the British war cabinet to request that the ban on the import of Watchtower magazines be lifted. He listened kindly, and I urged him to approach the Minister for Information to do something about it. I also visited local members of Parliament. How Jehovah strengthens one for such assignments, prayerfully undertaken! Happily, in due time the ban was lifted. But in spite of the ban, we never missed a study of The Watchtower, as the main articles were printed locally.

GILEAD AND ASSIGNMENT TO INDIA

After World War II, I filled out an application for Gilead School, a school to prepare one for a career as a missionary. I could hardly believe it when shortly thereafter I was invited to Gilead. What a privilege! By mid-June 1946, I was at the Watch Tower Society’s headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. It was a privilege to be in the eighth class of Gilead School, the first international one. I thoroughly enjoyed the association with classmates from many lands. Eventually I was assigned to India.

So here I am in India twenty-four years later and still pressing on in the preaching of the good news of God’s kingdom. During this time I have had many privileges. When the Watch Tower Society’s president visited India for our assembly in Bombay in April 1947, I received a surprise: I would be privileged to go round India and visit our first circuit assemblies here. In September 1947, about two weeks after the partition of India into India and Pakistan, I began this tour. Thousands of people were being killed because of religious hatred. How appropriate was the public talk I gave at these assemblies: “Blessed Are the Peacemakers”!

After preaching God’s Word for eight years in the cities of Bombay, Ahmednagar and Poona, I was given the privilege to act as circuit servant or supervisor to encourage the Christian congregations. So for the best part of thirteen years I traveled from the snowcapped Himalayas to near Cape Comorin at India’s southern tip. At one time I covered about half of India twice a year, traveling thousands of miles. As a result I have seen something of the animal creation in the wild: elephants, peacocks, monkeys, cobras​—and one tiger!

Naturally, life in India is different. One is surrounded by much poverty and difficult conditions. But I love my Indian Christian brothers, whether they live in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Mysore, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bengal, Andhra Pradesh or Delhi or any other part of India. In all these parts I mentioned they speak different languages, but all are united in the worship of the true God, Jehovah.

My Indian Christian brothers have been so kind to me, and we have many mature Indian Witnesses now. When I arrived in India in 1947, we had about two hundred proclaimers of God’s kingdom. Now we have over 3,300. I have lived with the Indian Witnesses, sitting on the floor at times and eating from banana leaves, which served as plates. But what kindness!

It was a surprise that I got early in 1953 when I was invited to attend the New World Society Assembly in New York! What a wonderful assembly that was! In 1958 again I attended the memorable “Divine Will” International Assembly in New York. In 1966 I returned to England for a long vacation, after being away for eight years. Another memorable year was 1969, when, on the way to the London “Peace on Earth” International Assembly, I visited Israel and went to Caesarea, Megiddo, Galilee, Nazareth, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho and other places associated with Jehovah’s works and the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ.

In India I have many spiritual brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers. I never married, deciding that singleness would be the better course for me. I know many from all parts of this vast country, and I can say that I love my Indian brothers very much. My heart wells up and thrills when I meet them at assemblies. With all of Jehovah’s people in all the world we are one.

I am sixty-two years of age and still cycle around in Delhi, India, one of the hottest capitals in the world in June! I go to my Bible studies and from house to house, preaching and teaching the good news. Really, what a wonderful life! I thank Jehovah God for all the provisions that he makes through his organization to supply us with so much to use, for example, The Watchtower in seven of our Indian languages. I also have a lovely home in which to live. Truly, serving God full time is a grand work. How grateful I am that I ‘kept on seeking’ and so found what I had long looked for​—God’s truth!

Missionaries Told to Be Loyal, Merciful

SEPTEMBER 7, 1971, was graduation day for one hundred students of the 51st class of the Watchtower Society’s missionary school of Gilead. The graduation, held at Jehovah’s Witnesses Assembly Hall in New York city, began with fine remarks by the school’s instructors. The highlight was an address by the school’s president, N. H. Knorr.

‘Jehovah is “loyal in all his works,”’ President Knorr told the graduating class, ‘but the question is, Will you be loyal to him?’ (Ps. 145:17) After showing the importance of remaining loyal to God, the Society’s president emphasized the need for loyalty to God’s organization. He told the students that sometimes things interfere with one’s showing loyalty. For example, problems can come up because of living in close association with others in a missionary home.

Helping the audience to get the right viewpoint, Brother Knorr emphasized that all Christians are sinners. ‘All, including overseers, make mistakes. So when this happens, will you pack up and leave your missionary assignment? Or will you remain loyal to God’s organization?’ he asked. Brother Knorr told the graduating students to remember that Jehovah is guiding his organization.

He explained that at Matthew 18:15-17 Jesus outlined the way to settle a fault with one’s Christian brother: Go and talk with him; if he does not listen, bring along one or two mature Christians. But sometimes, due to fear of an overseer, these vital two steps are not taken in settling a fault with that one. Then Brother Knorr quoted Proverbs 29:25: “Trembling at men is what lays a snare.” So fear of man should not deter you from doing what God wants you to do, Brother Knorr stressed. If you fail to go to that one, then you may lay a snare or trap for yourself, and it could lead to laying a snare for others.

But how might a fearful one be laying a snare for others? By gossiping about an overseer to others, and thus causing them also to become fearful of him. ‘Gossiping about the faults of an overseer is not showing loyalty to God’s organization. So if difficulties arise due to human imperfection,’ he said, ‘go to your brother and follow Jesus’ counsel and so enjoy peace.’

Then the Society’s president went on to highlight the need for mercy. Using the example of Joseph’s mercy to his brothers (Gen. 37:1-36; 39:1–45:28), he told the graduating students to be merciful to new ones in God’s organization, to those in a missionary home and to overseers, for Jesus said: “I want mercy, and not sacrifice.” (Matt. 9:13) So be filled with mercy, counseled Brother Knorr.

In his talk, the Society’s president also told the audience that the arrangement of rotating overseers, announced at the “Divine Name” Assemblies, would be put into effect at Bethel, the Society’s headquarters, on September 13, 1971. He explained that the members of the governing body of Jehovah’s witnesses will rotate on a weekly basis with regard to conducting the morning Bible text discussions and the Monday night Watchtower study. Thus the Society’s headquarters will be putting the rotating arrangement into effect more than a year before the congregations do.

Just prior to the main address, the Society’s vice-president, F. W. Franz, explained to the graduating class the meaning of Mark 9:49, 50: “Everyone must be salted with fire. . . . Have salt in yourselves, and keep peace between one another.”

Is the “fire” in Mr 9 verse 49 referring to persecution or trials? No, he explained, for the context shows that the “fire” of Gehenna is being discussed. And the word “everyone” refers not just to any person but to those anointed Christians who allow their hands, feet or eyes to stumble them or others into unfaithfulness. Such persons must be salted with the fire of eternal destruction.

But how are faithful Christians to have “salt” in themselves? And how does this relate to the life of a missionary? Brother Franz explained that the salt in Mr 9 verse 50 stands for that quality in Christians that causes them to do and say things that are in good taste. Any Christian should do things in a way that is tasteful from a Christian standpoint. In this way he will not stumble anyone in God’s organization. “O dear missionaries,” he counseled, “have salt in yourselves!”

After the students received their diplomas, one of them read a letter that said, among other things: “We came to school to study, but that was anticipated. What we did not foresee was the warmth and scope of the welcome we received from the Bethel Family. You brothers and sisters opened your hearts to us. We want to thank you with all our hearts.”

The program concluded with delightful songs put on by the graduates and also with a Bible drama entitled “Are You a Merciful Person?” Based on the Bible account of Joseph and his brothers, it underscored that quality that the Society’s president had earlier stressed. It was evident from much applause that the need for being merciful and loyal was keenly appreciated by those present.

Questions From Readers

● Does the Bible indicate that a person who wants to serve God should refrain from using tobacco?​—U.S.A.

The Bible does not mention tobacco, since it was not used, as far as history records, during the time of Bible writing. But we can arrive at a conclusion regarding tobacco use through a consideration of Bible principles.

The Christian is engaged in a race for life. The apostle Paul called this fact to the attention of the Christians in Corinth, who were familiar with the Isthmian games, held nearby. The contestants in these games underwent a rigid training schedule that occupied most of their time, under the strict supervision of judges. One who broke a rule was disqualified.

Paul, drawing on these facts, impressed upon the minds of Christians that they were constantly under the eye of the great Judge, Jehovah. Pointing out that living up to the rules of the Christian race entails fighting the desires of the flesh, he said: “Every man taking part in a contest exercises self-control in all things. . . . I pummel my body and lead it as a slave, that, after I have preached to others, I myself should not become disapproved somehow.”​—1 Cor. 9:24-27.

The apostle wrote later to Christians in Rome: “Present your bodies a sacrifice living, holy, acceptable to God, a sacred service with your power of reason.” (Rom. 12:1) “Holy” has the sense of cleanness both in a physical and a spiritual way. Christians are to cleanse themselves from “every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in God’s fear.”​—2 Cor. 7:1.

Personal uncleanliness is undesirable and detrimental, particularly to a Christian. Willingly following a habit that involves taking poisonous substances into the body, contaminating it, hinders one in serving God. If the smell of tobacco, or the stained appearance in the mouth and on the teeth is noticeable to others, it distracts people’s attention from the Kingdom good news one is proclaiming. It also detracts from the fineness, beauty and attractiveness of the worship of God that one represents and advocates.

A person who caters to the desires of the fallen flesh and who habitually overeats or partakes of something detrimental to his body becomes a slave to his appetite. The apostle said: “All things are lawful for me; but I will not let myself be brought under authority by anything.” Then he went on to say, in effect, that the one letting himself be controlled by anything would be no more lasting than the thing controlling him. “Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods; but God will bring both it and them to nothing,” he declared. (1 Cor. 6:12, 13) Certainly we do not want to come under the control of something that is destroyed in being used, whether food, tobacco, or anything else.

These Scriptural thoughts regarding the use of tobacco are not new. Some, when learning them, had in mind applying them in their lives, yet put it off for a future day. They found they could associate with Jehovah’s witnesses without completely stopping their use of tobacco. So, now, though they have a certain feeling of guilt about their tobacco habit, they are not putting forth a real effort to break it.

However, such individuals ought to ask themselves sincerely: Does pursuing such a course that shows indifference toward the application of Bible principles meet with Jehovah’s approval? Does the person who continues to practice what he acknowledges to be wrong truly love Jehovah ‘with all his heart’? Or does he instead find pleasure in that which is displeasing to God? If he really wants to be found among those whom Jehovah will favor with life in his new order, he needs to put forth earnest effort to bring his life into harmony with God’s Word now. Remember that when certain ones of Jesus’ disciples asked him: “Lord, are those who are being saved few?” he counseled them to exert themselves vigorously because many would seek to get into the Kingdom but would not be able.​—Luke 13:23, 24; Matt. 22:37.

Paul wrote in similar vein: “Keep strict watch that how you walk is not as unwise but as wise persons, buying out the opportune time for yourselves, because the days are wicked. On this account cease becoming unreasonable [not using false or specious reasoning to support something we may want to justify], but go on perceiving what the will of Jehovah is.” (Eph. 5:8-17) One should ‘buy out’ the time and not delay in giving up a bad habit. The days are wicked and delay in obeying in one matter may lead to greater disobedience in other ways.

Christians want to have a good conscience toward God now, for this is essential to wholehearted worship of him. If one now using tobacco is contemplating baptism, he should consider this matter seriously, because baptism indicates, “not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the request made to God for a good conscience.” (1 Pet. 3:21) He should put away all filth of the flesh beforehand. He would be somewhat inconsistent in asking for a completely good conscience if he knew that he was failing or refusing to give up an unclean, harmful habit. And if he has already been baptized he should get rid of the habit now so that there is no hindrance to his good conscience, and be thankful to God for His undeserved kindness.​—Heb. 4:16.

Some desiring to quit the tobacco habit may feel very discouraged and downhearted. But we have apostolic assurance that we can break any bad habit through faith in the power of Christ’s ransom sacrifice and with God’s help. Paul described his own fight against fallen, sinful flesh, concluding: “Miserable man that I am! Who will rescue me from the body undergoing this death? Thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” He also wrote: “For all things I have the strength by virtue of him who imparts power to me.”​—Rom. 7:21-25; Phil. 4:13.

If you are having difficulty in breaking the tobacco habit, you should pray fervently to God for help. Additionally, you are counseled: “Remember those who are taking the lead among you, who have spoken the word of God to you, and as you contemplate how their conduct turns out imitate their faith.” (Heb. 13:7) Then you will observe the examples that please God. You will feel encouraged, for many of these men have experienced the difficulty you are having. They will help you. Talk with them, get their advice and prayers for you.​—Jas. 5:13-18.

Further, to the extent that you are able, associate with those who are free from the habit. It is also a great help to have a close associate whom you can quickly call on the telephone or whom you can visit when you feel the “urge” to use tobacco. Then, keep yourself busy with a study of the Bible, with the things you have to do to care for your family, with meetings where the Bible is discussed, and any service of God that you can perform. Only by this course can you be sure to break the bad habit and substitute good habits. You will be doing it in order to be a better, more acceptable glorifier of Jehovah’s name. And God will be pleased with you.​—Prov. 27:11.

● Isaiah 7:8 states that within “sixty-five years” Ephraim was to be “shattered to pieces so as not to be a people.” When did this happen?​—U.S.A.

This prophecy was given after Pekah the king of Israel invaded Judah during the reign of King Ahaz. (Isa. 7:1) According to the Bible, Pekah reigned for a period of about twenty years, and in the seventeenth year of his reign, or in 762 B.C.E., Ahaz became king. (2 Ki. 15:27; 16:1) So it must have been not long after 762 B.C.E. that the sixty-five years of Isaiah’s prophecy began to count. In 740 B.C.E. the Assyrians overthrew the Northern Kingdom of Israel. So, that kingdom, with Ephraim as its dominant tribe, came to its end approximately twenty years after Isaiah foretold that Ephraim would be “shattered to pieces.” However, it was not until the reign of Esar-haddon the king of Assyria that a final transplantation of foreign peoples into Israelite territory occurred. (Ezra 4:2) Apparently with the deportation of Israelites and this final transplantation of foreigners, Ephraim was “shattered to pieces so as not to be a people.” Between the fall of the Northern Kingdom and Esar-haddon’s rule, the reigns of Assyrian kings Sargon and Sennacherib had intervened. Inscriptions show Esar-haddon to be a contemporary of Judean King Manasseh (whose rule ran from 716 B.C.E. to 661 B.C.E.). So, the interval extending from the time that the words of Isaiah 7:8 were uttered until Esar-haddon’s transplantation effort would certainly allow for the sixty-five-year period of Isaiah’s prophecy.

Christendom’s End Foretold

Over 2,500 years ago God inspired Ezekiel to write down future events. What he wrote about Jerusalem occurred. His writings also pointed to the end of Christendom and her churches. Learn why she deserves the fate foretold for her.

Read the surprising details in the 416-page book “The Nations Shall Know that I Am Jehovah”​—How? It presents a verse-by-verse consideration of the Bible book of Ezekiel. See how amazingly accurate Ezekiel’s prophecies have proved to be. The book will be sent postpaid for only 50c.

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