They shall know that I am Jehovah

A Healthful Means of Gain Mystery Solved ....................

Sent “in the Flesh”...............

More Healthful than Bodily Training 251

A Way of Life with Contentment ....263

Healthful Teachings ...............

“A Sufficiency of One’s Own^!

Nearing the Portals of the New World...........

Hosea Proclaims Jehovah’s Mercy ....270 An Interesting Letter in re Memorial 271 "King for All Earth"

Testimony Period ........................

“Watchtower” Studies ......................

Annual Meeting of Watch Tower

Bible and Tract Society............

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THE WATCHTOWER,

Published Semimonthly By

WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY 117 Adams Street •   - Brooklyn 1, N.Y., U.S.A

Officers

N. H. Knorb, President               Grant Suiter, Secretary

“And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children." - Isaiah 54:13.

THE BIBLE CLEARLY TEACHES

THAT JEHOVAH is the only true God, from everlasting to everlasting, and is the Maker of heaven and earth and Giver of life to his creatures; that the Word or Logos was the beginning of his creation and his active agent in creating all other things; and that the creature Lucifer rebelled against Jehovah and raised the issue of His universal sovereignty;

THAT GOD created the earth for man, made perfect man for the earth and placed him upon it; that man yielded to unfaithful Lucifer, or Satan, and willfully disobeyed God's law and was sentenced to death; that by reason of Adam’s wrong act all men are born sinners and without the right to life;

THAT THE LOGOS was made human as the man Jesus and suffered death In order to produce the ransom or redemptive price for obedient men; that God raised up Christ Jesus divine and exalted him to heaven above every other creature and clothed him with all power and authority as head of God’s new capital organization;

THAT GOD’S CAPITAL ORGANIZATION is a Theocracy called Zion, and that Christ Jesus is the Chief OHicer thereof and is the rightful King of the new world; that the faithful anointed followers of Christ Jesus are Zion's children, members of Jehovah's organization, and are His witnesses whose duty and privilege It is to testify to Jehovah’s supremacy and declare his purposes toward mankind as expressed in the Bible;

THAT THE OLD WORLD, or Satan’s uninterrupted rule, ended A.D. 1914, and Christ Jesus has been placed by Jehovah upon the throne, has ousted Satan from heaven, and now proceeds to vindicate His name and establish the “new earth";

THAT THE RELIEF and blessings of the peoples can come only by Jehovah's kingdom under Christ, which has begun; that Ills next great act is to destroy Satan’s organization and establish righteousness completely in the earth ; and that under the Kingdom the people of good-will surviving Armageddon will carry out the divine mandate to “fill the earth” with righteous offspring, and that the human dead in the graves will be raised to opportunities of life on earth.

ITS MISSION

HIS journal Is published for the purpose of enabling the people to know Jehovah God and his purposes as expressed in the Bible. It publishes Bible instruction specifically designed to aid Jehovah’s witnesses and all people of good-will.

It arranges systematic Bible study for Its readers and the Society supplies other literature to aid in such studies. It publishes suitable material for radio broadcasting and for other means of public instruction in the Scriptures.

It adheres strictly to the Bible as authority for its utterances. It is entirely free and separate from all religion, parties, sects or other worldly organizations. It is wholly and without reservation for the kingdom of Jehovah God under Christ his beloved King. It is not dogmatic, but Invites careful and critical examination of Its contents in the light of the Scriptures. It does not indulge in controversy, and Its columns are not open to personalities.

Notice to Subscribers: Remittances should be sent to office In your country In compliance with regulations to guarantee safe delivery of money. Remittances are accepted at Brooklyn from countries where no office Is located, by International money order only. Subscription rates in different countries are stated below in local currency. Notice of ej-puution (with renewal blank) is sent at least two issues before subscription expires. Chance of address when sent to our office may be expected effective within one month. Send your old as well as new address.

Please address the Watch Tower Society in every case.

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Translations of this journal appear in many languages.

ALL SINCERE STUDENTS OF THE BIBLE who by reason of infirmity, poverty or adiersity are unable to pay the subscription price may have The Watchtower tree upon written application to the publisher.-,, made once each year, stating the reason for so requesting it. We are glad to thus aid the needy, but the written application once each sear is required by the postal regulations.

Printed in the United States of America

Entered as second-class matter at the post office at Brooklyn, N. Y., under the Act of March s, lies.

“KING FOR ALL EARTH” TESTIMONY PERIOD

For a world-wide testimony to the one “King for all the earth” the month of October has been set aside. During that favorable season all subjects of Jehovah’s King, who now reigns despite his enemies, will join in special efforts to advertise the King and his kingdom. The Awake! magazine will be the principal offer to the people, a year’s subscription for $1.00. For those who are readers of Awake! already, the offer will be three bound books on a contribution of $1.00. The books to be offered are “Let God Be True”, “The Kingdom Is at Hand", and “The Truth Shall Make You Free", besides the latest booklet, Permanent Governor of All Nations. This is not book-ageney work, but is ambassadorial work for winning subjects to the new world’s King. Viewing it that Scriptural way, Watchtower readers will appreciate the honor of.it and will want to show their allegiance to the “King for all the earth” by sharing in this special work of October. We anticipate that many will write for references and instructions and supplies. We want to put all such in happy contact with the organized active subjects of the King. We close with a reminder of your reporting at the end of this Testimony Period.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

Week of October 3: “A Healthful Means of Gain,” 1-21 inclusive, The Watchtower September 1, 1948.

Week of October 10: “A Way of Life with Contentment,” 1-17 inclusive, The Watchtower September 1, 1948.

ANNUAL MEETING

of watch tower bible and tract society

The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, a nonprofit Pennsylvania corporation, will hold the annual meeting of its members on Friday, October 1, 1948, at 10:00 o’clock, forenoon, at the registered office of the Society, Wabash Building, 410 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh 22, Pennsylvania. Regular business of the corporation will be then transacted.

This announcement merely supplements the regular notices of the meeting, which are being mailed to the members together with proxy forms. Every member, whether attending the meeting in person or not, should mail his proxy to the office of the secretary of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn 2, New York, by September 15, 1948.

SAVE

your personal or home copy of each issue of The Watchtower. Do not throw them away, but preserve them in a binder or drawer or on library shelves. At the end of each year, in its December 15 issue, The Watchtower contains an index of subjects and an index of all the scriptures cited, quoted and commented upon in all the leading articles throughout the year. By saving your copies and keeping them in date order you will have an invaluable reference Hbrary for consultation in your study of the Bible. Organized companies should preserve copies in the library of their local Theocratic ministry course school.

ANNOUNCING JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM

Vol. LXIX                           September 1, 1948                                No. 17

A HEALTHFUL MEANS OF GAIN

"Supposing godliness to be a means of gain! Now it is a great means of gain—godliness, with a sufficiency of one’s own.”—1 Tim. 6:5,6, Rotherham.

JEHOVAH knows the most healthful way of living. The health that it brings us if we follow it means everlasting life to us. Christendom has failed to bring this healthful way of life to this world, notwithstanding her sixteen centuries of existence and her hundreds of religions and her 592,406,542 members. Today she is in a spiritually and morally diseased condition worse than ever in her history. Her sickness is one spelling her death soon. Her condition with all its symptoms fits the prediction of what was due to come in the last days of her life, namely: “Know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money [high profits, revenues, salaries, wages], boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof: . . . evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” —2 Tim. 3:1-5,13, Am. Stan. Ver.

• ² In such a condition Christendom could never be God’s organization. The trouble with her is, she does not walk in God’s wholesome laws and ways. She is the dominant part of this wicked world and she is as worldly as any other part of it. She is soaked through with religious hypocrisy and holds to only a “form of godliness”. Because she does not have true godliness and its health-giving power she will die. All her selfish gain will be lost forever.

• ³ She has gone out of the way of godliness for the sake of gaining all this world has to offer. For this she will lose her own soul, her life. Thinking that an injection of a form of godliness would immunize her against sin’s penalty, death, she has not minded the words of Christ, whom she loudly boasts of following: “For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?” (Matt. 16: 26, Douay) Christendom has been willing to exchange her soul for the selfish political, commercial and religious gains she has won from this world. Her whole system is now pierced with the continual pangs of distress, suffering, sorrow, suspicions, perplexity, and fear. Shortly she will sink to her ruin and destruction. She cannot escape the penalty for ignoring the warning she has often read: “They that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”—1 Tini. 6:9,10, Am. Stan. Ver.

* The way of this world is a sickly way of death. Christendom has been walking in it and leading her religious flocks in it. Now she and they are near the end of the way 1 All along she has copied worldliness, which is the opposite of godliness. If honest-hearted men and women both inside and outside of Christendom have become disgusted with her religious sham, it is only fair to God that we have them understand that Christendom’s practice of religion in hundreds of forms is not true godliness. Men and women should not reproach Jehovah God, thinking he approves of her hypocrisy and does not see through it. They should not blame him for all the disastrous results that have befallen this world due to her inconsistent professions and actions. To pass a correct judgment upon godliness, they should first come to know what it is, and its benefits.

• ⁵ In spite of his perfection, the first man Adam did not set the perfect example of godliness for us. He broke off from devotion to God and hunted for selfish gain, and this has led to all of our ills which end up in death. Adam did not vindicate God as Creator by worshiping him and obeying him in the face of temptation, but yielded to the wicked one, Satan the Devil. Whereas that wicked one set himself to destroy all godliness from the earth and to keep it out, Jehovah at once declared in Eden his purpose to put a man on earth who would display

  1, 2 What is the reason for Christendom's spiritually sick state?        4. Why should the honest not misjudge godliness by Christendom?

  3. Why has she not walked the godly way, ignoring what warning?   5. How and why was the “mystery of godliness” Introduced?

  
  

perfect godliness, dying rather than swerve over to the Devil’s world. Godliness is at enmity with this world, and so in declaring his purpose Jehovah God said to the Devil: “And enmity will I put between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed,—he shall crush thy head, but thou shalt crush his heel.” (Gen. 3:15, Rotherham) This statement of purpose introduced a mystery. For four thousand years after that it remained a sacred secret, namely, Who will be this perfect exemplar of godliness, the Seed of God’s “woman”? All creatures had to admit that the secret was great indeed, for angels as well as many faithful men, and wicked schemers also, tried to delve into the meaning of the secret. None of them solved the mystery. (1 Pet. 1:10-12) Then, nineteen centuries ago, Jehovah opened up this secret of godliness, and the apostle Paul called attention to it, saying: “And evidently great is the mystery of godliness, which was manifested in the flesh, was justified in the spirit, appeared unto angels, hath been preached unto the Gentiles, is believed in the world, is taken up in glory.”—1 Tim. 3:16, Douay.

MYSTERY SOLVED

• ⁶ How was this “mystery of godliness” solved? By producing the Seed of God’s “woman” and by proving that it was absolutely godly. Jehovah God solved the mystery in this way by sending his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to give a perfect demonstration under the most searching test. The test was made with Jesus Christ in the flesh to the extent of letting his ‘heel be bruised by the deceitful Serpent’. Under test he proved that a man in the flesh can be tried to the very limit, a most shameful and painful death, and yet hold onto perfect godliness. Satan the Devil has made himself the “god of this world” and wants everybody in it to become worldly according to the style of this world. He tries to get all to worship him as god by becoming a part of this world and thereby giving their allegiance to the Devil’s domination. Conforming oneself to the Devil’s wishes is worldliness, and it denies the universal sovereignty of Jehovah God. Worldliness and godliness are exact opposites. By cleaving to godliness in the midst of the Devil’s world Jesus Christ vindicated the universal sovereignty of God his Father. He refused to bow down and worship Satan the Devil and to become a part of his wicked world. He did not go worldly.

• ⁷ For suffering the final heel-wound because of his godliness, Jesus Christ gained the most glorious reward. He had left the spirit realms in order to become man and undergo the test in the flesh. But at his resurrection from a martyr’s death he was restored to the spirit realms. As an immortal spirit creature he was exalted to God’s righthand. Jehovah God then instructed Jesus to sit at his right hand and wait till his Father should glorify him with Kingdom power and honor, making all his foes to be his footstool. Then Jesus Christ as reigning King would vindicate his Father completely by destroying all such enemies.—Ps. 110:1-6; Heb. 10: 12, 13.

• ⁸ Jesus’ course of absolute godliness and the eternal gain to which it led were foretold in veiled language in God’s prophecies from Genesis to Malachi. No wonder it was long a mystery! The apostle Paul admits it was a great one when he writes: “And confessedly great is the sacred secret of godliness, —Who was made manifest in flesh, was declared righteous in spirit, was made visible unto messengers [angels], was proclaimed among nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.” (1 Tim. 3:16, Rotherham) It was not Jehovah God himself, but was his beloved Son Jesus Christ that was thus “made manifest in flesh”. He was a fleshly descendant of King David with whom a covenant for an everlasting Idngdom had been made. By his devotion to Jehovah as God and Universal Sovereign, Jesus held fast to that kingdom covenant as its Heir. Hence when raised from death he was “declared righteous”, or was justified, vindicated. But this justification or vindication was given him in the spirit by rewarding him with spirit life at his resurrection. When he returned to the spirit realms from which he descended to earth, Jesus Christ was again seen in the midst of God’s holy messengers or angels in heaven. This paved the way for fulfilling the scripture: “And when he again bringeth in the firstborn into the world he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.” (Heb. 1:6, Am.Stan. Ver.) At his resurrection he was made so much better than the angels. His godliness on earth under test in the flesh was the healthful means of this great gain.

’ For the three and a half years of ministry in the flesh Jesus confined his preaching and miracles almost exclusively to the Jews. For three and a half years after his resurrection from the dead his disciples preached him exclusively to the Jewish nation and their relatives, the Samaritans. At the end of that time Jehovah God sent Peter the apostle to preach the good news of Christ to the Gentile nations. Shortly afterward the apostle Paul began having a large part in preaching this profoundly great “mystery of godliness” to the Gentile nations. Paul, writing to the Colossians about A.D. 60, shows how widely the gospel-preaching had expanded, when he speaks of the “gospel, which is come unto you; even as it is also in all the world . . . the gospel

• 8. How was he made manifest, justified, and seen of angels?

0 To whom was he preached, by whom believed on, and how glorified? which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven”. (Col. 1:5,6,23, Am.Stan. Ver.) There was a response by the Gentiles to this expanded preaching, and consequently Jesus Christ “was believed on in the world” as well as “proclaimed among nations”. Finally, A.D. 1914, he was “received up into glory” by being placed upon the heavenly throne to act as “King of kings” for Jehovah God, to rule in the midst of his enemies. This glorious elevation of him was pictured prophetically at Revelation 12:1-5. Since then the preaching of this good news of the Kingdom has been expanded to all nations, to fulfill Jesus’ own prophecy on how to recognize the near end of this world: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”—Matt. 24:14.

SENT “IN THE FLESH”

• ¹⁰ Godliness means service and devotion to God and his universal sovereignty. When manifesting this important trait in the flesh Christ Jesus preached the good news of God’s kingdom. He also arranged for his disciples after his resurrection and ascension to heaven to expand the preaching by making disciples not only of the Jews but also of all nations. He was “manifested in the flesh” for the purpose of bearing witness to Jehovah God and his kingdom. When declaring his godly separateness from this world, Jesus testified to Governor Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world: . . . Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.” (John 18: 36, 37) On coming into this world, even to the Jews, his brethren according to the flesh, it was highly necessary for Jesus to prove he was sent from heaven by his Father, Jehovah God. Why? In order for men to receive him as God’s Seed of His “woman”.

• ¹¹ The apostle Peter declared Jesus Christ was the Prophet whom Moses had foretold and who was to be a prophet greater than Moses. (Acts 3:20-23; Deut. 18:15-19) When Jehovah God was commissioning Moses to go down into Egypt, Moses said: “Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name! what shall I say unto them?” Jehovah’s angel then told Moses to declare Jehovah sent him and that he came in Jehovah’s name. To prove this Moses was given power to perform miraculous signs, even curing leprosy. Hence, in order to furnish more than human proof that he was sent by Jehovah God and came in His name, Moses performed miracles both before his own Israelite

10, 11. Why must he prove he was sent, and how must he prove It? brethren and before the ruler Pharaoh and all Egypt. (Ex. 3:13 to 4:9; 7:1 to 12:30) If, now, Jesus Christ was the promised Prophet greater than Moses, he must likewise be sent by Jehovah God and be able to prove it by signs even greater than those performed by Moses. Otherwise, Jews loyal to Moses would never let go of him and go over to Jesus as the Greater Moses. Jesus furnished proof. He persistently claimed to be sent by Jehovah and to have come in Jehovah’s name. To back up this claim, as Moses had done, Jesus did many more miracles than Moses did, and more marvelous. He not only cured leprosy, but also raised the dead and freed his disciples from the whole world, of which ancient Egypt was once the dominant part.

• ¹² In proof of being the Greater Moses sent by and in the name of Jehovah God his Father Jesus said to the Jews who professed loyalty to Moses: “I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. ... I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not. . . . There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.” (John 5:36,37, 43,45,46) In spite of the hardhearted refusal of most of the natural Jews to receive him as the Greater Moses, Jesus proved his godliness by remaining loyally devoted to his Superior, his Sender. Down to his death as God’s great Martyr he carried out the earthly mission upon which he was sent. In his earthly life in the flesh he found godliness to be the way of gaining his heavenly Father’s approval and blessings and all the privileges of acting as Uis witness and minister. But when he was resurrected from the dead he found that godliness on earth had been the means of gaining vindication in the spirit and gaining all the heavenly blessings to which this vindication introduced him. His godliness proved to be the most profitable course, both in this life and in the life to come. It was, indeed, the means of everlasting gain. It has always been such, and Jesus' gain recommends that way of life also to us.

MORE HEALTHFUL THAN BODILY TRAINING

• ¹³ A.D. 1914 was the time when the perfect Exemplar of godliness was “received up into glory”, for then he was installed as acting “King of kings and Lord of lords”. This means we are living in the “latter times” of this world. For that reason what Paul writes after describing the “mystery of godliness” has a peculiar application to us living thirty-four years since 1914. Paul warns us that in later 12. How was his godliness a means of gain on earth and afterward? 13, 14. What did the spirit distinctly say as to our times, and why? times many would not follow the “mystery of godliness”, but would revolt against faith in it and in its profitableness. So Paul referred to the Holy Scriptures which had been given by inspiration of the spirit and he also wrote under inspiration of that same spirit of God and said: “The spirit distinctly says that in later times some will turn away from the faith, and devote their attention to deceitful spirits and the things that demons teach through the pretensions of liars—men with seared consciences who forbid people to marry and insist on abstinence from certain kinds of food.”—1 Tim. 4:1-3, An Amer. Trans.

• ¹⁴ So, look about you today for men that fit that description in Christendom. They have a sickly or morbid craving for religious arguments and quarreling and try to dictate in the lives of God’s people. They follow the “mystery of iniquity” instead of that of godliness. They expose themselves to the demons by going contrary to the Bible and giving themselves over to worldly teachings opposed to godliness. During Jesus’ days in the flesh those demons and evil spirits opposed him, and he cast out many of them from demonized people. He has freed us from their power. Let us not be like men who lose faith and become enticed by the demons.

• ¹⁵ Seeing we are in the time when the demons are expanding their power over mankind, we must heed what Paul advised us for our lasting good. He wrote Timothy, who was a young overseer in the Christian congregation and who was to be an example to his brethren. Keeping in mind the lesson taught by the “mystery of godliness”, Paul told Timothy: “Have nothing to do with godless and silly myths. Train yourself in godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.” (1 Tim. 4:7-10, Rev. Stan. Ver.) Timothy’s father was a Greek, and in his day the Greeks were much addicted to physical training such as gymnastic exercises, athletics and field sports. Contrary to that popular form of worldliness, Paul gave no instructions to Timothy as overseer to build gynasiums alongside of Christian meeting-places, and to organize youth movements in order to keep children off the streets and prevent juvenile delinquency; and to establish organizations of “knights” with militaristic training and exercises to keep the physical bodies of the mature and aging Christians in good health. No; Paul set no example for Christendom’s bishops to do so.

15. 1C. (a) How did Paul differ from this world on bodily exercise? (b) How Is bodily training shown of small service to Christendom?

¹⁸ Paul was not shortsighted spiritually. He did not natrow his view down to our brief life in this unhealthy world. He looked to the eternal future also, as of more importance. He honestly admitted that bodily exercises were of some physical value, but just a little, for a little while at most. Statuary of ancient times reveal what beautiful bodies the athletic Greeks and Romans developed by physical training. Much earlier, Nimrod king of Babylon introduced athletic exercises to build up a strong army of aggression. (Gen. 10:8-10) But such physical training did not throw off the condemnation of death. It did not stop the dying processes in the men exercising and training. Today Christendom’s leading religious organizations go in strongly for athletics, gymnastic exercises, and religio-military societies and orders. But at the same time we have increase of juvenile delinquency, general godlessness and sexual diseases. We have the prophecy for the “last days” fulfilled in a crop of religious “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God”. Isaiah’s prophetic description finds a greater fulfillment in Christendom than in ancient Israel: ^tcWhy will you earn fresh strokes, for holding on in your revolt? Your whole head is sick, your whole heart is diseased ; from the sole of the foot to the head, no part is sound; nothing but bruises and gashes, and raw, bleeding wounds, unsqueezed, unbandaged, unsoftened with oil. Your land lies desolate, your towns are burned, and foreigners ravage your soil under your very eyes.” (Isa. 1:5-7, Moffatt) Ah, yes, bodily training is only of some small service to Christendom.

¹¹ Paul’s wisdom is better than that of this world in urging us to train in godliness. This, too, is strenuous. It calls for activity just the same as bodily exercise does, but the benefits are greater and more lasting. It does not mean living a retired sanctimonious life like a hermit or walled up in monkeries and nunneries, shunning contact with the daily flow of human life and dodging opposition and persecution. Out of his own experience Paul said to Timothy: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Tim. 3:12) If we do not want to give up our devotion to God under pressure of persecution it certainly requires training to make us strong in godliness as Jesus was. He showed godliness in a very active way, acting as God’s minister, prophet and witness. He got right out among the people, visiting their homes, preaching the good news of God’s kingdom to them, healing their sicknesses, protecting them against religious frauds, and building up a missionary school of gospel-preachers. There was nothing lazy or weak about his godliness. Regardless of the bitterest per-

17. What training did Paul advise, and how is it strenuous?

seeution from the religious leaders of Israel, he held fast to his devotion and service to God and resisted all compromise with the opposing world. Under the conditions of the flesh he trained in godliness by displaying faithful endurance and loving obedience. Paul trained to be like Jesus. So he followed Jesus' example and kept very active as a gospel-preacher, continually trying to expand his Christian ministry as an apostle or “sent one”. He said, “To this end we toil and strive.”—1 Tim. 4:10, Rev. Stan. Ver.

• ¹⁸ Take notice that “godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come”. If it is as profitable as that, then it is a means of gain, indeed. And it really is. By what other way could we gain the forgiveness of sin and the peace of mind this brings? Also the relationship with God as his children and servants, and the joy, the knowledge, the protection, care and provision, and the privileges of service, all due to godliness. These are all things of the present life.

• ¹⁹ Do not think, though, that godliness does not profit us also physically now. It safeguards us against all the ills, excesses, expenses and dangers to which worldliness exposes us. We read: “Fear Jehovah, and depart from evil: it will be health to thy navel, and marrow [refreshing] to thy bones.” Of the benefit of words of godly instruction we read, as follows: “Keep them in the midst of thy heart. Fox- they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.” “Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.” (Prov. 3:7,8 and 4:21,22 and 16:24, Am. Stan. Ver.) Pursuing godliness we avoid the way of sexual sins and all the physical disease and deterioration it means; for we read: “Whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. . . . Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.” (Prov. 6: 32, 33; 7:10-23) Undeniably, godliness is a means of gain in physical health.

• ²⁰ As for physical exercise, with all the benefits

• 18, 19. How is godliness profitable for our life now, physically?

20 How does it bring beneficial physical exercise? this brings the body, think of all the motion in Jesus and his apostles’ lives as they traveled from place to place, and from one end of the land to the other, afoot, entering into the temple, synagogues and homes, using out-of-door settings, mountainsides, seasides, and grassy plains as locations to preach the gospel. If a person craves physical exercise he has merely to enter the ranks of publishers of the Kingdom, going from door to door and from house to house, climbing stairs or hills, tramping the city sidewalks or country roads, carrying a load of Kingdom literature to distribute, entering into the homes and lives of the people, observing their conditions and ways of life and thought. It is more interesting and exciting than listening to the radio, or watching the movies or television, or taking in a theatrical performance or a circus. Before the Kingdom publisher it lays bare, not just artificial stage play, but real life. Physically and mentally, there is nothing better than such practical godly exercise. If it does not cause chest expansion, it does bring expansion of the mind and of one’s gospel service.

²¹ All that has to do with the present life. But there is also promise for the life to come. The consecrated Christian that is begotten by the spirit of God to a heavenly inheritance with his Son, Jesus Christ, has “exceeding great and precious promises” of eternal life in the Kingdom. Godliness in this present life is the healthful means of realizing those promises at the resurrection to life immortal in the world to come. Then there are also the consecrated persons of good-will whom Christ Jesus the Good Shepherd is now enfolding as his “other sheep”. They have the delightful promises of eternal life on the paradise earth, with God’s Idngdom ruling above, Satan the Devil fully bound, and God’s will being done on earth as in heaven, and peace, prosperity and true knowledge and worship of God encircling the globe. Godliness now in our perilous times near this world’s end is the healthful means of gaining realization of those promises. It is the only way to gain God’s protection amid the battle of Armageddon and to be carried through alive into the righteous new world to come.

21. How does godliness have promise of the life to come?

A WAY OF LIFE WITH CONTENTMENT

FAR from being a sanctimonious garb worn by religious clergymen or a pious front worn on Sundays and when going to religious meetings, godliness is an everyday way of life. It takes hold on all of life’s relationships, whether one is a father, mother or child, an old person or young, a slave or

1. To what days and relationships does godliness apply’ freeman, an employer or a laborer, an appointed servant in a Christian company or just an average member. It tries to copy Jesus Christ, who unfolded the “mystery of godliness”. It strives to do all things as if they were being done directly to God. The apostle Paul showed how godliness is something for all to practice now, when he took notice of economic slaves and wrote: “Let slaves who are under the yoke account their masters deserving of all honor, that the name of the Lord and his teaching be not blasphemed. And when they have masters who are believers, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but let them serve them all the more because they who share in the benefit are believers and beloved.”—1 Tim. 6:1, 2, Cath. Conf rat.

• ¹ In apostolic days half of the Roman Empire was slave population. Many of these slaves, such as Onesimus, came to a knowledge of the gospel, consecrated themselves to Jehovah and became followers of his Son Jesus Christ. (Philem. 10-12) But this did not give slaves the license to run away, on the plea that they might gain a more direct part in God’s service. The apostle Paul was a Roman citizen and freeborn, but he did not enter worldly politics and try to make himself the prototype of Abraham Lincoln and emancipate the slaves by a costly, sanguinary war. The slaves had been bought, paid for, and brought into the establishments of their legal masters and directed to work. Those who heard Paul and Timothy preach the gospel and teachings of godliness must have had some time off from work. Paul told Timothy to instruct these slaves in the way of true godliness. A godly slave regards his legal master as deserving all the honor and respect due him. He will not run off to gain his freedom selfishly, but will continue on in his place as a slave doing the work laid upon him. In that way God’s name and the teachings of godliness would not become defamed. The Christian organization would not get a bad name as though it taught disrespect, disobedience and social disruption, and as though it operated an “underground” to help the escape.of runaway slaves.

• ³ If they used their yoke of slavery as an opportunity to show what Christian slaves aie, they could impress their masters and could advantageously talk Christianity to them. If their masters became Christian believers, that made no change with the master and slave socially. The slave should respect him just as much as when his master was an unbelieving Jew or pagan. Slavery, under that name, does not exist in Christendom today, but Paul’s words to Timothy still show the right relations between employers and employees, regardless of whether employers associations or trades and labor unions may agree or not. Paul was talking godliness and showing it is not a way of taking selfish advantage of another person, whether Christian or not. There is no reason for us to begin to disesteem a person in certain social relations just because that individual with whom or under whom we work should come into the truth.

• 2, 3. Why were slaves instructed to live godly, and how?

• ⁴ Suppose we work in an office or a factory and we interest the person we call “the boss” in the truth. If “the boss” comes to our meetings, gains the proper knowledge of the truth, consecrates to God and then goes out into the field service as an active witness of Jehovah, no reason has come into being why we should disrespect him, now that he has become our Christian brother. lie holds the same place over us as before. We may not lose our appreciation for his position in the commercial, industrial or other organization. We should not take liberties with him or presume upon him, thinking he should now be indulgent because he is now one of us as a Christian. We should render him all the service for which the job pays us. Paul told the slave to render all the better service because now the one getting the benefit of his good workmanship was a believer and hence a beloved brother. Love of our Christian brother and neighbor would be shown by not taking advantage of his Christlike mildness and rendering less service than was due. It is our employer that gets the advantage of our good work, and if he is now a Christian brother we should be all the more eager to deliver good service. In fact, the whole organization or enterprise benefits by our good service; and this means improved returns for us indirectly. So let us give good service returns for our pay, and not take unfair, selfish advantage of anyone because he is closely related in the truth. Neither our godliness nor that of others is to be used as a way of making selfish gain.

HEALTHFUL TEACHINGS

• ⁵ The principal theme in Paul’s first letter to Timothy was godliness, and he explained to Timothy what this was in practice. Timothy must, in turn, explain to other Christians what it meant and must insist upon it. Said Paul to the young oveiseer: “These things be teaching and exhorting:—If anyone doth otherwise teach and doth not adhere to healthful discourses—those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the teaching that is according to godliness, he is beclouded, knowing nothing rightly, but is diseased about questionings and word-battles— out of which spring envy, strife, defamations, wicked sunnisings, incessant quarrellings of men wholly corrupt in their mind and bereft of the truth, supposing godliness to be a means of gain! Now it is a great means of gain—godliness with a sufficiency of one’s own; for nothing brought we into the world, neither to take anything out are we able; and having sustenance and covering we shall be content.” —1 Tim. 6: 2-8, Roth.

• ⁸ The Lord Jesus Christ by his faithful course on earth unlocked the “mystery of godliness”. The 4 How do the godlv treat their employer*, whether Christian or not'' 5. G (a) Who gave healthful discourses, and how so? (b) Those opposing such discourses are how diseased beyond hiding it? things he taught by word and action were “healthful discourses”; they were teaching which accords with godliness. They lead to spiritual health which both profits us in this life and works for our profit in the life to come in the righteous new world. If Christendom had followed such healthful discourses of Christ during the sixteen centuries of her history, she would not be in her spiritually bankrupt state today. By word of mouth her religious leaders, politicians and social guides agree with what Paul says all through his letter about practical godliness, but the facts show they do not teach and practice what he says. They are not spiritually healthy, but are mentally “diseased about questionings and wordbattles”. It must be so, because Christendom is filled with envy, strife, defamations, wicked suspicions, incessant quarrelings, corrupt minds. These are the symptoms of something wrong inside, and Paul says they spring from a diseased mental and spiritual condition. Christendom has fooled herself into thinking a mere “form of godliness” has power to save and give health. It does not hide her corrupt, dying condition any more. Everybody can see she uses her “form of godliness” as a means of selfish worldly gain.

^T When professed Christians get to thinking that their adoption of godliness pro-ddes ways and means for selfish worldly gain, their minds have gone bad and have become corrupted. Such persons become lost to the truth. Sometimes people will associate with the truth thinking they are going to get some personal material gain from the individuals in God’s organization. A doctor may get closely acquainted with a few of God’s people and find it convenient to drum up a patronage among them and so find business coming from the congregation. Further to attract business from the congregation, he may adopt an appearance of activity and go out with the brethren in various forms of field activity. He puts up a front of godliness for selfish gain. He may not take undue advantage of the brethren while doing so. That is, he may give proper, yes, excellent treatment for the money he accepts from them, even better treatment than other doctors would give at the same rates. But the question is, What is the motive behind carrying on his practice among God’s people, getting patronage and financial returns for himself? If he is using godliness as a means of selfish gain, then his motive and mental attitude will injure him spiritually. His mind will grow corrupt. He will become bereft of the truth, lost! The Watch Tower Society does not co-operate with any such doctors, nor with others who commercialize their association with Jehovah’s witnesses. It does not drum up trade for them, or advertise their serv-

7. How may one try to make godliness a means of selfish gain’ ices or products, or otherwise help in selling these to God’s people.

• ⁸ The Watch Tower Society operates printing plants and produces and ships out tens of millions of books, booklets, magazines and tracts each year. However, this is no effort to make godliness a means of gain. The Watch Tower Society and all its subsidiaries have sprung up since 1881. They were not organized and established to make personal material gain for any individuals or groups of persons. They were founded originally to spread the knowledge of God and his purpose of salvation through Christ. From the first publication of the Watch Tower magazine, in July, 1879, to this date this modern organization of Jehovah’s witnesses has stuck to this unselfish purpose. The establishment of printing plants from 1920 forward to produce its own magazines, booklets, bound books and other printed releases was not resorted to for the purpose of making money. It was to expand the great educational campaign for Christian knowledge by providing the literature most economically, reducing the cost of production and distribution, and so produce more and make it available to a larger number of people in as many languages as possible. The literature is always placed on a minimum contribution, that the contributor may value more what he is getting and also have a part in financially helping in the making and circulating of more literature.

• ⁹ But from the beginning, particularly from 1881 on, when 1,400,000 copies of the 164-page book Food for Thinking Christians were distributed absolutely free at church doors and by newspaper circulation lists, the Society has given away hundreds of millions of pieces of literature free to whosoever was interested to read it. Even since the installation of publishing houses and Kingdom farms the Watch Tower Society’s operations have not resulted in the financial enrichment of any of Jehovah’s witnesses, including the president of the legally incorporated Society. All contributions to the Society, whether made directly or through the placing of literature, have been unsparingly used to maintain and continually expand the Christian educational work throughout all the earth. At great expense the Society operates WBBR, a noncommercial radio station on Staten Island, New York, solely to penetrate into millions of homes with the Kingdom message. Under the great persecution and opposition against Jehovah’s witnesses in all lands the Society has gone into the courts in their behalf, freely providing legal aid, but this at tremendous expense to itself.

• ¹⁰ Trusting in Jehovah God to provide the funds, the Society has never advocated and authorized the

• 8, 9. What proves that the Society as a publisher and printer has not been making godliness a means of selfish gain?

• 10. How also does the Society tender free services and education? passing of money collection plates around at any meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses. Besides supplying pioneers and company publishers with excellent educational literature for distribution free or on nominal contributions, the Society instructs these witnesses to make return visits on the friendly people to stimulate their interest in regular Bible study and to open and conduct home Bible studies. All this is at no charge to the persons visited and accepting weekly Bible-study help. The Society operates a missionary training school, the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, at South Lansing, N.Y., to which full-time Kingdom publishers from all parts of the earth are brought and given an intensive course of study and training, and all their traveling and tuition expenses, board, lodging, etc., are provided free. In more than ninety lands around the globe the Society supports missionary homes, Branch offices and literature supply depots. This calls for great outlay of money, but this is gladly tendered so as to teach the peoples the way of godliness. In every way the Society seeks to provide the means for all men and women accepting the truth and consecrating themselves to God to become his active and efficient ministers. We are interested in helping all Watchtower readers to be God’s ministers, but not to make any selfish material gain either for themselves or for us.

“A SUFFICIENCY OF ONE’S OWN”

• ¹¹ It betrays a corrupt mind to view godliness as a way and means of personal material gain. Yet the inspired apostle does say “it is a great means of gain’’, that is, provided one combines godliness “with a sufficiency of one’s own”. Feeling a sufficiency of one’s own means contentment. The Greek word that Paul uses means literally “self-sufficiency”. So it means being satisfied with one’s lot or provisions, having enough to suit one, thus being independent and grabbing at no excuse to complain and find fault. The person who does not have godliness with contentment goes after other gain than that which true devotion and service to God now brings. He goes after something selfish, something to his own personal advantage and enrichment, but not for God’s glory and the good of his brethren. Persons who take up godliness but who let their minds grow corrupt are the ones who become discontented. How misguided they are, beclouded through selfishness, diseased mentally! They do not look to Jesus Christ, who summed up the “mystery of godliness”, to see what worth-while gains he made both while being in the flesh and after being vindicated in the spirit. Why did he make such gains? Because he was contented while in the flesh on earth. He was satisfied

• 11. What does a “sufficiency of one’s own” mean? and how does it act? with the lot his Father provided for him. We do not have to go to some worldly college and take up a course in psychology to learn how to be in that mental state of contentment.

• ¹² If we are following in Christ’s steps, we need only to keep in mind what he always had in mind. He never put himself ambitiously ahead of his Father. He was always ready to be sent, to be put in service, and always ready to take orders from his Father. He was sent to accomplish a work here. He received a commission from his Father, and he fulfilled it. He proved his love for his Father by being obedient. Jehovah God, his heavenly Father, made all arrangements for him. He did not figure these out for himself. He did not come of himself. He was sent. He was content to be here on earth for the time appointed for him, and he did not think his Father had made a mistake. No matter what God told him or taught him, he fulfilled his Father’s words, because it was an act of true worship. It was a joy to him, because he was doing his Father’s will. He was not ashamed of being sent into the world as a subordinate and servant of God. He was glad to be an obedient minister.

• ¹³ If we profess to be followers and imitators of Christ Jesus we properly ask ourselves: Are we. like him, willing to be sent? Are we willing to take orders from God’s Word and through his Theocratic organization? Jesus was a perfect man, but because of our imperfection we his,followers need orders and instructions all the more. He went whithersoever sent, and are we following his example by willingly going whithersoever sent in the great field, the world, to take part in the great expansion of Christian education? A servant is not greater than his master, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. A servant should be satisfied to become like his master, and a pupil like his teacher; and we should not be afraid or ashamed to be ambassadors and servants of God any more than our Master and Teacher Jesus Christ was. Being sent, we ought to comply gladly with orders, because we have them from the right source. We ought to be willing and satisfied to do the work we are commissioned and sent to do. In sending forth his followers, Jesus assured us we shall be treated just as he was. But why should we find fault at that? When we make our consecration to God, we know it will not be a simple matter to carry out. We start out willing to endure trials, hardships and privations for his name’s sake. We must persist in doing so. That is godliness with contentment.

• ¹⁴ Through persisting in godliness because of the satisfaction, joy and peace of mind it now gives us,

• 12. How was Jesus contented and unashamed on earth?

• 13. How do we imitate him in being willing and contented, and why'* 14, 15. How did Paul learn contentment? and how do we now? we learn contentment. Paul the apostle did. If his brethren of their own free will contributed materially to his support in his missionary work out in the field or when he was in prison, he rejoiced at their show of Christian love and assistance to God’s work. But if he did not receive such material support, he was just as glad to serve God. Then he used whatever means and resources he found at hand, to make himself independent and self-sufficient. He did not let shortages impede the Lord’s work. To the Philippians who sent him some supplies for his use in prison at Rome, Paul wrote: “I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me; you were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I complain of want; for I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. ... Not that I seek the gift; but I seek the fruit which increases to your credit.”—Phil. 4:10-17, Rev. Stan. Ver.

• ¹⁵ Likewise, Jehovah’s witnesses in war-torn parts of the earth did not let postwar conditions hold them up in preaching the gospel. They were content just to serve the Lord God, despite the hard conditions prevailing. However, they did appreciate the relief supplies of food, clothing, and printing materials and means that their fellow witnesses in other lands lovingly sent them.

• ¹⁸ When we have true godliness with all its blessings, we have reason to be content with all we have. We brought nothing into the -world. At death we can take nothing out. As Job said, after he lost all his material possession and all his ten children: "Naked came I out of my mother’s -womb, and naked shall I return thither.” So, what selfish gains we try to make at the expense of losing godliness are merely temporary. Why heap up material riches for others after we pass on? The gain we make by means of holding fast our godliness through contentment

• 16. What reason do we have for being content? endures, to eternal life, in the new world. God took care of his Son Jesus when He sent him into this world. If he never left his Son alone but was always with him to care for him, then we can expect the same attention of God, for Jesus asked his Father to bless his followers whom he sends into the world. Having God’s care, we can be content. If we have food and also clothing and shelter to cover us, “we shall be content.” We do not -want money. We want godliness with contentment, because this protects us from all the many kinds of evil which find their root in the love of money. The love of money makes men slaves to the commercial organization of this world. —1 Tim. 6:9,10.

^1T Having stated the case so plainly, Paul gave this closing exhortation to Timothy, and to us as well: “But thou, 0 man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.” He said we should pray “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty”. (1 Tim. 6:11; 2: 2) At this stage of world developments, it behooves us to do what the apostle here says. There are some prophecies yet to be fulfilled completely before this world reaches its accomplished end. A great gathering of the Lord’s “other sheep” must yet be done. Meantime, we shall have to endure many hard things; but this should not be permitted to rob us of our godliness. Peter says: “Add to your faith . . . patience [endurance]; and to patience godliness.” (2 Pet. 1: 5, 6) If we endure, we shall live a life of devotion and service as Jesus did. “For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world.” (Titus 2:11,12, Am. Stan. Ver.) We can now live this way, because we have what the world does not have, namely, contentment in the Lord. He is our All in all, everything to every one of us. By our faithful devotion and service to him in this present world, we shall shortly enter into the enduring gain of the new world under his glorious King Jesus Christ.

• 17. What way are we exhorted to live now, and how is it possible?

NEARING THE PORTALS OF THE NEW WORLD

HE righteous new world of God’s creating is just ahead of us now. It will be under the government of his kingdom by Christ Jesus, and multitudes of persons of good-will are now traveling over the “highway of holiness” that leads them into harmony with that kingdom of the new world. Both the anointed remnant of heirs of that heavenly kingdom and larger throngs of persons of good-will are together marching over that holy highway in the light of God’s favor and under his protection in this evil day; and the sublime language of the prophet Isaiah speaks of it with inspired words: “And a highway shall be there and a road, which shall be called the Holy Way; no unclean one shall pass over it—but it shall be for his people as they go along the way—and no fools shall wander there. No lion shall be there, no ravenous beast shall go up it; they shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk in it, the ransomed of the Lord shall return by it; they shall come to Zion [Jehovah God’s organization] with singing, and with everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall attain to joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”—Isa. 35 : 8-10, An Amer. Trans.

The laws of Jehovah God are unchangeable. His fixed rules apply to all his intelligent creatures. He lays down in his Word, the Bible, the general rules that govern all those who enter upon the highway to Zion. His prophet addresses us, to say: “He hath shewed thee, 0 man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Mie. 6:8) This means that creatures on the holy highway are required to do justly, that is to say, do that which is right. They will be taught what is right, so that they cannot mistake which is the right way to pursue. No rebellious fools of this world will stray onto this highway, and none of those who arc unclean and unjust will get onto it and pass over it into the new world. God’s requirement means that the remnant and the persons of good-will on the highway must love mercy and practice it. If anyone of them sees his fellow creature struggling along the highway because of hindering weaknesses, he must have a sincere and honest desire to help him to rise up from his unwilling yielding to weakness, and must be kind and considerate with him. The requirement upon all of them is that they must walk humbly with their God; that is to say, they must gladly be obedient to the laws of God in all submissiveness. Acting according to these requirements of the Most High God, all travel along together over the highway in unity, peace and mutual helpfulness.

The good news of the new world of righteousness as now near is being preached among all nations of the world, and thousands with hearing ears are taking heed to the information concerning the holy highway that conducts those who walk in it into harmony with the kingdom of the new world. As the people of good-will learn of the highway and the way of holiness that leads to life they think -not only of their own interests but also of that of their neighbors, and hence the prophecy of Isaiah 2:1-3 is being fulfilled, which predicts: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

One of the titles of the Lord’s King of the new world is “the Prince of Peace”. He shall rule the world to come in peace and will establish it forever. (Isa. 9:6, 7) And because he stands for peace, all those traveling over the highway from all nations are now striving to get along in peace regardless of race, nationality, color, or language. They are all learning righteousness, because the Prince of Peace is now judging the nations and the judgments of the Lord God are being proclaimed throughout the earth by the followers of the Prince of Peace. They say: “With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early [at this dawn of the new world] : for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26: 9) All are looking forward to the new world when men will learn peace and have no more war, in fulfillment of Isaiah 2:4: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Whereas the United Nations has failed and will continue to fail in bringing about this peaceful accomplishment, the Prince of Peace will succeed gloriously. Under him every one on earth will dwell in peace, and nobody will make earth’s inhabitants afraid. They will have peace for evermore.—Mie. 4: 4.

One of the curses resulting from sin and human selfishness and greed has been poverty. The houses and lands have been held by the few who possess sharper wits or more power than others. The weaker ones have built houses, while the stronger and unscrupulous have owed them. The weaker have been crowded into inadequate and even filthy quarters, and have been pinched by cold and hunger because they could not provide things needful for themselves and their loved ones. Ah, but under the Messiah’s reign it will not be so. Leviticus 25:23 declares that the land belongs to the Lord God, and the Meek One Christ Jesus has become His heir of all things and has inherited the earth. (Heb. 1:1-4) He will see to it that the earth is properly apportioned among the people so that all may have some place in which to live. Every man shall then sit under his own vine and spreading fig tree, and will build his own house and live in it with those closely related to him.—Isa. 65: 21, 22.

One part of the curse upon man was that he should earn his bread in the sweat of his brow. From man’s expulsion out of Eden until now he has had to fight with the thorns, thistles and weeds and many other vexations, while trying to produce food for himself and his family. By his marvelous Kingdom agencies the Lord God will teach man how to eliminate the weeds, briars and thistles, that his crops may grow and yield an abundance, and that without laborious effort. What God accomplished in Israel at their restoration from captivity back to their desolate neglected homeland, he will also accomplish for mankind under the Kingdom; as it is written: “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” “I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together.” “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.” (Isa. 55:13; 41:19; 35: 1, 2) "Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.”—Ps. 67 : 6.

PLENTY AND HEALTH

All hovels of poverty, vice and ignorance will then be a thing of the past, and plenty will be the portion of obedient mankind; and they shall rejoice, (rod’s kingdom by Christ Jesus was established in the heavens A.D. 1914 to rule among his enemies and to clear the earth of them completely at the battle of Armageddon. And already, while the misrule of the wicked over the earth is fast nearing its end in disaster, those who walk over the holy highway to Mount Zion are experiencing the fulfillment of the prophecy: “And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.”—Isa. 25: 6-8.

Pestilence and blight will be removed, and the land that once lay desolate will become a place of joy and delight. That God’s kingdom by Christ can do this Jehovah God showed by accomplishing this very thing for his chosen people after their return from captivity, to fulfill the prophecy: “Thus saith the Lord God; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, and desolate, and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.” (Ezek. 36: 33-35) But no fenced or fortified cities will be needed in the Paradise earth under God’s kingdom as protection.

The Kingdom will care for the health of each and every individual among the people. Why are the asylums full of the insane, and the hospitals overcrowded with the sick and dying? Because of disease of mind and body, the result of siii. On earth the loving heart of Jesus was moved with compassion when the sick and the afflicted came to him, and he healed many of them. Now Jesus was born under the Mosaic law and fulfilled it perfectly, and the notable thing about that law was that its provisions foreshadowed better things to come under the Kingdom. (Gal. 4: 4; Matt. 5:17; Ileb. 10:1) Therefore when Jesus Christ healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind and gave strength to the infirm, it foreshadowed the greater work that he will do during his Millennial reign. He will teach the people the ways of perfect health, how to eat, how to exercise, how to sleep, how to think, and how to love and obey righteousness. He will heal all the obedient and faithful ones and at last bring them up to perfect soundness of body and mind. In a typical way the Lord God accomplished these things for his chosen people in fulfillment of his promises to Jerusalem and her restored inhabitants: “Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.” (Jer. 33: 6) “And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.”—Isa. 33: 24.

Jesus said he came to earth that God’s sheep might have life, and might have it abundantly. (John 10:10) Life means existence, coupled with the right to exist and to enjoy all the blessings incident to existing. Jesus said to his Father concerning his sheep: “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” (John 17: 3) By his death and resurrection Jesus Christ redeemed mankind’s right to life, and under his righteous government he will bestow that right upon all his loyal subjects. As mankind progresses in righteousness, he will multiply to them the blessings of peace, prosperity, health and physical vigor. The wicked work of Satan, resulting in a depraved, crooked state of mind and inclinations, the King Christ Jesus will undo for all those who are willing to have it undone. If these onetime slaves of sin turn away from the practice of sin and walk in harmony with the Kingdom and its righteousness, they will steadily be improved in body and mind. Continuing on toward the close of the thousand years of reformation work, the faithful adherents of righteousness will be granted the right to live forever in the earthly Paradise. The principle then followed will be as stated at Ezekiel 18:27, 28: “When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.”

Yes, the obedient are the ones that will be given the right to eternal life and that will live, for Jesus stated: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” (John 8: 51) Then those who live and believe on the Lord Jesus, showing their belief by obedience to him as King, will live and not die. (John 11: 26) The battle of Armageddon at this end of the world will wipe out of existence all of Satan’s organization, demonic and human, invisible and visible, and thus rid mankind of these enemies and opposers of all reformation and progress in truth and righteousness. But the great enemy, death, due to our inheritance from the sinner Adam, will remain. Hence Christ must reign until he has also accomplished the destruction of this mortal foe of humankind. “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15 : 25, 26) And the start of destroying this enemy’s control over mankind is the payment of Jesus’ ransom price and the resurrecting of mankind from the graves.

During the entire time of the progress of mankind under the heavenly kingdom, Satan the Devil will be incarcerated in the abyss that he may not deceive anyone during all that thousand-year period. (Rev. 20:1-3) It is a fixed rule of God’s purpose that he will grant eternal life to no one without first having that one prove his loyalty and integrity under a conclusive test. So at the end of the thousand years the wicked one will be turned loose that he may try his hand once more at deceiving earth’s inhabitants and turning them from God as he did in the original paradise on earth. Jehovah God evidently proceeds upon the rule that anyone that has received full knowledge of Satan’s course and the great wickedness and sorrow he wrought in the earth in the past, and then has also learned of God’s loving-kindness under the Kingdom, does not deserve to live if, after all this, he deliberately turns away from truth and righteousness and yields to Satan then on the loose. All those who thus follow him will be everlastingly destroyed, with no future resurrection in store, and Satan the Devil will himself be blotted out of existence. That destruction of the willful followers of Satan the Devil will be the “second death”, not death traceable to Adam. Those who remain faithful and true to God and his King will be justified to everlasting life in the new world, and that will, indeed, mean the destruction of the enemy, the Adamic death, for them. In this manner the scripture is fulfilled: “And death and hell [the grave or abode of the dead] were .cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20: 7-15) The glorious and eternal result of this destruction of Satan the Devil and all his deliberate followers will be a clean, pure and holy universe. As we near the portals of the righteous new world we are nearing the going into fulfillment of all these blessed promises of God. May we therefore not faint, but keep our faces turned in the right direction and march forward in faith.

HOSEA PROCLAIMS

YOUNG Hosea, Beeri’s son, was filled with pity every time he saw his fellow Israelites indulge in false worship and wallow in the luxury of Jeroboam’s prosperous reign (852-812 B.C.) and completely ignore Jehovah God, his law and his purposes. He was determined to remain faithful and true to Jehovah his God and had a burning desire to serve him actively. As Hosea was meditating on these things one day Jehovah said to him: “Go, and take to yourself a harlotrous wife, and harlotrous children.” Hosea could hardly believe that he was hearing right; but Jehovah’s next words cleared up the matter for him: “For the land has committed great harlotry, turning from following the Lord [Jehovah].” (Hos. 1:1, 2, An Amer. Trans.) Now Hosea understood; the unfaithfulness of his wife would illustrate Israel’s unfaithfulness to Jehovah. How apt! In obedience to Jehovah’s command he went and married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim.

Later, when Gomer bore Hosea a son, Jehovah said to him: “Call him Jezreel; for but a little while, and I will demand the blood of Jezreel from the house of Jehu; and I will bring to an end the dominion of the house of Israel. And it shall come to pass on that day, that I will break the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel.” (Hos. 1:3-5, An Amer. Trans.) What a relief! At last Jehovah would put an end to the dominion of the wicked reigning family. Hosea remembered Jehovah’s promise to Jehu, King Jeroboam’s great-grandfather, that his children of the fourth generation would sit on the throne of Israel. Now that meant Jeroboam’s son would sit on the throne and then the dominion of that family would end.

The words which Jehovah gave to Hosea from time to time brought him comfort, but his family affairs did not. Gomer became unfaithful and even gave birth to a daughter that was not Hosea’s child. Hosea was grieved; but again Jehovah spoke to him: “Call her name Lo-ruhamah [Not having obtained mercy]; for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, that I should in any wise pardon them. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by Jehovah their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.” (Hos. 1:6, 7, Am. Stan. Ver.) Hosea found further consolation in the knowledge that young Uzziah who had ascended the throne of Judah to the south was a stickler for God’s law. He also found strength in preaching to his wayward neighbors in Israel, calling their attention to their unfaithfulness to God, which his own family life so fittingly illustrated.

Hosea saw little Lo-ruhamah grow with her half-brother Jezreel, his own son. Finally his faithless wife Gomer weaned Lo-ruhamah and continued with her unfaithful-

JEHOVAH’S MERCY

ness. Again she bore a child, a son that was not Hosea’s. Then Jehovah said to Hosea, “Call his name Lo-ammi [Not my people]: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.” Hosea’s unfaithful wife had now borne two illegitimate children; Jehovah had disowned his faithless people; Hosea was feeling very low. Then he heard Jehovah say mercifully: “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people [Lo-ammi], there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.”—Hos. 1: 9-11.

With such a loving message of mercy from Jehovah Hosea just could not hold it back from his fellow Israelites. Even after his wife left him altogether, he'would speak to them and under inspiration say: “Argue it, argue it with your mother (for she is no wife of mine, and I am not her husband), bid her clear her face of harlotry, and her breasts of adulterous charms; or ... I will make her like a land forlorn, ... On her children I will have no mercy, for they are born out of wedlock; . . . she who conceived them has been shameless; . . . (none shall save her from my hand). I will lay waste her vine and fig-trees, ... I will bring all her gaiety to an end, her festivals, new-moons, and sabbaths, to punish her for all the days when to the Baals she offered incense, decking herself with rings and jewels, running after her lovers, and forgetting me, says the Eternal [Jehovah], . . . she will pursue her lovers and miss them, seek them and never find them. Then at last she will say, ‘Let me go back to my first husband, I fared better with him than today.’ . . . then I will restore her the vineyards, and make the dale of Trouble a door of hope; then shall she answer me as in her youthful days, when she came up from Egypt’s land.”—Hos. 2:1-15, Moffatt.

Then with a brightening of his eyes and greater warmth in his voice, Hosea continued, quoting Jehovah’s words addressed directly to Israel: “I ■will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know Jehovah.” With increased enthusiasm and tenderness Hosea went on: “I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy [Lo-ruhamah]; and I will say to them that were not my people [Lo-ammi], Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.”—Hos. 2:16-23, Am. Stan. Ver., margin.

God’s word and its proclamation were Hosea’s only comfort during the long days that his wife Gomer was indulging in her unfaithfulness. Then, finally, one day Jehovah said to him, “Go again and love an adulterous woman, in love with a paramour, as the Eternal [Jehovah] loves the Israelites, although they turn to other gods and love their idolatrous raisin-cakes.” Obediently Hosea went out and looked for Gomer until he found her. Then he bought her for fifteen pieces of silver and sixteen bushels and twenty-two quarts of barley. He said to her, as Jehovah God had commanded him, “For many a day you must remain mine, you must not play the harlot, you must have nothing to do with a man—and I will have nothing to do with you.” Why? Jehovah explained: “For the Israelites shall remain for many a day without king or chief, without sacrifice or sacred stone, without ephod or oracle; after that, the Israelites shall turn to seek the Eternal [Jehovah] their God once more, and their Davidic king, and at the end come eagerly to the Eternal [Jehovah] and his goodness.” —Hos. 3:1-5, Moffatt.

In spite of Hosea’s sad family life he faithfully proclaimed Jehovah’s message throughout his life. Hosea was filled with pity when he saw his fellow Israelites given over to death-dealing false worship led by unfaithful clergy who refused to teach them God’s law, and who even threatened God’s prophet Amos who had come up from Judah and accused him falsely of conspiracy before King Jeroboam. (Amos 7:10-17) He saw Israel persist in cursing, lying, murder and theft. To the clergy Jehovah inspired Hosea to say: “With you is my quarrel. 0 priest; and you shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your people. My people are destroyed for want of knowledge—because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from being my priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I likewise will forget your children.”—Hos. 4:1-6, An Amer. Trans.

Hosea had noticed that his and Amos’ preaching had already put the faithless clergy to shame in the minds of those few who heeded Jehovah’s word. Concerning this, too, Jehovah had inspired Hosea to say: “The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; they have exchanged their glory for shame.” But the majority was wholly given over to demon-worship. Hosea saw nauseating idol-worship practiced everywhere, on mountains and hills and under green trees, all because of lack of knowledge of God.—Hos. 4: 7-19, An Amer. Trans.

Hosea prophesied to the end of Jeroboam’s 41-year evil reign and through the 22-year interregnum which followed. (2 Ki. 14: 23) He kept right on prophesying through more evil reigns and interregnums right into Hoshea’s reign (748-740 B.C.) (2 Ki. 17:1) Though by that time Hosea was a very old man, the fire of his zeal for Jehovah’s worship had not been quenched. Throughout those troublous times, with Assyria’s mounting power ever threatening, Hosea had faithfully kept proclaiming Jehovah’s message to the unfaithful clergy, to the unfaithful house of Israel and to the unfaithful royal house, and even to the princes of Judah.—Hos. 5:1-15.

With all the judgment and reproof Jehovah always gave him a message of mercy to strengthen the hope of the few who had regard for His word: “Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him. And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.” (Hos. 6:1-3, Am. Stan. Ver.) Through Hosea Jehovah counseled Israel, too, to exercise mercy: “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”—Hos. 6: 6; 7:1; 10:12.

In spite of all Jehovah’s reproof and mercy Israel was unfaithful to its covenant and relied upon worldly powers such as Egypt and Assyria. (Hos. 11:12; 7:11; 12:1) Finally Jehovah through Hosea decreed their captivity “My God will east them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.” —Hos. 9:17.

Hosea may have lived to see the fulfillment of that prophecy in the three-year siege of Samaria and the taking of Israel captive by Assyria, in 740 B.C.

Hosea also looked forward in hope to the fulfillment of the prophecy Jehovah had caused him to utter before: “They shall walk after Jehovah, who will roar like a lion; for he will roar, and the children shall come trembling from the west. They shall come trembling ... as a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will make them to dwell in their houses.” “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon.” With love and gratitude in his heart Hosea cries out to Jehovah: “In thee the fatherless findeth mercy.”—Hos. 11:10, 11; 14: 4-6, 3, Am. Stan. Ver.

Likewise today Jehovah has his faithful servants proclaim his mercy for all who heed his reproofs and comply with His requirements.

AN INTERESTING LETTER IN RE MEMORIAL

Dear Brother:

Before us is your letter of April 27 in reference to the Watchtower article of February 15, 1948, on the “body of Christ” and the yearly Memorial of Christ’s death.

The Scripture verses you quote concerning the “body of Jesus Christ” and “flesh and blood”, namely, Hebrews 10:5, 10 and 2:14, and Luke 22:19, were treated in detail last year in the February 15, 1947, Watchtower article entitled “A Memorial of Integrity for God’s Kingdom”. We need not repeat what is there said.

In 1904 the Watch Tower Society published the sixth volume of Studies in the Scriptures, specifically entitled “The New Creation”. In Chapter XI of that book the explanation was given that the bread and wine of the Memorial represent more than Jesus’ literal flesh and blood. Under the subheading "We, Being Many, Are One Loaf”, it says (page 466) : “ . . . the cup represents his blood, which seals our pardon. But now, in addition, he shows that we, as members of the Ecclesia, members of the body of Christ, the prospective First-Borns, the New Creation, become participators with our Lord in his death, sharers in his sacrifice,.. . the elect, the New Creation, are counted in as parts of that one loaf, ‘members of the body of Christ’; and hence, in the breaking of the loaf, after recognizing it as the sacrifice of our Lord on our behalf, we are to recognize it, further, as the breaking or sacrificing of the whole Church, of all those consecrated to be dead with him, to be broken with him, to share his sufferings.” Under the subheading “Who May Celebrate?” the same chapter says (page 4J3): “Further, none should commune unless he is a member of the one body, the one loaf, and unless he has reckoned his life, his blood, sacrificed with the Lord’s, in the same chalice, or cup.” But ten years earlier than this book, The Watch Tower of April 1, 1394, made the like explanation as the above in its article “The Import of the Emblems” (pages 99, 100).

In the Watchtower article “The Ransom”, of May 15, 1939, it was clearly stated that the church is no part of the sin offering with Christ, saying (fl 41, 42): “It has been repeatedly said that the church, that is, the glorified members of the body of Christ, by reason of their sacrifice, have a part in the sin offering; and in support of that theory the following scripture is offered: . . . Lev. 16:15. Neither the foregoing nor any other scripture sustains the conclusion that the body members of Christ have any part in the sin offering. It is the lifeblood of the man Jesus alone that is the valuable thing, the purchase price, and which price is presented and paid over as a sin offering.” (See also the book Salvation, published that same year of 1939, page 197, fl 1, 2.) This fact must have a bearing upon the significance of the Memorial emblems: They could not, in the same picture, symbolize two things, both Jesus’ flesh and blood and his church as well, so indicating that the church or body of Christ has a part in the sin offering or ransom. Hence The Watchtower has come out exclusively for the explanation of the Memorial emblems as given by the apostle Paul at 1 Corinthians 10:16,17, and as commented upon in The Watch Tower since 1894.

In the Memorial celebration of April 4, 1939, the Memorial emblems of bread and wine were, for the first time, served together, in compliance with instructions from the Society’s president, and the following year direct instructions to that effect were published in the January 1, 1940, issue of The Watchtower (page 2), namely: “Memorial: .'. '. Since the breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine both picture the death of Jesus, it follows that both emblems should be served together at partaking, and not separately.”

Prior to the 1939 Memorial The Watchtower, in its issue of March 15,1939, pages 92-94, published an article entitled “Memorial” in paragraphs 4, 5, 6, 8 of which it said: “ . . . All who get life on earth must exercise faith in the lifeblood of Christ Jesus poured out for the remission of sins, but at the institution of the Memorial he was inviting his disciples alone to be broken with him and to be dead with him to thus share in his death and in his resurrection. . . . It will be conceded that Jesus’ words meant: This bread represents my body.’ -The bread was merely a symbol, and the breaking of it discloses what must be done to those of the body of Christ. The ‘fruit of the vine’, or wine, represented his lifeblood about to be poured out, and to the disciples he said: 'Drink ye all of it.’ His words clearly mean that all who will be associated with him in his house must first be broken and die and therefore share with him in his death. That his words meant that his body members are partners in his suffering and death is fully supported by the apostle, who under inspiration of the holy spirit wrote: ... 1 Cor. 10:16, 17. . . . Jesus took the loaf of unleavened bread and broke it and said to his followers: ‘This is my body.’ Then his words were in substance these: ‘You must eat, that is to say, partake with me and thereby become my partners or fellow sufferers, and as this bread you see me break represents the body of Christ, or the members thereof, all of such must be broken together.’ Sueh breaking of the bread or body and the drinking of the blood must take place after those partaking are justified and spirit-begotten, and therefore only such properly partake of the emblems.

“Jesus then proceeded to instruct his disciples concerning the cup. The wine in the cup referred to his blood, and his words, in substance, meant this: ‘This represents my blood, which blood makes good the new covenant, which covenant my Father has made with me. Also, it is the price of redemption for the human race.’ Jesus knew drinking the blood meant death, according to the law of Jehovah. (Gen. 9:4; Lev. 17:11) He was therefore inviting his disciples to perform an act that meant their death, and thus inviting them to participate in his death.”

The foregoing article on “Memorial” was merely a condensation of a longer article on the same subject published in the previous year in The Watchtower of March 1, 1938, and particularly paragraphs 24-48. Paragraph 33 thereof said: “ . . . Jesus was instructing his disciples and, through them, all of those who shall thereafter follow in his steps, and thus doing he took a loaf of bread, which was unleavened, symbolizing a sinless or justified condition, and then he said to them, in substance: ‘As we break this bread you will observe that it represents my body [the body of Christ, which is pure and without-sin]. Each one of you must eat thereof [that is, partake with me, and thus become my partner and share with me in being broken].’ His words ‘This is my body* could not have referred to his human organism, because of Jesus it is written: ‘He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.’ (Ps. 34:20) ‘For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.’—John 19 • 36.”

From the foregoing paragraphs, brother, you will see that the Watchtower article of 1948 on the Memorial did not suddenly break out with, as you say, “an eccentric train of reasoning.” Either you have forgotten what The Watchtower has previously published or you were not acquainted with them on account of the years of World War II and its direct effect upon your country. We trust that you will have access to all the above publications referred to, in your local Kingdom Hall, and will check up on all the foregoing references.

Faithfully yours in Kingdom service, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society