The content displayed below is for educational and archival purposes only.Unless stated otherwise, content is © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
You may be able to find the original on wol.jw.org
Video above © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
00:01 There’s a railroad sign 00:03 that most of us have seen 00:04 before we cross a railroad track. 00:07 It says: “Stop, Look, 00:09 [and] Listen.” 00:12 And some will say: “and Live.” 00:15 Now, why is this sign there? 00:19 Because we know that crossing a railroad track 00:23 can endanger our lives. 00:25 But the danger is not so evident; 00:29 it’s not immediately seen. 00:31 It must be deduced 00:33 —you must use your thinking abilities. 00:35 And that’s why one sign says: 00:37 “See Tracks? Think Train!” 00:41 So we first must stop 00:45 and then look both ways 00:48 and then even engage the sense of hearing to listen. 00:52 Do we hear a rumble? a vibration in the earth? 00:55 Do we see a headlight coming our way? 00:59 Is a whistle blowing? 01:01 You see, all these indicate a danger. 01:04 The train is not in front of us immediately, 01:07 but we have to be aware of the danger because, 01:11 as this picture shows, a fast moving train 01:15 just cannot stop immediately 01:17 if we happen to be in the middle of the railroad tracks. 01:21 If we were there, we definitely would be killed. 01:26 To avoid such a tragedy, 01:28 we therefore must use what the Bible calls 01:31 our “perceptive powers” 01:33 to discern the danger that is before us. 01:37 And then we must take appropriate action 01:41 to find safety to make sure that we are not victimized by the danger. 01:46 Now, this well illustrates what Jehovah has been telling us 01:50 through his Word and through his organization. 01:53 Jehovah is telling us today to stop, 01:57 look, and listen. 02:01 Look around you. 02:03 Discern the times that we’re living in. 02:05 We’re living in the last days. 02:08 The end is very near. 02:10 The great tribulation is about to take place. 02:14 Now, it’s necessary to have discernment 02:17 in order to come to this conclusion. 02:19 Jesus said you would need discernment. 02:23 At Luke 17:20, 21, 02:26 he says that the Kingdom 02:28 would not be “coming with striking observableness.” 02:33 It would take discernment to understand the signs 02:37 and what it would mean and what action to take. 02:41 This ability to discern requires cultivation 02:45 —we need to work on it. 02:47 The Bible at Hebrews 5:14 02:50 calls it the “powers of discernment” 02:53 or what we used to call the “perceptive powers.” 02:57 And as we learned in yesterday’s text when it referred to the prophet Daniel, 03:01 he was exemplary 03:03 in using his perceptive powers 03:06 to perceive, or to discern, the will of God. 03:10 And it was necessary for him to do so 03:12 in order to avoid the dangerous situation 03:15 that he and his companions were in 03:17 there at the palace in Babylon. 03:21 Now, Daniel continued to cultivate 03:23 these powers of discernment. 03:26 Later on in his life, 03:28 he made a deep study of the prophecies, 03:31 especially those of Jeremiah. 03:33 And then he concluded, or discerned, 03:36 where they were in the stream of time 03:38 —that the end of the 70-year desolation of Jerusalem 03:41 was coming to its conclusion. 03:44 And this moved him to take specific action to prepare himself 03:48 as well as other faithful Jews 03:52 so that they could proceed with Jehovah’s will and purpose. 03:57 He therefore understood the times and events that were taking place 04:01 because of the deep study that he did, 04:03 and he was able to discern 04:05 what was taking place in the world around him. 04:09 Now, Jesus taught us to do something very similar. 04:13 He told us to cultivate discernment, 04:16 and he used a beautiful illustration to do that. 04:19 Open your Bibles, please, to the book of Luke, 04:23 and we’ll look at chapter 21 04:26 and verses 29-31. 04:29 And here Jesus uses this technique of “stop, look, listen, and live.” 04:34 He says in verse 29: 04:36 “Notice the fig tree and all the other trees.” 04:39 So stop and look around you, he says. 04:42 And verse 30, it says: “[And] when they are budding.” 04:45 In other words, look at these plants 04:47 and “you see it for yourselves 04:49 and know that now the summer is near.” 04:52 So discern it; perceive what is taking place here. 04:56 And then he tells us and listen in verse 31: 05:00 “Likewise also you, when you see these things happening, 05:04 know that the Kingdom of God is near.” 05:08 So here Jesus was telling us to stop, look, listen, 05:12 and then we would live. 05:16 Now, “the faithful and discreet slave” 05:18 —they’re guided by the head of the congregation, Jesus Christ. 05:22 And he is providing direction to us in a very similar way 05:27 to help us sharpen our powers of discernment 05:30 to comprehend and understand what’s going on around us. 05:34 It’s through the pages of The Watchtower 05:37 and our assemblies and conventions 05:40 that we are told to stop —leave off your everyday life and concerns 05:44 and stop for a moment; 05:46 and then look into God’s Word 05:50 —read it and see what the Bible has to say 05:53 about Jehovah’s will and purpose and especially our time period; 05:57 and then take time to listen 06:00 to the explanations provided 06:03 through “the faithful and discreet slave” 06:06 about prophecies and about our time period 06:09 and the nearness of the great tribulation. 06:12 Now, today, we are receiving a very clear message 06:17 from Jehovah God’s organization 06:20 through Jesus Christ and through “the faithful and discreet slave” 06:23 that the great tribulation is imminent. 06:27 Now, how should this information affect us? 06:32 Well, for one thing, the anxieties of life 06:35 —the things that immediately confront us on a day-to-day basis— 06:38 can sap our energy and can totally distract us 06:42 away from the bigger issues. 06:45 And Jesus warned us against this. 06:47 In fact, going back to the book of Luke chapter 17, 06:50 there Jesus uses the accounts 06:53 of Noah as well as Sodom and Gomorrah to be a warning to us. 06:58 There He says that the days of the Son of man 07:01 would be like the days of Noah and Sodom. 07:03 And why? Because people would be distracted 07:06 with the mundane cares of life. 07:09 It’s these mundane cares of life 07:12 that can truly dull our powers of perception. 07:17 We would not be able to discern 07:19 where we are in the stream of time 07:21 or the danger that is confronting us. 07:26 So we have to really be careful that we don’t allow these things 07:30 to dull our powers of discernment. 07:33 Otherwise, we can find ourselves just wandering onto a railroad track 07:36 and not really looking, not listening, being distracted, 07:40 and before you know it, a train could overtake us. 07:43 And that’s exactly what is happening to people in the world today. 07:46 They’re distracted by these things, and they’re failing to take notice 07:50 that Jehovah God is coming at them at full speed 07:54 to execute judgment against Satan’s wicked world. 07:58 However, when we sharpen our powers of discernment, 08:02 we clearly see the signs. 08:04 And Jesus said that you would. 08:06 He said at Luke 17:24 08:08 that it would be like lightning flashing 08:11 from one end of the sky to the other end of the sky. 08:14 But it would be only because our powers of discernment 08:17 would see these things and understand them. 08:21 Now, we see very clearly. 08:23 We look around at the political world today, 08:25 and we can see these “lightning flashes” all around us. 08:28 In Daniel’s vision of chapter 2 08:32 —the iron and the clay of the final world power— 08:34 we see how fragmented they are, 08:36 how weak and ineffectual this world government is. 08:39 At 2 Timothy 3:1-5, the attitudes of people, 08:43 including those who are leaders in the world, 08:46 are arrogant and blasphemous and haughty. 08:49 These are clear indications 08:51 that we are very near the time of the end. 08:54 In fact, these individuals and these governments 08:57 are very much like an illustration that we saw 09:00 in the October 15, 1971, issue of The Watchtower 09:04 of a little ant standing on a railroad track, 09:07 and here we see God’s Kingdom coming at them. 09:10 And we, obviously, see what the outcome will be. 09:14 They will be completely pulverized 09:17 by the power and speed 09:19 of Jehovah’s executional forces. 09:22 So we see, therefore, it’s important 09:26 for us to sharpen our powers of discernment 09:31 —to cultivate this quality— so that we are not caught off guard, 09:34 we always see the danger, and we can take appropriate action. 09:38 So every day, let us stop, look, 09:41 and listen to Jehovah’s warnings. 09:45 This will help us stay out of the danger zone, 09:48 and we’ll be able to survive the end of this system of things, 09:52 and the great tribulation will not catch us off guard.
00:01 There’s a railroad sign 00:03 that most of us have seen 00:04 before we cross a railroad track. 00:07 It says: “Stop, Look, 00:09 [and] Listen.” 00:12 And some will say: “and Live.” 00:15 Now, why is this sign there? 00:19 Because we know that crossing a railroad track 00:23 can endanger our lives. 00:25 But the danger is not so evident; 00:29 it’s not immediately seen. 00:31 It must be deduced 00:33 —you must use your thinking abilities. 00:35 And that’s why one sign says: 00:37 “See Tracks? Think Train!” 00:41 So we first must stop 00:45 and then look both ways 00:48 and then even engage the sense of hearing to listen. 00:52 Do we hear a rumble? a vibration in the earth? 00:55 Do we see a headlight coming our way? 00:59 Is a whistle blowing? 01:01 You see, all these indicate a danger. 01:04 The train is not in front of us immediately, 01:07 but we have to be aware of the danger because, 01:11 as this picture shows, a fast moving train 01:15 just cannot stop immediately 01:17 if we happen to be in the middle of the railroad tracks. 01:21 If we were there, we definitely would be killed. 01:26 To avoid such a tragedy, 01:28 we therefore must use what the Bible calls 01:31 our “perceptive powers” 01:33 to discern the danger that is before us. 01:37 And then we must take appropriate action 01:41 to find safety to make sure that we are not victimized by the danger. 01:46 Now, this well illustrates what Jehovah has been telling us 01:50 through his Word and through his organization. 01:53 Jehovah is telling us today to stop, 01:57 look, and listen. 02:01 Look around you. 02:03 Discern the times that we’re living in. 02:05 We’re living in the last days. 02:08 The end is very near. 02:10 The great tribulation is about to take place. 02:14 Now, it’s necessary to have discernment 02:17 in order to come to this conclusion. 02:19 Jesus said you would need discernment. 02:23 At Luke 17:20, 21, 02:26 he says that the Kingdom 02:28 would not be “coming with striking observableness.” 02:33 It would take discernment to understand the signs 02:37 and what it would mean and what action to take. 02:41 This ability to discern requires cultivation 02:45 —we need to work on it. 02:47 The Bible at Hebrews 5:14 02:50 calls it the “powers of discernment” 02:53 or what we used to call the “perceptive powers.” 02:57 And as we learned in yesterday’s text when it referred to the prophet Daniel, 03:01 he was exemplary 03:03 in using his perceptive powers 03:06 to perceive, or to discern, the will of God. 03:10 And it was necessary for him to do so 03:12 in order to avoid the dangerous situation 03:15 that he and his companions were in 03:17 there at the palace in Babylon. 03:21 Now, Daniel continued to cultivate 03:23 these powers of discernment. 03:26 Later on in his life, 03:28 he made a deep study of the prophecies, 03:31 especially those of Jeremiah. 03:33 And then he concluded, or discerned, 03:36 where they were in the stream of time 03:38 —that the end of the 70-year desolation of Jerusalem 03:41 was coming to its conclusion. 03:44 And this moved him to take specific action to prepare himself 03:48 as well as other faithful Jews 03:52 so that they could proceed with Jehovah’s will and purpose. 03:57 He therefore understood the times and events that were taking place 04:01 because of the deep study that he did, 04:03 and he was able to discern 04:05 what was taking place in the world around him. 04:09 Now, Jesus taught us to do something very similar. 04:13 He told us to cultivate discernment, 04:16 and he used a beautiful illustration to do that. 04:19 Open your Bibles, please, to the book of Luke, 04:23 and we’ll look at chapter 21 04:26 and verses 29-31. 04:29 And here Jesus uses this technique of “stop, look, listen, and live.” 04:34 He says in verse 29: 04:36 “Notice the fig tree and all the other trees.” 04:39 So stop and look around you, he says. 04:42 And verse 30, it says: “[And] when they are budding.” 04:45 In other words, look at these plants 04:47 and “you see it for yourselves 04:49 and know that now the summer is near.” 04:52 So discern it; perceive what is taking place here. 04:56 And then he tells us and listen in verse 31: 05:00 “Likewise also you, when you see these things happening, 05:04 know that the Kingdom of God is near.” 05:08 So here Jesus was telling us to stop, look, listen, 05:12 and then we would live. 05:16 Now, “the faithful and discreet slave” 05:18 —they’re guided by the head of the congregation, Jesus Christ. 05:22 And he is providing direction to us in a very similar way 05:27 to help us sharpen our powers of discernment 05:30 to comprehend and understand what’s going on around us. 05:34 It’s through the pages of The Watchtower 05:37 and our assemblies and conventions 05:40 that we are told to stop —leave off your everyday life and concerns 05:44 and stop for a moment; 05:46 and then look into God’s Word 05:50 —read it and see what the Bible has to say 05:53 about Jehovah’s will and purpose and especially our time period; 05:57 and then take time to listen 06:00 to the explanations provided 06:03 through “the faithful and discreet slave” 06:06 about prophecies and about our time period 06:09 and the nearness of the great tribulation. 06:12 Now, today, we are receiving a very clear message 06:17 from Jehovah God’s organization 06:20 through Jesus Christ and through “the faithful and discreet slave” 06:23 that the great tribulation is imminent. 06:27 Now, how should this information affect us? 06:32 Well, for one thing, the anxieties of life 06:35 —the things that immediately confront us on a day-to-day basis— 06:38 can sap our energy and can totally distract us 06:42 away from the bigger issues. 06:45 And Jesus warned us against this. 06:47 In fact, going back to the book of Luke chapter 17, 06:50 there Jesus uses the accounts 06:53 of Noah as well as Sodom and Gomorrah to be a warning to us. 06:58 There He says that the days of the Son of man 07:01 would be like the days of Noah and Sodom. 07:03 And why? Because people would be distracted 07:06 with the mundane cares of life. 07:09 It’s these mundane cares of life 07:12 that can truly dull our powers of perception. 07:17 We would not be able to discern 07:19 where we are in the stream of time 07:21 or the danger that is confronting us. 07:26 So we have to really be careful that we don’t allow these things 07:30 to dull our powers of discernment. 07:33 Otherwise, we can find ourselves just wandering onto a railroad track 07:36 and not really looking, not listening, being distracted, 07:40 and before you know it, a train could overtake us. 07:43 And that’s exactly what is happening to people in the world today. 07:46 They’re distracted by these things, and they’re failing to take notice 07:50 that Jehovah God is coming at them at full speed 07:54 to execute judgment against Satan’s wicked world. 07:58 However, when we sharpen our powers of discernment, 08:02 we clearly see the signs. 08:04 And Jesus said that you would. 08:06 He said at Luke 17:24 08:08 that it would be like lightning flashing 08:11 from one end of the sky to the other end of the sky. 08:14 But it would be only because our powers of discernment 08:17 would see these things and understand them. 08:21 Now, we see very clearly. 08:23 We look around at the political world today, 08:25 and we can see these “lightning flashes” all around us. 08:28 In Daniel’s vision of chapter 2 08:32 —the iron and the clay of the final world power— 08:34 we see how fragmented they are, 08:36 how weak and ineffectual this world government is. 08:39 At 2 Timothy 3:1-5, the attitudes of people, 08:43 including those who are leaders in the world, 08:46 are arrogant and blasphemous and haughty. 08:49 These are clear indications 08:51 that we are very near the time of the end. 08:54 In fact, these individuals and these governments 08:57 are very much like an illustration that we saw 09:00 in the October 15, 1971, issue of The Watchtower 09:04 of a little ant standing on a railroad track, 09:07 and here we see God’s Kingdom coming at them. 09:10 And we, obviously, see what the outcome will be. 09:14 They will be completely pulverized 09:17 by the power and speed 09:19 of Jehovah’s executional forces. 09:22 So we see, therefore, it’s important 09:26 for us to sharpen our powers of discernment 09:31 —to cultivate this quality— so that we are not caught off guard, 09:34 we always see the danger, and we can take appropriate action. 09:38 So every day, let us stop, look, 09:41 and listen to Jehovah’s warnings. 09:45 This will help us stay out of the danger zone, 09:48 and we’ll be able to survive the end of this system of things, 09:52 and the great tribulation will not catch us off guard.
