The Watchtower, May 15, 1966

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The Watchtower — May 15, 1966

Source: jw.org

Contents

Keep Your Heart Strong

Keeping Your Balance with Many Responsibilities

Save Both Yourself and Those Who Listen to You

A Bible Mystery Unveiled

It Dwells in the Palace of a King

A New Songbook!

“A Wise Person Will Listen”

Questions From Readers

Announcements

Keep Your Heart Strong

HAVE you ever had a heart attack? If you have, you know what it means to have a weak heart. You can keenly appreciate how much you depend upon the condition of your heart for the physical capability to do the many things you like to do. It performs a vital function in your body by pumping five to six quarts of blood through your circulatory system every minute. As long as it is strong it can keep up its regular beating for a long time, not giving out even when it is seventy years old and after beating about two and a half billion times. When it is weak, on the other hand, not much is required to make it falter and endanger your life. But even if you have a strong heart, you can lose your life because of heart trouble.

Due to the fact that the heart is a deep-seated organ from which the blood flows to all parts of the body with life-sustaining substances, it is used in God’s Word in a figurative sense to represent a person’s deep-seated affections, desires and motives. Thus the seat of your affections is your figurative or spiritual heart. This is the heart that can cause you to lose your life even though your physical heart may be strong.

The first man, Adam, had a strong physical heart but a weak spiritual heart. He did not maintain strong affection for his Creator and for what is righteous and so allowed his inner desires and motives to become bad. This failure of his spiritual heart brought upon him eternal death.

In the days of Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, many people had allowed their spiritual hearts to go bad as the first man Adam had. Regarding them Paul wrote: “Therefore God, in keeping with the desires of their hearts, gave them up to uncleanness, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.” (Rom. 1:24) The desires of their spiritual hearts were for morally unclean actions. The same condition existed in the days of Noah. Speaking about mankind of that time, the historical record of the Bible states: “Consequently Jehovah saw that the badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time.”—Gen. 6:5.

The ancient nation of Israel also suffered from heart trouble. They manifested weak spiritual hearts when they yearned for the leeks, onions and garlic they had enjoyed in Egypt instead of being willing to put their trust in God and endure the discomforts of the wilderness for a short time. (Num. 11:4-6) As a consequence they failed to have strong hearts when they were faced with the actual taking of the Promised Land. Because they rebelled, God required them to wander in the wilderness for forty years, until that generation died and a new one grew up.

It would be foolish to repeat the mistakes those people made by not keeping your heart strong. Continual strengthening of it is vital to your spiritual and physical life. This was the course of action urged at the recent graduation of the forty-first class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead. The students, who were being sent out to thirty-eight lands as missionaries, were counseled to keep their figurative or spiritual hearts strong.

A director of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, George Couch, told them: “Everything during your school days was to help you to grow spiritually. Nothing was allowed to interfere with it. But now your school days have come to a close. You are going to be assigned to different parts of the earth in your missionary work. Things will be different. You will have different food and encounter different customs. The beds will not be the same. Practically everything in your life will be changed. Are you going to let that change your thinking or change your desires? Are you going to long for the ‘garlic and leeks’ back home so much that you may want to leave that assignment to come back where, perhaps, there is plusher living? Are you going to let those conditions affect your missionary work? If you do, it will affect your spiritual heart. Keep foremost in your mind that the necessary thing is to continue taking in a fuller knowledge of Jehovah God and his purposes. Never stop that.”

The good counsel given to those students is beneficial for all of us. It is only by keeping our minds filled with the spiritually upbuilding knowledge of God’s Word and by keeping active in his service that we can keep our hearts spiritually strong. By our neglecting to do this our affections can, as in the case of the Israelites, drift from God to material comforts and pleasures, causing us to become “lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God.” (2 Tim. 3:4) Knowing better than anyone else what is required to keep our spiritual hearts strong, Jehovah God counsels us at Proverbs 23:12, “Do bring your heart to discipline and your ear to the sayings of knowledge.” The discipline and sayings of knowledge that come from him through his written Word are what strengthen the heart.

Although your physical heart is only about the size of your fist, it keeps your entire body alive. From it blood moves out to all parts of your body carrying the food, oxygen, hormones and enzymes that are necessary for it to continue living. These sources of the body’s life must keep flowing out from the heart without faltering if the body is to remain healthy. The same is true with the spiritual heart. When this seat of affections, desires and motives is strong, the feelings, expressions and actions that flow from it will be the sources of your spiritual health and life. Since God judges you by these manifestations of the heart, the condition of your spiritual heart affects your prospect for his gift of endless life. With these things in mind, we can appreciate what is meant at Proverbs 4:23: “More than all else that is to be guarded, safeguard your heart, for out of it are the sources of life.”

No matter what circumstances may face you, watch your spiritual heart and keep it strong. Keep your desires and motives pure and your affection for your Creator strong. Then when God ‘makes proof of your heart’ he will find you worthy of his gift of eternal life.—1 Thess. 2:4.

Keeping Your Balance with Many Responsibilities

“Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and become my disciples, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for your souls.”—Matt. 11:28, 29.

1. What is it that brings satisfaction to man and to God?

WHEN food has been prepared with variety that results in a wholesome meal, how delightful it is to the taste buds of the mouth! When music flows together in smooth harmony, how pleasant it is to the ear! When colors blend to produce a beautiful landscape, real or on canvas, how the eye appreciates it! When man makes a machine, and its wheels and gears run with smooth balance, he is filled with deep satisfaction. When man keeps his balance while serving God under trying conditions requiring patience while others say God has forgotten man, his balance is backed up with courage. If inside the congregation of God’s people he chafes at the bit to improve organizational matters and is inclined to be impatient with the overseer of that congregation, yet continues giving full support and faithfully works at his assignment, not only will he be filled with deep satisfaction, but his God will be delighted with his service.

2, 3. Does physical balance come automatically, and what could interfere with balance?

2 But balance does not come easy. It takes time. It comes with steady growth. It comes by help from experienced, balanced older ones. That is why unsteady little babies grow up to be balanced adults, and inexperienced persons become dependable mature people.

3 The faculties and organs that enable man to gain physical balance must be protected if one expects to be in complete control. Overeating, excessive drinking, nagging anxiety, constant hunting for pleasure and greed for materialism will all play havoc with our physical balancing equipment.

4. What crowds in upon those serving God today, and what is it the tendency to conclude?

4 Yet what is one to do when faced with so many things to do all at the same time, and they crowd in upon us, demanding attention? Take for an example a mother with a family to care for. Cooking, housecleaning, washing and ironing. Why, that ironing takes hours to do. Letters to write. Teaching the children household duties. Shopping, trying to make ends meet. Daily reading of the Bible. Attending Bible study meetings with others who serve God. Yes, and then find time to visit neighbors and tell them about God’s Kingdom good news. Then do you say, “I just can’t do another thing”? Is there too much work in God’s organization today? Should we be urged to greater activity by the overseers in the congregation? Does much responsibility in congregation arrangements, plus caring for home and family interests, bring frustration and irritating tension along with it? Is serving God a demanding way of worship?

5, 6. (a) Who knows man’s abilities best? (b) Describe examples of balance that we may see every day.

5 But wait! There must be a solution. For Jehovah God the Creator made man, gave him these duties and still others so as to serve as his minister in the earth. Following the words written at Matthew 22:37, “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind,” is recognition by Christ Jesus of the love that man should have for self, but he does not stop there, but says, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”

6 Observing creation, from the heavens to plants, animals, mountains, trees and seas, we see balance. No frustration but, as described in Psalm 104:24, “How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made. The earth is full of your productions.” And yet creation, not interfered with, moves along with boundless energy, accomplishing amazing tasks, with ease and freedom that highly recommend balance.

7. (a) Explain what kinds of people are in God’s organization today. (b) How are they all able to progress to maturity?

7 Jehovah’s heavenly organization works; and when Jesus Christ was on the earth, he taught the earthly part how to work. Paul describes the kind of people responding to the benefits of the ransom in these words in Titus 2:13, 14: “Christ Jesus, who gave himself for us that by a ransom he might release us from every kind of lawlessness and cleanse for himself a people peculiarly his own, zealous for good works.” (1950 Edition) These people are further trained and urged along, as brought out at 1 Corinthians 15:58 by Paul: “Consequently, my beloved brothers, become steadfast, unmovable, always having plenty to do in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in connection with the Lord.” The application of this counsel fills the congregations today with activity, with variety, and, most importantly, with Jehovah’s spirit. Even as children vary in progress, so do Christian ministers; and, with plenty of work, those able to progress more rapidly can do so and increase the amount of praise to Jehovah. Would you want the entire earthly organization to slow down because you cannot keep up with everything? No, of course not. Even as you recognize that you have limited capacities, you want others to have the opportunity to enjoy life more fully in God’s new order of things. Persons with greater abilities as well as those with limited abilities must be trained to serve Jehovah with all they have. So while one person might not be able to do as much as another, the work is there so others can go ahead and progress to maturity, and the slower ones are happy to see Jehovah’s work accomplished to a greater extent by those as well as themselves. Today the organization has the tremendous work of preaching the good news of the Kingdom earth wide (Matt. 24:14), and this is being done in an atmosphere of continual urgency, amid changing, moving and unsettled conditions. By reading the 1966 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses you will readily see how well balanced the organization is under this pressure.

FAITH PRODUCES BALANCE

8. What is the basis for balance, and how does Matthew 13:22 warn us of dangers that threaten balance?

8 After speaking of critical times hard to deal with, God’s Word advises: “You, though, keep your senses in all things, suffer evil, do the work of an evangelizer, fully accomplish your ministry.” (2 Tim. 4:5) To care for all the responsibilities you have requires balance. This must be settled on a solid foundation. You find this described at Psalm 62:7, 8: “Upon God are my salvation and my glory. My strong rock, my refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, O people. Before him pour out your heart. God is a refuge for us.” Faith, trusting Jehovah, and a daily study of his Word produce balance. “Form a longing for the unadulterated milk belonging to the word, that through it you may grow to salvation.” (1 Pet. 2:2) However, to bring the desired results, study periods whether in groups or privately must be free of anxiety. Distracting pursuits, or trying to study and do something else, will choke the word and bring on panic rather than balance. (Matt. 13:22) You can find many examples of unsettled people today as they switch from one job to another. A person may get all enthused over a new project, just get to understand it, and then change to another fascination, and, in many cases, not building his activity around his dedication to Jehovah. Some may spend so much time on pleasures that they wear themselves out physically and allow little strength and time for Scriptural responsibilities. They are tense and in an upset condition rather than being balanced.

9. Describe the attitude of balanced ministers, and Scriptural counsel advises what course to follow?

9 Balanced people are steady and dependable. They grow a little each day—“with the growth that God gives.” (Col. 2:19) As a child’s daily growth is barely visible to its parents, so ministers of God make such progress slowly. Yet it may be too slow to suit us and we become discouraged. Because of time limitations and having to divide our time to care for family responsibilities, or because of slowing up in age, or maybe not being as capable as others who are quick to grasp ideas, we may become exasperated. We may become very hard on ourselves, not being reasonable with ourselves and expecting more than we have to give and yet care for other duties. Proverbs 11:17 offers this steadying advice: “A man of loving-kindness is dealing rewardingly with his own soul, but the cruel person is bringing ostracism upon his own organism.” This same reasonableness displayed to others will help them maintain their balance as well as assist you in working on yours. Paul says: “Let your reasonableness become known to all men.”—Phil. 4:5.

10. Apply Philippians 1:10 to balance, and what should one avoid if one is to be free of frustration?

10 In order to develop the ability to spend some time on all your responsibilities, you will have to come face to face with the fact stated in Philippians 1:10: “Make sure of the more important things.” As a minister of God you will use the Bible to help you list these most important things first. It will help you to divide needs from wants. It will eliminate tension-producing activities that steal time from those things we want to do. Galatians 5:19-21 lists some monstrous breeders of tension, such as loose conduct, hatreds, fits of anger, envies and many other things. When possible, get ahead and gain needed time for the right things, or for emergencies and additional assignments that come up in your life. Do not take it easy doing wrong things when you can invest time that later will bring rich dividends.

11. What is essential to individuals desirous of maintaining balance?

11 Maintain balance by going to Jehovah God every day in prayer. Not just when you are with a group and someone else represents you should you pray, but you should personally talk to your Father, Jehovah God. This is the same God that protects the balance of the entire universe. Think of the confidence you can have in turning to him for protection. Jehovah through his word at Philippians 4:6, 7 invites you to take advantage of this provision: “Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God; and the peace of God that excels all thought will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Jesus.”

BALANCED MINISTERS ENJOY THEIR FAMILIES

12. (a) Congregation overseers may have what responsibilities? (b) Which comes first, and with what effect on the family?

12 There are 24,158 congregation overseers in Jehovah’s organization today. The majority of these have two responsibilities. Many times these brothers have to stop and remind themselves what comes first. Is it the family? Or will it be the congregation? Since one can be easily swayed off balance here, it is wise to let God’s Word give advice. Chapter three of First Timothy sets forth requirements for overseers, and at 1 Ti 3 verse four it says he should be “a man presiding over his own household in a fine manner, having children in subjection with all seriousness.” First Timothy 5:8 adds still more pointed directions: “Certainly if anyone does not provide for those who are his own, and especially for those who are members of his household, he has disowned the faith and is worse than a person without faith.” So he views his family as his principal obligation. He cares for many things, teaches his family how to study, conducts a family Bible study, trains them in the ministry, supplies food, clothing, shelter and medical care, gives assistance in schoolwork and provides for upbuilding vacations and relaxation. Think of how fortunate such a family is to have this family head set the example for them daily. Here love of the family, love of the truth, plus love of Jehovah, add up to certain happiness in such a balanced family. How contented is the family with a balanced husband in full charge! It is like riding in an automobile with a careful driver, one that has balanced control at all times; you feel so safe that you can relax and enjoy every minute of the ride.

13, 14. Wise overseers adopt what method in both family life and congregation activity?

13 But the family head cannot do everything. So he trains members of the family to share responsibility. At first it may not be done as well as father does it, but in time the trained helper may even do better. Children taught responsibility at an early age grow into useful ministers for Jehovah.

14 The requirements for such a father are the same as those for a congregation overseer. There is actually only one difference and that is the size of the family; so instead of four or five in a family he now has fifty or a hundred. He will be concerned for each one of them and do as Galatians 6:2 directs: “Go on carrying the burdens [troublesome things, footnote, 1950 edition] of one another, and thus fulfill the law of the Christ.” Here again he cannot do everything himself and so he wisely trains others to share responsibility. He helps those in the congregation to help themselves.

15. How are dedicated ministers trained to care for congregation duties?

15 Balance reaches to the congregation too, and the overseer arranges for the congregation to have a share in all the activity going on in the organization. He cannot have the attitude, “If you want it done right, do it yourself.” You as the overseer may never get to it. You may be an expert and most efficient, but you cannot do everything. So why not let another brother work at it and become more able at it with his time and your patience? Babies would never walk or eat unless trained and allowed to go ahead and work on it. To be sure, mistakes will be made, but balance yourself with a long-range viewpoint and reflect on what 2 Timothy 4:5 says: “Keep your senses in all things.” You will profit too by meditating on the course suggested at Exodus 18:17-27, where Moses was told he had “too big a load” to care for.

16. In what way is the congregation Scripturally encouraged to support the overseer?

16 Of course, support from the congregation is needed. The Bible urges everyone in the congregation to have respect for the overseer, not complaining or running out of patience because things are not being done as he or she would like. Overseers make mistakes. Oftentimes because they have so many things on their mind and so many weighty responsibilities to carry, they will forget things or not plan others carefully enough. It is easy to stand off at a distance and find flaws in the work of others. If you get close enough to get involved and help carry the load of responsibility you can be a blessing rather than a cause for sighing on the part of the overseer. “Be obedient to those who are taking the lead among you and be submissive, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will render an account; that they may do this with joy and not with sighing, for this would be damaging to you.”—Heb. 13:17.

BALANCED MATES VALUABLE

17. What basis would a dedicated wife have for managing a balanced home?

17 The family, being so close to the overseer, will have a lot to do with his work as he cares for both home family and the congregation. The wife as assistant home manager has a big job. When you add up the thousands of little things to be done, it seems like an unsurmountable mountain, and when God’s ministry brings further obligations you may feel it is too much. Please read of a balanced wife in Proverbs 31; not only could she care for many duties, and back her husband up, but, as Pr 31 verse 30 says, “the woman that fears Jehovah is the one that procures praise for herself.” Many duties require scheduling of time, not spending as much time as you like on one obligation, but taking all your work into consideration. This will enable you to find ways of improving your work with the limited time you have. There is preparing of meals, which contributes to the balance of the family and particularly of the husband, for, if he is a servant in the congregation, wholesome meals on time are really a blessing. She is the one who gets the children ready for meetings on time; in fact, by early training she has inculcated in their personality the importance of getting school homework and play out of the way to attend meetings regularly.

18. How can wives support their husbands in both family programs and congregation organization?

18 Mothers and wives must study to maintain spiritual balance, so ‘form a longing for the truth and grow.’ (1 Pet. 2:2) Support your husband in the family study program, making everything give way to its regular weekly operation. Keep your eye on the congregation’s program of activity and be quick to adjust your home arrangements to make room for all this balancing activity. Be greatly encouraged too in your accomplishment, even though you may not be told every day that you are valuable to your husband. Businessmen hire assistants to work for them and are glad to pay large salaries to men with insight, initiative and balance. You are worth more. Prove it. Husbands look forward to coming home to balanced wives and, more important, because, as Proverbs 18:22 says: “Has one found a good wife? One has found a good thing, and one gets good will from Jehovah.”

BIBLE STUDY GROUPS HELPED BY BALANCED MINISTER

19. (a) Explain the benefits of the book study. (b) How does a study conductor apply Philippians 2:4 to his work with the group?

19 Thousands of small groups of Jehovah’s witnesses meet in homes and other convenient places once a week to study the Bible, and several times during the week to share in the ministry of preaching the good news of God’s kingdom. (Matt. 24:14) These groups are small so that help can be given to build up balance and maturity. These are called congregation book studies, and the one having oversight is called a study conductor. These brothers have the same attitude as Paul tells of at 1 Thessalonians 2:7, 8: “We became gentle in the midst of you, as when a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So, having a tender affection for you, we were well pleased to impart to you, not only the good news of God, but also our own souls, because you became beloved to us.” There are many ways these book study conductors help those in their care. They teach them how to study. They train them in the ministry, going with them from house to house. They help them to attend the congregation meetings. In fact, they go to the homes of their brothers and help them to work out a practical schedule that will allow room for all these blessings as well as taking care of the family. If one in the group should get sick or meet with an accident or get spiritually sick, this same study conductor hurries over immediately to supply spiritual food and encouragement to make up for what is missed while the person is convalescing. He will assist the shut-in to share in the ministry in some way, helping maintain balance even in times of stress. This is the way it should be, for the Bible, at Philippians 2:4, puts it this way: “Keeping an eye, not in personal interest upon just your own matters, but also in personal interest upon those of the others.” Of course, this conductor must keep balance too and therefore will schedule his time to care for his family, enjoy personal study, attend meetings and share in all the activity the congregation has arranged. You will find, as a conductor, that you will get all these obligations taken care of if you do these things together with the other ministers in your group. Always remember the balancing counsel at Romans 15:2: “Let each of us please his neighbor in what is good for his upbuilding.” As a minister of Jehovah you have the privilege of being an example in balance before this group in every activity.

KNOW YOUR LIMIT

20. Why should we know our limitations? Does this mean we are hindered in serving Jehovah? What attitude should be ours?

20 To keep your balance you must know your limit. If you do not know your limit, then you are not very well acquainted with yourself. What capabilities do you have? You may have ability to do certain things but what you need is the training. Are you limited? You may have likes and may desire to do something that looks so interesting, but can you handle it? As a father you may want to pioneer full time in the ministry, but can you do it and take care of the family? Others may do it, yes, but their circumstances may be different. Rather than be carried off balance by enthusiasm, plan, train yourself and, even if you are not able to pioneer, you will enjoy blessings in being a dependable, balanced minister in the congregation. Remember, not all are needed in the same capacity. Do not become unbalanced in envying other brothers who may be more capable than you. Be thankful that Jehovah has qualified men to do the work and that brothers are available to improve the work, even if it means using them instead of you. Paul recorded Jehovah’s mind on the matter at 1 Timothy 6:6-8: “To be sure, it is a means of great gain, this godly devotion along with self-sufficiency. For we have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things.” If you are willing, Jehovah can use you. You can be trained to do many things, and the longer you work in the organization the more useful you become. It will be a never-ending school of training. So be content with steady progress even if it is only a little. But keep trying. Jesus was satisfied with the widow’s mite; why not you?—Luke 21:1-4.

21. Summarize the essentials to balance in Jehovah’s service.

21 No one person can do everything. It takes more than one to manage a home, train children, care for a congregation or conduct a book study, and to preach the good news of God’s kingdom in your territory. Have some share in all these privileges available to you. Keep your balance by taking advantage of all the opportunities within your reach, Practice what is said at Philippians 3:16: “At any rate, to what extent we have made progress, let us go on walking orderly in this same routine.” Having in mind that balance comes from a well-protected heart and mind, guard it with daily study of God’s Word. Keep free of worry and needless anxiety. Grow steadily; be willing to do Jehovah’s work. Draw close to Jehovah in daily personal prayer. Appreciate him, trust him. In your schedule of your life’s activity provide for plenty of time to share in preaching the Kingdom good news, for that is at present the big thing in Christian lives. Make your determination the same as Psalm 109:30: “I shall laud Jehovah very much with my mouth, and in among many people I shall praise him.”

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A father wisely trains his son to take responsibility

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A wise overseer trains others to share the work

Save Both Yourself and Those Who Listen to You

“Pay constant attention to yourself and to your teaching. Stay by these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.”—1 Tim. 4:16.

1. What is the most important thing in a minister’s life? Give three reasons for proving faithful.

THERE you have the big thing in the life of a balanced minister of God: to praise Jehovah before others, to tell his wonderful purposes to everyone, but particularly to those who will listen. What pleasure it is to relate the good news of God’s kingdom to hearing ones and watch them grow in knowledge and appreciation! How great your joy is when they, in turn, begin to “laud Jehovah” with their heart! Actually you are watching these “sheep” walk toward life, and it is your privilege to assist them. Really, then, you have these three strong reasons for proving faithful in your ministry: saving yourself and those who listen to you and, the greatest, to be praisers of Jehovah’s name.—Ps. 109:30.

2. How has Jehovah provided for listening ones to get life, and is this an urgent matter now?

2 In this system of things marked for Armageddon, life is at stake. Man can no longer say, “Let the next generation worry about it,” or, “It will never come in my time.” There is not enough time for that kind of thinking. It is later than many think! So, then, when you reach out with the truth of God’s Bible to listening ones, you are really pulling them out of a death trap. Just as you love life, so do they. Jehovah has provided the way to salvation, and we read about it at Matthew 20:28: “Just as the Son of man came, not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his soul a ransom in exchange for many.” To be sure, life does not come automatically or by man’s wisdom; rather, Jehovah God and his Son, Christ Jesus, have a say in the matter. It is for those who “get a firm hold on the real life” and refuse to let it go. (1 Tim. 6:19) The motive for the ransom was God’s love, but to take advantage of this wonderful gift we must accept the gift and show faith in God. The Bible tells us in John 3:16: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” Everlasting life is for those who have faith and is for those who prove themselves worthy of it.

3. (a) Show how Jesus was a balanced minister. (b) In what way does work mentioned in James 2:24, 26 have to do with our faith?

3 Christ Jesus was a perfect example of balance when he was on the earth. Note some of the things he said and agreed with: “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.” (Matt. 4:10) “Give us today our bread for this day.” (Matt. 6:11) “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom.” (Matt. 6:33) “My yoke is kindly and my load is light.” (Matt. 11:30) “Pay back, therefore, Caesar’s things to Caesar, but God’s things to God.” (Matt. 22:21) “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.” (Matt. 22:37) “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”? (Matt. 22:39) “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth.” (Matt. 24:14) “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations.” (Matt. 28:19) “Martha, you are anxious and disturbed about many things. A few things, though, are needed, or just one.” (Luke 10:41, 42) He was not unbalanced by tradition; he healed a woman on the sabbath. (Luke 13:10-17) It is easy to discern that, though Jesus recognized the need to care for family responsibilities and pay taxes due, the big thing is to worship Jehovah, preach his word and kingdom, and be a praiser of his name. In fact, only such ministers will be saved. Reflect on James 2:24, 26 in this regard: “You see that a man is to be declared righteous by works, and not by faith alone. Indeed, as the body without breath is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” To get life you must be a working minister, which means to be a preacher and teacher of the good news of God’s kingdom. You must be a dedicated worshiper of Jehovah God. Jehovah’s witnesses are a society of ordained ministers and today they are participating in a twofold saving program.

TWOFOLD SAVING PROGRAM

4. In changing our personality, how do we progress to the real joy of serving God?

4 It will be difficult to obtain this balance of caring for yourself and those who listen if you retain the personality and thinking of this present system of mankind. In it the majority think of self, but that is all. Of course, it is proper and Scriptural to be concerned about ourselves. That concern should mean feeding on God’s Word daily. It should find us attending meetings of God’s people to take in faith-building knowledge and to be assisted by other mature ministers. It would mean we would be actively living out a personal program of these essentials and the all-important one, sharing weekly in telling out the good news of God’s kingdom. But unless we enlarge our vision and exercise this knowledge, we will not be balanced and we will not be able to hold onto this essential quality, faith. Jesus said to Martha: He that “exercises faith in me will never die at all.” (John 11:26) Again, at Romans 10:10, we read: “For with the heart one exercises faith for righteousness, but with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation.” One marvels and feels great contentment and satisfaction when gaining understanding of Jehovah’s purposes, but really the greater joy comes in telling others what we have learned.—Ps. 71:1-24.

5. What questions on spiritual food emphasize the need for spiritual health?

5 Paying attention to ourselves is done with the motive in mind of pleasing God, not catering to our selfishness, and several things are involved if one is to please God successfully. Daily food, spiritual food that is, is a must to keep up spiritual strength. Do you eat from God’s Word at regular, scheduled times? Are you grabbing a bite here and there and then wondering why you do not have the strength to work in God’s service? Are you enjoying spiritual food to the full or are you too busy to eat these nutritious faith-building meals? Is personal study a chore on your schedule that you must do, or is it a delight, something you look forward to with keen anticipation? Personal study not only satisfies that hunger, but it builds up your working fund of truths and ideas with which you can effectively teach others. If you cannot seem to get your point across, then you have a supply, a storehouse of other ideas and other ways to teach. Clean ministers have God’s backing, and that means being clean not only in the actual preaching work but at home, at secular work, in relaxation and recreation; for though we may not be speaking the truth, we are still living it and are examples to others. These things will be possible for us if we have as basis for worship the motive made known at Matthew 22:37: “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.” Coupling this with the encouragement at 1 Timothy 4:16, we will be growing into a solid, unselfish balanced minister: “Pay constant attention to yourself and to your teaching. Stay by these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.”

DILIGENTLY FEED “SHEEP” WITH BIBLE STUDIES

6. Sharing the good news with others develops what kind of an attitude in us? Is there happiness in this course?

6 Through his Word Jehovah has instructed his people to preach the good news of the Kingdom. (Matt. 24:14) It is the active part of our worship to share in this ministry. We do it because we want to do so, not to please others or to have a report on paper. Genuine joy in the service of God is food to the minister and will build him up, but to share in the preaching work to please some man or just to make a report ends with just that, a piece of paper. Appreciation for this privilege of worshiping Jehovah and sharing life-giving knowledge with listening ones will strengthen us to enjoy these blessings both now and as long as we live. We know that others spent considerable time in preparing publications, printing Bibles and calling at our homes to share the good news with us. Now is the time to respond unselfishly and help others. Now is the time to preach. In the not too far distant future a time will come when it will not be possible to flee to Jehovah for safety. Now is the time to “get out of her [Babylon the Great], my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues.” (Rev. 18:4) Now is the time to find, feed and tenderly care for “other sheep” by telling all peoples to “get out of her.” Lives are at stake, and this point should not be erased from our minds by selfish pursuit of pleasures and materialism rather than sharing in teaching others the truth. Bible studies are the most important work of paying attention to those who listen. (John 21:15-17) Can you describe the happiness of parents watching their babies grow, learning to say and do new things with such eagerness? So is the joy of those feeding the “sheep” spiritual food with regular Bible studies.

7. What point was Jesus making in his illustration of the harvest, and actually what is involved in harvesttime?

7 It was Jesus who emphasized the importance of paying attention to those who listen, at Matthew 9:35-38: “Jesus set out on a tour . . . teaching . . . and preaching the good news of the kingdom . . . On seeing the crowds he felt pity for them, because they were skinned and thrown about like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples: Yes, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. Therefore, beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” He pointed out the need to come back and take care of these “sheep,” to feed them and shepherd them to life. A farmer plants the seed in soil that he has already worked diligently to prepare for sowing time. However, sowing the seed is not the conclusion of the matter or the end of the work. The fields must still be protected from hungry animals, from weeds and insects. In many localities he will return to water the thirsty shoots by irrigation. Then you will see the first stages of the harvest, cutting the grain. But the harvest is not complete until the threshing takes place and the grain is safely stored in the barn. The harvest period is a tense time, the weather may not hold, the rains may come to soak the cut grain lying on the ground, resulting in damage, or the rains may shorten the harvest days and the farmer will have to dig the last of his crops from the early snows. No wonder the farmer works long hours at the harvesttime and expects his helpers to do the same. It is no place for lazy people or those seeking just a good time.

8. In what way do we become God’s fellow workers, and what kind of fellow ministers are prayed for when help is wanted?

8 Jesus associated workers with the harvest, and the atmosphere of urgency in taking care of these “sheep.” It is a sobering thought to realize that these hungry “sheep” are praying to God for someone to show them the way to the true religion, and that your brothers are praying for help in the harvest work. But remember, these “sheep” and your brothers are praying for workers. Unless you work, you will not be an answer to their prayers. To harvest a crop the wise farmer recognizes God as the giver of rain and sunshine that bring growth. But rain and sunshine will not bring a crop unless seed is sown in a well-prepared seedbed. So too, in feeding the “sheep,” reflect on how it is described at 1 Corinthians 3:6-9: “I [Paul] planted, Apollos watered, but God kept making it grow; so that neither is he that plants anything nor is he that waters, but God who makes it grow. Now he that plants and he that waters are one, but each person will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You people are God’s field under cultivation, God’s building.”

9. (a) Will the Bible study method used by Philip and others then work now? (b) What adds urgency and importance to Bible study activity in these times?

9 Feeding the listening “sheep” with Bible studies is not a new idea. Jehovah’s angel directed the minister Philip to use this method to stimulate the Ethiopian treasurer to serve God. It was a question-and-answer study that soon led this man to baptism and happiness in Jehovah’s service. (Acts 8:27-38) There must be yet many more of these “sheep” to find and regularly feed the same spiritual food by the same method, Bible studies. An important thing in paying attention to others is the attitude you have when going from house to house. Are you going to call back soon, within a few days, to bring more food? Does your concern for the lives of these people override the fear of being tied down to conducting a Bible study regularly each week and of patiently and tenderly nurturing these “sheep” until they too are ministers? Can you afford to miss the joys to be had in the Bible study ministry, where growth and appreciation for God’s arrangements take place before your eyes? Philip listened to an angel when instructed to study with a listening one and both received a blessing. This is also a time to listen to the command of heavenly instruction and to share in feeding hungry ones with the life-giving waters of truth. Jehovah God is interested in the spiritual welfare of the “sheep.” (Ezek. 34:11-16) Christ Jesus commanded that the “sheep” be found and fed. (Matt. 28:19, 20; John 21:15-17) The angels having responsibility in the preaching work instruct urgent attention to the matter. (Rev. 14:6-10) It is a heavenly voice that issues the command: “Get out of her [Babylon the Great], my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues.” (Rev. 18:4) Certainly, then, we have the highest authority and backing when we share in the privilege of feeding the “sheep” through a Bible study program. You will receive a blessing if you listen and act.

10. Is it necessary to know everything before conducting a Bible study with a listening person, and why do you so answer?

10 Young and old can share in this privilege. You will read of many examples of this in the 1966 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is a simple, down-to-earth discussion of the doctrines and principles found in God’s Word. The Bible remains the solid authority that you need only consult to give the correct answers. Concordances and the publications of the Watch Tower Society provide abundant help in a program for such a Bible study. In view of the harvest field, the urgency of the times and what we have received, there is a need for many more in the congregation to start and regularly conduct Bible studies with those listening, scattered, hungry “sheep.”

TENDERLY LEAD NEW ONES TO JEHOVAH’S ORGANIZATION

11. What are the things new ones want to know before attending congregation meetings?

11 Saving those who listen will require a regular feeding program and one that is prepared so as to train them at the very beginning in the need for a balanced life of service to God. The proved and Scriptural way is to direct these “sheep” to Jehovah’s organization immediately. There are many things people want to know about the organization before they attend meetings, such as, how are these conducted? and what is expected of those attending? Many are amazed to learn that no collection baskets are passed at Jehovah’s witnesses’ meetings. They are happy to hear and see the Bible used so much during the program. Really, they say, it is so instructive, with emphasis on gaining knowledge rather than ceremony or ritual.

12. Does Jehovah expect us to inform these new ones of the requirements for clean worship, and what does clean worship mean for these people?

12 To feel really at home, these persons will need to understand the Scriptural requirements on keeping the organization clean. So, little by little, we acquaint them with honesty, moderate habits in drinking, relations between the sexes, speaking the truth, and the conduct that befits one who says publicly: “I am a minister, and as one of Jehovah’s witnesses I am calling to bring you good news of God’s kingdom.” You will not expect them to accomplish everything at once, but you will have in mind the sobering information that is recorded at 1 Corinthians 6:9-11: “What! Do you not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men, nor thieves, nor greedy persons, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit God’s kingdom. And yet that is what some of you were. But you have been washed clean, but you have been sanctified, but you have been declared righteous in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the spirit of our God.” Not only your explaining the clean organization but also your conduct will teach them that it can be done and will give them an insight into the happiness gained by following God’s advice on clean conduct. These new ones coming into the organization must, of course, maintain the kind of conduct that befits a Christian minister. This will be necessary for them to be welcomed into the association of the congregation and really be a part of the family. (1 Pet. 4:3, 4) Most important will be their relationship to Jehovah the Creator. Will they be able to go to him in prayer without having their petitions hindered by unclean conditions? (1 Pet. 3:7) “The sacrifice of the wicked ones is something detestable to Jehovah, but the prayer of the upright ones is a pleasure to him.”—Prov. 15:8.

13. How does the congregation organization assist you in teaching new ones?

13 Inviting them to the congregation is in reality inviting them to enjoy the privileges of the ministry, for the organization is a teaching one that is determined to carry out its responsibility of training new ones to teach others. Notice how this point is emphasized at 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things you heard from me with the support of many witnesses, these things commit to faithful men, who, in turn, will be adequately qualified to teach others.” The organization is the finest place to which to bring these “sheep” you study with, to give them valuable education in maintaining their balance as servants of God.

14. Describe how you would acquaint new ones with the organization, and what is essential to progress?

14 Now, of course, the question comes up, How should we invite these listening ones to the organization? Circumstances and people are going to be different, but here may be listed some of the things you will find well to do. Every week tell them about one feature of the organization. Consult the Watch Tower publications indexes and particularly under the heading “Congregation” for points to use. Describe the purpose of each of the meetings, the assemblies, the servants, and the various ways we carry out the preaching work. These few minutes after your Bible study will soon acquaint them with the congregation and they will feel right at home and know what to expect. Take them with you in the ministry and teach them patiently, step by step, helping them to become experienced in talking to people, using the Bible, and presenting the publications. These are important training periods, for your dependability and regularity will later on be the pattern followed when these new ones begin teaching those with whom they conduct Bible studies. Sheep thrive on a regular feeding program, so faithfulness is an essential to be a minister to them. Jehovah and Jesus are examples of living up to promises; “let us hold fast the public declaration of our hope without wavering, for he is faithful that promised.”—Heb. 10:23.

FAITHFULNESS RESULTS IN LIFE

15. (a) Give examples of unfaithful ones whose course we should want to avoid. (b) Compare faithful ones and the blessings they enjoyed.

15 Holding fast will require endurance, and it is endurance that produces an approved condition; the approved condition, in turn, hope. (Rom. 5:4) ‘For with the heart one has to keep on exercising faith for righteousness and with the mouth one keeps on making public declaration for salvation.’ (Rom. 10:10; 2 Cor. 13:5; Gal. 6:9) Paul said: “I browbeat my body and lead it as a slave, that, after I have preached to others, I myself should not become disapproved somehow.” (1 Cor. 9:27) Solomon did not do this, and just ponder his end a moment. He rules as king for forty years, spends twenty years building a house of Jehovah and a house of the king. He builds cities and ships. The wisdom and peaceful prosperity are the talk of the world. Solomon prays for wisdom, and Jehovah answers that prayer. Yet he gives out and dies unfaithful. (1 Ki. 11:1-43) Jesus prophesied that others would leave true worship. (Matt. 24:12) Why be listed among those who “cool off.” Follow the example of the many listed in Hebrews 11:4-39. Remember Abraham. He was seventy-five years old when Jehovah gave him an assignment of responsibility. He died at one hundred and seventy-five years of age. One hundred years in that service, and the report reads: “Then Abraham expired and died in a good old age, old and satisfied.” (Gen. 12:1, 4; 25:8) God was satisfied with him and, in Hebrews 11:8, records him as a man of obedience and faith. While life rather than death lies before you, it should be your desire to remain satisfied in Jehovah’s service and to have God’s approval on your worship. When some disciples had their feelings hurt at what Jesus had to say, they cooled off and returned to their former course. When Jesus asked others if they wanted to go too, Simon Peter said: “Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life.” (John 6:68) Jesus had answered this question earlier, as recorded at Matthew 24:13: “But he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved.”

16. Explain the balanced outlook in caring for our many responsibilities, and what do you use as a basis for this conclusion?

16 It is true there is so much to do in the worship of God and to look after all our responsibilities. We need the spirit of a sound mind to maintain balance. A calm, well-balanced outlook means contentment and happiness. Proverbs 14:30 puts it thus: “A calm heart is the life of the fleshly organism,” and Proverbs 15:13: “A joyful heart has a good effect on the countenance.” Then, of course, those observing our course of action and listening to us will require personal assistance to put away their old personality and put on the new. After urging this change through the making over of the mind (Rom. 12:2, 3), Paul shows how it is to be accomplished: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not be planning ahead for the desires of the flesh.” (Rom. 13:14) Not only will you have Jesus Christ as the example in all things, but here lies the pivot point for your balance. While Jesus was perfect and you are imperfect, yet you can find out where the safe areas are to walk. Jesus reflected the mind of the Creator Jehovah, and so you get acquainted with your heavenly Father through the words and works of this Son. Appreciation for these facts must be cultivated in those who listen to you. If the truth is valuable to us, we will teach it, yes, recommend it, yes, more, urge its use, and even go farther, persuade these apt to be “sheep” to apply God’s Word to their lives, ‘keeping an eye . . . in personal interest upon others.’ Philippians 2:4 urges us to help these people arrange their lives to be pleasing to God. It will be necessary, not to do their thinking or act for them, but to help them apply the principles of God’s Word.

17. (a) Why must we be patient with new ones? (b) Describe the cause for deep satisfaction and happiness in Jehovah’s service.

17 Remember, it is God’s Word that results in the new personality, and so we will not become impatient and give up because this change does not happen overnight. It takes time to make changes and become a well-balanced minister. “By loving-kindness and trueness error is atoned for, and in the fear of Jehovah one turns away from bad.” (Prov. 16:6) But what contentment in the feeling of usefulness can be yours as you feed the “sheep” and tenderly lead them into Jehovah’s field of worship. If Jehovah sees in you an instrument to bring the truth to someone, and the angels assist you, how privileged you are! Words cannot explain your deep-seated happiness, but the Bible puts it this way: “When Jehovah takes pleasure in the ways of a man he causes even his enemies themselves to be at peace with him.” (Prov. 16:7) “Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an everlasting covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip you with every good thing to do his will, performing in us through Jesus Christ that which is well-pleasing in his sight; to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”—Heb. 13:20, 21.

A Bible Mystery Unveiled

THERE is a common adage, “What don’t know won’t hurt you,” yet ignorance has brought about many deaths. Religious ignorance is the most deadly, as Jesus pointed out concerning the Pharisee religious leaders: “Blind guides is what they are. If, then, a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matt. 15:14) There exists a monstrous deception, a great mystery, that has brought about more violent deaths than anything since the beginning of mankind. It is a religious mystery, based on a deeply laid plot that had its beginnings in the early days of mankind. Its beginnings are mentioned in the first book of the Bible, and in the last book of the Bible it is described as reaching its zenith and being unveiled and exposed in this time of mankind’s history more than four thousand years from its start.

The mystery has a name and is portrayed as a bad woman. “And upon her forehead was written a name, a mystery: ‘Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth.’” (Rev. 17:5) She is said to have affected all the nations and is foretold to suffer a fall. “And another, a second angel, followed, saying: ‘She has fallen! Babylon the great has fallen, she who made all the nations drink of the passion-arousing wine of her fornication!’”—Rev. 14:8.

The ancient city of Babylon was founded by Nimrod upon rebellion against God. In later years it became a world power, the outstanding feature of which was religion. It suffered a fall to the Persian World Power in 539 B.C.E., though the city still remained. Its religion, which had already affected all pagan religions, survived and, in the fourth century C.E., maneuvered so as to get control of apostate Christianity.a This development has been especially marked in the Catholic section of Christendom. What influence did Babylonish religion have, if any, upon Protestantism? It is necessary to get the answer to this question before we can fully unveil the mystery of Babylon the Great.

THE PROTESTANT REBELLION

Although there were earlier sections of Christendom, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, to protest and rebel against the Roman Catholic claim to primacy for its pope, the Protestant movement took form in the sixteenth century. It was known as the Reformation. The questions arise, What did it reform? Did it remove itself from the foundations of apostate Christianity? Did it merely revise the religion taught by the Catholic church or did it completely reform to the extent of restoring the true worship practiced in the days of the apostles of Jesus Christ?

The fire of the Protestant religious movement was lighted on October 31, 1517 C.E., by Martin Luther, who was a Catholic priest. He was shocked at the Roman Catholic practice of selling indulgences pertaining to sins. On this day he nailed a list of ninety-five theses against them, on the door of the Castle church at Wittenberg, Germany. Luther, refusing to recant, was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Leo X. He exhibited his defiance by publicly burning the papal bull of excommunication on December 10, 1520. Luther set forth his interpretation of the Bible mystery by referring to Rome as the new Babylon, saying: “Let us forsake her then to become a dwelling place of dragons, evil spirits, goblins, and witches, and her name as eternal confusion.”b In fact, Protestantism in general has offered a solution to the mystery of the woman Babylon’s identity by applying the terms Babylonian and Scarlet Woman to the Roman Catholic Church. (See Webster’s New International Dictionary, Unabridged, 1961 and 1934.) Let us see if the evidence supports this proposed solution.

Following Luther’s action things developed rapidly. Charles V, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, called an imperial diet at Spires in 1529. The diet issued a decree to support the doctrines of the Church of Rome. But on April 19, 1529, six princes who supported Luther, together with the deputies of thirteen Imperial towns, protested formally and solemnly against the diet’s decree. For this, the designation “Protestant” was applied to the followers of Luther, but later its scope was widened out to include Calvinists and other religious sects that rebelled against the pope of Rome. The Protestant League of Schmalkald was entered into on December 31, 1530.c

From 1531 onward many Protestant religious reformers appeared on the scene. It was in this year that King Henry VIII of England broke with the pope of Rome, made himself head of a national church, the Church of England, and imposed on the clergy of the land his royal supremacy. In 1534 he was styled “Head of the Church,” and the authority of the pope of Rome was abolished in England. Many religious sects came to America when it began to be colonized, and the Protestant Episcopal Church of America was established as a break from the Church of England after the American Revolution of 1775-1783. Because of the constitutional separation of Church and State, America became the home of more than two hundred religious organizations, all professing to be Christian.

So, as had been the case with the Catholic church, national loyalties and bitter disagreements tore Protestantism into many factions and sects. Hundreds, yes, upward of a thousand sects have sprung up in different parts of the earth to which Christendom’s missionaries have been sent. Jesus’ words that his disciples should be one, and the exhortation of the apostle Paul: “That you should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among you,” have been grossly violated by Christendom, for she has claimed to belong to Christ. She has confused people and made it a puzzle for them to find the truth. Others she has disgusted, causing many to turn away from God. Thereby she has brought great reproach upon the name of God and of Christ in the territories of both Christendom and pagandom.—John 17:21, 22; 1 Cor. 1:10-13.

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The Watchtower, May 15, 1966