The Watchtower, May 1, 1976

Download: PDF — The Watchtower, May 1, 1976

The Watchtower — May 1, 1976

Source: jw.org

Contents

Where Can People Find Freedom?

Was There Really a Virgin Birth?

Generously Opening the Hand to Those in Need

Insight on the News

We Put God’s Service First

The Tested Quality of Our Faith—A Cause of Praise and Honor

Not Holding Our Lives Too Dear

Romans—Good News for Jew and Gentile

Missionaries Sent Out—by Whom?

How Old Is Man?

Where Can People Find Freedom?

Where Can People Find Freedom?

HUMANS have a natural desire for freedom. They want to speak their beliefs freely without being muzzled or persecuted, and to worship according to their conscience. They desire to be allowed to pursue happiness, including freedom to earn a livelihood. Even then, however, if their employment is not work that they enjoy, or does not make use of their talents, they are unhappy.

Few are the people who have all of these freedoms today. Some have become discouraged, even embittered, and have struck out for self-determination. They want absolute freedom to act according to their desire. They want to practice things harmful to themselves, such as drug abuse, or to behave in a way detrimental to others. They feel that they should have the right to do anything they wish. Some even want freedom to do nothing.

But is this swing from a feeling of oppression under the present order of society to the other extreme​—absolute independence—​the way to freedom? The extent of anyone’s freedom must logically be only in relation to the freedom enjoyed by others. If everybody did altogether according to his own selfish desire, no one would have any freedom. There would be no security in property rights, no personal safety, as everyone would be free to take whatever he wanted, to do whatever he wished. Goods and services would be almost impossible to obtain. No, there must be order, with everyone playing his reasonable part. And for order to exist, there must be law. Proper laws and regulations work for happiness.

As an example, take the natural laws. We work within the framework of these laws and are happy that they exist. If the law of gravity were to be removed, humans could not stay on the surface of the earth. And no one can ignore the law of gravity with impunity.

MORAL LAWS

The same is true of the moral laws established by God. These are just as inexorable in their enforcement as are the natural laws, though not always as quickly enforced. Say, for instance, that a married man commits adultery. He may feel that extramarital sex is a “liberated” form of sex outlet and a beneficial experiment. But he has broken a moral law. In doing so he has damaged himself and violated the rights of others. (1 Thess. 4:3-6) He is in danger of contracting a loathsome venereal disease. His relationship with his wife will certainly suffer, no matter how “sophisticated” he may consider her, and a divorce may well result. If he has children, they also are harmed for life.

Some may say that this is antiquated thinking. But note what Time magazine, in its issue of November 25, 1974, reports about those who practice “open marriage”​—an agreement to allow outside affairs for one’s mate—​actually adultery:

“Many counselors report severe and often unexpected problems of jealousy (‘something whose power we all underestimated,’ says Novelist Robert Westbrook, whose open marriage broke up).

“ . . . The pain of knowing about a partner’s affairs is reviving an old middle-class strategy​—hypocrisy, combining official faithfulness and unofficial freedom.”

And what about those who take the “liberated” attitude toward sex​—that anything goes, even between married partners? Reader’s Digest of March 1975 cites the book Divorced in America, by editor and lecturer Joseph Epstein, which speaks of the fight that some prominent men have “won” against the former rigid code of sexual conduct and says: “But the triumph has issued not in greater freedom but only in greater license, which is not at all the same thing.” Then, as to the emphasis on technique in sex, the book goes on to say: “In the process, tenderness is wrenched from sensuality, instead of the two flowing together; sex becomes fornication pure and simple; and we are more enslaved in our bodies than perhaps ever before.”

Consequently, by the violation of a moral law a man (or a woman) may ruin his entire life. Not only does he imperil his family relationships. He loses the respect of others. Such a person may think that he is taking a “liberated” course, but afterward he cannot avoid loss of self-respect and the inner condemnation of a bad conscience.

GOD’S RIGHTS

While it is obvious that it is necessary to recognize the rights of others, the primary one whose rights we must recognize is God. Does God lose if we infringe on his rights? No, except that he feels “hurt at his heart” because he knows that we are taking a course against our best interests. (Gen. 6:6) We cannot add to or take away anything from God. The Bible says: “Who has first given to him, so that it must be repaid to him [the giver]?” (Rom. 11:35) But we can encroach upon his rights, to the injury of ourselves and others.

What are the Creator’s rights? They are to direct the things that he created to fulfill the purpose for which they were made. Right now all people are imperfect and have deviated from the course that they should be taking. Therefore, more than the usual attention should be given to what God says, in order that we might be brought back into the proper standing with him.

SLAVERY TO SIN AND DEATH

Nearly all people have been talking for centuries about achieving freedom. Why? Because they do not have it. All are slaves, not necessarily to men, but to sin and death. This means that to be really free, a person would have to be relieved of sin, which would mean release from sickness and death, which are produced by sin. (Rom. 6:23) When Jesus Christ was on earth he said to the Jews: “Every doer of sin is a slave of sin.” He told them how they could be free from this deadly plague, saying: “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. . . . If the Son sets you free, you will be actually free.”​—John 8:31-36.

CAN A GOVERNMENT BY GOD BRING FREEDOM?

Could people live under God’s laws and yet enjoy complete freedom? Let us consider some of the laws that were in effect when God had a representative government on earth.

Under God’s government over Israel, each man had his own land inheritance. He and his family could earn a good livelihood from it. But every seventh year was a sabbath year, during which the fields were not to be sown or reaped. (Leviticus 25:1-7) Much time was thereby allowed for the family to be together. They could discuss God’s laws and dealings, getting to know him better. If anyone had talents along certain lines, he could develop and pursue these. Many became skilled in trades and crafts of a wide variety. They (including women) could thereby contribute to the welfare of the community.

Then every fifty years there was a “Jubilee,” a time of great freedom. If a man had, because of financial reverses, “sold” his inheritance or a part of it, this was now restored to him. All debts were canceled. If the man or members of his family had become slaves to pay off some indebtedness, they were free to return to their inheritance. (“Slavery” was not as it is usually pictured today. Under Israel’s law a Hebrew “slave” was actually treated as a hired laborer.) How could a people become more free?​—Lev. 25:8-22, 39, 40.

Well, greater freedom in every respect will be enjoyed soon by those who live under God’s Messianic kingdom, which will rule from the heavens for a thousand years. Jesus Christ as its King will represent God’s sovereign power. Under the Kingdom, complete freedom from man’s greatest enslaver, sin, along with the death that is a result of sin, will be brought about. (1 Cor. 15:26; Rev. 21:3, 4) Through the administration of Christ as King and High Priest, humans, including many resurrected ones, will be lifted up to absolute perfection of mind and body.​—Rev. 20:11-13; Heb. 11:39, 40.

Then, when the thousand years reach their end, Christ will turn perfected mankind over to Jehovah God himself. (1 Cor. 15:24) All who then love God’s sovereignty and who do not have the desire for the ruinous course of self-determination will be declared ‘sons of God.’ The apostle Paul, referring to this purpose of God, says: “The creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God.”​—Rom. 8:21.

Children of God! Men and women will be God’s own sons and daughters, in his own family​—clean, perfect and holy, as he is. Under his love for them as Father, what freedom they will have! They will enjoy perfect health, free from any destructive natural calamities. (Isa. 25:6-8) There will be no man-made governments, no dictators, no bosses. (Luke 22:25, 26) People will not regard the practice of immoral things as “freedom.” They will be subject to laws for the orderly operation of affairs, but they will not need laws against immorality, theft, murder and the depraved things to which man is now subject. About this the apostle Paul wrote:

“Now we know that the [Mosaic] Law is fine provided one handles it lawfully in the knowledge of this fact, that law is promulgated, not for a righteous man, but for persons lawless and unruly, ungodly and sinners, lacking loving-kindness, and profane, murderers . . . fornicators, . . . liars.”​—1 Tim. 1:8-10.

When Jesus Christ was on earth as a perfect man of flesh and blood, he had no tendency to do these degraded things. Keeping the Law was natural for him. He proved that sin is not a necessary or inherent thing for fleshly persons, as the apostle Paul explains: “God, by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin [he came to offer himself as an atonement sacrifice to do away with sin], condemned sin in the flesh.”​—Rom. 8:3.

CHRISTIAN FREEDOM TODAY

Even now, those who come to a knowledge of Jehovah God and his purposes can, though not yet perfect, please God and enjoy great freedom, as the apostle continues: “that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk, not in accord with the flesh, but in accord with the spirit [of God].” (Rom. 8:4) They follow “the perfect law that belongs to freedom.”​—Jas. 1:25.

True Christians therefore exercise great freeness of speech in telling others about the freedom that mankind can attain through God’s arrangement. (Phil. 1:18-20) But they follow the apostle Peter’s counsel: “Be as free people, and yet holding your freedom, not as a blind for badness, but as slaves of God.” (1 Pet. 2:16) They experience great comfort, peace and security even in this world enslaved to sin. They have proved for themselves the truth of Jesus’ words: “You will find refreshment.”​—Matt. 11:29.

Was There Really a Virgin Birth?

Was There Really a Virgin Birth?

TO MANY, the belief that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin is a legend. They view it as no different from ancient myths of the Greeks and others that tell of humans beings fathered by gods.

Is there a valid basis for this opinion? What about such ancient myths? Greek gods are depicted as lusting after women and producing “demigods” through them. Reasonably, then, after discussing legendary “virgin births,” The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Vol. 4, p. 791) concludes: “The yawning chasm between these pagan myths of polytheistic promiscuity and the lofty monotheism of the virgin birth of Jesus is too wide for careful research to cross.” Regarding the assertion that the idea of Jesus’ virgin birth finds its roots in an Oriental myth, the Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics (Vol. XII, p. 625) observes that “there is no evidence whatever” for the existence of such a legend. So, then, belief in Jesus’ virgin birth can in no way be linked to any mythological supernatural births.

But does the Bible really teach that Jesus was born of a virgin? Many people maintain that it does not, but that it presents Jesus as the actual son of Joseph. They point to the following: Inhabitants of Nazareth referred to Jesus as “the carpenter’s son” and as “a son of Joseph.” (Matt. 13:55; Luke 4:22) Philip told Nathanael: “We have found the one of whom Moses, in the Law, and the Prophets wrote, Jesus, the son of Joseph.” (John 1:45) On one occasion persons who stumbled at Jesus remarked: “Is this not Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?”​—John 6:42.

Do these quotations from the Bible really mean that Jesus was actually the son of Joseph? No. In each case those speaking were simply expressing an opinion or common view. As Jesus was raised by Joseph and Mary at Nazareth, he was rightly regarded as their son. There was no reason for people in general to think otherwise. That Jesus’ being called the “son of Joseph” was simply current opinion is confirmed at Luke 3:23, where we read: “Jesus himself, when he commenced his work, was about thirty years old, being the son, as the opinion was, of Joseph.”

An examination of what the Bible says about Jesus’ being conceived reveals clearly that Mary was indeed a virgin. Told by the angel Gabriel that she would bear a son, Mary was amazed. “How is this to be,” she asked, “since I am having no intercourse with a man?” Answering that question, Gabriel explained: “Holy spirit will come upon you, and power of the Most High will overshadow you. For that reason also what is born will be called holy, God’s Son.” Obviously it was to be a birth requiring divine intervention, a miracle. This explains Gabriel’s adding the assurance: “With God no declaration will be an impossibility.”​—Luke 1:34-37.

From Gabriel’s words we can also see that the holy spirit was to be the means by which Jehovah God would bring about something humanly impossible. Just what did God do? The Bible does not provide the details but does say enough to give us some idea as to what was involved.

Long before he was born as a man, Jesus had enjoyed a heavenly existence with his Father. He himself said: “I have come down from heaven to do, not my will, but the will of him that sent me. What, therefore, if you should behold the Son of man ascending to where he was before?”​—John 6:38, 62.

Jesus’ coming down from the heavenly realm required that he give up his existence as a spirit person. Of this, the Bible tells us: “He emptied himself and took a slave’s form and came to be in the likeness of men.”​—Phil. 2:7.

After thus emptying himself of heavenly glory, Jesus had to have his life, with its distinctive personality traits, transferred to the womb of the virgin Mary. This was accomplished through the agency of God’s holy spirit. It posed no problem for the Most High God. As the Creator, he fully understands the makeup of all his intelligent creatures. Nothing about human conception and the development of a baby in the womb is a mystery to him.​—Job 31:15; Ps. 139:16; Eccl. 11:5.

It really should not be difficult to grasp that a transferal of life and personality traits could be and was accomplished invisibly by means of God’s spirit. In the case of humans, the cell that results from the uniting of the sperm and the egg is smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. Yet just a tiny fraction of that cell contains the complete code for producing a boy or a girl with distinctive physical features and personality makeup. Accordingly, no more than a microscopic particle would have been needed to make Mary pregnant with the perfect Son of God.

When Mary actually did become pregnant by holy spirit, her betrothed Joseph was in a quandary as to what he should do. This was because he had not yet had sexual intercourse with her. His concerns about Mary’s pregnancy were allayed when Jehovah’s angel revealed to him the facts, saying: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife home, for that which has been begotten in her is by holy spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you must call his name Jesus.” (Matt. 1:18-21) Thereafter Joseph and Mary were united in marriage. “But he,” says the Bible, “had no intercourse with her until she gave birth to a son; and he called his name Jesus.”​—Matt. 1:25.

In no way, therefore, can Jesus be called the actual son of Joseph. He was indeed born of a virgin. But why was this necessary?

From the Bible we learn that the first man Adam, through disobedience, lost perfect human life for all his offspring. We read: “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12) Yes, Adam actually sold the entire human race into slavery to sin and death. (Compare Romans 7:14.) A ransom price was therefore needed to effect a release for Adam’s offspring. According to God’s standard of perfect justice as revealed in the Mosaic law, that price had to correspond exactly to what had been forfeited. The Mosaic law stated: “You must give soul for soul.” (Ex. 21:23) Since Jesus was conceived by holy spirit without the aid of an imperfect human father, he had precisely what Adam forfeited​—human life totally free from all weaknesses and imperfections. That is why Jesus could give himself “a corresponding ransom for all.”​—1 Tim. 2:6.

Scriptural evidence thus points to but one conclusion: There really was a virgin birth. Only by means of this miracle could one be born who would be a perfect human son of God, without even the slightest trace of imperfection. Thanks be to God for this miracle that has paved the way for humans to be freed from sin and death!

Generously Opening the Hand to Those in Need

Generously Opening the Hand to Those in Need

OUR God Jehovah leads the way when it comes to being generous. And this is not simply because as the Owner of all things he has the wherewithal to be generous. It is because he is the very personification of love and every generous sentiment. As the sweet singer of Israel declared: “You [Jehovah] are opening your hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing.” (Ps. 145:16) He makes his rain fall and his sun shine upon even the least deserving ones. (Matt. 5:45) How thoughtful, how considerate he is of all of us tiny creatures on this small planet!

As for those who come near to worship him, he teaches them to strive to be like him in his dealings with others. Back in an age that some reputedly wise men of our time have viewed as “primitive,” this generous God instructed his worshipers as follows: “You should generously open up your hand to your afflicted and poor brother in your land.” (Deut. 15:11) With the inculcation of this teaching there would be no need for great charity drives or campaigns, no need to pay large salaries to professional fund-raisers. People would respond to the teaching and example of the One who “gives generously to all and without reproaching.”​—Jas. 1:5.

Modern-day worshipers of Jehovah have also learned this lesson of generosity. They are deeply impressed with the words of their Lord and Master, Christ Jesus, namely: “There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.” (Acts 20:35) Too, they have experienced the truth of those words, for they take note of the needy ones in their neighborhood and unobtrusively share with such ones their material goods. Also, when they hear of fellow worshipers of Jehovah in other parts of the earth caught up in some calamity, how swift they have been to come forward and insist upon sharing in special relief measures! They open their hands generously toward the needy ones.

SHARING A MORE PRECIOUS GIFT

There is, however, a greater need that Jehovah’s people have learned about, a need of multitudes throughout the earth, a need that Christ Jesus called attention to during his special ministry here on earth. Speaking on one occasion to a large crowd of needy ones, he counseled: “Work, not for the food that perishes, but for the food that remains for life everlasting, which the Son of man will give you.” (John 6:27) Again, he declared: “It is written, ‘Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.’”​—Matt. 4:4.

So there is something much more valuable than those vital materials, bread and water. Jesus’ apostles were well aware of this. When accosted by a crippled beggar, for example, Peter said to the man: “Silver and gold I do not possess, but what I do have is what I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!” What was it they imparted to him? Not just the healing, though that was marvelous enough. It is evident that they aroused in the man a deep appreciation of the one in whose name the healing was done, Jesus of Nazareth, and of the One who sent Jesus into the world, Jehovah God. The account goes on to tell how the man was “walking and leaping and praising God” as he went into the temple.​—Acts 3:6-8.

Today Jehovah’s Witnesses do not have that miraculous power to heal people of their physical infirmities, but they are glad and eager to share with others what they have. And what is that? An appreciation of Jehovah God and knowledge of his purposes toward mankind and this earth as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. To impart this knowledge to others they go out into the city streets and the countryside to find people who will listen to the information they have to offer. It is life-giving information, for Jesus in prayer to his Father in heaven said: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”​—John 17:3.

Christian witnesses spend many hours in this service, doing so at their own personal expense, just so they can openhandedly share with others the good things that they have received from God. Even if many to whom they go do not appreciate their motive, or even question the purity of their motive, these Witnesses go on with their work of searching out worthy ones, people who can learn to appreciate the Bible message.

And something that is worthy of note: No one needs to tell a true follower of Jesus Christ just what he should give in the way of material and spiritual help to those in need. No, for the Bible principle expressed at Deuteronomy 16:17 holds true with them: “The gift of each one’s hand should be in proportion to the blessing of Jehovah your God that he has given you.” And who knows the measure of the blessing that each one has received from God? Only God and Christ Jesus and the individual worshiper. So when a Christian meditates upon all the blessings that a generous God has showered upon him, he does not have to be urged to share with others. He is motivated by a grateful heart to do so.

ORGANIZED FOR GIVING

Having in mind the urgent need of multitudes around the earth to hear the lifegiving message of God’s kingdom, the association of Christian witnesses have organized for the satisfying of that need. To this end they have formed corporations in various lands, such as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania here in the United States of America. In accord with the requirements of the law in these many lands such corporations are used to care for technical matters, such as the printing and shipping of Bibles and Bible study aids in scores of languages, to handle the funds contributed by Jehovah’s Witnesses and their well-wishers, to provide for the services of traveling representatives and to care for a large variety of related activities.

None of the officers and directors of these corporations are salaried. All are happy to give of their time and energies for the advancement of this service of declaring the “good news of the kingdom” in all the earth. (Matt. 24:14) Then, too, there are some men and women who have turned away from the opportunities of obtaining lucrative positions with attractive possibilities in order to share in the needful activity of printing and preparing and shipping Bible literature to almost every part of the globe. They serve in over 90 branch offices and printing establishments maintained by Jehovah’s Witnesses in as many lands. They are glad that they can give the best years of their lives in a most unselfish service, receiving in return their food and living quarters and a small cash allowance to care for incidentals.

All these corporations, branch offices and printeries and their personnel, serve under the direction of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a body that represents and acts for all the spirit-anointed worshipers of Jehovah God on earth. Thus the dedicated efforts of all of Jehovah’s people are tied together for effective accomplishment of the work that God has decreed must be done before the end of this old system of things comes. (Mark 13:10) Over 2,000,000 of Jehovah’s Witnesses are thus organized for the earthwide teaching and preaching service. They are all happy to share in the witnessing service in their own localities. Those they cannot personally reach in other regions and countries they reach in a united way, namely, through the services of the worldwide organization. They send their small contributions to the branch office in the country where they reside, even as those living in the United States of America send their gifts for the promotion of the Kingdom work to the Watch Tower Society at 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York 11201.

Thus the words uttered by God’s own Son in his sermon on the mountain are most applicable in our time: “Happy are those hungering and thirsting for righteousness, since they will be filled.” (Matt. 5:6) The openhanded God by his spirit moves his worshipers on earth to follow his lead and reach out with spiritual succor to the needy multitudes, while at the same time not overlooking the material needs of worthy ones. And these loyal worshipers of the God from whom comes every perfect present thoroughly appreciate the corporate instruments by which they can share unitedly in reaching out and delivering their contributions and gifts to distant hungry and thirsty ones.

Truly we worshipers of such a God have a grand privilege! We can imitate his openhandedness and demonstrate that we are his sons and daughters. Great is our joy when the inspired description of a generous person can be applied to us: “The man is good who is gracious and is lending. . . . He has distributed widely; he has given to the poor ones. His righteousness is standing forever”!​—Ps. 112:5, 9.

Insight on the News

Insight on the News

World Government Needed

● The problems of nations have become global in nature. Expanding populations, growing industrialization and modern technology have put an ever-growing demand on earth’s material resources. Air and water pollution crosses many boundaries. Nuclear warfare by intercontinental missiles can affect every country.

In this regard, scientist Isaac Asimov recently declared: “Global problems can only have global solutions. Such problems cannot possibly yield to piecemeal treatment here and there. They cannot yield even to worldwide treatment if each nation works on its own.” For mankind’s survival, he said, “there must be​—in connection with global problems—​global decisions, global laws and global enforcement. All this is a way of saying that if we are to continue into the 21st century with civilization intact, we can do so only under the aegis [auspices or sponsorship] of a form of world government.”

But such cooperation among nations is nowhere to be seen. Only God’s kingdom, the one government for all the earth that Christians pray for, will provide the “global decisions, global laws and global enforcement” to unite all mankind.​—Matt. 6:9, 10.

Highly Inaccurate

● The radiocarbon dating method has been widely accepted by many scientists as showing that humans lived back to at least 50,000 B.C.E. That conflicts with what the Bible says.

But physicist R. Brown of Andrews University claims that this radiocarbon dating method is highly inaccurate. After a ten-year study, he concludes that radioactive carbon atoms did not exist in the earth’s atmosphere in significant amounts before 2000 B.C.E. and so cannot be used to date objects before then. Sometime around that date, he says, a major atmospheric change likely occurred, resulting in the buildup of radioactive carbon in the atmosphere.

One such vast change was the flood of Noah’s day, which the Bible indicates to have taken place in 2370 B.C.E. That catastrophe without a doubt drastically altered atmospheric conditions.​—Gen. 7:11, 12.

Family Breakdown and Crime

● Police chiefs in Colorado say that a breakdown in family ties and the indifference of society are important factors in the alarming increase of crime in their communities. Much of the crime is committed by persons sixteen to twenty-five years of age.

A police chief stated: “We raised a generation of people who don’t care about anything or anyone. Many young people of today have no respect for the rights or ownership of other people and society has accepted it. There is no shame in breaking the law anymore.” Another chief said: “There seems to be some kind of moral decentralization going on among families. We’re finding the age bracket among criminal offenders is getting lower all the time.”

But what example has been set for the young by adults? In our time adults have engaged in the worst mass killing in history; there has been enormous corruption in high places; and immorality is rampant at all levels of adult society. The Bible shows that society today is ‘reaping what it has sown.’​—Gal. 6:7.

Fruits of False Religion

● People in nations outside Christendom often express their dismay at the violence, corruption and immorality in Western countries that call themselves Christian. Religious commentator G. R. Plagenz observes that “religious nations are sick from overdoses of violence, greed, injustice, selfishness, prejudice, pornography, crime, drugs and weapons.”

Thus Jesuit editor William Casey, in a special issue of the “Holy Cross Quarterly,” says that he can understand why the non-Western world is “appalled at the level of public morality in those countries whose birth and development owe so much to the role of religion and who still pay lip service to the importance of religion in their lives.”

God’s Word shows that all of this is the fruitage of religion that has failed to live up to its obligations to God and his laws. It shows too that this bad fruitage is part of the clear evidence that this present wicked system of things is in its “last days,” when people would be “having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power.”​—2 Tim. 3:1, 5.

We Put God’s Service First

We Put God’s Service First

MY FATHER was a farmer from west Finland. Around 1911 he obtained some literature from Bible Students, who claimed that 1914 would be a significant year of world change. In 1912 he subscribed for The Watchtower in Finnish and received its issue of December 1, 1912, the very first one published in the Finnish language.

I still have my father’s Watchtower magazines beginning with the first issue of the Finnish edition. From what happened in 1914 and afterward, it was obvious to my father that the prophecies were being fulfilled. Thus he became a zealous Bible Student, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then called.

I was born September 7, 1914, and my earliest childhood is full of memories of my father’s preaching efforts. He was active in municipal affairs, and he would use all his influence in the community to spread the good news about God’s kingdom among the peoples. Even his gray horse, which took him on Sundays to give public talks, was known over a large area.

EFFECTS OF EARLY ASSOCIATIONS

When I was thirteen years old I left home to attend school in another district. As a result, direct contact with my father’s instruction was broken and worldly teaching began to influence completely my thinking. Although in my heart I greatly appreciated my father’s personality, I would use what I learned in school to try to prove his Bible-based beliefs wrong.

In 1935 I entered Helsinki Technical University to continue my studies. The headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Finland is located in Helsinki, and at the time there was a vacant room. Since my father was a Witness, I was permitted to live there temporarily while going to the university.

Although my studies and college life took up most of my time, constant contact with the members of the Bethel family (as the family of headquarters workers is called) had a deep effect on me. Here I could see firsthand the marvelous influence that Bible truths can have on people’s lives. The Christian spirit manifested at Bethel gradually began to mold my attitude, and finally, in September 1939, I was baptized to symbolize the fact that I had dedicated my life to serve Jehovah God. From that time on my life has been full of Jehovah’s blessing and undeserved kindness.

ACTIVITY DURING WORLD WAR II

Later that fall, war broke out between Finland and Russia. My faith was put to the test many times as I would explain why, as a Christian, I couldn’t take part in political or war activities. Eventually I wound up working in the State Railway technical department in Helsinki, a position that suited my qualifications as a civil engineer.

The state of war was seized upon as an opportunity to stop the public preaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses almost entirely. Our Christian organization was dissolved by order of the court, our magazines were banned, our literature was confiscated, the branch overseer was put in preventive custody, and many Witnesses were thrown into prison. All of this was done to Jehovah’s Witnesses because they remained neutral, taking no part in the war.

However, Witnesses who were still free continued to do what they could. For example, a small group of us shared in a special work in behalf of those imprisoned. The group was called “Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Trustees,” and by other names at times. What was the special work that this group accomplished?

Well, throughout the war we took petitions to everyone from the President of the Republic to individual members of Congress. These petitions requested that the ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses be lifted or that Witnesses suffering persecution be helped. While the war lasted, results were not often discernible, but we were apparently very successful in giving a witness. Government officials on whom we called still respect and even admire us.

To cite an example: At the end of the war three Witnesses were sentenced to death in Yugoslavia. A committee of Witnesses went to Finland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs about the matter, but he said he could not interfere in the affairs of another country. Then we went to the Minister for Defense, with whom we had become well acquainted as a result of previous interviews with him. Surprisingly, he agreed to help, and he wrote a personal letter to President Tito on behalf of our Christian brothers. The death sentence was repealed.

A few years ago this former Minister for Defense, who is now well known as a writer and lecturer in Finland, invited me to come and see him. He still remembered very well writing President Tito in behalf of our Christian brothers. He explained to me that even if he hasn’t done any other good deed in his life, at least in this case he knows that he saved the lives of three men and he has never ceased to be happy about that.

MEETINGS DURING THE WAR

During the war there was also a ban on all our Christian meetings, yet they were held regularly nevertheless. We even had large conventions. How, you may wonder, did we do this?

The meetings were held as private gatherings. For example, an invitation card with my signature was given to a person who was vouched for by two trustworthy Witnesses. Thus, in a very short time, all the Witnesses in the Helsinki area received such an invitation to a “private gathering.” These meetings were held regularly in the rooms of a certain student organization. Larger conventions were arranged in the same way. We felt that Jehovah’s protection was on the arrangements, since not once was a meeting prevented.

At times we even sent a letter from such a meeting to government officials. A couple of days after one letter was sent by a group of 580 Witnesses, I received an order from the state police to report for questioning. The interrogator had our letter in his hand and he demanded information about the holding of meetings. He said that they were so well informed that they knew almost everything that people in the street said to each other, and demanded: “How is it possible that you can hold a meeting like that in the center of Helsinki without our knowing about it?” And this meeting had been held just a few blocks from police headquarters!

MARRIAGE AND A FAMILY

In 1941, while the war was still in progress, I married Kaisa Alastalo. She had been a Witness for as long as I had, and had served as a “pioneer” preacher (one who spends at least a hundred hours a month in the preaching work). In time our family came to include a daughter and four sons. Now there was the challenge of inculcating in our children a love for Jehovah God and a desire to serve him.

The first thing that I sought to impress on their minds was a deep appreciation for Jehovah and his congregation of people. We began each day with a discussion of a Bible text and with prayer. And we never missed one of the weekly congregational meetings, except in cases of sickness. “Sentiments lead to loss of life,” was the slogan of my wife whenever maternal sympathy for our children was inclined to overrule what was truly in their best interests. And how we were blessed!

When our eldest child, the girl, was thirteen years old, she asked our permission to become a pioneer. We agreed, on the condition that neither her school grades nor her health suffered. And neither did during the two years she pioneered while going to school. In 1957 she left school and became a special pioneer far from home in central Finland. Later she married, and is now serving with her husband as a member of the Finnish Bethel family.

MOVE TO NEW TERRITORY

During the 1950’s invitations were extended to Jehovah’s Witnesses to move to places where the need for Kingdom preachers was greater. We would discuss the matter now and again as a family. However, I had a good job, and we had a beautiful house in a lovely suburb of Helsinki, a location ideal for rearing children. But one day a newspaper advertisement for engineers to work for the State Railways caught my eye. I had experience in the Railways, and the job openings were in cities where there were only a few Witnesses. If we were really serious about moving to serve where the need was greater, this was the time to do it.

One winter day in 1960 a large truck pulled up to what had been our home for ten years and loaded up our belongings. We moved to Seinäjoki, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) northwest of Helsinki, where there was a small railway junction. At the time there was a congregation of twelve Witnesses in this city of 20,000 inhabitants. My monthly salary in my new job was only a little more than a third of what it was before, but this did not decrease the happiness of the family. The following year we built a house, and on the same block we helped the congregation to erect a small Kingdom Hall.

The transferring of the boys to a new school was successful, and the rural environment proved to be more healthful than Helsinki. We continually kept pioneering before our boys as a worthwhile goal for which to strive. And tears of joy came into my eyes when our eldest son, on leaving school in 1961, got into the small used car we had bought for him and went off to his pioneer assignment in north Finland. In time, his younger brother followed him. When it was our third son’s turn, there was apparently a little collaboration between the others. “We won’t walk on the same side of the street as you if you don’t go pioneering,” they told him.

The youngest of our children had a very severe attack of illness when he was a year old, and his illness grew worse over the years. Now at twenty years of age he is confined to bed. He is also mentally retarded and unable to speak. We cared for him at home until he was nine, but at that age the work proved to be too much and we were able to get him into a modern hospital nearby where we can regularly visit him. Thus, when our other boys all left home to pioneer, the opportunity opened up in 1970 for my wife to begin pioneering. This had been her goal for a long time, and the whole family appreciates her zeal for Jehovah’s service.

REALIZING JEHOVAH’S RICH BLESSING

My desire has always been to help my family to enjoy the full-time preaching work, and I have made adjustments in my secular work with that end in view. In 1967 the Director General of the Railways invited me to come to Helsinki to manage a department and join the Board of Directors of the Railways. I agreed on two conditions.

First, that I could leave early enough at the end of the week to travel home in time for the weekend congregation meetings. And secondly, that when I had carried out the organizational reforms that I considered necessary I could return to my former job in Seinäjoki. Six months later, however, I received an invitation to be the Deputy Director General. I agreed to this promotion on the same conditions as before.

This new position gave me many opportunities to witness to people that might not otherwise be reached with the Kingdom message. Also, the apartment that I rented in Helsinki became a base for my pioneer children who would come from different parts of the country to Helsinki to visit or to attend conventions. At the same time, I still could care for my congregational responsibilities in Seinäjoki (although a lot of commuting was involved) and my wife had plenty of time to pioneer.

After a few years, however, I saw that it was time to return to live permanently in Seinäjoki again. So I reminded the Director General of the agreement that we had made, and he remembered it very well. But he never believed that I would give up such a prominent position and return to my former job. When I did in 1973 it aroused a lot of attention and gave rise to articles in leading Finnish magazines that were favorable to Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The congregation here in Seinäjoki has enjoyed such fine growth that the Kingdom Hall we built on our block in 1961 became too small. So last spring our congregation of sixty Kingdom publishers started building a new Kingdom Hall on a spacious block of land leased from the city. To the surprise of all, this large, beautiful hall was completed by the beginning of September, in less than six months!

The dedication of the hall was an especially heartwarming occasion to me. For I looked around the filled Kingdom Hall and could see eight members of my family present, including me and my wife, and three of our children and their mates. In our family, six are serving as pioneers and two are at Bethel!

As I look back now, I can say that my wife and I have really had a happy, purposeful life in the service of God, as did my father also, and as my children are now having. And we look forward to many future blessings in God’s service. If we accept Jehovah’s invitation to serve him, he surely fulfills his promise, as recorded by his ancient prophet: “Test me out, please, in this respect . . . whether I shall not open to you people the floodgates of the heavens and actually empty out upon you a blessing until there is no more want.” (Mal. 3:10)​—Contributed.

The Tested Quality of Our Faith—A Cause of Praise and Honor

The Tested Quality of Our Faith​—A Cause of Praise and Honor

“In this fact you are greatly rejoicing, though for a little while at present, if it must be, you have been grieved by various trials, in order that the tested quality of your faith . . . may be found a cause for praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”​—1 Pet. 1:6, 7.

1. Give historical examples of persecution faced by worshipers of Jehovah.

THROUGHOUT the history of mankind men of faith have been put to the test, harassed and persecuted by those opposing them. This was true of Abel, who was killed by his own brother because his sacrificial offering to God was viewed with favor while Cain’s was not. It was true of the Jewish prophet Jeremiah, who was thrown into a miry cistern for faithfully declaring the word of his God. It was true of the founder of Christianity, Jesus, because of his exposé of religious hypocrisy and because of his willingness to carry out the will of his Father.

2. How does the book of Hebrews describe the trials of faithful ones?

2 A record of the trials and faith of many such persecuted ones, both men and women of times past, is recorded for us in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. What courage it must have taken for these servants of God to maintain their faith when being tortured, mocked, scourged, put in bonds and imprisoned, even being stoned or dying by the sword! As Paul, a disciple of Jesus, commented: “The world was not worthy of them.” And yet they all had not only a solid faith, an “assured expectation,” but also the confidence that “God foresaw something better” for them. (Heb. 11:1, 2, 38, 40) What was it that they looked forward to with such confidence that they were willing to endure any kind of trial?

3. To what did they look forward with confidence?

3 It was the heavenly kingdom that these faithful men and women put confidence in, “a kingdom that cannot be shaken,” God’s kingdom of righteousness. Paul reminded the Hebrew believers of his day of the awesome display of Jehovah God’s majesty at Mount Sinai when the Law covenant was given. But he explained that something far grander was to come, the establishment of the heavenly kingdom that was to rule over, not just Israel, but the whole earth. “Wherefore, seeing that we are to receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us continue to have undeserved kindness, through which we may acceptably render God sacred service with godly fear and awe.”​—Heb. 12:18-28.

HATRED FOR CHRISTIAN WITNESSES

4. What kind of treatment did early Christians face?

4 It is appropriate that the word “martyr,” which is of Greek origin, literally means “witness,” for many were the early Christian witnesses who endured persecution, even martyrdom, rather than abandon their faith. Paul himself was involved in such matters, as he later testified: “I used to imprison and flog in one synagogue after another those believing upon [the Lord Jesus]; and when the blood of Stephen your witness was being spilled, I myself was also standing by and approving and guarding the outer garments of those doing away with him.”​—Acts 22:19, 20.

5. What are some individual examples of faithfulness?

5 Another early Christian martyr was James the brother of John, the first of the twelve apostles to die as a martyr, executed by Herod Agrippa I by the sword. (Acts 12:1, 2) And if it had not been for Jehovah’s intervention, Peter too would have been killed by Herod. (Acts 12:11) Efforts were also made on many occasions to have the apostle Paul put to death. (Acts 22:22) Toward the close of the first century the aged apostle John wrote of another Christian who died in faithfulness: “Antipas, my witness, the faithful one.”​—Rev. 2:13.

6. (a) What did Jesus say about his opposers? (b) Why were they without excuse in their opposition?

6 Why was there so much opposition to the early disciples of Jesus? Why did the leaders of the people go to such lengths that they induced men to give false testimony leading to Stephen’s death? Jesus had told some of his religious opposers bluntly: “You are from your father the Devil, and you wish to do the desires of your father. That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth.” (John 8:44) So it was not that they did not know the truth about Jesus’ teaching or the accuracy of Stephen’s witness. They surely knew of Peter’s testimony about the outpouring of God’s spirit at Pentecost and had either witnessed or heard of the gift of tongues that marked these Christians as the people of God. There had been “about three thousand souls” baptized at that time, and later even “a great crowd of priests” accepted the message. Yet religious hatred against those following “The Way” burned like a fire. (Acts 2:41; 6:7; 9:2) No doubt the chief priests well remembered Jesus’ words condemning them. (Matthew chapter 23) So their opposition against these early Christians marked them as being against the operation of God’s spirit.

SAUL BECOMES A DISCIPLE

7. What kind of background did Paul have before becoming a Christian?

7 But not all reacted in that way. Saul (who became known by his Roman name Paul) was one who made great changes in his life. (Acts 13:9) Although brought up under the Law covenant and with the viewpoint of the Pharisees, he changed from his respected position in the Jewish faith to share the persecution heaped on the early Christians. (Phil. 3:5, 6) He well knew the consequences of this change, yet he did not hesitate when he was convinced of what was right. It was a time of great persecution against the Christian congregation. Saul himself had been dealing “outrageously” against the early Christians, invading one house after another, dragging out both men and women to be put into prison. (Acts 8:1-3) In fact, it was when he was on his way to Damascus with letters from the high priest authorizing him to bring as prisoners to Jerusalem any he found who professed Christianity, either men or women, that an event took place that profoundly changed his life.​—Acts 9:1, 2.

8. What experience did Paul (or Saul) have in learning the truth, and how did he react?

8 Suddenly he was startled by a heavenly light. “He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ He said: ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said: ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’” Still blinded by the light, Saul was led to Damascus. After three days a disciple named Ananias was directed to come to his aid. After being assured that this was the Lord’s will, Ananias told him: “Saul, brother, the Lord, the Jesus that appeared to you on the road over which you were coming, has sent me forth, in order that you may recover sight and be filled with holy spirit.” How would you have responded to such an event? Would you find it difficult to make a change, knowing it would probably mean persecution and hardship for you, possibly being rejected by your own family? There was no doubt in Saul’s mind as to what he should do, for we read: “Immediately in the synagogues he began to preach Jesus, that this One is the Son of God.”​—Acts 9:3-5, 17, 20.

AN EXAMPLE OF FAITH

9. (a) How are Saul’s experiences an encouragement to modern Christians? (b) What narrow escape did he have in Damascus when he began preaching about Christ?

9 As we consider his example of faith, Saul’s endurance under trial, and the guidance and protection that Jehovah granted him, we find encouragement to overcome the trials facing true Christians in this generation. Even knowing that opposition would face him as it did the other Christians in those days, Saul was not one to turn back despite the fact that the Lord had told Ananias: “I shall show him plainly how many things he must suffer for my name.” After spending a few days with the disciples in Damascus, Saul zealously began preaching. As a result, it was not long before the Jews plotted to kill him and started watching the city gates day and night in order to do away with him. But Jehovah was not going to let this “chosen vessel” be so easily set aside. (Acts 9:15, 16) The plot became known to Saul, and his disciples helped him to escape from the trap, letting him down by a basket through an opening in the wall. This was only the beginning of an exciting life in the preaching work for this former persecutor of Christians.

10. How did Saul’s experience with Elymas indicate demonic opposition?

10 Saul and Barnabas were especially selected by holy spirit to accomplish the work of announcing the word of God to Jews as well as to non-Jews. On their first missionary tour they met a man described as a false prophet and a sorcerer who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus. When Elymas the sorcerer began opposing Saul and Barnabas, trying to turn the proconsul away from listening to their message, Saul (now called Paul) filled with holy spirit, asked him: “Will you not quit distorting the right ways of Jehovah?” Immediately the sorcerer became temporarily blind. As a result, the astounded proconsul put faith in the things he had seen and heard.​—Acts 13:6-12.

11. (a) Why, and on what Scriptural basis did Paul and Barnabas preach to the Gentiles in Antioch and Iconium? (b) What did they do after being driven out of these cities?

11 Paul and Barnabas continued on to Antioch in Pisidia, where they gave a bold witness to the people of the city. When the Jews became enraged at their preaching concerning Jesus’ resurrection, the two men turned their attention to the people of the nations, referring to the prophetic words of Isaiah: “I have appointed you as a light of nations, for you to be a salvation to the extremity of the earth.” (Acts 13:47) And while Gentiles who were righteously disposed began to rejoice at this, the Jewish populace drove Paul and Barnabas out of the city. Yet they continued on their way filled with joy and holy spirit. At their next stop, in Iconium, they had a similar experience. As a result of their preaching, a great multitude of Jews and Greeks became believers, but those who did not accept the message stirred up the people, with both Jews and Gentiles becoming intent on doing them violence, so that it was necessary for them to flee elsewhere in order to continue preaching the good news.

12, 13. (a) What happened to Paul in Lystra? (b) How did Paul show his trust in Jehovah?

12 In Lystra, after Paul brought about the healing of a man lame from birth, the people thought the two men were gods. They called Barnabas Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, since he was the one taking the lead in speaking. However, Paul and Barnabas restrained them, saying: “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are humans having the same infirmities as you do, and are declaring the good news to you.” (Acts 14:15) About then the Jews from Antioch and Iconium who were still on Paul’s trail arrived and, finding Paul, they stoned him and dragged him outside the city, imagining he was dead. But by Jehovah’s undeserved kindness Paul survived this ordeal, and the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe, where he continued with his preaching and made quite a few disciples.

13 Perhaps you are thinking, ‘After all of that I would have given up before I got killed.’ But not so with Paul. In fact, the account at Acts 14:21 relates that Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, where they had had so much opposition, as they wanted to strengthen and encourage the disciples. They reminded them, “We must enter into the kingdom of God through many tribulations.” So they continued in their work of building up the congregations and strengthening those who had become believers in Jehovah.​—Acts 14:22.

FELLOW BELIEVERS CAUSE DISPUTES

14. What argument did some advance, and how was it resolved?

14 Unfortunately, it was not just opposers who brought problems at times, but even fellow believers caused disputes, claiming, for example, that unless the Gentiles got circumcised according to the custom of Moses, they could not be saved. (Acts 15:1, 2) After considerable disagreement on the point, it was determined that Paul and Barnabas and others would submit the matter to the apostles and older men of the central congregation in Jerusalem. After hearing their testimony and that of Peter and others, what was the decision? Not to trouble those of the nations who were turning to God except with the necessary things, that they abstain from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from blood.​—Acts 15:12-20.

15. Because of what situation did Paul correct Peter?

15 Paul stood firm for the truth. In discussing his visit to Jerusalem, he says that when “false brothers . . . sneaked in,” “to these we did not yield by way of submission, no, not for an hour, in order that the truth of the good news might continue with you.” In Antioch, when even Peter put on a pretense by not eating with or associating with his Gentile brothers in order not to offend some visiting Jewish Christians, Paul “resisted him face to face, because he stood condemned.” He explained to the Galatians: “I do not shove aside the undeserved kindness of God; for if righteousness is through law, Christ actually died for nothing.” (Gal. 2:4, 5, 11, 21) This helped the Galatians to understand that Christians are declared righteous by faith in Christ, not by conforming to the works of the Mosaic law. The Law covenant had been taken out of the way, and now the new covenant was in operation. Though some were slow to grasp this, Paul did not become discouraged by their display of human reasoning.

PAUL NOT DISCOURAGED BY OPPOSITION

16. How did the trials of Paul and Silas in Philippi turn into a blessing?

16 At Philippi, on his second missionary tour, Paul had the pleasure of bringing the truth to a business woman named Lydia, who opened her heart wide to the things spoken by Paul and showed great hospitality to these brothers. Here in Philippi too, Paul encountered problems, this time from the owners of a servant girl with the power of divination. Day after day she kept calling out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are publishing to you the way of salvation.” (Acts 16:17) Finally Paul got tired of it and, in Jesus’ name, ordered the demon to leave the girl. When her owners who had profited by her predictions saw that she had lost this supernatural ability, they took Paul and Silas before the magistrates to have them beaten and imprisoned. Again this would have been enough to discourage many, first being beaten and then being thrown into jail, but not so with Paul and Silas. The account tells us that in the middle of the night, as they were praying and praising God with song, suddenly a great earthquake occurred, breaking open the jail doors and loosing the prisoners. Rather than trying to escape, Paul stayed to reassure the jailer, who was about to kill himself, and took the opportunity to share the word of Jehovah with him and his family. As a result, they were baptized that very night.

17. How did Paul view his trials, and what attitude did he maintain?

17 Despite everything, Paul was not discouraged. He maintained the right attitude. As he wrote the Corinthian brothers: “When being reviled, we bless; when being persecuted, we bear up; when being defamed, we entreat.” (1 Cor. 4:12, 13) He could see the truth of Jesus’ words: “A slave is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” (John 15:20) Paul considered it a privilege to go through trials on account of the good news.​—Phil. 1:27-30.

18. How did a silversmith oppose Paul’s preaching, but what finally happened?

18 On Paul’s third missionary tour he ran into opposition again, this time from craftsmen who made religious shrines. Demetrius, a silversmith who profited by making shrines of the goddess Artemis, warned the people that Paul was teaching that gods made by hands are not gods and that soon the shrine makers’ occupation would come into disrepute. The city got into an uproar over this, and it was only with great effort that the city recorder calmed the people down and got the crowd to disperse. (Acts 19:23-41) Yes, Paul’s life was threatened and his faith tested time after time.​—2 Cor. 4:7-12; 6:3-10; 11:23-27.

19. What warning did Paul receive, but why did he not shrink at the prospect of death?

…