The Watchtower, December 15, 1982

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The Watchtower — December 15, 1982

Source: jw.org

Contents

The Bible—Do We Need It?

The Bible—Is It Really From God?

Jesus Christ—Little Baby or Reigning King?

Was Jesus Born on December 25?

Insight on the News

Love, the “Perfect Bond of Union”

Love as a “Bond of Union” Proves to Be “Perfect”

Clothing Ourselves With Love and Wearing It

A Secret That the Philippians Learned

Do You Remember?

Subject Index for “The Watchtower” 1982

An Independent Woman—How Can She Find Happiness in Marriage?

The Bible—Do We Need It?

The Bible​—Do We Need It?

“IT IS impossible to rightfully govern the world without God and the Bible.” So stated George Washington, first president of the United States. Do you agree? Consider what is happening around you.

Inflation: Since the start of World War II the buying power of the currencies of many lands has wasted away, as you may be painfully aware. According to U.S. News & World Report, “inflation’s toll on the dollar has driven up prices by about 579% since 1939.”

War: The two world wars of this century cost tens of millions of lives​—both of soldiers and of civilians. From 1945 to 1978 twenty-five million soldiers were killed in about a hundred and fifty wars. Currently, the nations spend more than $500 billion a year on military activities, or about a million dollars a minute!

Divorce: In Japan there is a divorce every four minutes. In the United States one marriage out of two ends in divorce. In the Soviet Union it is 30 out of 100. These are but an indication of a worldwide trend.

Crime: Violent crime is soaring in country after country. As just one example, in the United States one violent crime is committed every 24 seconds. There is a murder every 23 minutes, a rape every 9 minutes, a robbery every 58 seconds. And crime seems to pay, for only 19 percent of these crimes are solved and the criminals arrested.

Food shortage: Although world food production has steadily increased for the last 30 years, there are currently more people crippled by hunger than ever before. About five hundred million people​—or one out of every nine—​suffer from serious malnutrition; the problem exists even in “advanced” nations.

All these problems exist and grow despite the efforts of economists, politicians, marriage counselors, psychiatrists and numerous other experts. Is it not evident that we personally, and the world in general, need guidance from a source higher than man?

The Bible claims to provide such guidance. “The spirit of Jehovah it was that spoke by me,” stated the Bible writer David. (2 Samuel 23:2) Biblical prophets “spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit,” added the apostle Peter.​—2 Peter 1:20, 21.

You may realize, of course, that the fact that a book claims to be from God does not prove that it is. So you should consider: Is there proof, satisfying proof, that the Bible really is from God?

The Bible—Is It Really From God?

The Bible​—Is It Really From God?

ONE thing is certain. For you to accept a book as being from God, it would have to be truthful and accurate in everything it says. The people and places to which it refers should actually have existed. Would you not agree? How does the Bible measure up in this regard?

Take just one example. The Bible identifies Pontius Pilate as the governor of Judea during the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. (Luke 3:1, 2) But did Pilate actually live and, if so, was he really the ruler of Judea?

For a long time no confirmation was available. Then, in 1961, a remarkable discovery was made at Caesarea. An inscribed stone was uncovered that was originally part of a temple honoring the emperor Tiberius. The Latin inscription states: “Pontius Pilate, the Prefect of Judea, has dedicated to the people of Caesarea a temple in honor of Tiberius.” The Bible’s historical accuracy was confirmed! And there are many, many other examples that show that the Bible is accurate and reliable historically and geographically.

‘Wait a minute,’ you might say. ‘The fact that a book is accurate does not prove that it is from God!’ True. The Bible’s accuracy does not in itself prove divine inspiration. However, the Bible contains evidence that proves it is far more than an accurate history book. Thus, many sincere Bible students have become convinced that the Bible really is from God. You deserve to see what led them to that conviction. Let us examine five different lines of evidence.

Internal Harmony

Imagine that 40 people were asked to write sections of a book. Their backgrounds were varied. Some were well educated, while others were humble farmers or shepherds. Further, not all of them knew one another. In fact, most of them lived at different times in history and in different places. What do you think would be the chances that their writings would all harmonize, even in the smallest details? ‘Impossible!’ you say? Well, these are the very circumstances surrounding the writing of the Bible.

Now consider as just one example of the harmony of the writers their consistent portrayal of Jehovah God. As you can read in the Bible, its various parts provide a harmonious description of Jehovah God as to both his person and his personality. He is timeless, infinite. (Psalm 90:2; Habakkuk 1:12; Revelation 10:6; 15:3) He is invisible to human eyes. (Exodus 33:20; John 1:18; 1 Timothy 1:17) The Bible writers, when given visions of his presence, describe great dignity and majesty, as well as serenity, order and beauty. (Exodus 24:9-11; Ezekiel 1:26-28; Revelation 4:1-3) Throughout the Bible God’s dominant qualities are repeatedly shown to be love, wisdom, justice and power.

Surely, the internal harmony of the Bible​—despite its many writers—​is an indication that it is from a source higher than man.

Scientific Accuracy

Now let us consider one or two of the Bible’s comments on scientific matters. Why are these significant? For several reasons: (1) They harmonize with scientific facts; (2) they reflect knowledge that was beyond the available human knowledge at the time they were written; and (3) they are completely free from the mistaken views held at the time.

Perhaps you have heard that the Bible says that our earth hangs upon nothing and is round. (Job 26:7; Isaiah 40:22) ‘Why is that so remarkable?’ you may ask. Keep in mind that these Biblical comments agree with proved scientific fact and they are in contrast to ancient myths about the shape of the earth and how it was supported. Why, up till just a few hundred years ago most men, even those involved in science, believed that the earth was flat! So it is extraordinary that the Bible writers knew these facts about the earth thousands of years ago and that without modern scientific instruments!

Here is another example. At the time of Moses it was the custom in Egypt to use human or animal excrement as a remedy for certain ailments. Furthermore, Moses was raised in Egypt and was “instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” (Acts 7:22) But the comments he wrote at Deuteronomy 23:12, 13 are completely free from the mistaken​—in fact, harmful—​medical practices of Egypt. According to these words, in ancient Israel human excrement was to be considered unclean, to be buried away from populated areas and water supplies. As you know, modern medical science agrees.

Are not these examples a further indication that the information recorded by the Bible writers must have come from a source higher than themselves?

Candor

Something else that identifies the Bible as coming from God is the candor of its writers. Why? For one thing, it is contrary to fallen human nature to admit one’s mistakes, especially in writing. In this, the Bible is distinguished from other ancient books. But, more than that, the candor of its writers assures us of their overall honesty. After all, they would not likely reveal their weaknesses and then make false claims about other things, would they? If they were going to falsify anything, would it not be unfavorable information about themselves? So, then, the candor of the Bible writers adds weight to their claim that God guided them in what they wrote down.​—2 Timothy 3:16.

As an example of such candor, let us consider Moses. Although he was leader of the nation of Israel, mediator of the Law covenant, prophet and judge, he did not lead Israel into the Promised Land. Why not? According to Numbers 20:1-13, Moses made a serious mistake. Read for yourself how he “acted undutifully” and “began to speak rashly with his lips,” failing to magnify God’s name. Who recorded the account in the Bible book of Numbers? Moses, who candidly made a permanent record of his own failings!​—Deuteronomy 32:50-52; Psalm 106:32, 33.

Consider next the shortcomings of the apostles of Jesus Christ. At times they were slow to understand (Matthew 16:5-12), showed little faith (Matthew 17:18-20) and revealed a tendency to seek prominence. (Matthew 18:1-6; 20:20-28) Why, they even abandoned Jesus on the night he was arrested! (Matthew 26:56) Did you notice that all these shortcomings were recorded by Matthew, one of the 12 apostles?

Do you not agree that the candor of the Bible writers is further evidence that the Bible is more than a mere human book and evidently contains ‘not the word of men, but the word of God’?​—1 Thessalonians 2:13.

Preservation

The preservation of the Scriptures also indicates that the Bible really is from God. Consider these two reasons:

(1) Since the Bible writers originally wrote on perishable material, the Scriptures had to be recopied by hand numerous times throughout the centuries in order to be preserved for future generations. Why is this so remarkable? Not only because there was the risk of human error but also because there were deliberate efforts to tamper with the text. Yet the Bible has come down to us with amazing accuracy, as the discovery of ancient Bible manuscripts confirms.a

(2) The Bible’s preservation is all the more amazing when you consider that it has survived fierce opposition. There were times when popes and councils prohibited the reading of the Bible under penalty of excommunication. Many Bible lovers were burned at the stake. But the Bible survived all this opposition and became the world’s best-seller.

No other book in human history has survived with accuracy despite repeated recopying by imperfect humans and centuries of bitter attacks by enemies. Is this not convincing proof that the Bible contains “the saying of Jehovah,” which “endures forever”?​—1 Peter 1:24, 25.

Prophecy

Perhaps the strongest proof that the Bible is from God is the fulfillment of its many prophecies. What man is there that can foretell the future with unfailing, pinpoint accuracy, hundreds, even thousands, of years in advance? Men have difficulty in predicting the weather more than a few hours in advance!

‘But how do we know that Bible prophecies were really written in advance?’ you may ask. To answer that, turn to Isaiah 13:19, 20 and read Isaiah’s prophecy regarding the destruction of ancient Babylon. Notice that Isaiah did not foretell just the destruction of Babylon. He also said: “She [Babylon] will never be inhabited.” Babylon is desolate to this day. How could Isaiah possibly have written his prophecy after the fulfillment?

Furthermore, although Babylon was conquered by the Medes and the Persians in 539 B.C.E., Isaiah’s prophecy was not completely fulfilled at that time. In fact, there were still people living in Babylon down to the first century C.E. (1 Peter 5:13) Apparently, it was not until the fourth century C.E. that Babylon became finally desolated, thus completely fulfilling Isaiah’s words. There is no doubt that Isaiah wrote his book before that, for even the Dead Sea Scrolls (Bible manuscripts first discovered in 1947) contain a copy of Isaiah dating from the first or second century B.C.E.

The Bible contains scores of other long-range prophecies that were fulfilled. More than that, a study of the Bible reveals that it contains prophecies that you are seeing fulfilled today. (Consider the accompanying box.) Can there be any doubt that the Bible writers spoke from God?

After reviewing the evidence, what do you conclude? At the very least, does not the Bible merit your investigation? There is compelling reason for you to investigate it. As we noted in the previous article, never before in history has there been a greater need for reliable guidance in human affairs. The Bible contains principles that, if applied, can help you to cope with economic hardships, live peaceably with your fellowman and build a happy family life. What about the global problems that are beyond human control? The Bible outlines the permanent solution to be effected by God’s Kingdom under Christ in the near future.

Would you like to find out more about these things? Why not get in touch with Jehovah’s Witnesses locally or write the publishers of this magazine? You have everything worth while to gain.

[Footnotes]

See the book Aid to Bible Understanding, pages 1106-1110, published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.

[Box on page 7]

Bible Prophecies That We Have Seen Fulfilled

1. World wars (Revelation 6:3, 4)

2. Massive food shortages, with soaring food prices (Revelation 6:5, 6; Matthew 24:7)

3. Upsurge in delinquency and crime (Matthew 24:12; 2 Timothy 3:1-5)

4. Increase in earthquakes (Luke 21:11)

5. Ruining of the earth, such as by deadly pollution (Revelation 11:18)

6. Worldwide preaching of the good news of God’s Kingdom by Jehovah’s Witnesses (Matthew 24:14)

[Picture on page 5]

Men who have walked on the moon or orbited the earth can testify to the Bible’s scientific accuracy

[Picture on page 6]

Why is it significant that Moses recorded his grave mistake?

Jesus Christ—Little Baby or Reigning King?

God’s Word Is Alive

Jesus Christ​—Little Baby or Reigning King?

DURING the Christmas season many persons think of Jesus simply as a little baby in a manger. Scenes are displayed of “wise men” bringing gifts to a newborn babe. People say that it was at this season of the year that Jesus was born. Is this what the Bible says?

Why not open your Bible and see what it actually does say. Read carefully Luke 2:1-20 and Matthew 2:1-16. Now, does the Bible not say that shepherds were in the fields taking care of their flocks when Jesus was born? Since December in Palestine was the rainy, cold season, it is not likely that shepherds would be out-of-doors with their flocks at that time of year.

Notice, too, that this was the time of the registration when the people were required to travel to their home city to register. It certainly is not likely that the Roman rulers would require a people that were already inclined to revolt against them to make that trip to register in the dead of winter. Other evidence, too, proves that Jesus was not born at Christmastime. (See page 10.)

Did you also note that when the so-called wise men brought him gifts, Jesus no longer was a babe in a manger? The Bible says that “when they went into the house they saw the young child with Mary its mother.” (Matthew 2:11) Who really were these “wise men” that were guided, not by the instructions of an angel, but by a star? They were Magi, or astrologers. And although astrology is popular among many people, God condemns it.​—Isaiah 47:12-15.

As the Bible record shows, those astrologers were not at first directed by the star to Jesus in Bethlehem but to murderous King Herod in Jerusalem. Now, if God had used the star to guide the astrologers, would he have directed them first to Jerusalem so that they would come in contact with that dangerous king? Obviously not!

When the star finally led the astrologers to Jesus, God stepped in and warned those men in a dream not to go back to Herod. God thereby saved the life of Jesus. How do we know? Because when Herod learned that the astrologers had fled without reporting to him, he sought to kill Jesus. But by then God had provided for Jesus’ escape. So that star was actually a scheme of Satan the Devil to have Jesus killed!

It is also a scheme of the Devil today to try to make people think of Jesus only as a helpless baby. But he is not! Before Jesus was born, the angel Gabriel told his mother regarding him: “He will rule as king . . . and there will be no end of his kingdom.” (Luke 1:33) Jesus Christ is now ruling as a mighty king in heaven, and if we are to receive life under his Kingdom rule it is vital that we recognize this fact.​—Isaiah 9:6, 7.

[Picture on page 8]

What is there about this scene that is not accurate?

[Pictures on page 9]

The “wise men” followed a star​—where did it come from?

In what way do you view Jesus?

Was Jesus Born on December 25?

Was Jesus Born on December 25?

Probably most people believe that he was. What does the evidence show?

Why not examine the subject of “Christmas” in an encyclopedia? It likely will show the origin of Christmas, and how the date December 25 was chosen as Jesus’ birthday. Each year many publications are presenting this information. The following comments are from magazines published just last December.

Frontier, a publication of Frontier Airlines, observed: “To the early Christians, birthdays were a pagan custom. It was unthinkable to celebrate one’s own birthday, much less the birthday of Christ. It was sacrilege to even suggest that a Divine Being had a birthday.

“In the next 300 years this attitude began to change, and in 354 A.D., the Bishop of Rome declared December 25 to be the anniversary of the birth of Christ.”

These Times, an Adventist publication, noted: “For some time before the coming of Christianity, December 25 was a time of pagan celebration . . . Emperor Aurelian (A.D. 270-275) quickly capitalized upon the heathen worship of the sun and, in the year A.D. 274, officially declared December 25 as the birthday of the Unconquered Sun . . . In A.D. 354, two years following the end of Saint Julius’ reign, the new Roman bishop, Liberius, ordered all his people to celebrate December 25 as the correct day of Christ’s birth.”

Yes, December 25 was adopted as Jesus’ birthday from pagan celebrations, as U.S. Catholic explains: “The Romans’ favorite festival was Saturnalia, which began on December 17 and ended with the ‘birthday of the unconquered sun’ (Natalis solis invicti) on December 25. Somewhere in the second quarter of the fourth century, savvy officials of the church of Rome decided December 25 would make a dandy day to celebrate the birthday of the ‘sun of righteousness.’ Christmas was born.” The article continues: “It is impossible to separate Christmas from its pagan origins.”

When learning these facts about Christmas, how have some been affected? The World Book Encyclopedia observed under “Christmas”: “During the 1600’s, because of these feelings, Christmas was outlawed in England and in parts of the English colonies in America.”

It should not be surprising, therefore, that informed Christians today do not celebrate Christmas.

Insight on the News

Insight on the News

Rumblings on Religion

Israel’s military advance into Lebanon prompted much comment on what is behind the hatreds that seem to pervade the Middle East. “The great tragedy,” observed Dennis Braithwaite of The Toronto Sun, “is that the Israelis and the Palestinians, both Semitic peoples, should be warring at all over territory in which both are at home and could logically share in peace.” In Braithwaite’s opinion, “all that really divides them is religion; the rest is rationalization, propaganda, lies. . . . Take religious fanaticism out of the equation, and what have Arab and Jew left to fight about?”

But the columnist noted that religious hatreds are not limited to the Middle East: “Observe the insanity in Northern Ireland, where two conceptions of the Christian religion have caused people who look alike, talk alike and spring from the same soil, to lock themselves in a death struggle that baffles the outsider. What but religion keeps the IRA and the Ulster Defence League in constant plots of assassination and reprisal? When they’re interviewed on television, you can’t tell one from the other.”

Braithwaite went on to state that “religion is but one form of nationalism, the concept of ‘them’ and ‘us,’ . . . the greatest threat of all to mankind’s future.” Is it not likely that this awareness of religion as a “threat” will continue to grow and finally bring upon her the anger of the nations? Bible prophecy bears out that militaristic nations soon will turn against religion and destroy her like a hated harlot who has taken advantage of them for too long.​—Revelation 17:1, 2, 5, 15, 16.

A Waning “Product”

A study recently released at the headquarters of the National Council of Churches in New York revealed results of a major investigation of American religion. One of the directors of the study, Professor William Newman of the University of Connecticut, stated that “the present generation in middle adulthood in general uses the product [religion] less.” He also noted that Americans generally “are less enamored of religion.” And The New York Times report on the study added: “Church membership from 1971 to 1980 failed to keep pace with the rate of the nation’s population growth, reversing a pattern of church prosperity in the previous two decades.” Less than half of all adults now belong to a church or synagogue.

Thus the Biblically prophesied ‘drying up’ of support for religion continues, just as the waters of the river Euphrates were dried up to prepare the way for the destruction of ancient Babylon. Today, “Babylon the Great,” the world empire of false religion, is also losing its “waters,” portending a similar outcome.​—Revelation 16:12; 17:1, 5, 15, 16.

Deadly “Christians”

“Although I am a minister and an enthusiastic Bible scholar, I have never found in the Holy Scriptures the slightest revelation concerning disarmament and international peace,” asserted French Lutheran clergyman Michel Viot, writing in the Paris daily Le Monde. “Neither have I read that drawing the sword is consistently reprehensible, . . . and since it is legitimate to bear arms, a Christian cannot immediately push aside a military solution for preserving peace.”

This type of religious guidance has contributed to the willingness of nominal Christians to bear arms against fellow believers and others at the whim of politicians. Certainly this “Bible scholar” would benefit by reexamining the Bible to find its abundance of “revelation concerning disarmament and international peace.” Said both the prophets Isaiah and Micah: “They will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore.”​—Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3.

As for the Scriptural legitimacy of “drawing the sword,” Jesus Christ said that “all those who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52) On the other hand, Christians do wield spiritual weapons authorized by God.​—2 Corinthians 10:4, 5.

Love, the “Perfect Bond of Union”

Love, the “Perfect Bond of Union”

“But, besides all these things, clothe yourselves with love, for it is a perfect bond of union.”​—COLOSSIANS 3:14.

1. Why is the command at Colossians 3:14 a challenging one today?

IN THE midst of a hate-filled, disunited world the command that comes to Jehovah’s Witnesses today from God’s written Word at Colossians 3:14 is indeed a challenging one. It seems almost an impossible one, for it commands them: “Besides all these things, clothe yourselves with love, for it is a perfect bond of union.” Just the same, that inspired command is being carried out, to his glory.

2. What appears to be the uniting bond between the sects of Christendom, and of what does this make Christendom a part?

2 Undeniably, love as a perfect bond of union does not exist in Christendom, for she is divided up into hundreds of conflicting religious sects and denominations with differing religious beliefs and practices. Notably, the things that seem to serve as a uniting bond for the church systems of Christendom are their hatred and their opposition toward the Christian congregation of Jehovah’s dedicated, baptized people, his witnesses of today. (Isaiah 43:10, 12) By expressing such hatred and opposition, the religious organizations of Christendom make themselves part and parcel of the world that is under the suzerainty of Satan the Devil, “the god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4:4, Authorized Version) This is just as the Founder of Christianity said that it would be. When giving his final discourse to his faithful apostles, after the departure of the traitorous Judas Iscariot, Jesus said: “These things I command you, that you love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own. Now because you are no part of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, on this account the world hates you.”​—John 15:17-19.

3. What question arises as to the target of the world’s hatred?

3 In the face of Jesus’ words, the question logically arises, What religious group is it today that the world, not excepting Christendom, hates and views with antagonism? Human history, particularly since World War I, helps any honest inquirer to identify them unmistakably.

4. To whom does Paul’s command at Colossians 3:14 apply, and who is the common spiritual Father of such ones?

4 From the opening words of the apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Jehovah’s Witnesses of today know that his command applies directly to them: “Clothe yourselves with love, for it is a perfect bond of union.” We read: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through God’s will, and Timothy our brother to the holy ones and faithful brothers in union with Christ at Colossae: May you have undeserved kindness and peace from God our Father.” (Colossians 1:1, 2) Well, now, who was the common heavenly Father of those first-century Christians in the city of Colossae, Asia Minor? It was the Father of their spiritual Leader, Jesus Christ, and his Father is the God who is “the Most High over all the earth” and “whose name is Jehovah.”​—Psalm 83:18.

5. The ones to whom Paul addresses his letter must be worshipers of whom, and how was this illustrated by Jesus and the apostle John?

5 Ah, then, the ones to whom Paul addresses his letter must be worshipers of Jehovah God, just as Jesus Christ himself is! On the mountain of temptation Jesus refused the Devil’s offer of the whole world if only Jesus would bow down and worship him. Jesus promptly dismissed the Tempter and quoted the inspired command: “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.” (Matthew 4:8-11; Luke 4:8; Deuteronomy 6:4, 5, 13) In imitation of Jesus his disciples must worship the same God that he himself has always worshiped, Jehovah. (John 20:17) Conformably to this, when the apostle John fell down worshipfully before the angel that transmitted the Revelation to him, the angel objected, saying: “Worship God; for the bearing witness to Jesus is what inspires prophesying.”​—Revelation 19:10; 1:1.

6. After what course of Christendom did the command at Revelation 18:4, 5 become more urgent, and who have acted upon that command, and with what result?

6 After the God-dishonoring record made for herself during World War I by Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion, the divine command as set forth in Revelation 18:4, 5 became more urgent than at the time of the December 1880 issue of the Watch Tower magazine or earlier, namely: “Get out of her, 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. For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind.”a In obedience to that command those who wanted to be the “people” of Jehovah God got out of Babylon the Great and flocked together in behalf of Christian unity, to develop that love, which is a “perfect bond of union.” They took seriously to heart the words of the apostle at 1 Corinthians 14:33: “God is a God, not of disorder, but of peace.” So, as we look at the more than forty-three thousand congregations of the witnesses of Jehovah of today, we are impelled to voice the words of Psalm 133:

“Look! How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the good oil upon the head, that is running down upon the beard, Aaron’s beard, that is running down to the collar of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon that is descending upon the mountains of Zion. For there Jehovah commanded the blessing to be, even life to time indefinite.”​—Psalm 133:1-3.

7. Whose obligation is it today to maintain this unity, and for what purpose did God preserve his witnesses through World War I?

7 As with the congregation at Colossae during the first century of our so-called Christian Era, it is the obligation of the present-day witnesses of Jehovah to maintain this admirable unity of organization amid this disunited world. It is especially so since the end of “the appointed times of the nations” in that war-wracked year of 1914! (Luke 21:24) The first world war threatened the very existence of Jehovah’s Witnesses as a truly Christian organization. But for the sake of the preaching of ‘this good news of the kingdom in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations’ the Almighty God did not let the combined enemies in Christendom and in pagandom wipe out all of his anointed witnesses from the earth. (Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:10) In the first postwar year of 1919 C.E. Jehovah God freed them from their restraints and sent them forth to the preaching work among all the nations.

8. Since he has failed to break up this Christian unity by external means, how has Satan proceeded in order to try to do this?

8 Satan the Devil had failed to destroy Jehovah’s Witnesses by external means and agencies, and so he has since endeavored to break up their united structure in a subtle way, by boring from the inside, from within the organization. To this effect it was foretold in Revelation 12:17, in these words: “And the dragon grew wrathful at the woman, and went off to wage war with the remaining ones of her seed, who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus.”

The Personality With Which to Concern Oneself

9. Against what infection do Jehovah’s Witnesses need to guard themselves, and what does Psalm 91 have to say about this?

9 The hatefulness with which the wicked world is infected is spreading, just as Jesus Christ himself foretold in his prophecy on “the conclusion of the system of things,” saying: “And many false prophets will arise and mislead many; and because of the increasing of lawlessness the love of the greater number will cool off. But he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved.” (Matthew 24:3, 11-13) The spirit of hatred is very contagious, and so even the members of the visible organization of Jehovah God need to guard against being infected. How we can do this the inspired psalmist indicates, saying: “Anyone dwelling in the secret place of the Most High will procure himself lodging under the very shadow of the Almighty One. I will say to Jehovah: ‘You are my refuge and my stronghold, my God, in whom I will trust.’ You will not be afraid of anything dreadful by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in the gloom, nor of the destruction that despoils at midday. A thousand will fall at your very side and ten thousand at your right hand; to you it will not come near. Only with your eyes will you look on and see the retribution itself of the wicked ones.”​—Psalm 91:1, 2, 5-8.

10. How shall we avoid having a personality that makes us look like those of the world, and how does God view us in contrast with the dead world?

10 Divine protection is assured us, but we must stay within the set conditions attached to it. If we avoid the spiritually death-dealing intimacy with the sick world, we shall not be clothing ourselves with the personality that will make us look like people of the world. We shall not be clothing ourselves with the hatefulness of the world. The diametrical opposite of hate is love, love of Jehovah and of his Christ and of our Christian brothers and sisters. The personality that exhibits this quality is the personality that the inspired apostle Paul tells us to put on as disciples of Jesus Christ. If we do this we shall be recommending ourselves to others as God’s ministers by a “love free from hypocrisy.” (2 Corinthians 6:4-10) This love originates with God, and our possessing it means that we have come into relationship with him through our turning our backs upon the world as far as being heart and soul in tune with it is concerned. God views the world as dead and those who are part of it as also dead; certainly they are not alive to him. In God’s view we dedicated, baptized disciples of Jesus Christ live; yes, we live as a part of His organization, in which love obtains. It is therefore no exaggerated statement that 1 John 3:14 makes when it tells us: “We know we have passed over from death to life, because we love the brothers. He who does not love remains in death.”

11. Into what brotherhood does love admit us?

11 We thus see that love admits us into a brotherhood in which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is our older brother. This Christian quality is a vesture, or clothing, by means of which we should indicate or display just what we are, without hypocrisy. It is the crowning feature that God’s Word says we must cultivate and practice.

12. What steps must be taken to attain to that love, and must the things that comprise those steps thereafter be dropped?

12 Understandably there are certain steps that an obedient disciple needs to take in order to attain to the genuine kind of love. To those who have set before them the glorious prize of the divine nature in heaven, 2 Peter 1:5-8 says: “Yes, for this very reason, by your contributing in response all earnest effort, supply to your faith virtue, to your virtue knowledge, to your knowledge self-control, to your self-control endurance, to your endurance godly devotion, to your godly devotion brotherly affection, to your brotherly affection love. For if these things exist in you and overflow, they will prevent you from being either inactive or unfruitful regarding the accurate knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The several things that are added must not be dropped after the crowning quality of love has been attained. No, but faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godly devotion and brotherly affection must remain as integral parts of our fully rounded out personality. They must abound along with love. In that case those who have such permanent personality traits will receive the prize at God’s hands in his due time.

13. How does Paul enlarge upon those preliminary steps at Colossians 3:12-14?

13 As an enlargement on the things that we need to do to ourselves in order to gain an appropriate reward, there may fittingly be mentioned here the qualities that the apostle Paul says we must wear as an expression of our personality. Before he points out what is the perfect bond of union, Paul says: “Accordingly, as God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, lowliness of mind, mildness, and long-suffering. Continue putting up with one another and forgiving one another freely if anyone has a cause for complaint against another. Even as Jehovah freely forgave you, so do you also. But, besides all these things, clothe yourselves with love, for it is a perfect bond of union.”​—Colossians 3:12-14.

A Contrast With Those Not United

14. What sort of persons were the members of the Christian congregation before their acting on the instructions of the apostles?

14 Those instructions of the apostles indicate the kind of persons that the members of the Christian congregation should be. Formerly they were part of the unlovable godless world with all its devilish qualities. So what sort of personalities were they then? At 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 the apostle Paul points this out, saying: “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 . . . 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.”

15. Why do worldly persons not have the “bond of union” that persists?

15 It would be hard for worldly persons of the above description to have something of an unselfish, pure kind to serve as an unbreakable, perfect binder for them. Indeed, they have no “perfect bond of union.” Hence, human society outside in the old world is not holding together. For a while things of common self-interest may hold them together. But in course of time, when these things of common self-concern are taken away, worldlings lose interest in one another. Binding ties are dissolved. So, finally, they merely endure one another as unavoidable fellow humans in a community.

16. When free from things that temporarily unify, to what do worldly persons revert, and why?

16 Nationalism! Patriotism! Religious sectarianism! Racism! Such emotion-stirring things, when whipped up to a fever heat, will overwhelm involved ones with a sense of duty and obligation. But, after all, humans remain the same persons with whom self comes first. So, when off duty, when free to indulge themselves according to their individual likes and dislikes, they will betray themselves to be the same old self-serving persons. Although because of outstanding worldly services, or because of unswerving devotion to a world cause, persons who are conformed to this world may be lauded to the skies and may be pronounced deserving of heavenly honors and glorification, they cannot, according to the Bible standards, be counted worthy of a place in the heavenly Kingdom of Jehovah God to reign with Christ.

17. God’s Kingdom calls for what on the part of those who are seeking it first, and what is it that helps them in this behalf?

17 God’s Kingdom has no partnership with this world and its devotees. In the face of the colossal failure of the world under Satan to unify its adherents, God’s Kingdom under Christ calls for unified action and service on the part of those dedicated, baptized Christians who are seeking it first. This Kingdom is the product of God’s love. The very spirit of that celestial government is love, above all a love for God and a hatred for his chief enemy, Satan, and the world of which he is “the god.” Despite all the disruptive efforts on the part of Satan, this love that emanates from Jehovah God, the heavenly Father, continues to function as the “perfect bond of union” for all those who adhere to his visible earthly organization, yes, for all the family of God both in heaven and on earth.

[Footnotes]

On page 6 this issue contained an article entitled “Babylon the Great.”

Do You Recall?

□ How are true Christians united, in contrast to Christendom?

□ How is Satan trying to break our Christian unity?

□ How can we ‘clothe ourselves with love’ despite the world’s hatefulness?

□ How can love bind us together more so than the binding ties in the world?

[Picture on page 15]

Christians are part of a loving brotherhood in which Jesus Christ is an older brother

Love as a “Bond of Union” Proves to Be “Perfect”

Love as a “Bond of Union” Proves to Be “Perfect”

1. In what way can Jehovah be compared to a forger, and in what way does every family owe its name to him?

THE greatest Forger in the universe, Jehovah God the Almighty, can forge a “bond of union” that will hold firm forever. Family ties, even those on earth, can be very strong; and Jehovah God is spoken of as “the Father, to whom every family in heaven and on earth owes its name.” (Ephesians 3:14, 15) Since the global Flood of the days of the patriarch Noah every human family has descended from that faithful man whom God approved of as worthy of being preserved with this family through that world-engulfing inundation. Owing to this fact, every human family now on earth owes to Noah its “name,” that is, its being alive to bear a name. In the past, Jehovah God has been responsible for the giving of certain names to individuals on earth, but he has not directly given names to human families. Yet they owe their name to him, for they could never have come into existence as a family with a name were it not for him as the universal Life-Giver.​—Genesis 5:1, 2, 32.

2. How did the rebel against God’s family become father to a family, and so what question is it appropriate that each one of us ask ourselves?

2 There has been a human breakaway from the universal family of the heavenly Father. This was induced by a superhuman rebel against the angelic family of God in the heavens, the rebel who came to be named Satan the Devil. By gathering followers to his side in the heavens he became, so to say, a father, but it is not love that binds the members of his family together. On one occasion Jesus Christ, the outstandingly faithful member of Jehovah’s universal family, said to his opposers of Jewish descent: “If God were your Father, you would love me, for from God I came forth and am here. . . . 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, because truth is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own disposition, because he is a liar and the father of the lie.” (John 8:42, 44) In this regard each one today can ask himself: By this standard, who is my “father”?

3. How does Satan’s situation since World War I differ from that before this time, and what prayer especially needs to be answered in behalf of all adherents to God’s organization?

3 At his rebellion Satan the Devil was cast out of the universal family of Jehovah God, and later on so were his demons under his fatherhood. At the garden of Eden he presented himself to humankind as the Tempter, and he was permitted, even after that, to go to and fro throughout the earth in his campaign of wickedness and opposition to the truth. (Job 1:7; 2:2) But now, since the foretold “war” after the birth of God’s Kingdom in the heavens, following the end of “the appointed times of the nations” in 1914, Satan the Devil and his demons have been cast out of heaven from immediate contact with the heavenly angels and down to the earth. Never again will they gain entry into the angelic heavens. So we can well understand the rage that Satan has against Jehovah’s universal organization and the loyal members of it. (Revelation 12:1-12; Luke 21:24) This, therefore, is the time of all times for the loving prayer of the apostle Paul, as recorded at Colossians 1:2, to be answered in behalf of the loyal adherents to Jehovah’s organization who are now on earth, namely: “May you have undeserved kindness and peace from God our Father.” This prayer for peace among them cannot be realized if there is no unity within their ranks. Peace calls for internal harmony inside the visible organization of the God who gives peace, yes, cohesion of the organization members to one another.

4. For what do the unified witnesses of Jehovah thank him, and in what do they need to keep on walking?

4 For the organizational unity with resulting peace that distinguishes the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide today they can be doing what the Colossian congregation members were told to do, be “thanking the Father who rendered you suitable for your participation in the inheritance of the holy ones in the light.” (Colossians 1:12) We need to keep walking in the increasing light, and in these “last days” of the old system of things an especial effort has to be made to keep ourselves “suitable” for further enlightenment and for whatever will be our inheritance in the new system.​—2 Timothy 3:1.

United as “One Flock”

5. From what have Jehovah’s Witnesses today been drawn despite all the potentially disunifying features, but why has the “one flock” of the “one shepherd” held together?

5 Today Jehovah’s Witnesses are found to be drawn from more human families than was the case with the first-century Christians. In view of that, they are drawn from all races of mankind, from all skin colors and from all walks of life. These noticeable things could have acted as a disunifying factor among Jehovah’s Witnesses. But not so! They recognize that, regardless of race, color, language, nationality and social level, they all have one common source of their existence and of the light of truth. Among Jehovah’s Witnesses of this late date there are a remnant of spirit-begotten Christians who have heavenly prospects and a “great crowd” of those whom the Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ, called his “other sheep.” (John 10:16; Revelation 7:9-17; Matthew 25:31-46) Nevertheless, the long-range forecast of Jesus Christ has not failed, even though it said: “And they will become one flock, one shepherd.” The Fine Shepherd has shown his skill in keeping all his peace-loving sheeplike followers “one flock,” notwithstanding the difference in hopes for the future. They all unitedly love their “one shepherd,” who lovingly sacrificed his human life for all of them, and they are loyal to him.

6. Why have the remnant with heavenly hope not held back from publishing the Bible truths that pertain to the “other sheep”?

6 The Biblical “truth” that all the sheep of today love so strongly has much to say about the Paradise hope for the constantly growing “great crowd” of the Shepherd’s “other sheep.” So, as lovers of the whole “truth” of God’s Word, the spiritual remnant are not envious so as to hold back anything profitable from those “other sheep” but have lovingly published worldwide that grand earthly hope, particularly since the year 1935. The remnant know that they are now living in “the times of restoration of all things of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old time.” (Acts 3:21) For the remnant the revelation of this truth has been part of their “inheritance of the holy ones in the light.” From the start of the publication of this magazine, The Watchtower, in July of 1879, it has been God’s instrument for reviving this grand Paradise hope for redeemed humankind. The other publications of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society have all combined to strengthen and confirm that hope in which the “great crowd” of “other sheep” delight so greatly today, with loving appreciation for the remnant.

7. In 1935, what hope besides their own did the anointed remnant lovingly set forth, and why did they allow for the baptism of those with this other hope?

7 Down to the spring of 1935 the dedicated, baptized witnesses of Jehovah had entertained in true faith the “one hope” that was set before them in Ephesians 4:4-6, as follows: “One body there is, and one spirit, even as you were called in the one hope to which you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all persons.” But in that memorable year of 1935, at the convention held in Washington, D.C., the “great multitude,” as visualized at Revelation 7:9-17 (Authorized Version), was identified as being composed of the Fine Shepherd’s “other sheep” of John 10:16. The anointed remnant who still held on to their valid “one hope” rejoiced greatly over this advancing light upon the Holy Scriptures and set themselves to act wholeheartedly in the gathering of those “other sheep.” They did not feel that the “other sheep” were infringing on the “one baptism” by themselves getting immersed in water, for the baptism of such “other sheep” was as much a symbol of their dedication to Jehovah God through Christ as that of the anointed remnant had been. The love with which they had clothed themselves now widened out to embrace those lovable “other sheep” of their own Shepherd.

8. To whose love, in the days of ancient Israel, may the love existing between the two classes in the “one flock” be compared?

8 A mutual love has developed and deepened among all the sheeplike ones of the “one flock” under the Greater David, Jesus Christ. This uniting bond of love corresponds with that unbreakable, undying love of the anointed king-elect David of the tribe of Judah toward unselfish lovable Jonathan, the son of the then reigning king Saul. (2 Samuel 1:25-27) Shortly before their final parting from each other, “Jonathan swore again to David because of his love for him; for as he loved his own soul he loved him.” (1 Samuel 20:17) On learning of Jonathan’s death with his father in battle, David was impelled to chant a dirge and to climax it with the words: “I am distressed over you, my brother Jonathan, very pleasant you were to me. More wonderful was your love to me than the love from women.” (2 Samuel 1:26) Their mutual love was a “perfect bond of union.” Only death did them part.

9. By whom were the “other sheep” there pictured, and how will those of the two classes eventually be parted, but with no lessening of mutual love?

9 Jonathan foreshadowed the “other sheep” of the present time. Some future day after “the war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon the surviving Jonathan class will be parted from the remnant of the David class. (Revelation 16:14, 16) This will be only because the beloved remnant will be taken away by death, they being “caught away,” as it were, “in clouds to meet the Lord in the air,” by means of their instantaneous resurrection in the spirit out of death. (1 Thessalonians 4:17) They will continue to love the “other sheep” left behind on earth. In fact, their love then will be more powerfully expressed!

“The Greatest of These Is Love”

10, 11. Why is it that faith and hope are not so great as love, as stated in 1 Corinthians 13:13?

10 This reminds us of Paul’s words at the close of his magnificent description in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, namely: “Now, however, there remain faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13) How is that so? Well, consider first what is said in Hebrews 11:1: “Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld.” Certainly, then, the hope for such things is only for the time that they are not “beheld.” Take Abraham, for instance. He demonstrated faith in Jehovah God and in His ability to raise the dead. So he waited confidently for things that he did not behold before his death. So Jehovah’s Witnesses of today, due to strong faith in Him, hope for things not yet beheld and so wait for them. When, in time, they behold the “things hoped for,” their faith and hope respecting such things end, having been fulfilled. This is indicated by what Paul further says in Romans 8:24, 25, where we read:

11 “For we were saved in this hope; but hope that is seen is not hope, for when a man sees a thing, does he hope for it? But if we hope for what we do not see, we keep on waiting for it with endurance.”

12. In what way have Jehovah’s Witnesses seen the “restoration of all things,” as stated in Acts 3:21, and so in course of time what qualities will cease but what quality will not?

12 Likewise, since the postwar year of 1919 Jehovah’s Witnesses on earth have seen the “restoration of all things of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old time.” They have seen Jehovah’s visible organization recovered from the death-dealing blow of World War I and then rebuilt. It is again worshiping Jehovah God, in a spiritual paradise right here at the earth. (Isaiah, chapter 35) Deliverance has been gained from Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion. (Revelation 18:1-4) Many of the things foretold in Revelation, the last book of the Bible, have been fulfilled or are undergoing fulfillment. Thus faith and the hope based on such Biblical faith are serving their purpose, and once their purpose has been fully met, they will cease. Ah, yes, but what about love? It has remained and will remain. Whereas the world is in a state of disintegration and the world elements are about to melt due to the intense heat, the “bond of union” based on love from God does not get dissolved. It still holds intact toward God and his approved organization and between the remnant of the “little flock” and the welcome “great crowd” of the “other sheep.” It proves to be “perfect.” Love as the “bond” is a fruit of God’s spirit.

13. Why will love never die?

13 God is the personification of love; and since God never dies, love will never die. It is correctly said, “God is love.”

14. What truth can be restated as to the unifying power of love?

14 As regards the unifying power of love, the inspired truth stated at 1 John 4:8, 16 can be repeated and enlarged upon: “God is love, and he that remains in love remains in union with God and God remains in union with him.”

15. When creating man, by what was God motivated, and why can man appreciate and react properly to that motivating force?

15 Accordingly, when God produced the first human creature on earth, he was motivated by love to do this. As Genesis 1:27 reports on this: “And God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God’s image he created him.” Not that the first man had God’s bodily shape, but that he was gifted with qualities such as God himself has, these mental, spiritual and heart qualities differentiating him from the lower forms of creature life on earth. For this reason this gifted human creature could appreciate the love of his Creator toward him and could react toward that love in a proper way, like a son toward his father. There existed a family tie between them that was made realistic by regular communion with each other in spite of the fact that the Father was invisible to the earthly son, inasmuch as no man can see God and yet keep on living. This fact God stated later on to Moses: “No man may see me and yet live.” (Exodus 33:20) This rule was not changed, for more than fifteen hundred years later the apostle John wrote to fellow Christians: “No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten god who is in the bosom position with the Father is the one that has explained him.”​—John 1:18.

16. With what did John and his fellow disciples respond to God’s fatherly love, and how has the “bond of love” proved to be with regard to the anointed remnant and the “other sheep”?

16 As a spirit-begotten son of God, the apostle John was in a family relationship with Jehovah God and with his Son, “the only-begotten god,” Jesus Christ. John and his fellow Christians responded to God’s fatherly affection with a filial love. That love was a “bond of union” between them and their invisible heavenly Father. It also cemented the spirit-begotten ones together as the spiritual sons of God and as Christian brothers and sisters. As we examine that “bond of union” today we see that it has proved to be “perfect,” for the members of the anointed remnant cleave together inseparably as fellow worshipers and witnesses of Jehovah God. This love keeps them in the family of God and in the Christian brotherhood. Noteworthily, their fellow worshipers at God’s temple, the “great crowd” of Christ’s “other sheep,” display the same unquenchable love that binds Jehovah’s Witnesses of today together so perfectly. Determinedly, may we share the conviction of the apostle Paul that no “creation will be able to separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”​—Romans 8:38, 39.

How Do You Answer?

□ In what way does every family owe its name to God?

□ How should that fact affect all those in the Christian congregation?

□ Whom did Jonathan foreshadow?

□ Why is love greater than faith and hope?

□ How does love bind us to God?

[Picture on page 20]

The deep love between David and Jonathan foreshadowed the love between the anointed and the “other sheep”

Clothing Ourselves With Love and Wearing It

Clothing Ourselves With Love and Wearing It

1. What is the thing with which to clothe ourselves, and when is the greatest test of it to come?

SINCE love is a “perfect bond of union,” it is the all-important quality with which to clothe ourselves unhypocritically. We must wear it constantly in all sincerity. It is no cloak that disguises one’s real self. For our counsel today the inspired words have been preserved: “Let your love be without hypocrisy. . . . In brotherly love have tender affection for one another.” (Romans 12:9, 10) The greatest test of the genuineness of our love, this “bond of union,” is yet to come​—in the near future.

2. Is love attainable without anything preliminary?

2 Now, then, is the opportune time for us to cultivate that love. All the steps that lead up to the attainment of that quality must be taken now. That is why the apostle Paul crowns his recommendation of various things that the dedicated, baptized disciples of Jesus Christ needed to do, by saying: “Besides all these things, clothe yourselves with love, for it is a perfect bond of union.” (Colossians 3:14) So what are “these things” besides which we must clothe ourselves with love?

Overcoming Divisive Factors

3. According to Colossians 3:9-13, what are the steps that need to be taken toward the attainment of love?

3 Back there in the days of the apostles Paul and John there were features, or factors, that might have served as grounds for division. But those onetime valid grounds had now to be ignored, devalued as to their importance and weight. The Christians were all one congregation, one corporative unit under the one spiritual Head, Jesus Christ. All fleshly bases for making divisions had to be brushed aside. The unifying spiritual facts had to be kept to the fore. In keeping with this, the apostle Paul proceeded to say: “Strip off the old personality with its practices, and clothe yourselves with the new personality, which through accurate knowledge is being made new according to the image of the One who created it, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, foreigner, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all things and in all. Accordingly, as God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, lowliness of mind, mildness, and long-suffering. Continue putting up with one another and forgiving one another freely if anyone has a cause for complaint against another.”​—Colossians 3:9-13.

4. Why was there need to get along with one another in the first-century congregation, and on what basis might certain things have been ignored?

4 With all the above-mentioned differences in national extraction and religious background, social standing, racial and color features, there were difficulties in getting along with one another in the congregation. There was need for understanding and for making allowances with regard to one another. For, though those things may have mattered with fleshly men, they certainly did not matter with God and with his Son Jesus Christ, who died for all mankind at a time when all these differences had grown up and still persisted. Of course, broad-minded men might, out of their own generosity of soul, have overlooked such differences, doing so on general principles. To do so might even have been good policy, no, rather, plain, downright humanity. Yet pure, unselfish love might be lacking.

5. Beyond what things of an ordinary human kind must Jehovah’s Witnesses go when ignoring divisive things, and thus demonstrate that they are in union with whom?

5 For that reason we dedicated, baptized followers of the One who gave his perfect human life in behalf of all sorts of men must go beyond mere formality, agreeableness, niceness, mannerliness, humane feeling; we must be motivated by sincere, disinterested love as a fruit of the spirit of Jehovah God. This fruit seeks the benefit and the gain of others. It is glad to make a contribution to the spiritual well-being and happiness of others. It demonstrates that we are in union with God, who is the embodiment of love. There is a drawing power in this love. In line with this 1 John 4:19 states: “We love, because he first loved us.”

…