Pagină:A-great-image-part-I-1930.djvu/11

Avaust 1, 1930 of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.” Speaking of this period of waiting, Daniel, in chapter 12, verse 12, says: ‘‘Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred five and thirty days.”’ Yes, a blessing comes at the end of this waiting period. At that time Christ will be in power. As the great General of Jehovah, he will assume command of Jehovah’s army and begin action against Satan. His forces will make an assault against the forces of Satan. That battle will be short and decisive, and Christ will be the victor. That victory will mean the destruction of Satan’s organization on earth, and will result in the binding of Satan for a thousand years so that he will deceive the nations no more till the thousand years are ended. (Rev. 20: 1-8) That victory will mean the deliverance of the people from Satan and his oppressive and decep- tive institutions; it will end all fraud, hypocrisy, in- justice and unrighteousness; that victory will witness the establishment of a permanent and everlasting peace on earth, and good will toward men. Peace can never be established by human effort. While men recognize its necessity and will put forth efforts to establish it, yet the Scriptures tell us that their efforts will be futile, and the reason is that selfishness governs their every effort and controls their every act. In Jeremiah 6:13,14 we read of this selfishness as follows: ‘‘For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is tke WATCH TOWER 235 given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace: when there is no peace.’? The Scriptures assure us that when earth’s wise men are talking about peace, and making efforts to that end, conditions will continue to go from bad to worse, and finally culminate in what men eall ‘‘the battle of Armageddon’’. In 1 Thessalonians 5:3 Paul says: ‘‘For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.’’ Thus the apostle tells us that man’s efforts to estab- lish peace in the earth are doomed to failure. The sudden destruction foretold in this text is about to overtake them. ‘‘The battle of that great day of God Almighty’? will soon occur. Satan will soon be bound, and his power to blind and deceive be fully restrained for a thousand years, ‘‘The Prince of Peace’’ is now on the throne, and the announeement of this fact is going out all over the earth. Multitudes of people have heard this announce- ment, and hope is springing up in their hearts, The time is near at hand when the words of the prophet will be fulfilled as recorded in Psalm 85:10, 11, which read: ‘‘Merey and truth are met together; righteous- ness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven,’”? THE DESTINY OF MAN (Fifteen-minute radio lecture] human creature has to face this question at some time in life. Those who die in infancy escape its consideration, and some who are suddenly swept out of existence by accident or calamity have never given it proper thought. In the excitement of youth, the young do not pause to consider; in the busy activities of manhood’s and womanhood’s estate the subject is pushed aside, because it is an unpleasant one, and the necessary daily duties are allowed to submerge it; but when life’s span is measured by a few hours, or days, or wecks, or months, it becomes a subject for solemn consideration. Then there are some who have dragged out long years in almost daily expectation of death, who have had the subject forced upon their attention for all those weary years. With the majority of people the plunge into eternity js taken without any very definite hope. At home and in Sunday school, they were taught that those who are reasonably good will somehow manage to get to heaven, while those who are vile and degraded will spend eternity in a place of torment. These teachings W/ ‘iime shall I spend eternity? Nearly every are accepted because they are taught in the creeds and by religious leaders. Notwithstanding these facts, when faced by death there is usually doubt, fore- boding and dread, due to the fact that the dying one is not sure that the creeds and the religious leaders are right in their teachings. Ile realizes that these teachings have never been proven to be correct. Thus it occurs that with the majority of people the exit from this life is accomplished with uncertainty as to whether they will spend eternity in heaven in indescribable bliss, or in hell in indeseribable agony. The exceptions to this rule are a few people who have convinecd themselves that they are so far above ‘the common herd’ that they are sure of a place in bliss. They have convineced themselves that they are deserv- ing of God’s best gift, and that heaven’s portals will swing wide open to them and that they will be wel- comed with glad acclaim. The fact that persons are sure they are going to heaven does not prove a thing about the existence of such a place or about the existence of a hell of tor- ment. The devout Buddhist, Confucianist and Indian