Pagină:A-great-image-part-I-1930.djvu/12

236 will dic in all complacency, secure in their fanatical belief that they are to be changed into another form of life or go to their happy hunting ground at the moment of death. This serenity in death, however, does not prove that their belicfs are right, and all believers in the Bible know that those beliefs are wrong. Just so the fact that some one professing to be a Christian dies in calmness, serenity, and confi- dence that he is fit for heaven is no proof that he will go there. The only place that satisfactory proof can be found is in the Bible. Any faith that is not founded on the Bible is unstable, unreliable and invariably untrue. If anyone wishes to know definitely what is the des- tiny of man he can go to the Bible with honest heart and reverent mind and get full information. It is not necessary to delve into science, nor to try to get in touch with the dead. Neither is it necessary to consult spirit mediums, nor the opinions of so-called great men who have lived and died in the past, All these sources of information are useless, and even worse than useless, because the information given is invariably false and misleading. God is the Creator of all life, and the Giver of every blessing that men possess. More than that, he is the-one who shall decide what man’s destiny shall be. He inspired holy men to write the Bible, which contains the information; and for his creatures to disregard his Word and scck information from other sourees manifests a disrespect and lack of reverence for him which cannot be otherwise than displeasing to him. According to the Bible cach member of the human race will spend eternity in one of three places; name- ly, in heaven, on the earth, or in everlasting destruc- tion (called sceond death). According to the Bible no one will spend eternity in eternal torment ; neither will all the saved be in heaven. Of course this statement will not be regarded as ‘‘orthodox’’, but we must bear in mind that ‘‘orthodox’”’ beliefs are the teachings of men, and not of the Bible. If one believes the Bible he will invariably be considered ‘‘unorthodox’’, The wonder is that men can be found who possess so much self-esteem that they dare sect up their opinions im opposition to the tcachings of the Bible. When God ercated Adam he told him to multiply and inercase and replenish the carth, and have do- minion over the carth and over the birds, beasts and fish. It should be noted that God did not tell Adam that he would ever go to heaven. His home was to be the carth, and he was told that if he disobeyed he would surely die. After his disobedience God told him that he would return to dust again, and he was driven out of the garden; but not one word was Adam told about his going to eternal torment. Eternal tor- ment is one of the ‘‘orthodox’”’ teachings of men, but is not taught in the Bible. tke WATCH TOWER Brookiyrn, N. Y. Adam’s one sin brought the condemnation of death upon himself and all his posterity. God has purposed to deliver the race from this condemnation and to restore to them what Adam lost. To accomplish this purpose God sent Jesus into the earth to dic for the race to redeem them from death, so that they could be restored to life again by a resurrection of the dead, Therefore it is written: ‘‘The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.’’ (1 John 4:14) Je- sus said: ‘‘The Son of man came... to give his life a ransom for many.’’ Again he said: ‘‘The Son of man is come to seck and to save that which was lost.’? Since Adam lost only an earthly home and estate, not a heavenly one, it follows that that is what will be restored. The work of resurrecting and restoring the race to perfect life right here on the earth will be accom- plished by the resurrected and glorified Jesus during his thousand-year reign, which is just now beginning, and which will be in full operation as soon as the present evil world is destroyed in the battle of Arma- geddon, which is just ahead of us. After this battle, which will destroy Satan’s wicked empire which now cumbers the earth, and incidentally destroy all orthodox teachings of men, the resurrection of the dead will follow. AH will then be property instrueted as to what God’s will is; all will be re- quired to obey that will or else be destroyed in the second death. The obedient ones will live on the earth forever, That will be their destiny. In proof, the following texts are cited. In Psalm 37: 29 we read: ‘‘The rightcous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.’’ In violent contrast with this text the clergy have taught that all the righteous will go to heaven, Again, in Isaiah 60:21 we read: “‘Thy pcople also shall be all rightcous: they shall inherit the land for ever.’’ The clergy say the earth is to be destroyed ; but in Veelesiastes 1:4 we read that ‘‘the earth abideth for ever’’, Of course, if men are to live on the earth forever it will not be destroyed. In Jesus’ prayer he taught us to pray for the time when God's will would be done on carth as it is done in heaven. And all the prophets and apostles tell us of a time when the knowledge of Jehovah will fill the earth as the waters cover the deep. They tell us of a time when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess to the glory of God, both of things in heaven and things in earth. Scores of texty tell us that men are destined to live on earth forever. When Jesus was on earth, he began to preach a new message which was never heard before his time, and that message was, ‘‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’’ He chese his disciples and scent them out to preach that same message. This message means that from that time on God has been selecting from the race a class composed of 144,000 persons, who must be faithful