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→Neverificat: Pagină nouă: 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 dea...
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Versiunea de la data 23 martie 2020 18:32
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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