Pagină:Obadiah-part-I-1936.djvu/10: Diferență între versiuni

186 “‘keep the commandments of God and have the testi- mony of Jesus Christ’’, These faithful ones bring the truth to the people, and the truth uncovers the hidden lies of the religionists, The battle is on, and to his anointed, faithful, true witnesses Jehovah now says; “In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue [the remnant] of his people.’’? (Isa. 28:5) Jehovah thus shows he is on the side of these faithful witnesses,

• 5 Can there be any doubt in the mind of any of the

truly anointed temple class that the battle is now on between the religionists and Jchovah’s faithful serv- ants? Has not that battle been raging, and with in- ereasing fury, during the past ten years? The Roman Catholie Hicrarehy trains all its guns upon the wit- nesses of Jehovah. In Germany that wicked ‘‘old whore’’ has bluffed and browbeaten some imo silenee, but there yet remain in that sorrowful land many humble, true and faithful witnesses who are deter- mined to give the testimony as comiaanded, even if it costs them every drop of their blood. In New Jersey the enemy, led by the Roman Catholie ITierarchy, has brought up every available instrument with which to assault and beat down Jchovah’s witnesses, but in that section the true and faithful remain firm and eontinue to sing louder and louder the praises of Jehovah, pressing on jin the battle. They count uct their earthly existence dear unto them, Afoved by the unbreakable love of God and Christ, which is stronger than death, those faithful ones, in the Jeneuage em- ployed by Paul, now say concerning the war against them: “But none of these thines move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that T might finish my course with joy, and the miniviry, whieh T have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God,’’— Acts 20: 2-4, 36 The wicked Roman Catholic JHerarehy and allies use all their power and influcnee to cause the radio stations to cease broadeasting God's message of truth, They have employed all manner of political methods to have laws enacted to suppress the truth, They use their newspapers to publish malicious libels against. God’s faithful and true witnesses. They earry forward their mischicvous persecution of Jchoval’s witnesses, causing rules or laws to be made commanding that even the little children be compelled to submit to their sense- less, religious ceremonics of saluting flags, thus attrib- uting to a thing salvation rather than attributing to God salvation, to whom it belongs. They denounce everyone who attempts to sct forth the Scriptural reasons showing that it is the duty of the follower of Christ Jesus to obey God and not man. The purpose of the enemy is to turn Jchovah’s witnesses and all sympathizers away from God by putting them in fear and subjection, and to control them in an arbitrary, inquisitorial manner by dictators, and to destroy the freedom and worship of the true, almighty God. Shall anyone who loves God have anything to do or any- She WATCHTOWER. ERousuiy, N.Y. thing in common with such workers of iniquity? (Ps. 94:20) Would an; one who loves God eo-operate with that wicked crowd by trying to induce the anoint- ed to believe that the chief part of their work will be accomplished after Armageddon, and that they should now go casy? Could anyone who is devoted to ‘God and to his cause, and who is participating in the fight, now put forth or attempt to put a scotch block under the wheels of God's organization by saying in the presence and heating of the anointed words to this effect: ‘We are getting nowhere now. Our chief work is after the first phase of Armageddon, Wait till then. We will then be ready to reecive the great multitude,’’ Those who now yicld to such sophistry and fall under that influence will be seduced and deccived, and that of itself shows that such cannot be of God’s cleet. 37 What is the purpose of the battle now in progress between the religionists and Jehovah’s witnesses? Cer- tainly not to convert the world nor to gather the great multitude ; but it is to furnish the opportunity to these persons of «ood will toward God to hear the messaze of truth and to take their stand on the side of God and his hinedom and to truly ‘‘seek riehtcousness”’ and ‘‘seek meekness’’ before the fieree anger of the Lord is expressed at Armageddon, (Geph. 2:3-3) Je- hovah has not commanded his witnesses to gather the great multitude now or at any other time, hat work the Lord himself does in his own good time and way. For anyone to say “Our work of gathering the great multitude will take place after Aiimnaveddon’’ is presuinpluousness before the Lord. The business and work of the anointed is to obey God's command- ments. H[e has eommanded that this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached and completed before the slaying work begins. The Greater Moses, Christ Jesus, sends forth his followers from the temple and com- mands them to proclaim boldly from the housctops the message of the kinedom and the day of the veneeance of our God. To refrain from so doing or to slaek the hand and )ccome neghevent, or to attempt to exercise influcnee over the anoimted to cause them to beeome negligent and slack the hand, constilutes a failure to give heed to the commandments of Jehovah's great Prophet.— Acts 3: 23, 38 Ts the Lord Jesus at the temple of Jchovah? AM the evidence shows that he is. That beine so, then Christ Jesus is conducting judgment and ‘before him {are] gathered all nations’’, and he is separating them. Mark the words of the seripture which says that it is Christ Jesus that is separating the nations and deter- mining who are the sheep, the Jonadahs, or great mul- titude. Christ is gathcring them, and not we. If the gathering of the great multitude takes place alter Armageddon, then when could it be possible for those people of good will to show favor to Christ and his persecuted remnant as the members of his body us stated at Matthew 25? At Armageddon the persecution will be done, because the persceutors will be slain.