An Urgency That Involves You

DOES the prospect of a new administration of earth’s affairs appeal to you? Do you find it comforting to envision an earth without war, false religion, immorality, sickness and death? Or does it all seem like a dream?

Actually, the message about God’s purpose of a righteous new order is no dream. Jehovah God does not lie or deceive. (Heb. 6:18) He does not promise something he will not bring to reality. And when he causes his servants to distribute world wide a warning now, with special concentration on the so-called “Christian” nations, we can be sure he means it.

We can also be sure that when God says he will annihilate world religion and preserve his true religion, he means that too. The question is not whether that will happen. It will, without fail. The question is, What will you do about it?

First of all, when you see that world religion is guilty of misrepresenting God and of misleading the people, what should you do? You should do what God’s Word says to do. What is that? Get away from it before its sudden crash comes! When Jesus called the professional religionists of his day “blind guides,” he said to the common people: “Let them be.”​—Matt. 15:14.

Yes, leave them alone! Get away from them! World religion is unclean and bloodguilty in God’s sight. So the strong admonition of the apostle must be heeded by those who want to keep living:

“What fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? . . . And what agreement does God’s temple have with idols? . . . ‘“Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,” says Jehovah, “and quit touching the unclean thing”’; ‘“and I will take you in.”’ ‘“And I shall be a father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me,” says Jehovah the Almighty.’”​—2 Cor. 6:14-18.

If your church is a part of world religion, flee now! If you know a clergyman who you feel is a good man, then he should flee too!

These are strong words, but they are true. They are God’s mind on the matter. For a certainty, time is running out for world religion. Its end is not far off. Therefore you need to take urgent action now.

Accept Help Now

Mere flight from world religion, while a necessary first step, is not enough however. Even atheists have done that much. There is also another vital step. Everyone who wants life in God’s new order must come to know God to receive protection through this system’s end.​—John 17:3.

How can you really get to know God and what he requires of you? Only by your personally studying his Word, the Bible. To do this you need assistance.

What was the basic method the early disciples used to guide people to the truth about God? They taught persons privately, often going into the homes of interested persons. There, in the privacy of their own homes, people learned what the Bible really said. It is the same today. Jehovah’s witnesses carry on a free six-month program of home visits for those who really want to know about God. By this means millions of persons have received Bible instruction.​—Acts 20:20.

True, sometimes these persons meet opposition. It may come from uninformed persons, friends or relatives. But often, by being tactful and patient, they are able to help those who are well-meaning to learn the way to life in God’s new order.

Have you availed yourself of the free Bible education offered by Jehovah’s witnesses? If not, we urge you to do so now. Do not be among those who are like the sons-in-law of Lot. When the God-dishonoring city of Sodom was about to be destroyed by an act of God, Lot warned them. But the Bible says, “In the eyes of his sons-in-law he [Lot] seemed like a man who was joking.” (Gen. 19:14) But it was no joke. The next morning Sodom was annihilated. So were Lot’s sons-in-law.

Do you love life? Do you want to keep living? Then hasten to do what God’s Word says: “Seek Jehovah, all you meek ones of the earth, . . . Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah’s anger.”​—Zeph. 2:3.

REFERENCES

1. Harper’s, August 1960, p. 31.

2. Vietnam and Armageddon, Robert Drinan, p. 3.

3. Washington Post, December 4, 1971, p. B5.

4. New York Times, November 20, 1971, p. 1.

5. New York Daily News, November 20, 1971.

6. Ibid.

7. New York Times, November 20, 1971, p. 1.

8. New York Daily News, November 20, 1971.

9. The Christian Century, June 24, 1970, p. 807.

10. U.S. News & World Report, February 27, 1967, p. 8.

11. New York World-Telegram and Sun, March 11, 1966.

12. Life, March 16, 1962, pp. 42, 43.

13. Vietnam and Armageddon, pp. 192, 193.

14. Ocean County Daily Observer, November 3, 1967.

15. Baltimore Evening Sun, December 27, 1966.

16. New York Times, December 29, 1966.

17. Panama’s Star & Herald, January 9, 1967.

18. New York World-Telegram and Sun, March 11, 1966.

19. Des Moines, Iowa, Register, February 10, 1968.

20. New York Times, September 22, 1971, p. 13.

21. The Christian Century, April 7, 1971, p. 419.

22. Oregon Journal, June 19, 1971.

23. Ibid.

24. New York Times, May 30, 1955, p. 14.

25. Ibid., July 27, 1971, p. 32.

26. Commonweal, October 22, 1971, p. 79.

27. Ibid., p. 81.

28. Ibid.

29. The Modern Use of the Bible, Harry Emerson Fosdick, p. 204.

30. Vancouver Sun, December 28, 1966.

31. The World Book Encyclopedia (1970), Vol. 20, p. 21.

32. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 17, 1962.

33. Morals and Missiles, edited by Charles S. Thompson, pp. 57, 58.

34. The New Dictionary of Thoughts, originally compiled by Tryon Edwards, p. 689.

35. The World Book Encyclopedia (1966), Vol. 16, p. 207.

36. The Ancient Sun Kingdoms of the Americas, Victor Wolfgang von Hagen, p. 159.

37. Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, edited by James Hastings, Vol. XII, p. 701.

38. Ancient Cities, William Burnet Wright, p. 25.

39. Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, p. 694.

40. The Encyclopædia Britannica, 1952 edition, Vol. 9, p. 343.

41. The Historians’ History of the World, Henry Smith Williams, Vol. VIII, p. 333.

42. Ibid., p. 315.

43. History of the Christian Church, W. M. Blackburn, pp. 274, 275.

44. Ridpath’s History of the World, J. C. Ridpath, Vol. 4, pp. 668, 669.

45. Christian Attitudes Toward War and Peace, Roland H. Bainton, p. 112.

46. Ridpath’s History of the World, pp. 747, 748.

47. England Under the Stuarts, George Macaulay Trevelyan, p. 34.

48. The Story of the Inquisition, the Freethought Press Association, p. 221.

49. The Works of Frederick Schiller​—History of the Thirty Years’ War, (1853), Frederick Schiller, p. 143.

50. Time, July 13, 1970, p. 17.

51. New York Times, December 23, 1971, p. 3.

52. Britannica Book of the Year 1970, p. 323.

53. Christian Heritage, January 1970, p. 15.

54. Christian Attitudes Toward War and Peace, p. 15.

55. Perspective (a Journal of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary), Vol. X, No. 1, Spring 1969, p. 78.

56. La Dernière Heure, January 7, 1967 (Belgian newspaper).

57. Christian Attitudes Toward War and Peace, pp. 209, 210.

58. Fortune, January 1940, p. 26.

59. For God and Country, R. H. McKim, pp. 116, 117. (Quoted in Preachers Present Arms, Ray H. Abrams, p. 55.)

60. The Christian Register, Vol. 97, No. 33 (Aug. 15, 1918), p. 775. (Quoted in Preachers Present Arms, p. 68.)

61. A Brass Hat in No Man’s Land, by Frank Percy Crozier, p. 43.

62. New York American, October 12, 1914, p. 4.

63. Union Seminary Quarterly Review, Vol. XXVII, No. 1, Fall 1971, p. 4.

64. Church and State in the United States, Anson Phelps Stokes, Vol. III, p. 287.

65. L’Eglise Catholique en France sous l’Occupation, Emil Maurice Guerry, p. 9. (Quoted in The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany, Guenter Lewy, p. 244.)

66. The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany, pp. 82, 84.

67. Amtsblatt für die Erzdiözese München und Freising, supplement to No. 16, June 12, 1936, p. 7. (Quoted in The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany, p. 310.)

68. God’s First Love, Friedrich Heer, p. 247.

69. New York Times, September 25, 1939, p. 6.

70. Verordnungsblatt des Katholischen Feldbischofs der Wehrmacht, September 1, 1940. (Quoted in German Catholics and Hitler’s Wars, Gordon C. Zahn, p. 154.)

71. New York Times, September 25, 1939, p. 6.

72. German Catholics and Hitler’s Wars, p. 17.

73. God’s First Love, p. 315.

74. The Christian Century, December 15, 1971, p. 1463.

75. Lutheran World, Vol. XVI, No. 1, 1969, p. 32.

76. Boston Record American, January 2, 1971.

77. New Theology No. 6, edited by Martin E. Marty and Dean G. Peerman, pp. 93, 94.

78. Parade, May 17, 1970.

79. Time, December 13, 1971, p. 73.

80. Ibid.

81. Ibid.

82. Vedbæk-Gl. Holte Kirkehilsen, July-August 1964.

83. Western Voice, Fort Worth, Texas, Oct. 3, 1968, p. 1.

84. Time, December 13, 1971, p. 74.

85. Towards A Quaker View of Sex, Revised Edition, 1964, pp. 26, 41.

86. The Thomist, July 1971, p. 479.

87. The Living Church, January 8, 1967, p. 19.

88. Time, December 13, 1971, p. 73.

89. Parade, May 17, 1970.

90. Christianity Today, September 11, 1970, pp. 48, 49.

91. From transcript of French television series “The Church Tomorrow?” which ran from December 1970 to March 1971.

92. The Christian Century, December 15, 1971, p. 1469.

93. The Expository Times, May 6, 1965, p. 253.

94. Moral Responsibility​—Situation Ethics at Work, Joseph Fletcher, pp. 134, 138.

95. Towards a Quaker View of Sex, pp. 32, 33.

96. Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Australia, February 21, 1964.

97. Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. XII, p. 678.

98. The Early Christian Attitude to War, C. J. Cadoux, p. 245.

99. Caesar’s Or God’s?, Peter Meinhold, pp. 126, 127.

100. Early Church History, Backhouse and Tylor, Third Edition (1892), p. 128.

101. Christian Attitudes Toward War and Peace, pp. 67, 68.

102. Christ and War, William E. Wilson, pp. 69, 70.

103. The Old Roman World, John Lord, Second Edition (1868), pp. 551, 578.

104. Encyclopedia Canadiana (1968), Vol. 5, p. 347.

105. Australian Encyclopædia (1958), Vol. 5, p. 126.

106. The Nazi Persecution of the Churches 1933-45, J. S. Conway, (1968) pp. 197, 198.

107. The Theory and Practice of Hell, Eugen Kogan, p. 42.

108. The Nazi Persecution of the Churches 1933-45, pp. 196, 199.

109. Of Guilt and Hope, Martin Niemoeller, p. 58.

110. Personality, November 21, 1968, p. 176.

111. Svensk Veckotidning, No. 31-34, 1969.

[Picture on page 28]

When Lot urged his intended sons-in-law to get out of Sodom, they thought he was joking