Preaching the Kingdom in Unity

“THE kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king for ever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15) When did this apocalyptic prophecy have its fulfillment? The very context gives us a clue: “But the nations became wrathful.” That clue, especially when taken together with another of Jesus’ prophecies, “nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom,” very definitely points to the year 1914. That God’s kingdom is at hand is the best of good news and it is now being “preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations.”—Rev. 11:18; Matt. 24:7, 14.

Year by year this preaching continues and increases. During 1957 some 700,000 ministers shared therein, preaching in 164 lands and islands of the seas and devoting more than a hundred million hours thereto. This message is unique not only by reason of its contents but also by reason of the manner in which it is being preached. The Christian ministers of Jehovah who preach it are not divided because of skin color or race or because of nationality or language.

Especially at such gatherings as that held by the Christian witnesses of Jehovah at Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds in New York city this summer, July 27 through August 3, can all see a demonstration of this oneness that Jesus prayed for. (Possibly as you read these lines that vast assembly of Christians with its many interesting and instructive features will be in progress.) And what a demonstration of Christian oneness it presents! There can be seen thousands upon thousands of men, women and children, from all walks of life and from all parts of the globe, day after day worshiping Jehovah God alongside one another.

What makes this oneness possible? For one thing, their Kingdom hope. It has so taken hold upon them that it has become the uppermost thing in their lives, enabling them to make all other things secondary. “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness.”—Matt. 6:33.

And helping them to keep this Christian unity in preaching in spite of human frailty and the example of the world all around them is God’s holy spirit and in particular its fruitage of love.

Let all who are sharing in preaching the Kingdom in unity endeavor to “keep on doing it more fully.”—1 Thess. 4:1.