Part 39—“Your Will Be Done on Earth”
We now come to the fifteenth and concluding chapter of the book “Your Will Be Done on Earth,” which we have been publishing in installments in this magazine since our issue of November 1, 1958. The question has been considered, Whose will is eventually to be done on our earthly globe? Through the prophecy recorded by Daniel we have reviewed the march of the seven world powers noted in Bible history and prophecy, and to have followed the millenniums-long fight between the king of the north and the king of the south. We have seen how it has culminated in the “cold war” of today between the communistic bloc of nations and the democratic bloc of nations A vital question now faces each of us.
CHAPTER 15
WHOSE WILL DO YOU FAVOR?
1. In the choice between wills that the East and the West are trying to force upon all men, why are informed Bible lovers in no uncertainty as to whether to choose between the two?
EVERY practical-minded, right-hearted person wants to put himself on the side of the will that is bound to win out. Today political rulers and parties are bitterly fighting to dictate their will to the people or to make their will the one supreme on earth. Which will or purpose will at last win? Which will should a person choose? In the matter of choice, man seems to be caught between the jaws of a pincer movement, the communistic North and the democratic South closing in upon him. As each side fights to make its will prevail, uninformed people wonder which side will somehow win. Bible lovers, informed on Jehovah God’s prophecies, know that neither side will win. Communism will not bury western democracy. Western democracy will not root out communism. Both sides will fail. Why, then, favor either one of them?
2. To favor either will means to favor whom, and by means of what is this favored one misleading the entire inhabited earth?
2 To favor either one of them is to favor their unseen ruler, the god of this world of which they are a part. The Bible is plain-spoken regarding this ruler. It says that Satan the Devil is the ‘god of this present system of things.’ (2 Cor. 4:4) It is his will that is being imposed upon the minds of all who conform to this world, this system of things, Satan’s system. Whether of the Eastern bloc or of the Western bloc or of the neutral bloc, all nations are being gathered together by Satan’s demons to the “war of the great day of God the Almighty.” (Rev. 16:14, 16) All are being gathered onto one general side, for a universal war. By the political ideologies of all conflicting sides the “original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, . . . is misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Rev. 12:9) It is plainer than ever that “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19) God’s Word cannot be denied in these observations.
3, 4. (a) Between whose wills is the final, all-important decision, and what will working together with the Devil mean to one? (b) What will conforming ourselves to this world mean, and what does Romans 12:2 advise us to do?
3 We cannot hide ourselves from the fact. We cannot dodge the fact. The decision we all have to make is not between the conflicting wills of men, as all men are subject to the one superhuman will of the opposer of Jehovah God. The final, all-important decision is between the will of Satan the Devil and the will of Jehovah God. We are pinned down to favoring either Satan’s will or God’s. We should ask ourselves: Do we want to be working together with Satan the god of this world? We can be workers together with Jehovah the God of the righteous new world, as the apostle Paul was, who said: “Working together with him, we also entreat you not to accept the undeserved kindness of God and miss its purpose.” (2 Cor. 6:1) One’s working together with Satan the Devil means one’s being destroyed with him when Jehovah’s will triumphs.
4 Satan’s world is nearing the close of its “time of the end.” It is moving out. This is true according to the overwhelming evidence at hand. Why foolishly conform ourselves to this world or to any part of it and be disappointed with it and have to move out with it permanently? Advice from the Word of the winning God says: “Quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and complete will of God.”—Rom. 12:2.
5. When we repeat the Lord’s model prayer for God’s kingdom to come, for what are we praying, and if this is our own will, then what action toward God should we take?
5 Do we take the Lord’s Prayer upon our lips and say: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will come to pass, as in heaven, also upon earth”? If we do repeat this prayer, then we are praying for God’s kingdom to destroy all the kingdoms and rulerships of this world. In this regard, is His will our own will? If it is not, then we should quit praying the Lord’s Prayer. But if it is, then we should honestly make God’s will the will of our lives. We should will to dedicate ourselves completely to him to do his will, to live in harmony with his will. It is not too soon to make this dedication to Him through the Teacher of the Lord’s Prayer. The hour is late.
6. What world powers are about to fall, and, according to the pattern of history, why could nothing less than trouble be expected, and by whom will the destruction come?
6 All earth is in a trouble the like of which has never been known since the Flood. With good reason this is so. Destruction of the seventh world power, the Anglo-American dual world power, is at hand. Think of it! As on the very night that Daniel interpreted the handwriting on the wall of King Belshazzar’s dining room, a world power, the mightiest in human history, is about to fall! The end will not be as easy and peaceful as when the House of Lords passed the Statute of Westminster in 1931, creating the British Commonwealth of Nations, at which the London Spectator said: “The old British Empire passed away with the war, and its place has been taken by the British Commonwealth.” (November 26, 1931) Additionally, the end of the Anglo-American pet, the eighth world power, the United Nations, is at hand. In times past the fall of world powers, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and the League of Nations, was attended by great trouble. Now the final world powers of all history are about to fall, yes, communism also! According to the pattern of history, trouble could not be otherwise than expected. The trouble is already upon us. But worse is yet to come. For a destruction comes, not by the hands of men raised in suicidal nuclear war, but by the hand of Almighty God, by his kingdom with Christ in power. A whole world will end!
7. If we want to repeat the Lord’s Prayer without hypocrisy, what is it needful for us to do, and what will the doing of this put into our lives?
7 If we want to repeat the Lord’s Prayer without hypocrisy, it is needful for us to dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly to the heavenly Father, for whose will to be done we pray. We should not draw near to him with just our lips but having our hearts far removed from him and his will. Dedicating ourselves to him puts an inspiring purpose into our lives, a living for God and his heavenly kingdom of the blessed new world, a purpose for eternity!
8. Dedicating ourselves thus means following whom and what model did he leave for us to copy now when God’s kingdom reigns and is being preached everywhere?
8 This does not mean joining a so-called church or sectarian religious denomination of Christendom or of Jewry. It means following Jehovah’s Right Shepherd, Jesus Christ himself. He was once a man, and as a man he set the perfect model for men to copy. When the kingdom of God was being proclaimed by John the Baptist, just as it is being preached everywhere today by Jehovah’s witnesses, Jesus offered himself to do Jehovah’s will in connection with that kingdom. He acted according to the prophetic scripture: “Then I said, ‘Look! I am come (in the roll of the book it is written about me) to do your will, O God.’” (Heb. 10:5-7; Ps. 40:7, 8) Then before God and his holy angels Jesus had himself baptized in public symbol of his dedication to God. The faithful fulfillment of this dedication led to his becoming Jehovah’s now reigning King in that heavenly kingdom. His dedication to do God’s will was in full accord with the prayer he taught: “Let your kingdom come. Let your will come to pass.” So, too, let us honestly harmonize our lives with our prayer. God’s kingdom is reigning!
9. To find out what God’s will is, what cannot we avoid studying, and by this to whom will we be drawn that we may dedicate ourselves?
9 God’s will for us is written down in the Holy Bible. Besides that, Jesus illustrated for us the doing of God’s will. To find out what God’s will is we cannot avoid studying God’s Word itself. Religious books that turn us away from God’s own written Word will not give us the truth about God’s will. We must do as the believers in the Macedonian city of Beroea did when the apostle Paul was driven out of Bible-rejecting Thessalonica and came and spoke to them: “Now the latter were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with the greatest readiness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so. Therefore many of them became believers.” (Acts 17:11, 12) Each one seeking to know God’s will for the purpose of doing it should have his own copy of the Holy Scriptures, if possible. Said Jesus to possessors of God’s written Word: “You are searching the Scriptures, because you think that by means of them you will have everlasting life; and these are the very ones that bear witness about me.” Thus it is by the written Word that Jehovah teaches us and draws us to his Son Jesus Christ our Leader. (John 5:39; 6:45) Then it is that through Jesus we may come in faith and dedicate ourselves to Jehovah God. We now become Jesus’ followers.
10. To understand God’s Word, what help do we need, and in whom does God provide this needed help in this “appointed time of the end”?
10 In order to understand God’s Word and discern his will we need help. In addition to prayer we need his holy spirit. We also need the help of his dedicated, organized people. The Ethiopian Bible reader acknowledged that fact. When the evangelist Philip asked him: “Do you really know what you are reading aloud?” he replied: “Really how could I ever do so, unless someone guided me?” He invited Philip to guide him in study. Thus helped, he discerned God’s will, dedicated himself without delay and had Philip baptize him in water in symbol of his dedication through Christ. (Acts 8:28-39) The apostle Paul helped the Bereans in their Bible study, so that many became believers. Now, in this “appointed time of the end” since 1914, Jehovah has made manifest the “people that do know their God,” his sanctuary class. With them many “other sheep” have associated themselves in dedication to the God whom they know, Jehovah. These too have become Jehovah’s witnesses. In fulfillment of Daniel 11:32, 33; 12:3 these “intelligent” ones among the people “impart understanding to many.” Yes, they “shine brilliantly like the brilliance of the expanse of the sky” and “bring many to righteousness.” (Le) These witnesses of Jehovah are commissioned by him to help any reader of this book who desires and welcomes help.
11. All who become Jesus’ disciples by dedicating themselves must obey what command in harmony with Matthew 28:19, 20?
11 Jesus Christ has commanded them: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am with you all the days until the consummation of the system of things”—where we are now. (Matt. 28:19, 20) All who become Jesus’ disciples by dedicating themselves to Jehovah God as he did must obey the command to be baptized in water. They must also accept teaching that God provides through his visible organization on earth.
12. Even after dedication, why must one continue studying the Bible, and in harmony with this what is one under command to attend?
12 Even after dedicating oneself one has to continue studying the Bible to grow in the knowledge of God’s will, in order that one may become fruitful by teaching still others. Paul prayed for Christian holy ones or saints. Why? “That you may be filled with the accurate knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual discernment, in order to walk worthily of Jehovah to the end of fully pleasing him as you go on bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the accurate knowledge of God.” (Col. 1:9, 10) With this aim a dedicated Christian must seek the company of Jehovah’s dedicated people and attend all their meetings, if possible, obeying the command: “Let us hold fast the public declaration of our hope without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to incite to love and right works, not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, as some have the custom, but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you behold the day drawing near.” (Heb. 10:23-25) In this safe manner one will be able to worship Jehovah God at his sanctuary.—Ps. 150:1.
13. To avoid being rejected and to be saved, what is it that we must do?
13 We do not want to be “workers of lawlessness” and be rejected for salvation. To be saved, it is God’s will that we must do. Said Jesus: “Not everyone saying to me, ‘Master, Master,’ will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will.”—Matt. 7:21-23.
14. What, chiefly, is Jehovah’s will for us now?
14 What, chiefly, is Jehovah’s will for us in this “time of the end”? Jesus foretold it in these words: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come.” (Matt. 24:14) We must give this final witness. We must be Jehovah’s witnesses by preaching this good news, down to the end.
15. How rewarding to us is our doing Jehovah’s will now on earth, and to what prayer may we obediently live up?
15 Eternally rewarding to us is the doing of Jehovah’s will now on earth. It means life forever in his favor. “The world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.” (1 John 2:17) With loving loyal obedience to our Father in the heavens may we continually live up to our prayer: “Your will be done on earth as well as in heaven”—forever!
(To be continued)