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After Armageddon—A Righteous New WorldThe Watchtower—1963 | March 1
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cloudy skies themselves trickle with righteousness. Let the earth open up, and let it be fruitful with salvation, and let it cause righteousness itself to spring up at the same time. I myself, Jehovah, have created it.”—Isa. 45:8.
To live in God’s righteous new world and be in line for a salvation to everlasting life in perfect health, one cannot wait till after Armageddon to learn righteousness. He must begin now, obeying the command of Jesus Christ: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness.” (Matt. 6:33) We have to get in line, then, with God’s righteousness now by familiarizing ourselves with the way he wants us to live. We cannot fool God by putting on a mere outward appearance of uprightness, such as that of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Jesus knew what was really in their hearts: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you resemble whitewashed graves, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful but inside are full of dead men’s bones and of every sort of uncleanness. In that way you also, outwardly indeed, appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”—Matt. 23:27, 28.
So we cannot hide a lawless heart with a cloak of outward righteousness; God sees what we are to the core. We must remember that God’s spirit of counsel and of wisdom and knowledge is upon the Judge and King, Jesus Christ, that he is backed up by the Supreme Sovereign of the universe, the Examiner of hearts: “All hearts Jehovah is searching, and every inclination of the thoughts he is discerning.” “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but Jehovah is the examiner of hearts.” (1 Chron. 28:9; Prov. 17:3) This Examiner of hearts does not need any mechanical instruments, such as an X-ray machine. He can easily determine what a person is at the core, what his innermost thoughts are. Thus Jehovah searches out the heart and he determines if one has a good heart, if his thoughts and motives are righteous. Since no unrighteousness will go undiscovered and unpunished at Armageddon, now is the time to begin living for the righteous new world.
This divine examination of hearts, moreover, ensures that the new world will stay forever righteous. Jehovah is interested in a person’s heart condition because he is concerned with justifying creatures to everlasting life in that new world. If someone with an unrighteous heart were granted the right to live forever, then some kind of crookedness or rebellion would crop up in the future. But Jehovah determines whether one’s heart is firmly established in rectitude; then God knows that such a person is worthy of the gift of everlasting life.
Such, then, is the hope for all lovers of what is right. Look to God’s King, Jesus Christ, and to his heavenly kingdom. Show your faith by taking all necessary steps now to live for the righteous new world. Let the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses help you. They are interested in your enjoying the blessings foretold at Psalm 85:10, 11: “As for loving-kindness and trueness, they have met each other; righteousness and peace—they have kissed each other. Trueness itself will sprout out of the very earth, and righteousness itself will look down from the very heavens.”
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The Ten Plagues on EgyptThe Watchtower—1963 | March 1
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The Ten Plagues on Egypt
1) water to blood, 2) frogs, 3) dust to gnats, 4) gadflies, 5) pestilence, 6) boils, 7) hailstorm, 8) locusts, 9) darkness and 10) death of the firstborn.—Exodus chaps. 7-12.
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