-
Power and Presence of Our Lord Jesus ChristThe Watchtower—1952 | August 1
-
-
and Christ Jesus are the Directors, Guides and Teachers. They are the ones who form the prophecies. No man or company of men do it. Peter says “no prophecy of Scripture springs from any private release”. The reason is obvious. “For prophecy was at no time brought by man’s will, but men spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit.”—2 Pet. 1:20, 21, NW.
27. Show briefly how the transfiguration is seen in fulfillment.
27 So in grand fulfillment we look up to heaven from where God’s anointed King rules, not now from a lofty earthly mountain, but we “have approached a Mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and myriads of angels, in general assembly, and the congregation of the firstborn who have been enrolled in the heavens, and God the Judge of all, and the spiritual lives of righteous ones who have been made perfect, and Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, . . . See that you do not implore him not to speak”. (Heb. 12:22-25, NW) Now by faith we see the all-glorious King in his beauty and glory shining to the utmost parts of the earth, and people of all nations being enlightened by his glory. As the one responsible for causing the warning to be delivered to all nations of the coming battle and day of vengeance, he reveals the fulfillment of all the prophecies written down and causes the transformation of multitudes of minds and hearts. And, too, he is the one who is the upholder and exponent of Jehovah’s righteous principles, foreshadowed by the law. All this and a great deal more are combined in the identity of Jehovah’s beloved Son and chosen King of the new world.
28. How should the sight and knowledge of it affect us?
28 Jehovah God and Christ Jesus confirm their word by causing it to begin to come to pass. Blessed are your eyes if they see these marvelous happenings. If you do, then in humility thank the great Magnificent One for his undeserved kindness. Be happy that you are at Mount Zion and witnessing a fulfillment of this glistening, all-glorious transfiguration scene, and let the joy and privilege of seeing it help toward cleansing ourselves in the fear of God, to be more sure of our hope in the new world. Then unselfishly look toward the many thousands in the world and say to the meek ones who are yet prisoners “Go forth!” for the exodus has already started.
-
-
“Let Your Kingdom Come!”The Watchtower—1952 | August 1
-
-
“Let Your Kingdom Come!”
CHRISTENDOM’S clergy claim that the kingdom for which Jesus taught his followers to pray is in the hearts of Christians and is a spiritual condition enjoyed by them, and that the Kingdom’s coming means the converting of all people to Christ and putting God into the governments of this old world. In support thereof they quote Romans 14:17 (NW): “For the kingdom of God does not mean eating and drinking, but means righteousness and peace and joy with holy spirit.”a
But if that is true then the prayer for the Kingdom to come will never be answered. For not only is godless communism making ever greater inroads on Christendom, but Christendom itself cannot be said to be God’s kingdom and is getting ever farther away from God’s principles of truth and righteousness. What Paul means at Romans 14:17 is that possessing righteousness, peace and joy with holy spirit is a requisite to our gaining a place with Christ in God’s kingdom, just as taking in knowledge of God and his Son is a requisite for our gaining everlasting life.—John 17:3.
Then, what is that kingdom? It is the mighty agency God will use to sanctify his name and to prove to all creation that he is the Supreme Sovereign. It is the kingdom concerning which God made a covenant with David, and which covenant Christ Jesus inherited as the offspring of David. And just as David’s typical kingdom was an actual territory and not merely a spiritual state of morality, so will be God’s kingdom.—Dan. 7:13, 14, 18, AS.
Instead of that kingdom’s reforming and converting all the governments of this old world, note what it will do to them: “In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, . . . but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” (Dan. 2:44, AS) So when we are praying for God’s kingdom to come we are praying for God’s kingdom in Christ’s hands to break in pieces and obliterate all the political systems of this world at Armageddon.
The year 1914 marked the beginning of this kingdom, for then the “seven times” of the nations, the 2,520 years of beastly rule, which began with the overthrow of Judah’s last king in 607 B.C., ended. An expression of this fact was the war in heaven resulting in Satan and his demons’ being cast down to the earth.—Rev. 12:1-12.
If the Kingdom has been established, does that mean that we are no longer to pray “Let your kingdom come”? Not at all. In the prophetic picture of Nebuchadnezzar’s image, the cutting of the stone out of the mountain without hands foreshadowed the Kingdom’s coming into existence or being established in 1914; while its coming against the image and grinding it into powder would constitute the complete expression of the Kingdom’s coming at Armageddon.—Dan. 2:31-45.
And as the stone then grew until it filled the whole earth, so Christ’s kingdom will extend from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. In fact, of its increase there will be no end. (Ps. 72:8; Isa. 9:6, 7; Dan. 2:35) All those today who pray with understanding and sincerity “Let your kingdom come” will show their faith in that prayer by having a part in making that kingdom known in all the inhabited earth.—Matt. 24:14, NW.
[Footnotes]
a For a detailed discussion of this subject please see The Watchtower of August 15, 1951.
-
-
Distributing French Awake! in QuebecThe Watchtower—1952 | August 1
-
-
Distributing French Awake! in Quebec
“A DARK rainy night, just after supper, found us at St. Jerome busy putting ‘raincoats’ on folded Réveillez-vous! [French Awake!] After some 550 of them had been carefully tucked inside of waxed paper held by elastics we went out into the stormy night and distributed them. With what result? A few days later we received word from the Society that someone had sent in a coupon from one of those rain-coated copies of Awake!
“We immediately followed up this interest, and to our surprise found three brothers living together who had on their own left the Roman Catholic Church some eleven years previously, and since then had roamed from church to church in search of the truth. All they had was a firm conviction that the Bible was true, even though
-