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Increasing Earthly Interests of the Prince of PeaceThe Watchtower—1966 | October 1
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Increasing Earthly Interests of the Prince of Peace
WHO is this Prince of Peace? Why, of course, none other than Jesus Christ, who is also called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father.”—Isa. 9:6, 7.a
When on earth this Prince of Peace likened himself to a “certain man of noble birth” who committed certain valuable things to his slaves. These valuable things were the earthly interests of his kingdom which he entrusted to his “faithful and discreet slave,” from Pentecost onward, namely, preaching the Kingdom and gathering the Kingdom class by making disciples of people of all nations. Particularly since 1935 this work has been expanded to include the gathering and edification of the subjects of the Kingdom, the “great crowd” of “other sheep.”—Luke 19:12-27; Matt. 24:14, 45-47; 28:19, 20.
The “faithful and discreet slave” class, both in the days of the apostles and in modern times, has been faithfully carrying out its commission, increasing the ‘minas’ or ‘talents’ committed to its care.
Those who are serving God’s kingdom by full-time preaching are usually able to contribute substantially more to the increase than those who are preaching the good news part time. Could any readers of these lines be full-time proclaimers of God’s kingdom by getting more of the spirit of self-sacrifice? For instance, a Peruvian ex-naval officer and his wife moved from their fine home into their garage, thereby saving both of them money and his wife much work, making it possible for them to be in the full-time preaching work. That no doubt was a fine example of first love and initial zeal, but should we not all strive to keep that initial zeal and love burning ever brightly?—Heb. 10:32-35; Rev. 2:4.
And then there is the contributing to the increase of the earthly interests of the Prince of Peace by reaching out for added responsibilities, and, in particular, being willing to accept them when offered. By accepting and discharging servant’s privileges in a congregation, we may be able to contribute more. Are we willing to do this?—1 Tim. 3:1.
But whether we can enter the full-time preaching work or accept a servant’s position or not, most likely all of us can improve our individual ministry; we can work at becoming more effective, more skillful, more successful in our ministry if we are in earnest. We can make progress toward maturity if we keep up our personal study, if we faithfully attend the congregation meetings and if we are regular in the field ministry.
Yes, let each dedicated Christian minister do his part toward increasing the earthly interests of the Prince of Peace.
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Questions From ReadersThe Watchtower—1966 | October 1
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Questions From Readers
● At times there are changes in viewpoint on Biblical subjects discussed in the Watch Tower Society’s publications. We speak of what we believe as “the truth.” But does “truth” change?—W. P., U.S.A.
Really it is the Bible that speaks of beliefs that are in harmony with the Scriptures as “the truth.” At 2 Peter 2:2 the worship based on such beliefs is termed “the way of the truth.” Yet concerning that “way of the truth” we read at Proverbs 4:18: “The path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established.” So we do not know all there is to know. In fact, even when the post-Armageddon system of things is ushered in we will not know everything. Throughout all eternity there will always be more to learn. This is indicated by what the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 11:33: “O the depth of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments are and past tracing out his ways are!”
It is to be expected, then, that at times there may be changes in viewpoint. Our basic belief may be sound Scriptural truth, but there may be some details that we did not fully understand in the past. In time, with the aid of Jehovah’s spirit, we get those matters cleared up.
For example, a few years ago we had a fine series of articles in The Watchtower on the “superior authorities.” (Issues of November 1–December 1, 1962) Before those articles were published, we knew and taught that Jehovah is the Most High, and that Jesus Christ is the second to Him in power and authority. We knew that we should be law-abiding persons, but that, when there was a conflict between man’s law and that of God, we would obey God as ruler rather than men. Those basic truths are the same today as they were before; they have not changed. However, by careful scrutiny of the Scriptures we have come to appreciate that certain Bible texts ought to be applied in a different way. For example, we realized that the “superior authorities” mentioned in Romans 13:1 are, not Jehovah God and Jesus Christ, but the political rulers. That is also true of Titus 3:1 and; 1 Peter 2:13, 14. Yet the basic truth is unchanged. Our viewpoint toward God and toward the State is the same as before.
Similarly with our study of the resurrection. We believed in the resurrection of the dead before our recent series of Watchtower articles (issues of January 15–March 15, 1965) on the subject and we believe in it now. We also believed that 144,000 would be raised to heavenly life with Christ. We believed that many more would be resurrected as humans; that some of them would be persons who had faithfully served God in the past, and that others would be those who had lived ‘unrighteously.’ We also believed that a great educational work would take place when they would be raised. Those truths have not changed. But now we see that, according to the Scriptures, more are to return than we expected. So, rather than setting aside the truth of the resurrection, it has been magnified, and our appreciation of Jehovah’s love and mercy in providing for the resurrection has been enhanced.
This is in direct contrast to what occurred among certain men of whom the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, as recorded at 2 Timothy 2:18: “These very men have deviated from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already occurred; and they are subverting the faith of some.” Those men no longer had any hope in the resurrection; they believed that what was in the past was all there was to it. But they were setting aside the truth that Jesus had taught. Likewise in Christendom there have been changes in viewpoint; but they are rejecting the Bible as myth and setting aside its moral code as out-of-date.
What a tremendous difference between what is taking place among them and what Jehovah is doing for his people in order to bring our thinking even more closely in line with his inspired Word of truth!
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AnnouncementsThe Watchtower—1966 | October 1
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Announcements
“THE THINGS THEY DID GO RIGHT WITH THEM”
Regular readers of The Watchtower will recall that just a few weeks ago, in the August 15 issue, they read an account entitled “Doing God’s Will Has Been My Delight,” as told by A. H. Macmillan. On August 26, in the late afternoon, Brother Macmillan finished his earthly life, at the age of 89. Since 1900 he had been active as a dedicated servant of Jehovah God, and for the past sixty-five years he devoted himself full time to Jehovah’s service. In 1918 he was one of the eight principal members of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society who were unjustly sentenced to long terms in the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, only to be exonerated and released the following year. He was the last survivor of that group of eight. In later years, during World War II, he visited and spiritually upbuilt others who had been similarly imprisoned because of their stand as Christian neutrals. Funeral services for Brother Macmillan, held at 3 p.m. on August 29, were conducted by the Society’s president, N. H. Knorr, and then the earthly remains of Brother Macmillan were interred at the private burial plot of the Brooklyn Bethel family on Woodrow Road, Staten Island, New York. Brother Macmillan had firm faith that credit for the faithful service of those anointed to the heavenly kingdom with Christ would “go right with them,” because they would continue right on in their Master’s service, but now in the heavenly realm. (Rev. 14:13) We rejoice with Brother Macmillan in his obtaining of that reward.
“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS
October 30: Christians Must Expect Persecution. Page 593. Songs to Be Used: 16, 44.
November 6: Serving with Everlasting Life in View. Page 600. Songs to Be Used: 70, 119.
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