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Desirable Tendencies—Christian ServitudeThe Watchtower—1958 | April 1
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certain that I am within the restrictions set by the Master?’
7. What immediate reward is given to those who respond favorably to the Master’s words? To those who refuse?
7 Those who hear the words of liberation from Satan’s servitude will respond anxiously so they may render to Jehovah faithful, loyal service and will do this constantly. There will be an immediate reward to such, as Jehovah gives promise, saying concerning his “other sheep”: “They will hunger no more nor thirst any more, neither will the sun beat down upon them nor any scorching heat, because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them, and will guide them to fountains of waters of life.” God’s promise is to wipe out every tear from their eyes. Just reflect, then, on this position of slavery in contrast with the miserable position of the great rebel Satan and his wicked invisible demons, his wicked earthly elements and those who are duped by all this. Through a knowledge of God’s Word we ascertain that which is the good and acceptable and complete will of God, and then we follow out the instructions as obedient slaves to our Master. In fact, if we do not do this, it will be a manifestation of rebellion on our part and we shall pass away with this rebellious, doomed world, because it as well as its desires is passing away; but he that does the will of God remains forever. The righteous course, free from rebellious tendencies, means life forever to the faithful, willing slaves.—Rev. 7:15-17; 1 John 2:17.
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Markers for the New World SocietyThe Watchtower—1958 | April 1
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Markers for the New World Society
SINCE 1919 the assemblies of Jehovah’s witnesses have been markers for them in this time of the end. They have marked the growth of the New World society in a spiritual as well as a numerical way. It has been at these assemblies that many new truths have been revealed.
It was in September of 1919 that the first of these assemblies was held. It was an eight-day convention that had upward of 7,000 people in attendance. It emphasized the great work that must be done by God’s people before the battle of Armageddon.
Then in 1922 another assembly was held at Cedar Point that gave the preaching work a tremendous push. Its daily sessions had an attendance of 10,000 witnesses. It was at this assembly that proof was submitted for the first time that the King Christ Jesus had come to the temple in 1918 and had begun judging apostate Christendom. The witnesses left this assembly with the slogan ringing in their ears, “Advertise the King and the Kingdom.”
In August of the next year a nine-day assembly was held in Los Angeles, California. Here, for the first time, the Society used radio to broadcast a convention session. It was at this assembly that it was first revealed that the sheep in Matthew 25:31-46 refer to an earthly group this side of Armageddon.
The assembly held in Columbus, Ohio, in 1931 was another marker for Jehovah’s people. It was at this assembly, as at an earlier assembly in June in London, England, that new light was thrown on the ninth chapter of Ezekiel. It was revealed that the man with the writer’s inkhorn was not an individual but rather a group of individuals, Jehovah’s anointed ones. From this it was seen that the “faithful and wise servant” that Jesus spoke about was a class made up of the remnant and was not C. T. Russell, as some had thought. It was also at this Columbus assembly that it was seen that the name Jehovah’s witnesses is the Scriptural name of God’s people. The assembled crowds were thrilled with this new name.
At the convention held in Washington, D.C., in 1935 new light was thrown on Revelation 7:9, which speaks about the great multitude. The thousands of witnesses gathered there learned for the first time that the “great multitude” is an earthly class composed of “other sheep” of the Good Shepherd.
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