18. How should we act on the knowledge of the truth we have?

¹⁸ They do not want to bury their Kingdom talents by refusing to act on the knowledge of truth they have been given, but instead they use them constantly, planting, watering and cultivating in the hearts of others the same hope they enjoy. The servants in Jesus’ illustration knew that the master wanted them to use the talents, to show an increase, not to bury what had been entrusted to them by disuse. So today, we want to continue actively in the harvest, not being caught unprepared like the false shepherds who turn to farming at the last minute to escape the blame that comes upon them as a result of their many years of preaching falsehoods for hire. (Matt. 25:14-30; Zech. 13:4-6; Mic. 3:11) Jehovah’s servants want to be able to show that they have been active in the vineyard, laboring in the field at Jehovah’s direction, sharing in the great ingathering work. They do not want to give up now while the harvest is in full swing, but rather continue patiently until Jehovah says it is enough.—Isa. 6:11; 2 Thess. 1:4, 5; 2 Pet. 1:6.

19. What will keep us from being inactive or unfruitful, and why should we be patient and endure?

¹⁹ You, too, can share in this ingathering work. If you add to your faith virtue, knowledge and endurance, then nothing can prevent you from being active and fruitful as you use the accurate knowledge you have received. If you have continued patiently for many years in advancing the New World interests, then keep holding fast the privileges of service you have, so that no one may take from you the crown of life. (2 Pet. 1:5-8; Rev. 3:10, 11) We can afford to be patient, because we have time on our side. But time is running out for the old-world system. Satan knows he has but a short period of time. Part of this generation is all that is left; so endure patiently to the finish for salvation. Continue preaching until Jehovah says the harvest is complete and brings an end to the old world in the destruction of Armageddon. Remember that ‘he that endures to the end is the one who shall be saved.’—Matt. 24:13; 2 Thess. 3:5.

Communists Fail to Convert Witnesses

◆ “The full weight of Communist opposition fell on Jehovah’s Witnesses, a sect which has long had a following in Eastern Europe and so was well known in some sections of the expellee population. The Witnesses had also been a target for Nazi hostility, and many hundreds of them perished in Dachau and other concentration camps. During 1950, the Communists banned the sect in eastern Germany, on the ground that it was a branch of the American ‘espionage system,’ even though specially favorable treatment had been accorded it in Poland. It is believed that by the close of the year nearly eight hundred Witnesses were serving terms in prisons and in labor camps, and that life sentences had been imposed on thirteen of its principal advocates. . . .

◆ “Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the end of the world is rapidly approaching, on the basis of their deductions from Holy Writ, and therefore indulge in prophecies concerning the impending demise of our world, due to sin and frailty. Communism believes in prophecy, too, . . . But Jehovah’s Witnesses, confident that the Word of God had been vouchsafed for them, are incorrigible. No ‘patriots’ or ‘democrats’ have ever been reported from their ranks.”—Religion Behind the Iron Curtain, Shuster.