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Sanctification, a Christian RequirementThe Watchtower—1953 | October 15
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to as a “little flock”; as “the bride, the Lamb’s wife”; as of “Abraham’s seed,” which is to bless all the families of the earth. (Gen. 22:17, 18; Luke 12:32; Gal. 3:29; Rev. 21:9, NW) They are called a little flock, for their number is limited to 144,000, as Revelation 7:4-8 and Re 14:1, 3 clearly show. It is only to these that Paul’s words are directed: “Pursue peace with all people, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord.”—Heb. 12:14, NW.
However, the Bible also shows that there are “other sheep,” a “great crowd” of dedicated Christians who have an earthly hope. (John 10:16; Rev. 7:9-17) An earthly hope? Yes, for God’s Word assures us that the earth abides forever and was created to be inhabited; that it is the place of God’s feet and that he will make it glorious. (Eccl. 1:4; Isa. 45:18; 60:13; 66:1) In that glorious new earth men will build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them; men will be at peace with one another and with the lower animals; and gradually death and all its concomitants of sickness, sorrow and pain will be done away with.—Isa. 65:17-25; Rev. 21:4.
In the days of Israel’s typical theocracy, God had one law for the homeborn and the stranger in a great number of things. The same is true today, in a number of respects God has one law for his spiritual Israel and the “strangers,” the Christians who have dedicated themselves to Jehovah God but who have an earthly hope. Though not strictly considered as sanctified ones or “saints,” these nevertheless are benefited by Christ’s ransom sacrifice at the present time, have the truth of God’s Word and receive of his active force or holy spirit. They also must exercise faith, keep themselves separate from the world and morally clean as they serve as God’s instruments to make his truths known to others.
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Principle Ignored 800 YearsThe Watchtower—1953 | October 15
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Principle Ignored 800 Years
The Biblical principle condemning the honoring of a man because of wealth and position is stated by James: “For if there shall come into your assembly a man having a golden ring, in fine apparel; and there shall come in also a poor man in mean attire: and you have respect to him that is clothed with the fine apparel and shall say to him: Sit thou here well; but say to the poor man: Stand thou there, or: Sit under my footstool: do you not judge within yourselves, and are become judges of unjust thoughts. Hearken, my dearest brethren: Hath not God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him?”—Jas. 2:2-5, Catholic Douay Version.
The Knights of Malta do not believe that. Time magazine reported, April 20: “The Knights of Malta . . . after their emergence during the 12th century as a crusading order of warrior-clerics . . . built up strong dynasties in Palestine, Rhodes and Malta successively. . . . Membership in the order, for all except the lowest category, has been restricted to men of noble blood.” In April “the Vatican, after making a long study of the Knights and their modern works decided that . . . the higher degrees of Knights need no longer be of noble birth.”
Was this so they would conform at last to the Christian principle stated at Galatians 3:28 that there would be neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female divisions severing the Christian congregation? Oh, no! That was not mentioned at all. Money was involved. Rich Americans and prominent men elsewhere who had no claim to royalty had been excluded from the higher orders of the Knights. Time explained that a Vatican official had said: “Had it continued to exclude blood other than blue blood, [the order] would have been bound to extinction.” If it holds to this principle God will extinguish it anyway, its financial situation notwithstanding.
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