Forgiving does not e

"Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future."~Lewis B. Smedes

One never knows what The Universe has in store for us. Personally, I believe that IT IS ALL GOOD ... though we may have to spend some time in reflection to discover how many blessings in disguise have resulted in the evolution of our soul.— Chelle Thompson, Editor of Inspiration Line

Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.— George Sheehan

Chance encounters often create magical opportunities for joy, understanding and personal growth. The key here is to stay open ... for even the most incredible sunbeam cannot pierce a wall of stone.— Chelle Thompson, Editor of Inspiration Line
Celebrate what you want to see more of!— Thomas J. Peters
Often what we dream about and pray for doesn't take the form that we think it 'should.' This is the time that we need to call upon our 'inner wisdom' ... to see beyond the physical and recognize true gifts when they magically appear on our doorstep.— Chelle Thompson, Editor of Inspiration Line
Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out.— Art Linkletter, Radio/TV Personality & Author (1912- )
The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.— William James, American Psychologist (1842-1910)
My grandma was always 'biding her time' until she could get to Heaven. In the meantime, her life was fairly miserable and she treated my mother abusively. I learned a valuable lesson, however: Create as much Heaven on Earth as possible with everyone near and dear.— Chelle Thompson, Editor of Inspiration Line
If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won't, you most assuredly won't. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad.— Denis Waitley, Motivational Speaker and Author
The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.— Henry Bergson, French Philosopher (1859-1941)
We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by aninfinite expectation of the dawn.— Henry David Thoreau, American Writer, Philosopher, and Naturalist (1817-1862)
If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.— Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (121-180)
Minds, like parachutes, function better when open, but, like fists, they strike harder when closed.— L.E. Modesitt, Jr., American Author (1943 -- )
Worry is like a rocking chair — it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere.— Dorothy Galyean, Author of "Grandmas Little Books"
Each choice we make causes a ripple effect in our lives. When things happen to us, it is the reaction we choose that can create the difference between the sorrows of our past and the joy in our future.— Chelle Thompson, Editor of Inspiration Line
The remarkable thing we have is a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.— Charles Swindoll
If we can recognize that change and uncertainty are basic principles, we can greet the future and the transformation we are undergoing with the understanding that we do not know enough to be pessimistic.— Hazel Henderson
Non-participation gives us hardening of the attitude. Life goes on, and if we do not participate, life still goes on. If a negative attitude is not getting us where we want to go, then why not change the attitude? Reshaping attitudes is possible. Awareness is the key initial step.— Marsha Petrie Sue (The CEO of You)
The world does not have to change.... The only thing that has to change is our attitude.— Gerald Jampolsky
I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.— Martin Luther King Jr.
You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.— Brian Tracy
All that we are is the result of what we have thought.— Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama)
No one else 'makes us angry.' We make ourselves angry when we surrender control of our attitude. What someone else may have done is irrelevant. We choose, not they. They merely put our attitude to a test.— Jim Rohn
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.— Albert Einstein
Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit.— William James
You have powers you never dreamed of. You can do things you never thought you could do. There are no limitations in what you can do except the limitations of your own mind.— Darwin P. Kingsley
Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.— Hans Margolius
Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom.— Merry Browne
What you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing; it also depends on what sort of person you are.— C. S. Lewis
It's surprising how many persons go through life without ever recognizing that their feelings toward other people are largely determined by their feelings toward themselves, and if you're not comfortable within yourself, you can't be comfortable with others.— Sydney J. HarrisMiracles seem to rest, not so much upon faces or voices or healing power coming suddenly near to us from far off, but upon our perceptions being made finer so that for a moment our eyes can see and our ears can hear that which is about us always.— Willa Cather
Our limitations and success will be based, most often, on your own expectations for ourselves. What the mind dwells upon, the body acts upon.— Denis Waitley
We cannot choose how many years we will live, but we can choose how much life those years will have. We cannot control the beauty of our face, but we can control the expression on it. We cannot control life's difficult moments but we can choose to make life less difficult. We cannot control the negative atmosphere of the world, but we can control the atmosphere of our minds. Too often we try to choose and control things we cannot. Too seldom we choose to control what we can … our attitude.— John Maxwell (Developing the Leader Within You)
You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses.— Ziggy
The appearance of things change according to the emotions and thus we see magic and beauty in them, while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves.— Kahlil Gilbran
Man's mind once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimension.— Oliver Wendell Holmes
The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.— Marcel Proust
Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.— Epictetus
What is important is not what happens to us, but how we respond to what happens to us.— Jean-Paul Sartre
Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.— Martin Luther
Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.— Albert Einstein
The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams.— Eleanor Roosevelt
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.— Corrie Ten Boom
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?— Robert Browning
An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while a pessimist sees only the red stoplight... The truly wise person is color- blind.— Albert Schweitzer
Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny.— Carl Schurz
Stick with the optimists. It's going to be tough enough even if they're right.— James Reston (advice to his grandson in New York Times Feb. 1980)
Take one thing with another, and the world is a pretty good sort of a world, and it is our duty to make the best of it, and be thankful.— Benjamin Franklin
When you have vision it affects your attitude. Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic.— Charles R. Swindoll (Living Above the Level of Mediocrity)
Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Light tomorrow with today.— Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Forgiveness Meditati

The miracle power within me
that is of infinite love
converts pain to a love of life,
as I release the past with forgiveness.
I see my past thought patterns of
blame and feeling like a victim with love,
therefore, I choose creative thoughts words and actions
that manifest my destiny in all areas of my life.

I now channel this healing energy
to flow into my mind, body and soul by
positive thoughts that I choose from moment-to-moment.
I know for myself that all directions of my life will be
for my highest good with the miracle of living life in the NOW.
I give and receive love, therefore,
I am open and receptive to divine ideas
that come to me at the right time and heal my life
with ever-increasing compassion and truth.
I learn to give unconditional love to life,
therefore I am willing to love myself a little more each day
and release barriers of criticism, fear, resentment and guilt.

I radiate love, therefore I forgive everyone who has hurt me
including myself, and I set them and myself free.
I may not condone the actions of the person,
yet I release the person with divine light.
I rebuild a home inside and out that I fill with love,
and know that I am a beloved child of the infinite mind
and this Source loves my eternal soul forever.
I Give Thanks And So It Is ...


~By Roger King

The Ripple EffectEac

The Ripple EffectEach choice we make causesa ripple effect in our lives.When things happen to us,it is the reaction we choosethat can create the differencebetween the sorrows of our pastand the joy in our future

Going To A Hockey Ga

Going To A Hockey Game...
Three Canadians and three Americans were traveling to a hockey game.
The three Americans each buy tickets and watch as the three Canadians buy only a single ticket. "How are the three people going to travel on only one ticket?", asks an American.
"Watch and you'll see," says a Canadian. They all board the train. The Americans take their respective seats but all three Canadians cram into a bathroom and close the door behind them.
Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the bathroom door and says, "Ticket please!" The door opens a crack, a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on. The Americans see this and agree it was quite a clever idea.
So after the game they decide to copy the Canadians on the return trip and save some money. When they get to the station, they buy a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment the Canadians don't buy a ticket at all.
"How are you going to travel without a ticket?" asks one perplexed American.
"Watch and you'll see," replies a Canadian.
When they board the train the three Americans cram into a bathroom and the three Canadians cram into another bathroom nearby.
Once the train leaves the station, one of the Canadians leaves and walks over to the other bathroom where the Americans are hiding, knocks on the door and says, "Ticket please!"

Electricity can be dangerous

"Electricity can be dangerous. My nephew tried to stick a penny into a plug. Whoever said a penny doesn't go far didn't see him shoot across that floor. I told him he was grounded." -Tim Allen

Rex Barker here again with "Getting On Track".
The rails that crisscross the countryside and cut through cities have long captured people's imaginations. Just the idea of taking a ride on a luxury train, an express commuter line, or a cargo train can evoke a sense of freedom, adventure, or romance. Trains are like people in that they must inevitably arrive at their destinations. They make scheduled and unscheduled stops along the way and move at their different speeds. Some trains can travel for hours and are mindful of only a single destination; other trains meander from busy stop to busy stop. The route and purpose of any train may change as the years go by.
Our lives stretch out in front and behind us like train tracks, and we are the train, its passengers, and the engineer. The way you choose to live your life and the goals you are working toward are the route and destinations you have chosen. Like a passenger riding a train, you have the choice to get on and off, find new routes, pick new places to visit, or just stop and enjoy the view for awhile. Perhaps you like to move quickly through life as if you were an express train. Or maybe, like a commuter passenger, you like taking the same routes over and over again. You may even want to stop just riding along and choose a different direction you'd like your life to take.
This is Rex Barker C.S. (Catching the Southbound) suggesting that if you have examined the tracks of your life and are feeling unsatisfied, you may want to explore the changes you can make to find a more fulfilling path to follow. Perhaps you'd like to slow down a little bit more and take a windier path rather than just traveling down the straight and narrow. Or maybe, you'd like to experience your life more as an adventure rather than just a ride that gets you where you need to go. Changing your route can sometimes give you a chance to "get on the right track." You may even discover that the something new you've been waiting for is just around the bend.

I SHALL SEEK AND FIN

I SHALL SEEK AND FIND YOU ...   I SHALL TAKE YOU TO BED AND HAVE MY WAY WITH YOU ...   I WILL MAKE YOU ACHE, SHAKE AND SWEAT UNTIL YOU MOAN and  GROAN.   I WILL MAKE YOU BEG FOR MERCY... BEG FOR ME TO STOP.   I WILL EXHAUST YOU TO THE POINT THAT YOU WILL BE RELIEVED WHEN I'M FINISHED WITH YOU.        AND YOU WILL BE WEAK FOR DAYS. ALL MY LOVE,   THE FLU Now, get your mind out of the gutter..............                      and GO GET YOUR FLU SHOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Best Prayer I Ha

 The Best Prayer I Have Heard In A Long Time...Heavenly Father, Help us rememberthat the jerk who cut us off in trafficlast night is a single mother whoworked nine hours that day andis rushing home to cook dinner,help with homework,do the laundry and spend afew precious momentswith her children.Help us to remember that thepierced, tattooed, disinterestedyoung man who can't makechange correctly is a worried19-year-old college student,balancing his apprehensionover final exams with hisfear of not getting hisstudent loans for next semester.Remind us, Lord,that the scary looking bum,begging for money in the samespot every day (who really oughtto get a job!) is a slave to addictionsthat we can only imagine in ourworst nightmares.Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyinglyslow through the store aislesand blocking our shoppingprogress are savoring thismoment, knowing that,based on the biopsy reportshe got back last week, thiswill be the last year that theygo shopping together.Heavenly Father,remind us each day that,of all the gifts you give us,the greatest gift is love.It is not enough to sharethat love with thosewe hold dear.Open our hearts not tojust those who areclose to us,but to all humanity.Let us be slow to judgeand quick to forgive,show patience,empathy andlove.

For where two or thr

"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I will be in their midst and bless them."Does this count under Matthew - 18:20? made you smile, your friends will smile too!

Defeat Awaits Attack by Nations under Gog

THE nations of this twentieth century do not know who “Gog of the land of Magog” is—not yet. They do not expect to be brought under his control and be led to their destruction. Even to the nations of Christendom that have the Holy Bible, just who Gog is has long been obscure, also where his land of Magog is. This is true also of the natural, circumcised Jews, who expect Gog’s attack to be made upon them sometime in the indefinite future. The very last book listed in the inspired Christian Scriptures makes use of the names of Gog and Magog and foretells an attack under devilish supernatural influence—but a thousand years from now. (Revelation 20:7, 8) However, who the Gog is with whom we today are vitally concerned becomes free from obscurity as we consider what the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation (Apocalypse), has to say about his role within our generation.

2 Putting us on our guard, Jehovah introduces this today-living Gog to us through his prophet Ezekiel during his exile in the land of Babylon. After foretelling the restoring of a faithful remnant of exiled Jews to their homeland in the Middle East, Jehovah inspired Ezekiel to write on what was then far future:

3 “And the word of Jehovah continued to occur to me, saying: ‘Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the head chieftain of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him. And you must say, “This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: ‘Here I am against you, O Gog, you head chieftain of Meshech and Tubal. And I shall certainly turn you around and put hooks in your jaws and bring you forth with all your military force, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in perfect taste, a numerous congregation, with large shield and buckler, all of them handling swords; Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with buckler and helmet; Gomer and all its bands, the house of Togarmah, of the remotest parts of the north, and all its bands, many peoples with you.’”’”—Ezekiel 38:1-6.

4 Why is not Babylon mentioned among those confederates of Gog of the land of Magog? Because the setting for Gog’s attack is after the liberation of the Jews to return to their homeland to rebuild Jehovah’s temple at Jerusalem, and this liberation took place after the fall of Babylon to King Cyrus the Persian in 539 B.C.E. Thus Babylon had ceased to be acting as the third world power of Bible history and was subject to Persia. Yet when Gog attacks, Persia accepts the leadership of this Gog of Magog, taking a secondary position. The question is, When? History of the world records that the Persian Empire fell before the Macedonian conqueror, Alexander the Great, in 331 B.C.E., but not to Gog.

5 In turn, the Grecian Empire fell to the Roman Empire finally in 30 B.C.E., but not to Gog. More modernly, the Roman Empire fell before the Seventh World Power of Britain and America in 1763 C.E., but not to Gog. And in 1919 C.E. this Anglo-American Dual World Power maneuvered the bringing forth of the Eighth World Power, namely, the League of Nations, which League was succeeded by the United Nations in 1945 C.E. Its 127 members include Ethiopia and Iran (formerly Persia). In the near future is the United Nations to be under Gog’s leadership? Is the Anglo-American Dual World Power also to come thereunder?

6 Back in the year 63 B.C.E., on the anniversary of the day that Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E., the Roman soldiers under General Pompey broke into the Jerusalem of the restored Jews. The city became tributary to Rome. In the year 66 C.E. the Jews revolted against Imperial Rome, the Sixth World Power of Bible history. When, in the year 70 C.E., the Roman armies fought their way south through the Province of Judea and attacked Jerusalem, this was no attack upon the restored Jews by Gog of Magog. Why not? Because the attack was not defeated, but the Romans under General Titus captured and destroyed Jerusalem and carried away the surviving Jews into slavery. Three years later the Romans completed their conquest of the Province of Judea by capturing its last stronghold at the southeastern corner of the province, namely, the fortress of Masada, halfway down the west shore of the Dead Sea.—Matthew 24:15-22; Mark 13:14-20.

7 No Gog of Magog having put in appearance then, what next? What Jesus Christ predicted. He foretold the destruction of Jerusalem that occurred in 70 C.E. and said that Jerusalem would thereafter continue to be trampled on by the Gentile nations until the “times of the Gentiles,” or “the appointed times of the nations,” should be fulfilled. (Luke 21:20-24) Inasmuch as those Gentile Times, which began at Jerusalem’s desolation by the Babylonians in 607 B.C.E., were to run for 2,520 years, they were fulfilled around October 4/5 of the year 1914 C.E. But only thirty-four years later, in 1948 C.E., the Republic of Israel was established, and on May 11, 1949, it joined the United Nations. First in 1967, by the six-day war of June 5-10, the Israelis took over possession of all of Jerusalem, along with all territory adjacent to the west bank of the Jordan River. The problems that thereby arose divided the two giant political powers, Communist Russia to Israel’s north and democratic America to its west.

8 It was on the festal day of Pentecost (Sivan 6th) of the year 33 C.E. that the peaceful “Israel of God,” spiritual Israel, was founded, it being represented by the Christian congregation with its twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 6:16; Acts 2:1-43) To this day the natural circumcised Jews, inside and outside the Republic of Israel, have nothing to do with the Christian “Israel of God,” spiritual Israel. So the Jews have not come out before all the world as the Christian witnesses of Jehovah, in marked contrast to the present-day anointed remnant of spiritual Israel. In connection with which “Israel,” then, will the Sovereign Lord of the universe oblige all the nations to “know that I am Jehovah”? Upon which “Israel” is Jehovah’s prophecy by Ezekiel concerning the attack by Gog of Magog due to be fulfilled? It is upon the restored remnant of the spiritual “Israel of God.”

THE MODERN-DAY GOG IDENTIFIED

9 It is against the remnant of spiritual Israel that Jehovah leads Gog of Magog as if by hooks in his jaws. This indicates that Jehovah has taken Gog of Magog captive and leads him around at will. Inasmuch as the anointed remnant of the spiritual Israelites are spread all around the earth, this Gog could not be any particular nation or the chieftain of any such nation. This “head chieftain,” as Gog is called, is the one who is in control of all the nations of this world, inside and outside the membership of the United Nations. Jesus Christ called him “the ruler of this world.” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11) Also, in Revelation 12:9 he further identifies him as “the great dragon,” “the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth.” In the presence of Jesus Christ when on earth, the Devil as a Tempter laid claim to “all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth,” and Jesus did not deny it.—Luke 4:5-7.

10 When is it that Jehovah puts symbolic “hooks” in the jaws of this modern-day Gog, to lead him as a captive to his own destruction? It is after the end of the Gentile Times in 1914 C.E. and after Satan the Devil and his demon angels have been cast out of heaven and down to our earth. The birth of God’s Messianic kingdom took place in heaven at the close of the Gentile Times in 1914, as described in Revelation 12:1-5. Then “war broke out in heaven” between the forces of the newborn kingdom and the forces of Satan the Devil. Satan was defeated and was ousted from all access to the holy heavens and was restrained with his demons at the earth. (Revelation 12:7-9) At that victory for the Messianic kingdom of God a loud voice in heaven was heard crying out:

11 “Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our God! And they conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even in the face of death. On this account be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.”—Revelation 12:10-12.

12 Accordingly, the actual Gog of Magog who fulfills Ezekiel’s prophecy is Satan the Devil after his ouster from heaven, and the land of Magog is his location at the earth in which he is confined, with no freedom or power to leave it and reenter heaven. It is like the “remotest parts of the north,” which are isolated and obscure and sparsely inhabited.—Ezekiel 38:6.

13 What was this Gog of Magog to do after his ouster from heaven that followed the Kingdom’s birth in 1914? Revelation 12:13-17 tells us: “Now when the dragon saw that it was hurled down to the earth, it persecuted the woman [Jehovah’s heavenly organization] that gave birth to the male child [God’s Messianic kingdom]. . . . And the dragon grew wrathful at the woman, and went off to wage war with the remaining ones of her seed, who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus.”

14 From this prophetic vision nothing could be plainer than that the hostile attitude of Gog of Magog is against the remnant of spiritual Israelites, because these “observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus” as the King installed in the heavenly throne in 1914 C.E. Whereas this modern-day Gog of Magog was taken captive, to have “hooks” put in his jaws, the faithful remnant of spiritual Israelites were liberated from Babylon the Great in the year 1919 to reoccupy their rightful spiritual estate on earth. This estate is what Jehovah has caused to become “like the garden of Eden,” spiritually speaking.—Ezekiel 36:35.

THE CHALLENGE TO ATTACK

15 We are reminded of an ancient challenge to enemies to make war on Jehovah’s people, at Joel 3:9-17, as we read Jehovah’s call to the captive Gog of Magog to ready himself for assault on the remnant of spiritual Israelites and those dedicated sheeplike “aliens” who have associated themselves with the remnant in their spiritual Paradise: “Be ready, and let there be preparation on your part, you with all your congregation, those congregated alongside you, and you must become their guard.” (Ezekiel 38:7) Thus Jehovah tells Gog of Magog to be the commander-in-chief or “guard” of all the nations and peoples whom he musters for the coming attack upon Jehovah’s Christian witnesses. These preparations are, not for a Third World War with nuclear bombs and rocketry, but for framing effective measures to exterminate the spiritual “Israel of God” from the face of the earth.

16 That it would be a long time after Jehovah gave the prophecy to Ezekiel before it would be fulfilled, His next words to Gog now show: “After many days you will be given attention. In the final part of the years you will come to the land of people brought back from the sword, collected together out of many peoples, onto the mountains of Israel, that have proved to be a constantly devastated place; even a land that has been brought forth from the peoples, where they have dwelt in security, all of them. And you will be bound to come up. Like a storm you will come in. Like clouds to cover the land you will become, you and all your bands and many peoples with you.”—Ezekiel 38:8, 9.

17 Since the “time of the end” for this wicked system of things began at the fulfillment of the Gentile Times in 1914 C.E., we today who are living more than half a century after that date are doubtlessly living “in the final part of the years.” Gog of Magog, also, must know that the “short period of time” that was to be allowed to him after his ouster from heaven has not much longer to run.

18 Shortly, now, Jehovah must give Gog attention and turn him around and lead him and his highly militarized forces to their own undoing. By a ruse on the part of Jehovah the outwitted Gog of Magog is maneuvered into coming against the spiritual estate of the spiritual “Israel of God.” The remnant of spiritual Israelites that were preserved from the “sword” of World War I and its persecutions have been dwelling there. They have been liberated and collected together out of the “many peoples” that make up Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion. In their God-given estate they have been peacefully living “in security” under Jehovah’s protection since 1919 C.E., in Christian neutrality toward worldly wars.

19 It is not mentioned here that the one whom Jehovah calls “David my servant” is reigning as a King-Shepherd over them. But that is to be understood, since Jehovah promised that, when He brought them back from Babylon to their proper estate, they would have this Messianic descendant of David as their King and Shepherd. (Ezekiel 34:23, 24; 37:22-25) In the case of ancient Israel, when the Jewish remnant left Babylon and returned to the land of Judah they did not there have a descendant of the royal line of David rule as king over them. But in the case of the remnant of spiritual Israel, they have had the Messianic descendant of King David, namely, Jesus Christ, ruling as King over them from the “heavenly Jerusalem” since the Gentile Times ended in 1914 C.E. He has been their Governmental Shepherd to keep them “in security” spiritually.

20 Gog of Magog would like to invade and get up as high among the restored people of Jehovah as he can, even “onto the mountains of Israel,” indeed onto “Mount Zion,” the seat of government, to assure himself of success. So he comes with the vast “congregation” of war-minded persons that he can muster, many “bands and many peoples.” “Like clouds to cover the land” with their shadow, so the multitudes of Gog’s army of aggression will swarm over the earth, bedarkening the ground with their presence. This is a warning to the remnant of spiritual Israel and their dedicated sheeplike associates. They should not be surprised that they will have the whole world of mankind under Satan the Devil against them. Not amazed should they be even if military dictatorship world wide came.

21 To His people, who are the target of the coming attack, Jehovah reveals what are the motives of the heart of Gog of Magog in that he says to him: “This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, ‘And it must occur in that day that things will come up into your heart, and you will certainly think up an injurious scheme; and you must say: “I shall go up against the land of open rural country. I shall come in upon those having no disturbance, dwelling in security, all of them dwelling without wall, and they do not have even bar and doors.” It will be to get a big spoil and to do much plundering, in order to turn your hand back upon devastated places reinhabited and upon a people gathered together out of the nations, one that is accumulating wealth and property, those who are dwelling in the center of the earth.’”—Ezekiel 38:10-12.

THE PURPOSE OF GOG’S ATTACK

22 The remnant of spiritual Israel and their dedicated fellow residents trust in the protection of their God Jehovah. For that reason they do not arm themselves with lethal weapons and join in the extreme military preparations of the nations during this age of violence and international anarchy. They seem to be so lacking in political influence, so unfortified and open to invasion, that Gog is lured on to attack them. But how could Gog “get a big spoil” and “do much plundering” among these spiritual Israelites and their companions? Are they not in general poor people, not having much of the goods of this world? (James 2:5; 1 Corinthians 1:27-29) Their spirituality is not what Gog and his hordes desire, although they would like to destroy it, for in it lies the invincible strength of the spiritual Israelites. But these unarmed, harmless Christian witnesses of Jehovah wield an influence for Jehovah’s Messianic kingdom. They are continually seeking first the interests of that kingdom and persist in preaching it world wide, and are successfully gathering people of all races and nationalities to the side of that kingdom. They have Kingdom interests!

23 Ah, those Kingdom interests! They are things not in line with the schemes of Satan’s nations for world domination. They are what Gog and his hordes would like to spoil and plunder. This ambitious objective of Gog to put out of the way all who do not support world domination by nations under him is discerned by worldly peoples. Jehovah points this fact out by saying with respect to Gog when on the march: “Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its maned young lions—they will say to you: ‘Is it to get a big spoil that you are coming in? Is it to do much plundering that you have congregated your congregation, in order to carry off silver and gold, to take wealth and property, to get a very great spoil?’” (Ezekiel 38:13) The materialistically minded people, like ancient Sheba, Dedan and merchants of Tarshish, and the bold, fearless leaders among them, like “maned young lions,” recognize the selfish objective of Gog. It is to rob those spiritual Israelites of the interests and “fruits” of God’s Messianic kingdom and thus bring these upholders of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty to ruin.

24 The faithful remnant of spiritual Israel in their spiritual estate figuratively dwell “in the center [Hebrew, navel] of the earth.” (Ezekiel 38:12) They take a Christian neutral stand toward all the political and military conflicts of the nations all around them. They are the focal point, the prime target, of Gog’s hostility. Down to the last they remain the loyal ambassadors and envoys of the established Kingdom of God by Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:20) When all other things religious round about them go down in destruction, they will remain standing as the only unconquered living practicers of God’s true religion.

25 In the approaching “great tribulation” Christendom will be destroyed as the antitypical unfaithful Jerusalem, yes, all of Babylon the Great will be destroyed by the armed forces of the Eighth World Power. (Luke 21:20; Matthew 24:15-22) But the faithful remnant of spiritual Israel and their dedicated companions will survive this. (Revelation 17:1-11, 15-18) Here, then, will be where Gog of Magog will step into the picture in fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy. The remnant of spiritual Israel are the last religious stronghold to overcome and plunder. It is the “center” of his earthly problem.

26 Almighty God, the Sovereign Lord, has kept Gog of Magog in reserve for this very situation. Just as in the case of Pharaoh at the time of the exodus of Israel from Egypt in Moses’ day, so Jehovah has allowed Satan the Devil, who now takes on the role of Gog of Magog, to remain alive till now for a certain purpose. What purpose? To show his irresistible power over this Gog of Magog and thus to sanctify himself as Most Holy in connection with this longtime enemy. (Exodus 9:16; Romans 9:17) Jehovah emphasized this unalterable purpose of His as he next said to Ezekiel:

27 “Therefore prophesy, O son of man, and you must say to Gog, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: “Will it not be in that day when my people Israel are dwelling in security that you will know it? And you will certainly come from your place, from the remotest parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great congregation, even a numerous military force. And you will be bound to come up against my people Israel, like clouds to cover the land. In the final part of the days it will occur, and I shall certainly bring you against my land, for the purpose that the nations may know me when I sanctify myself in you before their eyes, O Gog.”’”—Ezekiel 38:14-16.

28 The coming “great tribulation” will affect this entire worldwide system of things. After Christendom and the rest of Babylon the Great have been destroyed in it and the faithful remnant of spiritual Israel still remain alive in their spiritual estate because of Jehovah’s protection, Gog of Magog will indeed know that these spiritual Israelites are “dwelling in security.” These spiritually prosperous people, who alone on earth stand for Jehovah’s Messianic kingdom, will truly be a prize for Gog and the earthly nations under him to capture and display as a trophy of war against Jehovah. This prize should be so easy to grab. Why? Because those spiritual Israelites are, to all outward appearances, so defenseless, so helpless, and so few in comparison with Gog’s vast military force, sweeping in as if on horses, a dense numerous army “like clouds to cover the land.” Thus, as by means of a lure, Jehovah pulls on the hooks in the jaws of the captive Gog of Magog and maneuvers him to “bring you [Gog] against my land.”

29 As Gog’s attack is to occur “in the final part of the days,” it must be in the final part of this “time of the end,” in the final part of the “great tribulation” when the spiritual Israelites are still found to be “dwelling in security” after the antireligious forces destroy Christendom and all the remainder of Babylon the Great. Jehovah’s judgment having in that way been executed upon all of Babylon the Great, the militarized nations under Gog will remain as the last part of this system of things that is to be put out of existence. Those nations, then being without the long-prevalent, traditional religions, will put God out of their minds and consider Jehovah as if he did not exist. Hence Jehovah will have to make them know him as a real, existing God. How will he do this? Before their eyes he will sanctify himself in this encounter with their invisible “head chieftain,” Gog of Magog. In that way he will demonstrate that He is not to be profaned as unholy.

30 Jehovah is “the One telling from the beginning the finale, and from long ago the things that have not been done.” (Isaiah 46:10) Therefore Jehovah is not left unprepared for the coming attack by Gog of Magog; He shows this by not leaving his dedicated witnesses on earth unprepared for this final attack by the enemy forces under Satan the Devil. In evidence of this he said, in further address to Gog of Magog: “This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, ‘Are you the same one of whom I spoke in the former days by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel, who were prophesying in those days—years—as to bringing you in upon them?’”—Ezekiel 38:17.

MUSTERING THE EARTHLY HORDES UNDER GOG

31 In addition to having spoken about Gog of Magog by means of his prophets in former days and years, Jehovah fittingly brings this identically same individual to mind again by means of Ezekiel. Knowing how Satan the Devil, who takes on the role of Gog of Magog, got started and what are his motives, Jehovah knows what the finale of Satan’s course will be as Gog of Magog. He knows that it means at last a showdown fight between him and Satan the Devil alias Gog. He keeps his remnant of spiritual Israel from thinking that the ancient prophecy concerning Gog has nothing to do with them as Christians. He does this by foretelling the final maneuvers of Satan or Gog in the book listed as the very last one in the Bible, Revelation or Apocalypse. There, in connection with the next to the last plague, we read, in Revelation 16:12-16:

32 “And the sixth one poured out his bowl upon the great river Euphrates [where the prototype of Babylon the Great was located], and its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun.

33 “And I saw three unclean inspired expressions that looked like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the wild beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are, in fact, expressions inspired by demons and perform signs, and they go forth to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty. . . . And they gathered them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Har–Magedon.”

34 That symbolic dragon is identified as Satan the Devil, now ousted from heaven and playing the role of Gog of Magog. (Revelation 12:3, 4, 7-12) The symbolic wild beast is Satan’s entire political system world wide, to which this dragon gave “its power and its throne and great authority.” (Revelation 13:1, 2) The symbolic false prophet is a part of that worldwide political system and is pictured as the two-horned wild beast that engineers the creating of a political “image” of the first wild beast, for worship by the peoples. So the “false prophet” proves to be the Dual World Power of Britain and America, and the political “image” is today the United Nations as an international organization for world peace and security. So then, since the worldwide political organization, including the Anglo-American Dual World Power, gets its power, throne and authority from the dragon, Satan the Devil, he invisibly controls the whole political system.

35 The froglike ‘inspired expression’ that comes out of the dragon’s mouth goes forth to the “kings of the entire inhabited earth,” which kings therefore make up the entire world-embracing political system under Satan the Devil alias Gog. To where does that ‘inspired expression,’ as backed up by “inspired expressions” from the “wild beast” and the “false prophet,” lead all those political kings of earth? To war against “God the Almighty.” The “great day” for that war is when the symbolic “dragon,” or Gog of Magog, makes his attack upon the spiritual “Israel of God.” Revelation 16:16 calls the “place” of the war, not “the land of Israel,” but Har–Magedon; however, the Hebrew name Har–Magedon apparently denotes a world situation connected with that land.—Compare Joel 3:9-17.

36 The aggressive movement of Gog and his international hordes is not just against the land of Jehovah’s restored people but also against their King, whom Jehovah calls “my servant David.” (Ezekiel 34:23, 24; 37:22-25) He is the enthroned Jesus Christ, Jehovah’s Beloved One, the Messianic Descendant of King David. Inevitably, then, a war against Jehovah and his restored remnant of spiritual Israel means also war against Jehovah’s Messianic King, now installed as King in the heavens over the restored remnant of spiritual Israel. Revelation, chapter seventeen, portrays prophetically the order of events: before the political “image” that is now the United Nations (the Eighth World Power) “goes off into destruction,” member nations of it destroy the great religious “harlot,” Babylon the Great. All the political rulers are pictured by the ten horns of this beastly “image,” and regarding these Revelation 17:12-14 predicts:

37 “And the ten horns that you saw mean ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they do receive authority as kings one hour with the wild beast [the Eighth World Power]. These have one thought, and so they give their power and authority to the wild beast. These will battle with the Lamb [the once-sacrificed Jesus Christ], but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. Also, those called and chosen and faithful with him will do so.”—Compare Revelation 19:11-21.

HOW JEHOVAH DEFEATS GOG’S ATTACK

38 Really, though, Jesus Christ fights, not primarily for his own heavenly throne, but for the vindication of Jehovah’s universal Sovereignty and for the glorification of Jehovah’s name. Nicely, then, in order that the glory may go to whom it primarily belongs, there is no mention made to Gog of the reigning king, “David my servant,” as Jehovah himself foretells what he will do when He is provoked to war by the God-defying attack made by Gog of Magog. He says:

39 “‘And it must occur in that day, in the day when Gog comes in upon the soil of Israel,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, ‘that my rage will come up into my nose. And in my ardor, in the fire of my fury, I shall have to speak. Surely in that day a great quaking will occur in the soil of Israel. And because of me the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the wild beasts of the field and all the creeping things that are creeping on the ground and all mankind that are upon the surface of the ground will be bound to shiver, and the mountains will actually be thrown down and the steep ways will have to fall, and to the earth even every wall will fall.’”—Ezekiel 38:18-20.

40 The unjustified attack of Gog and his militarized hordes is made on a spiritually prosperous people who have a God-given right to a place on earth and full freedom for the worship of the living and true God. This fact provokes the Sovereign Lord Jehovah to a feeling of outrage, hot indignation. In rebuke to such devilish conduct he will speak with expressions that bespeak control by Him as Creator over the earth and all the forces of earth’s environment.

41 The quaking of the earth would be in that section of the land where Gog and his attack forces had penetrated. In the case of actual attack by Gog in the future, his predatory hordes will be all around the globe where Jehovah’s Christian witnesses are peacefully worshiping their God. For all of Gog’s hordes to feel it, the quaking of the earth would have to be global. For it to affect mountains, toppling them, it would have to be very bad, the worst in human history. Just how this universally terrifying earthquake will take place we confidently wait to see. The fact that it coincides with Gog’s invasion, just as divinely foretold, proves that Jehovah is causing it in his rage and fury!

42 Gog desperately resorts to the “sword” of warfare against Jehovah’s restored remnant of spiritual Israel and the “great crowd” of their fellow worshipers, and so Jehovah meets him with like for like. Jehovah’s peace-keeping witnesses on earth do not take up the “sword” against Gog’s hordes, but Jehovah does. This is His fight! And now at last the nations of this scientifically advanced world will see Him fight—no mistaking of it! And how He can fight! Listen, as He describes his war tactics and operations:

43 “‘And I will call forth against him throughout all my mountainous region a sword,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. ‘Against his own brother the sword of each one will come to be. And I will bring myself into judgment with him, with pestilence and with blood; and a flooding downpour and hailstones, fire and sulphur I shall rain down upon him and upon his bands and upon the many peoples that will be with him. And I shall certainly magnify myself and sanctify myself and make myself known before the eyes of many nations; and they will have to know that I am Jehovah.’”—Ezekiel 38:21-23.

44 At that point the battlefield of Har–Magedon is reached. The “war of the great day of God the Almighty” is on! (Revelation 16:14, 16; 19:11-16, 20, 21) As weapons of warfare Jehovah wields the forces of creation, flooding cloudbursts of rain, hailstones of undeclared size, downpours of streaking fire and sulphur—all of which will release more destructive energy than all the atomic and nuclear energy that the nations hold in reserve in the oversupply of bombs that they have stockpiled for World War III. All their scientific devices for germ warfare and chemical warfare will be surpassed by the raging pestilence with which he can plague them, a pestilence that could kill off 185,000 in a single night in a given locality. (2 Kings 19:35, 36) The blood of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses they are anxious to spill, but it will be their own blood that they will drink by the violent loss of their own lives.

45 Panic—world panic outside the ranks of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses! Gog’s hordes will be thrown into confusion. Instead of keeping united to strike down Jehovah’s worshipers as their victims, they will turn their swords against their own ranks, brother warrior against brother warrior, not religionist against religionist, but radical against radical, Communist against Communist, anarchist against anarchist, nihilist against nihilist. Those whom this suicidal warfare among themselves does not kill off, Jehovah will execute as if going into a judicial court against them with all his supernatural means of wiping all opponents of His universal sovereignty out of existence. He must be vindicated at Court.

46 Almighty God thus becomes very much alive to all the nations and peoples under Gog’s woeful control. The God of the global flood in Noah’s day again goes into action on a global scale on this his “day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men.” (2 Peter 2:5; 3:6, 7, 10-12) The “great tribulation” upon this worldwide system of things reaches its culmination, and the last vestiges of this ungodly system of things are destroyed as the entire human society of God-ignoring people is annihilated.

47 Before the eyes of all the nations under Gog of Magog Jehovah will thus magnify himself, displaying himself as the Greatest in all the realm of the living. He will sanctify himself, proving that He is holy and not in sympathy with any part of this unholy system of things. He will make himself known otherwise than just on the pages of the Holy Bible. The stubborn-minded nations under Gog will be forced to see that such a world catastrophe could come from only the One who foretold it and warned of doing it. Facing destruction at His hand, they will, just before they go down into it, know what He said, “know that I am Jehovah.”

[Footnotes]

Webster’s New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition (1943), says on Gog: “Ruler of Magog. Ezekiel xxxviii. 2.” But see the article “The Attack by Gog of Magog,” beginning on page 581 of the issue of October 1, 1953, of The Watchtower.

M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia, Vol. V, p. 602, col. 1.

The Christian Warrior

THE wars of the faithful witnesses of pre-Christian days were holy, because they were theocratic and were fought in the name of Jehovah of hosts and at his direction and command. The warfare of the true Christians today, who are likewise witnesses of Jehovah, is no less holy, sacred, for it too is theocratic. In many cases the valiant witnesses of Jehovah in those ancient days fought with material weapons inflicting bodily death. May the Christian witnesses of today likewise fight with such material, death-dealing weapons? It is for Jehovah to answer and instruct our consciences.

2 In ancient times the faithful witnesses of Jehovah often fought against heavy concentrations of the enemy, but now the Christian witnesses of Jehovah have the greatest fight of history on their hands. The ancient witnesses battling for Jehovah faced human foes and armed themselves with man-made weapons. The present-day Christian witnesses of Jehovah face and grapple with a superhuman foe. It is an unseen foe, but, just the same, the warfare with him is very real. It is therefore a conflict requiring constant vigilance and steady alertness, a perpetual warfare, a lifelong conflict, from which there is no furlough granted us, in which there is no truce, no armistice. In it there is continual need of divine exhortation to keep one in fighting trim, ever courageous. The conflict reaches its intensity in what is called “the wicked day.” There is no more any question about it: that “wicked day” is here, for Satan the Devil and his invisible demons have been cast out of heaven down to the earth and the “ruler of the demons” has great anger because he knows he has but a short period of time until the greatest war of all time, the universal war of Armageddon.—Rev. 12:7-13, 17; 16:14-16; Matt. 12:24, NW.

3 That is why this warfare is different from that of worldly armies. It is with a different foe. Worldly armies fight for the god of this system of things of which they are a part; the Christian witnesses of Jehovah fight against the “god of this system of things.” (2 Cor. 4:4, NW) That is why they need different weapons, a fighting equipment that none of the armament makers of this system of things can turn out. They know their enemy, and they know the only fighting equipment with which they can fight him and win. It is a fighting equipment from the greatest Fighter of them all, Jehovah God. In words pointing out this needed equipment and exposing the enemy, Jehovah’s Word says: “Finally, go on acquiring power in the Lord and in the mightiness of his strength. Put on the complete suit of armor from God that you may be able to stand firm against the machinations of the Devil; because we have a fight, not against blood and flesh, but against the [non-blood-and-flesh] governments, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places. On this account take up the complete suit of armor from God, that you may be able to resist in the wicked day and, after you have done all things thoroughly, to stand firm.”—Eph. 6:10-13, NW.

4 The fact that our enemy is spiritual, superhuman, alters altogether the nature of our warfare and the nature of our weapons of war. True, the witnesses of ancient times did in many cases fight with the various weapons of ancient warfare, and those witnesses furnished a prophetic picture or type of the Christian witnesses of Jehovah today, in their theocratic warfare against Satan the Devil and his superhuman hosts, the demons that are higher and more powerful than blood and flesh.

5 Another thing: The priests of the family of Aaron and also all the rest of the men of the tribe of Levi were exempted from the secular duties of other Israelite men. The great Theocrat’s command to Moses on this was clear-cut: “Only the tribe of Levi you must not register and the sum of them you must not take in among the sons of Israel. And you yourself appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony and over all its utensils and over everything that belongs to it. They themselves will carry the tabernacle and all its utensils and they themselves will minister at it, and around the tabernacle they are to camp.” The record of the registration of the other Israelites for theocratic activities against the enemies of Israel says: “These were the registered ones of the sons of Israel according to the house of their fathers; all the registered ones of the camps in their armies were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. But the Levites did not get registered in among the sons of Israel, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.” (Num. 1:1-50; 2:32, 33, NW) Thus those doing sacred service at the tabernacle or temple, namely, the men of the tribe of Levi, including the priests, were exempted from this general registration and its obligations. All those natural Israelites, the registered men and the Levites and all the rest of the tribes of the nation, pictured spiritual Israel, the one, true Christian congregation of which Jesus Christ is the Head. But in this picture there is the following difference today:

6 In spiritual Israel there is no such division of members into secular registrants, priests and Levites and other nonregistered ones. Spiritual Israel, the one true church built upon Jesus Christ the Rock, are all of them priests, all consecrated by God and to his sacred service. (Matt. 16:18) The apostle Peter himself put this fact beyond dispute, when he addressed himself to the Christians sanctified by God’s spirit and said: “Coming to him as to a living stone, rejected, it is true, by men, but chosen, precious, with God, you yourselves also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house for the purpose of a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. . . . you are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession, that you should declare abroad the excellencies’ of the one that called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. For you were once not a people, but are now God’s people; you were those who had not been shown mercy, but are now those who have been shown mercy.”—1 Pet. 1:1, 2; 2:4-10, NW.

7 The 144,000 members of the true church or Christian congregation are a priesthood, every one a spiritual priest, and Jesus Christ is their High Priest. In their holy service to God and in their attitudes toward this world these Christian underpriests imitate him. (Heb. 3:1; 1 Cor. 11:1) They form a spiritual house for the indwelling of God by his spirit, and Jesus is the chief cornerstone of this spiritual temple, and they may not be profaned and desecrated by wrong use by this world. (Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Cor. 3:16, 17; Matt. 26:51-56) It is for this powerful reason that Jehovah God has exempted ALL of them, the entire church or congregation, from taking part with carnal weapons in the oncoming battle of Armageddon. Hence, being no part of this world which will be destroyed at Armageddon, these underpriests of Jesus Christ must keep a strict neutrality toward the present-day conflicts of the nations and must apply themselves to their priestly duties toward the people of all nations alike, without partiality or discrimination.

8 The Christian congregation under their High Priest Jesus being all a “holy nation,” “a royal priesthood,” it is Jehovah God himself who objects to their adulterously meddling and taking an active part in the affairs of this world. He commands them: “Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; cleanse yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of Jehovah.” (Isa. 52:11, AS) Thus Jehovah states his objection for the guidance of the Christian conscience, and His objection is determinative.

9 The Christian witnesses of Jehovah do not go around in the religious toggery of Christendom’s clergy, but dress simply in ordinary clothes of the everyday man or woman. We even work part-time at secular occupation, and we were doing this before ever the “worker priests” of France were authorized to do some honest work in the shops to try to stop the advance of communism. Most of the Christian witnesses of Jehovah work at honest occupations part-time as the apostle Paul did, in order to be apostolic and provide for our natural needs decently and honorably and not financially burden the congregations with which we are associated. Because we do not differentiate ourselves from the rest of the people by wearing high-sounding titles or unusual religious garments or living a life of ease as a clergyman, the authorities of this world may not look on us as consecrated priests of God, but look on us according to what we appear to be in the flesh. Because they do not have the Bible viewpoint they may do as the apostle Paul said, “appraise us as if we walked according to what we are in the flesh.” But for a warning against such a wrong appraisal of us the inspired apostle adds: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage warfare according to what we are in the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful by God for overturning strongly entrenched things. For we are overturning reasonings and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are bringing every thought into captivity to make it obedient to the Christ, and we are holding ourselves in readiness to inflict punishment for every disobedience [but not with death-inflicting carnal weapons], as soon as your own obedience has been fully carried out. You look at things according to their face value.” (2 Cor. 10:2-7, NW) So we must disabuse the minds of those who take us at face value and so do not appraise us as ministers of Jehovah God, consecrated priests of the Most High God, members of a “holy nation,” not of this world.

10 Under inspiration the apostle tells us as Christ’s followers that we do not fight against flesh and blood and that our weapons are not carnal. We are consecrated priests not subject to militarization to take a violent part in the battle of Armageddon. But carrying on our priestly duties even into the midst of that “war of the great day of God the Almighty,” we shall be harmless bystanders, joyful spectators of how Jehovah God and his angelic hosts under Jesus Christ will fight the victorious battle against the Devil’s organization, visible and invisible. The sum of that argument means that we are engaged in a spiritual fight. It is a spiritual warfare to which we are sanctified. We are enlisted in a spiritual army in a theocratic war, and our Commander is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and he is the one we have to please by obedience and imitation. The same apostle Paul, writing the young man Timothy, made that point clear by telling him: “As a right kind of soldier of Christ Jesus take your part in suffering evil. No man serving as a soldier involves himself in the commercial businesses of life, in order that he may meet the approval of the one who enrolled him as a soldier.” (2 Tim. 2:3, 4, NW) It is the approval of Christ Jesus that we are obliged to meet, for he has enrolled us in the theocratic army and we are ‘soldiers of Christ Jesus’ and we must show ourselves the right kind by suffering evil for his sake.

11 Jesus Christ our Commander said: “No one can be a slave to two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other.” (Matt. 6:24, NW) As soldiers of Jesus Christ we are engaged in a sacred warfare “against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places” and we must continue to preach the good news of God’s kingdom that the light of the good news may put to rout the forces of darkness. The efforts of Christendom’s rulers to religionize their wars, calling them “crusades” and other such catchy names, does not alter the case for Jehovah’s priesthood. By thus trying to religionize their combats the rulers are setting up an establishment of religion. They are dictating religiously to those who should have the freedom of conscience to choose their own religion or the freedom to choose to follow Jehovah’s Word and guide their conscience by his Word. Respecting an establishing of one religion and prohibiting the practice of another the apostle Peter and his fellow apostles said to the Jewish High Court: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.”—Acts 5:29, NW.

MEN OF GOOD WILL IN THE WARFARE

12 Engaged in the wars of ancient Israel there were not only the natural Israelites of the theocratic nation but also valiant foreigners of good will. Enlisted in the armies of King David there were such foreigners as Uriah the Hittite who refused to sleep at home when God’s ark and his theocratic army were tenting in the field, because he wanted to remain sanctified constantly for the fight and be ready for duty at a moment’s notice, undisqualified. Then, too, there was Zelek the Ammonite; Ithmah the Moabite; also Ittai the Gittite, a Philistine of Gath, together with six hundred other Gittites; and also King David’s special bodyguard known as the Cherethites and the Pelethites, who are understood to have been foreigners.—2 Sam. 11:6-17; 23:37-39; 1 Chron. 11:26, 46; 2 Sam. 15:18, 19; 8:18; 20:7, 23; 1 Ki. 1:38, 44; 1 Chron. 18:17.

13 Whom do these foreign fellow warriors of David in his battles for Jehovah picture? They picture the men of good will of all nations today, the loyal companions of the remnant of the “royal priesthood” under Christ Jesus the High Priest. But though not spiritual priests they are not authorized by Jehovah God to take part in the unclean affairs of this world any more than the remnant of spiritual Israel are. They have come under the same Commander as the remnant of spiritual priests; the warfare that they wage can be only the spiritual warfare, theocratic warfare, so they cannot and will not wield any carnal weapon at the battle of Armageddon or turn any hand toward violence in that war. “Other sheep” of the Right Shepherd of God these may be, but they have been gathered to the Shepherd’s one fold in company with the spiritual sheep of the “little flock” and they must follow the one Shepherd together with these. (John 10:14-16; Luke 12:32) The warfare of both groups in the one fold is the one warfare, the spiritual, the theocratic, the holy warfare. For this warfare both have been sanctified, for both have listened to the voice of the Right Shepherd, Christ Jesus, who is the Greater David, and then both have dedicated themselves to Jehovah God to follow faithfully in the Shepherd’s footsteps. They may not follow any other commander, paying attention to other voices that may call.

14 These “other sheep” from all nations already form a “great crowd” in company with the spiritual remnant, but they keep on coming into the fold and will continue to do so until the outbreak of the universal conflict at Armageddon. The prophecy foretelling their coming describes them as standing before God’s throne and rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple. (Rev. 7:9-15, NW) How could these “other sheep” of good will be doing this and at the same time become embroiled in all the “works of the flesh” of unsanctified men? They could not do so and at the same time inherit earthly blessings under God’s kingdom in the new world. The prophecies of Isaiah and of Micah describe them as coming up to the house of Jehovah and tell us what he teaches them and what he requires of them in these last days of this old world. We read: “And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isa. 2:2-4, AS) Micah’s prophecy (4:1-3) gives a double emphasis to that prophecy of Isaiah.

15 As both prophecies apply right now at the coming of “other sheep,” men of good will of all nations, to Jehovah’s temple, it is now that the worldly nations marvel because they do not see these “sheep” at God’s temple taking up the weapons that Isaiah and Micah mention or learning any longer the arts of modern untheocratic warfare. They act like inoffensive “sheep” of the heavenly Shepherd. (John 10:16; Rev. 7:15-17) These have learned of Jehovah’s judgment and decision and have come to know that his law and word from the heavenly Zion forbid them to carry on the “works of the flesh” as before, but now they must turn to the arts of peace which they will practice in the new world just ahead. These “other sheep” are the desired things, the things precious to God out of all nations, and they have come to his house or temple, filling it with glory. There they must recognize and obey the will of God which the prophecy of Haggai 2:9 tells us is: “And in this place will I give peace, saith Jehovah of hosts.” So they must keep the peace and not be disturbing elements among the spiritual priesthood, the spiritual temple class. This spiritual priesthood may not sanction their engaging in violent combats among themselves at the temple of Jehovah God or engaging in violent combat with outsiders at the battle of Armageddon.—Hag. 2:7-9, AS; Jas. 4:1-4.

16 Our joint warfare must accordingly be a spiritual warfare. And for this both flocks of us must take up the same God-given suit of armor in obedience to the command: “Stand firm, therefore, with your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and with your feet shod with the equipment of the good news of peace. Above all things, take up the large shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the wicked one’s burning missiles. Also accept the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word, while with every form of prayer and supplication you carry on prayer on every occasion in spirit. And to that end keep awake with all constancy and with supplication in behalf of all the holy ones, also for me, that ability to speak may be given me with the opening of my mouth, with all freeness of speech to make known the sacred secret of the good news, for which I am acting as an ambassador in chains, that I may speak in connection with it with boldness as I ought to speak.”—Eph. 6:14-20, NW.

17 With this suit of armor you can now be a peaceful resident of earth, harming no blood and flesh, and at the same time carry on a theocratic spiritual fight against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places that use their earthly human dupes to try to stop freeness of speech in preaching the good news with boldness. The “sword of the spirit,” or spiritual sword, is God’s Word. With it you can do no bodily violence to anyone, but, instead, immense spiritual good. A Korean War general recently said, “The pen is mightier than the sword,” meaning the literal sword. In turn the Word of God is mightier than the pen of worldly men, and hence is mightier than the literal sword. The apostle Paul also said that the alive Word of God “exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword.” (Heb. 4:12, NW) Why, then, should we who are sanctified to the sacred, theocratic warfare lift up a less mighty, an inferior weapon against one another any more? Why should we not use the mightier sword, the superior weapon, the spiritual sword, the Word of God, against our common enemy, the “wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places”? Our mightiness in war lies in weapons from God, and these only we may use.

18 Let us not overlook, either, that prayer is an essential part of our warfare, a necessary addition to our defensive armor. Prayer in the thick of theocratic battle is very vital. Long ago it brought victory to King Asa of Judah. Realizing that his army of five hundred and eighty thousand sanctified warriors was no physical match for the army of a million Ethiopians with three hundred chariots under Zerah the Ethiopian, Asa prayed fervently: “Jehovah, there is none besides thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength: help us, O Jehovah our God; for we rely on thee, and in thy name are we come against this multitude. O Jehovah, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.” In answer to that supplication man did not prevail, not even a million men. As it is written: “So Jehovah smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. And . . . there fell of the Ethiopians so many that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before Jehovah, and before his host.” (2 Chron. 14:9-14, AS) This record was written aforetime for our learning; and what a grand illustration it is of how prayer aids to victory! Let us offer it now, always.

19 Here, then, we stand in the wicked day, clad in theocratic armor, sanctified for the sacred warfare in Jehovah’s cause. We are facing the universal war of Armageddon. That will be the most violent and disastrous fight of all human experience. But we shall not need to take part in the violence of that time. From the ancient prophetic pictures of Armageddon come the words of Jehovah to us: “The battle is not yours, but God’s.” “Stand firm and see the salvation of Jehovah, which he will perform for you today. . . . Jehovah will himself fight for you.” (2 Chron. 20:15; Ex. 14:13, 14, NW) Those words are a prohibition against our then dropping our spiritual armor and taking up carnal weapons and relying upon their use for or against anyone on earth at the battle of Armageddon. We must keep our sanctification for our sacred warfare down to the all-out attack upon our New World society by Gog the sovereign prince of Magog and the outbreak of Armageddon by Jehovah’s countermove against him in our defense. (Ezek. 38:1 to 39:22, AS, margin) Our High Priest Christ Jesus has offered his human sacrifice for us by which we gain a sanctified condition before God for our spiritual conflict. We have consulted the will of God by means of him and have learned that we must “contend for victory in the right contest of the faith.” (1 Tim. 6:12, NW) We know we must each prove to be a “right kind of soldier of Christ Jesus.” He as our High Priest is with us in the camp to counsel us and to encourage us not to fear the enemy but to move forward doing God’s will as theocratic soldiers. Our warfare for Jehovah’s glory and vindication is a holy warfare, a sacred obligation, a sanctified duty, and our Christian conscience finds no objection to engaging in this theocratic warfare in holy armor, but we eagerly enlist in this service as loyal volunteers.—Ps. 110:3, AT.

20 Our camp we must keep clean by living holily, committing no fornication with this enemy world, that Jehovah may see nothing indecent among us and turn away from accompanying us. Clad in the spiritual armor of God, we must continually fight now against the “wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places,” valiantly wielding the “sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word,” by preaching in all the inhabited earth the good news of God’s established kingdom. Then as the decisive battle nears, yes, even as we enter the “war of the great day of God the Almighty,” we as a “holy nation” and “royal priesthood,” together with all our companion warriors of good will from all nations, will be worthy to sing Jehovah’s praises and to blow the trumpets for a courageous advance against the foe with full confidence that Jehovah will give us the victory. And as we fight on in support of the preaching of the good news we will pray fervently in faith for one another and for the success of the divine cause. Then our theocratic warfare will not be in vain. No, but it will be garlanded with God’s own victory by Christ Jesus and with eternal life in the righteous new world for us as sharers in His victory! (1 Cor. 15:57, 58, NW) “The battle is not yours, but God’s.”—2 Chron. 20:15, AS.

“Love Never Fails”

“Love never fails.”—1 Cor. 13:8.

LOVE is like a priceless gem, a diamond with many facets. It is beautiful any way you look at it. In fact, it has been said in verse: “Youth’s for an hour, Beauty’s a flower, But love is the jewel that wins the world.” Like a diamond with numerous reflecting surfaces, love has ever so many aspects, all good, all desirable, all touching and heartwarming. But, at first, love may be compared to an unpolished though precious stone. The latent ability to draw others, to bless them, to warm them, is there, in an unpolished state. How may we polish it to increase its luster? As Christians, how may we take this diamond in the rough, as it were, and make it glisten with resplendent beauty? Well, first we must shine the light of God’s Word upon the gem of love.

2 Jehovah excels in showing love. For thousands of years and despite the waywardness of mankind, faithfully, unfailingly, the Creator has demonstrated this superlative attribute—all this, though it has been undeserved. Jehovah “makes his sun rise upon wicked people and good and makes it rain upon righteous people and unrighteous.” The Most High has been “kind toward the unthankful and wicked.” To all this Jesus Christ could attest in his sermon on the mount. (Matt. 5:45; Luke 6:35) Actually, both Jehovah and Christ have displayed great love in connection with the ransom. “God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) And Jesus told his followers: “No one has love greater than this, that someone should surrender his soul in behalf of his friends.” (John 15:13) Jesus Christ did just that for sheeplike ones, in keeping with his own words: “I am the fine shepherd . . . I surrender my soul in behalf of the sheep.” (John 10:11, 15) What marvelous examples of love we have in Jehovah and His Son!

3 To have Jehovah’s favor, we must, like God and His Son, show love. (1 John 3:21-23) True Christians, therefore, abide by the two great commandments enunciated by Christ: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. The second, like it, is this, ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matt. 22:37-39) To show such love is possible for Christians, for they have God’s spirit and produce its fruits, one of which is love.—Gal. 5:22.

4 Love is a quality that beggars description. It defies thorough definition. Yet, under inspiration, Paul wrote of it: “Love is long-suffering and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, does not get puffed up, does not behave indecently, does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury. It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (1 Cor. 13:4-8) It is easily seen that love could not repel, but must attract. It would naturally attract, drawing persons together. This it has surely done in the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses, unified as it is worldwide. But let us now carefully examine the various aspects, the several facets, of this gem, love.

“LOVE IS LONG-SUFFERING AND KIND”

5 Paul said, “Love is long-suffering and kind.” To be long-suffering means that we will put up with the weaknesses and imperfections of others. Jehovah has done so, and for many it has meant salvation. (Rom. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9, 15) Naturally, he does not endlessly tolerate wrongdoing. Paul told the idolatrous Athenians: “True, God has overlooked the times of such ignorance, yet now he is telling mankind that they should all everywhere repent. Because he has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed.” (Acts 17:29-31) Following the divine example, we should be patient with others who may be slower physically or mentally, perhaps because of advanced age. Love looks for ways of showing sympathetic consideration. That does not mean that we must continuously put up with wrongdoing or that we ourselves will violate Scriptural principles. However, some things may be done one way or another. No Biblical principle is involved. Why insist that ours is the only way in such cases? That might only lead to unloving acts, disputes and loss of happiness. (1 Cor. 9:22) That we should be patient and forgiving was emphasized by Jesus, who told Peter to forgive “not, Up to seven times, but, Up to seventy-seven times.” (Matt. 18:21, 22) So, we may well ask ourselves: “Do I really exercise patience? Am I sympathetic? Do I put myself in the place of another? Do I forgive?” If you are long-suffering and can answer Yes, this facet of your love must shine brightly!

6 But what of kindness? Love is kind. There are works of human kindness and in times of disaster persons will often respond in humanitarian ways. The inhabitants of Malta showed shipwrecked Paul and others “extraordinary human kindness.” (Acts 28:2) However, they did not do so because Paul was a minister of Jehovah God. They simply showed beneficence, though abundantly so. Today when calamity strikes, many respond with “human kindness.” They help their suffering fellowman. For example, in February, 1953, disaster struck the Netherlands when dikes broke and the land was inundated. One writer said, reviewing this and similar occurrences: “Sometimes it can happen that the public is too generous. Sufficient blankets were donated to the victims of the Netherlands floods to cover the entire Dutch nation for a year.” When hardship besets their spiritual brothers and sisters somewhere in the world, kindness and love move true Christians to action. Material things, clothing and needed items are donated by fellow believers in lands not affected. But Christians make it their life’s work to show kindness, not only in material but especially in spiritual ways. They use their time and resources, they expend their energies, in acts of kindness and love, aiding persons in a spiritual manner through their ministry. So the dedicated Christian does not limit himself to occasional philanthropy or temporary humanitarianism, passing “human kindness.” His is a life of kindness.—1 Tim. 4:16.

7 Now, suppose you are at the congregation meeting place, the Kingdom Hall. As you look about, what do you see? Greeting you are smiling faces. Only occasionally may you detect another slight sentiment. Courageously, your Christian sister who lives in a divided household hides the pain she has experienced. When she returns home unpleasantness may confront her. Perhaps her attendance at this peaceful, spiritually upbuilding meeting has come about at the expense of no little unhappiness. She shed tears before leaving home because of an opposing mate, though you may never know it. What love and concern you would express toward this one of God’s “sheep” if you but knew her circumstances! How your heart would go out to her! Surely you would not ignore her or say some unkind word to her in a rash moment. Oh, this sister may even find it necessary to curtail meeting attendance somewhat because of her husband’s demands, though she does not forsake gathering with fellow Christians altogether. Do we begin to look down upon her? We should not, for, if she is doing her best, Jehovah knows this and is not displeased. Remember, God “sees what the heart is.” (1 Sam. 16:7) It would be unkind indeed to find fault. She needs aid, not discouragement; kindness, not criticism. When we speak encouragingly to her, we warm her heart, we make her truly happy that she is a part of such a wonderful, loving organization. And in showing kindness we are polishing another surface of the gem of love.

8 Kindness is also expressed when we patiently explain truths to persons in our ministry—this, though they may at first have difficulty in comprehending some things or in applying Scriptural principles to their lives and thinking. But, whether at home, in the ministry, or at congregation meetings, expressing kindness is essential. It is an important aspect of our love. So, we are admonished: “But become kind to one another, tenderly compassionate, freely forgiving one another just as God also by Christ freely forgave you.”—Eph. 4:32.

LOVE IS NOT JEALOUS OR BOASTFUL

9 “Love is not jealous.” Hence, envy will not engulf us if we have love. We will not permit our love to be stifled should another be entrusted with a position of responsibility in the Christian congregation. We will not deny him our active support because of jealousy. Instead, we will thank Jehovah that our spiritual brother can use his good qualities and abilities to the advancement of God’s earthly organization. We will rejoice in his success. Envy will be recognized for what it is—a sin. The counsel of Galatians 5:26 will find a place in our hearts: “Let us not become egotistical, stirring up competition with one another, envying one another.”

10 But suppose we are in a position of responsibility. Have we reason to boast in our attainments? Love “does not brag.” We have nothing that we did not receive. (1 Cor. 13:4; 4:7) We may be shepherds, having oversight, but remember, we never lose the position of sheep by reason of such an appointment. As sheep, all should boast, not in self, but in whom? First Corinthians 1:31 answers: “He that boasts, let him boast in Jehovah.” How fitting it is for all sheep to boast in the Great Shepherd of all the sheep! And why not boast in Jehovah? We may plant and water, as did Paul and Apollos, “but God kept making it grow; so that neither is he that plants anything nor is he that waters, but God who makes it grow.” (1 Cor. 3:6-9) Then again, what of tomorrow? If we boast today and rely on ourselves alone, this may be fatal. Note the apostle’s warning: “Consequently let him that thinks he is standing beware that he does not fall.” (1 Cor. 10:12) Do not forget that, “if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he is deceiving his own mind.” (Gal. 6:3; Rom. 11:18) So then, if we boast in Jehovah, not in ourselves, we will act lovingly, not proudly. We will thus be polishing and brightening still another facet of love. How so?

11 The apostle further pointed out that love “does not get puffed up.” We cannot ignore this, one of the many aspects of love. A person may be ambitious or may take himself too seriously. He may believe that he should set matters straight in the lives of others. Frankly, he may think himself to be superior to his neighbor. But in this would not his love be wanting? Yes, for his is a “fleshly frame of mind.” (Col. 2:18) Of course, this does not mean that an overseer should forego opportunities to aid persons spiritually or that others also should so fail. But some things are personal and should be left that way. (Gal. 6:5) Here the counsel of Colossians 3:12 is very apropos: “Accordingly, as God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, lowliness of mind, mildness, and long-suffering.” Check your spiritual clothing. Act lovingly, “with lowliness of mind considering that the others are superior to you.”—Phil. 2:3.

LOVE IS NOT INDECENT OR SELFISH

12 While we are polishing this facet of the gem of love we will do well to remember that love “does not behave indecently.” This means that we will be mannerly in the home, in the congregation and in the ministry. We will not be rude and unchristian. Neither will we act immorally, seeking selfishly to corrupt another. (1 Cor. 10:8; 2 Pet. 2:9, 10) But we must think properly so as to act properly. We must shun obscenity. The Ephesians were told: “Let fornication and uncleanness of every kind or greediness not even be mentioned among you, just as it befits holy people; neither shameful conduct nor foolish talking nor obscene jesting, things which are not becoming, but rather the giving of thanks.” (Eph. 5:3, 4; Col. 3:5-8) Christians are on stage. We are a theatrical spectacle before men and angels. (1 Cor. 4:9) What kind of characters will we be in the present drama if we forget to do the loving thing, if in our thoughtlessness we bring reproach upon Jehovah, whom we should love first and foremost? Never may that happen!

13 Love does not selfishly “look for its own interests.” In the case of an overseer, for example, this means expending himself. It requires that he be approachable at all times. Never should he be too busy to aid others. If persons in the congregation have problems they cannot resolve and they are in need of assistance, should they not feel free to seek the aid of the mature overseer? And should he not be loving and considerate? Why, think of Jesus. How busy he was! Yet, persons were able to approach him. He preached to them. He taught them. He cured them. He showed pity for them. He had love for them! He set the perfect example, one that mature and loving overseers will not forget.—Matt. 4:23; Mark 1:21, 22; 2:13; Luke 7:13; John 13:34; 15:9, 12.

14 Love will cause us to sacrifice our own rights at times and to be tolerant toward customs which, in themselves, are not unscriptural. Corinthian Christians wondered whether to eat meat purchased in the meat market but which had come from animals offered to idols. There was no direct objection to partaking of it, as long as one was not eating a sacrificial meal in the worship of demon gods represented by the idols. Yet, if eating such meat would stumble another, Paul advised refraining. He said: “All things are lawful; but not all things are advantageous. . . . Let each one keep seeking, not his own advantage, but that of the other person.” (1 Cor. 10:23-33) Similarly today, the thoughtful Christian will, for example, refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages in a community where doing so is frowned upon. He has a Scriptural right to partake in moderation, but he abstains because he does not want to stumble someone. Be concerned, then, with the welfare and edification of others. Polish this facet of the gem of love. Look not for your own interests selfishly but for the interests and well-being of others. Love will make you do all this because love never fails.—Phil. 2:4.

OTHER FACETS OF LOVE

15 Love “does not become provoked” or “keep account of the injury.” Not only does anger damage relationships, but it is also injurious to health, placing a strain on the heart. Solomon said: “A calm heart is the life of the fleshly organism.” (Prov. 14:30) So heed the counsel: “Let anger alone and leave rage; do not show yourself heated up only to do evil.” (Ps. 37:8) Anger is a work of the fallen flesh. (Gal. 5:19, 20) And keeping a grudge hurts you. It is unchristian. (Matt. 5:22; Lev. 19:17, 18) Once, Paul and Barnabas had a difference. But the breach was healed and they bore no grudges. (Acts 15:36-41) Harbor no animosity, then, nor immaturely look for a way and time to repay some offender. Do not become provoked or keep account of injury. Remember, these facets of the gem of love must be polished, too.—Rom. 12:17.

16 The apostle further said that love “does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.” (1 Cor. 13:6) The Christian finds no pleasure in injustice, even if opposers experience it. (Prov. 29:27) However, those of evil bent, Satan, the demons and wicked men, rejoice over unrighteousness, taking the view that “the end must justify the means.” This was one factor that brought upon earth and its inhabitants the dreadful ravages of world war in this generation. Cities were turned to rubble, homes to dust, a measure of happiness to sorrow and pain—and for millions there came death. These and other causes of suffering have been brought about by those rejoicing over unrighteousness, haters of what is right. Christians, though, rejoice in Jehovah, in the triumph of truth, not in unrighteousness of any kind. Thus, for them the future holds real grandeur. They are sowing love, not hate, and they will continue to reap God’s love in return, with happiness now and in the new order of his promise.—2 Pet. 3:11-13; Gal. 6:7-10.

17 True love “bears all things.” Hence, should difficulties arise, Christians will be forgiving. They keep in mind Christ’s words: “Moreover, if your brother commits a sin, go lay bare his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” (Matt. 18:15-17) This first step in settling differences is an act of love, for gossip does not fill the air, but the offender himself is privately approached. Additional steps may be taken if necessary, but how many problems are quite easily resolved in this way, by love! They are seen for what they are minor personal offenses that can quickly be forgiven and forgotten. True Christians do not let their love fail. They choose “to live peaceably,” to work out their problems amicably.—2 Cor. 13:11.

18 Love will not permit us to reject truth. “Truth is . . . stranger than fiction,” it has been said. Yet, if it is truth, love will accept it. Why? Because love “believes all things.” Still, love is not gullible, or credulous. If something is improper or untrue, love will not permit us to accept it. Love will, however, cause us to receive with appreciation the truths recorded in God’s Word. It will move us to accept spiritual food provided through the “faithful and discreet slave.” (Matt. 24:45-47) We will not be skeptical of it. Why, if we were doubtful in this regard, we would be like the restless, turbulent waves of the sea. Have you observed roaring waves, perhaps driven by changing winds? Their motions are erratic. Well, if we are skeptical, we will be like the waves. Thus, for our benefit James wrote: “So, if any one of you is lacking in wisdom, let him keep on asking God, . . . and it will be given him. But let him keep on asking in faith, not doubting at all, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and blown about. In fact, let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from Jehovah.”—Jas. 1:5-8.

19 A Christian must also hope in all things in God’s Word. The Thessalonians were admonished: “But as for us who belong to the day, let us keep our senses and have on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation.” (1 Thess. 5:8) A soldier who enters battle without proper equipment or protective covering can hardly hope to survive. If our love fails, what kind of spiritual soldiers will we be? We will not have the “breastplate of faith and love” or the vitally necessary helmet, “the hope of salvation.” Fittingly, then, love “hopes all things,” all things in and truly founded upon the Word of God, the Holy Bible.—John 17:17.

20 Another facet of the gem of love is that it “endures all things.” Love for God makes possible the endurance of persecution. Even after the apostles were flogged and dishonored in behalf of Christ’s name, “every day in the temple and from house to house they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus.” (Acts 5:40-42) Suffering due to persecution can be endured with the strength God gives. (Phil. 4:13) But what if we receive rebuke from God through his Word or organization? Then remember this wise counsel: “The discipline of Jehovah, O my son, do not reject; and do not abhor his reproof, because the one whom Jehovah loves he reproves, even as a father does a son in whom he finds pleasure.” (Prov. 3:11, 12) Let not your love fail. Accept correction. Never permit it to drive you away from God’s organization, or to kill your love of it or of Jehovah.—Ps. 141:5.

21 Admittedly, it is not always easy to exercise love. Therefore, you must work at it and must depend upon Jehovah’s spirit. If you do, it will be possible for you to show love, for it is a fruit of God’s spirit. (Gal. 5:22, 23) Be determined to display love that attracts. And bear this in mind: “A true companion is loving all the time, and is a brother that is born for when there is distress.” (Prov. 17:17) In summing up his inspired appraisal of love Paul said: “Now, however, there remain faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13) Love is that grand quality that permeates the Christian congregation. Love will survive Armageddon, as will true Christians who demonstrate it. (Rev. 16:14, 16) So keep a tight grip on the gem of love. Do not lose it. Let no one rob you of it. Cherish it! It will ever prove to be a blessing to you, to your Christian brothers and to all with whom you have dealings. Show it now and forever. Remember—”Love never fails”!—1 Cor. 13:8.