1959 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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1959 YEARBOOK of Jehovah’s Witnesses containing report for the service year of IQ58 Also daily texts and comments
Corporate Publishers WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, INC. INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION 124 Columbia Heights Brooklyn 1, N.Y., U.S.A.
Branch offices appear on last page
Copyright, 1958, by Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society of Pennsylvania
Made in the United States of America
WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA
OFFICERS
N. H. KNORR President
F. W. FRANZ Vice-President
GRANT SUITER
Secretary-Treasurer —---------- ----
WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, INC.
OFFICERS
N. H. KNORR President
F. W. FRANZ
Vice-President
GRANT SUITER
Secretary-Treasurer
o-----
INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION
OFFICERS
N. H. KNORR President
A. PRYCE HUGHES
Vice-President
E. C. CHITTY Secretary
GRANT SUITER
Ass’t Secretary-Treasurer
Page
Afghanistan
Alaska
Albania .............. 123
Algeria
Angola
Anguilla
Antigua
Argentina
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Azores
Bahamas
Barbados
Basutoland
Bechuanaland
Belgian Congo
Belgium .............. 101
Bequia
Bermuda
Bolivia
Bonaire
Brazil
Britain
British Guiana
British Honduras
Bulgaria
Burma
Cameroun
Canada
Cape Verde
Carriacou
Cayman Islands
Ceylon
Chile
China
Colombia
Communistic Lands
Costa Rica
Cuba
Curacao
Cyprus
Czechoslovakia
Dahomey
Denmark
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Page
Ecuador .......-
Egypt
Eire
El Salvador
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands
Faroe islands
Fernando Po
Fiji
Finland
France
French Equatorial Africa . . 161
French Guinea
French Togoland
Gambia
Germany, East
Germany, West .
Ghana
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Haiti
Hawaii
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kenya
Korea
Kuwait
Lebanon
Leeward Islands
Liberia
Page
Libya
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Madeira Islands
Malaya
Malta
Martinique
Mauritius
Mexico
Montserrat
Morocco
Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles
Nevis
New Britain
New Caledonia
Newfoundland
New Guinea
New Hebrides
New Ireland
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Nigeria
North Borneo
Northern Rhodesia
Norway
Nyasaland
Okinawa
Pakistan
Panama
Papua
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Portuguese East Africa . . . 230
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Romania
Rotuma
Russia
St. Croix
Page
St. Eustatius
St. Helena . .
St. John
St. Kitts
St. Lucia
St. Martin
St. Thomas
St. Vincent
Samoa, American
Samoa, Western
San Marino
Sarawak
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
Southern Rhodesia
South-West Africa
Spain
Sudan
Sulawesi
Sumatra
Surinam
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Taiwan
Tanganyika
Thailand
Tobago
Tortola
Trinidad
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
United States of America . 73
Uruguay
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yugoslavia
Service year chart, page 52
Convention pictures following page 32 and dally text of September 30th
1959 YEARBOOK
of Jehovah’s Witnesses
DOING the divine will and sticking to this course is the only worth-while work. In the time of Jesus Christ it was recognizable that this teacher was doing a worth-while work. He was awake to his privileges of service. He was preaching the good news of Jehovah’s kingdom. He knew that that was the divine will. He stuck to his work from the time of his baptism in the river Jordan by John until his death. He preached incessantly. He taught diligently. He healed the sick both in mind and in body. He found many faithful Jews who would be his disciples. He kept his twelve apostles close to him and trained them daily, and he showed them how to stick to their divinely given work of preaching the Kingdom good news. These faithful Jews were looking for the Messiah, and now they had found him in Christ Jesus and they stayed with him.
There were many other persons that recognized Jesus’ devotion to Jehovah. One in particular was a rich man who said: “Teacher, what good must I do in order to get everlasting life?” (Matt. 19:16) How many millions of people have asked that same question since then. Living is such a natural desire. One does not want to die. Jesus had often demonstrated that he had the power to give people a more abundant life. He healed the sick, he opened the blind eyes, he even raised the dead from the tombs. He spoke of everlasting life as being within their reach and said that it could easily be had if people would only follow him and live
according to his teachings. This particular rich man had observed the Ten Commandments from his youth up, but just how could he get the eternal life he desired? Jesus told him: “If, though, you want to enter into life, observe the commandments continually.” (Matt. 19:17) To the query, “Which ones?” Jesus continued: “‘Why, You must not murder, You must not commit adultery, You must not steal, You must not bear false witness, Honor your father and your mother, and, You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ The young man said to him: ‘I have kept all these; what yet am I lacking?’ Jesus said to him: ‘If you want to be complete, go sell your belongings and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and come be my follower.’ When the young man heard this saying, he went away grieved, for he was holding many possessions.”—Matt. 19:18-22.
This grieved rich man was told: “Sell your belongings and give to the poor.” What a price to pay for life! But is one’s life not worth it? However, there was more to it than just that. Did he hear what the Great Teacher of the divine will said in addition: “Be my follower”? That was the real secret in getting everlasting life. First of all, do not be burdened down with the cares of this world, so that you can walk unburdened in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, preaching the good news of the kingdom of the heavens. Certainly if one were occupied with preaching the good news he would not have time for the care of so many possessions as this rich man had. Neither then, nor now, could a true follower of Christ Jesus be burdened down with so many cares of this old world. If it was necessary for the rich man to dispose of his possessions and follow Christ nineteen hundred years ago to be a Christian, how much more is it true now that an individual who wants to follow Christ Jesus and do Kingdom work must free himself of the anxieties of this present way of living? Christ is no longer with us on earth to give us personal counsel, but Jehovah God has seen to it that his words and those of his faithful followers were written down for the admonition and the learning of us upon whom the end of this system of things would come.
The Scriptures show us that Christ has come the second time, invisibly, and when Jesus gave the Revelation to John he pointed out that he, Christ Jesus, was to come also as a thief just before the battle of God Almighty, known as Armageddon. Jesus expects that at that time those who have declared themselves to be Christians will be on duty and be awake and on guard, watching their Kingdom duties. He has the right to expect them to be walking in his footsteps, doing the same thing he advised the rich man to do, “be my follower.” Being a Christian is a full-time occupation, no vacation periods, no change of religion, no stopping for a while. When one really walks in the footsteps of Christ Jesus he will not give all his time to the commercial business of life. The Christian wants to please the one who called him to be his disciple, and that means giving Christ and his work first attention.
Paul put the matter very plainly and forcefully, saying that Christians are employed in Christ’s service as soldiers. All Christians must be singleminded. They must look to and obey the one who called them to be soldiers. Being in Christ’s employ and following him, there is only one thing they can do: “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) A soldier of Christ Jesus does not and can not divide his interests. He does not try to run a selfish commercial business and at the same time be a soldier. When one is hired as a soldier, that is his work, and when one is assigned to guard the interests of the king he does not go to sleep. The Christian stays in his assignment. He is awake to his responsibilities. Paul, the former Saul of Tarsus, knew what it meant to be a soldier. When Saul was sent out to persecute the Christians he had an assignment and did it. He followed out orders. When he was converted to be a follower of Christ Jesus and was named Paul he also determined to be a right kind of soldier in the Christian army, putting on the full suit of armor provided by God, suffering any trials or difficulties that would arise because of being a soldier. If to be a Christian in the days of Paul it was necessary to be a faithful and alert soldier, certainly today nothing less is required. Jesus stated it so clearly to the rich man, “Sell your belongings ... be my follower”; and Paul made it just as plain when he said: “No man serving as a soldier involves himself in the commercial businesses of life.” So how should one who calls himself a Christian today look at the matter? Not differently. He should stay by the things he has learned, be an honest follower, not a hypocrite.
NO CHANGE IN REQUIREMENTS TODAY
Today a Christian must be just as faithful and devoted to his call to service as Christ was to his, the apostles were to theirs and the early Christians to theirs. There is no difference in the requirements for Christians today. They must still stay awake and be alert on duty and carry out their responsibilities. True, this generation is far removed from the days of Christ, nineteen hundred years in fact. The ways of living have changed. The ideas and philosophies of men and the customs of the people have proved to be quite different. Christendom has moved along with the times and does not want to be old-fashioned. Too many clergymen of today have become modernists and have rejected the Bible, saying that the story of Noah and the creation of Adam and Eve are just myths, and that Christ’s dying on the torture stake was not necessary for salvation. The simple faith of Christ Jesus and of the disciples of Christ is a thing wanting throughout all Christendom. But the Bible has not changed since the days of the apostles. The divine will has not changed for the Christian. Jehovah is not one to change. His truth remains forever! So today to be a Christian, one must “be my follower.” Paul was one, but the rich man went away grieved at how to be one. Paul spoke of a falling away that would take place. He said that “the inspired utterance says definitely that in later periods of time some will fall away from the faith.” (1 Tim. 4:1) Today that great falling away from walking in the footsteps of Christ Jesus is at its height. It was so important for Paul to say to the Christians of his time: “Pay constant attention to yourself and to your teaching. Stay by these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.” This is even more applicable today. No individual professing to be a Christian can brush aside the teachings of Christ. The Holy Bible is God’s Word. Jesus believed it and lived it. Every professed follower of his must pay constant attention to himself and to Christ’s teachings so that he may stay awake to his privileges of service.
Nineteen hundred years after Jesus introduced the wonderful message of the kingdom of the heavens it must still be preached. It is still the only hope for mankind. Jesus taught his followers to pray: “Let your kingdom come. Let your will come to pass, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matt. 6:10) While Christendom repeats these words in chant and song and sometimes in read prayers, her religionists do not believe it. If they did they would preach it. True followers of Christ Jesus—and Jehovah’s witnesses prove to be such —are still preaching the good news of God’s kingdom as the only hope for mankind and they believe it with all their heart, mind, soul and strength, and they are on the watch as to the time when God’s established kingdom with all its powerful heavenly force will strike at Armageddon. As Christians Jehovah’s witnesses feel their responsibility to look after their Kingdom preaching, not just to the end of the times of the Gentiles, but to the end of all the nations of the Devil’s organization. Whether the world of mankind will take time to find out the importance of the day in which they are living or not makes no difference. Christ Jesus has come into his kingdom. By him Jehovah reigns. God’s kingdom rules! And the reason the religionists of Christendom have not been declaring this good news is that they are asleep. The warning of the world’s end as being near has been given around the world, and especially in Christendom. We are living in the last days of this system of things and Jehovah’s witnesses, being true to their assignment, have let the world know in all principal languages that God’s kingdom rules and the world’s end is near. Christendom is not left ignorant of the times in which we are living.
The apostles of Christ Jesus were very much concerned about the times and the condition of world affairs when Christ would make his second appearance. But Christendom and its religious leaders do not show interest in this matter. “While [Jesus] was sitting upon the mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately, saying: ‘Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the consummation of the system of things?’ ” (Matt. 24:3) Jesus described clearly the conditions that would exist in the world when the whole system of things would be ending together in a “consummation.” It would not be going down in little bits of pieces, or sections, but this combined ending would “come in upon all those dwelling upon the face of all the earth.” In the very days of the ‘ending together of the system of things,’ Jesus said, “this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come.”—Matt. 24:14.
Jesus gave a composite sign, showing many things that would occur, nation rising against nation, kingdom against kingdom, food shortage, earthquakes in one place after another, all of these things together being the “beginning of pangs of distress.” As far as real Christians are concerned, he stated: “Then people will deliver you up to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations on account of my name.” (Matt. 24:9) How true this has been! But despite the hatred, Jehovah’s witnesses have been alert, awake, on guard and have seen to it that God’s kingdom was preached and that the warning was given to Christendom and to all the world of mankind concerning these last days. They have not slowed down in this announcement either, nor will they do so until the accomplished end comes.
Jehovah’s witnesses do not want to find themselves asleep just before the complete end when, all together, this system of things will go down. They appreciate what Christ Jesus said, at Revelation 16:15: “I am coming as a thief. Happy is the one that stays awake and keeps his outer garments, that he may not walk naked and people look upon his parts of shame.” Being awake, taking care of one’s responsibilities and preaching the good news right up to the complete end at the battle of Armageddon is an essential thing for a Christian. The December 15, 1958, issue of The Watchtower gives the reader a clear and detailed explanation of this text and shows without question that it is just prior to the battle of Armageddon when this scripture has its fulfillment. As the context shows, the three unclean inspired expressions that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, the mouth of the wild beast and the mouth of the false prophet are in fact “expressions inspired by demons” and have a lot to say. With all this talk they “go forth to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, . . . And they gathered them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon.” It is when this great gathering work reaches its peak for this final battle that Christ Jesus comes “as a thief,” showing great interest in those who are on guard duty in his temple organization. It is at the same time when this system of things in all its wickedness has been gathered together for the purpose of being brought to a complete end at the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” that this scripture finds application. While this gathering of the nations is going on, Jehovah’s gathered people, the remnant and the other sheep, hear Christ Jesus say, “Look!” Yes, he gains their attention and they hear him say: “I am coming as a thief. Happy is the one that stays awake and keeps his outer garments, that he may not walk naked and people look upon his parts of shame.”—Rev. 16:15.
CHRISTENDOM ASLEEP
It is a terrible thing for a person to be indifferent toward his privilege of service, his assignment as a guard within the spiritual temple of Jehovah, and to be found asleep. He deserves to be beaten, stripped of his garments and have people look upon his shame.
The newspaper The Advocate, which is the official publication of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark and of the Diocese of Paterson in New Jersey, had something to say under the heading “Arise, Ye Who Sleep,” and in this article we can see just how sleepy Christendom is and how religionists are not alert to the signs of the times, nor to the presence of Christ Jesus, nor to the preaching of the good news. But this paper also recognizes that there is a group that is wide awake and filled with fiery zeal and that there is no complacency or indifference among them. The Advocate says:
When we went to school and studied our catechism, we learned that there are three divisions to the Catholic Church: (1) The Church Triumphant; (2) The Church Suffering; and (3) The Church Militant. With a great deal of justification we might add a fourth division and call it the Church Dormant or the Church Complacent. The people who make up this group are men and women who should in fact be members of the Church Militant, but who seemingly have forgotten the meaning of the word. They are apparently asleep at the switch and nothing seems to bother them. . . . The fantastic story of the Jehovah’s Witnesses attracted worldwide attention during their recent convention in New York. Here was a group of religious-minded people who numbered about 800,000 throughout the entire world. Their doctrine is weird and strange. But they managed to get 250,000 members to their convention. Most people cannot understand what it is that attracts these people, but the fact remains that there is something which brings out this phenomenal attendance.
What they do have is a fiery zeal; there is no complacency or indifference among them, and sacrifice does not deter them. Every one of these people pledges himself to work 12 hours a week at the conversion of his fellow men.
If we had such zeal and perseverance among the rank and file of our Catholic people, we could transform the face of the earth. A famous Catholic preacher once said: “Judged by human, business standards, the Catholic Church is a colossal failure. After 20 centuries two-thirds of the human race is still pagan.”—The Advocate, September 19, 1958.
The Catholic organization admits they are found asleep. Their unchristian nakedness is exposed. They are not zealous for God’s kingdom, nor are they putting forth any effort at all to preach it. And how about the Protestants? The Litchville Bulletin of North Dakota had this listing in the Want Ads column of its newspaper: “Lost—Over 100 members of the Lutheran Parish. Not seen since Easter. Please return to the North LaMoure, Litchville, or Hastings Lutheran Churches on Sunday morning. No questions will be asked. Pastor Bob Harrison.”
What would Christ Jesus do if he came to visit these Catholic and Protestant organizations, representatives of Christendom? He would take off their outer garments and he would expose them and let the people walk naked so that others could see their parts of shame. But this has already been done before the eyes of true Christians. Christendom’s nakedness has been exposed to them. She has neglected the work and failed the people. She has denied the Bible. She does not teach its principal message, that the kingdom of the heavens is at hand, nor does she magnify the great name of the God of the universe, Jehovah. But so much for Christendom. What about the true Christians themselves?
This is no time for Christians to be lax and indifferent. We definitely are living in the last days of this system of things, and in the twenty-first chapter of Luke, where Jesus is describing in detail the composite sign, he gives this very strong admonition to his followers. If the reader claims to be his follower, then listen to his words: “Pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you as a snare. For it will come in upon all those dwelling upon the face of all the earth. Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur, and to hold your position before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:34-36) Here again, we have the expression “pay attention to yourselves.” Why? What could happen? One could easily be weighed down with the cares of this world, the eating and the drinking and the anxieties of life. Or, as the footnote of the New World Translation says: “anxieties over livelihood.”
In the time of Jesus he admonished his faithful followers not to be so much concerned about the things of one’s livelihood, “as to what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your bodies as to what you will wear.” (Matt. 6:25) They should be “seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness.” (Matt. 6:33) Is not that what he was telling the rich young man? Get rid of all these things that have made you rich. Give them to the poor, these things whereby you were making your livelihood, and follow me. The important thing is ‘seeking first the kingdom and God’s righteousness.’ In the prayer that Jesus taught his apostles to pray he said: “Give us today our bread for this day.” He did not ask for any more. With food, clothing and shelter we should be content, along with our godly devotion. So never be weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life. And why not? If these become the important things in one’s life, the principal reason for living, as they were in the life of the rich man, then we are not going to have time for walking in the footsteps of Christ Jesus, following him. We cannot be a soldier of Christ Jesus if it is the eating and drinking and the anxieties of life that we are interested in and if we are going to be weighed down with commercial businesses of life in order to get these things in abundance. The two do not go together.
STAYING AWAKE DURING THE CONSUMMATION
Describing living in these last days, in the twenty-first chapter of Luke, Jesus says the complete end will happen so suddenly that that day will be instantly upon us as a snare. Then what is going to happen? Jesus said that it will come in upon all those dwelling upon the face of the earth. He is not making any exceptions. So his very strong advice to the apostles and, of course, to Christians today was: “Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur, and to hold your position before the Son of man.” Truly there is a way of escape from going down executed in the battle of the great day of God the Almighty. The way of escape is in staying awake, living as a Christian, making supplication before God. Then you may succeed in escaping all these troubles and distresses that will come upon the Devil’s system of things at one time, completely wiping it out, the political system, the religious system, the commercial system, and abyssing the demons who control this world and even the Devil himself. Being on guard as a Christian at God’s spiritual temple and staying awake there will mean, too, that you will hold your approved position before the Son of man. He will preserve you alive through the battle of Armageddon, which destroys this present evil world, into God’s new world of righteousness.
This will not be the first time that a world is destroyed. It happened before in the days of Noah, “when the patience of God was waiting in Noah’s days, while the ark was being constructed, in which a few people, that is, eight souls, were carried safely through the water.” (1 Pet. 3:20) Jehovah had good cause for destroying the people that lived in Noah’s day. They paid no attention to God, nor to the message that God had Noah preach to them concerning the end of that world. But they were given to eating and drinking and having a good time, feasting, thinking of just themselves and their own anxieties of life. They were truly weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking. Jesus tells us that it would be very similar in our day just before the battle of Armageddon to what it was in Noah’s day: “For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. For as people were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be.” (Matt. 24:37-39) This flood came upon all those dwelling upon the face of the earth during Noah’s day: Identical to what is going to happen at the battle of Armageddon. Christians cannot be asleep. Jesus said, ‘Happy is the one that stays awake and keeps his outer garments.’ Noah was not asleep as to his building of the ark. He kept busy at construction. In addition he kept preaching. With him were his three sons and their wives and Noah’s own wife; all of them kept busy with Noah, and when the flood came they were ready, they were awake, they were in the ark with all the animals and they were preserved alive out of the world that was, into a cleansed earth. Noah and his family stayed on the watch, worked and were ready when the rains came. It pays to stay awake! You do not lose your outer garments of God’s ministry.
If Noah had not stayed by the things that were committed into his care, he would not have saved himself, and others also, his loved ones. The only sensible thing to do now is stay awake and take care of the responsibilities that fall upon one, just as the early Christians did when destruction was about to befall Jerusalem. Many years before the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 (A.D.), the Christians had received warning through the prophecy that Jesus gave them. “Furthermore, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then understand that the desolating of her has drawn near. Then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains, and let those in the midst of her withdraw, and let those in the nearby regions not enter into her, because these are days for meting out justice that all the things written may be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:20-22) Shortly after the days of Pentecost many persons gained a knowledge of the truth, dedicated themselves to Jehovah’s service and were baptized. In fact, in one day 3,000 persons were baptized. There must have been many assembly places within Jerusalem where God’s people met and studied the Word of God together and prepared themselves for their preaching activity. But all this time while they were studying the Bible they were on the watch, they were awake to the critical situations that were prophesied by Christ Jesus, when Jerusalem would be in for destruction. So in the year 66, when the armies of Rome surrounded the city, it certainly must have brought to their attention that destruction was imminent. When these armies moved away for a short season, all the Christians in Jerusalem fled to the mountains, out of the city gates, over the hills of Galilee, down into the Jordan valley and across the river to Gilead, to the mountains where there was safety. When one is warned, why stay at the place where destruction is going to happen? Why be asleep at this crucial time, when one should be awake and on duty? Those early Christians were awake to their responsibilities. They wanted to preserve their lives so they could continue to preach the good news of the Kingdom after the destruction of Jerusalem. They did.
While Christendom is exposed to true Christians today because of not having on its outer garments, and this is due to falling asleep to Christian privileges of service, Jehovah’s witnesses world-wide continue to preach God’s kingdom and pay attention to the divine will. They see to it that those coming within Jehovah’s sanctuary for worship are clean, just as the guard protected the temple of Jehovah when on night watch to see that nothing unclean got in to pollute the temple or to steal from it. In these last days the Kingdom interests have been committed into the care of the “faithful and discreet slave” class, and now joining with them is a “great crowd” of “other sheep” coming from all nations, kindreds and tongues, and these, too, have been given the privilege of guarding these Kingdom interests by preaching even to the ends of the earth. This great crowd now numbering well over 770,000 ministers of the Kingdom are not being weighed down by overeating and heavy drinking and the anxieties of this life. They are alerted to the fact that Christ Jesus will come at Armageddon as a thief, suddenly, instantly, and that when this destruction comes to the earth it will affect all those dwelling upon the face of the earth. So they keep awake, and hold their position before the Son of man, guarding the Kingdom interests, keeping on their ministerial garments, showing that they appreciate their responsibilities. By having on these garments they prove that they have been favored by Jehovah God and have been retained in Jehovah’s holy service in his sanctuary.
WHO REALLY CAN BE SAVED ?
The person that does right and seeks truth will come into the light. John the Baptist introduced the Jews to the one who became the “light of the world.” John the Baptist “came for the purpose of a witness, in order to bear witness about the light, that people of all kinds might believe through him.” (John 1:7) John knew that the light of the world was Christ Jesus. (John 8:12) Jesus, having instructed his disciples concerning truth, said to them: “You are the light of the world.” (Matt. 5:14) So true Christians today are the only light there is. People of all walks of life should examine themselves and ask themselves the questions, “Am I afraid of the light? Am I afraid of truth?” Jesus puts it squarely to everyone: “Now this is the basis for judgment, that the light has come into the world but men have loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were wicked. For he that practices vile things hates the light and does not come to the light, in order that his works may not be reproved. But he that does what is true comes to the light, in order that his works may be made manifest as having been worked in harmony with God.”—John 3:19-21.
The rich man who came to Jesus seeking life was not seeking truth. He turned away from the opportunity of following Jesus and went to look after his riches. One must really love truth and light in order to work in harmony with God. This is what the disciples of Christ were seeking to do, and Jesus said to his disciples: “Truly I say to you that it will be a difficult thing for a rich man to get into the kingdom of the heavens.” “When the disciples heard that, they expressed very great surprise, saying: ‘Who really can be saved?’ Looking them in the face, Jesus said to them: ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ ” (Matt. 19:23, 25, 26) One who does the divine will of the heavenly Father will find that it is possible for men to be saved. God makes it possible. He made it possible by sending his only-begotten Son into the world that whosoever believed on him and exercised faith in him might get everlasting life. (John 3:16) If one believes in the Son then he is going to follow his teaching. He is going to walk in his footsteps. He is going to be a minister. It means service, hard work, and keeping at it. Keeping at it means being on the watch continually.
After Jesus left his disciples and ascended to the heavens, the eleven faithful apostles along with other disciples stuck together and stayed on the watch. When Pentecost arrived the holy spirit descended upon them and energized them to further activity. From then on nothing could stop them. They preached. The same holy spirit that energized the disciples then is working on true Christians today. The same active force or holy spirit from God is now stimulating his people to go ahead with the work of preaching the good news. Immediately after Pentecost for three and one half years the disciples traveled throughout Palestine preaching and gathering the remnant of the Jews who were seeking the Messiah. After that the divine will indicated that the message of salvation should go to all nations, kindreds and tongues; and so the disciples went to Asia Minor, Greece, Babylon, Italy and other parts of the world.
The command given to Christians was: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19, 20) Today nothing stops a real Christian from carrying out that responsibility, not even death itself. Even in these last days, when Christians see the gathering together of the great armies of the earth to the battle of Armageddon, they are not fearful, but they stay on the watch, looking after the things that Jehovah God has put in their care. Their big interest is the Kingdom interest, preaching the good news in all the world for a witness to all nations and gathering the other sheep. The “faithful and discreet slave” class is standing upon the mountain of God crying out to all who have an ear to hear to come and to take of the “water of life” freely. Today hundreds of thousands of persons are coming to the “mountain of Jehovah,” there to learn of his laws and his ways. They do appreciate his undeserved kindness, the gift of his beloved Son, for through him salvation is gained. They love the truth, and because of this they come to the light, Christ Jesus, and, having come, they want to do the works in harmony with God.—Isa. 2:2-4; Rev. 22:17.
It is not going to be easy for a true Christian to stand out publicly declaring the good news, no more than it was for the early disciples, who stood in the synagogues and in the public forums declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus. For this, the Bible tells us, the disciples were flogged and frequently they were warned to quit preaching. Did the early Christians quit? No; for concerning the apostles it is reported: “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 5:42) Those apostles, though imperfect, stayed at their divinely assigned work. They did not pity themselves or make excuses for quitting because the going was hard. They were convinced that what they were doing was the right thing to do. Jesus did it. They had heard their teacher tell them what to do and what to say. They had the holy spirit backing them up now. This was no time for hesitancy, no time for fear. It was a time to keep awake and on the watch. It was then time to preach the good news of God’s kingdom, and it still is the time to preach, yes, now more than ever, because right now we are at the time when Christ Jesus comes as inspector of the guards. Happy is the one who stays awake and keeps his outer garments, so that he may not walk naked and have people look upon his parts of shame. Regardless of what Christendom does —and the evidence shows that Christendom has been asleep as far as looking after Kingdom interests is concerned, and has been stripped naked to Christian eyes—Jehovah’s witnesses must and will stay awake in these last days of the end of this system of things and preach. This is the time to do the divine will of gathering the “other sheep” from all nations, kindreds, tongues, religions and from all walks of life, rich or poor.—John 10:16.
STAYING BY THESE THINGS FOR SALVATION
It is so necessary for a Christian to stay by these things he was taught in his early Christian life. Paul said to Timothy: “Preach the word, be at it urgently in favorable season, in troublesome season.” (2 Tim. 4:2) Nothing may be allowed to separate a Christian from the love of God no matter how hard the opposition may be. It is no time to be sleepy or to relax or to be eating and drinking and be looking after the anxieties of this life. The persistence on the part of Christ Jesus in preaching God’s kingdom irritated the religious clergy of his day so much that they finally put him to death on the torture stake. They murdered him! The early Christians were just as persistent in their preaching, and by threats and imprisonments the Devil’s crowd of that day tried to get them to stop declaring the good news of Christ Jesus that he had taught them. Ulis failed.
The same religious crowd has been trying to silence Christians in these last days, influencing the political crowd to take action against Jehovah’s witnesses. The totalitarian rulers have tried brainwashing, concentration camps and Communist prisons. The rulers have tried to break down the faithfulness of some of Jehovah’s witnesses so that they would not continue in their service to God. However, when a Christian is determined to keep faithful and on the watch, all the brainwashing that is done will have no effect.
A book published in the British Isles in 1957, called Battle for the Mind, a Physiology of Conversion and Brainwashing, said: “Those reported as among the best able to preserve their standards and beliefs in the German concentration camps during World War two were members of the sect of Jehovah’s witnesses. This pacifist religious group has many strange beliefs, but these were implanted with such strength and certainty by their religious leaders as to remain operative when continued debilitation and psychological degraduation had reduced most other people of the highest ideals, but no specific loyalties, to accept the very lowest conception of individual and group morality. A safeguard against conversion is indeed a burning and obsessive belief in some other creed or way of life. History shows that well indoctrinated and trained soldiers can be just as brave and stubborn as Jehovah’s witnesses.”
So must all of Jehovah’s witnesses be today, all Christians, all true followers of Christ Jesus. Through this singleness of devotion to Jehovah through Christ Jesus they can be saved.
Where do Jehovah’s witnesses gain this strength ? Not by anything within themselves. It is by acquiring power from God. Paul told Timothy: “You, therefore, my child, keep on acquiring power in the undeserved kindness that is in connection with Christ Jesus, and the things you heard from me with the support of many witnesses, these things commit to faithful men who in turn will be adequately qualified to teach others. As a right kind of soldier of Christ Jesus take your part in suffering evil.”—2 Tim. 2:1-3.
Jehovah’s witnesses must stay alert daily by studying God’s Word, meeting with Jehovah’s people in the congregations, going from house to house preaching the good news. Today the German concentration camps have long been gone, but Jehovah’s witnesses remain, triumphant. The Communist concentration camps are still in operation, but Jehovah’s witnesses are growing rapidly behind the Iron Curtain, as the Yearbook report of Jehovah’s witnesses shows. The greatest single group of Jehovah’s witnesses outside the United States in any one country has been assembled behind the Iron Curtain despite all the brainwashing, propaganda and threats to annihilate and destroy God’s faithful servants.
No matter where anyone lives throughout the world, if he is going to remain a Christian and stay on the watch and be found faithful when Christ Jesus comes at Armageddon as a thief, then he must be paying constant attention to himself and to what he is teaching. The only way that he can do this is to stay close to Jehovah’s organization, study the divine will and live according to it, for if he stays by these things and does them he will save himself and those who listen to him.
There is the strength of Jehovah’s organization: faith in Jehovah God, in his beloved Son, Christ Jesus, and in his faithful promises. Christian minds must be filled with truth. And those who do the same thing that Timothy, an early Christian, did, ‘paying constant attention to himself and to his teaching, staying by these things, thus saving both himself and those who listened to him,’ will have the same reward as he did. It can be you, if you seek the Light, Christ Jesus, and do the divine will! Endurance brings happiness. Endurance brings reward. Accomplishment through faithful labor brings great joy and boundless happiness.
Christians today work, are awake, really busy preaching. Even though while they are doing this work it means persecution for all, and death to some, still a Christian must always remember that Jesus said: “My food is for me to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34) So right up until the very end, to the finish of the battle of Armageddon, Jehovah’s witnesses will continue to be on the watch, staying awake, keeping their ministerial outer garments. They will stay at their assignment declaring the good news of God’s kingdom.
JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES AND THEIR SOCIETIES
Jehovah’s witnesses are a group of Christian people from all walks of life and of all colors and from all nations, speaking hundreds of tongues. But every one of them is wholly devoted to Jehovah God; they have dedicated their lives to his service and have been baptized in water. They are determined by Jehovah’s undeserved kindness to do the divine will as set forth in their textbook, the Holy Bible. They are of one mind, having the mind of Christ. They look to Jehovah God as their teacher. “It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by Jehovah.’ Everyone that has heard the Father’s teaching and has learned comes to me.” (John 6:45) Jehovah’s witnesses appreciate that Jehovah is the Supreme One of the universe and has all knowledge and wisdom. “For ‘who has come to know the mind of Jehovah, that he may instruct him?’ But we do have the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor. 2:16) So with this oneness of mind Jehovah’s witnesses around the world work harmoniously together.
The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania is a corporation that Jehovah’s witnesses use to direct their work world-wide. Its headquarters is at 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America. There are many other corporations that are used and that work in conjunction with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, such as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, and of Germany, the International Bible Students Association of Canada, England and Australia, and numerous other local corporations. But all of them have the same function, that is, to keep Jehovah’s witnesses organized in congregations and active in the preaching of the good news of Jehovah’s kingdom.
The outstanding event of Jehovah’s witnesses during the year was the Divine Will International Assembly held in New York city, July 27 to August 3, 1958. This assembly of Christian people was the climax of the year and the most outstanding Christian assembly in the history of the world. The Societies afore-mentioned arranged to bring delegates from all parts of the earth to the Divine Will assembly in New York, and the unity, joy and happiness of these people are without compare. It was Jehovah who directed this assembly. His spirit was manifest. The warm love shown by all from many nations toward one another showed that this organization is truly bearing the fruits of the spirit. The divine will was made clear to all in attendance, and the effects of this marvelous convention have been felt by the congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses around the earth. The truths concerning God’s kingdom that were expressed will penetrate into every nation. A comprehensive report of the assembly is made a part of this Yearbook.
DIVINE WILL. INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
God’s kingdom rules—throughout the universe! As never before in history it made its presence felt in the earth in the summer of the year 1958, not with any violence, but with a remarkable peaceful demonstration. Never before did it have so many of its ambassadors and envoys assembled together for training and consultation and for a united public testimony and proclamation as then. The world-known Yankee Stadium and the neighboring Polo Grounds, the largest baseball parks in metropolitan New York city, literally overflowed with myriads, yet without disorder of any kind, just as befitted representatives of the great Government of universal order. Daily for eight days in succession more than 145,000 of them came together and deliberated concerning the interests of God’s kingdom; and peace, orderliness and brotherhood reigned among them. The tension, the fierce charges and countercharges, the rivalry and the clash that marked the official gatherings at the United Nations capital a few miles to the south did not disturb or mar a single session of the Divine Will International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses from Sunday, July 27, to Sunday, August 3. Coming from at least 123 countries and island groups, yet they met together in loyal unity around the now-ruling kingdom of God.
The hostility of the nations of the East and of the West because of endangerment to their divided selfish interests had brought all mankind near to the brink of war—of World War III. The Middle East, a zone of continual ferment and recurring trouble in Bible history, was like a powder keg that a wild spark could blow up. Violent rebellion had overthrown the royal government in the ancient Bible land of Mesopotamia, and Russia and the United Arab Republic of Egypt and Syria had promptly recognized the rebel regime. At the request of the then constitutional president of Lebanon, the United States of America had landed thousands of troops in that coastal land of famous cedar trees; and at the request of the king of Jordan Great Britain had landed troops at its capital Amman. Selfishly concerned nations called these moves “acts of aggression." The United Nations and its border observation force proved to be unequal to the emergency. The earthly situation was shaping up dangerously. For an international nonpolitical assembly of any size to be held the time seemed to be most inopportune. Especially so when delegates would come from the four quarters of the earth, even areas in the trouble zone, and would be dependent upon the world transportation system.
However, the long-announced international assembly had not been misnamed. It was the “Divine Will” for it to be held, and world conditions had to yield to it. The Most High God of heaven, who rules by means of his enthroned Son Jesus Christ, displayed his power to rule in the midst of his demonic and human enemies. He restrained the forces behind the Eastern and Western blocs of nations in order that the ambassadors and envoys of his heavenly kingdom might assemble in peace according to divine will.
It takes time and organization to gather together any great number of ambassadors, diplomats and official representatives from worldly nations. Expect, then, the coming together at New York city of more than 150,000 ambassadors and envoys of God’s kingdom from more than sixscore lands, and one can at least faintly imagine the amount of time and organization it had to take to arrange to bring together all the dedicated Christian witnesses of Jehovah to the Divine Will International Assembly for eight days.
All those attending had been given nineteen months of advance notice by the announcement that appeared in the issue of December 15,1956, of the official Kingdom magazine, The Watchtower, Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom, page 763. By that time the contract had been secured for the use of the Yankee Stadium during the announced eight days. However, in view of the growth of the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses since the 1953 international assembly in Yankee Stadium, supplemented by a Trailer City many miles away in the neighboring state of New Jersey, it was evident from the start of the negotiations that more than the one stadium was needed for the vastly greater number of assembly delegates expected. So with Intense interest the spiritual governing body of Jehovah’s witnesses watched the developments with regard to the baseball park of the New York Giants, the Polo Grounds, just northwest across the Harlem River from Yankee Stadium. A shift of the National League baseball team, the New York Giants, from New York city to San Francisco, California, was under consideration; and providentially this transfer was approved on August 19, 1957, by the Board of Directors of the corporation operating the team. This shift left the Polo Grounds without regular occupancy and hence available for assembly use. Without delay the president of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society closed a contract with the owners to use the Polo Grounds simultaneously with Yankee Stadium.
Efforts, begun long in advance, to procure an ample and convenient site for erecting a Trailer City to accommodate tens of thousands of theocratic assemblers failed repeatedly. Finally, near the time for the opening of the international assembly, the monthly service folder, Kingdom Ministry, as of July, 1958, advised definitely that there would be “no trailer city.” It was plainly the divine will that all the theocratic assemblers meet together at one site, in direct contact with one another and in full view of one another, under one administration, for one combined demonstration of Christian love, fellowship and solidarity. Whatever tents were to be pitched were to be those right alongside the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium for cafeteria and for great overflow crowds to sit under cover and listen to the Assembly program by sound equipment.
Moreover, there were other vital meetings to be held with key members of Jehovah’s visible organization that could not conveniently be held inside the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium. For such special meetings, as well as for additional overflow accommodations, the New Rockland Palace was rented, just one city block south of the Polo Grounds. Thus the all-provident King of eternity, Jehovah God, not only called his royal ambassadors and envoys to the great Kingdom assembly but also saw to it that they had ample accommodations for meetings and for transacting their affairs.
LODGINGS AND DEPARTMENTAL SERVICES
Although situated in a so-called Christian land, New York city is in fact a great pagan city, a large percentage of it not professing Christianity or even Judaism and those who do merely “having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power.” (2 Tim. 3:5) This great metropolis and its environs, with over eight millions of inhabitants, have many hotels, tourist camps and motels, but not enough rooms were available at convenient rates for the critical time, the international assembly dates. Since all the assembly delegates from all quarters of the earth were to flock together to New York city and needed to be roomed there and roundabout, with no trailer city available, this posed a big problem, not for the great God of heaven, but for his witnesses in and about New York city who were to play hosts to the overwhelming number of guests from outside this metropolitan area. But the hand of Almighty God, the divine Host, worked in their behalf, however, not without strenuous effort and extreme hospitality on the part of the members of the seventy-three congregations inside New York city and many other congregations roundabout.
Generously the Yankee Stadium management provided the use of its facilities for the two-hour “kick-off” meeting on Saturday afternoon, April 26, 1958, for starting off the campaign to get rooming accommodations in the private homes of people in this great pagan or semireligious area, where neighborliness is not much practiced with one’s heart in it. Fully 9,000 attended this kick-off meeting in Yankee Stadium to receive encouragement and instructions on how to proceed with this mammoth rooming-accommodations task and succeed in it. At the very start they were told that they would have to accommodate more than 150,000 guests, who would come by various means of transport from more than a hundred lands and largely with limited means for lodging and other assembly expenses.
The very next morning that largest number ever to launch a rooming-accommodations campaign was out in the field, going to the private homes in the metropolitan area seeking and completing arrangements for lodgings for the coming theocratic assemblers. Exemplarily the homes of members of the metropolitan congregations threw open their own doors first in an expression of hospitality to Christian ministers, to Kingdom ambassadors and envoys, before asking the homes of Catholics, Protestants, Jews and outright pagans to do so. The Brooklyn Bethel home, where the central headquarters personnel of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society of Pennsylvania have their home, arranged to take in more than three hundred assembly delegates from more than eighty lands, one or two or more extra cots being installed in each dwelling room. Happy were the hospitable, for they were shown hospitality when sorely needed.
Following due announcement, the requests for rooms in hotels and private homes poured in by the thousands each week at the rooming-accommodations department on the eleventh floor of the Watchtower Building, 77 Sands Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. For many weeks the number of requests received exceeded the number of rooming accommodations definitely engaged, and the margin between the requests and the rooms secured widened. The first weekend of the Assembly month saw more than 30,000 requests still not accommodated, and more requests were sure to come in by mail, not counting in the many requests that would be made directly at the Rooming Departments when set up at Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds. With just three more weeks to go till Assembly, faith and perseverance needed to be exercised to the limit in the hunt for rooms. What a joy and relief it was, when, at the dinner table just a few days before the Assembly start, the president of the Watch Tower Society read off a triumphant roomingaccommodations report to the Brooklyn Bethel family, revealing that several hundred rooming accommodations had at last been secured in excess of all the requests received to that date! The great King and heavenly Supervisor of the approaching international assembly had rewarded the hospitality, the strenuous labors and the faith of the congregations of his dedicated witnesses in and around the Assembly city. Still the engaging of further rooms continued, in order to provide for any emergencies as to lodgings.
By television, radio, printed matter and direct, personal visitation at homes and hotels the colossal need for rooms was advertised to the millions of inhabitants of New York city. Many were the cases of exceptional generosity that turned up in exhibition of good will and confidence toward Jehovah’s witnesses, thousands of absolutely free accommodations being tendered. Thus the entire metropolitan district was keenly alive to the fact that New York city was to play host to the Divine Will International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses. From the beginning of July onward, advertising
cards in New York city subway trains, billboards, magazines, handbills, newspaper announcements, radio and television, besides bumper signs on thousands of private autos from all parts of America and Canada, were overwhelming the people with notice of the Assembly and especially of its public meeting on August 3.
Long before the first official announcement of the Assembly was made in the Kingdom magazine, The Watchtower, behind-the-scenes preparations were already under way for it, Jehovah God, the King of eternity, has gifted his earthly organization with the needed farsightedness like that of the high-perched eagle. This 1958 Assembly was included within the purpose of the Most High God, and nothing could be left to take care of itself without preparation. The Assembly was to be a world-impressive demonstration of the power, organizability, theocraticalness and presence of God’s kingdom. Hence the Assembly needed the utmost of preparation, with due attention to the thousands of details. There is nothing slipshod about God’s kingdom. For an assembly of the size estimated, an organized personnel of ten thousand voluntary workers had to be assembled and assigned to departments and duties, from workers serving on the platform program down through the twenty-two listed departments, yes, down to the vital cleaning and sanitation department. Everything deserved to be done for the comfort, convenience and help of the Assembly delegates that they might better enjoy the program of platform events and of united field activities in advertising God’s kingdom, for eight days straight. One can well imagine the extensive and intensive planning, arranging and organization work that had to go forward. Not only was there an organizational structure to be worked out, but many physical structures had to be prefabricated for the platforms and their decorations, for the booths, for the soundequipment facilities, and for many other things. A tremendous amount of printing in many languages needed to be done on short order. This kept the Society’s factories in Brooklyn working night and day, for weeks.
THE KINGDOM A DOMINANT FEATURE
The divine Creator of heaven and earth does everything with a purpose in expression of his will. (Rev. 4:11) The Divine Will International Assembly of his witnesses had to serve his purpose, because it was held in his name. His purpose was that this Assembly should serve the interests of his established kingdom now ruling. In any international gathering of ambassadors, foreign ministers or heads of governments it is very
Yankee Stadium on the final day. Divine Will International Assembly from July 27 to August 3, 1958
Ahiiw: Yankee Siad i uni with 122.KH in attendance inside. There were 53X05 more in overlhm larilitics outside. Behm: Pidi> Grounds with 65.755 inside and M,a4R more outside. ( omhiiied attendance, 253JJ22
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Port of the record attendance at the public tnlk. “God's Kingdom Rules—Is the World's End Near?" Ditine Will International Assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses. Neu York city, July 27 to August 3, 1958
necessary for first an agenda to be worked out, a program of events, a listing of subjects that it is agreed upon to discuss freely, in the hope of coming to some agreement and understanding and thus making progress and getting something done. Since the Divine Will International Assembly concerned itself with the greatest and only enduring government in the wide universe, it was highly proper that a far-reaching, many-featured, progressive and purposeful program be scheduled. The program had to be in full harmony with the divine will as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, in the light of fulfilled Bible prophecy. It had to serve the interests of God’s kingdom as such interests were dictated by the needs of God’s ambassadors and envoys in doing the work that they are ordained to do in all the earth, in the midst of enemies.
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