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    wt cult

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    2 views7 pages

    Info X

    Uploaded by

    Omar Benítez
    wt cult

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 7
    ‘15 oF Govs KincboM al Bible teaching had ‘Witnesses have con- ansom. The very first that “merit toward Grove mW ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH re ‘Return.’ This pamphlet was published in 1877. Broth- [F-eraat is cer Russell had some 50,000 copies of it printed and dis- Prgreaive Truc SO 1 tributed. | Ha 1882, C.T- Russell wrote: “The . In that pamphlet, he wrote: “We believe the scrip- | “-Bibves our only stendard, and: ‘tures to teach, that, at His coming and for a time after onvention sponsored Hehas come, He will remain invisible; afterward man- ‘dar Point, Ohio, the ifesting or showing Himself in judgments and various ‘come! All Believers forms, so that ‘every eye shall see Him.”* In support of er of The Watchtower this, he discussed such texts as Acts 1:11 (‘he will come in the same manner as you have beheld him go'—that is, unobserved by the world) and John 14:19 (“a little longer and the world will behold me no more”). Brother Russell also re- ferred to the fact that The Emphatic Diaglott, which had frst been published in complete form in 1864 with an interlinear word-for-word English trans- tall at once. In many lation, gave evidence that the Greek expression parowsi‘a meant “pres- tem of truth but did cence.” In analyzing the Bible's use of that term, Russell explained in this were willing to Jearn, pamphlet: “The Greek word generally used in referring to the second ad- ‘What they learned ‘vent—Parousia, frequently translated coming—invariably signifies personal praenc, as having come, arrived and never signifies to be on tbe ny, a5 we use the word coming.” ‘When discussing the purpose of Chris's presence, Russell made it clear that this was not something that would be aecomplished in a single world- shattering moment. “The second advent, like the first,” he wrote, “covers a period of time, and is not the event of a moment.” During that time, he mility is needed. This. ‘wrote, the “little flock” would be given their reward with the Lord as joint cha course strongly heirs in his Kingdom; others, perhaps billions, would be given opportunity fiuled by those who for perfect life on an earth restored to Edenic beauty.—Luke 12:32. Within just a few years, on the basis of further study of the Scriptures, Russell realized that Christ would not only return invisibly but also remain invisible, even when manifesting his presence by judgment upon the wicked. In 1876, when Russell had first read a copy of Herald of the Morn- I those who were dil- ‘ng, he had learned that there was another group who then believed that cerned that when the Christ’s return would be invisible and who associated that return with John 14:3, 19. blessings for all families of the earth. From Mr. Barbour, editor of that cttheeror of S publication, Russell also came to be persuaded that Christ's invisible teenies ae ‘Presence had Begun in 1674" Riteation wat ltr daw to Us by the bumed up in 1873 of * This was infoaced by the belief thatthe seventh millennium of aman history had Began sude ideas generally a8 {in 73 an thats priod of divine dsr (f equal ngth to former period coniered vo be oe of favor) upon satura rel would end in 1078. The chronology was Guwed becaue ofr corless reproach upon Iying onan inaccurate rendering of Acts 13:20 the King Jemes Version, belief that there was a sing Kingdom. These ‘taserption erat | Kins 61, and fk to ake int account Biba! sachronses inthe eae laa ‘ding of rigs ofthe kings of Judah and of lara A clearer undertanding of Biba chroaak manner ‘oxy wus published in 1943 inthe book "Te Tah Shell Mate You Fe, andit mas the rend Manner of Our Lord's ‘We fllwiog year in the book “Tbe Kingdom I at Hand,” wel sin ter publications TEHOVANS WITNESSES -PROCLAIMERS OF GODS KINGDOM, /993 They could see that 1914 was clearly marked by Bible prophecy 1993, 14 ‘JeMovavrs WiTNESSES—PROCLAIMERS OF GOD'S KINGDOM subtitle “Herald of Christ's Presence,” which appeared on the cover of Zion's Watch Tower. Recognition of Christ’s presence as being invisible became an impor- tant foundation on which an understanding of many Bible prophecies ‘would be built. Those early Bible Students realized that the presence of the Lord should be of primary concern to all true Christians. (Mark 13:33-37) ‘They were keenly interested in the Master’s return and were alert to the fact that they had a responsibility to publicize it, bt they did not yet clearly discern all the details. Yet, what God's sprit did enable them to understand at a very early time was truly remarkable, One of these truths involved a highly significant date marked by Bible prophecy. End of the Gentile Times ‘The matter of Bible chronology had long been of great interest to Bible students. Commentators had set out a variety of views on Jesus’ prophecy about “the times of the Gentiles” and the prophet Daniel’s record of Neb- uuchadnezzar’s dream regarding the tree stump that was banded for “seven times.”—Luke 21:24, KJ; Dan. 4:10-17. As early as 1823, John A. Brown, whose work was published in Lon- don, England, calculated tbe “seven times” of Daniel chapter 4 to be 2,520 _years in length. But he did not clearly discern the date with which the prophetic time period began or when it would end. He did, however, connect these “seven times” with the Gentile Times of Luke 21:24, In 1844, E. B, Elliott, a British clergyman, drew attention to 1914 as a possible date for the end of the “seven times” of Daniel, but he also set out an alternate view that pointed to the time of the French Revolution. Robert Seeley, of London, in 1849, handled the matter in a similar manner. At least by 1870, 2 publication edited by Joseph Seiss and associates and printed in Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, was setting out calculations that pointed to 1914 asa sig- nificant date, even though the reasoning it contained was based on chro nology that C. T. Russel ater rejected. Then, in the August, September, and October 1875 issues of Herald of the Morning, N. H. Barbour helped to harmonize details that had been pointed out by others. Using chronology compiled by Christopher Bow en, a clergyman in England, and published by E. B. Elliot, Barbour iden- tified tbe start of the Gentile Tomes with King Zedckiah’s removal from king ship as foretold at Ezekiel 21:25, 26, and he pointed to 19H as marking the end of the Gentile Times. Early in 1876, C. T, Russell received a copy of Herald ofthe Morning. He promptly wrote to Barbour and then spent time with him in Philadel phia during the surnmer, discussing, among other things, prophetic time periods. Shortly thereafter, in an article entitled “Gentile Times: When Do Grown BA ‘They End?*, and stated th AD. 1914."1 Beane 1 duced in 1877 to the same o as the ones d 1914 CE. as! Prophecy. In Dav (later “The Times mean? The Bible « pnornzor, 1929 ‘wheat’? and the “tares”” growing in Bria ld, He declared they must continue thus to grow together until tho end of the world. (Matt. 5 ‘Thus , the true fol- 1 oe Choi were greatly hindared by the falas ‘Tho teachers in the churches were selfish men inter ested in political influence and perooal, fatter. ‘Under the influence and contol of the enemy Satan they eansed the truth to beeome obscure ent *ethguin etvention ia called tothe words of Jer, the qreat Prophet, who with authority from Jehovah Er his disciples: “T go to prepare a place for you. ‘hod if T go . I will come again and receive you ‘unto myoalf.” "Tt should therefore be expected the coming again of the Lord would mark the begin: ning of a better understanding of God's Word. In harmony with this, Peter at Pentecost uttered prophecy maying: “Times of refreshing, shall come from the presence [face] of the Lord [Jehovah] ; an hho aball end Jesus Christ, which before was preach into you; whom the heaven must roceive [retain] ‘until the times of restitution of all things, which hath spoken by the mouth of all his boly prophets finco the world began.”” (Acts 8:1021) In this the porte clorly foretells « time of refreshing to the Deols ofthe Lord, and that the tine wou he Leo : sco ot mean that Jorus most be bodily present again on the earth, because with him distance Sno barter. Hes a pint being of the divine mare, 5 Se ee eeaeoas and bis power ia witout lint cat Se in heave arth, he could administer the affairs 3a heave from ong point as wel as from another. DAYS OF UNDERSTANDING 6 ‘Tho apostlo’s words mean that, at a stated time and ‘acting in aceord with Jchovah’s orders, Christ Jesus would begin to minister to those consecrated to God and give them refreshing, What would be the nature of that refreshing? Peter mentions ‘‘restitution””, which would mean ‘a restoring of that which had been taken away or hid- don, and would necessarily include the truth that was ‘hidden during the ‘‘dark ages"”. On another oceasion Josus said that ‘Elijah must first come and restore all things’, (Matt. 17:11) Elijah was a prophet of God who did a restitution work in his time, in that he restored to the Israelites an understanding of the truth concerning God and their covenant relationship with God, (1 Ki, 18:39) His work was prophetic and foretold that the Lord would restore his truth to his own people, After Elijah was dead, Malachi prophe- siod that God would send Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. (Mal. 4:5, 6) ‘That prophecy is proof that another should do a work similar to that done by Elijah, but on a far greater seale and of much more importance. ‘Tho restitution or restoring of all things, of which ‘Jesus spoke, and also that mentioned by the Apostle Peter, must begin with the restoring to the people of God the truths that had been hidden during the dark ages. That restitution work would progress during ‘the manifestation of the second presence of Jesus Christ. It would be expected that the days of under- standing of the prophecies would bogin sometime after the manifestation of the Lord’s second presanee, ‘nd the understanding would continue to increase thereafter, ‘The Scriptural proof is ‘gigevean Obit bane Te et Jugoany 3, 1024 Pentecost, that ig, the Aftieth day, oF Harvest Feust, or Feast of Weeks, nay be regurded as a supplement to the Pamover, It lasted only for one day; but the modern Jews extend 1¢ over two. ‘The people, having at the Passover pre- tented before God the first seat of the harvest, parted 10 Uelr homes to guther 1t In, and thea retumed to keep the Iburvest-feast before Jehovuis. From the sixteenth of Nisan seven wooks were reckoued Inclusive, ‘tueth a sixth of Sivan (about the end of May) (1 ‘thou beginaeat ‘wus the Jewish fervaits, the Levite within thelr gates, the stranger. lew, and the widow, 12 the place chosen by God for ear they brought a freewill-oftering of Cele wus thelr God.—Deuterovomy 10:10, 1.” MIt wo ossume that the harvest of the wheat clus, aamely, the saints, began with the beginning of the sec- end presence of our Lord in 1874, then would it be un- reasonable to conclude that the harvest must continue for fifty symbolic days, or fitty literal yeara? If so, then ‘we might expect the harvest to end fifty years after 1874, ar with the year 1924, If this be true, what a woulerful Incentive for the saints to be watchful, prayerful, active, and rejoicing in their privileges to have a part in the Tord’s work in these concluding days of the harvest. ‘That would mean thatthe selection of the royal family would be completed with the end of 1924. If this be true then surely with confidence the saints now on varth can announce with the opening of this year, “The king- dom of heaven is at hand,” because all the members of the royal line are about completed for the kingdom. 17 MEANING TO THE CHURCH *Surcly there is not the slightest room for doubt in Tin] of # Huy consecrated Ch of God that The rd Jesus ia present and has been since 1874; that the Barer as bean in progress duting that Ue; that mast of the saints have now been gathered. ‘Therefore, can there be reasonable doubt about the early completion of the church and ite glorification in view of the fulfil- ment of prophecy? Do not all the physical facts about w indicate just exactly what we expected during the concluding hours of the church’s earthly pilgrimage? shen should we expect the closing days of the har vest work and witnessing for the Lord to be all joy and no trials? ‘To answer this question we must take into consideration the words of Jesus relative to the last vwork of the church, It seems quite clear thet the last vwork of the church while in the flesh is to be that of proclaiming the good news that Satan’s empire is fall- ing; that the kingdom of heaven is here, and the Lless- {ng that the people will reap from that kingdom. Con- Jesus said: “And this gospel of the king- tm WATCH TOWER dorm shall be preached fn all the world for a witness unte all nations; and then shall the-end come.” (Matthew 24:14) The root word from which the word “end” taken in this text is “telos”; and the meaning given to it by Doctor Strong is: “The point aimed at, as a limit, final or uttermost.” “The Lord’s words here then, we would understand, mean to aay: The point aimed at, as « limit of the work of the church while in the flesh, the final and uttermost part of that work, is and will be that of proclaiming the good tidings of the end of the old order and that the Kingdom of heaven is here and of the essings it will bring; and this should be done as a witness to the na- tions; that when this work of witnessing is done, that is, the end or final point aimed at, then will follow the great tribulation thet will completely wreck ail the nations Necessarily there must be much joy in the heart of the Christian while proclaiming this blessed message, becaus it micans the bringing to the people that. which Will comfort aud console them in the hour of distress. ‘Tt means to tell the groaning ereation that the time tor their deliverance is at hand. At the same time the worda of Jesus in the context chow that this final work to be done will be accompanied by many severe test and trials Jn verse thirteon he says: “He that endures unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Here the word “end” is translated from the eame Greek word “telos.” Therefore we conclude that the endurance must relate to the same time that this message is to be delivered. If those who endure to the end are to be saved, the converse of the statement is true: ‘That those who do not endure to the end will not be of the royal family. Since the endurance to the end and the preaching of the gospel of the king- dom referred to the same time, then it follows that there will be much to endure, ‘The word “endure” means to Dear trials, have fortitude, patiently suffer and perse- vere. Perstyere means to persist in any business or en terprise undertaken, to maintain a purpose in spite of counter influences, opposition or discouragement; not to give over or abandon what is undertaken, ‘The infer- ence is, therefore, thet there will be a great temptation to relax, to become discouraged, to yield to opposing {influences and to give over or abandon the final work. the ouly conclusion to be drawn from these texta is ‘that having put our hand to the plow we must keep on that since the Lord has committed to his people the interests of his kingdom and commanded that these in terests can be properly cared for by proclaiming the message of his kingdom, then a failure or refusal to do s0 would preclude one from being of the royal line, Strange as it may seem, many of these fiery trials, which will tend to discourage, will come from amongst the consecrated. St. Peter concerning this said: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fire that is among ‘you to try you, as though some strange thing had hi ened urto you.” Many of these trials will be dus to es ase Thy KiingdomsComes* knowledge of his presence will éome to the world in anot way, and at.a Inter times. None are now ptepared to rect thig truth, except theiconsecrated, the Sanuary clase: the:** host” of norninal Christian as well as to the wor itis foolishnem ; nor will they be disposed t0 test th sft in the vole of th pri 1 ‘Not only:thus has the Lord prepared. the hearts of bi people and led them by maya which they knew not, but ‘thin special timeof need he has furnished wonderful hei} to Bible study, auch as concordances,and varied. and val tna ef the Serpe elm wonder is for printing; publishing;and mailing the truth se seuce et nel evans tal cn ed and study for themselves, and prove to their own satisfac Mon althe ofa arene and thee nde onion of peace, 20 that none can molest them or make to cxr fl Hiro oncence ino rie EE a careful perusal of the foregoing chapters of th and the prowding volume the thong reader wl 0b serve: that while each of the: time:prophecies accomplishes svseparate and. disting® purpose, the central object of thei ‘united and, harmonious testimony. has been to mark, with finiteness and precision, by:either dite. or indireét eri

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