ws_e_20140115

STUDY ARTICLES��

MARCH 3-9

Worship Jehovah,the King of EternityPAGE 3 ˙ SONGS: 106, 46

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MARCH 10-16

100 Years ofKingdom Rule—How Does ItAffect You?PAGE 8 ˙ SONGS: 97, 101

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MARCH 17-23

Making WiseChoices DuringYouthPAGE 14 ˙ SONGS: 41, 89

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MARCH 24-30

Serving JehovahBefore the Daysof Distress ComePAGE 20 ˙ SONGS: 54, 17

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MARCH 31–APRIL 6

“Let Your KingdomCome”—But When?PAGE 26 ˙ SONGS: 108, 30

34567JANUARY 15, 2014

S IMPL I F I ED ED I T I O N

This publication is not for sale. It is provided as part ofa worldwide Bible educational work supported by vol-untary donations. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripturequotations are from the modern-language New World

Translation of the Holy Scriptures.

The Watchtower (ISSN 0043-1087) is published semi-monthly by Watchtower Bible and Tract Society ofNew York, Inc.; L. Weaver, Jr., President; G. F. Simonis,Secretary-Treasurer; 25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn,NY 11201-2483, and by Watch Tower Bible and TractSociety of Canada, PO Box 4100, Georgetown,

ON L7G 4Y4. Periodicals Postage Paid at Brooklyn, NY,and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Sendaddress changes to Watchtower, 1000 Red Mills Road,Wallkill, NY 12589-3299. � 2014 Watch Tower Bibleand Tract Society of Pennsylvania. Printed in Canada.

34567�January 15, 2014

Vol. 135, No. 2 Semimonthly ENGLISH

STUDY ARTICLES��

ˇ Worship Jehovah, the King of EternityThis article will confirm that Jehovah has always been Kingand will show us how he has ruled over his creation inheaven and on earth. It will also encourage us to imitate theexamples of those who chose to worship Jehovah, the Kingof eternity.

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ˇ 100 Years of Kingdom Rule—How Does It Affect You?This article will help us to have more appreciation for whatthe Messianic Kingdom has done during its first 100 years.It will also encourage each of us to be loyal servants of theKingdom, and it will motivate us to meditate on the fullmeaning of our yeartext for 2014.

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ˇ Making Wise Choices During Youthˇ Serving Jehovah Before the Days

of Distress ComeWhat will I do with my life? This is a very important questionfor anyone who has decided to serve Jehovah. First, we willdiscuss what options young Christians have if they want toserve Jehovah with all their heart. Then, we will discusswhat unique opportunities are available to older Christianswho want to serve Jehovah more fully.

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ˇ “Let Your Kingdom Come”—But When?Today, many people do not believe that the end is near be-cause they do not see the meaning of world events and aredistracted by daily life. This article discusses three reasonswhy we can be confident that God’s Kingdom will soon bringan end to this wicked world.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE��

32 What I Chose as a Child

UKRAINECOVER: Witnessing to universitystudents from foreign lands in thecity of Lviv� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

POPULATION

45,561,000PUBLISHERS

150,887� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

1,737 congregations and 373groups in 15 languages, includingHungarian, Romanian, Russian,Russian Sign Language, andUkrainian

JANUARY 15, 2014 3

KING SOBHUZA II of Swaziland ruled for almost 61 years.Even though it is impressive that a man ruled for so long,there is a king who does not live for only a short time, as hu-mans do. The Bible says that he is “the King of eternity.”(1 Timothy 1:17) One of the psalms gives us the name ofthis Sovereign. It says: “Jehovah is King forever and ever.”—Psalm 10:16.

2 The length of time that God has been King makes hisrule different from that of any human. But it is the way Je-hovah rules that draws us to him. A king who ruled over Is-rael for 40 years praised God by saying: “Jehovah is merci-ful and compassionate, slow to anger and abundant in loyallove. Jehovah has firmly established his throne in the heav-ens; and his kingship rules over everything.” (Psalm 103:8,19) Jehovah is more than our King. He is also our lovingheavenly Father. But inwhat way has Jehovah been a Father?How has Jehovah shown that he is still King and that he hasbeen in control since the rebellion in Eden? The answers tothese questions will draw us closer to Jehovah and strength-en our confidence in him.

1, 2. (a) Who is “the King of eternity,” and why can we say that? (Seeopening picture.) (b) Why do we want Jehovah to rule over us?

Worship Jehovah,the King of Eternity

“To the King of eternity . . . be honor and glory forever.”—1 TIMOTHY 1:17.

HOW WOULD YOUANSWER?��

Why are we drawn toJehovah’s way of ruling?

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How has Jehovah alwaysshown love for his humanfamily?

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Why do you want to worshipthe King of eternity?

THE KING OF ETERNITYCREATES A UNIVERSAL FAMILY

3 What pleasure Jehovah must havehad when he created his firstborn Son!God did not treat him like an un-important citizen. Rather, he loved himas a Son and invited him to share in thejoyful work of creating millions of per-fect angels. (Colossians 1:15-17) The Bi-ble says that these angels serve Jeho-vah with joy as “ministers who do hiswill.” Jehovah honors them by callingthem his “sons.” They are part of hisuniversal family.—Psalm 103:20-22; Job38:7.

4 After creating the physical heavensand the earth, Jehovah made his uni-versal family larger. How? After he pre-pared the earth as a beautiful home, hecreated the first man, Adam, in His ownimage. (Genesis 1:26-28) Because Jeho-vah created Adam, He expected him tobe obedient. As a Father, Jehovah in-structed Adam with love and kindness.He did not give Adam rules that un-necessarily limited his free will.—ReadGenesis 2:15-17.

3. Who was the first member of Jehovah’s uni-versal family? Who were also created as God’s“sons”?4. How did humans become part of Jehovah’suniversal family?

5 Unlike many human kings, Jehovahtreats his servants as family. He truststhem so much that he is pleased to givethem many responsibilities and theauthority to do their work. For exam-ple, he assigned Adam the enjoyableand challenging job of giving the an-imals names. (Genesis 1:26; 2:19, 20)God did not personally create every hu-man who would live on the earth. Rath-er, he chose to create one perfect wom-an, Eve, as a wife for Adam. (Genesis 2:21, 22) Then he gave them the opportu-nity to fill the earth with their children.Under ideal conditions, Adam and Evewould, over time, make the whole eartha paradise. Then all humans and angelsas members of Jehovah’s universal fam-ily could worship him forever. Jehovahtruly showed his fatherly love by givingAdam and Eve such a wonderful hopefor the future!

REBELLIOUS SONS REJECTGOD AS THEIR KING

6 Sadly, Adam and Eve were not will-ing to accept Jehovah as their Ruler.Instead, they chose to follow Satan, an

5. How would the earth be filled with humans?6. (a) How did rebellion in God’s family be-gin? (b) How do we know that Jehovah is still incontrol?

SOMEEXPRESSIONSEXPLAINED

Jehovah’s universal family:All of Jehovah’s faithfulservants in heaven andon earth

Jehovah’s sovereignty:The power and authoritythat Jehovah has over allof his creation

Offspring:A descendant or child ina family line. Children areoffspring of their parents,grandparents, and so on.Jesus was the offspring ofKing David because He wasa descendant of David

4 SIMPLIFIED EDITION

angel who had rebelled against God.(Genesis 3:1-6) The result was pain, suf-fering, and death for themselves andtheir children. (Genesis 3:16-19; Ro-mans 5:12) So Godhad no obedient ser-vants left on earth. But did this meanthat he had lost control and that he hadgiven up his sovereignty over the earth?Absolutely not! Jehovah expelled Adamand Eve from the garden of Eden, andto prevent them from coming back, heassigned cherubs to guard the entrance.(Genesis 3:23, 24) At the same time, heshowed his fatherly love. He promisedthat he would still have a familyof faith-ful angels and humans and that one ofAdam’s descendants would destroy Sa-tan and remove the damage done byAdam’s sin.—Read Genesis 3:15.

7 In the hundreds of years that fol-lowed, some men such as Abel andEnoch chose to be loyal to Jehovah.However, most humans did not acceptJehovah as their Father and King. Bythe time of Noah, the earth had become“filled with violence.” (Genesis 6:11)Did this mean that Jehovah was no lon-ger in control of the earth? What doesthe Bible say?

8 The Bible says that Jehovah gaveNoah detailed instructions to build ahuge ark that would save him and hisfamily. God also showed his love for hu-mans when he appointed Noah to be“a preacher of righteousness.” (2 Peter2:5) Noah likely invited people to re-pent and warned them of the comingdestruction, but no one listened. Formany years, Noah and his family livedin a violent and very immoral world. Je-

7, 8. (a) How bad had the world become bythe time of Noah? (b) What did Jehovah doto cleanse the earth and to protect the humanfamily?

hovah, as a loving Father, protected andguided those eight loyal people. WhenJehovah brought the Flood, he removedthe rebellious humans and wicked an-gels and showed that he was definitelyin control.—Genesis 7:17-24.

JEHOVAH’S RULE AFTER THE FLOOD9 After Noah and his family came out

of the ark, they must have been verygrateful to Jehovah for his care and pro-tection. Immediately, Noah built an al-tar and offered sacrifices to worship Je-hovah. God blessed Noah’s family andtold them to “be fruitful and becomemany and fill the earth.” (Genesis 8:20–9:1) Again, mankind had an opportuni-ty to unite in worship to Jehovah and tofill the earth.

10 However, people were still imper-fect after the Flood. They still had tolive with the invisible influence of Sa-tan and the demons. Soon, people wereagain rebelling against Jehovah’s lov-ing rule. One person who opposed Je-hovah was Noah’s great-grandson Nim-rod. Nimrod was “a mighty hunter inopposition to Jehovah.” He built largecities, such as Babel, and made him-self king “in the land of Shinar.” (Gen-esis 10:8-12) What would Jehovah doabout this rebel king? How would Jeho-vah react to Nimrod’s efforts to opposeGod’s will? God confused the people’slanguage so that Nimrod’s followerswould scatter all over the world. Wher-ever they went they brought their falsereligion and their way of human rulewith them.—Genesis 11:1-9.

9. What opportunity did Jehovah give man-kind after the Flood?10. (a) After the Flood, where and how didpeople start rebelling against Jehovah?(b) What did Jehovah do to make sure that hiswill was done?

JANUARY 15, 2014 5

11 Many worshipped false gods afterthe Flood, but there were still somefaithful men who worshipped Jehovah.One of them was Abraham. He had acomfortable home in the city of Ur, yethe obeyed Jehovah, left the city, andlived in tents for many years. (Genesis11:31; Hebrews 11:8, 9) Abraham didnot trust in the protection that a hu-man king or a city wall might give him.Instead, it was Jehovah who protectedAbraham and his family. The psalmistwrote about Jehovah’s fatherly protec-tion: “[God] did not allow any man tooppress them, but on their account hereproved kings.” (Psalm 105:13, 14) Be-cause he was loyal to his friend, Jehovahpromised Abraham: “Kings will comefrom you.”—Genesis 17:6; James 2:23.

12 God promised Abraham’s sonIsaac and grandson Jacob that he wouldbless them and that their descendantswould become kings. (Genesis 26:3-5;35:11) However, before they becamekings, Jacob’s descendants first becameslaves in Egypt. Did this mean that Je-hovah would not fulfill his promise orthat he had given up his sovereignty

11. How did Jehovah show that he was loyal tohis friend Abraham?12. How did Jehovah show his sovereignty overEgypt, and how did this help his people?

over the earth? No! At his chosen time,Jehovah proved his power and showedthat he had much more authority thanstubborn Pharaoh. The Israelites puttheir faith in Jehovah, and he freedthem in a wonderful way by leadingthem through the Red Sea. Clearly, Je-hovah was still the ruler of the universe,and as a Father who cares for his chil-dren, he used his great power to protecthis people.—Read Exodus 14:13, 14.

JEHOVAH BECOMES KING TO ISRAEL13 Immediately after Jehovah freed

them from Egypt, the Israelites sang thesong of praise recorded in Exodus chap-ter 15. Verse 18 says: “Jehovah will ruleas king forever and ever.” Jehovah hadreally become King over the new nationof Israel. (Deuteronomy 33:5) However,for the Israelites, it was not enoughto have Jehovah as their invisible Rul-er. About 400 years after leaving Egypt,they asked God to give them a humanking, just as the pagan nations aroundthem had. (1 Samuel 8:5) Even so, dur-ing the reign of David, it became veryclear that Jehovah was still King.

14 David brought the ark of the cove-

13, 14. (a) What did the Israelites say in songabout Jehovah’s rule? (b) What did God prom-ise David?

Jehovah has alwaysbeen King of the universe(See paragraphs 6, 8, 10, 12, 17)

Gardenof Eden

Flood of Noah’s day2370 B.C.E.

Tower of Babel2269 B.C.E.

Red Sea1513 B.C.E.

Jesus isresurrected

33 C.E.


nant to Jerusalem. On this joyful day,the Levites sang a song of praise to Je-hovah and made this important state-ment, recorded at 1 Chronicles 16:31:“Declare among the nations: ‘Jehovahhas become King!’ ” But since Jehovahis the King of eternity, how is it that hebecame King at that time? Jehovah be-came King when he selected David torepresent him. Understanding how Je-hovah becomes King is very important.Before David died, Jehovah promisedhim that his rule would continue for-ever: “I will raise up your offspring af-ter you, your own son, and I will firmlyestablish his kingdom.” (2 Samuel 7:12,13) This promise came true when the“offspring,” or son, of David appearedmore than 1,000 years later. Who washe, and when did he become King?

JEHOVAH APPOINTS A NEW KING15 In the year 29, John the Baptizer

began preaching that “the Kingdom ofthe heavens [had] drawn near.” (Mat-thew 3:2) When Jesus was baptized byJohn, Jehovah anointed Jesus as theMessiah and future King of God’s King-dom. Jehovah showed his fatherly lovefor Jesus by saying: “This is my Son, thebeloved, whom I have approved.”—Mat-thew 3:17.

16 During his ministry, Jesus gaveglory to his Father. (John 17:4) He didthis by preaching about the Kingdomof God. (Luke 4:43) He even taughthis followers to pray for that Kingdomto come. (Matthew 6:10) As the futureKing, Jesus could say to his opposers:“The Kingdom of God is in your midst.”(Luke 17:21) Later, on the evening be-

15, 16. When was Jesus anointed as futureKing? While on earth, what did Jesus do to pre-pare his Kingdom?

fore his death, Jesus made a covenant“for a kingdom” with his followers. Thismeant that some of his faithful disci-ples would become kings with Jesus inGod’s Kingdom.—Read Luke 22:28-30.

17 When would Jesus begin to rule asKing of God’s Kingdom? He could notdo so immediately. The very next after-noon, Jesus was executed and his fol-lowers fled. (John 16:32) However, justas in the past, Jehovah was still in con-trol. On the third day, he resurrectedhis Son, and on the day of Pentecost inthe year 33, Jesus began to rule over theChristian congregation. (Colossians 1:13) But Jesus, the promised son of Da-vid, would have towait to have full pow-er over the earth. So Jehovah told hisSon: “Sit at my right hand until I placeyour enemies as a stool for your feet.”—Psalm 110:1.

WORSHIP THE KING OF ETERNITY18 For thousands of years, angels and

humans have rebelled against Jehovah’srule. But Jehovah has always been incontrol and has never given up his sov-ereignty. As a loving Father, he has pro-tected and cared for such loyal servantsas Noah, Abraham, and David. We areglad to obey such a King, and we wantto draw close to him.

19 But we may ask: How has Jeho-vah become King in our day? How canwe be loyal servants of Jehovah and be-come perfect sons in his universal fam-ily? What does it mean when we prayfor God’s Kingdom to come? Thesequestions will be answered in the nextarticle.

17. In what way did Jesus begin to rule in theyear 33, but for what would he have to wait?18, 19. What are we moved to do? What willwe learn in the next article?

JANUARY 15, 2014 7

IN THE spring of the year 31 on a mountain close to thetown of Capernaum, Jesus Christ taught his followers topray: “Let your Kingdom come.” (Matthew 6:10) Today,many doubt if the Kingdom will ever come. However, weare confident that Jehovah will answer our prayers for hisKingdom to come.

2 Jehovah will use the Kingdom to unite his family inheaven and on earth. Jehovah’s purpose will be fulfilled.(Isaiah 55:10, 11) The exciting events of the last 100 yearsprove that Jehovah is already King and that he is doingwonderful things for the millions of his servants. (Zecha-riah 14:9; Revelation 15:3) However, Jehovah’s becomingKing is different from the coming of God’s Kingdom thatJesus taught us to pray for. How are these two events dif-ferent, and how do they affect us?

JEHOVAH’S APPOINTED KING TAKES ACTION3 About 20 years before 1900, God’s servants began to

understand a prophecy that was written by Daniel over2,500 years ago: “In the days of those kings the God

1, 2. What will God’s Kingdom do, and how do we know that the King-dom will come?3. (a) When was Jesus enthroned as King, and where? (b) How wouldyou prove that Jesus began ruling in 1914? (See footnote.)

100 Years of Kingdom RuleHow Does It Affect You?

“Great and wonderful are your works, Jehovah God, . . .King of eternity.”—REVELATION 15:3.

CAN YOU ANSWER?��

How did Jehovah becomeKing in 1914? What weresome of the first things thatthe Kingdom did?

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How has Jesus used theMessianic Kingdom to refine,educate, and organize God’sloyal servants on earth?

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When will our prayer “let yourKingdom come” be answeredcompletely, and what will thatmean?

Our yeartext for 2014is Matthew 6:10:

“Let your Kingdom come.”


of heaven will set up a kingdom thatwill never be destroyed.” (Daniel 2:44) For more than 20 years, the BibleStudents preached that 1914 wouldbe a very important year. Many peo-ple at that time were very optimis-tic about the future. One writer says:“The world of 1914 was full of hopeand promise.” However, later thatyear, World War I began, and Bibleprophecy came true. The food short-ages, earthquakes, diseases, and oth-er Bible prophecies that were fulfilledproved that Jesus Christ began rulingin heaven as King of God’s Kingdomin 1914.� (See footnote.) By enthron-ing his Son as the Messianic King, Je-hovah had become King in a new way.

4 The first thing that God’s newKing did was to fight a war againsthis Father’s main enemy, Satan. Je-sus and his angels threw the Dev-il and all his demons out of heaven.This brought great joy in heaven butbrought more suffering than ever be-fore on earth. (Read Revelation 12:7-9, 12.) After that, the King beganto refine, teach, and organize his ser-vants on earth to do God’s will. Let ussee how their obedience to Jesus’ di-rection sets a good example for us to-day.

THE MESSIANIC KINGREFINES HIS LOYAL SUBJECTS

5 After Jesus cleansed the heavensof the bad influence of Satan and his

� See the book What Does the Bible Really Teach?pages 88-92.

4. What was the first thing that Jesus did whenhe became King? What did he do next?5. What cleansing happened between 1914and the beginning of 1919?

demons, Jehovah had Jesus inspectand refine his followers here on earth.The prophet Malachi described thisas a cleansing. (Malachi 3:1-3) Histo-ry shows that this cleansing happenedbetween 1914 and the beginning of1919.� (See footnote.) If we want tobe a part of Jehovah’s universal fami-ly, we must be clean, or holy. (1 Peter1:15, 16) We must keep our worshipclean from the contamination of falsereligion or politics.

6 Jesus then used his authority asKing to appoint a “faithful and dis-creet slave.” This slave would regular-ly provide good spiritual food to allthose who are part of the “one flock”under Jesus’ care. (Matthew 24:45-47;John 10:16) Since 1919, a small groupof anointed brothers have loyally han-dled the important responsibility offeeding the “domestics.” The faithfuland discreet slave provides us with anabundance of spiritual food so that wecan grow in our faith. It makes us evenmore determined to keep our wor-ship, our actions, and our thinking,

� See the July 15, 2013, issue of The Watchtower,pages 22-23, paragraph 12.

6. How is spiritual food provided, and why isthis food so important?

Jehovah will usethe Kingdom tounite his familyin heaven and onearth

JANUARY 15, 2014 9

as well as our bodies, clean accord-ing to God’s standards. This spiritu-al food also educates us and preparesus to work hard in the most impor-tant assignment on earth, the preach-ing work. Do you regularly partake ofthis spiritual food?

THE KING EDUCATES HIS FOLLOWERSTO PREACH WORLDWIDE

7 When Jesus began his ministry onearth, he said: “I must also declarethe good news of the Kingdom of Godto other cities, because for this I wassent.” (Luke 4:43) For three and a half

years, this ministry was the most im-portant work in Jesus’ life. He taughthis disciples: “As you go, preach, say-ing: ‘The Kingdom of the heavens has

7. What important work did Jesus start whenhe was on the earth, and until when would itcontinue?

drawn near.’ ” (Matthew 10:7) Afterhis resurrection, Jesus foretold thathis followers would take this mes-sage “to the most distant part of theearth.” (Acts 1:8) He promised themthat he would personally support thisvital work until the end of this system.—Matthew 28:19, 20.

8 By 1919, the “good news of theKingdom” included a new meaning.(Matthew 24:14) The King was rul-ing in heaven, and he had gathered asmall group of cleansed followers onearth. This group eagerly obeyed Je-sus’ clear command to preach inall the earth the good news thatGod’s Kingdom was ruling in heaven!(Acts 10:42) For example, in Septem-ber 1922, close to 20,000 supportersof the Kingdom were at the inter-national convention in Cedar Point,Ohio, U.S.A. Imagine how excitedthey must have been when Broth-er Rutherford gave the talk “The King-dom” and declared: “Behold, the Kingreigns! You are his publicity agents.Therefore advertise, advertise, adver-tise, the King and his kingdom.” Thenext day, two thousand of them wentout in the field service, and some eventraveled as far away as 72 kilometers

8. How did the King motivate his followers onearth to preach?


Messianic Kingdom:God’s government ruled byChrist, the Messiah

To refine God’s servants:To remove from God’s ser-vants the influence of falsereligion and politics so thatthey are qualified to serveJehovah

Jesus promised thathe would personally

support the preachingwork until the end

of this system


JANUARY 15, 2014 11

(45 miles) from the convention site topreach. One brother said: “Never willI forget the call to advertise the King-dom and the zeal of the assembledthrong!” Many others felt the sameway.

9 By 1922, there were more than 17,-000 publishers preaching in 58 landsaround the world. However, theyneeded training. In the first centu-ry, the chosen King gave his disciplesclear instructions about what, where,and how to preach. (Matthew 10:5-7;Luke 9:1-6; 10:1-11) In a similar waytoday, Jesus makes sure that all whopreach get instructions and have thetools they need to be good teachers.(2 Timothy 3:17) Jesus is using theChristian congregation to train his fol-lowers for the ministry. One way hetrains them is by using the TheocraticMinistry School in the more than 111,-000 congregations worldwide. Thisschool is instructing more than sev-en million publishers how to preachand teach in a way that will help “peo-ple of all sorts.”—Read 1 Corinthians9:20-23.

10 There are also additional Bibleschools to train congregation elders,pioneers, single brothers, Christiancouples, Branch Committee membersand their wives, traveling overseersand their wives, and missionaries.�(See footnote.) The students of oneclass of the Bible School for Christian

� See the September 15, 2012, issue of The Watch-tower, pages 13-17, “Theocratic Schools—Evidence ofJehovah’s Love.”

9, 10. (a) What schools train us for the min-istry? (b) How have you personally benefitedfrom this training?

Couples said with appreciation: “Thespecialized training we received hasdeepened our love for Jehovah andhas better equipped us to help oth-ers.”

11 The enemy Satan sees all thesegreat efforts to preach and teach thegood news. He wants to stop thepreaching work and will use any way

he can to attack the Kingdom mes-sage and those who preach it. But Sa-tan’s attacks will not succeed. Jeho-vah has put his Son “far above everygovernment and authority and powerand lordship.” (Ephesians 1:20-22) AsKing, Jesus uses his authority to pro-tect and guide his disciples to makesure that his Father’s will is done.�(See footnote.) The good news con-tinues to be preached, and millionsof honest people are being taught toworship Jehovah. It is truly an honorfor us to be a part of this wonderfulwork!

� See the December 1, 1998, issue of The Watch-tower, pages 19-22, for examples of legal victories indifferent countries.

11. How has it been possible for Jesus’ follow-ers to continue preaching despite Satan’s at-tacks?

Jesus uses hisauthority to protectand guide hisdisciples to makesure that his Father’swill is done

THE KING ORGANIZESHIS FOLLOWERS TO DO MORE

12 Ever since Jesus began ruling in1914, he has refined the way God’sservants are organized to do his Fa-ther’s will. (Read Isaiah 60:17.) In1919, a service director was appoint-ed in each congregation to take thelead in the preaching work. In 1927,the congregations began preachingregularly on Sundays. In 1931, Jeho-vah’s servants began using the nameJehovah’s Witnesses, which motivat-ed them to do even more in the King-dom work. (Isaiah 43:10-12) Startingin 1938, those taking the lead in thecongregation were no longer electedby vote. Instead, they were appoint-ed. In 1972, the responsibility of over-seeing the congregation was given toa group of elders instead of to onlyone brother. All who qualified to be el-ders and ministerial servants were en-couraged to be willing to help shep-herd the congregation. (1 Peter 5:2)In 1976, the Governing Body was or-ganized into six committees to super-vise the Kingdom work worldwide.Since then, Jesus has continued to or-

12. Since 1914, how have God’s servants beenbetter organized?

ganize his followers progressively todo things God’s way.

13 Think of how much the Messi-anic King has accomplished dur-ing the first 100 years of his rule.He has cleansed a group of peopleto represent Jehovah. He has direct-ed the preaching of the good news in239 lands and has taught millions toworship Jehovah. He has united morethan seven million loyal followers whoare willing to give of themselves todo his Father’s will. (Psalm 110:3) Je-hovah has used the Messianic King-dom to do truly amazing things. Buteven more exciting events will happenin the future!

FUTURE BLESSINGSOF THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM

14 Although Jehovah crowned hisSon, Jesus Christ, as the MessianicKing in 1914, this was not the com-plete answer to our prayer “let yourKingdom come.” (Matthew 6:10) TheBible foretold that Jesus would “gosubduing in the midst of” his ene-

13. How have you been affected by what theMessianic King has accomplished during hisrule?14. (a) What are we asking God to do whenwe pray: “Let your Kingdom come”? (b) What isour yeartext for 2014, and why is it appropriate?


REFINEMENT1914 to 1919Jesus inspects and refinesthe spiritual condition of hisfollowers on earth. In 1919,Jesus appoints “the faithfuland discreet slave”

1919Service directoris appointed

1927House-to-housework on Sundayis organized

1938Servants inthe congregationwere appointed,not voted in

1972Congregationoversight isassigned to abody of elders

1943Bible Schoolof Gilead andTheocraticMinistry School

Publishers Worldwide:6,000 17,000 328,572

851,378

1910 1914 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960

JANUARY 15, 2014 13

mies. (Psalm 110:2) Human govern-ments under Satan’s control still op-pose the Kingdom. When we pray forGod’s Kingdom to come, we are ask-ing God that the Messianic King andthe other 144,000 kings in heaven re-move human rule and those on earthwho oppose the Kingdom. When thishappens, the prophecy at Daniel 2:44 will be fulfilled. There it says thatGod’s Kingdom “will crush and putan end to all these kingdoms.” It willdestroy governments that are enemiesof the Kingdom. (Revelation 6:1, 2; 13:1-18; 19:11-21) Since this will happenvery soon, it is appropriate that ouryeartext for 2014 is Matthew 6:10: “Letyour Kingdom come.” It has now been100 years since Jesus started to rule inheaven!

15 After Jesus destroys God’s ene-mies, he will throw Satan and his de-mons into an abyss for a thousandyears. (Revelation 20:1-3) Withoutthat evil influence, the Kingdom willmove quickly to help people bene-fit from Jesus’ ransom sacrifice, and

15, 16. (a) What exciting events will happenduring the thousand years of Christ’s rule?(b) What will be the last thing Jesus does asMessianic King? What will that mean for Jeho-vah’s purpose?

it will completely erase the effects ofAdam’s sin. The King will resurrectmillions of people and will organizea program of worldwide education toteach them about Jehovah. (Revela-tion 20:12, 13) The whole earth will be-come a paradise just like the garden ofEden, and all faithful humans will be-come perfect.

16 After the thousand years ofChrist’s rule, Jehovah’s purpose forthe earth will be fulfilled. Then Jesuswill give the Kingdom back to his Fa-ther. (Read 1 Corinthians 15:24-28.)We will no longer need anyone to rep-resent us before Jehovah. All of God’ssons in heaven and his children onearth will be united with their heav-enly Father as part of his universalfamily.

17 The exciting events during these100 years of Kingdom rule show usthat Jehovah is in control and that hispurpose for the earth will come true.Let us continue to serve him loyallyand advertise the King and his King-dom. We are confident that Jehovahwill soon answer our prayer: “Let yourKingdom come”!

17. What are you determined to do for theKingdom?

1976The Governing Bodyis organized intosix committees

1977Pioneer ServiceSchool

1987MinisterialTraining School

1999School forTravelingOverseers

2011Bible Schoolfor ChristianCouples

1,384,782

2,175,403

6,035,564

7,224,930

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2014

Organization

Education

WE LIVE in exciting times. As never before in history,millions from all nations are choosing to worship Jeho-vah. (Revelation 7:9, 10) Many young people are havingthrilling experiences inviting others to “take life’s waterfree.” (Revelation 22:17) These young ones help peopleto study the Bible and to improve their lives. Some zeal-ously accept the challenge of learning a new languageand share the good news in foreign-language territories.(Psalm 110:3; Isaiah 52:7) What must you do to have a partin this satisfying work?

2 You can make decisions now that will later open thedoor to further opportunities for serving Jehovah. Forexample, Timothy made good decisions while he wasyoung, and by his late teens or early 20’s, he was al-ready qualified to be a missionary. (Acts 16:1-3) It mayhave been only a few months later when Paul asked Tim-othy to go to the new congregation in Thessalonica where

1. What wonderful experiences are many young people enjoying?2. How does Timothy’s example show that Jehovah wants to give youngpeople responsibilities? (See opening picture.)

Making Wise ChoicesDuring Youth

“You young men and young women, . . .praise the name of Jehovah.”—PSALM 148:12, 13.

CAN YOU EXPLAIN?��

What can you do now that willlater open the door to furtheropportunities for servingJehovah?

��

How have some youngbrothers and sisters servedJehovah?

��

What Bible principles canhelp you to make the bestdecisions in life?


the brothers were violently persecut-ed. Paul was forced to leave there,but he trusted that Timothy wouldstrengthen the brothers. (Acts 17:5-15; 1 Thessalonians 3:1, 2, 6) Imaginehow excited Timothy must have beento be given that assignment!

YOUR MOST IMPORTANT DECISION3 The time to make important de-

cisions is now, while you are young.What is the most important deci-sion you will make? Your decision toserve Jehovah. When is the best timeto make that decision? Jehovah tellsyou to remember him while you areyoung. (Ecclesiastes 12:1) The onlyway to remember Jehovah is to servehim with all your heart. (Deuterono-my 10:12) It is the most important de-cision you will ever make. It will affectthe rest of your life.—Psalm 71:5.

4 Of course, your choice to serve Je-hovah is not the only choice that af-fects your future. You will also needto decide if you will get married,whom you will marry, and what jobyou will have. These are very impor-tant decisions, but you must first de-cide to serve Jehovah with all yourheart. (Deuteronomy 30:19, 20) Why?Because all these decisions are close-ly connected. What you decide aboutmarriage and work will affect howyou serve God. And your desire toserve God will affect the choicesyou make about marriage and work.(Compare Luke 14:16-20.) So decide

3. What is the most important decision youwill make in life, and when should you make it?4. What important decisions will affect howyou serve God?

what will be most important in yourlife.—Philippians 1:10.

WHAT WILL YOU DOWHILE YOU ARE YOUNG?

5 Decide to serve Jehovah, find outwhat he wants you to do, and thendecide how you will live your life. AJapanese brother writes: “When I was14, I was out preaching with a congre-gation elder who noticed that I wasnot enjoying the ministry. Gently, hesaid to me: ‘Go home, Yuichiro. Sitdown at your desk and think careful-ly about what Jehovah has done foryou.’ I did as he said. In fact, I con-tinued thinking and praying for somedays. Gradually, my attitude changed.Soon, I found that I enjoyed servingJehovah. I enjoyed reading about mis-sionaries, and I began to think aboutserving God more fully.”

6 Yuichiro started making good de-cisions. Because of this, he later wasable to serve Jehovah in another coun-try. He says: “For example, I chose totake a course in English. When I leftschool, I chose part-time work teach-ing English so that I could pioneer.When I was 20, I started learningMongolian and I had a chance to visit

5, 6. How does Yuichiro’s experience show usthat making right decisions can open the doorto further opportunities for serving Jehovah?(See also the article “What I Chose as a Child”in this issue.)

The time to makeimportant decisions isnow, while you are young

JANUARY 15, 2014 15


a Mongolian group of publishers. Twoyears later, in 2007, I visited Mongo-lia. When I went out preaching withsome of the pioneers and saw thatmany people were seeking the truth, Iwanted to move there and help. I re-turned to Japan to make my plans. Ihave been pioneering in Mongoliasince April 2008. Life is not easy here.But people are responding to the goodnews, and I am able to help them to

draw close to Jehovah. I feel that whatI chose is the very best way of life.”

7 You must make your own deci-sions about how you will use your lifein serving Jehovah. (Joshua 24:15) Wecannot tell you if you should marryor whom you should marry. We can-not tell you what work you should do.Will you get a job requiring only a lit-tle training? Some of you live in poorvillages, and others live inwealthy cit-ies. You have different personalities,skills, training, interests, and faith.In ancient times, the young peoplewho served Jehovah also had different

7. What decisions must you make for yourself,and what can we learn from Moses?

backgrounds. For example, Moses,who grew up in Egypt, was wealthy,but the other young Hebrews wereslaves. (Exodus 1:13, 14; Acts 7:21, 22)Like you, they lived in very excitingtimes. (Exodus 19:4-6) But each onehad to decide what he would do withhis life. Moses made the right deci-sion to do Jehovah’s will.—Read He-brews 11:24-27.

8 Jehovah gives you advice to helpyou make right decisions. How doeshe do this? He teaches you Bible prin-ciples that you can use no matter whatyour circumstances are. (Psalm 32:8)If you are not sure how to apply theseprinciples, you can ask your parentsor the elders to help you. (Proverbs 1:8, 9) Let us look at three Bible princi-ples that can help you make good de-cisions now.

THREE BIBLE PRINCIPLES TO HELP YOU9 Seek first God’s Kingdom and

his righteousness. (Read Matthew 6:19-21, 24-26, 31-34.) Jehovah honorsyou by giving you the freedom to de-cide what you will do with your time.He does not tell you that you mustspend all your time preaching. How-

8. Where can you find help to make good deci-sions?9. (a) How does Jehovah honor us by giving usthe freedom to make decisions? (b) How willyou benefit if you seek the Kingdom first?


Principle:A basic truth given by Jehovah. Principles influence ourdecisions and help us to make good choices in life

Decide now what willtake priority in your life

ever, Jesus did teach us the impor-tance of seeking the Kingdom first.When you seek the Kingdom first,many doors will be opened to you.For example, you will have many op-portunities to show your love for Je-hovah and your neighbors and toshow that you are thankful for thehope of everlasting life. Will yourdecisions about marriage and workshow that you worry more aboutyour possessions than about “seekingfirst the Kingdom and his righteous-ness”?

10 Find happiness in serving oth-ers. (Read Acts 20:20, 21, 24, 35.)This is a basic principle of life. Jesus

10. What made Jesus happy, and what mustyou do to be happy?

knew this, so he served his Father bydoing His will and served others byteaching them the good news. Thismade him happy. (Luke 10:21; John 4:34) You probably have felt that samehappiness when you serve others. Sobase your decisions on the princi-ples that Jesus taught. Doing this willmake you happy, and it will make Je-hovah happy too.—Proverbs 27:11.

11 The greatest happiness comesfrom serving Jehovah. (Proverbs 16:20) It seems that Baruch, the secre-tary of Jeremiah, lost his joy at onepoint in his life. Baruch started tothink more about what he wantedthan about what Jehovah wanted.

11. Why did Baruch lose his joy, and whatcounsel did Jehovah give him?

Ramiro has been finding joy inserving Jehovah from his youth on(See paragraph 12)

Jehovah saw this, so he told Baruch tostop “seeking great things” for him-self. If he obeyed, he would survivethe destruction of Jerusalem. (Jeremi-ah 45:3, 5) What would have madeBaruch happier? Doing what hewanted and being destroyed, or do-ing what Jehovah wanted and surviv-ing Jerusalem’s destruction?—James1:12.

12 One brother who found happi-ness in serving others is Ramiro. Hesays: “I come from a poor family liv-ing in a village in the Andes Moun-tains. So when my older brotheroffered to pay for my university edu-cation, it was a big opportunity. ButI had recently been baptized as oneof Jehovah’s Witnesses, and I had re-ceived another offer—a pioneer invit-ed me to preach with him in a smalltown. I went there, learned how tocut hair, and opened a barbershop tosupport myself.” Many people in thattown accepted Bible studies. Later, anew congregation was started in a lo-cal language. So Ramiro decided tojoin the congregation and has beenserving there for ten years. He saysthat no other work could give him

12. What decisions did Ramiro make thathelped him to be happy?

more joy than helping people learnthe Bible in their own language.

13 Enjoy serving Jehovah. (ReadEcclesiastes 12:1.) Do not feel thatyou must first get a good job beforeyou can start pioneering. The besttime to start serving Jehovah with allyour heart is now, before you havefamily responsibilities. You have thehealth and energy to tackle challeng-ing assignments. What would youlike to do for Jehovah? Maybe yourgoal is to pioneer, or maybe you wantto preach to people in another lan-guage. Maybe you can do more inyour own congregation. Whateveryour goal is, you need to earn a living.Ask yourself: ‘What job will I choose,and how much training do I need forit?’

USING BIBLE PRINCIPLESTO MAKE WISE DECISIONS

14 The three Bible principles wehave talked about will guide youwhen you decide which jobs may beacceptable for you. Your school coun-selors or government agencies prob-ably know what jobs are available inyour area or in the area where youhope to serve. These people may behelpful, but be careful. People who donot love Jehovah may try to plant lovefor the world in your heart. (1 John2:15-17) When you look at what theworld offers, do not forget that yourheart can easily mislead you.—ReadProverbs 14:15; Jeremiah 17:9.

13. Why is now a good time for you to serve Je-hovah with all your heart?14. What must you be careful of when lookingfor a job?

The greatesthappiness comes

from servingJehovah


JANUARY 15, 2014 19

15 Once you know what jobs areavailable to you, you need practicaladvice. (Proverbs 1:5) Who can helpyou to evaluate your job options usingBible principles? Listen to people wholove Jehovah, love you, and know youand your circumstances well. Theywill help you to be honest with your-self about what you can do and whatyou want to do. Maybe what they saywill help you to rethink your goals. Ifyour parents love Jehovah, theycan bea great help to you. Also, the elders inyour congregation will give you goodadvice. Ask pioneers and travelingoverseers why they decided to serveJehovah full-time. How did they getstarted? What did they do for work?What blessings have they received?—Proverbs 15:22.

16 Those who really know you wellcan give you wise advice. For exam-ple, what if you want to quit highschool and start pioneering becauseyou do not like the hard work thatschool requires? A person who lovesyou may clearly see why you want toquit school. So he can help you to un-derstand that persevering in schoolwill help you to learn not to give upeasily. This quality is necessary if youwant to serve Jehovah forever.—Psalm141:5; Proverbs 6:6-10.

17 Everyone who serves Jehovahwill face situations that can weakenhis faith and draw him away from Je-hovah. (1 Corinthians 15:33; Colos-sians 2:8) Some types of employmentmay be more dangerous to your faith

15, 16. Who can give you wise advice aboutemployment?17. What kind of work should you avoid?

than others. You probably have no-ticed that some have lost their faith af-ter choosing a particular type of em-ployment. (1 Timothy 1:19) It is wiseto avoid any kind of work that coulddamage your friendship with Jeho-vah.—Proverbs 22:3.

ENJOY BEING A YOUNG CHRISTIAN18 If you have a sincere desire to

serve Jehovah, use the opportunitiesoffered to you while you are young.Make the kind of decisions that willallow you to enjoy serving God inthese exciting times.—Psalm 148:12, 13.

19 What if you do not yet feel likeserving Jehovah? Do not give uptrying to build strong faith in Jeho-vah. Paul explained what he did tohave Jehovah’s blessing. He said: “Ifyou are mentally inclined otherwisein any respect, God will reveal theabove attitude to you. At any rate, tothe extent we have made progress,let us go on walking orderly in thissame course.” (Philippians 3:15, 16)Remember that Jehovah loves you.His advice is the best. Let him helpyou to make the best decisions nowwhile you are young.

18, 19. If you do not yet want to pioneer, whatcan you do?

Make decisions thatwill allow you to enjoyserving Jehovah inthese exciting times


JEHOVAH inspired King Solomon to tell young people:“Remember . . . your Grand Creator in the days of youryouth, before the days of distress come.” What are “thedays of distress”? This expression refers to old age. Sol-omon used poetic words to describe the difficulties olderones have: trembling hands, unsteady legs, loss of teeth,poor eyesight, poor hearing, white hair, and a bent andstiff body. No wonder Solomon told us to remember ourGrand Creator while we are young!—Read Ecclesiastes12:1-5.

2 Many Christians in their 50’s and older still havea lot of energy. They may have some gray hair, butthey probably do not have all the health problems thatSolomon described. Could these experienced Christians

1, 2. (a) What advice was Solomon inspired to write to young people?(b) Why should Christians in their 50’s and older also be interested inSolomon’s advice?

Serving Jehovah Beforethe Days of Distress Come

“Remember . . . your Grand Creator.”—ECCLESIASTES 12:1.

CAN YOU EXPLAIN?��

How can experiencedChristians share what theyhave learned with youngerones?

��

What examples in the Biblecan encourage older ones tomove where the need isgreater?

��

How have some olderbrothers and sisters startedserving Jehovah in new ways?

also apply Solomon’s advice to youngpeople: “Remember . . . your GrandCreator”? First of all, what does thatadvice mean?

3 You may have been serving Jeho-vah for many years, but it is goodfrom time to time to stop and thinkabout how grand our Creator is. Lifeis a remarkable gift. The design ofcreation is so complex that we can-not fully understand it. The vari-ety of wonderful things that Jeho-vah made makes it possible for usto enjoy life in an endless numberof ways. When we meditate on Jeho-vah’s creation, we remind ourselvesof how loving, wise, and powerful heis. (Psalm 143:5) When we rememberour Grand Creator, it also means thatwe remember what he requires of us.Meditating on all these things moti-vates us to show our thankfulness bydoing all we can in his service for aslong as we live.—Ecclesiastes 12:13.

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIESWHEN WE ARE OLDER

4 If you have many years of expe-rience, ask yourself, ‘What will I dowith my life now while I still havesome energy and strength?’ As an ex-perienced Christian, you have oppor-tunities that others do not have. Forexample, you can teach younger oneswhat you have learned from Jehovah.You can share with others the won-derful experiences you have had serv-ing God. King David prayed for op-

3. What does it mean to remember our GrandCreator?4. What can Christians with many years of ex-perience ask themselves, and why?

portunities to do this. He wrote:“O God, you have taught me from myyouth . . . Even when I am old andgray, O God, do not abandon me. Letme tell the next generation about yourpower and about your mightiness toall those who are to come.”—Psalm 71:17, 18.

5 How can you share the wisdomthat you have gained over the years?Can you invite younger ones to yourhome to enjoy encouraging associa-tion? Can you plan to preach withthem and allow them to see the joythat you have in serving Jehovah? Eli-hu said: “Let age speak, and let a mul-titude of years declare wisdom.” (Job32:7) The apostle Paul told experi-enced Christian women to encourageothers by their words and by their ex-ample. He wrote: “Let the older wom-en be . . . teachers of what is good.”—Titus 2:3.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP OTHERS6 If you are an experienced Chris-

tian, there is much you can do tohelp others. Think about what you un-derstand now that you did not know30 or 40 years ago. You know how

5. How can older Christians share what theyhave learned with others?6. Whyare Christians with many years of expe-rience needed?

As an experiencedChristian, you haveopportunities thatothers do not have

JANUARY 15, 2014 21


to apply Bible principles in a varietyofsituations in life. You have the abili-ty to touch the hearts of others withBible truth. If you are an elder, youknow how to help brothers whohave made unwise decisions. (Gala-tians 6:1) Perhaps you have learnedhow to oversee congregation activi-ties, assembly departments, or King-dom Hall construction. You mayknow how to encourage doctors touse methods that do not require bloodwhen they operate. Even if you arenewly baptized, you have gained valu-able experience in life. For example,if you have raised children, you havedeveloped skills that are very useful.Older Christians have the ability to bevaluable to Jehovah’s people by teach-ing, guiding, and encouraging thebrothers and sisters.—Read Job 12:12.

7 In what other ways can you useyour abilities to help others? Perhapsyou can show younger ones how tostart and conduct Bible studies. If youare a sister, can you help young moth-ers learn to balance their service toJehovah while caring for small chil-dren? If you are a brother, can youteach young brothers to give talkswith enthusiasm and to be betterpreachers of the good news? Can you

7. What useful training can older ones give toyounger ones?

show them how you encourage elder-ly brothers and sisters when you vis-it them? Even if you do not have thestrength you used to have, you stillhave wonderful opportunities to trainyounger ones. The Bible says: “Theglory of young men is their strength,and the splendor of old men is theirgray hair.”—Proverbs 20:29.

SERVING WHERE THE NEED IS GREATER8 The apostle Paul stayed very busy

in Jehovah’s service even as he gotolder. By the time he was releasedfrom prison in Rome about theyear 61, he had already worked veryhard and endured many trials as amissionary. He could have chosen tohave an easier life by preaching inRome. (2 Corinthians 11:23-27) Thebrothers in Rome would certainlyhave loved for Paul to stay and sup-port them. But Paul saw that theneed was even greater in other coun-tries. Along with Timothy and Titus,he traveled to Ephesus, then to Crete,and probably to Macedonia. (1 Timo-thy 1:3; Titus 1:5) We do not know ifhe visited Spain, but he did plan ongoing there.—Romans 15:24, 28.

9 The apostle Peter may have been

8. What did the apostle Paul do as he gotolder?9. When did Peter move to serve where theneed was greater? (See opening picture.)


Serving where the need is greater:Moving to support a group or a congregationwhere there is a need for publishers

JANUARY 15, 2014 23

over the age of 50 when he moved towhere the need was greater. How dowe know? If he was about the sameage as Jesus or a little older, it wouldmean that he was about 50 years oldwhen he met with the other apos-tles in Jerusalem in the year 49. (Acts15:7) Some time after that meeting,

Peter went to live in Babylon, likely topreach to the many Jews who lived inthat area. (Galatians 2:9) He was liv-ing there when he wrote his first in-spired letter, about the year 62. (1 Pe-ter 5:13) Moving to where the need isgreater can be challenging, but Peterdid not allow his age to keep him fromexperiencing the joy of serving Jeho-vah fully.

10 Today, many Christians in their50’s and older find that their circum-stances have changed and that theyare able to serve Jehovah in new ways.Some have moved to where the needis greater. This is what Robert and hiswife did. They were about 55 whenthey realized that they had many newopportunities to serve Jehovah. Theironly son had moved away from home,and they no longer had to care for

10, 11. What did Robert and his wife do laterin life?

their aging parents. They had receiveda small inheritance and realized that ifthey sold their house, they could payoff their debt and have enough mon-ey until Robert received his retire-ment pension. They heard that manypeople in Bolivia were accepting Biblestudies and that it was cheaper to livethere. So they decided to move. Rob-ert says: “Adapting to our new homewas not easy. Everything was so differ-ent from what we were accustomed toin North America. But our efforts werewell rewarded.”

11 Robert adds: “Our whole lifenow revolves around congregationactivities. Some of the people withwhom we studied the Bible got bap-tized. One family we studied withlives in humble circumstances in avillage several miles away. But eachweek, the members of that familymake the difficult journey into townfor the meetings. Canyou imagine ourjoy at seeing the family’s progress andthe eldest boy even taking up the pio-neer service?”

THE NEED IN FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FIELDS12 Foreign-language congregations

and groups can benefit greatly fromthe example of older brothers and sis-ters. Also, such territory can be veryenjoyable to work. For example, Brianfrom Britain wrote that after he re-tired at the age of 65, he and his wifefelt that life had become dull. He said:“Our children had left home, and werarely found interested people withwhomwe could conduct Bible studies.

12, 13. After Brian retired, what did he and hiswife do?

Peter did not allowhis age to keep him

from experiencingthe joy of serving

Jehovah fully

Then I met a young Chinese man whowas doing research at the local univer-sity. He accepted an invitation to ourmeeting, and I started studying the Bi-ble with him. After a few weeks, hebegan bringing a Chinese colleaguewith him. Two weeks later, he broughta third, and then a fourth.

13 “About the time a fifth Chineseresearcher asked for a Bible study, Ithought, ‘Just because I am 65 doesnot mean that I should retire from Je-hovah’s service.’ So I asked my wife,who is two years younger than I am, ifshe would like to learn Chinese. Weused a recorded language course.That was ten years ago. Preaching ina foreign-language field made us feelyoung again. So far, we have studiedthe Bible with 112 Chinese people!Most of them have attended meet-ings. One of them now serves with usas a pioneer.”

ENJOY DOING WHAT YOU CAN14 Not all Christians in their 50’s

have the circumstances to do newthings in Jehovah’s service. Somehave poor health, and others carefor children or aging parents. But donot forget that Jehovah values what-ever you do in his service. So even ifyou are sometimes frustrated by whatyou cannot do, enjoy what you cando. Think of the apostle Paul. Foryears, he was a prisoner and couldnot continue his missionary journeys.But whenever people visited him, hespoke to them about the Scripturesand helped them to keep serving Godfaithfully.—Acts 28:16, 30, 31.

15 Jehovah also truly values whatelderly ones can do to serve him. Sol-omon admits that “the days of dis-

14. What should older Christians not forget?How can Paul’s example encourage them?15. Why are elderly Christians truly valuable?

You may not be too old todo more in your ministry

(See paragraphs 12, 13)

JANUARY 15, 2014 25

tress” are not the easiest time in life.But the Bible reminds us that Jehovahnotices what elderly Christians do topraise him. (Luke 21:2-4) Congrega-tions cherish the beautiful example offaith and endurance that these olderbrothers and sisters show.

16 In the Bible, we read of a faithfulolder woman named Anna. She wasan 84-year-old widow when Jesus wasborn. Because of her age, she did nothave the same opportunities to serveJehovah that others had. She wouldnot likely be able to become a disci-ple of Jesus, to be anointed with holyspirit, or to go preaching. But she didenjoy serving Jehovah in other ways.For example, every morning and eve-ning she would go to the courtyardof the temple and pray silently forabout half an hour while the priestoffered incense to Jehovah. The Biblesays that “she was never missing fromthe temple, rendering sacred servicenight and day.” (Luke 2:36, 37) It wasduring one of those visits to the tem-ple that she saw the young child Jesus.She told everyone that he would be-come the Messiah and bring freedomto Jerusalem.—Luke 2:38.

17 Today, we should look for waysto help brothers and sisters who areelderly or sick. There are many olderones who would love to be with us atmeetings or assemblies but who arenot able to attend. How can the con-

16. What opportunities were probably notavailable to Anna, but what could she do toworship God?17. How might the congregation help Chris-tians who are elderly or sick to share in trueworship?

gregation help? In some places, it maybe possible to arrange for them to lis-ten to the meetings by telephone. Inother places, this may not be possible.Even if older ones cannot go to meet-ings, theycan still share in supportingtrue worship. For example, they canpray for the success of the congrega-tion.—Read Psalm 92:13, 14.

18 Elderly Christians may not real-ize how much they encourage others.Think of Anna, who faithfully went tothe temple for many years. She prob-ably did not realize that her exampleand love for Jehovah would be includ-ed in the Bible and would still be en-couraging us today. In a similar way,your love for Jehovah will never be for-gotten by your brothers and sisters.No wonder God’s Word says: “Grayhair is a crown of beauty when it isfound in the way of righteousness”!—Proverbs 16:31.

19 There are limits to what all of uscan do in Jehovah’s service. But whileyou still have some strength and ener-gy, be determined to “remember . . .your Grand Creator . . . before thedays of distress come.”—Ecclesiastes12:1.

18, 19. (a) How can elderly Christians encour-age others? (b) Who can apply the counsel: “Re-member . . . your Grand Creator”?

Your love for Jehovahwill never beforgotten by yourbrothers and sisters


YOU may have noticed that people do not always re-member the same details about an event. Similarly, itmay be difficult for someone to remember exactly whatthe doctor said after he gave a diagnosis. Or a personmay not find his keys or eyeglasses, even when they areright in front of him. Why do these things happen? Re-searchers say that a type of blindness happens when wetry to do more than one thing at the same time. Appar-ently, our brain can fully concentrate on only one thingat a time.

2 Many people today have a similar kind of blindnessabout what is happening in the world. They may ad-mit that the world has changed very much since 1914,but they do not understand what this means. As Biblestudents, we know that God’s Kingdom came in 1914when Jesus was made King in heaven. However, theprayer “Let your Kingdom come. Let your will take place,

1, 2. (a) What can cause a certain type of blindness? (b) What do weknow about God’s Kingdom?

“Let Your Kingdom Come”But When?

“When you see all these things, know that he is near atthe doors.”—MATTHEW 24:33.

HOW WOULD YOUANSWER?��

How have world eventsfulfilled Bible propheciessince 1914?

��

Why is there more wicked-ness in the world now thanever before?

��

How do you feel about theend being so close?

as in heaven, also on earth” has notyet been completely answered. (Mat-thew 6:10) This prayer will be fullyanswered when this wicked world isremoved. Only when that happenscan God’s will be done on earth as itis done in heaven.

3 Because we regularly study God’sWord, we can see that prophecies arebeing fulfilled right now. What a dif-ference from most people! They are sobusy with their lives that they do notsee the clear evidence that Christ hasbeen ruling since 1914 and will soondestroy this wicked world. Ask your-self this question: ‘Do I still believethat the end of this world is very nearand that events on the earth provethis?’ Even if you have been a Wit-ness for only a short time, on whatis your attention focused? Whateveryour answer is, let us discuss threeimportant reasons why we know thatsoon God’s will for the earth will bedone.

THE HORSEMEN HAVE ARRIVED4 In 1914, Jesus Christ received a

heavenly crown, that is, he becameKing of God’s Kingdom. The proph-ecy recorded in Revelation chap-ter 6 describes Jesus as riding a whitehorse. After becoming King, he im-mediately began his ride in order todefeat Satan’s wicked world. (ReadRevelation 6:1, 2.) The prophecy fore-told that after God’s Kingdom began

3. What does our study of the Bible help us tosee?4, 5. (a) What has Jesus been doing since1914? (See opening picture.) (b) What do thethree horsemen following Jesus represent?How has this prophecy been fulfilled?

ruling, the world would quickly be-come much worse. War, food short-age, disease, and other causes ofdeath would happen more than everbefore. These disasters are represent-ed in the prophecy by three horse-men riding closely behind JesusChrist.—Revelation 6:3-8.

5 As the prophecy foretold, wartook “peace away from the earth.”This happened even though manynations had promised to work to-gether and keep peace. World War Iwas only the first of many destruc-tive wars that would take peace awayfrom the earth. Although much eco-nomic and scientific progress hasbeen made since 1914, food short-ages are still a threat to world secu-rity. No one can deny that diseases,natural disasters, and other trage-dies take the lives of millions eachyear. These events are more dan-gerous, happen more often, and killmore people than ever before in hu-man history. Do you realize what thatmeans?

6 Many people were distracted be-cause of the beginning of WorldWar I and the Spanish flu. However,anointed Christians eagerly expected

6. Who had been paying attention to the fulfill-ment of Bible prophecy, and what did they dowhen prophecy was fulfilled?

Many people do not seethe meaning of what ishappening in the world

JANUARY 15, 2014 27

the Gentile Times, or “appoint-ed times of the nations,” to end in1914. (Luke 21:24) The anointed didnot know exactly how Bible prophe-cy would be fulfilled, but they knewthat in 1914 an important eventwould take place in God’s King-dom. As soon as they understoodhow prophecy had been fulfilled,they courageously announced to oth-ers that God’s rule had begun. Manywho preached the Kingdom mes-sage were cruelly persecuted. Thispersecution was also a fulfillment ofBible prophecy. For many years afterthat, enemies of the Kingdom usedlaws, violence, prison sentences, oreven death to try to stop the preach-ing work.—Psalm 94:20; Revelation12:15.

7 If there is so much evidence toprove that God’s Kingdom is now

7. Why do most people not see the importanceof what is happening in the world today?

ruling in heaven, then why do mostpeople not see it? Why do they notsee that world events are fulfilling Bi-ble prophecy exactly as God’s peo-ple have been saying for many years?Do they see only what they want tosee? (2 Corinthians 5:7) Are they sobusy with their own lives that they donot see what God is doing? (Matthew24:37-39) Are some of them distract-ed by the ideas and goals of Satan’sworld? (2 Corinthians 4:4) We needfaith as well as the ability to see morethan just what is in front of our eyesto understand what God’s Kingdomis doing. How happy we are that wecan see what is really going on!

WICKEDNESS IS INCREASING8 There is a second reason why we

know that God’s Kingdom will soonrule the earth: The world is now more

8-10. (a) How has 2 Timothy 3:1-5 been ful-filled? (b) Why can we say that wickedness isgetting worse?

With the ride of the horsemen,world conditions continue to worsen(See paragraphs 4, 5)

JANUARY 15, 2014 29

wicked than ever before, and it isgetting worse. For almost one hun-dred years, we have seen the prophe-cy at 2 Timothy 3:1-5 come true. Thebehavior described in those scrip-tures is spreading into all partsof the world. Do you see that also?Let us discuss some examples.—Read2 Timothy 3:1, 13.

9 Compare what shocked people inthe 1940’s or 1950’s with what hap-pens today in the workplace, in en-tertainment, in sports, and in fash-ion. Extreme violence and extremeimmorality are seen everywhere.People try to shock others with theirviolent, immoral, and cruel behav-ior. Television programs that manythought were bad in the 1950’s arenow viewed as good family enter-tainment. Many have noticed thestrong influence that homosexualshave on entertainment and fashionand how they promote their lifestylein public. Thankfully, we know howGod feels about these things!—ReadJude 14, 15.

10 Also, compare the rebellious be-havior of young people in the pastwith what young people do today. Forexample, in the 1950’s, parents wor-ried about their children smoking to-bacco, drinking alcohol, or dancingin an improper way. But today we of-ten hear shocking news reports likethese: A 15-year-old student shootshis classmates, killing 2 and injur-ing 13. A group of drunken teen-agers cruelly murder a nine-year-oldgirl and attack her father and cousin.Another news report said that in one

Asian country, young people were re-sponsible for half of all crimes com-mitted during a ten-year period. Cananyone deny that things today aregetting much worse?

11 The apostle Peter accuratelysaid: “In the last days ridiculers willcome with their ridicule, proceedingaccording to their own desires andsaying: ‘Where is this promised pres-ence of his? Why, from the day ourforefathers fell asleep in death, allthings are continuing exactly as theywere from creation’s beginning.’ ”(2 Peter 3:3, 4) Why do some peoplereact this way? It seems that the moreoften we see something, the less wepay attention to it. If the behavior ofa close friend changes suddenly, thismay shock us. But if the attitudes andmorals of people in general changeslowly over a long period of time, wemay not notice it. A change like thisis very dangerous.

12 The apostle Paul warned us thatthe last days would be “hard to dealwith.” (2 Timothy 3:1) But we donot need to hide from the world. Wecan overcome any disappointmentsor fears that we may have. With thehelp of Jehovah, his spirit, and theChristian congregation, we can stayfaithful to him. God will give us“the power beyond what is normal.”—2 Corinthians 4:7-10.

13 Paul began the prophecy about

11. Why do many people not realize thatthings are getting worse?12, 13. (a) Why do we not need to be dis-couraged by what is happening in the world?(b) What will help us to endure these last daysthat are “hard to deal with”?


the last days with the words “knowthis.” Those words guarantee thatthis prophecy will be fulfilled. Weknow that this world will contin-ue to get worse until Jehovah brings

the end. We have learned from histo-ry that when standards of right andwrong become very low, societies orentire nations have collapsed. Nev-er before have the standards of rightand wrong been so low in the entireworld. Many people may ignore whatthis means, but the events since 1914should convince us that God’s King-dom will soon end all wickedness.

THIS GENERATIONWILL NOT PASS AWAY

14 The history of God’s peoplegives us a third reason to have con-fidence that the end is near. For ex-ample, before God’s Kingdom began

14-16. What is a third reason why we believethat God’s Kingdom will “come” soon?

ruling in heaven, a group of faith-ful anointed ones were serving God.When prophecy was not fulfilled inthe way that they expected in 1914,what did they do? Most of them con-tinued serving Jehovah faithfully andendured trials and persecution. Overthe years, most, if not all, of thoseanointed ones have remained faithfuluntil death.

15 In his prophecy about the lastdays of Satan’s world, Jesus said:“This generation will by no meanspass away until all these things hap-pen.” (Read Matthew 24:33-35.)When Jesus mentioned “this gen-eration,” we understand that he wasspeaking about two groups of anoint-ed Christians. The first group waspresent in 1914 and understood thatChrist began ruling as King in thatyear. Those who made up this groupwere not only alive in 1914, but theyhad also been anointed by holy spir-it in or before that year.—Romans 8:14-17.

16 All those in the second group in-cluded in “this generation” were notsimply alive but were anointed withholy spirit during the time that somemembers of the first group were stillalive on earth. So not every anointedperson today is included in “this gen-eration” whom Jesus spoke about. To-


“Let your Kingdom come”:God’s Kingdom came in 1914 when Jesus was made Kingin heaven. God’s Kingdom will also come in the future whenJesus destroys the wicked

Events since 1914should convince usthat God’s Kingdom

will soon end allwickedness

JANUARY 15, 2014 31

day, those in the second group aregetting older. Yet, Jesus’ words atMatthew 24:34 make us confidentthat at least some of “this genera-tion will by no means pass away” be-fore seeing the start of the great trib-ulation. This convinces us even morethat soon the King of God’s King-dom will destroy the wicked andbring in a righteous new world.—2 Pe-ter 3:13.

CHRIST WILL SOONHAVE THE VICTORY

17 Canyou see how the Bible proph-ecies we have studied are being ful-filled right now? As Jesus warned us,we do not know the exact day or hourof the end. (Matthew 24:36; 25:13)

But Paul mentioned that we do knowwhen “the season,” that is, the lastdays, would be. (Read Romans 13:11.)We are living in that season right now.If we pay attention to Bible prophecyand to what Jehovah God and JesusChrist are doing, we will see the clearevidence that the end of this wickedworld is near.

17. What does the evidence we have discussedhelp us to understand?

18 Soon, those who refuse to acceptthe authority of Jesus Christ, the Rid-er of the white horse, will have to ad-mit that they are wrong. They will not

be able to escape the judgment thatis coming to them. When that hap-pens, manywill cryout in fear, saying:“Who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17) Chapter 7 of Revelation givesus the answer to that question. Theanointed still on earth and the “greatcrowd” will “stand” because of be-ing approved by God. Then the “greatcrowd” of other sheep will survive thegreat tribulation and enter into God’snew world.—Revelation 7:9, 13-15.

19 If we keep paying attention to Bi-ble prophecies that are being fulfilledin our day, we will not be distractedby Satan’s world. We will not be blindto the real meaning of world events.Christ will soon complete his victo-ry and destroy this wicked world dur-ing the righteouswar of Armageddon.(Revelation 19:11, 19-21) Imagine howhappy we will be after that!—Revela-tion 20:1-3, 6; 21:3, 4.

18. What will happen to those who refuse toaccept Jesus Christ as their King?19. As one who is confident that the end isnear, what are you looking forward to?

If we pay attentionto Bible prophecy,

we will see the clearevidence that the

end of this wickedworld is near

Soon, those whorefuse to acceptthe authority of JesusChrist will have to admitthat they are wrong

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In 1985, I was ten years old. Children fromCambodia had arrived at my school in Columbus,Ohio, U.S.A. One of the boys knew a few words ofEnglish. By using pictures, he began to tell mehorrible stories of torture and killings and of peo-ple who had to run away to save their lives. I criedat night when I thought of these children. I want-ed to tell them about the Paradise and the res-urrection, but they did not understand my lan-guage. Even though I was only a boy, I decided tolearn Cambodian so that I could tell my school-mates about Jehovah. I did not realize then howmuch this decision would affect my future.

Learning Cambodian was difficult. Twice I de-cided to give up, but Jehovah used my parentsto encourage me. Later, my teachers and school-mates started pressuring me to accept a well-paying job. But I wanted to pioneer, so I chosehigh school courses that would help me to findpart-time work. After school, I would go preachingwith some pioneers. I also volunteered to helpstudents learn English. This decision helped melater on.

When I was 16, I heard about a Cambodiangroup in Long Beach, California, U.S.A. My par-ents allowed me to visit the group. These brothersand sisters taught me how to read Cambodian. Assoon as I graduated from school, I became a pio-neer. I preached to the Cambodian people nearmy home. By the time I was 18, I was thinkingabout moving to Cambodia. It was still a danger-ous place, but there were ten million people livingin Cambodia, most of whom had never heard thegood news. At that time, there was only one con-gregation of 13 publishers in the whole country.When I was 19, I visited Cambodia for the firsttime. Two years later, I decided to move there. Ifound part-time work translating and teaching En-glish. Later, I found a wife who had the same goalsas I did. Together, we have enjoyed helping manyCambodian people become Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Jehovah has given me the desires of my heart.(Psalm 37:4) Preaching is the most satisfyingthing a person can do. During the 16 years I havebeen in Cambodia, that little congregation of 13publishers has grown to become 12 congrega-tions and 4 groups!—As told by Jason Blackwell.

What I Chose as a Child

As a young boy

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