NO. 282: GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY

No. 282

At this time of the year there are so many people reminded of Jesus our Savior ­and it is a pleasure to see them rejoice in the Birth of our Savior. We well realize that much of the emphasis placed on this occasion is for commercial purposes, yet the general atmosphere is “Good Will To Men.” It seems to affect those who are not be­lievers – especially those of “good will.” Even though we know it is not the correct date for the birth of our Lord, it is not indicated in the Scriptures that we should celebrate that event; therefore, if the world wishes to honor His birth, we can join with those who from the sincerity of heart appreciate Him as their Redeemer. We now offer the following from That Servant as given in our Daily Manna, with which we are in full agreement:

“Although we cannot agree that this is the proper day for celebrating the birth of our dear Redeemer, but must insist that it was about October first (Studies Vol. 2), nevertheless, since He did not intimate His desire that we should celebrate His birthday, it is quite immaterial upon what day that event, of so great importance to all, is celebrated. Upon this day, so generally celebrated, we may properly enough join with all whose hearts are in the attitude of love and appreciation toward God and to­ward the Savior. The habit of giving little remembrances one to another at this time of the year seems to us specially appropriate. God is the Giver of every good and perfect gift, He is continually giving; and we are continually receiving from Him, but amongst all His gifts the One of greatest importance is the Gift of His Son to be our Redeemer.”

That Servant never criticized or made a special difference with any one unless the matter was basic and important to the Plan of Salvation. He was indeed “That Wise and Faithful Servant”! Had the Jehovah’s Witnesses continued in the “faith once de­livered unto the saints,” they would not have caused so much heartache and anguish in the homes of their devotees. However, these people are misled, and quite a few of them do these things because they think it is God’s will. But the Jehovah’s Witnes­ses must be different, and advertise their difference. Had they followed the course of “That Wise and Faithful Servant” they would not have caused so much misery and hardship for their faithful adherents – not for the “witness of the Truth,” but for the witness of the so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses. And so long as these “witnesses” do so because of their belief that they are doing God’s will, the Lord is mindful of them – and in due course will bring them to a “knowledge of the Truth.” So we should “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.” (2 Tim. 2:25)

Although December 25 is generally recognized as the birth date of JESUS, there is not the slightest hint in the Bible or in secular history that this is the correct date. How then has this date been established? Jesus said, “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39) Among the outstanding types of the Old Testament that “testify” of Him is the one on the Day of Atonement, in which sacrifice of the bullock typified Jesus as the Atonement for our sins. This service was held on the tenth day of the seventh month – the tenth day of the seventh month is Tishri, or Tizri, which is represented in our calendar by about the tenth of October. And in every institutional type the antitype must appear on the same date as did the type.

The question now comes, Why this gross error? After the “falling away” (2 Thes, 2:3) became more pronounced in the early Church, the question of the same date for the Jewish Day of Atonement and the birth of Jesus propounded some irritating and intricate questions, so the “bright minds” of the time came up with this solution: The Vernal Equinox occurs about March 25, so Jesus would begin generation in Mary about that time; and nine months from March 25 would arrive at December 25, which should be the day of His birth. Truly, “Wisdom is justified of her children”! (Matt. 11:19) And we have here an excellent illustration of that truth. But we agree with That Servant, that we may properly enough join with all those whose hearts are in the attitude of love and ap­preciation toward God and toward the Savior on December 25, which is generally accepted as the birth date of our Redeemer.

“Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.” But the Jehovah’s Witnesses bring us “bad tidings of great misery” for all those who do not join with them. Ac­cording to them, the vast majority now living will be annihilated in Armageddon unless they join with them beforehand. So the majority of this generation will have no oppor­tunity of eternal life in the Kingdom. But the Scriptures clearly teach, there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the Just and the Unjust (Acts 24:15), which will not only include those of past generations, but those of this generation also. There has never been a time when the Adversary has deceived the children of this world more than today – so why should we be surprised at those who are unable to accept the Truth? “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Cor. 4:4) But we are promised that the “eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped” (Isa. 35:5) in that glorious Kingdom.

Jesus did not die for the few who become His footstep followers during this Faith Age, when sin is in the ascendancy, but He died for all mankind – to be “testified in due time.” (2 Tim. 2:1-6)  There are Two Salvations – one for the world of mankind who have been “blinded by the god of this world,” – called the “common salvation” (Jude 3); and the “great salvation” (Heb. 2:3), which is the salvation of the Elect during this Faith Age – the footstep followers of our Lord – the “called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)

The story of the “good tidings” of this text (Luke 2:10) is so familiar as to re­quire no special comment – yet in its simple details lies the hope of the whole world. For four thousand years the birth of this child was promised, and during these forty centuries some faithful souls continued to trust in the promises and to look for the salvation to be brought about through Him. We may surely take it for granted that the humble shepherds to whom the message of the Lord’s Advent first came were men who thus hoped in the promises of God; for to such, and to such only, the Lord discloses His purposes.

These men were quietly tending their flocks by night when suddenly “the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.” (Luke 2:9) But their fear was soon overcome by the message of the angel, which, strange to say, has been partially omitted – leaving out one of the grand­est features of the message – viz., that it was to be to all people.

The message reads, “Fear not; for, behold I bring you good tidings, of GREAT JOY, which shall be to ALL PEOPLE.” It will be observed that the blessedness of these tidings is cumulative: first, it is “good tidings”; then, it is “great joy”; and then the crowning feature of it is that it is to “all people” – not only to you shepherds who are this night looking for the hope of Israel, but for your friends and relatives – to all their friends and relatives and neighbors far and near: to both those who now live, but to all those now in death.

Blessed tidings! Hearken to the gladsome sound: “For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Verse 11) Then He was to be a Saviour to all people: so the Scriptures clearly affirm, saying that, by the grace of God, He tasted death for every man, and that He gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time – for all. (Heb. 2:9; 1 Tim. 2:6) The testimony, however, is quite as necessary to the salvation of the sinner as the fact that Christ gave Himself a ransom for all. The favor of salvation will not be forced upon any; but the testimony that it has been provided for every man, on condition of his accept­ance of the favor upon God’s terms, is to be given to every man, for his acceptance or rejection. And though millions of the race for whom Christ died have gone down to the grave without such testimony, still the fact remains that the testimony shall be given in due time – which due time, to all such, must be after their awakening from death.

And to this agree the words of the Lord: “The hour is coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man and shall come forth; they that have done good (who in this present life have come into judgment and who have passed their trial successfully), unto the resurrection of life (the full reward of the faith­ful. Such will be the overcoming church); and they that have done evil unto the res­urrection of judgment.” (John 5:25–29) That is, the latter class will come forth from the grave to have the truth testified to them for their acceptance or rejection; and their final judgment of worthiness or unworthiness of life will be based upon their course under trial after the truth has been testified to them – in the Millennial Age – the Age now just ahead of us. Thus the angel of the Lord preached the good tidings of the restitution of all things (Acts 3:19-23) to the shepherds on the plane of Beth­lehem.

Verse 12: Then they told where and how they should find this bud of promise, so that when they would see Him they might feel doubly assured that this was He.

Verses 13,14: “Then suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heav­enly host, praising God, saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” This shows how the angels of God are interested in the affairs of men, and how they sympathize with us and rejoice over our prosperity. And this reminds us of other statements to the effect that there is joy in heaven among the angels over one sinner that repenteth (Luke 15:7); and that they are all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation. (1 Pet. 1:12; Heb. 1:14) Thus we see them to be creatures of God full of loving benevolence even toward a fallen race, and esteeming it a privilege to serve the heirs of this salvation, although they know, as they studiously look into God’s Plan, that some of this fallen race are by and by to be highly exalted, even above the angels who never sinned.

Thus we see their humble recognition of the right of the Creator to do what He will with His own, and their cheerful and joyful acquiescence in His perfect will, which they know to be determined by His unerring Wisdom and His fathomless love. Oh, what universal joy will prevail when the whole family of God in heaven and in earth is brought into fullest harmony under Jehovah’s Anointed!

Verses 15, 18 show the teachable attitude of the shepherds: they recognized the angels and their message as from the Lord, and, their fears being allayed, their hopes revived and their faith increased, they felt that they must go at once and see this which had come to pass. And when they had so determined, a strange star (evidently a meteor, as it could not have been a fixed star) appeared, moving in the direction which the angel had told them to go; and they followed the star until they reached Bethle­hem, when it stood still over the place where the young child was. And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him and presented to Him gold and frankincense and myrrh, recog­nizing Him as the long-promised Messiah. And being warned of God in a dream, they dis­regarded the request of Herod to inform him of the whereabouts of the new-born king, and so departed into their own country another way. But as they went they published abroad the good tidings which the angels had brought to them, and how they had actually seen Him of whom the prophets testified.

Verse 19: “But Mary (mother-like) kept all these things and pondered them, in her heart,” doubtless calling to mind also the message of the angel to her. (Luke 1: 28–35) Again and again we seem to hear her say, “My soul doth magnify the Lord... for He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden... He that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is His name.” (Luke 1:46-49)

Verse 20: The shepherds returned to their flocks, fully assured of the wonderful truth that the promised seed of the woman who was to bruise the serpent’s head had really come. (Gen. 3:15) And they rejoiced and glorified God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as they were told unto them.

“NEVER MAN SPAKE LIKE THIS MAN”

(John 7:46)

At this analysis a review is in order. We begin at the Mount of Beatitudes and close with the Mount of Transfiguration, and on the way in the Master’s words and con­duct find illustrations of the wonderful teachings of the Sermon on the Mount and how faithful obedience to the instructions there given will mean to us eventually a place in the Kingdom, pictured in the Transfiguration scene. The blessings of the meek, the merciful; the persecuted for righteousness’ sake, etc., etc., all will find their fulfillment when, by the grace of God, we shall eventually be changed, transfigured, by the grace of God, we shall eventually be changed, transfigured, by the Redeemer and Lord – “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.” (Matt. 13:43)

How wonderful are the Lord’s dealings with us and yet how reasonable. His appeal is, “Come let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as wool.” (Isa. 1:18) He shows us how He has prepared for this: that He Himself has provided, the sacrifice for sins; that our Lord has already died the Just for the Un­just that He might bring us to God, and that God can be just when He receives us, just in His dealings with us, because the justice element of His Law has been fully met on our behalf. He gives us a glimpse of the blessings He proposes to bring to the world of mankind, points us to the Lamb of God, whose sacrifice takes away the sin of the world, and invites all those who have love and sympathy and appreciation to come now and accept not only life eternal but favor upon favor – joint-heirship with His Son in the glorious Kingdom which is to bless the world in the great uplift of “restitution, which God hath-spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:19-21)

This message comes to us through the Son of God, of whom our text declares, “Never man spake like this man.” No wonder the apostles said to Him when some were forsaking Him, “Lord, to whom should we go? Thou hast the words (the message) of eternal life.” (John 6:68) Others may indeed think that they have eternal life in themselves – they may persuade themselves that by some inherent, immortal principle they will live forever, and that when they die it will merely be the appearance of dy­ing, and actually they will become in that moment more alive than ever. At best that is a very difficult thought, and few are able to so hypnotize their own judgments as to believe it. We on the contrary, hearkening to the voice that spoke as never man spake, hear His declaration that our hope is in Him as the “resurrection and the life.” (John 5:28,29) It is reasonable.

We can reason together with God when we take the voice of His Son and reject the voices of the “Dark Ages.” From this standpoint – that a resurrection has been pro­vided through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus – the whole matter of the redemp­tion which is in Christ Jesus – the whole matter of death and eternal life is clari­fied before our mental view. We see the condemnation through Adam, and how death is justly reigning throughout the whole world of mankind ever since. We see the death of Christ, the Just for the Unjust; that He has bought us with His precious blood, that He has paid our ransom price, and that as a result, in God’s due time, all shall come forth from the power of the tomb. We see the keys of death and of the grave in the hands of the One who has purchased all; we rejoice in the proclamation of the coming blessing to all the families of the earth, through a release from this power of sin and Satan and death.

We hearken still more intently to the voice of Him that speaketh as never man spake, and hear Him assure us that there are two resurrections – one a life resurrec­tion, the other a judgment resurrection. We hear Him tell us that only those who through faith and obedience attain a standing with God under the cover of the precious sacri­fice will be counted the good, the justified, and only they will share in the life res­urrection, because only they will have passed their trial and be counted worthy of life. All others will come forth to the judgment resurrection to be disciplined under the King­dom, to receive stripes in proportion to the willfulness in which they have cooperated in their own downfall into mental, moral and physical degradation, but to be helped by the stripes, to be corrected in righteousness, if they will, and to be brought step by step out of the sin-and-death conditions, up, up, up, by resurrection power of Jesus, to the full perfection, to all that was lost in Adam.

Well may we rejoice in this One who spake as never man spake, in Him who has the words of eternal life. Respecting those words the Apostle Peter says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we might become par­takers of the Divine nature.” (2 Pet. 1:4) Yes! Wonderful words of life, tell them over again, think them over again, rejoice in them more and more – let them fill our hearts and be in our mouths a new song of the loving kindness of our God, whose tender mercies are over all His works.

Of these words, which the Master spake as never man spake, the Apostle further declares that He spake of our salvation. He says, “Which salvation began to be spoken by our Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him.” (Heb. 2:3) Not only was there no eternal life in our race, and no hope for attaining any except through Jesus, but all of the promises of the past would have been powerless without His work of atone­ment, and not until He came was it known how our redemption was to be accomplished. True, the Lord had provided various types and shadows in the numerous sacrifices of the past which illustrated the fact that “without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sin” (Heb. 9:22); but they could not be understood until the antitype had come. Then He brought life to light and immortality to light – life for the world, eternal life to be conferred during the Millennial Age – immortality for His Church, His bride, His Little Flock, His joint–heirs. These were never brought to light before; they were faintly seen and vaguely described, but it remained for the Great Teacher ­Jesus – to set forth before us the salvation which God had proffered through Him. Thank God that our hearts have made our lips more and more tell forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Through faith in Him we are already reckoned risen to “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4), and through Him by and by the Father will raise us up by His own power, that we shall be like Him and share His glory, honor and immortality.

THE SAVIOR OF ALL MEN

1 Tim. 4:19 shows that God will save all men from the Adamic Condemnation, but not eternally: “We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men (from the Adamic condemnation, but not eternally; after the sentence is removed from each one, he is given an individual trial for life; and only those who prove worthy in their trial gain everlasting life), especially (He is the Savior to the uttermost only) of those that believe (the faithful elect now and the faithful non-elect in the Millen­nium).”

A NEW HEAVENS AND EARTH

Another testimony, which incidentally identifies the Judgment Day with the Mil­lennium, is found in 2 Pet. 3:6-13: “Whereby the world that then was, being over­flowed with water, perished (not the literal world – the earth – nor the human family perished, but the symbolic world, the order of affairs which then existed, was de­stroyed by the flood): but the heavens and the earth, which are now (‘this present evil world’ – Gal. 1:4, the order of affairs now existing: its heavens being its re­ligious systems and teachers and its earth being its organized society), by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire (a symbol of destruction—Mal. 3:2,3; 4:1,3; Matt. 3:11,12; 1 Cor. 3:12-15; Rev. 17:16; all the symbolic earth will be devoured by the fire of God’s jealousy – Zeph. 3:8) against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing (do not forget), that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (this identified the day of judgment of v. 7 as a 1000-year day). The Lord is not slack concerning his prom­ise, as some men count slackness (God’s time seems slow to the natural man); but long-­sufferingly to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord (the 1000-year Judgment Day) will come as a thief in the night (comp. 1 Thes. 5:1-3); in which the heavens (not the literal heavens, but Satan’s false religious systems – comp. Heb. 12:26,27) shall pass away with a great noise (uproar and confusion), and the elements shall melt with fervent heat (the various com­ponent elements of the present symbolic heavens and earth will disintegrate), the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up (Satan’s selfish, unjust and corrupt social arrangements shall be destroyed; but the literal earth is to remain, just as it remained after the flood – ‘the earth abideth for ever’ – Eccl. 1:4).

“Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens (Jesus and His faithful followers, the Millennial religious ruling powers) and a new earth (human society organized on the basis of truth, righteousness and love, as against the erron­eous, unjust and selfish arrangements of the present evil earth), wherein dwelleth righteousness.”

Thus by then Jesus will have destroyed the devil and all his works. Accordingly, we look for the Millennial Age to witness the destruction of the sentence of death, as well as all the effects of that sentence; sin, error. superstition, sorrow, pain, sighing, crying, sickness, famine, pestilence, drought, extreme heat and cold, scarcity, war, revolution, anarchy, oppression, poverty, ignorance, dying and death. (Rev. 21: 1-4; 22:3)

RESULTS OF THE KINGDOM’S REIGN

One of the results of the Kingdom’s reign will be the utter extirpation of all the effects of the curse as the unholy fruits of Satan’s rule, authority and power. Among other passages, 1 Cor. 15:20-26 shows this. We quote it from the Improved Ver­sion: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become a first fruit (Jesus) of them that slept. For since by (Adam) came death, by (a) man also (Jesus) shall come the resurrection of the dead. For as all in Adam die (Jesus did not die in Adam, for He was not in Adam, and therefore our correction of the translation), even so all in Christ shall be made alive (e.g., the Little Flock is in Christ; they shall be made alive first and primarily). But every man in his own order: Christ a firstfruit (the Church is here meant); afterward they that are Christ’s at (during) his presence (those who are shown to be our Lord’s faithful followers during His presence, these shall also be made alive). Then cometh the end (the end of the Little Season, when He shall have ruled over all the earth and given every man the opportunity to gain eternal life, which His Ransom-sacrifice, a corresponding price, enables Him to give), when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father (for God will be the final judge over the earth and will exercise His judgment through Christ, the Head, primarily, and sec­ondarily, the Church, His Body, as His Vicegerent); when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and (all) power (every vestige of the governorship and of the pretended might of Satan, all of this will be put down by the almighty hand of Christ, the Head, and the Church, the Body, using God’s power as that almighty power in their hand). For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death (thus we see that not only persons are these enemies, but also things. The Adamic death in the sense of the dying process is this last great enemy; and, because of His faithfulness, Jesus became the One who will after the close of the Millennium finally destroy it).”

But not all will obtain eternal life. Those who will not even externally reform, but will continue to be rebellious to the Kingdom during the thousand years, will after 100 years of opportunity be cut off in the Second Death (Isa. 65:20); while those who will reform externally, but without a heart reformation, will live throughout the thousand years and attain human perfection; but by the trial during the “little season” at the Millennium’s close, their unholy heart’s condition (the Adamic process) will become manifest, and they will perish in the Second Death – everlasting destruction (Rev. 20: 7-9, 15; Mal. 4:3; Psa. 37:10,35,36,38; Isa. 1:28; Acts 3:23). Those who during the Millennium will practice truth and righteousness, from the love of these principles, will be lifted up to human perfection not only in their faculties, but also in their characters (Isa. 66:10-14), and will thus be enabled to remain faithful amid the final trial during the Little Season after the Millennium; and these shall inherit the earth forever, as paradise restored (Matt. 25:35-40; Isa. 65:16-25). Such will be the grand results of the reign of Jesus and the Church in the earth (Rev. 21:3-5; 22:1-3).

The sad tragedy of sin will forever have ceased to be enacted. The ages to come will witness the realization of the angels’ song of (G1ory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will to men (Luke 2:14); and from every part of the Universe the glorious Hallelujah chorus of Jehovah’s numberless choirs, without one discordant note, shall forever and ever celebrate Jehovah and Christ, for their glorious Persons, holy Characters, wonderful Plan and great Works (Rev. 5:13)! Therefore let every lover of God and man, of truth and righteousness, pray, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth, as in Heaven”! As the hymn says, “I love to tell the Story”!.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him aloud with heart and voice,

And always in His Son rejoice.

Sincerely your brother,

John J. Hoefle Pilgrim

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION: – Is Armageddon imminent, and what can we expect will be the order of affairs after Armageddon?

ANSWER: – Yes, we believe Armageddon is imminent. At the first Advent “people were in expectation (because of certain Old Testament prophecies), and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not.” (Luke 3:15) Today all Truth groups are also “in expectation” of Armageddon – as were the Jews then in ex­pectation of the Messiah; but their “expectations” today are by no means in full ac­cord with each other. The “all men” of the text had specific reference to the Jews, although it would seem a limited number of Gentiles also had a related expectation – just as some nominal Christians and worldlings also now believe Armageddon is near at hand.

It was the Parousia Messenger’s teaching that “the Heavens” (present nominal re­ligious systems) would pass away first: “The heavens shall pass away with a great noise” (2 Pet. 3:10) – with a rushing sound” (Dia.). The Berean Comment says, “a great hissing noise, uproar and confusion.” According to 1 Kgs. 19:11-13, Armageddon is but the second spasm of the “uproar and confusion,” to be followed by the “fire.” And, while Great Babylon will fall in Armageddon, never to rise again, the peoples of the various nations will attempt some sort of civil government reconstruction – the same being forged according to the temperament of the peoples in the various countries. Having been an eye witness to the 1967 riots in Detroit, and the wanton vandalism that prevailed then, it is our opinion that the “fire” will follow Armageddon rather quickly – in much less time than has elapsed between the “wind” (the world war) and Armageddon. In that 1967 upheaval the destruction was so extensive (approximating one-half billion dollars in that one city) that Detroit has not begun to reconstruct; and if such a con­dition were to prevail in all large cities, the commercial bedlam would be too much for any new government to handle efficiently.

But our concern in this question is chiefly with the religious setting. Man is by inheritance and general upbringing a religious being; it is inherent in his blood and brain organs. Therefore, it would be foolish to suppose that man will lose his relig­ious propensities just because the systems have been destroyed. It has been forcefully pointed out by That Servant that many people would gladly embrace the Truth now were it not for the intimidation or undue persuasion by their religious leaders; and we are in full agreement with that thought. Therefore, once Armageddon offers convincing proof of present erroneous teachings, it would seem a reasonable conclusion that many will be won for the Truth.

In this connection, we mention specifically the Jehovah’s Witnesses, as they have gone far astray from the teaching of That Servant. He said Armageddon is world-wide revolution, which will be a complete disruption of the present Gentile governments; but each country will set up some sort of government that they think is suitable for their needs. The Witnesses have been telling us that Armageddon will completely anni­hilate all earthly governments. They tell us that Armageddon will clear the air for them, and that thereafter they will be in complete charge – not the Jews. But the Scriptures clearly teach us when the Kingdom is established, after Jacob’s last trouble, the faithful Worthies (Hebrews, 11th Chapter) will be in charge, with the Jews as the chief missionaries of the Kingdom.

Although we cannot see clearly the details of things just ahead of us, we do know the generalities. We are still in the Faith Age, but “Ye, brethren, are not in dark­ness” (1 Thes. 5:4); and “We, according to the promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (2 Pet. 3:11-13) But this “new heavens” is not the “new heavens” that the Witnesses are teaching; but through hard experiences that will come to them during and after Armageddon, the sincere among them will learn that they have been deluded and will, no doubt, come to a “knowledge of the Truth.” Although there might be an attempt made by some to set up a new set of errors after Armageddon, but they won’t survive for long, the same as the new governments will be unable to sur­vive for long. And these expressions are in exact harmony with the teachings of That Servant – teachings that the Witnesses have discarded.

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LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brother Hoefle:

I am not sure how you got my name, but it doesn’t matter. I’m glad you did. I have your paper, and enjoyed it very much. I take the Present Truth and Bible Standard, but not having found the Truth as given by That Servant until recently, I am unable to recognize the errors you point out in RGJ’s May-June PT. What you say makes sense.

I would like to continue receiving your paper, and also a list of your publications for sale... I am enclosing a love gift to aid in the work you are doing. Until I hear from you, may you have joy and peace in serving our Beloved Master.

Sincerely your brother ------- (OKLAHOMA)