What Has Religion Done For Mankind?

CHAPTER XXVI

Pure Religion Alone Survives the World's End

FROM the time when he began, the purpose of Satan the Devil has been to wipe out true religion from the earth. This he is trying to do especially now when he has but a short time till the battle of Armageddon, not alone by means of so-called "godless Communism" but also by means of his hypocritical religious seed, who palm themselves off as guides to the true God. "It is therefore nothing great if his ministers also keep transforming themselves into ministers of righteousness." Both Communism and apostate Christianity work for the destruction of true faith and worship. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15, NW) But it is an infallible rule, "Every rotten tree produces bad fruit." Now false religion, both the pagan and the apostate Christian, must eat the fruit of its Babylonish doings over the many centuries. "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind," just as the apostate Israelites did. (Matthew 7:17, NW; Hosea 8:7) But the true religion, which God planted, has sown the fruits of true worship according to His Word, and now it will reap the fruits of righteousness. "Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death." (Proverbs 11:4,6) Hence true religion will survive.

² Jehovah's King who now reigns since A.D. 1914 is highly interested in religion. He is Christ Jesus, whom Jehovah has sworn in as a "priest forever after the likeness of Melchizedek". Being both King and High Priest, he uses his royal power in behalf of the interests of clean and undefiled religion. Like his prototype, King Solomon, he builds the true temple of Jehovah, the spiritual temple of which his 144,000 faithful followers are "living stones" and of which he himself is the "chief cornerstone". (Hebrews 3:1; 7:15-17; 1 Peter 2:4-9, NW) He is therefore careful about preserving the remnant of such living stones who are yet to be built into the glorious heavenly temple. For it is written concerning all of the spiritual temple class: "Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand years." (Revelation 20:6, NW) According to Jesus' parables, it is when he comes into his kingdom that he calls to account all his servants, to determine who are faithful and who are undependable apostates. Consistently, he calls before himself for judgment not only his true followers but also all those who pretend to be his servants, namely, Christendom.

³ The apostle Peter warns us: "It is the appointed time for the judgment to start with the house of God. Now if it starts first with us, what will the complete end be of those who are not obedient

to the good news of God? 'And if the righteous man is being saved with difficulty, where will the ungodly man and the sinner make a showing?'" (1 Peter 4:17,18, NW) Whatever judgment Christians may have had individually before this "time of the end", it is organizations of religion that the High Priest and King now puts on judgment with all their members. He has shown his approval of the faithful remnant, "who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus." He has ushered them into his joy and has committed to them the interests of true religion, to proclaim world-wide the good news of the established kingdom and to declare the oncoming "day of vengeance of our God". (Matthew 24:14,45-47; Isaiah 61:1,2) In view of the war waged on them by the abased Serpent and his demons the remnant are indeed being saved with difficulty. Yet they will be preserved for the heavenly kingdom. But what about the make-believe Christians?

⁴ The facts prove that these latter have been rejected. The clergy, once rich in spiritual privileges, have now died to this favored condition. As respects God's real service according to his commandments for this "time of the end", the clergy are as inactive as if lying buried stiff in the cold grave. But, like the rich man in Jesus' parable, they are suffering torment, because they are feeling the heat of the preaching of God's fiery Word by Jehovah's witnesses. They weep and grind their teeth at the remnant and their fellow witnesses of good will. They pray to God, the Greater Abra-

ham, that he will send the Lazarus class away from his bosom and on a mission that will not result in fiery torment for the religious clergy or their "five brothers", their religious allies. But the Greater Abraham refuses this selfish request. The clergy and their "brothers" have God's written Word. Were they to harmonize their lives and teachings with this they would not feel tormented.

⁵ If the clergy howl in protest at the mere preaching of God's kingdom and his day of vengeance, what will they do when they reap the whirlwind they have sown? When God, by his Melchizedekian King, comes against them at the battle of Armageddon, what a painful, inglorious end will be theirs! "Because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." (Amos 4:12) The prophecies indicate that the universal conflict of Armageddon will strike the religious leaders first, and even their hitherto allies will turn on them in wrath. Christendom's clergy claim to be at God's sanctuary, and yet they turn their backs on his true holy house and worship the sun god, whose pagan symbol was the cross and who represents Satan the Devil. So when Jehovah sends out his executional officers under Christ Jesus he commands them: "Slay utterly . . . and begin at my sanctuary." They will do so, for the prophecy says: "Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house." God thus shows his rejection of them. —Ezekiel 9:6; 8:16-18.

⁶ The entire visible religious organization, both

pagan and apostate Christian, will suffer first at Armageddon as being most reprehensible for earth's corrupt condition. Since the flood of Noah's day this world-girdling religious organization has been Babylonish, for it has stemmed from Nimrod's Babylon. Nimrod was an apostate from Jehovah's worship and committed spiritual adultery with Satan's woman or demon organization, by forming unlawful ties with her. So the Babylonish worldly religious organization is adulterous for the same reason. In the prophecies it is pictured as a harlot, a prostitute, who has committed fornication with the kings of the earth or Satan's earthly organization. Given an apocalyptic vision of God's judgment on her, the apostle John writes: "I caught sight of a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored wild beast that was full of blasphemous names and that had seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls and had in her hand a golden cup that was full of disgusting things and the unclean things of her fornication. And upon her forehead was written a name, a mystery, 'Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth.' And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus." —Revelation 17:3-6, NW.

⁷ Explaining the meaning of this symbol, the angel told John: "The waters which you saw, where the harlot is sitting, mean peoples and crowds and nations and tongues. And the woman that you saw means the great city that has a king-

dom over the kings of the earth." (Revelation 17:15,18, NW) Satan's woman or his entire organization visible and invisible is called Babylon the Great because it was symbolized by Babylon from Nimrod's time till its overthrow in 539 B.C. But the woman Babylon in Revelation, chapter 17, pictures more the VISIBLE organization of the religious heads of heathendom and Christendom. The clergy of Christendom are viewed as the visible tie between God and men; and so, too, here the symbolic woman Babylon is the visible religious tie between Satan's invisible demon organization and his visible organization, the people of the earth. Hence she pictures the religious ruling element, including the apostate "man of lawlessness" in Christendom.

⁸ What about the beast that she rides? In Daniel's day the Babylonian empire was pictured as a wild beast, a lion with four wings and which tried standing on its hind feet like a man. (Daniel 7:1-4) That Babylonian empire passed. So the beast that Lady Babylon is now pictured as riding is this peace beast, formerly known as the League of Nations but now since its reappearance in 1945 the United Nations. Its having sixty member

nations in 1951 was well symbolized in the peace beast's having seven heads and ten horns. Lady Babylon, or organized religion of this world, professes to be in favor of pax, peace, for this doomed world. So she plasters the peace beast with blasphemous names: she once called the now defunct League of Nations the "political expression of the kingdom of God on earth", "rooted in the gospel." Today she calls the United Nations "man's best hope for peace". She utterly rejects the now reigning Christ Jesus, "The Prince of Peace," and his kingdom.

⁹ But remember: The tower of Babel project was defeated by Jehovah's confusing the tongues of the builders. Also the third world power, Babylon, fell and was divided up between the Median and Persian conquerors. Also the demon section of mystic Babylon fell defeated to earth by the war in heaven following the birth of God's kingdom up there. So, too, visible Lady Babylon, though yet quite popular with her political bed-mates, must topple. The prophecies foreshadow that God will strike confusion into the ranks of his enemies and they will fight one another. First they will turn on

religion, as a useless, burdensome appendage. Lady Babylon's deceptive cries of Pax et securitas, "Peace and security!" will turn to shrieks of Treachery! Just as suddenly as when the childbirth pang stabs through a pregnant woman's frame. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3, NW; Latin Vulgate) The "ten horns" of power on the seven heads of the peace beast turn antireligious and start goring her. She taught them to war against Christ's kingdom, so why should they have any regard for her? The angel explained to John:

¹⁰ "The ten horns that you saw mean ten kings, . . . And the ten horns that you saw, and the wild beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her devastated and naked, and will eat up her fleshy parts and will completely burn her with fire. For God put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose, even to carry out their one purpose by giving their kingdom to the wild beast, until the words of God will have been accomplished."  —Revelation 17:12,16,17, NW.

¹¹ Those horns are already turned against the remnant of the woman's seed whom God has called, chosen and proved faithful; but they will fail to destroy these, for these remain loyal to Christ's kingdom. The angel said: "The ten horns that you saw mean ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they do receive authority as kings one hour with the wild beast. These have one purpose, and so they give their power and authority to the wild beast. These will battle with the Lamb [even after destroying harlot Lady Babylon], but, because he is Lord of lords and

King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. Also those called and chosen and faithful with him will do so." —Revelation 17:12-14, NW.

¹² When the Lamb Christ Jesus conquers and destroys these kings and former unmoral allies of Lady Babylon, it will mean the destruction of the symbolic earth, the visible organization of Satan's world. Their destruction is pictured at Revelation 19:11-21. Christ Jesus lets Satan and his demons witness the destruction of the wicked earthly organization. After that he crushes the Serpent's head and all his demon brood under his feet by hurling them into the abyss for the thousand years of his reign after the battle of Armageddon. (Revelation 20:1-3) In this way Jehovah's great executional Officer will destroy the symbolic heavens or invisible, superhuman part of Satan's organization. His expression of God's vengeance will consume them like fire. By God's Word those devilish heavens and earth have been reserved till now: "By the same word the heavens and the earth that are now are stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men. Yet Jehovah's day will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a hissing noise, but the elements being intensely hot will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be discovered." —2 Peter 3:7,10, NW.

¹³ Christ Jesus, the King-Priest like Melchize-

dek, will not execute the remnant of the woman's seed nor their good-will companions who follow them out of mystic Babylon and take up the pure worship of Jehovah God, at this His footstool, the earth. In this "war of the great day of God the Almighty" He will not destroy his earthly footstool. He will preserve it to make it glorious after he has brought to ruin those who ruin the earth. Contrary to false Babylonish religious teachings on the "end of the world", the earth will survive this universal war even though God's foes are armed with atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs and other weapons of mass destruction, for ruining the earth's surface. Earth will again survive, just as it lasted through the flood of Noah's day for further inhabitation by mankind. Did Noah, his wife and their companions survive in the ark till the global flood had subsided? Yes, and so also the remnant and their good-will companions will survive, and pure religion will survive with them. They will see come true God's promise of a righteous new world after Armageddon. So now they heed Peter's advice, in view of the certain end of Satan's world:

¹⁴ "Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion, awaiting and keeping close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah, through which the heavens being on fire will be dissolved and the elements being intensely hot will melt? But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell." —2 Peter 3:11-13, NW.