JI:KE
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CfheWATCH TOWER
lasting d0struction is his penalty for wilfulness, Jehovah God has givl·n many illustrntions, which arc recordeu jn hjs Word. The Bible doe" not sny that God will eternally torment anybody, and that is why t here arc no illustrations of etrrnal torment found in the Bible. Such illustrations arc founu in man-made creeds and in books like Dantr's Infcrno. Wlwt arc the lessons ,vhich (~od wishrs to teach the race of mankind? Thrrc arc many of them; too many, jn fact, to list thrm all in one lecture. But hrr~ is a partial list. (~od desires all men to know that he is the only (lod; that he is the crentol' of ('wr~,thing; that nothing' but good nnd pnfl'ct gifts (,Wl' come from his Iwnd; that he is entirel~' L1Sl'lfish and hn" nothing hut the l)('st interests of his creatlll:l'S at Iwart; tha'.; he is wise, just, loving nnd l)OIYerJul, and that he Ill'HT uscs an~' of these attributes to the injury of his Cl'eatures; that olwdiencc tu his laws :!llll arr:lllgenlents brings peace, happiness, Iillert~' amI eye]' Iasti Jl g life, while disobeui('nce to the same In'ings SOlTOIY, regret, sufferi ng anu, eH'nt uall.', eT1'last iw~ ell'nt II or destruction. Ill' is also teaching the race that ,Yhen eitl1l'l' men 01' angels follow their own 'Yisdom, their own devices, their myn ,vays anu their own s('he1:1es, no matter how wise and propel' tl1l'se may seem, tlwy alv, ays get into difficulty. lIe is showing up the 'Yi"dom of this world andrewaling' that it is foolishness with (;od. He is teaching' the race that tlH'l'e is no other ,n1y to get blessings, no other way to get eH~rlnsting life, liberty, peace and happim'ss, excl'pt by obedil'nce to 11 is laws amI fulh'st submission to 11 is plans ,:nd arrangements. All these Irssons are e1earl~' stated in his Yord, lmt .Jehoyah knows, as CI'cr!! wise sehoolmaster I:nom;, that it is not sumeient simply to eommit to Ell'mory certain rules and laws, but that pract ieal experil'Jl('es nre nl'eessal'y to so imlll'l'SS ilw lessons that thl>~' 'rill ne'er lll' fm'gotten. Henee he has set apal't sen'n illOl1S~1lld ~'ears for t lll' pm'pose of gi'ing t hl'se experiences. Chief among these pral't ieal experienees for man is t hat God h:1S considl'lwl it ,vise to let mankind try thcil' own 1('(/!!S, p1::111S, and schemes, knowing full 'Yell that eyery one of them would be a failure. For oycr six thousand yt'ars God hns ll't m,J!l tl'y out Itis wisest sehemes, finaneial, polit ieal and rc1ig'ious. Those six> thousand years are strewn with the wrec'ks of man's sehemes, man's hopes amI plans. E'ery finaneial, ]lolitical and religious scheme that earth's wisest men coulu concei'e has been a failm'l', nnd yet mankind has not learned the lesson so clearly ,md pointeuI~' stateu in God's ,Yord, namely, that "the ,'isclom of this world is foolishness with God". The reason that men's schemes fail is beeause they arc selfish, while Cod's plans are founded on love; for Jeho'ah himself has decreed that' Thou shalt love
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the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and thou shalt loye th)' neighbor as thyself'. Any scheme or plan for the blessing of the race, if founded on any other basis than 10Ye, is doomed to failure, with its accompanying SOlTOW, uisappointment, and regret. Six thousand years of man's wisdom, with all its failures, di". appointml'nts anu heartaches, ha'e not yet taught man the lesson that God's law and plan is best. Why is mankind so slow to learn these lessons? The ans,'el' is that since man is fallen as a result of sin he has become proud, arrogant, boastful, obtuse, pern'rSl', stifi'-lll'c!ed and haru-hearted, wilful and relwllious. This condition hinders him from profiting by his eXIWrieJl('es. All this can be summed up in the one word, sc7jisllncss. Selfishness is of Satan, ancl is the opposite of 100'e, ,Yhich is of (~od. Fallen mrn, e'en the l)('st of them, al'(~ controlled by selfishness. God planned to hare a race of sinll'ss and happy hein~'::; li'e for e'er on the earth. He startrd this raco in ",<1am and told him to multiply and increase and fill tlte l'arth. Ill' told him in plain and emphatic lan~':nag'e that if he olwyeu he ,voulu live, and that if he disobr~'ed he woulu die. Adam was not ignorant of what Cod requil'l'd of him. Paul says: "Adam was not deceiYCd." (1 Tim. 2: 1-1) He had Cod's sliOl,-cn word, but did not haye any practical experien('es to confirm it; and so when a crisis came, he Jachd a pl'0pl'r confidence, reverence and devotion to his Creutor, and deliberately chose to follow his own COll/·se. Doubtlc'ss he thonght he was choosing wisely, and God let him do as he chose. The result was that sin and death, wars, crimes and eycry evil thing cam() into existence. God executed the penalty against Adam by dl'iyin~ him out of the garden and leaying him alone to follow out his own plans and devices. After 930 years O! futile effort he died. But what a tenible legacy he lelt his posterity! It is reconled in Romans 1:21,31. I quote in part: "When they knew Cou, they glorifieu him not as God, neither ,"ere thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became foolo.;, alld changed the glory of the uncorruptible God.... 'Yherefore God also gave them up to unClealllll'SS, .. , who changed the truth of God into a Iie, anu wor· shipped anu serveu the creature more than the Cl'eator. . . . For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections; ... and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God ga'e them over to a reprobate mind, to do th08e things which arc not convenient, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, ·wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to pal'-
