Conclusion of Holding Fast to Jesus' Name

Conclusion of Holding Fast to Jesus' Name

On various occasions, Jesus had made known that Satan rules this present wicked world, but because of Jesus' integrity, Satan had no hold on him.  (Matthew 4:8-11; John 14:30)  In this 20th century, powerful nations, notably "the king of the north" and the "king of the south," have been struggling for world domination.  (Daniel 11:40)   Patriotic fervor has been whipped up, and the cult of emperor worship has a modern-day counterpart int he wave of nationalism that has swept the earth.  Articles on neutrality in The Watchtower of November 1939, and again of November 1, 1979, and September 1, 1986, have clearly stated the Bible's teaching on this issue, providing guidelines for those Christians who want to walk in the name of Jehovah and conquer the world, as did Jesus so courageously did. -Micah 4:1, 3, 5; John 16:33; 17:4, 6, 26; 18:36, 37; Acts 5:29.

Such counsel has been urgently needed. In the face of unreasoning patriotic fervor,  Jehovah's Witnesses, both anointed ones and their companions, have had to stand firm in the faith.  In the United States, hundreds of children and teachers were dismissed from schools because  they did not salute the flag,  (neither will I. that is a form of idolatry) while in Germany the Witnesses were viciously persecuted  for refusing to salute the swastika. As already noted.  Hitler's Nazi's killed thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses loyal servants because they refused to share in such nationalistic idolatry.  In the 1930's, during Japan's heyday of Shinto emperor worship, two pioneer ministers sowed much.  Kingdom seed in Japanese-occupied Taiwan.  The military rulers threw them into prison, where one of them died because of the harsh treatment. The other was  later released, only to be shot in the back-a modern day Antipas.  To this day, there are lands where worship of nationalistic symbols and exclusion devotion to the state are demanded. Many youthful Witnesses have been imprisoned and not a few executed, because of their courageous stand as Christian neutrals.  If you are a youth who faces such issues, study God's Word daily so that you may  "have  faith to the preserving alive of he soul," with everlasting life in view. -Hebrews 10:39-11:1; Matthew 1-0:28-31. 

Youngsters in school have faced similar issues. In 1985, in the state of Kerala,India three young children of Jehovah's Witnesses refused to compromise their Bible-based faith, declining to sing the national anthem.  They stood respectfully while other sang, but they were nonetheless expelled from school.  Their father appealed this action right up to the Supreme Court of India, where the two judges decided  in favor of the children, courageously stating:  "Our tradition teaches tolerance, our constitution practices tolerance, let us not dilute it." Newspaper publicity and favorable editorials resulting from this case informed the entire nation of  close to one fifth of the earth's population that there are Christians in that land who worship the true God Jehovah and that these stand loyally by Bible principles. 

Next time: Holding Fast to Jesus' Name - Corrupting Influences


From the Book of Revelation