CULTIVATE OBEDIENCE AS THE END DRAWS NEAR

Now Is the Time to "Obey the Good News"

All who want everlasting life must learn obedience, for the Bible clearly states that "those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus" will not survive God's day of vengeance. (2 Thessalonians 1:8)  However, the present wicked environment and it spirit of rebellion against the Bible laws and principles make obedience to the good news a challenge. 

The Bible describes this God-defying spirit as "the spirit of the world." (1 Corinthians 2:12)  Explaining its effect on people, the apostle Paul wrote to the first-century Christians in Ephesus saying:  "You at one time walked according to  the system of things of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit that now operates in the sons of disobedience. Yes, among them we all at one time, conducted ourselves in harmony with the desires of our flesh, doing the things willed by the flesh and the thoughts, and we were naturally children of wrath even as the rest." -Ephesians 2:2, 3. 

Happily, the Ephesian Christians did not remain slaves of that spirit of disobedience. Rather, they became obedient children of God by submitting to his spirit and reaping its abundant and wholesome fruitage.  (Galatians 5:22, 23) Likewise today, God's spirit-the most powerful force in the universe-is helping millions to become obedient  to Jehovah, with the result that they can have "the full assurance of the hope down to the end." -Hebrews 6:11; Zechariah 4:6. 

Keep in mind, too, that we have the powerful backing of Shiloh, who along with his Father will let no enemy-demon or human-test our obedience beyond what we can bear.  (1 Corinthians 10:13) In fact, to aid us in our spiritual warfare, Jesus described  a number of specific problems that we would face during these last days. He did so by way of seven letters, which he gave in a  vision to the apostle John.  (Revelation 1:10, 11) To be sure, they contained vital counsel for Christians back then, but our main application is to "the Lord's day," since 1914.  How fitting, therefore, that we give attention to these messages! 

Next time: CULTIVATE OBEDIENCE AS THE END DRAWS NEAR - Avoid Apathy, Immorality, and Materialism

From the Watchtower magazine, 2002