must disfellowship the one who is a thief. In this connection Paul said a thief, among other offenders, would not inherit God’s kingdom; neither does he have any right to be in the Christian congregation on earth. (1 Cor. 6:9, 10) So when the evidence is conclusive and the offender shows no repentance and no inclination to repay, he should be disfellowshiped.

Now the disfellowshiped thief is on the outside of the congregation. He is no longer a brother. He is no longer involved in Paul’s instructions at 1 Corinthians 6:1-6. For the wronged one still within the congregation to now take the defrauder to court would be no violation of Paul’s counsel, for it would not now be a case of brother going to court against brother, which is what Paul was forbidding. Whether the wronged one would want to, or whether it would be worth the time and trouble and expense of a court case for him to do so, is another matter and one that he must individually decide for himself. The congregation’s role in the matter ends with the disfellowshiping action.

The procedure of calling in mature brothers to render decisions when difficulties divide brothers as is here advised by Paul coincides with the counsel Jesus gave: “Moreover, if your brother commits a sin, go lay bare his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two more, in order that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. If he does not listen to them, speak to the congregation. If he does not listen even to the congregation, let him be to you just as a man of the nations and as a tax collector.” (Matt. 18:15-17, NW) If the sin is serious and cannot be overlooked, try to settle it with the sinning brother first. If this is not successful, take two or three others. If this fails, call in the representatives of the congregation. If the sinning one, faced with proof of his guilt, shows no repentance for a very grievous trespass and rebels against the congregation’s decision, then he is disfellowshiped to become “as a man of the nations and as a tax collector.” He is put out of the congregation. This is the logical end of the theocratic procedure launched when the congregation was called in to consider the case, both in the instruction given by Jesus and in that given by Paul.

Announcements

WHICH ONES WILL YOU ATTEND?

The 1953 assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses in Yankee Stadium, New York, had an attendance of 165,829 persons—an amazing increase of 46,000 per cent in the mere 60 years since 360 persons had attended Jehovah’s witnesses’ first modern convention in Chicago in 1893. Why such tremendous growth? Among the many reasons are the facts that this is the time for the restoration of pure worship earth-wide; that such assemblies are outstandingly strengthening to the Christian, and that they are specifically commanded by Jehovah God. There still is time for you to plan to attend one or more of the series of assemblies that will be held not just in North America but also throughout Europe this year. You will be strengthened and encouraged by the zeal of your brothers in other lands, and you can provide that same encouragement for them. Plan now as to which of the following assemblies you will attend:

Chicago, Illinois June 22-26

Vancouver, B.C., Canada June 29 - July 3

Los Angeles, California July 6-10

Dallas, Texas July 13-17

New York, New York July 20-24

London, England July 27-31

Paris, France August 3-7

Rome, Italy August 5-7

Nuremberg, Germany August 10-14

Stockholm, Sweden August 17-21

The Hague, Netherlands August 17-21