Keeping Strict Watch on How We Walk

“Keep strict watch that how you walk is not as unwise but as wise persons, buying out the opportune time for yourselves, because the days are wicked.”—Eph. 5:15, 16.

1. What is in our best interest today to do, and why should the fact of God’s kingdom dominate us while doing so?

WHEREVER we live on earth, it is in our best interest today to watch ourselves strictly on how we walk, that is, on how we conduct ourselves. One highly important fact ought to dominate us while we are ‘keeping strict watch on how we walk.’ This fact is that God’s kingdom rules, that it has been ruling during these past forty-five years since 1914. Why is that fact so important? It is because the main purpose of that heavenly kingdom is to see to it that God’s will comes to pass, as in heaven, also upon earth. (Matt. 6:9, 10) The wicked old world of today is fast approaching its end in the greatest tribulation of all history, because this world has never been in harmony with God’s will but is the biggest opposer of it. God’s kingdom is the enforcer of his will. His kingdom will introduce a new order made up of “new heavens and a new earth,” where God’s expressed will is certain to be the law. (2 Pet. 3:13) Nowhere can any of us escape this marvelous change. So wisdom dictates for us to give our wholehearted allegiance to God’s kingdom, that we may not be brought to an end when this old world ends. Allegiance to God’s kingdom means now bringing ourselves into full harmony with his will. His righteous will for us in this time of world perplexity is set forth in his written Word, the sacred Bible.

2. What can we describe these days as being, and what advice of Paul is therefore suitable for us today?

² Looking around at the world’s religious and moral conditions and at the relationships between nations and between individuals, we are forced to say that these are wicked days. Hence the advice that the apostle Paul gave to Christians of his time is also most suitable for our time: “Keep strict watch that how you walk is not as unwise but as wise persons, buying out the opportune time for yourselves, because the days are wicked. On this account cease becoming unreasonable, but go on perceiving what the will of Jehovah is. Also do not be getting drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery [and for which a Christian can be disfellowshiped from God’s congregation], but keep getting filled with spirit.”—Eph. 5:15-18; 2 Cor. 5:9-13.

3. (a) Before any of us dedicated ourselves to God, how did we walk? (b) Since our dedication, how should we be walking, and what personal question should we ask on this?

³ Throughout the earth today over a half million persons have made a full self-surrender or dedication of themselves to Jehovah God through Jesus Christ, and they have publicly symbolized that dedication by being immersed in water, just as Jesus Christ himself was baptized. (Matt. 3:13-17; 28:18-20) In times past, before any of us made a dedication to God, we all walked a certain way. We “walked according to the system of things of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit [Satan the Devil] that now operates in the sons of disobedience.” We went on “walking just as the nations also walk in the unprofitableness of their minds, while they are in darkness mentally, and alienated from the life that belongs to God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the insensibility of their hearts. Having come to be past all moral sense, they gave themselves over to loose conduct to work uncleanness of every kind with greediness.” (Eph. 2:2; 4:17-19) Now we dedicated ones should have ceased to walk that way. By our dedication to God we have willed to walk according to God’s will, that thereby we may ‘walk with God.’ (Gen. 5:22-24; 6:9) Because of the wickedness of the times it is most wise and urgent for us to keep strict watch on how we walk. It is high time for us to ask ourselves: Have we gone back to walk with this world, or are we walking more closely with God? To answer this question, we have to perceive what God’s will is. This calls for our study of God’s written Word.

4. What does 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, 7 say is God’s will, and hence how does Jehovah differ from Priapus and Baal of Peor?

⁴ In his Word this brief statement of his will is found: “This is what God wills, the sanctifying of you, that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you should know how to get possession of his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in covetous sexual appetite such as also those nations have which do not know God; . . . God called us, not with allowance for uncleanness, but in connection with sanctification.” (1 Thess. 4:3-5, 7) One’s “own vessel” is one’s own body; and when we make a dedication of ourselves to Jehovah God, we thereby dedicate our vessels, our own bodies, to God through the righteousness of his Son, Jesus Christ. Jehovah is no sex-god, like Priapus, a false god of Grecian and Roman mythology, nor is he worshiped with any kind of sex orgies, as the false god Baal of Peor was.—Num. 25:1-13.

5. What will of God for his organization puts a difficult task on its members, but how are they helped?

⁵ We dedicated ones have been brought together and formed into a theocratic organization. God’s will is that He should have a clean organization, one that is sanctified for his use in an honorable way. To keep the theocratic organization clean in the midst of this immoral, sex-minded world and during these wicked times is quite a difficult task for us earthly members of it. But God’s spirit is with us, to help us, to sanctify us for God’s purposes.

6. In that respect, upon whom does a special responsibility weigh down, and by such ones what restoration promise has God fulfilled?

⁶ Of course, there is a personal responsibility resting on each dedicated one to join in keeping the organization clean and sanctified for Jehovah’s use. However, a special responsibility weighs down on those who have been made overseers within the organization. Particularly since the spring of the year 1919 we have been living in the “times of restoration of all things of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old time.” (Acts 3:21) Nineteen centuries ago in the first days of the Christian congregation, during the life of the twelve apostles of the Lamb Jesus Christ, Jehovah raised up faithful overseers to declare his judgments and to give forth His counsel. Those faithful overseers passed away, after which a great “falling away” from the apostolic faith occurred. So concerning the “times of restoration” now, Jehovah made this promise: “I will bring back again judges for you as at the first, and counselors for you as at the start. After this you will be called City of Righteousness, Faithful Town.” (Isa. 1:26) By means of the conscientious overseers whom Jehovah has installed today under his appointed Judge and Wonderful Counselor Jesus Christ, he has fulfilled his promised restoration and he keeps his organization clean, righteous and faithful.—Acts 17:31; Isa. 9:6.

7. Because of having to render an account for what charge do the overseers need to keep strict watch on their own walking?

⁷ Today the overseers of the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses bear considerable responsibility. They are set forth as “examples to the flock.” Besides their influence as right examples, they also wield considerable authority in the local congregational organization or in the circuit, district or Branch territory or in the zone in which they serve. As overseers, they have to deal with lives, “souls” dedicated to Jehovah God, so that “they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will render an account.” (1 Pet. 5:3; Heb. 13:17) What kind of account they will render over these dedicated souls is going to determine what God’s judgment will be of the overseers. If anybody needs to, the overseers need to keep strict watch on how they walk in their responsible office.

EXAMPLES OF HOW TO WALK

8, 9. (a) How was the power of good overseers for a righteous organization illustrated in Joshua and his associates? (b) How is that fact clear from what happened to Israel after those overseers died?

⁸ The great power that overseers who are strong morally and spiritually wield for a faithful, righteous organization is illustrated in Moses’ successor, Joshua, and in the older men of Israel that were associated with Joshua. Regarding the good influence that these had we read: “When Joshua sent the people away, then the sons of Israel went their way, each to his inheritance, to take possession of the land. And the people continued to serve Jehovah all the days of Joshua and all the days of the older men who extended their days after Joshua and who had seen all of Jehovah’s great work that he did for Israel.”

⁹ The observant, informed, faithful older men of Israel acted as a theocratic bulwark against the invasion of heathenism into Jehovah’s national congregation. This fact is clear from what happened to the congregation of Israel after those theocratic overseers died. Then the new generation that did not know Jehovah or the work that he had done for Israel arose and did not have the helpful example and the counsel and watchcare of those overseers. The Bible record tells us: “The sons of Israel fell to doing what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah and serving the Baals. Thus they abandoned Jehovah the God of their fathers who had brought them out of the land of Egypt and went following other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were all around them and they began bowing down to them, so that they offended Jehovah.” After Jehovah had raised up godly judges by whom he rescued them from heathen oppressors, they quickly forgot what the judges had done for them as Jehovah’s servants: “Even to their judges they did not listen, but they had unfaithful intercourse with other gods and went bowing down to them. They quickly turned aside from the way in which their forefathers had walked by obeying the commandments of Jehovah. They did not do like that.”—Judg. 2:6-8, 10-12, 17.

10. Like those overseers, against what did Christ’s apostles act as a bulwark in their day?

¹⁰ Like the faithful judges and associated overseers of ancient Israel, the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ acted as a bulwark. As long as the apostles lived, they acted as a restraining power against the “falling away” of the congregation and against the revealing of the “man of lawlessness,” “the son of destruction,” as in control of the congregation.—2 Thess. 2:2-12.

11, 12. (a) What developed religiously after the apostles’ death, and what facts show whether we have been recovered from this? (b) Nevertheless, why does each one need to keep strict watch in walking?

¹¹ After the twelve apostles and their faithful fellow overseers died, the “falling away” from pure Christian faith and practice moved quite rapidly and the “man of lawlessness” class came into control of the religious organization. We today have been recovered from this religious “falling away” and from domination by the “man of lawlessness” class in Christendom. We have been theocratically organized into the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses. With us invisibly is the Greater Joshua, Jesus Christ, to lead us into the coming new order of “new heavens and a new earth.” With us is also the “faithful and discreet slave” class, whom the Greater Joshua appointed in charge of all his earthly belongings in the year 1919.

¹² The Greater Joshua and his anointed slave class act as an impassable bar to any intrusion by the spirit of apostasy and by the “man of lawlessness” into the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses. (2 Pet. 3:13; Isa. 65:17; Matt. 24:45-47) Nonetheless, each dedicated Christian needs to heed the apostle Paul’s solemn advice to keep strict watch on how we walk. Whereas this world and its god and ruler Satan the Devil can no more take the entire congregation of Jehovah’s witnesses captive, yet the world and its god Satan keep trying to contaminate the organization and to enslave as many individual members of it as possible. The ancient Israelites, even with the prophet Moses among them, furnished us a warning example that individuals in the organization can be overreached to their destruction now during the invisible presence of Christ. How?

13. What warning example do we have from the Israelites while Moses was up in the mountain?

¹³ It was shortly after Jehovah God had miraculously declared the Ten Commandments from the top of Mount Sinai on the Arabian Peninsula. When Moses was still in the neighborhood, but on top of Mount Sinai for forty days out of their sight, the Israelites had the golden calf made and proceeded to worship it along with noisy loose conduct. Now the first and second and seventh of the Ten Commandments that the Israelites had agreed to keep declared: “I am Jehovah your God, who have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves. You must never have any other gods against my face. You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them nor be induced to serve them, because I Jehovah your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion. . . . You must not commit adultery.” (Ex. 20:2-5, 14) But when many Israelites saw that the eyes of their national overseer Moses were not fixed on them, they threw off restraint. Yes, within but forty days after Moses’ ascent, many Israelites were ready to forget the Ten Commandments and enjoy a wild time with idolatry and sex orgies.—Ex. 32:1-35.

14. What other warning example do we have from the Israelites when encamped on the plains of Moab?

¹⁴ Forty years later they were just across the Jordan River from Canaan, on the plains of Moab, and were just about to realize the miraculous fulfillment of Jehovah’s promise to lead them into the Promised Land. Yet thousands of the new generation of Israelites turned their eyes the other way to look at the heathenish daughters of Moab. In their lust for immoral relations with them, those selfish-hearted Israelites were agreeable to joining those decoy women, servants of the Devil, in worshiping the false god, Baal of Peor. Israelite chieftain Zimri was even so brazen as to bring the Midianite woman Cozbi into the holy camp of Israel and into his own tent. Only zealous action by Phinehas the priest against Zimri and Cozbi to execute them caused the plague to halt that had laid low twenty-four thousand defiled Israelites. (Num. 25:1-9) Moses was still alive and in the camp at the time, and yet the passion-controlled Israelites did not care. They forgot the holiness to which they were called. They forgot Jehovah’s righteous commands and gave themselves over to unbridled passion in immoral relations with pagan women, even though that meant worshiping a false god, Baal of Peor, and exciting the true God, Jehovah, to jealousy.

15. How does an apostle refer to those cases as warning examples for us, and what fact does the warning example from the Israelites make certain?

¹⁵ The Christian apostle Paul referred to those historic cases of falling away from holiness as warning examples for us, saying: “Now these things became our examples, for us not to be persons desiring injurious things, even as they desired them. Neither become idolaters, as some of them did; just as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel boisterously.’ Neither let us practice fornication, as some of them committed fornication, only to fall, twenty-three thousand of them in one day.” (1 Cor. 10:6-8) If anyone who is dedicated to Jehovah, as all the nation of Israel was, lets his heart go bad, then he will seek to satisfy his heart’s desire under any and all circumstances, as soon as a convenient opportunity offers itself. The warning example of those destroyed Israelites makes this fact certain.

16. So near to realizing our hopes, yet what do some dedicated ones do, and what do they fail to remember while doing so?

¹⁶ So today, it matters not how near we are to realizing our Kingdom hopes, some dedicated ones relax their watch on how they should walk according to the Holy Scriptures. For the satisfying of their fleshly passions, they are willing and risky enough to take a fling at the uncleanness of this world. They do not check themselves with the reminder that this may mean not only their own destruction but also the bringing of reproach on Jehovah and contempt on his visible organization. Because they are not at the time under the direct watch and visual observation of the overseer of the congregation, they do not keep strict watch on how they walk or conduct themselves. They fail to remember that Jehovah God and his holy angels are watching, and that they cannot escape having their sin find them out or catch up with them.—Num. 32:23.

17. As in whose presence should we always walk, and to that end what constructive, determined course should we take?

¹⁷ We should always walk not just as in the presence of men, our earthly overseers. We must walk always as in the presence of God, for his eyes are in every place, keeping watch upon the bad ones and the good ones. (Prov. 15:3) “For the true God himself will bring every sort of work into the judgment in relation to every hidden thing, as to whether it is good or bad.” (Eccl. 12:14) We need to take a constructive course, a determined course, like that of the psalmist, when he said: “I have placed Jehovah in front of me constantly. Because he is at my right hand I shall not be made to totter.” (Ps. 16:8) Being positive in this sense, we shall always strive to please and honor Jehovah God in what we say or do, regardless of whether we are directly watched by our spiritual elders or our congregation servant or overseer.

18. Why should we never be overconfident about our firm position, and against what calamity should we be on watch?

¹⁸ We are never too near the new order of “new heavens and a new earth” after Armageddon, nor have any of us been long enough in the Bible truth or been through a sufficient number of temptations, so that we can relax our watchfulness without danger of falling. Referring to those Israelites who were saved out of Egypt but who perished in the wilderness, some of them even in the fortieth and last year, Paul commented: “Now these things went on befalling them as examples and they were written for a warning to us upon whom the accomplished ends of the systems of things have arrived. Consequently, let him that thinks he has a firm position beware that he does not fall. No temptation has taken you except what is common to men” and under which men have fallen. (1 Cor. 10:11-13) From the youngest to the oldest of us in the truth, from the average congregation member to the congregation servant or overseer, we all should never trust ourselves but should maintain a strict watch always on how we walk, that we may not fall calamitously. What a calamity it would be to be disfellowshiped from Jehovah’s congregation and suffer eternal destruction!—1 Cor 5:9-13.

UNDOING OF MINISTERS BY BAD MORALS

19. The need of vigilance is emphasized by what increase in the percentage of delinquents in North American congregations?

¹⁹ The need of constant, prayerful vigilance is emphasized by information from the Service Department at the Brooklyn headquarters of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. This has to do with those dedicated baptized members belonging to the thousands of congregations in the United States of North America. For each of the five years from March, 1952, to April, 1957, there was an average of 500 members that were disfellowshiped for flagrant misdeeds that cannot be tolerated inside of Jehovah’s congregation. However, during the year from April, 1957, to April, 1958, the number rose sharply above that yearly average of 500, to 1,334 delinquent members, or more than two and a half times as many. We dare not dull the shock of this startling information by arguing that this may, in part, be due to the American congregations’ having at least 18,537 new persons associating themselves with the witnessing activities during those twelve months. That number of new ones is less than one twelfth of the 226,797 that proclaimed the Kingdom good news in America during April of 1958, about 65 percent of which proclaimers are dedicated and baptized. So what are 1,334 delinquents compared with more than 147,000 dedicated, baptized members? Less than 1 percent.

20. Though it be a matter of less than 1 percent, yet what fear-inspiring warning is thereby sounded to all of us?

²⁰ Though 1,334 may be less than 1 percent, this sudden jump to that number definitely discloses that more than twice as many as in previous years have failed to watch themselves and act wisely during the wicked days of 1957-1958. With 3,718 or more congregations functioning in the United States of North America, about one out of every three congregations could be affected by 1,334 disfellowshipings. Hence the fact that so many congregations have been affected and the number of disfellowshipings has more than doubled during 1957-1958 sounds a fear-inspiring warning to all of us to beware that hereafter we be not the ones to fall.

21. How may one misapply James 4:4 to practicing the clean, undefiled form of worship and thus sin?

²¹ The New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses must keep practicing the clean, undefiled form of worship. The Christian disciple James plainly describes this for us: “The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world. Adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world is constituting himself an enemy of God.” (Jas. 1:27; 4:4) It is a perverted idea for anyone to think that he can keep himself without spot from this world by not engaging in its politics and by maintaining his neutrality toward its conflicts and in this way not be a friend of the world and not be a spiritual adulterer and yet at the same time can commit literal physical adultery or fornication, thus sinning against his own body.

22. How may one take part in fulfilling Matthew 24:14 and yet pervertedly fall into a sin like that of Balaam’s?

²² It is likewise a perverted idea that just as long as one fulfills the prophetic command of Matthew 24:14 and reports much time at witnessing out in the field of service, one can indulge in bodily immorality with those of the opposite sex. Remember that the prophet Balaam was used by Jehovah as a mouthpiece to utter prophecy in a blessing upon the nation of Israel, but that later Balaam was killed for trying to promote sex worship and immorality in Israel at the close of forty years in the wilderness.—Num. 23:4 to 24:25; 25:1-3; 31:1-8, 15, 16; Rev. 2:14.

23. How did Paul show that Christian morality is a joint requirement with preaching?

²³ Personal witnessing to God’s kingdom is indeed a requirement for eternal life, but Christian morality is also a joint requirement. Paul cried out: “Really, woe is me if I did not declare the good news!” but just some sentences later he added: “I browbeat my body and lead it as a slave, that, after I have preached to others, I myself should not become disapproved somehow. . . . Neither let us practice fornication, as some of them [the Israelites] committed fornication, only to fall, twenty-three thousand of them in one day.”—1 Cor. 9:16, 27; 10:8.

24. By committing physical immorality, whose friend does one make himself, and hence what other kind of immorality is it also?

²⁴ Let no one deceive himself: Committing adultery or fornication is a making of oneself a friend of the world. It is therefore a committing of spiritual adultery or fornication also. It certainly is not a making of oneself a friend of God or of his congregation. It is an imitating of this world, using the world as a model. It is a display of the spirit of the world. It is a proof of love of this wicked world, “because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father [Jehovah God], but originates with the world.” (1 John 2:16) Therefore, immorality demonstrates that the fornicator belongs to the world and is a misplaced person inside the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses.

25. By what two drastic acts did Jehovah illustrate what must be done with such immoral members of the congregation?

²⁵ Jehovah cut off 23,000 fornicators from his congregation, not in a year, but in one day. Fornicators have to be disfellowshiped from his congregation. He even cut off, during the battle near Shiloh, the two priests, Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of High Priest Eli, because they would wickedly commit adultery with the women that were serving at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with reproach to Jehovah God.—1 Sam. 2:12, 22-25; 3:13, 14; 4:4-11, 17.

26. (a) What does Paul say to show whether there are other sins for which disfellowshiping is needed? (b) What should be the heart condition and the procedure of one who wakes up to his wrongdoing?

²⁶ There are other sins besides fornication for which disfellowshiping is the need. Paul wrote the congregation: “I am writing you to quit mixing in company with anyone called a brother that is a fornicator or a greedy person or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner, not even eating with such a man. . . . Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” (1 Cor. 5:11, 13) If anyone commits sin deserving of disfellowshiping but wakes up to the baseness of his wrongdoing and how far he has displeased God, what should be his heart condition? A grieved one; he should be painfully grieved and should repent. He should confess his sin not only to God, who already knows of it from observation, but also to God’s visible organization through its local theocratically appointed servants. It is a critical time to seek reconciliation with God and his people through Christ, appealing for mercy. In harmony with this, the Scriptural advice is: “Is there anyone [spiritually] sick among you? Let him call the older men of the congregation to him, and let them pray over him, rubbing him with oil in the name of Jehovah. And the prayer of faith will make the indisposed one well, and Jehovah will raise him up. Also if he has committed sins, it will be forgiven him. Therefore openly confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may get healed.” (Jas. 5:14-16) This course of self-humiliation and confession of spiritual need assists the sinner to reconciliation with God. It helps him to keep strict watch thereafter on how he walks before God.

Helpers Toward Walking Wisely

1. How must overseers carry out the command of Isaiah 58:1, and how does Matthew 18:15 set a course for them?

SPIRITUAL overseers must watch strictly how the congregations under their charge walk or conduct themselves. It is not enough to carry out the command of Isaiah 58:1 with reference only to Christendom: “Call out full-throated; do not hold back. Raise your voice just like a trumpet, and tell my people their transgression. and the house of Jacob [Israel] their sins.’ The theocratic overseers should not merely call attention to sinfulness in the enemy organization of Christendom. They must be impartial, balanced and just in applying a principle. Hence they must call attention to any transgressions and sins even in the congregations over which they have the oversight. If the overseer observes some offense or receives the report of some offense committed by any member against the congregation, then the overseer has something against the offender; for what affects the congregation affects him. He must investigate the matter and take steps concerning it in the spirit of Matthew 18:15: “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.”

2. In that case, what does the congregation servant have the right and obligation to do, and what is the primary purpose of such action?

² Accordingly the congregation servant, together with the other members of the congregation service committee, has the right and is under obligation to summon the offender, or apparent offender, in order to come to a factual understanding of what has gone on. He must establish directly the guilt or guiltlessness of the apparent offender and discover any grounds for disfellowshiping, if any truly exist. The primary purpose of this is to keep God’s visible organization of his sheep clean and safe from a spread of sinfulness. The recovery of the offender is secondary.—Deut. 13:12-18.

3. When summoned, what should any accused brother do because of the criticalness of the time?

³ On the other hand, some member of the congregation may be accused of conduct deserving of his being disfellowshiped. When he is summoned for a fair, honest hearing before the accusing witnesses, it is not the time for him to justify himself and for him to refuse to present himself. It is an urgent time for the accused one to seek reconciliation with his disturbed brothers. It is a time, not for self-vindication in one’s own opinion, but for seeking unity with the organization by a clearing up of all misunderstandings or a correcting of matters. The accused one should not be stubborn in his own self-righteousness, like a strongly fortified town. “A brother transgressed against is more than a strong town, and there are contentions that are like the bar of a dwelling tower.” (Prov. 18:19) If anyone merely becomes aware that the brothers have something against him, it should cause him to make speed to straighten out the matter, especially if he really proves to be the sinner in the case.

4, 5. (a) Pertinent to that, what did Jesus say in his sermon on the mountain? (b) What did that saying of Jesus mean, and what does anyone do by ignoring it?

⁴ In his sermon on the mountain Jesus said: “If, then, you are bringing your gift to the altar and you there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, and go away; first make your peace with your brother, and then, when you have come back, offer up your gift. Be about settling matters quickly with the one complaining against you at law, while you are with him on the way there.”—Matt. 5:23-25.

⁵ First after one has done everything possible to satisfy justice and to right the wrong here on earth with his fellow men, first then is he in a right condition to offer sacrifice to God and to find acceptance with him. In accord with this it is written: “The sacrifice of the wicked ones is something detestable to Jehovah, but the prayer of the upright ones is a pleasure to him.” (Prov. 15:8; 21:27) Let no one deceive himself by ignoring this fact.

6. What should a peace-seeking brother be willing to do under accusation, and why should he not be self-justifying and resisting?

⁶ In eagerness to keep or to restore right relations with his brothers and his God, a dedicated Christian should desire and be willing to hear the complaint that is made against him, in order to find out whether he himself is really at fault. The very fact that he has caused his brothers to take some offense should fill him with concern. It should make him want to correct misunderstandings or correct matters. He should not bristle up indignantly and retort: “If they do not like what I do, why should I worry? I know I am innocent and am doing no wrong. If they want to make evil out of it, that shows their wrong condition of heart. I do not give a snap of my fingers for what they think.” Such a resistant, unyielding, self-justifying attitude does not make for peace and harmony in the congregation. It is a foolish attempt to answer a matter before personally hearing it, to know the other’s viewpoint. Proverbs 18:13 cautions us, saying: “When anyone is replying to a matter before he hears it, that is foolishness on his part and a humiliation.”

SELF-JUSTIFICATION NOT GOOD

7. Why is his own presentation of the matter first in the case not enough, and what should he do to others who are disturbed about him?

⁷ A person may feel that he is guiltless. From his own presentation of his side of the matter his case may be strongly in support of him, to justify him. But his own presentation is only one side of the matter. After those who complain against him come up for testimony and present their side of the matter, he may find that he is not so innocent or faultless as he thought. Proverbs 18:17 says: “The one first in his legal case is righteous [innocent, according to his own testimony]; his fellow comes in and certainly searches him through.” His fellow who comes in and testifies against him certainly gives him reason to do a lot of self-examination and renders him uneasy and not so sure of his position. At least he is helped to see why he does not appear so innocent and clean to others. He should find out where the fault lies, whether it lies in himself. He should at least strive hard to clear up the misunderstanding in others, if they have misinterpreted matters. He should respect the attitudes of other honest brothers and should apologize where offense has been caused, if such offense be only because he was tactless or indiscreet rather than was actually sinning.

8. Who of all persons can find something wrong with him, and so what should be his prayer toward keeping in right relations?

⁸ Certainly if no one on earth can do so, Jehovah God in heaven can find plenty wrong with him. Proverbs 20:9 states: “Who can say: ‘I have cleansed my heart; I have become pure from my sin’?” Knowing his sinfulness by birth and his proneness to commit sin, the Christian should be humble and be willing to be corrected, praying with the psalmist: “Mistakes—who can discern? From concealed sins pronounce me innocent. Also from presumptuous acts hold your servant back; do not let them dominate me. In that case I shall be complete, and I shall have remained innocent from much transgression. Let the sayings of my mouth and the meditation of my heart become pleasurable before you, O Jehovah my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Ps. 19:12-14) This helps to keep oneself right with God.

9. Why did Elihu feel a blaze of anger against Job, and so what should an accused one not do to turn attention away from himself?

⁹ Remember that the young man Elihu felt a blaze of anger against patient Job “over his justifying his own soul more than God.” (Job 32:2) Job was innocent, and yet it was wrong on his part to think and speak as if Jehovah God were directly responsible for the sufferings that had come upon Job, as if He were bringing calamity upon the righteous as well as the unrighteous ones. (Job 9:22, 30-35; 27:1-6; 30:19-23; 19:6-22; 6:4; 7:19-21) When anyone is faced with a possible disfellowshiping, it is not the occasion to accuse back or make recriminations or to accuse others, as the ungodly Communists do, in order to turn attention away from himself to the deflections and misdeeds of others and thus to show that others are as bad as he is and are deserving of judgment also.

10. In a full sense, before whom are we brought when taken under examination, and to answer the main question involved what should we do?

¹⁰ It is not simply before a congregational service committee that we are brought when under examination for something wrong. Our secret faults are well known to God, if not to a congregation service committee. God can accurately judge our secret faults, and he will bring them to judgment in his own time. (Eccl. 12:14; 1 Cor. 4:4, 5) So the main question that we must answer is, Can I vindicate myself before God? To make sure whether we can do so, it is necessary for us to make a self-examination with the searchlight of God’s Word, for his Word “is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and their marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is not a creation that is not manifest to his sight, but all things are naked and openly exposed to the eyes of him with whom we have an accounting.”—Heb. 4:12, 13.

11. With whom else is that true besides with individuals, and how was this illustrated in the case of Achan the son of Zerah?

¹¹ Since this is true with individuals, it also is true with a group of individuals, with a congregation or an organization. Call to mind the Israelite Achan the son of Zerah, who joined in the assault on the city of Jericho after Jehovah God had miraculously caused the city walls to fall down. Everything of value to be found inside the city was to be devoted to Jehovah God, for to him Jericho was the first fruits of the land of Canaan. But Achan robbed God by appropriating to himself part of the spoil of the city, namely, a good-looking garment from the land of Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver and a gold bar fifty shekels heavy. These stolen things Achan hid in the ground beneath his tent, thinking that no one outside his family was wise to the matter, and that he had got off scot-free. But God had seen in secret how Achan had sinned and had thus become unclean. As long as he and his unclean family were left unpunished in the midst of Israel, the nation of Israel could not prosper in its conquest of the Promised Land of Canaan. Therefore God caused Achan to be brought to the light and to be put away by stoning to death. After that, the congregation of Israel made due progress according to God’s will.—Josh. 7:1 to 8:2.

12. So, today whom can God ferret out from our midst, and why therefore should we use our spiritual breastplate and shield of faith?

¹² Likewise, today God by his holy angels can ferret out the secretly sinning Achans in our midst. Oh, may none of us be one of such Achans! Hence we need to watch our heart and our kidneys. “Jehovah of armies is judging with righteousness; he is examining the kidneys [or, deepest emotions] and the heart.” (Jer. 11:20, margin) We need to have on the breastplate of righteousness and to be skillful in maneuvering the shield of faith in order to preserve our hearts and our deepest emotions pure, clean and right.—Eph. 6:14, 16.

13. What courage like Nathan’s must overseers show, but of what must they be certain first?

¹³ Overseers have to be courageous like Nathan, not weak in reproof as was High Priest Eli. Like the prophet Nathan they must apply God’s Word to the congregation member who is at fault and they must fearlessly say to him: “You yourself are the man!” (2 Sam. 12:7) But they must be certain that they have the full facts to guide them to a right judgment and that they are backed up by God’s Word, and not acting from any selfish personal motives.

14. How should committees use the fearful power of disfellowshiping, and what warning of Jesus should they remember in this regard?

¹⁴ Congregation service committees have a fearful power in their possessing the commission to disfellowship the unruly and disorderly from the congregation. They need to use this power with caution, not only to avoid getting into legal difficulties with the law courts of the land, but also to avoid sinning with this disfellowshiping power through a misuse or an abuse of it. Never should it be used to vent a spite on a congregation member or to get rid of someone who is not liked personally by one or all of the service committee or who is a cause of irritation or of envy and so thought best to have out of the way. To guard against wrong motives, it is well for a Christian to remember Jesus’ warning: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged; for with what judgment you are judging, you will be judged, and with the measure that you are measuring out they will measure out to you.”—Matt. 7:1, 2.

HANDLING OF GOSSIPS AND SLANDERERS

15. How, without wrong motives, may a committee bring itself under judgment in a case of disfellowshiping?

¹⁵ Even barring any wrong motives on its part, a congregation service committee may act in all sincerity and yet bring itself under judgment for not making a proper application of Bible principles to a case where the committee decides to disfellowship. This may be in a case that involves something other than adultery or fornication. Take, for example, the matter of gossiping. A committee might fail to make a distinction between gossip and slander.

16. What is the difference between gossip, scandal and slander?

¹⁶ Slander may be gossip; but not all gossip is slander. Gossip is defined as idle personal talk; that is, idle talk, especially about the affairs of others. It is light chat or talk; newsmongering. It may become scandal when it turns into groundless rumor or general talk that is damaging to the reputation of another. Scandal is usually more or less malicious, it being said out of ill will with a desire to hurt the one spoken about or against. Gossip may be simply light, familiar talk or writing, and may not be slanderous at all. It becomes slander when it becomes a defaming of another, when it becomes a malicious, false and defamatory statement or report or suggestion about another, designed to injure his reputation. In the law of judicial courts slander is defamation by oral utterance rather than by writing and other means.

17. What did Paul say to Timothy regarding gossipers?

¹⁷ The apostle Paul referred to the handling of gossipers. He wrote to Timothy as an overseer and gave the following instructions concerning younger widows who were still marriageable and who were not to be put on the list for receiving material help from the congregation: “On the other hand, turn down younger widows, for when their sexual impulses have come between them and the Christ, they want to marry, having a judgment because they have disregarded their first expression of faith. At the same time they also learn to be unoccupied, gadding about to the houses, yes, not only unoccupied, but also gossipers [phlýaroi]a and meddlers in other people’s affairs, talking of things they ought not. Therefore I desire the younger widows to marry, to bear children, to manage a household, to give no inducement to the opposer to revile. Already, in fact, some have been turned aside to follow Satan. If any believing woman has widows, let her relieve them, and let the congregation not be under the burden. Then it can relieve those who are actually widows.”—1 Tim. 5:11-16.

18. Why was it right for Paul to discuss widows, and how did younger ones make their lack of occupation spiritually harmful?

¹⁸ Discussing the case of widows was religiously right for the apostle Paul, for his fellow disciple James wrote: “The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.” (Jas. 1:27) However, the apostle Paul had made observations concerning the younger widows, that their lack of occupation was spiritually harmful to them. Being unoccupied with household obligations or with Jehovah’s service in the field, they were inclined to go to the houses, not to preach or bear witness from door to door, but to talk idly, to gossip, even to the point of meddling in other people’s affairs, “talking of things that they ought not.”

19. What did Paul instruct Timothy respecting the younger widows, and what was his purpose in laying a special responsibility upon the older women?

¹⁹ What did the apostle Paul advise overseer Timothy respecting them? Did he instruct Timothy to have them disfellowshiped? No! He recommended that they be given serious responsibility in order to keep them profitably occupied, even suggesting their getting married and rearing children of their own, so as to win commendation for the congregation rather than to give opposers of Christianity an inducement to revile Jehovah’s organization under Christ. The older women also were to set the younger widows and other women a good example: “Likewise let the aged women be reverent in behavior, not slanderous [diáboloi], neither enslaved to a lot of wine, teachers of what is good, that they may recall the younger women to their senses to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sound in mind, chaste, workers at home, good, subjecting themselves to their own husbands, so that the word of God may not be spoken of abusively.” (Titus 2:3-5) Such corrective measures that the apostle advised kept the younger women within the congregation, commendably occupied in good works and serving as an asset to the congregation and keeping high its spiritual quality in peace and unity.

20. What did the apostle John write to the disciple Gaius about Di·otʹre·phes?

²⁰ The apostle John had to deal with a case of an abuse of the tongue, not in mere gossip but in slander. This was in the case of Di·otʹre·phes, who belonged to the same Christian congregation as did Gaius, a beloved disciple, whom John truly loved. In this case he said: “I wrote something to the congregation, but Di·otʹre·phes, who likes to have the first place among them, does not receive anything from us with respect. That is why, if I come, I will call to remembrance his works which he goes on doing, chattering [phlyareîn]b about us with wicked words. Also, not being content with these things, neither does he himself receive the brothers with respect, and those who are wanting to receive them he tries to hinder and to throw out of the congregation.”—3 John 9, 10.

21. Why was Di·otʹre·phes’ chatter a case of slander and why did he himself deserve to be thrown out?

²¹ Di·otʹre·phes was chattering or gossiping about the apostle John behind his back, but he was doing so “with wicked words.” He was thus slandering John. For this reason he deserved apostolic taking in hand. Hence John said that, should he himself come to that congregation, he would call to remembrance the works that Di·otʹre·phes was doing, which would be accompanied by appropriate action against Di·otʹre·phes. This wicked chatterer had no right or authority to do some excommunicating on his own account, throwing hospitable brothers out of the congregation. In speaking about the apostle John slanderously, Di·otʹre·phes was “disregarding lordship and speaking abusively of glorious ones.” (Jude 8) Di·otʹre·phes himself deserved to be thrown out.

22. Was it mere gossip of which Satan the Devil was guilty in Eden, and why was he called Devil?

²² Remember, it was not mere gossip of which Satan the Devil was guilty in the garden of Eden. He asked Eve a leading question for information, and then made this comment upon her answer: “You positively will not die. For God knows that in the very day of your eating from it your eyes are bound to be opened and you are bound to be like God, knowing good and bad.” (Gen. 3:4, 5) That devilish statement was not gossip. It was what Jesus pronounced it to be—slander, a lie, maliciously designed to hurt the reputation or name of Jehovah God and induce rebellion against Him and cause distrust and disunity within His organization. Said Jesus to those who copied Satan the Devil: “You are from your father the Devil and you wish to do the desires of your father. That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks according to his own disposition, because he is a liar and the father of the lie.” (John 8:44) Let us make no mistake about it: it was slander, not gossip, for which that unfaithful one was called Devil (Diábolos), meaning “Slanderer.” It was a malicious lie against Jehovah God that killed God’s reputation with Eve and that betrayed the fact that this spirit son had rebelled against the Sovereign of the universe and should be disfellowshiped from Jehovah’s holy universal organization, thus being disowned as a son of God.

23. With regard to talk, what should a committee first determine, and why should they bring in two or more witnesses?

²³ For this reason let the service committee of any congregation of Jehovah’s dedicated people be careful about taking drastic action against gossip. Let them first determine the nature or quality of the gossip. If it is light, inconsequential newsmongering, with personalities involved, there is no ground Scripturally for disfellowshiping and thereby showing oppressiveness. But if it amounts to slander with the malicious design to injure the reputation and standing of another, then it is time to take the matter under advisement and determine whether disfellowshiping the apparent slanderer is right and Scriptural and is for the protection of the congregation. Two or more witnesses will be needed to establish the fact of slander and to protect the service committee.

24. In being careful as to the matter of disfellowshiping, how should the committee be like Jeremiah?

²⁴ A service committee should not use its power of disfellowshiping dangerously. It should veer away from bringing itself under condemnation in this matter. Said King David prophetically: “Anyone slandering his companion in secrecy, him I silence. . . . Every morning I shall silence all the wicked ones of the earth, to cut off from the city of Jehovah all the practicers of what is hurtful.” (Ps. 101:5, 8) For our guidance with respect to slanderers it is written: “He that is going about as a slanderer is uncovering confidential talk; and with one that is enticed [or, possibly, that is wide open] with his lips you must have no fellowship.” (Prov. 20:19; 11:13) A service committee has to draw a sharp distinction between mere gossip and slander. In this regard they should be like a metal tester, as Jeremiah the prophet was: “You will take note and you must examine their way. All of them are the most stubborn men, walking about as slanderers—copper and iron. They are all of them ruinous. . . . Rejected silver is what people will certainly call them, for Jehovah has rejected them.”—Jer. 6:27-30; 9:4-8.

25. Why does a committee do well to investigate slander, but for what is it not Scripturally authorized to disfellowship?

²⁵ Slanderers can cause a death, either physical or spiritual; for which reason the warning is given: “You must not go around among your people for the sake of slandering. You must not stand up against your fellow’s blood. I am Jehovah.” (Lev. 19:16) For this reason a service committee does well to investigate slander. But it is not Scripturally authorized to disfellowship for mere gossip that is light, trivial, superficial, motivated by human interest, but not malicious, not bringing false accusation.

26. To what action is disfellowshiping subject by the disfellowshiped, and what does the reversal of some judgments prove?

²⁶ Disfellowshipings are subject to appeal by the ones disfellowshiped who persist in believing that the committee exceeded itself. Appeals have been made to the Society at Brooklyn and some disfellowshipings have been reversed. This fact proves that some committees have been too eager to excommunicate. Either they have not had the needed witnesses with substantial testimony or have magnified the wrongdoing out of all proportions and have disfellowshiped oppressively and on unscriptural grounds. Disfellowshiping is primarily to prevent the mass of the congregation from becoming leavened with sin by a little lump. (1 Cor. 5:6-8, 13) But remember, it has to do with the eternal life of the disfellowshiped person.

27. Since souls are being dealt with, how should a committee show balance in the matter of disfellowshiping?

²⁷ Yes, souls, precious lives, are being dealt with. This makes the matter something very solemn and serious. Do not stumble an innocent brother with an undeserved disfellowshiping. Examine your hearts and your motives, plus God’s Word. Do not be disfellowshiping-happy, exercising a dreadful power just to show you can use it and trying to intimidate by threatening to use it unless—! Slave masters were instructed to be ‘letting up on threatening’ their Christian slaves. Love is described as a quality that “does not keep account of the injury.” (Eph. 6:9; 1 Cor. 13:4, 5) So we must keep “putting up with one another in love, earnestly endeavoring to observe the oneness of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace.” (Eph. 4:2, 3) So let committees walk with balance in this matter.

28. (a) In what way of walking do our wisdom and salvation lie? (b) How may we buy out the opportune time, and in harmony with what dominant fact today will this be?

²⁸ Our wisdom and our salvation lie in that we all “keep strict watch” on how we walk, not to avoid disfellowshipment, but to please and glorify God and vindicate his universal kingship. The overshadowing fact of today, that God’s kingdom rules and therefore the old world’s end is near, this fact should dominate our lives. These days, though wicked, furnish us an opportunity, that of “buying out the opportune time” for ourselves. How? By no longer wasting time in walking unprofitably and unreasonably as the doomed worldlings do, but by walking wisely according to what we perceive to be Jehovah’s will. In that case we shall find ourselves in harmony with God’s kingdom by Christ, and we shall gain life in happiness in his righteous order of new heavens and a new earth.