heavy drinking and anxieties of life. And why not? If these become the important things in one’s life, the principal reason for living, as they were in the life of the rich man, then we are not going to have time for walking in the footsteps of Christ Jesus, following him. We cannot be a soldier of Christ Jesus if it is the eating and drinking and the anxieties of life that we are interested in and if we are going to be weighed down with commercial businesses of life in order to get these things in abundance. The two do not go together.

STAYING AWAKE DURING THE CONSUMMATION

17. What is required of each one if he is to succeed in escaping destruction with this present evil world?

¹⁷ Describing living in these last days, in the twenty-first chapter of Luke, Jesus says the complete end will happen so suddenly that that day will be instantly upon us as a snare. Then what is going to happen? Jesus said that it will come in upon all those dwelling upon the face of the earth. He is not making any exceptions. So his very strong advice to the apostles and, of course, to Christians today was: “Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur, and to hold your position before the Son of man.” Truly there is a way of escape from going down executed in the battle of the great day of God the Almighty. The way of escape is in staying awake, living as a Christian, making supplication before God. Then you may succeed in escaping all these troubles and distresses that will come upon the Devil’s system of things at one time, completely wiping it out, the political system, the religious system, the commercial system, and abyssing the demons who control this world and even the Devil himself. Being on guard as a Christian at God’s spiritual temple and staying awake there will mean, too, that you will hold your approved position before the Son of man. He will preserve you alive through the battle of Armageddon, which destroys this present evil world, into God’s new world of righteousness.

18. Why was the world destroyed in Noah’s day, and what fine example did Noah and his household set for those living in this time of the end?

¹⁸ This will not be the first time that a world is destroyed. It happened before in the days of Noah, “when the patience of God was waiting in Noah’s days, while the ark was being constructed, in which a few people, that is, eight souls, were carried safely through the water.” (1 Pet. 3:20) Jehovah had good cause for destroying the people that lived in Noah’s day. They paid no attention to God, nor to the message that God had Noah preach to them concerning the end of that world. But they were given to eating and drinking and having a good time, feasting, thinking of just themselves and their own anxieties of life. They were truly weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking. Jesus tells us that it would be very similar in our day just before the battle of Armageddon to what it was in Noah’s day: “For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. For as people were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be.” (Matt. 24:37-39) This flood came upon all those dwelling upon the face of the earth during Noah’s day: Identical to what is going to happen at the battle of Armageddon. Christians cannot be asleep. Jesus said, ‘Happy is the one that stays awake and keeps his outer garments.’ Noah was not asleep as to his building of the ark. He kept busy at construction. In addition he kept preaching. With him were his three sons and their wives and Noah’s own wife; all of them kept busy with Noah, and when the flood came they were ready, they were awake, they were in the ark with all the animals and they were preserved alive out of the world that was, into a cleansed earth. Noah and his family stayed on the watch, worked and were ready when the rains came. It pays to stay awake! You do not lose your outer garments of God’s ministry.

19. The Christians in the first century had received what warning about Jerusalem, and so what course did they pursue that demonstrated their wakefulness?

¹⁹ If Noah had not stayed by the things that were committed into his care, he would not have saved himself, and others also, his loved ones. The only sensible thing to do now is stay awake and take care of the responsibilities that fall upon one, just as the early Christians did when destruction was about to befall Jerusalem. Many years before the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 (A.D.), the Christians had received warning through the prophecy that Jesus gave them. “Furthermore, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then understand that the desolating of her has drawn near. Then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains, and let those in the midst of her withdraw, and let those in the nearby regions not enter into her, because these are days for meting out justice that all the things written may be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:20-22) Shortly after the days of Pentecost many persons gained a knowledge of the truth, dedicated themselves to Jehovah’s service and were baptized. In fact, in one day 3,000 persons were baptized. There must have been many assembly places within Jerusalem where God’s people met and studied the Word of God together and prepared themselves for their preaching activity. But all this time while they were studying the Bible they were on the watch, they were awake to the critical situations that were prophesied by Christ Jesus, when Jerusalem would be in for destruction. So in the year 66, when the armies of Rome surrounded the city, it certainly must have brought to their attention that destruction was imminent. When these armies moved away for a short season, all the Christians in Jerusalem fled to the mountains, out of the city gates, over the hills of Galilee, down into the Jordan valley and across the river to Gilead, to the mountains where there was safety. When one is warned, why stay at the place where destruction is going to happen? Why be asleep at this crucial time, when one should be awake and on duty? Those early Christians were awake to their responsibilities. They wanted to preserve their lives so they could continue to preach the good news of the Kingdom after the destruction of Jerusalem. They did.

20. What that demonstrates their spiritual wakefulness is true of Jehovah’s witnesses today?

²⁰ While Christendom is exposed to true Christians today because of not having on its outer garments, and this is due to falling asleep to Christian privileges of service, Jehovah’s witnesses world-wide continue to preach God’s kingdom and pay attention to the divine will. They see to it that those coming within Jehovah’s sanctuary for worship are clean, just as the guard protected the temple of Jehovah when on night watch to see that nothing unclean got in to pollute the temple or to steal from it. In these last days the Kingdom interests have been committed into the care of the “faithful and discreet slave” class, and now joining with them is a “great crowd” of “other sheep” coming from all nations, kindreds and tongues, and these, too, have been given the privilege of guarding these Kingdom interests by preaching even to the ends of the earth. This great crowd now numbering well over 770,000 ministers of the Kingdom are not being weighed down by overeating and heavy drinking and the anxieties of this life. They are alerted to the fact that Christ Jesus will come at Armageddon as a thief, suddenly, instantly, and that when this destruction comes to the earth it will affect all those dwelling upon the face of the earth. So they keep awake, and hold their position before the Son of man, guarding the Kingdom interests, keeping on their ministerial garments, showing that they appreciate their responsibilities. By having on these garments they prove that they have been favored by Jehovah God and have been retained in Jehovah’s holy service in his sanctuary.

Who Really Can Be Saved?

1. Whom do the Scriptures identify to be the “light of the world,” and how does this light affect the judgment of mankind?

THE person that does right and seeks truth will come into the light. John the Baptist introduced the Jews to the one who became the “light of the world.” John the Baptist “came for the purpose of a witness, in order to bear witness about the light, that people of all kinds might believe through him.” (John 1:7) John knew that the light of the world was Christ Jesus. (John 8:12) Jesus, having instructed his disciples concerning truth, said to them: “You are the light of the world.” (Matt. 5:14) So true Christians today are the only light there is. People of all walks of life should examine themselves and ask themselves the questions, “Am I afraid of the light? Am I afraid of truth?” Jesus puts it squarely to everyone: “Now this is the basis for judgment, that the light has come into the world but men have loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were wicked. For he that practices vile things hates the light and does not come to the light, in order that his works may not be reproved. But he that does what is true comes to the light, in order that his works may be made manifest as having been worked in harmony with God.”—John 3:19-21.