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But more and more humans have
no alternate means of support or
livelihood if their jobs fail. Most per–
sons don't own ferti le land free and
clear. Many are burdened down with
high monthly home payments with
exorbitant interest. Most don't grow
their own food, possess their own
fresh water supply, self-contained
util ities or essential resources. Today
everybody must earn money to sur–
vive. We work in compet ition with
others to earn the casb to pay some–
one else to provide most of each
day's necessities.
Even those who own product ive
land or property free and clear are
still burdened down with oppres–
sive government taxes and other
inflat ion-plagued costs. And in
today's misguided and confused
world, we all can suddenly find our
livel ihood jeopardized by unantici–
pated economic recession or war.
l f we think trade competition is
getting fierce now, what wi ll the
world be like when many more
nations gear up their economics
and produce steel, texti les, comput–
ers and other manu factured goods
in competition with everyone else;
when al l demand equal acccss to
foreign markets to earn money or
they will deny markets or their raw
resources? T here will be a few tem–
porary winners, and many losers.
The Bible reveals man's economic
and trading systems will clash in
war and totally collapse (Rev. 18).
Sorne nations wi ll go down ·
before others because of their
sins.
What will happen to the United
States, Canada, Br itai n, other
democracies of Northwestern Eu–
rope and various English-speaking
nations of the world is explained in
our free booklet
The United States
and Britain in Prophecy.
What
happens to much of Europe and a
host of other nations trading with a
reviva ] of the Holy Roman Empire
is prophesied in Revelation, chap–
tcrs 17 and 18.
Then comes the return of Jesus
Christ to the earth to put down all
remaini ng war r ing, competitive
governments and armies.
Then- and only then-can the
world be taught the right way of
living, the way of God's laws, that
wi ll bring peace, prosperity and job
secur ity- for all! o
June/ July 1982
WhoDecides?
(Continued from page 21)
disobey- but
NOT
to
determine for
themselves
what was right and
what was wrong! There is a big dif–
ference!
Adam and Eve chose to
disobey
God's clear instructions. God had
shown them
his
way. They chose,
ins tead, to go
their own
way–
which was really
Satan's
way, for
that great archangel had pioneered
the way of rebellion against God
( l sa. 14; Ezek. 28).
God had given them the privi–
lege of disobeying. But in so doing
they also had to suffer the
conse–
quences
of disobedience (Gen.
_3: 16-24).
Ever since Adam and Eve ate the
"forbidden fruit ," mankind has
continued wrong1y to take to itself
God's prerogative of defining good
and evil. God is
allowing
it only for
a time.
Under Satan's tutelage, Adam's
progeny has been eating of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil for
nearly 6,000 years. Humans have
followed
their own
tradit ions,
their
own
philosophies of life, rather than
the
way ofGod.
T he sorry record of
those six mi ll ennia- wr itten in
blood, sweat and tears throughout
the pages of history- is clear.
God has permitted the world to
go its own way to learn a great
lesson: that Satan's way of competi–
tion, of deciding for onese1f what is
right and what is wrong, of reject–
ing the law and government of
God, can in the end bring nothing
but disaster.
Man' s Alternativas
In rejecting the revea1ed knowledge
of God , man has had no al ternative
but to rely on his own humanly
devised approaches to life that
appear
right to him. That's why
the world is beset with so many
differing opinions of what is right
on controversia! issues!
Notice the biblical warning in
this regard: "There is a way which
seemeth
right unto a man, but the
end thereof are the ways of
death"
(Prov. 14:12).
J ust because you might
think
something is right doesn't
make
it
so!
T he world is in
confusion!
It
has
cut loose from the foundat ional
anchor that would have prevented
it from d ri fting into the turbulent
waters of moral and spiritual
chaos.
God is the Author of right and
wrong! He is the Lawgiver. lt is not
a matter of personal decision after
"weighing the issues." The deter–
mination of right and wrong is not
left up to the whim of the individu–
al! It is God's prerogative and his
alone!
To those who are willing to be
guided by God's revealed written
Word, the answers to the major
moral and social quest ions of our
time are easi ly discovered. God
clearly sets out r ight from wrong in
the pages of Scr ipture!
He then gives us the
free moral
agency- the
" individual freedom
of choice" - to choose which way to
go.
Notice Deuteronomy 30:19: " 1
call heaven and earth to record this
day against you, that 1 have set
before you life and death, b1essing
and cursing; therefore choose life,
that both thou and thy seed may
live."
God commands us to
choose lije.
Ányone who refuses to do so is in
defiance of God! But he wiU not
force
us. Each one of us must make
a decision whether to obey God or
not. And it is he who decides what
is the
right
choice- not we our–
selves!
What About Smoking?
It
is not a matter of "weighing the
issues" involved on various sides of
a question. l t is simply a mattér of
choosing
between two
c/ear alter–
natives.
T ake the example of smoking
tobacco or marijuana.
There is no need for a "full and
free discussion of these important
public issues" because
God has
already decided
the matter!
Cigarette smoki ng, of cou rse,
was unknown in biblical t imes. But
God's law is "exceeding broad"
(Ps. 119:96) .
It
covers, in principie,
every aspect of dai ly life, for any
time in history.
From a biblical standpoint,
smoking is clearly
wrong.
l t is
wrong because of what it does to
the smoker and wrong because of
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