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they that were about him [Jesus'
chosen disciples] asked of him the
parable." They couldn't understand
the parable either and wanted Jesus
to explain it to them.
"And he said unto them, Unto you
[the ones He had chosen, the few, the
tirstfruits] it is given to know the
mystery of the kingdom of God: But
unto them that are without [the
outsiders, the blinded, unconverted
vast multitude], all these things are
done in parables .. ."
Why?
"That seeing tbey may see, ánd
not
perceive; and hearing they may
hear and
not
understand; test at any
time they should be converted, and
their sins should be forgiven them
[in other words, that the multitudes
should not then be converted but
wait until God at a future time
opens their eyes to the truth]"
(verses 11-12; see also Luke 8: 1
O
and Matthew 13).
The Gospel must be preacbed, but
primarily as a witness (Matthew
24:14). It is futile to try to convert
the world at this time. God must
remove the blindness tirst.
And He
wi//- after Christ's return to earth
(lsaiah 25:7). That's when God will
begin to convert the whole world to
the true religion-His truth.
God's laws and the entire way of
life He has laid out in the Bible are
being neglected. His revealed truth is
not understood by any of man's reli–
gioos.
In the world to come, under Jesus
Christ's rule, all people for
th~
tirst
time will be instructed in the way of
God, "For the earth shall be full of
the knowledge of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11 :9).
Until that time
only
those whom God
chooses to call to His trutb are being
converted.
So said Jesus (John 6:44, 65). Even–
tually, howeverevery human being who
ever lived will have an opportunity to
enter God's Kingdom. God is fair to all.
That is good news!
You owe it to yourselfto obtain your
free copy of the exciting article "Is
This the Only Day of Salvation?" and
the booklet
Pagan Holidays or God's
Holy Days-Which?
Send your re–
quest, then believe what you see in
your own Bible. o
April 1980
Nuclear
(Continuedfrompage 14)
strike tirst. A local nuclear war would
·then be under way!
Bible prophecy foretells one such
local nuclear war-in the Middle
East! Isaiah
spea~
of areas in Moab,
(modern Jordan) being "laid waste"
(Isaiah 15:1 ). And Jeremiah talks of
a possible nuclear strike against the
Ammonites (modern Jordan) in par–
ticularly graphic language:
"Therefore, behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that
1
will
cause an alarm of war to be heard in
Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it
shall be a desolate heap, and her
daugbters shall be burned with
tire . . . "(Jeremiah 49:2).
And Ezekiel gives this prophecy
about a nuclear holocaust somewhere
to the south of Jerusalem:
"Son of man, set thy face toward
the south .. . and say to the forest of
the south, Hear the word of Lord;
Thus saith the Lord God; Behold,
1
will kindle a tire in thee, and it shall
devour every green tree in thee, and
every dry tree: the flaming flame
shall not be quenched, and all faces
from the south to the north shall be
burned therein" (Ezekiel 20:47).
These prophecies are corroborated
by a passage dealing with nuclear
proliferation, which ran in the
Los
Angeles Times:
"They [students of the nuclear
era] say that the greatest threat will
be from smaller nations newly in
possession of the bomb- and the
danger among them will be from
those with the will to wage war
against their enemies and leaders apt
to place hatred above consequences.
"In other words, the Middle
East."
Added support comes from former
British Prime Minister James Callagh–
an, who declares that the Middle East
"is the area of the world where there is
more nuclear technology than any–
where outsideof the major powers. And
it is one of themost unstable parts ofthe
world. It's horrifying."
Striking at the Root
\
The Bible reveals that the future
nuclear holocausts are the result of
sin (sin is the transgression of divine
law-1 . John 3:4). AIJ nations and
peoples have sinned (Romans 3:9),
and widespread nuclear proliferation
will eventually affect the entire
world.
"Upon the wicked he [God] shall
rain snares, tire and brimstone, and
an horrible tem'pest: this shall be
the portion of their cup" (Psalms
11 :7).
But sin, the root cause of world
evi1, will be put down under the
soon-coming government of God. All
nations will be forced to 1earn to 1ive
in peace, in harmony, without the
imp1ements of war.
In God's world, there will be no
fear of nuclear proliferation. There
will be no fear of sorne crazed,
ambitious dictator threatening mass
destruction to appease his own
vanity.
In
God's world, "nation shall not
lift up a sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war anymore"
(Micah 4:3) .
What a wonderful hope. What a
wonderful reality. o
INFLATION
(Continued from page
34)
Christ. Once peace is enforced, God's
government will bring prosperity by
instituting a money supply that will
increase by no more than the produc–
tion of new goods and services.
God's world will be a stable world,
where people will be able to count on
government p_olicies being the same
(see Malachi 3:6). Farmers and busi–
nessmen will be able to plan their
constructive efforts with far , far
greater certainty than they can
today.
No more will human beings de–
stroy the life savings of people who
sacriticed all their lives for a little
financia! security. No more will
human beings misuse their power to
gain temporary favor among the vot–
ers, even though it means impover–
ishing their fellow citizens. No more
will people have to suffer a world
without tirm values, stability or a
basis on which to plan for a secure
future. God will end inflation, and
that is good news. o
37