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We o.ffer hope. The world's only genuine hope. We o.ffer the reality of a bright and
marvelous future for mankind on this good earth.
attenti on. Now. however, the
news media abound with s tate–
ments by cxperts and reports by
panels all coming to similar con–
clusions: the future of mankind is
bleak- unless we change ou r
whole way of life.
Even from high government
levels grave concern is expressed .
lt took threc years to gather
together the findings, s tatistics
and analyscs of 13 U.S. govcrn–
ment agencies to produce
The
Global
2000
Report
10
the Presi–
dent.
As of July 1980 it is official.
The government of the richest
nation on earth is disturbed about
thc future! "For the first time,
the U.S. government has added
its full voicc to the chorus of
environmental Cassandras deeply
distressed about the future . In an
800-page
stu~y
issued last week.
a presidential panel warns that
time is fast runni ng out for aver t–
ing a global calamity"
(Time.
August 4. 1980).
This is grim news. We sympa–
thize with the plea of our con–
cerned reader: "Don't kili all our
hope- it is all we have!" But who
is killing hopc'? Worried scien–
tists? Troubled government offi–
cials? Perturbcd statesmen? Ap–
prehensive news reporters and
commentators?
Perhaps.
But ccrtainly not
The Plain
Truth
magazine!
We offer hope. The world's
only genu ine hope. In fact we
offer more than hope. We offer
the reality of a bright and marvel–
ous fu ture for mankind on this
good ear th: Peace is coming at
last. Prosperity, happiness and
well-being for all .
What we announce is
good
news.
lt
is good news for our
reader, for her grandchildren, for
her great grandchild . It is good
news for everybody. The Govern–
ment of God is coming to this
earth to solve all the problems
human beings and their systems
of government have been unable
10
to solve.
lt
sounds too good to be
true. But it is true. And it is
certain.
Here's what l saiah foretold
about the proclamation of this
exciting news: "Look! 'tis the feet
of a herald hastening over the
hills, with glad,
good news,
with
tidings of relief, calling aloud to
Sion, 'Your God reigns!'" ( lsaiah
52:7, Moffatt translation) .
Notice what the glad mcssage
is, "Your God reigns!" 1t is a
message of rulership, of govern–
ment.
lt
is the good news (or
Gospel, because the word
gospel
means "good news") of thc soon–
coming Government or Kingdom
of God.
That is the good news of the
World Tomorrow.
The Bad News Only for Today
The bad news of the world today.
however, is that the Government
of God is not yet ruling the world.
Human beings, motivated by hu–
man nature. are still doing what
seems right in their own eyes (see
Proverbs 14:12).
Selfishness, g reed, corruption,
hatred, mistrust- these are cold
facts of life determining so much
of what now takes place. And the
result is aH the suffcri ng, the
sickness, the unhappiness we see
arou nd us. The same human
nature that has caused all the
wars down through history is sti ll
at work.
All that is bad news. Frighten–
ing news. Hard to cope with. But
if we didn't warn of it in
The
Plain Truth ,
it wouldn't go away.
It
would still be there. closing in
upon us.
We warn about the threat of
war and other disasters man is
bringing on himself because they
wouldn't reaJiy have to happen.
They could be avoided.
lf
e nough people on earth
would repent and turn to God and
His laws, and allow Him to rule
now in thei r lives, God's Govcrn–
ment could be established on
earth without all the bloodshed
and tribulation that will otherwise
s urely take place.
Th e Plain
Truth
must publish the facts
about today 's conditions a nd
where this world is headed. even
though the facts are frighteni ng.
ln beari ng witness to the truth we
may wake sorne people up.
Could there be a repeat of what
happened thousands of years ago
at the ancient city of Nineveh?
N ineveh was a great and mighty
city. But because of its wicked–
ness it was marked for destruc–
tion (Jonah 1:2;
3:3).
God sent
the prophet Jonah with
a
warn–
ing, "Yet for ty days, and N ineveh
shall be overthrown ' ' (Jonah
3:4).
Frighteni ng ? Yes . Hard to
cope with? Yes. But "the people
of Nineveh believed God.
and ... turned from their cvil
way ..." ( Jonah 3:5, 10). They
repented. And the city was spared
destruction for generations.
lt
would be exciting to see
that happen today on a massive
scale. There is sti ll time.
However, we are realists. We
recognize that what happened at
Nineveh is the only case in all of
recorded history where an entire
people. wa rned of coming de–
st ruction unless they repented ,
actually did change their ways,
at least temporarily, and turn to
the true God. So frankly, the
chances that many people will
heed our warning
no~
are not
promising.
That is bad news for them.
Nevertheless, even if the world
as a whole does refuse to hear and
repent , even if it insists on learn–
ing the hard way-through suf–
fering-that humans by them–
selves cannot find peace and hap–
piness, individuals who do repent
need not partake of that suffer–
ing. They can find protection
from the trouble to come. And
that is good news.
To those who surrender to
Him, God promises refuge from
The
PLAIN TRUTH