Watchtower: Armageddon, 1937

8/20/2019 Watchtower: Armageddon, 1937

1/64

.... _

th

~ m t e s t

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of

aUlill\Q


2/64

----,--------

IT IS

IN

VAIN NOW or the pope

of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy

to

proy God

or

to

warn

the nation.

of "Christendom"thnt Armageddon

may

be

a\-erted. Why

must

It ItITely

tome, soon,

and

whose butth: will

it

be, and what the outcome Also,

thOR wbo hear the K ingdom ~

J qe now, and who fail to

obey

it,

1rill

they die

at

Armageddon

and

nmain de:ad

(or ever.

or will

they

bal e an awakenin, out of death

How mar

you

Wn'il"e In thiB

bcrok1et

Judjl'e

Rutherlord

presents

the

iDlpired prophetie ScrlptllTe8

lide by aide with the well-known

hirtorical fods In proof of the an·

swen: herein gL\'en.

T i l l

:

i"UIl

. I$IIr.11

(lopyruOHn:D 1D3 7

.um

Punlilsu£D 11 1

W A T C R T O W E R

BIBLE A.. \ D TRACT SOClETY

1ntemlltlonnl Dible Studt-ntl AsNIdaUoa

BftII lI;lrn. N. Y .

C

So. .

l l ·

BaAl'I'CB OFnCES:

l.oC>\ldon, BUI n08 AIres,

I'n

ria.

Tnronto, J;tr athfleld, Cape

Town, Berne. Copenbal:('n,

SIHllIghnt, and

otber eltles.


3/64

•

ARMAGEDDON

Judge

J. 10 , Ltulberford , speeclJ

to We

pubUc

nnd

brondcnfJt o\'er WBUR

Sunoor

October 18, 1930

I

T WlLL BE CON CEDED by

11

persons that

the peoples of the nations o tlle earth have

suffcr('d much during

tile

past twenty yenrs.

The people are in perplexity. r 'l e rulers like-

wjse

are

in perplexity and in distress. The peril

thnt is just ahead, however, w ill bring upon tile

peop1es o the earth far greater sullering. The

people prefer. to beor good news rather

than

bad. Then some may ask, Wny use the subjcet,

such

8S

this afternoon's, to tcll the people

about

tJle

greatest

trouble t

hat

shal l eve ' come upon

the

earthf

I answer, by way of illustration, that

when the country is threatened with a great

stor

m or tidal wave, the government officials

warn

Ute

people, and th

at

} fOPCrly so, even

though

it

is very bad news.

VillI

stronger

reasoning should the people

be warned

of

the

approaching world disaster.

t

is the command

of Jehovah God that the people must

be

warned

in

order that tllCY

may

iutclligently

seck

the

only place

of

safety if they so desire. t is vol-

untary

with

c\'cryone.

What is

here said con-

cerning the peril

that

is approaching is not the

expression of man's imagination. t is based

solely upon the "Tord of God . Chl'ist, in spenl,.


4/64

4

ARMAGEDDON

ing of this approaching peril, uses these words:

Then there shall be tribulation such as the world

has

never known,

and

DO

Dever

will

there

be

another.'

That

should be sufficient reason for

every

thoughtful person, and

particularly

every

professed

Christian, to

give

careful considera-

tion to the

proof

relating to the tribulation that

is inlpcnding and about to faU .

That

great

aOliction

that

is coming upon the

wodd

is

designated in the Bible as 'Armaged-

don, the greatest battle of all time'.

The

battle

will not

be

rought between contending factions

or contending Dutions, but will involve the whole

world. On one side in that battle array will be

n the wicked angels, unseen by men, and aU

the wickoo people on tile earth n all the world,

under

the seductive influence and command of

SaLan the Devil. The purpose of tllnt side of the

war is to destroy the human rnce. This is one

of the best evidences that the Devil is man's

worst enemy. On the other side of that battle

array

will

be

the Lord

J

esns

Christ, the Vindi-

cator of Jehovah s name, and all the hoJy hosts

of heaven, and all under the command of Jeho-

vah the Almighty God. TIle purpose of that

righteous side of the battle is to , indicate Jeho-

vah s name and show to aU living creatures that

he is what his name implies, the

Supreme

One,

the Almighty, the One from whom all good

things

proceed.

The word «Armageddon means the place of

battle, and

therefore

the name itself means the


5/64

RM GEDDON

5

assembling of troops at the place of battle. The

Scriptures designate it as "the battle of that

great

day of Ood

.AJmigbty J

because the Al-

mighty God wiU be completely victorious n that

battle and lie brings

it

about or his

own

pur-

pose. t will dcfil1iteiy settle the rule of this

'World,

and settle it right.

t 'will

eliminate the

wicked from all the earth and enthrone right-

eousness j and Um t is good news to every bonest

person

on

earOI, regardless of his religious faith.

WilY FOUGIIT

'We

ll, wby should this great battle

be

fought

Centuries ago

J

ebovah

God, by

his holy proph-

ets, foretold that coming battle and assigned the

reason and recorded

it

in tile Bible prophecies

for the benefit of those

who

desire to know.

f

the peoples of e nations of the earth had been

taught the Bible inst.ead of religion,

i f

the par-

ents had taught the childr

en

in their homes, and

it

were taught

n

the schools, and the people had

given heed to God's "

'Tord,

the Bible, there

would be no 'disturbance on earth right now.

But

the time has

corne

when the message

of

warning must be proclaimed to the peoples of

earth and it beomcs the bounden duty of every

Christian to know and

to

proclaim to others the

reason for Armageddon.

t

is Ulerefore essen-

tial that tile facta leading up to the battJe should

be related

on t.his

occasion, because there cou

ld

he nothing so important as this

just now

. There-

fore give some time to stating these facts.


6/64

6

ARMACr::ODON

The great ( I cator of hC 3vcn and

cort11,

the

lInkl>r of all things, is .Jehovah God. He reveals

11Un

se

lf

to man uncler

different

titles.

Dis

nrune

od

menlls the. One who is the creator of all

things

in

hem en

ancI

in earth. nis name

God

Almighty

nnd that is the name thnt Ule Consti·

tutian of New Jerf:ey has adopted, menns that

his power and authority is without limitation.

Hi

s name

Mo

st lliUh

menns

that

he is above all

j

and his name J ehovah means his purposes to·

ward his cr(>lltures. lie is the som co of all life,

anel all cre

atures

who live must ser\ e him. All

,\;11

have to lake their stand on one side or the

other, either (01 or against Jehovab, and ll who

take

t ~ r

stand

on God s side

must

now become

bis witnesses.

OROER

OF

cnEATION

In

the er( ulion o all Ulings, as tile

BiblE re·

ciles, the Logos was the first created, and rus

name subseqnently

appears

in

the Bible as

Je-

sus, and the Lo

rd

Jesus Christ.

Then

God creat-

ed Lucifer, whom he made Ilie overseer of tIle

world. Then he created the angels in heo, en,

who are the servants who

serve

n God s orgnni.

zution. The time came, arter many centuries,

for

the

la ing

of the

foundation

of

the

earth

nnd

the creation of man; and

it

is stated in the 45th

cllapter

of

ISaiah that the earth was created

for

man and man for the cnrOl. Had mnn r emwned

in harm

ony with Ood

there

would have been no

sickness and

sorrow

amongst the human ruce.


7/64

ARMAGEDDON

I t is evident from the prophecy

of

Job (38: 4,

7)

Ulnt

Jehovah

informed his henvenlv

creatures

of his

purpose

to

create

the

earth,

81 }(1

to create

man

for

the

earth,

and

this

so

thrilled the

hearts

of those

creatures

that the morning stars sang

togetiler, nnd aU the sons of God shouted for

joy . Lucifer beheld this

praise

given to

Jeho-

vah

by

oiller

great creatures,

Md he coveted

for himsel.f that which did not belong to him.

t

is

recorded

of

him in

Jereminll's prophecy

(51: 13) thnt Lucifer is the covetous onc. lIe

resorted to fraud, lying and deception to occom-

p l i ~

his

wicked purpose. He seduced

Eve

and

caused

her

to walk

n

the way

of

unrighteous-

ness, and Ulen Adam, because

of

his selfishness,

joined

Eve

in

the

transgression

and

they were

both sentenced to death. God gove Lucifer n

suspende l sentence, wbich has not yet been exe-

cuted; and the reason therefor I shull state to

you in a moment. He changed Lucifer's

name

because I.Jucifer had ~ o m e the

wicked

one, nnd

since then llntil now he

has

been known

and

designated in the Sc.riptures

under

four names:

Dedl meaning

slanderer

of

Jehovah;

Serpent

meauing deceivcx; Dra90n meaning

devourer;

and SalaH meaning adversary or opposer

of

God. The Devil cllaUenged JcllOvah to put on

enrUl men who would maintain

their

integrity

toward him under adverse circumstances. He

defied Jehovah thus to

attempt

it, declaring

thnt

lIe

could mnke

all

men 'curse

Jehovah

God

to

his

face

This

raised

Ole

issue

of

supremacy,

,Tho


8/64

-

8

A R M A G E D D O N

is supreme,

Jehovah

God

or

Lucifer? Would

any creature maintain toward God his integrity

All the creatures

of

heaven would necessarily

ask the question, Who

will win'

Many

of

the

angels followed Satnn in his wicked course and

have been wicked since. God could have killed

the Devil immediatcly, of COUfSC,

but

bad he

done so, the question would never have been

settled

n

the minds

of

intelligent crentures.

Jc-

ho'\ sh's

perfect wisdom caused him, of course,

to accept the challpugc nnd to give the Devil

all the opporhmity he wanted to carry out

his

threat. JcllOvnh gave Satan a long period of

time in whicJl to do so, and therefore God said

to him,

as

recorded

in

Exodus the ninth chapter

and sixteenth vc rse : 'For this cause have I per

mitted thee [the Devil]

to

remain,

that

I might

show thee

my

power, and that my name may

be declared in all the

earth:

Jehovah cannot be thwarted in his purpose,

although Ulere are many arrogant men that rule

in various parts today (and some of them are

in New

Jersey)

that

tJlink

they can override

JellOvah. God has said, as recorded

n

his

prophecies:

"I

have purposed it, I ,ill also do

it. He gave his promise and decreed that he

would establish on earUI in his due time a

rjgbteous government,

put

out of

existence all

Ule

wicked

and never permit wicked

men

or

wicked angels to rule, and that then he would

bless aU obedient

ODes

of the earth with life

everlasting and attending blessings. He permits


9/64

•

ARM.AGEDDON

Satan, then, over n long period

of

time from tllC

crcation

of

man down to Armageddon, to put

forth his best endeavors to

carry

out his wicked

challenge.

In

all

that

period Ood would

ha'\

e

some witnesses in the earth.

I want to emphasize this fact, tilnt

there arc

two things

that Jehovah

declared

mu

st

tak

e

place: One was

that

his name shou

ld

bc

wit-

nessed

in

nil

the

earth, and

that

then he would

show his power

is

supreme.

He

sent forth

his

prophets, who over a period

o

many centuries

declared his name. Such were from Abel down

to John the

Dapti

st.

They

prophesied of God s

purp

ose

and his

l.. ingdom.

Everyone of

these

was persecuted,

and

many

of them

were

put

to

a violent

death; and

Satan was the instigator

of such persecutions. Then,

after

4,000 years,

J eSlls, the Son of Jehovn11 God, came to earth.

He is designated as the

Faithful

and True Wit-

ness . ne came expressly to declare God

s pur-

pose towards the peoples of the

earth,

and he

did

so; and he was persccuted unto deaili be-

cause he told

the

truth.

Hi

s apostles

that

fol-

lowed him likew ise proclaimed the troUl, and

tiley were persecuted to death. AlI the true fol-

lowers of Christ Jesus on

earth

today must he

witnesses for ille Lord, because now is the time

whell the witness work

must

be carried forward.

Now is the time when we s

ll

ould expect

the

Devil,

through his agents, to put forUI his most stren-

uous efforts to stop

Ule

witness work aud put

out of existence Jehovah s witnesses.


10/64

1

A R M A G E D . D O N

RELIGION AND CHR I

STiANITY

I am

going to

make a

statement;o

you now

that

will. startle some of you, but I will

prove

it

to the

satisf

action of every honest man and

woman who Ilears what I say,

and

that is coo

cerning r eligion and Christianity. All men

are

created with a natural faculty,

and

endowed with

the

desire, to look up to

and

worship something

higher than tllemsclves.

Satan,

Imowing this,

began a long time ago to build his organization

amongst men

for

the

purpose

of defying and

besmirching the name of Jehovall God. t was on

the plains of

Shinar

n Babylon that Nimrod,

as

the chief leading mall, the dictator, the mighty

one amongst men,

as

the visible leader, was

put

forth

as

greater

than God, and who

d e c a r ~ d

that

he did not

Imv

e to come

n

line with God

's

\Vord. (Genesis 10: 8-10)

He

was lifted up

and

made the lea

der of

a r eligious organization;

and

this

was

in defiance of Ood. Upon the pla,ins of

Shinar was buildcd the tower

of

Babel,

the

an

nounced purpose of which was that

men

would

climb up

to

heaven

t h

~

r

e o

n

That

was

an

insult

to

Jehovah God and deceived many persons.

Satan's org-anization there began to have

a

name, and the Scriptures designate it under the

name of

Babylo

n . (Genesis 11: 1-9) The city

of .Babylon is likewise a symbol

of

his organi-

zutfon, religion being the

most

prominent part

thereof. All the nations

11 earth then

embraced

the devil religion in defiance of J ehovnh God,

and practically

all persOlls were

turned away

•


11/64

ARMAGEDDON

J

1

from

Cod.

Then

Cod

organized a

nation

from

the descendants

of Abraham,

under his

gra

nd·

son

Israel,

and , hich wns

Intrf

d('signated

The

Jews,

that

name bf.'ing

drrivcd

from the name

Ju,lah. Th(' word Jl1dah'\

or

YeTllulah

mrans

praisc . Vhrn God organized thnt people in

Bgypt

and led them

out as

his own people,

and put

: \[08C8 ut

thf.'ir

brad,

he

gave them

his law,

and he sa

id to them these words :

TJlOll shalt

have

no

other

gods bc·fore me.

Tbpll

shalt

not make unto thee

any

gra'\' cn i m g ~ of

any thing

in heaven

or carth,

nor bow down to

any

thingj for I am

thy

God.' (F.xodus 20: 1..5)

Vhy

diu

ho

do thnt lIe

did it for

the express

purpose of safeguarding hi

s

pe

ople

from

the

devil

religion

and

holding

them

n

line

for

right.

COllSlless llnt l the

coming of

Ius

beloved Son,

Christ

Jesus.

Th

e

apostle

Paul, in

Galatians the

third chapter,

e.'qJrcsses

thi

s in so ruany words.

Je

sus

Christ

was

an

I sraelite, a

Jew,

born

a

Jew,

and

he came to

Ole Jewish

people

and

taught

them.

Jesus

at

Olnt

time defined

the clear

distinction between rligion and obedience unto

God or

Christianity.

I am going to T

ead

to you

in

a

moment

his testimony by which you can

determine

that

his definition

is

exactly correct.

'l'}le Jewish

lenders at

that

time had e

partf'


12/64

10

ARMAGEDDON

sincerely believe

that

religion and Cliri slinnity

IiTC

synonymous terms and that they menn one

and the same

thing.

Many

honest

people have

never thought about this

matt

er, because tile

time bod not come to

mark it out

so distinctly.

t

was abo

ut

the third

ce ntury

that the terms

re

ligion and

Chri

stianity begun to be used

synonymously

and

thereafter the nations of the

earth enacted laws concerning religion, and the

l

ex

icographers wrote d

efin

itions giving

rcli qion

and

Ohristianity

practically the same meaning.

The

corr

ect definition of religion, however,

fr

om

the

Scriptures,

is titi s : eligion is any form of

worship based upon the

teachings

of men handed

down

by

tradition from onc generation to

an·

other and is in defiance of

or

against

God's

Word.

Chri stianity means

to follow

in

the foot-

steps

of Christ Je

sus by being fully obedient to

God's commandments. With these definitions

fully in

mind, let me read to you what tlle

Lord

Jesus

said concerning this

matt

er.

R€ligion se

rv

es man and

att

em

pts

to

please

man.

Christianity

seeks only to please Go

d.

I

r ead now from the fifteen th chapter

of

Mattllew:

'Then

came

to

J esus scribes

and

Phnrjsccs,

which were of J erusalem, sayi

ng

, hy do thy

disciples

trnnsgress

the

traditi

on

of

the

elders'

..

£01' th

ey wash not their hands when they

eat

bread.

But Je

sus answered and

said

unto them,

VJ1Y do you transgress ilia

commandment

of

God

by

your tradition'

Thu

s have you made the

commandment

of

God

of

)lone effect

by your


13/64

AnllAGEDDON

13

tradition. You llypocrites I well did Esaias the

prophet

say of you, rhis people draweth

nigh

unto

me

with their mouth, and honoreth me with

t.heir lips,

but

th

ei r hea

rt

is

far

Crom

me.

Dut

in vnin do tiley worship me, teaching for doc-

trin

es the commandments of men

H ere, then, is the clear distinction made so

plain nnd unequivocal that there could be no

doubt.

thnt religion is based upon the theories or

tradi

tions

of

men handed down from years

past

i

whereas

Christianity

is based solely upon the

Yard of Jehovah God ns

taught

by Jesus Christ

and obeyed by him. Jesus at

that

time gave

-

terance

to

these words addressed

to

the

Israelite

leadel s, the P1Jarisees and scribes, the clergy

of

that

day, who

hod

adopted nnd practiced re-

li

gion, and God declared that bccause they lwd

departed from hi s commandments he would

destroy ti l8t

nati

on j nnd he did destroy th em.

The reason that Armageddon will bring upon

the

wOl'ld

the greatest tribulation

that

was ever

kn

ow

n is, because the lenders amongst men,

in

dcfiance

of Jehovah

Ood

Dnd

his Word, and

Dcting under the seductive inOuence of Satnn

the Devil, have adopted and do practice religion

contrary

to

Ule

Word of Jehovah God.

By

this

men ns th'ey ha'vc turned the masses away from

the under

sta

nding and the worship ofA.lmighty

Ood.

Let no one talm offen

se

because I say that re-

Jigion was organ ized by the Devil to deceive men.

nm

going to

support

my statf'ment with the


14/64

ARMAGEDDON

~ u .

o r i t y

of Christ Jesus, the greatest teacher

ever on c ~ r t h . And I read from John, the eigbU\

chapter, tile words

of

Jesus addressed to those

Jewish clergymen, and when I

lly

this I

am

not

speaking against present-day

Jews

. I am point

ing out

to you bow those Jew religionists had

departed from their covenant and were teaching

the people rcHgion and not God's command

ments

j

and thnt they did in defiance of God's

Vord;

and

that

the Devil had overreached

t 1 1 ~ m

by llis deceptive influence and caused Ulem to do

it. Jesus

said to them (beginning forty-first

crse of

that chapter)

: 'Ye do the things of your

father. They said unto him, 'Ve

are

not born

of

fornication; we have one f n t J l r , even Ood.

Jesus

said to them,

f

God werc your

Father

yo

WOllld

love me,

for

I proceeded forth nnd

came from God; neither came I

at

myself,

hut

he sent me. Why do ye not understand my

speecb

because ye cannot

henr

my word j ye

arc of your

father

the Devil, and the lust of your

father

yc will do

j

he was n murderer from the

beginning and abode not

in

the

truth

because

there

is

no

truth

n him. Wll(m he speaketb a

lie, be spealcetb

of

his own j for be s a liar and

the father of t

and because I tell you the truth

ye

believe me not and seck to kill me.' Then

J esus told them that because they had yielded

to the seductive influence of

Satan

and led the

nation of I srael in defiance of God's 'Vo,rd,

Je-

hovah God would destroy that nation j and he

did destroy it. I run stressing this point to show


15/64

ARMAGEDDON

you

wby

Armageddon is going to come; and this

evidence is

corroborated

by

mets

which are well

known to everyone wiUlin the sound of my voice.

Paul,

whose nrune

was originally Saul,

for

years zealously practiced the Jews religion. He

was n Pharisee of Ule Pharisccs, but when Jesus

Christ

was revealed to Wm he became a Chris-

tian; and this is conclusive proof

that

a religion-

ist, if llOnest, can become a Christian. A

Phari.

see

of

tbe

Pharisees,

he persecuted

Christ

J

esos,

Dnd at the same time claimed to r epr esent Ood;

but

when he became a Christian he wrote these

w o r d ~

which I read from his epistle to the

Galatians, n the urst chapter. Mark what he

says. I quote: Do I

seck to please

men

For i f

I please men I should not bo the servant of J eSllS

Christ; but

I

certify

to

yOll,

brethren,

that

tbe

gospel which

was

preached of me is

not

after

man; for I neither received it of man, neither

was

I

taught

it by roan, but it was the revelation

of Jesus Christ.

For

ye have heard of my con-

duct n

time past in the Jews religion, how that

beyond

measur

e I

per

secuted

th

e church of God,

and wasted

i t

nnd profited in the Jews rcligion

nbove many

my

equals in mine own nation, being

more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my

fnthers. But w]lcn

i t

pleased God, who

separated

me from my mothc

r s

womb, and called roe by

his grace to reveni his Son

[meaning the

Lord]

in mC , then he went forth and preached Christ

Jesus ond Ole kingdom of hem·en. f rc is the

cOllclusive

proof,

then, of the great witness


16/64

13

ARMAGEDDON

Pmll, that

he

was once a religionist, l:e became

a Christian, and then

not

only did be cease to

persecute Christ and his brethren,

but

he

be-

crune a zealous advocate of the kingdom of God,

and

suffered persecution himself because he told

the

truth.

Mark this, if you

please:

a religionist

may become a Christian, but a Christian cannot

be a religionist. Christian religion, as it is

called, is a misnomer. There nre many religions;

there

is one

Christianity.

There

is

no such

thing

in existence as the Christian religion , because

Christianity is based wholly upon the Word

of

ood; and that is the reason the Devil is against

it. Because all religions are

contrary

to God's

commandments such are an abomination in

God's sight, as he declares.

The

prophets foretold that

there

would

arise

in the earth, after the death of the apostles, a

great religious organization, which would as·

sume to speak

for

God and in the name of

Christ

J

esns, and which would become political and

commercial, and

that it

would become

an

abom

ination

that

maketh desolate the

truth.

For

this

reason Armageddon,

as

the

Lord

declares,

will

destroy

the same,

and

all who 'support

it.

You

aro interested in this because, I am quite

sure, you arc more interested in your own eter

nal

existence

than you are n the theories of

any man.

I

want

to make this statement

as

plain as I

can, because I realize the tension that now ex

ists between those who are blinded y the ad-


17/64

ARMAGEDDON

7

vel sary and those who are. on the Lord s side.

is not

right

nor is

t

necessary to hold

np

any

man

or

any

group

o( mcn to ridicule

and

con-

tempt

because of thei r faith

or

bclief which

is

cal1ed religi6n, and I

will

not do so.

Every

man

is entitled to believe what he

desires;

every man

should be free to believe what lle desires and

freely speak his belief, and that has always been

the principle recognized in America until re-

cently.

But

I say

this:

\Vhen any man

or group

of

men orga

ni

zes

and

practices a system of reli-

gion in

Ule

name of God and Christ,

and

uses

that

religion to advance crooked politics

and

manipu-

late commercial schemes, then the people should

be told the truth in order that thcy might sec

that such religion

is

used by the Devil to defame

the name of

J ellOvah God, and is against the

common

interests of the

people because

of its

turning

them away

from

God.

[Great

applause]

Let the enemy take what course they

likc_

I

want that statement

to be clearly understood

and

not

whitewashed. I am

not

here for

the

purposc of

assaulting

men,

but

I

am

here, by

God s grace, to expose a wicked religious sys-

tem

that

exists anel practices under the name of

God and

Christ Jesus

and

that

is

the greatest

enemy on

earth

to

Ule

people s interests. I sball

now submit the

proof that

there

is

a mighty re-

ligious organization on earth which exactly fnl-

fills God s prophecy and

which

defrauds the

people and 1eads them into the wrong way and

which is

an

abomination in the sight of God. I


18/64•

18

ARMAGEDDON

llRve nothing a . g n . i n ~ t any mnn because he

is

n

Jew, nor hny(' I nnything against nny man 00-

CUt :;C

he is n

Catholic.

b ~ r e

are

millions of hon

l' o;t.

I:tinccrc m('11 nd

womf'n

on e rth who

nrc

C a t h o l i c ~ hut h > ~ e are not memhcrs·of the

Cath-

olic chur('hj and for

proof

of

thnt statC'mcnt I

('ito the Catholic Hierarchy's own publication.

The Jticl'oTchy i ~

till'

ruling body, and

it is

made

up of a few 1l1('Il, nurl those

that

control the or

ganization reside in Rome, Huly,

Dlld attempt

to

dictate to the pco)llc of tlll whole world. Their

d o e t r i n e ~

urc

c,'('n 1ll0l'e deceptive h('cause some

appal'ently

find foundation in the Bible,

but

nrc

based really upon Ule traditions

of

men and arc

against

tlle comlllnndmf'nts of

Almighty Ood.

'vnG-ATony

rrhc

chid doC'trine that the Hierarchy lias l)ut

forth to the

pud you SOlD('thing Crom

an

author-

ity that no one of

the

('ntholic JTiernrchy on

('arlh

dares

('nil in Q.uestion. I hold in my hand

a book entiUNl

1 Jte

Frlith

o

ur

Ji athers.

(78th

R('v. Ell.)

t is

writtC'll by the lute distinguished

JamC's Cardinal Gibbons, noout whom every

Catholic in America knows. On

page

208 he nyfl


19/64

ARMAGEDDON

19

concerning I'purgatory , after describing it,

that a man goes to pur

gatory

ii he is guilty of

some sins,

and has

to wait there for

an

ind

efi

nite

time while

undergoing torture, ~ h e n he says:


20/64

2

ARMAGEDDON

all these Liturgies, without exception, have

prayers for ille dead, nod Uleir providential

preservation serves as

another

triumphant vin

dicntion

of

the venerable antiquity or this Cath

olic doctrine.

A

Liturgy is the established

formulary

of

public worship, containing the

authorized prayers of tIle Church.

I cite that not to hold up anybody to ridicule.

I don't Ulink that Cardinal Gibbons was alto

gether to blame for that.

lIe

had

tile·

reputation

of

being 8 sincere man. But going back to the

time

that

he cites, beginnhlg 'way back 15

years ago,

he

cites the teachings

of

men as au

thority.

ITc had

come to the conclusion that

words of those men were sufficient authority and

that having been hnndod down by tradition i t

was not necessary to

have their

words support

eO by

tile

Word

of God.

I

submit,

j f

you please,

that

this

doctrine

of

purgatory

has done morc

harm

to good, honest

people than probabJy

ny

other one doctrine,

and

it

finds no

support in

the Bible.

t

proceeds

upon the theory

that

a

mall

aftcr

he is deod is

still alive in

purgatory

and that

p r y ~ r s

by

men

on earth

can shorten the duration

of

his

punishment, whereas the

Bible expressly

says:

mrhe dead

how

not

any

thing, Wbatso

ever thy hand flndeth to do, do it with thy might;

for

t1101 O

is

no

work,

J10r

device, nor knowledge,

nor

wisdom, in the grave,

whitllcr

thou goest

(Ecclesiastes 9: 5-10)

In

Psalm 115: 17: 'The

dead

praise not

the

Lord,

because they go down


21/64

ARMAGEDDON

21

into silence.'

Every

scripture upon the

point

shows

that

when n man dies he is dead and must

wait

in

uncon

sc

iousness until

Ule

resurrection.

f the

doctrine o resurrection is

true,

the doc·

trine of purgntorY' is as false as the Devil him·

8elf. 'Why

do

I say UlnU

Because

there is

no

doctrine in God's

'o

rd so clearly and unequiv.

oeally

taught as thnt

of the

re

su

rr

ection of the

de'ad The res

urr

ection

of

the dead means to

awaken

out

of death and stand up again unto

life. I subm.it

that i f

one is in

purgatory

un

dergoing punishment he could not be resurrect

ed,

because he is already alive.

Let

me

distinguish between

the

Roman

CaUI

olic Church and the common Catholic people

called Catholic

popuJntionll,

and

wllo

llUve

no

voice in the Cutholic Church. The Hierarchy,

wllich

is

the Catholic Churc11 and which rules

or controls, r esides at Rome Vatican City, to

be more explicit). t claims to represent

God.

and Christ

on

ea rth nnd indulges in the politics

of

every country on earth, and

yet

Christ J esus

said: ''My kingdom is not o this \\'01

d.

lI

e

kept himseH holy and separate from the polit

ical affairs

of

this world. This ilierarchy crowd

have sought to control the politics and the com

merce

of

every nation under the

SUD.

For

in

sta

nce,

the

Fascists

of

Italy,

whose

die·

tntor

now ruJes with an iron hand, are supported

by the llierarchy; the Nazis tl18t rule

in

Ger

many by the cruel fi st of one lIitler

are n

full

accord with Ule Hierarchy, and t was the

ili

er-


22/64

22

ARMAGEDDON

archy e scheme to cause a great Scnre aJld

hulla-

baloo about Communism in

order

to frighten the

people and then organize the Nazis, seize the

government,

and

desb:oy

the

last

vestige of lib-

erty in Germany

. I know the German people,

many

of

ti1cm; I have mingled

with

them time

and

again, tnBred with thousands

of

them,

and

there

is doubtless no morc sincere people on

earth than the rank and

file

of

tho German peo-

ple;

and

yet

their

liberties

al e

gone,

they

are

held in subjection, they

arc

compelled to

honor

Hitler whet.her they

want

to

or

not,

and he flasll-

es the false statement to the world

that

every-

body

in

Germany

snpports

him. .

n

Austria

the

Hierarchy

is in the

s d d l ~

and

rules the politics of

that

land. Concerning the

revolution

thnt

is now n progress n

Spain

the

public

press

misled

the

people for a while, but

now everybody knows, who reads,

that the

Ro-

man

Catholic Hierarchy is back of and prosecut-

ing that

revolution

against

the

Spanish

govern-

ment

n

order to

again

rule Spain with an iron

hand, even

as

Garma

ny

is

ruled.

There

are

llOnest CatllolicB in

Spain,

I know.

How

do I

know' Because I have talked with them.

There

are

honcfit

priests in Spain, and who are fear-

less. I talked ,vith some

of

them. I

had an inter-

view with a

priest in Madrid, Spain,

a

lovable

man. No one could

say

anything

against

him

because he was a Catholic, because he said to me

honestly

and sincerely: I

have been

reared

un-

der the

doctrines

of my

churcb,

of

course,

but


23/64

ARMAGEDDON

M

I have lonjt looked for tile second coming of

the

I,ord and

the

setting UJ o hiB

kingdom of right

eousness and it is the dearest

thing

to my heart.

I quote from TInrry

~ ~

\Vard

l

who

is

probably

well known to you

l

and

who is chairman of

the

American League Against

War and

Fascism

l

who

went

to Spaill reeently

and

interviewed

mDny

Spaniards. That

LeaA'oe

in its

publica

tion quotes

the

words of a distinguished Cath

olic

priest

in Spain, who

broadcast

his speech

by radio. I

read

this to show you

that

there

are

honest mell amongst them who do not indulge

in politics. Here is what he

said:

A

Christian

cannot be Fascist j for Christianity represents

the liberation r the human spirit, while Fascism

is

the

negation of liberty, the reign of violence,

and

this not in Ule service of the humble

but

to snJeguard privilege

Christian cannot

accept

the

tloctrinc of rtlce-supcriority,

nor ilie

policy of exterminating

Jews and

Communists

. . . A Cotholic must obey

and respect the

church, but the church must not be confounded

with

tllOse

degeJICfate

priests

1vho

degrade God

to

lite

position 1 a belligerent nor with f eli-

gi01ls orders wltic1. leal) up richcs ,.tIor uiuh

priests

111 0

shoot tf om belfries and carry ma

c.hine guns into bnttle to the degradntion

of

their

holy

office

which bids the

praying for the

pence

of

everybody.

A question then was proJXIunded to a govern

ment

official of Spain, as follows: Mr. l(eLeod,

tlle lIearst press Rnd the Daily Mail in Eng-

•


24/64

ARl t IAGEDDON

land carry daily

stories about nlleged attacks on

churches, on

pries

ts

and nuns. Vllat

11ns

the

delegation to say

I

One answer was tllis:


25/64

ARMAGEDDON

2.

tion, has invaded the officia l part of every de.

partment of America, inOllel1cing the judges,

putling its tools in the legislative offices

ap·

pointing judges

in

the courts, magistrates, city

officials, and others who do the bidding of the

Hierarchy. To them the Hierarchy is supreme,

and such public ofllcials,

at

Ule behest of the

Hierarchy, use their power to persecute men

and

womell who

honestly and sincerely

go

about

serving God and Chri

st

Jesus. You

call

to mind

that

the New York 8Utt some time ago, pub·

lished the fact, and I cite that

paper

as

my

au·

thodty, thnt Ule president of

the

United

States

had promised

to

recognize the Vatican

in

ArneI'·

ien,

as

soon a8 the American people can be

brought around to the idea, and I presume

that

the intention is to bring them

arollnd

to it ne.'(t

monUI

n

Ule elec tion .

cite here two newspapers, and there are

many -

others supporting t.hj

s

one point. At the

present time, wllen the political figbt is hot in

America,

tllere

suddenly lands in

America

the

Papal secretllrY of state, the first time in the

history of America. I ask YOll to

solemnly

con·

sider,

Why does e get here

just on

the eve of

c1eetjon1 Let the newspaper suggest the reason

why, and I

cite this

too, to

£how Umt

religion

is

in politics and is opposing Christianity. I read

from the New York

America ,

which

says this:

Card

jnal

Js Historic :Visit.

For

the first time

in

history a

Papal

Secretary of

State

visited

America yesterday, and

at

n time when political


26/64

G

ARMAGEDDON

and religious conditions inspired

mmor

s that

the event would prove historic in its couse

quence, rend from the

'Vashington

Sta . pub

lished riftht under the dome of the Hierarchy's

office

at

'Vnshington:

The vis

it

of the Secretary

of State of the Vatican, Cardinal Pacelli, to

America, is beHcved in well-infonned Quarters

to be preparatory to the recognition of the Papa}

State

by

tbe United States Government and

estnblishment of a diplomatic mission

at

the

Vaticnn.

Let

me

suggest

lith., my good

friends,

and the

Bible clearly supports it,

Ulat

tbe Hierarchy

may get into power in this land, but when it

does America will find hersolt in the

same

con

dition

tllUt

Germany

nOw

is in.

rEltBECUTION OF CIIRISTIANS

Probnbly you hadn' t thought about this, but

looking over

t h ~

history

of

Ule men who served

God from

the

time of Nimrod down to this

p r s ~

ent moment, each onc of them uas been perse

cuted because of bC ing a faithful servant

o Je-

hovah God. And who hns done the persecuting1

In

every

instance

i t Ms been

r e l i g i o n i s t ~

Reli

gionists persecoted and killed the

prophets

of

Jehovnh,

and

wh n

Jesus

erune

and

told

the

people the truth they persecuted him nnd sought

all

manner

of

mC ans

to put him to

death,

nnd

finnlly succccd('{l. lIe told

hi

s followers just be

fore

Deing crucified:

I f

they have hated me


27/64

ARMAGEDDON

tbey will bate you j and because I have chosen

YOll out of the world, thcrefol'Q tho world hateth

you/-Jobn

15:

1 ~ - 2 1 .

Panl, when he was

n

religionist and went

l l-

del'

the

name Saul, indulged

in

the

most

vigor-

ous persecution of Christians. \Vhcn he became

a

Christian,

he

became Ule ~ r e t e s t

of nti

the

a p o ~ U e 5 and then he was persecuted himself

in the most fiendish way

by

religionists. TIow

do

you explain

thisf -'1)',

there is but one expla-

nation,

and

tbat

is, hecause

of

the

Deyil's

influ-

ence.

wouldn't mention it for

any

oUler reason.

I run

not

here to try to cause n fight between

religious organizations. I run citing this merely

to show

that

Ole De\'iJ has overreached men,

blinded th(,jr minds to ille truth, and caused pelt-

pic

to

practice

religion in

order

to

hlrn

them

away from God,

that

he mjght

carry

out his

threat

mnde

more than six thousand

years

ago.

Cull to mind

DOW

the

I n q u i ~ i L i o n that

was so

vigOI'OllSly prosecuterl in

the various countries

ofRurope and Aml'rica

yenrs

ago. I 1

13ve visited

the

cathedrals

in .Spain and other

parts

of

Eu-

l'ope. There remain ltill toliay, iC they have not

been destroyed in this war, the plRces ,hue

men were put in racks, others had their joints

pulled apart, and others were burned to death.

\Vho did itT The Roman Catholic HiC'rnrchy

djd

it

, and

the

encyclopedias and

the

histories

of

the world be..'\r

undisputed e\

' ide:nce

to that

fact.

ThntInquisition

was carried

on

in Europe,

in South Aml?rica and in

other

parts

of the earth


28/64

28

ARMAGEDDON

by religionists

, that is, the clergy and Ulose

un·

der the

control

of

the Hierarehy.

Today in Germany, where

there

nre many

hon

est

and sincere men and ,,:omcn, more than

2,000 true llnd faithful Christians linger behind

the prison bars. Why Bccnusc they bad

n

their possession n Bible ODd an explanation of

it,

and for no

other renson. Many of them have

been sterilized because they dared speak Ule

name of

J

ehovall

God

and Christ Jesus. Reli-

gionists nre doing this, whether they afC backed

by

one denomination or another,

and

the Roman

Catholic

IIierarchy

is

in full accord

with Hitler

carrying on that cruel persecntion.

In

Austria persecution likewise is carried on

by

the Roman Catholic Hicral'ehy,

and

books

are

burned whjch attempt to e.. q)lain Ute Bible. The

same thing is being done in Quebec. Now we

come down closet' home. U

you

had been told,

ten years ago,

what

I am abou t to relatc to yon

DOW, you would }lave sa id: Such is utterly im-

po

ss

ible. Here, in

tll

C

fair

state

of

New J ersey,

a stnte whose early

fath

er s wrote and

a.d

opted

its

Constitution, cruel persecution is

cani

ed on

in flagrant violation

of that

Constitution.

Thnt

Constitution says

that

'eve

ry

man possesses

the

inalienable

right

to worship Almighty God nc-

cording to the dictates of his

ov.rn

conscieneo'.

That

is in

harmony

Witll

the Constitution of the

United States, which holds the same thing in al-

most the same words. Here in Jersey Cit.y, and

adjoining towns, a modern dictator instructs


29/64

ARMAGEDDON

9

his

magistrates

lUld his officers, who net

nnder

his direction nnd Dlust obey or lose Uleir jobs,

Olat

no

Christian,

no

Jeho ah's

witness,

can

go

[rom place to plnce and even invite you to come

to a public meeting like this without being sub-

jectcd to arrest.

You cnme to this convention from different

parts or the country. You came here to worship

od according to the dictates o[

yonr

own coo-

sciencc.

The

people

o

Newark ruld

its

officers

have been very kind, but just outside of

ilis

city and within sight of this place, in the last

48 hours 120 persons, who attended this conven-

tion, who arc devoted to the Lord, have been

arrested, and 66 o them are in prison right

now.

And

the modern dictator

says:

'You

can't

preach the gospel without a

permit

froro me or

sOllle oUler representative of ille

lIierarcby.'

I

am not citing these facts with the Cl.l1ectntioll

of cansing any reform on his part,

or

thc IDer-

nrchy s part, but I am citing them to war the

people

of

this

great

state

and

the peoplc

of

Amcrica

that

an underground movement is be-

ing forwarded, the purpose of which is to de-

stroy

liberty of speedl and liberty of action nnd

to t1Irottle Ule people and compel Diem to obey

the dictatcs of a foreign religious power. This

local dictator causes ordinances to

be

so

OD-

strued DS to nullify the Constitution of

the

United States and to nullify the Constitution

of

the State of New

Jer

sey, and, above all, to defy

the

Word

of Jehovah God.


30/64

30

ARMAGEDDON

Vhen the apostles werc arrested and bronght

before

courts

n

·their

day

they said,

We mu

st

obey God

rather

than

men:

because God

had

sent

them forth tllrongh Christ

J

eSllS

to

pro·

claim.

this message and they suffered imprison-

ment for the same reason tl13t honest and sin-

ce fe Chrjstian people m e

dOlllg

so now. 1 do

not believe

that

the honest, sincere, faithful

Catholic population of this state want to support

any

such highhanded movement

as that

. I

am

quite certain

that

you, as llOnest Catholics and

honest

Jews, and

honest

nonbel\evers,

regard

your eternal existence and

your

liberty to f-

ship Almighty God

as far

superior to the opin-

ion

of

any man or organization, whether

that

be foreign or in America.

But

bere

is

the most

serious part of

it,

and

i t explains the reason

why the apostles, when they stood before

the

courts in J

erusaIem, clmrged

with

preaching

the

gospel, were cruelly heated by religionists.

There stood up one man of that distinguished

court, the

Supreme Court of

Jerusalem.

TIe

called to the

attention

of

his

brother judg

es

n

that court the fact that they were proceeding

in a wrongful

minner.

That instance is recorded

in the fii1h chapter

f

The Acts. To the other

members of the court he said:

I i

the work tJlat

these men are doing is wrong i t will fall of its

own weight;

but if i t

is of God there is nothing

that can prevent

it, and you will find

yourselves

fighting against God if you oppose it.

That

is

exactly

the

sihmt.ion toda.y in New JCl SCY. Men


31/64

ARMAGEDDON

31

who have defied God have said

in

the Ncw

Jersey

courts:

~ b o is Jehovah God, thnt we ha\'c got

to obey him l

et

thorn take notice

now

that

they

lire

defying .Jcllov

ah

and fighting

against

Ood

and they arc doing it

at

the behest o religionists.

The Devil rf'ligioll has

driven

the peoples

of

the nations into darkness aud arrayed them

n g i n ~ t

God; and

for

this reasoll od declares

Ids purpose to destroy at Armageddon

every

thing thnt defnmes

l1is

name, because his nnme

shall

e

vindicated.

rhe

speccl\

tbnt

I make to

day could

flOt

reform the world. My only pur

pose is to warn the people who henr, in

order

that

they

may take a course to

saCeguard

their

own

interests, and their only

0011rse

is to take

their stand

on

the side

of Christ

Jesus and fol.

low the commandments of Jehovah. Armageddon

will be fought, not by mell,

not by

labor organiza.

tions against capitnl,

not

fought by one religious

organization

against

another, but

wiU

be

fought

under the leadership of

Christ

Jesus., the

right.

ful

ruler

of

lha world,

against

the Devil and his

Jlo

Sts tilat have defamed God's mime.

That

wicked crowd

1105

kept the people in darkness

all these years, caused them to

bo

ruled

by

n

selfish class of men, and -finally J1RS driven them

into despair. Jehoval1 declares that all the wick.

ed

he

will destroy j and the

Scriptures

so con·

l u ~ i v e l y

prove this tlmt there can

be

no doubt.

Vhy

should Jehovah s witnessrs, who go

nbout tho country tostifying to God'. kingdom

and nothing else, why'should they be

l>CTseeut


32/64

32

ARMAGEDDON

ed'

·Why sliould they be UITO'\'In into jail TThere

is but one answer: Because the Devil

anu

his

agents

hate

the

trUUl

and the

people

who serve

Jehovah God. Such the Devil does in his en-

deavor

to make good his wicked challenge hurled

at

Jehovah

ce

nturies ago.

WH N

Now

the

question is, TJlen

will

tilis battle e

£ougbU Je1lOvah decreed

nlst he would

have

hls name declared in all the

earth

and then he

would show the Devil IDs power and

that

He

would manirest

t n

the battle

of

thnt great day

of

Ood Almighty. Before doi'lg that,

nnel after

the coming of

Je

sus Christ,

he

cnuses his

wit-

nesses to go Ulroughout the

land

and proclaim

his truth. The ransom sacrifice

liaS

been paid

by Christ

Jesus

by his death

and

resurrection.

Jesl1s as('ended into hpRven long ago and was

at that time ready to set up the Kingdom hod

it been 6od's

time,

but Jehovah

said

to

him,

as

written

in

the HOth Psalm:

S

it

thou

at

my

rjght

band, until I make

Uline

enemies tllY Coot-

stool." The

Cldfillment

of that

time is

at

the end

of the world, that is, the

end

of

Satan's

uninter-

rupted

rule.

" 'ell,

no

wonder

the

disciples of

Jesus pressed

upon him

time nnd time

again

their

reqnest

for

some

evidence as to what

tIley

might see as evidence of the end of the world.

The prophecies of the Bible,

the

chronolol Y of

the Bible, and the physical facts

that

God lias

brougl1t

to

pass in fulfillment of the prophedes


33/64

ARMAGEDDON

33

prove conclusively

that

the world

of

Satan's

uninterrupted

rule

ended

ill

1914, when the

~ o r d

Jehovah placed his great King upon the throne

and

sent Jlim forth to rule. God

l>Crlnits

Satan

to go on for a time,

and

during that period of

time nnd until Armageddon the opportunity is

given men to prove their integrity toward God,

and

for other

men and women

to henr the

lruth

nel

toke their

sta

nd on the side or od and live,

or

remain wbere

they

are

and die.

Revelation twelve tells

o

the

ou

sting of

Satan

from henven, and then explains why all this woe

is in the earth,

The

World 'Val' brought great

woe, but have you noticed, notwithstanding the

slogan

that

t

he

war

will make the world safe

for democracy",

tbat

democracy has practically

perished from the

cart

h That was anothcl' de-

ceptive slogan

by

which the Devil knew he would

take advantage of tile people. Now all these

trials

and

tribulations and sorrows

that

hnve

come upon the world

in

recent years, such

as

floods, nnd disasters

of

various

)..-inds,

destruc-

tion

of

crops, hard times, and so on, the religion-

ists

tell you have come beeansc you nre

not

faith-

ful to your c.hurch religions organization.

The

Bible tcJls you difTf'rentiy. 'fhe Bible, nt ReveJa-

tion

12:] 2,

says

that UleJ::e

woes eome from the

Devil; hecanse the words

of

the great

Prophet,

Cl,rist

Jes

·us,

are

Ulese:

Woe

to

the inhabiters

of the

eart

h, and to tile people; for tllC Devil

is

come down unto you, knowing

thnt he

ilath hut

a

short

time.' A

short

time

for whatf

A

sllOrt

•


34/64

ARllofAGEDDON

time to prepare for (h( great battle of God Al-

migbty, the battle of Armageddon, which

is

just

ahead.

I on HJS NAliE

Why has the JJord heen selecting

Christians

h it

hf cnul le

he is trying to get them into henv

( I l l No,

that is not it HiM promise is

that

the

faithful slln.ll find their eternnl abode in heann,

but

the

pm pose

of

gathering oot Christians

is

stnled

ill

the fifteenth clmptcr of

fhe

Acts. Ood's

purpose is to take out a peolJ1e for his name

that they might be( ome witncRses for Jehovnh.

~ v e r y Christian, therefore, is a true follower

of Christ Jesus, and every t 'ue Cllristian is a

.Tehovah's witness. Why

do

I

so state it?

Be

cause

i t

is shlled in the prophecy of Isaiah

(43: 10-12) , ''Ye nrc my witnesses." And these

w i t n c ~ s e are s('ut fOl th to do wlmU To declare

Jehovah's name and kingdom. The Lord says,

in MnttilCw 24: 14: 'This good news of the

l l l g ~

dom

'Ih811 be

preached in all the world for 8 wit-

• ness, and then the

e.nil

~ h n l l

come.' Therefore the

proclamation

of

the truth, which you Christian

men

and womMl have been trying to deliver

to

the people of this town and surrounding towns

in tha

last

few days, has been and is strictly in

obedience to

God's commandments.

WAR ON JEHOVAH'S WITKESSES

Throughout the whole earUl, and lJ3.rticnlarly

in

that

part

of

the lond called "Christendom",


35/64

ARMAGEDDON

35

there

is u

constant

warfar

e against Jehovah 's

witnesses. Who is responsible ror this

warfare

The

answer

is found

at Revelation 12:

17.

One

of

tile nnmes

of

Satan

is

t

he old Dragon'. J e·

hOVn11

S

organization is symbolized by a woman,

und tlte r em nant of

her

seed

nre J ellovuh's

\\.-]t·

nesses. h l l t scripture text reads: And the

dl'agon WlIS wrolh with the WOlllnn, and went to

make war with the remnant of her seed, wh.ic.h

keep the commandments

oC

God,

and

have

the

testimony

of

.Jesus Christ. t is

Satan

who is

using the religionis ts

as

his instrnments to

pro

secute this war against J ehovah

s

witnesses

in his endeavor to destroy everyono who is on

JellOVnb'S

side. His determination is to rwe or

rnin.

I). he

only

tiring be can do with Jehovah's

witnesses is to

try

to destroy them. Those who

are

iaiOlCnl to

the

Lord will not be destroyed.

Satan is preparing ror the final conflict be·

tween aU of his Corees and tbe forces of

right

-

C'ousness under

Christ

Jesus. Concerning this

it

is

writt

en, in

The

Revelatio

n:

ftA

nd I

E W

three unclean spirits like [rogs come out of tlm

mouth of the dragon, ond out of tho mouth of the

beast,

and

out

of the

mouth of th e raIse prophet.

For tlley are the spirits of dovUs, working mira·

clea, which go

forth

u'nto the kings of the earth

nnd

o[

the whole world, to

gather

them to tho

battle of

that

great day of Ood Almighty. And

he n U H ~ r c l thp n togetber into n place caned in

the Hebrew tongue Armngeddon. -Uevelation

16: 13,14, 16.


36/64

36

ARMAGEDDON

This

Scriptural

authority proves

that

the

Devil will plunge all the world

into this

war with

lhe

hope

thut

he

may

:5ucceed

in

etitwying

i l l

mankind. Knowing that it is God's time to de

stroy wickedness and establish righteousness,

i f the Devil can tunl all mankind away from

God,

all

sllch he knows

will

be destroyed.

Amongst other

things his religious

agents are

carrying on, to accomplish l1i8 ,,,icked purpose,

is to cause the people to give to

creatures

and

things honor to which God alone is entitled.

In

Germany

his representatives compel the people

to Heil Hitler , meaning thereby

fhat

salva

tion

and

protection proceed from

Hitler. In

America

the religions ceremony is to compel the

saluting of the

flng,

and thus

attributing

pro-

tection and salvation to the flag; w.bereas

11

protection

nd

salvation come from

Jehovah

God

through

Clll'ist

Jesus. In America the

Ro·

·m n

Cat.holic IIierarchy saw

the opportunity

of

decciving honest, sincerc people by instituting

compulsory flag saluting.

rhe

very

ones who

uttempt to compel others to snlute the flag

nrc

not

the )nCS who love the American institutions.

t is a selfish scheme to fake away

the liberties

of the people.

The

compulsory flag

salnters

reason that all good

Americans

would

surely

agree to

salute

the flag.

Jehovah s

witnesses do

not

yield to

this

compulsory action, because to

do so would be disloyalty to J e.hovah God.

Every

Jehovah s

witness in

America today

willingly

obeys the laws of the land

for

which the AIDer-


37/64

ARMAGEDDON

37

iean flag stands. The saluting of the flag could

not make them be

more

obedient to lire laws. n

order to be faithful to Jehovah they must obey

every law

that

is

in

harmony with his law, and

therefore they do obey all the laws of America

that are

in harmony with God s law, and such

are

the laws for

wh.ich

the flag stands as repre

sentative. Wbeo, however, n compulsory rule

wiHlont law or reason is attempted to

be

en

forced, and tlmt rule requires the saluting of a

creature at thing, a true C hristian cannot do this

and

at

the same time be faithful to God and

to

Christ Jesus. The reason i

s, b ~ u s c God

has

e. Xpressly

commanded thnt those who

are

bis

faithful witnesses

must

not have any god before

Him,

that

they

must

make no

image

of

anything

in

heaven or on

earth

and attribute salvation

to that thing or image, for the reason that all

protection

and

blessing proceed from J chovnh

himself. Exodus 20: 1-5.

I have nothing to

say

against the American

flag,

of course. Everyone

who

desires to salute

it should be privileged to do so, but to compel

one to

attribute

protection

anel

salvation to

what

a flag represents violates the Constitution,

which

is the fundnmcntallaw for which

UIO

flag stands,

and, abovo all, violates the law of God; and for

that

rcason, and

that

renson alone, Jehovah s

witnesses will not

attribute

salvation to any

thing or creature. That does not mean that they

will

not obey the laws. They do obey the law;

but

it is the men who

attempt

to forcc this on


38/64

38

ARMAGEDDON

others tlJat

are

violating the Constitution nnd

the laws of the land.

t

is tilO extreme religion

ists, in

their

nttempt to control the people, that

compel the poor t..ids, who know nothing about

the meaning of the

Aug, to

saillte it. and j f

some

of UleRo, who haye been taught by their parents

to fear Cod ond to serve him, te(use to salute

the

{Jug

for

tlHlt

renaon, and that alone, tiley

are

expelled

frolD

school and denied lhe privilege

of

nn education

whic.h

the

laws

of

Ule

land

gmlr

nntee. 'l'bel'e is

no law in

any

state

compelling

tIle saluting of the

flng,

and yet the religioni ;ts,

and snch orgnnizations ns lhe so-cuJlcd "Ameri.

can Legion", uttf'mpt to make

and

enforce their

own

laws which deny the rights of the peop o.

I

am certain

that

honest people, be they Cath

olics, Jews, Gentiles

or

others

Wl1

nrc law

-=tbic1-

ing, do Ot favor such compulsory action on the

part of

the extreme and fanatical

.

1 eJigioniflts_

Even

if all Ul } WOl ld

would

attempt to

compel

a

Christian to

do

that

which

God's

'Word

for

bids, then

ODC

who is

truly

devoted to the Lord

would

not

do so.

t

is time

that

hone

st

Catholics,

Jews

and

nll other hOllest Amedca.ns awaken to

tlle seriousness of t.his mutter and stand by the

Word of Ood

and

by the principles in harmony

therewith that arc announced y the fuudrunen

tal law of the land.

The apostle PrIllJ, the faithful npostlc

of

Jesus

Christ, warned against the subtle influence

that

would be exercised over the people by the

philosophy of meo, which

is

contrary to the


39/64

ARMAGEDDON

89

Word

or

Ood. lIe said : Beware le

st any

mnn

spoil you through philosophy ond voin deceit,

after

the tmditioll or men, artt' r the rudiments

of

the

world,

and

nol

aftl r Christ. -ColoBsians

2:

8.

Thi:'

is a f;olC'mn warning sounded by the

Lord s

inspired

witncfls and oppli('s to this duy

of grl nt c r i ~ i s

rIhe people arc told to beware

l e ~ t they be led

into

the dark by the sophistrit's

and

tlleorics

of

m('n who do

not

represent

God

and

his

kingdom

but who are

against the

snme.

The hoUl' has struck whcn

the

people of

the

world

mll

:

t choose

between

the tcachings of

men,

handed dowlI

by

tradition, ond

the

command4

ments of

J '

ChOVl\h

Goa. Many will choose to

f014

low tradition. ':Pbose who love Jehovah God and

ore

faitbCul to him

will

obey his law

and

look

to him for protection and salvation. Fines, jails

and

other means of

punishment

will

not deter

these faitllflll ones in sho,,,;ng their devotion

to

the

Almighty God.

The ta.xpnyers. of tOWllS in this

vicinity

will

have to

pay for

the

vanity

of

u [cw

men,

Ule

agents of

tile RomAn Catholic

Ilierarchy,

who

desire to ~ t p the proclamation of the message

of Ood s kingdom.

Uany attcnding

this

conven4

tion

have

been

arrested

and

nrc now in jail and

will be tried, and the taxpayers of the commu

nity will hnve to bear tht> expense,

merely

004

eaufle tile religionists wililh to prevent the people

from

knowing

the trutll. God

has commanded

that

the witness to his name

and

kingdom must


40/64

40

ARMAGEDDON

be given; nnd these witnesses will continue to

give

ie truth

to the J)eople, regardless of what

it

may cost. hen lIus witness work is done, tlien,

declares the Lord, there shall come upon the

world the greatest tribulation ever known, and

that tribulation is designuted trArmagcddon .

R SULT

What will

be the

result

of Armageddon

Thnt

will

be

an

net

of

Jehovah

God,

Wllic h

act will de

stroy wickedness in all the world. The great del.

uge O f Oood thnt came upon the world in Noah's

day was an example of Armageddon, and fore

told the results.

In

the twenty-fourth chapter

r

Matthew the Lord Jesus declares

that

as

t was

in

Noah s day, 80 shall

it

he at the end of the

world, where we now are. The deluge destroyed

the wicked, and only l'ighteous Noah and his

family were saved.

That

foretells the result of

Armageddon.

Another example foretelling the result was

the battle of Gibeon, in which Joshua led the

forces

of

righteousness. The people of Gibeon

were the only ones of

t he

heathen nations

that

refused to join in opposition to J Movall's s e r v ~

ants

but

joined themselves to Joshua, the s e n ~

ant

of

God,

and asked

for

protection.

The

enemy attacked the town

of

Oibeon,

nnd

they

called

upon Joshua

for

help. Joshua is the figure

or type of Chriat Jesus, and the Gibeonites

r e p ~

resent the people of good

will

on earth who look

to thc

Lord for

help. When J osbua r.ached the


41/64

ARMAGEDDON

41

city of Gibeon the fight had already begun. With

his army be attacked the enemy, and the enemy

Oed.

As the enemy forces were fleeing along the

valley

Jehovah

God opened the heavcns and

threw down great chunks or ice, by which ronny

more were slain thnn fell by the sword.

Thus

J

ehavall foretold

that at

the battle of Armaged

don

Ule

forces of heaven will

destroy nil

the

wicked

n

the

earth.-Jo hua

9,

10.

Again I call your attention to the twcnty-fifth

chapter

of

Jeremiah

's prophecy, which is a de

scription of what shall come upon the world

at

Armageddon.

1. he

words which I read are not

the words or mnn, but the Lord's

'Vard,

and

therein it is written: "Thus 88it1l the Lord of

hosts, Behold, ev il sha

ll

go fortil from nation to

nntiull, lwd a great whil'lwincl shall

be

raised

up

from the coasts of the eortl . And tile slain of the

Lord shall be

ot that

(hlY from one end of the

earth even unto the other end of the earth: they

sh ll

not

e

lamented, neither gathered, nor

buried;

they shall be

dung

upon the ground."

(Jeremiah

25:32,33)

So great will

be

the

slaughter by the invisible forces of Jehovah God

that

there wiH not be enough people left on earth

to

bury

those who nre dead. That will he a trib

ulation such as the world has never known.

The prophet

Habakkuk describes the

battle of

Armageddon, showing that the sun and the moon

shall fail to give their light,

that

dnrk"lless will

envelop the whole

earth,

and the only light to

the world

will

be the flashing missiles of fire and


42/64

se

ntativcs

of

God.

TIle

reli.

gious lenders in the various denominations call

th

emselves

'the

shepberds of the flock'. They

speak or the population

or

congregations

8S

their own Hocks. Those shepherds shall have

very great woes jll tll s time of tribulation

j

as

it

is

written

by

God's

prophet

: (rIlo ,l, ye shep

herds, and c

ry;

and wallow yourselves n thc

asbes, ye principal of Ule flock; for the days

of

your Idaughter and of your dispersions firc IlC

complished i and ye o hnU fall like a pleasant ves

sel. And the shepherds Eholl have no way to Bee

nor the princiJ


43/64

ARMAGEDDON

The Roman Catholic. Hierarchy,

with

ambi

tion to control the whole world,

raise

s

the

hne

and cry

that

everyone tlmt is n

ot

for the Hier

archy is a Commllnist. Such is for the very pur-

pose of frightening the people against Com

munism ond thereby driving them into

the

Cath

olic orgonizotion.

The

IliC'rarchy has

no

inter

est in

the

salvation of humankind. Its interest

is

to

rule

the

world.

TIle Roman Catholic

flier-

arcby's n

ewspape

r s declare

that

I am a Com- .

munist and

that

all of J ehovah's witnesses are

Communists, whereas in truth and in fact there

is not a Jehovah's witness in

the

earth who is

a Communist. l'he I'eal cornlict is hetween those

who are on

J

el ovall'8 side and those who rep

resent the Devil. \\That, then. shall the people

do under these conditio1ls' Shall they riF-c up

n war

or revolution' Shall they Tosort to car

nal WeapOJ1S In the language

of

the Scriptures

I an swe

r,

No. 'fhe

part

to be performed by Je-

hovuh's

witnesses

on earth is not to

indulge in

rtwolutions, wnrs

or

any

other means

of

de

struc-

tion.

To

them Jehovah

says:

fhis is not your

fight hut mine.' (2 Chronicles 20: 15) The

battle

is the Lord's. Those who are 'witnesses for

the

Lord must sing his praises as a testimony to

his name and wnit upon

the

Lord and mark the

exJlibition

of

his power

for

their

salvation

and

deliverance.

To all

who

love him Jehovah

says:

"Therefore wnit ye upon me, snith the Lord, un

til the

day

that

I

rise

up

to

the

prey;

for my de

termination

is to gather thb

nation::;,

that

I

may


44/64

44

ARMAGEDDON

assemble the kingd oms, to paur upon them

min

e

indignation, even al1

my

fier

ce an

g

er

: for all

the ea

rth

shall be devo

ur

ed

w

ith

the fire of my

jcalousy."

c

llh

aniah

3: 8.

r t

'hcse striJ.:ing examples set forth in God

s

Word

ar

c for the

purp

ose of w

arnin

g the peo-

ple as to what they m

ay

expect n the very near

futur

e; and, as it is said

in

England, "

yo

u llave

been warned."

Th

eref

or

e

th

ose wbo ll

Rv

e r e-

ceived the warning must choose which ide they

will

take.

Wh

om will you serve, J ehovah 01' the

r eligionists,

wllo

r e

pr

esent

Satan

the Devil

ESCAPE

I s there any way to escape this terrible trib-

ulation tltat is coming upon the earth ' There

j ~

just one

wa

y.

Th

e p urpose of

ca

lling your

atten-

tion to thi s today is t.hat you m

ay

see

that

one

and

only

wn

y. ~ h o s e who Rre on J ehovah

s

side,

wllich means the remnant and the J onadabs arc

hated by the nations because of their fai thful·

ness to God and devo

ti

on to

him. J

ebovab God,

by his prophet Zephaniah, therefore says t o

them : "Gather yo

ur

selves together, yea, gather

togetflC r, O nati on not

des

ir

e

d; b

efor

e th

e de·

cree br ing forth, before the day pnss ns Ute chaIT ,

be fore the

fi

erce

an

ger of the Lo

rd

come

upo

n

you before the day of th

e

o

r

~ s

anger

come

upon you. Seek ye the Lord,

aU

ye meek of

th

e

eartll, whlch have wroug

ht

his

ju

dgme

nt;

seek

r

g

b t e ~ u s n e s s seek

meekness

it

may be ye shaH


45/64

ARMAGEDDON

46

be

hid in

tbe

day o

the Lord

's

nnger. -Zepbn

ninll 2: 1-3.

Here

JehO\'ah

marks out the

only

way

o

escape, nnd

that

is by seeking righteollsness

and

meekness.

ghteousness

mcans

to

learn

from

G o u ~

Woru wllaL llj l'ighL allil ob

oy

that.

Meek .

11e$8 means to he tcachnble;

therefore

a willing-

ness to

lenrn

what the Lord

snys

to man. f you

desire

nnd expect

to

escape

the

terrors and

the

destruction of Armageddon,

)

O

ll

must

obey

the

Lord

and seek righteousne

ss

and

meclmess.

The

promise is

to such,

and such onlyaJ.llftt they

may

be protected

in

that time.

Some will ask,

When shall I

take the

steps

to

seek

the

way

of escaper

'l'he

answer

is in

the

Scriptures:

At

the

pr

ese

nt

time, Tight

now.

Re.

ferring to thi s

same

timo,

the

Lord

Jesus gave

this warning

to those who

desire

to

be on

the

Lord's side,

to wit;

When yc, therefore, shall

see th e abomination of desolation, spoken of by

Daniel Ule prophet, stand in Ule holy

place

[where

it

ought not to

stand],

then

flee

to

the

mountains.' (Matthew 24: 15)

The

mountains

here

mentioned

nre

Jehovah God's kingdom un-

der

elITist

Jesus.

t is therefore

to

God and

Christ

oue must flee in order to fmd the

only

place o[ safety. The 'abomination that rnaketh

desolate' is the r

el

igious organization, which

n·

cludes nil

the nations

of

Christendom (Mat-

thew 24: 15, 16)

j

which reHgionists, politicians

and

commercinlists, claiming

that

they have the

right

to rule the

world,

stand where

they

Documents

Watchtower: Armageddon, 1937