,....

--_ v

the ~matest batik!

ofaUlill\Q
,

----,--------+
IT IS IN VAIN NOW lor 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 m~
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.
Till: i"UIl. I$IIr.11

(lopyruOHn:D 1D3 7

.um PunlilsuD 11'1

WATCR TOWER
BIBLE A..'\'D TRACT SOClETY
1 ntemlltlonnl Dible Studt-ntl AsNIdaUoa
BftII)lI;lrn. N. Y .. C' So.!.

ll. 111

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.

ARMAGEDDON
Judge J. 10', Ltulberford', speeclJ to We pubUc nnd

brondcnfJt o\'er WBUR Sunoor October 18, 1930

T WlLL BE CON CEDED by .11 persons that

the peoples of the nations oC tlle earth have
suffcr('d much during tile past twenty yenrs.
The people are in perplexity. r!'l!e rulers likewjse are in perplexity and in distress. The peril
thnt is just ahead, however, w.ill bring upon tile
peop1es oC 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 that shal l eve!' come upon
the earthf I answer, by way of illustration, that
when the country is threatened with a great
storm or tidal wave, the government officials
warn Ute people, and that })fOPCrly so, even
though it is very bad news. 'VillI stronger
reasoning should the people be warned of the
approaching world disaster. It 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. It is voluntary with c\'cryone. What is here said concerning the peril that is approaching is not the
expression of man's imagination. It is based
solely upon the "Tord of God. Chl'ist, in spenl,.

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 consideration 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 'Armageddon, 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
nll the wicked angels, unseen by men, and aU
the wickoo people on tile earth in all the world,
under the seductive influence and command of
SaLan the Devil. The purpose of tll nt 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 Vindicator of Jehovah's name, and all the hoJy hosts
of heaven, and all under the command of Jehovah the Almighty God. TIle purpose of that
righteous side of the battle is to ,"indicate Jehovah'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

ARMAGEDDON

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 Almighty God wiU be completely victorious in that
battle and lie brings it about for his own purpose. It will dcfil1iteiy settle the rule of this
'World, and settle it right. It 'will eliminate the
wicked from all the earth and enthrone righteousness j and Um t is good news to every bonest
person on earOI, regardless of his religious faith.
WilY FOUGIIT

'Well, wby should this great battle be fought!

Centuries ago J ebovah God, by his holy prophets, foretold that coming battle and assigned the
reason and recorded it in tile Bible prophecies
for the benefit of those who desire to know. If
the peoples of Ule nations of the earth had been
taught the Bible inst.ead of religion, if the parents had taught the children in their homes, and
it were taught in 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 be<>omcs the bounden duty of every
Christian to know and to proclaim to others the
reason for Armageddon. It is Ulerefore essential that tile facta leading up to the battJe should
be related on t.his occasion, because there could
he nothing so important as this just now. Therefore I give some time to stating these facts.

ARMACr::ODON

The great ('I'cator of hC'3vcn and cort11, the

lInkl>r of all things, is .Jehovah God. He reveals
11Unself to man uncler different titles. Dis nrune
God menlls th e. 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 ha s 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 ehova h means his purposes to
ward his cr(>lltures. lie is the som'co of all life,
anel all creatures 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 all who
take th~r stand on God's side must now become
bis witnes ses.
OROER OF cnEATION

In the er('ulion oC all Ulings, as tile BiblE' re

ciles, the Logos was the first created, and rus
name subseqnently appears in the Bible as Jesus, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Then God created Lucifer, whom he made Ilie overseer of tIle
world. Then he created the angels in heo,'en,
who are the servants who serve in 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 harmony with Ood there would have been no
sickness and sorrow amongst the human ruce.

ARMAGEDDON

It 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 Jehovah by oiller great creatures, Md he coveted
for himsel.f that which did not belong to him.
It is recorded of him in Jereminll's prophecy
(51: 13) thnt Lucifer is the covetous onc. lIe
resorted to fraud, lying and deception to occompli~h his wicked purpose. He seduced Eve and
caused her to walk in the way of unrighteousness, 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 executed; and the reason therefor I shull state to
you in a moment. He changed Lucifer's name
because I.Jucifer had b~ome 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

ARMAGEDDON

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 in the minds of intelligent crentures. Jcho'\""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 vcrse : 'For this cause have I permitted 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 in 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

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 must take
place: One was that his name should bc witnessed in nil the earth, and that then he would
show his power is supreme. He sent forth his
prophets, who over a period of many centuries
declared his name. Such were from Abel down
to John the Daptist. They prophesied of God's
purpose and his l..--ingdom. Everyone of these
was persecuted, and many of them were put to
a violent death; and Satan was the in stigator
of such persecutions. Then, after 4,000 years,
J eSlls, the Son of J ehovn11 God, came to earth.
He is designated as the ''Faithful and True Witcame expressly to declare God's purness".
pose towards the peoples of the earth, and he
did so; and he was persccuted unto deaili because he told the truth. His apostles that followed him likewise proclaimed the troUl, and
tiley were persecuted to death. AlI the true followers 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 sllould expect the Devil,
through his agents, to put forUI his most strenuous efforts to stop Ule witness work aud put
out of existence Jehovah's witnesses.

ne

10

ARMAGED.DON
RELIGION AND CHR ISTiANITY

I am going to make a statement;o you now

that will. startle some of you, but I will prove
it to the satisfaction of every honest man and
woman who Ilears what I say, and that is coocerning 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 tllem sclves. 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. It was on
the plains of Shinar in 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 dec1ar~d
that he did not Imve to come in line with God's
\Vord. (Genesis 10: 8-10) He was lifted up and
made the leader 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 announced purpose of which was that men would
climb up to heaven th ~ reon. 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 "Babylon". (Genesis 11: 1-9) The city
of .Babylon is likewi se a symbol of his organizutfon, religion being the most prominent part
thereof. All the nations 011 earth then embraced
the devil religion in defiance of J ehovnh God,
and practically all persOlls were turned away

ARMAGEDDON

J1

from Cod. Then Cod organized a nation from

the descendants of Abraham, under his grand
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 said to them these words :
'TJlOll shalt have no other gods bcfore me. Tbpll
shalt not make unto thee any gra'\'"cn imag~ 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 people from the
devil religion and holding them in line for right.
COllSlless llntil the coming of Ius beloved Son,
Christ Jesus. The apostle Paul, in Galatians the
third chapter, e.'qJrcsses this in so ruany words.
Jesus 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 r<:>ligion and obedience unto
God or Christianity. I am going to Tead 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 clepartf'<1
from the covclltmt God had made ,dth that na
Hon, and had builded up n religious system. The
clergy, or the leaders UlereoC, were called Phari.
Rees Dlld scribes. Now there nre a great many
people today on thi~ earth who honestly and

10

ARMAGEDDON

sincerely believe that religion and Clirislinnity

IiTC synonymous terms and that they menn one
and the same thing. Many honest people have
never thought about this matter, because tile
time bod not come to mark it out so distinctly.
It was about the third ce ntury th at the terms
"religion" and "Christianity" begun to be used
synonymously j and thereafter the nation s of the
earth enacted laws concerning religion, and the
lexicographers wrote defin itions giving rcli.qion
and Ohristianity practically the same meaning.
The correct definition of religion, however, from
the Scriptures, is titi s : R eligion is any form of
worship ba sed upon the teachings of men handed
down by tradition fr om onc generation to an
other and is in defiance of or against God's
Word. Chri.stianity mean s to follow in the footsteps of Christ Jesus 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 matter.
Rligion serves man and attempts to pl ease
man. Christianity seeks only to please God. I
r ead now from the fifteen th chapter of Mattllew:
'Then came to J esus scribes and Phnrj sccs,
which were of J erusalem, saying, Why do thy
disciples trnnsgress the tradition of the elders' ..
01' they wash not their hands when they eat
bread. But Jesus answered and said unto them,
'VJ1Y do you transgress ilia commandment of
God by your tradition' Thus have you made the
commandment of God of )lone effect by your

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 thei r hea rt is far Crom me. Dut
in vnin do tiley worship me, teaching for doctrines 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 u~
terance to these words addressed to the Israelite
leadel's, the P1Jarisees and scribes, the clergy
of that day, who hod adopted nnd practiced religion, and God declared that bccause they lwd
departed from hi s commandments he would
destroy til8t nation j nnd he did destroy th em.
The reason that Armageddon will bring upon
the wOl'ld the greatest tribulation that was ever
kn own 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
menns th'ey ha'vc turned the masses away from
the understanding and the worship ofA.lmighty
Ood.
Let no one talm offense because I say that reJigion was organ ized by the Devil to deceive men.
I nm going to support my statf'ment with the

II

ARMAGEDDON

~ u. ~ o rity of Christ Jesus, the greatest teacher

ever on c~rth. And I read from John, the eigbU\
chapter, tile words of Jesus addressed to those
Jewish clergymen, and when I Slly this I am not
speaking against present-day Jews. I am pointing out to you bow those Jew religionists had
departed from their covenant and were teaching

the people rcHgion and not God's commandments j and thnt they did in defiance of God's
'Vord; and that the Devil had overreached t11(~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 fntJl(~ r, even Ood.
Jesus said to them, If 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 in him. Wll(m he speaketb a
lie, be spealcetb of his own j for be is a liar and
the father of it j 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, Jehovah God would destroy that nation j and he
did destroy it. I run stressing this point to show

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 Christian; and this is conclusive proof that a religionist, 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
word~, which I read from his epistle to the
Galatians, in the urst chapter. Mark what he
says. I quote: 'Do I seck to please men' For if
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 conduct in time past in the Jews' religion, how that
beyond measure I persecuted the church of God,
and wasted it: 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 it pleased God, who separated
me from my mothcr'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 hemen. lif'rc is the
cOllclusive proof, then, of the great witn ess

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 becrune 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 abomination 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 eternal existence than you are in the theories of

any man.
I want to make this statement as plain as I
can, because I realize the tension that now exists between those who are blinded by the ad-

ARMAGEDDON

17

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

n is not right nor is it necessary to hold np any

man or any group o( mcn to ridicule and contempt 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
fr eely speak his belief, and that has always been
the principle r ecognized in America until recently. But I say this: \Vhen any man or group
of men organi zes and practices a system of religion in Ule name of God and Christ, and uses that
religion to advance crooked politics and manipulate 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 system 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 religious organization on earth which exactly fnlfills 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

ARMAGEDDON
18
llRve nothing a.gn.in~t any mnn because he is n
Jew, nor hny(' I nnything against nny man 00CUt1:;C he is n Catholic. Tb~re are millions of honl'!o;t. I:tinccrc m('11 and womf'n on earth who nrc
Catholic~, hut th(>~e are not memhcrsof the Catholic 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 organization reside in Rome, Huly, Dlld attempt to
dictate to the pco)llc of tlll! whole world. Their
doetrine~ 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 p<'Oples of the world, and by which
millions of hone~t nnd !':lncere people have lw"n
dccC'ivcd, tllC doetriue tha.t is the ~ource -of the
grentC'st amount of revenue..' to thc Hierarchy, i~
founded upon the teachings of men aud handed
down by tradition extending over along period
oC time. Now, somehody ~nys, "I don't believe
that." I will r(>ud you SOlD ('thing Crom an authority 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 of Our Ji'athers. (78th
R('v. Ell.) It is writtC'll by the lute distinguished
JamC's Cardinal Gibbons, noout whom every
Catholic in America knows. On page 208 he Rnyfl

ARMAGEDDON

19

concerning I'purgatory", after describing it,

that a man goes to "purgatory" ii he is guilty of
some sins, and has to wait there for an indefinite
time while undergoing torture, ~'hen he says:
<TIi s sou] wiJI be ultimately saved, but he shall
suffer, .0 1' a temporary durntion, in the purifying flames of Pm'gatary, rnlis interpretation is
not mine. It is the tt1lanimOU8 voic'e of the
Fathers
Oh,.istendom:' (Not of the Scriptures, howev('r.) Continuing Cardinal Gibbons
8ays; "Now, the same motive which you have for
re;jeeti ng th e opinion of Ull ignorant politician
and embracing that of eminent jurists, on a constitutional question, impels you to cast aside the
novelties of religious innovators and to follow
the llno.nimou~ f:(C'ntiments of the Fothers in r eference to the subject of purgat ory. r would wish
to place before yon extended extracts from the
writings of the early Fathers of the Church bearing upon this subject: but I mus t con tent myself
with quoting a few," and then he quotes two
pages from the fath ers or men, to wit, TertuJlian,
Eusebjus~ Cyril, Ephrem, Ambrose, J erome,
Chrysost()m and St. Augusthle, [Laughter]
Now let's take this solemnly, my good fri ends,
because I am trying to drive home a point for
the purpose of enabling hon est, sincel'e persons
who nre beld by a reli .~i o us organization to see
the truth for t1lei .. benefit. Continuing Gibbons
says: I'That the practice of praying for the dead
has descended from Apostolic times is evident
also from t1le Lit1Wgies of tlle Church.". Now,

ot

20

ARMAGEDDON

all these Liturgies, without exception, have

prayers for ille dead, nod Uleir providential
preservation serves as another triumphant vindicntion of the venerable antiquity or this Catholic 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 altogether 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 1500
years ago, he cites the teachings of men as authority. ITc had come to the conclusion that
words of those men were sufficient authority and
that having been hnndod down by tradition it
was not necessary to have their words supporteO by tile Word of God.
I submit, jf you please, that this doctrine of
"purgatory" has done morc harm to good, honest
people than probabJy any other one doctrine,
and it finds no support in the Bible. It proceeds
upon the theory that a mall aftcr he is deod is
still alive in "purgatory" and that pray~rs by
men on earth can shorten the duration of his
punishment, whereas the Bible expressly says:
mrhe dead how not any thing, . . . Wbatsoever 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

ARMAGEDDON

21

into silence.' Every scripture upon the point

shows that when n man dies he is dead and must
wait in unconsciousness until Ule resurrection.
If the doctrine oC r esu rrection is true, the doc
trine of "purgntorY' is as false as the Devil him
8elf. 'W hy do I say UlnU Because there is no
doctrine in God's " 'o rd so clearly and unequiv.
oeally taught as thnt of the resurrection of the
de'ad The resurrect ion of the dead means to
awaken out of death and stand up again unto
life. I subm.it that if one is in "purgatory" undergoing punishment he could not be r esurrected, because he is already alive.
Let me distingui sh between the Roman CaUIolic 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). It 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 oC thi s \\'01:1d." lIe
kept himseH holy and separate from the political affairs of this world. This ilierarchy crowd
have sought to control th e politics and the commerce of every nation under the SUD.
For instance, the Fascists of Italy, whose die
tntor now ruJes with an iron hand, are supported
by the llierarchy; the Nazis tl18t rule in Germany by the cruel fi st of one lIitler are in full
accord with Ule Hierarchy, and it was the ilier-

22

ARMAGEDDON

archy'e scheme to cause a great Scnre aJld hullabaloo about Communism in order to frighten the
people and then organize the Nazis, seize the
government, and desb:oy the last vestige of liberty 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 people; 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 flaslles the false statement to the world that everybody in Germany snpports him. .
In Austria the Hierarchy is in the saddl~ and
rules the politics of that land. Concerning the
revolution thnt is now in progress in Spain the
public press misled the people for a while, but
now everybody knows, who reads, that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy is back of and prosecuting that revolution against the Spanish government in 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 fearless. I talked ,vith some of them. I had an interview 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 under the doctrines of my churcb, of course, but

ARMAGEDDON

M3

I have lonjt looked for tile second coming of the

I,ord and the setting UJ) of hiB kingdom of righteousness 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 Fascisml
who went to Spaill reeently and interviewed
mDny Spaniards. That LeaA'oe in its publication quotes the words of a distinguished Catholic 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 or 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. ... A Christian cannot
accept the tloctrinc of rtlce-supcriority, nor ilie
policy of extermi nating 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 01 a belligerent, nor with f'eligi01ls orders wltic1. 'leal) up richcs, ,.tIor uiuh
priests 111"0 shoot tf'om belfries and carry mac.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 government official of Spain, as follows: "Mr. l(eLeod,
tlle lIearst press Rnd the Daily Mail in Eng

ARltIAGEDDON

land carry daily stories about nlleged attacks on

churches, on priests and nuns. 'Vllat 11ns the
delegation to say I" One an swer was tlli s: <trrhe
opinion of Ole Spanish people is that the government hns been, if anything, too lenient with
the church all these years, und has not properly
pusbed tile r efOnllS which were much needed.
'When, after snch leni ency, tiH! ehurch took advantage of it to attack the governm ent, legally
elected by tlHZ people, there was an explosion of
public anger again st churches and priests! ' t'In
these Catholi c or church buildings, as government soldiers -were passing they were fired upon
from tile tower of the church, . . . Also in
GuadarraUlu front was a pries t in robes stauding on n high point and sbarpshooting against
the P eopl e's militia;'
Now I cite this merely to show that a religious
org,anizntion, tha t claims to rep resent God, is
PUl"SUUlg an inconsistent and God-dlshoDoring
course, in doing those things.
The United Stutes, which has boasted for
more than n century of being Ule Jand of the
free and the home of tllC bl'ave, stands today on
the very brink of di saster and is likely soon to
become the home of the pauper, serf farm ers
llnd IlUblic workers, and the fand of ilJe slave,
because liberty of speech, {md liberty to worship
Almighty God, is vehemently opposed by organizations that claim to represent God and Christ,
but which represent the Devil. The Hierarchy,
nlthough a foreign power, n reUgious orgnDiza~

ARMAGEDDON

2.

tion, has invaded the official 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 Christ 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 in Ule election .
I 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 sudden ly 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 11e 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:
"CardjnalJs Historic :Visit. For the first time
in history a Papal Secretary of State visited
America yesterday, and at n time when political

2G

ARMAGEDDON

and religious conditions inspired mmors that

the event would prove historic in its cousequence," I rend from the 'Vashington Sta,., published riftht under the dome of the Hierarchy's
office at 'Vnshington: "The visit 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 condition tllUt Germany nOw is in.
rEltBECUTION OF CIIRISTIANS

Probnbly you hadn't thought about this, but

looking over th~ history of Ule men who served
God from the time of Nimrod down to this pres~
ent moment, each onc of them uas been persecuted because of bC'ing a faithful servant oC Jehovah God. And who hns done the persecuting1
In every instance it Ms been religionist~. Religionists persecoted and killed the prophets of
Jehovnh, and when 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 before Deing crucified: 'If they have hated me

ARMAGEDDON

tbey will bate you j and because I have chosen

YOll out of the world, thcrefol'Q tho world hateth
you/-J obn 15: 1~-21.
Panl, when he was n. religionist and went Ulldel' the name Saul, indulged in the most vigorous persecution of Christians. \Vhcn he became
a Christian, he became Ule ~reatest of nti the
apo~Ue5, and then he was persecuted himself
in the most fiendish way by r eligionists. TIow do
you explain thisf "-'1)', there is but one explanation, and tbat is, hecause of the Deyil's influence. I wouldn't mention it for any oUler reason.
I run not here to try to cause n fight between
r eligious organizations. I run citing this merely
to show that Ole De\'iJ has overreached men,
blinded th(,jr minds to ill e truth, and caused peltpic 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 Inqui~iLion that was so
vigOI'OllSly prosecuterl in the various countries
of Rurope and Aml'rica yenrs ago. I 113ve visited
the cathedrals in .Spain and other parts of Eul'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

ARMAGEDDON

by religionists, that is, the clergy and Ulose un

der the control of the Hierarehy.
Today in Germany, where there nre many
honest and sincere men and ,,:omcn, more than
2,000 true llnd faithful Christians linger behind
the prison bars. Why' Bccnusc they bad in
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. Religionists 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 about to relatc to yon
DOW, you would }lave sa id: "Such is utterly impossible." Here, in tllC fair state of New J ersey,
a stnte whose early fath er s wrote and a.dopted
its Constitution, cruel persecution is canied on
in flagrant violation of that Constitution. Thnt
Constitution says that 'every man possesses the
inalienabl e right to worship Almighty God nccording to the dictates of hi s 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

ARMAGEDDON

29

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 subjectcd to arrest.
You cnme to this convention from different
parts or the country. You came here to worship
God according to the dictates o[ yonr own coosciencc. The people oC 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 convention, who arc devoted to the Lord, have been
arrested, and 66 oC 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 IDernrchy"s part, but I am citing them to warD the
people of this great state and the peoplc of
Amcrica that an underground movement is being forwarded, the purpose of which is to destroy 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 CODstrued DS to nullify the Constitution of the
United States and to nullify the Constitution of
the State of New Jersey, and, above all, to defy
the Word of Jehovah God.

30

ARMAGEDDON

'Vhen the apostles werc arrested and bronght

before courts in their day they said, 'We must
obey God rather than men: because God had
sent them forth tllrongh Christ J eSllS to pro
claim. this message j and they suffered imprisonment for the same reason tl13t honest and since'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 WOfship Almighty God as far superior to the opinion of any man or organization, whether that
be foreign or in America. But bere is the most
serious part of it, and it 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 judges in
that court the fact that they were proceeding
in a wrongful minner. That instance is recorded
in the fii1h chapter Of The Acts. To the other
members of the court he said: 'Ii the work tJlat
these men are doing is wrong it will fall of its
own weight; but if it 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

ARMAGEDDON

31

who have defied God have said in the Ncw Jersey

courts: ~Vbo is Jehovah God, thnt we ha\'c got
to obey him " l .. et thorn take notice now that they
lire defying .Jcllovah and fighting against Ood
and they arc doing it at the behest oC religionists.
The Devil rf'ligioll has driven the peoples of
the nations into darkness aud arrayed them
ngain~t God; and for this reasoll God declares
Ids purpose to destroy at Armageddon everything thnt defnmes l1is name, because his nnme
shall be vindicated. 'rhe speccl\ tbnt I make today could flOt reform the world. My only purpose 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
JloSts 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
clu~ively 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

ARMAGEDDON

ed' Why sliould they be UITO'\'In into jail T There

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 endeavor to make good his wicked challenge hurled
at Jehovah centuries ago.
WHEN

Now the question is, "TJlen will tilis battle be

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 it in the battle of thnt great day
of Ood Almighty. Before doi'lg that, nnel after
the coming of Jesus Christ, he cnuses his witnesses 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: "Sit thou at my
rjght band, until I make Uline enemies tllY Cootstool." The Cldfillment of that time is at the end
of the world, that is, the end of Satan's uninterrupted 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

ARMAGEDDON

33

prove conclusively that the world of Satan's

uninterrupted rule ended ill 1914, when the T~ord
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 othe r men and women to henr the lruth
anel toke their stand on the side or God and live,
or remain wbere they are and die.
Revelation twelve tells oC the ousting 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 "the war will make the world safe
for democracy", tbat democracy has practically
perished from the carth! That was anothcl' deceptive slogan by which th e 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, destruction of crops, hard times, and so on, the religionists tell you have come beeansc you nre not faithful to your c.hurch religions organization. The
Bible tcJls you difTf'rentiy. 'fhe Bible, nt ReveJation 12:] 2, says that UleJ::e woes eome from the
Devil; hecanse the words of the great Prophet,
Cl,rist Jesus, are Ulese: "Woe to the inhabiters
of the earth, 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

ARllofAGEDDON

time to prepare for (h(' great battle of God Almigbty, 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(Ill' 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.
~very 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? Because it is shlled in the prophecy of Isaiah
(43: 10-12) , ''Ye nrc my witnesses." And these
witnc~se8 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 ldllg~
dom !'Ih811 be preached in all the world for 8 witness, and then the e.nil ~hnll 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",

ARMAGEDDON

35

there is u. constant warfare 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 'the old Dragon'. J e
hOVn11 'S organization is symbolized by a woman,
und tlte r emnant of her seed nre J ellovuh's ,\\.-]t
nesses. ~I ' hllt 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." It is Satan who is
using the religionists as his instrnments to
prosecute 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
witnes ses 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 rightC'ousness under Christ Jesus. Concerning this
it is written, in The Revelation: 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'n to 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 gnUH~rc<l thpJn togetber into n place caned in
the Hebrew tongue Armngeddon."-Uevelation
16: 13,14, 16.

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 detitwying ill
mankind. Knowing that it is God's time to destroy wickedness and establish righteousness,
if 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 salvation and protection proceed from Hitler. In
America the religions ceremony is to: compel the
saluting of the flng, and thus attributing protection and salvation to the flag; w.bereas 011
protection and salvation come from Jehovah
God through Clll'ist Jesus. In America the Ro
man 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.
It 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-

ARMAGEDDON

37

iean flag stands. The saluting of the flag could

not make them be more obedient to lire laws. In
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 representative. Wbeo, however, n compulsory rule
wiHlont law or reason is attempted to be enforced, 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 is, b~ausc 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

ARMAGEDDON

others tlJat are violating the Constitution nnd

the laws of the land. It is tilO extreme religionists, 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 jf 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 gmlrnntee. '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 Catholics, Jews, Gentiles or others Wl10 nrc law-=tbic1ing, do DOt 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 forbids, then ODC' who is truly devoted to the Lord
would not do so. It is time that honest 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 by the fuudrunental 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

ARMAGEDDON

89

Word or Ood. lIe said : "Beware lest 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 cri~is, rIhe people arc told to beware
le~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 ~top 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 community 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

ARMAGEDDON

be given; nnd these witnesses will continue to

give Hie 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....
RESULT

What will be the result of Armageddon' Thnt

will be an net of Jehovah God, Wllic.h act will destroy wickedness in all the world. The great del.
uge Of Oood thnt came upon the world in Noah's
day was an example of Armageddon, and foretold the results. In the twenty-fourth chapter ~r
Matthew the Lord Jesus declares that as it 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 serv~
ants but joined themselves to Joshua, the sen'~
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 rep~
resent the people of good will on earth who look
to thc Lord for help. When J osbua r.ached the

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 Armageddon Ule forces of heaven will destroy nil the
wicked in the earth.-Jo!!hua 9, 10.
Again I call your attention to the twcnty-fifth
chapter of Jeremiah's prophecy, which is a description 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, evil shall 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 t he other end of the earth: they
shall not be 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 tribulation 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

<2

ARMAGEDDON

destruction flying through the air. Furthermore,

the description di scloses thnt the wild beasts of
the [Ofcst and the zoos will be tumed loose upon
Ute people who have ill-treated the beasts for
many centuries, and all tbese .shall take part
in the destruction oC humankind. 'k'loods and
storms, hllrricun('s und fire, da~bing to pieces
and destroying cities, towns and nations, and
the inhabitants thereof. These things I cite, not
for the purpose of exciting anyone, nor to induce you to join something, but they arc cited
as a solemn wnrning or why God will bring this
grC'ut calamity upon the world and what will
be the result.
Rcljgionists hnvc for mnny years persecuted
the I:\ilhful r epr{>sentativcs of God. TIle reli.
gious lenders in the various denominations call
themselves 'the shepberds of the flock'. They
speak or the population or congregations 8S
their own Hocks. Those sheph erds shall have
very great woes jll tllis time of tribulation j as
it is written by God's prophet : (rIlo",l, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in thc
asbes, ye principal of Ule flock; for the days of
your Idaughte r and of your dispersions firc IlCcomplished i and ye JolhnU fall like a pleasan t vessel. And the shepherds Eholl have no way to Bee)
nor the princiJ)<.li of Ule flock to escnpe. A voice
o[ the ery of the' shepllcrds, nnd an howling of
the principal of Ute flock, Ehall be heard; for
the Lord hath spoiled their pastore."-J e.remiall
25: 34-36.

ARMAGEDDON

The Roman Catholic. Hierarchy, with ambition to control the whole world, raises the hne
and cry that everyone tlmt is not for the Hierarchy is a Commllnist. Such is for the very purpose of frightening the people against Communism ond thereby driving them into the Catholic orgonizotion. The IliC'rarchy has no interest in the salvation of humankind. Its interest
is to rule the world. TIle Roman Catholic flierarcby's newspaper s d eclare 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 si de and those who represent the Devil. \\That, then. shall the people
do under these conditio1ls' Shall they riF-c up
in war or revolution' Shall they Tosort to carnal WeapOJ1S' In the language of the Scriptures
I an swer, No. 'fhe part to be performed by Jehovuh's witnesses on earth is not to indulge in
rtwolutions, wnrs or any other means of destruction . To them Jehovah says: "fhis is not your
fight, hut mine.' (2 Chronicles 20: 15) The battle
is the Lord's. Those who are 'w itnesses 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, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to gather thb nation::;, that I may

44

ARMAGEDDON

assemble the kingd oms, to paur upon them mine

indignation, even al1 my fier ce anger : for all
the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my
j calousy."-Zcllha niah 3: 8.
r.t' hcse striJ.:ing examples set forth in God's
Word arc for the purpose of warnin g the peopl e as to what they may expect in the very near

future ; and, as it is said in England, "you llave

been warn ed." Ther efore those wbo llRve r eceived the warning must choose which &ide they
will take. Whom will you serve, J ehovah 01' the
r eligionists, wllo r epresent Satan the Devil!
ESCAPE

I s ther e any way to escape this terrible tribulation tltat is coming upon the earth ' There j ~
just one way. The p urpose of ca lling your attention to thi s today is t.hat you may see that on e
and only wny. ~'h ose who Rre on J ehovah's sid e,
wlli ch mean s th e r emn ant and the J onadabs, arc
hated by the nati ons because of th eir fai thful
ness to God and devotion to him . J ebovab God,
by hi s prophet Zephaniah, therefore says t o
them : " Gather yourselves together, yea, gather
togetflCr, O nati on not desired; before the de
cree bring forth, be for e the day pnss ns Ute chaIT,
before the fi erce anger of the L ord come upon
you, before the day of the Lo rd~s anger come
upon you. Seek ye the L ord, aU ye meek of th e
eartll, whlch have wrought hi s judgment; seek
ri gbte~usness, seek meekness j it may be ye shaH

ARMAGEDDON

46

be hid in tbe day oC the Lord's nnger."-Zepbnninll 2: 1-3.

Here JehO\'ah marks out the only way oC
escape, nnd that is by seeking righteollsness and
meekness. Righteousness mcans to learn from
Gou'~ Woru wllaL llj l'ighL allil oboy that. Meek- .
11e$8 means to he tcachnble; therefore a willingness to lenrn what the Lord snys to man. If you
desire nnd expect to escape the terrors and the
destruction of Armageddon, )'Oll must obey the
Lord and seek righteousness 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 present 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 Ul e 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 under elITist Jesus. It 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 in
cludes nil the nations of "Christendom" (Matthew 24: 15, 16) j which reHgionists, politicians
and commercinlists, claiming that they have th e
right to rule the world, stand where they ought

46

ARMAGEDDON

not to stand. (Mark 13: 14) It is these religionists who claim the exclusive right to interpret
prophecy, Dnd to teach the people what they
ahonld henr. It is that c1n~s that eoUects the
money from the honest Catholics and honest
. Protestants,' to carryon theil' purposes. Ij'liat
grent religious system bus reached out now and
grabbed many of tlle cowltries in Europe and is
fleeking to control all the countries of the world.

It is this great religions system. which includes

the combination, or League of Nations, tJmt
smnds lip nnd..clairos tiH3 rigllt to rule the world
in Ule plnce or stead of God's kingdom uncler

Christ. The Lord Jesns then says to the people:

'WIlen you see titis, then you mnst flee to God's
kingdom and tuke your stand on tile side of Jellovah God and Christ J csus, iF yon will escape
the terrors of Armageddon.'-Matthew 24 : 15-21.
WARNlNG

All true Christians must now be obedient to

Jehovah God and, as hie witnes@es, must sound
the warning. Jehovah commands, ns set forth in
the thirty-third chaptcr of EzekieFs prophecy,
tlUlt his witnesses mUBt sound the warning in
order that the pcople may hear tbat JellOvah is
God, tliat Satan is the WOl'st of nil enemies, ilJat
the kingdom of God is Ule only hope for mankind, and that God purposes to destroy all that
nre ill opposition to llis kingdom . Tbe grt'at
crucial hour hns come, and the question now j~,
WIIO will stand on the Lord's side and who will

ARMAGEDDON

47

be on the Devil's sideT Only lhose who tnke their

stand all Jehovah Ood's side, and remain faj th
ful nnd truf' to llim, will find salvation.
lJ.'he leligionist.s have grabbed many of the
cOlUltries of Europe and ruled them with nn
iron hand, cOJltrary to Ood's commandments, If
A.m erien fall!i under the same rille, not only will
,the truth he snppressed, hut freedom of speech,
freedom of eOllscience and freedom of worship
will be done and the people will he ruled by the
harsh hand or a dictator. To be ruled by a dietutor is bud enongh, but to be denied the right
to worship Almighty God is far worse. TllOse
who do attcmpt to keep t he people in the dark,
such as the religionists arc now doing, and those
who thus fight against Cod nrc wicked; and J ehovah declares, in the ] 4;)th Psalm, and twen
ticth v('rse, tAll the wicked God will destroy';
and this destruction wili take plnce nt the battle
of the g reat day of God Almighty, culled "Armagcddon'1,
The judgment of the nations is now ..in prog-

re:;\Sj all nations are before Chri st Jesus, the

Great Judge. The people must cleet to take their
stand eiUler for or against God'!'; kingdom. The
peoples of all nations nre di\,jdcd iota three
classes: (1) God's anointed witn~8!1;CS, who are
cOllnt{'d a part of Christ .Jesus himself, because
they arc his faithful follpwcl'!i j (2) the "other
8heep" of the Lord J eSlls Chris't, who ace people
of good will toward God and Chcistj and (3)
all who oppose Jehovah and his l..-ingdom, and

4.S

ARMAGEDDON

whom the Lord designates as "gonts". Upon this

Inttec class, the Ugonts", who fight against God
and agninst llis witnesses, the Lord Jesus prononnet's this judgment: 'Depart from mc, ye
cursed, into everlasting ure prepared for the
Devil and his angels. These shall go away into
everlasting destruction.'-Mntthew 25: 41-46.
This warning is not for Ute purpose of frightening, but is given strictly beenusc Jehovah God
has commanded it to be given; and nnyone who
is devoted to the J..ord, and who then should fail
t9 obey this commandment, will suffer destruction. Soth is the declaration of Jehovah, as set
forth in the prophecies of Ezekiel, and also
Deuteronomy 18: 19 and Acts 3: 23. The Christian has (lnlisted under the banner of JehovaJl,
and there, by the grace of God, he must abide
faithfullv until the end. He must contimle to
bear witness to J ehovsb's kingdom amI to his
name, and must deeinre Ule day of Ood's venge
ance. He must do this, because Jehovah express1y commands it, as recorded in Isaiah
61: 1, 2. The Christian , as a witness for Jehovah, must sound a warning to the people, and
the Jonndabs, or people of good will, must likewise take their stnlld on God's side and join in
the proclamntion of this message of truUl. In
this hour of sounding the warning, eaell one
must ebo08e; and tilcrefore to eaeh ooe it is
properly said: "Choose you this day whom ye
will serve."-JosbU8 24: 13.
:Maoy persons will put their trust in men or

ARMAGEDDON

i9

rulers on earth i and aU wbo do will fail. The

Lord expressly says, in Psalm 146: 3: Tut not
your tru st in man, in whom there is no help!
WImt, then, shall we do' The Scriptures nnswer:
"Trust in Ute Lord WiUI al1 thine heart; and
lenn not unto thil1e own understanding. In aU
thy ways acknowledge him, nnd he shall dircct
thy pnths."-Proverbs 3: 5, G.
All perf'ons who will live must be loyal and
faitbful to God nnd Christ Jesus. There is no
othcr way to obtain life; concerning which Jesus
says: "And this is life eternnl, Utat they might
know tb ee the only true God, nnd Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent."-John 17: 3.
There is bnt one hope for the human race,
ond 0 J.:nowledge of the Scriptures upon which
Utis hope is based is good news today to nll.
When the babe Jesus wns born Ule angelic llOsts
sang: 'Behold, we bring you good tidings of
great joy, whicll shall be unto aU people. . . .
On earUI, peace to all of good will toward God:
Now the Savior and King of the world has come
and his kingdom is begun, and to the people
Jehovah says: 'Behold my sorvant, minc elect,
whom I have chosen; in his name shall the nations hope.' (Matthew 12: 18-21) There is no
oUler hope.
Again referring to this great and mighty King
J ehoval! says: 'The government shall be upon
his SllOuldcr; Iris name shall be called " ., onderfuI Counsellor, The Mig1lty GQd, The .Everlasting I-'ather, The Prince of Peace, and of his

ARMAGEDDON

50

govermn('nt nnd pence there shall be no end.'I!;ainh 9: 6, 7.

The grent queslion nt issue before all crenhires or the lluh-crso now is thnt of supremacy,
W110 shall rule ille world' That question Jehavnh Ood will for ever settle, and settle it rigbt,
at Armageddon. God's purpose will be fulfilled,
anel the world shull be ruled hy ClITist Jesus,
the UiA'hteou~ One, nccoccling to the" ':1 of J ehovall. i'hcn all wickcdnes~, including the Devil
nnd aU of Iu s organization, haTing been destroyed, every cfC'nture tilnt lives sll nU be prllisinA' Jehovah God. .
Neve r has there bC'(,.ll before the peoples of
eartlt an issue so ,~itnl as thi s. Therefore God
has commanded th at this issue shall be plainly
proclaimed and hi s name made known to the
peoples of eartll, and the opportunity is given
to intelligent creatures to select their own course
anel thus have to elo with their own destiny.
I now propose a Declaration and Warning before this nssembly, which I ask yon to carefully
consider, and then express your opinion can
cerning the same.
DECLARATION AND WAJL"flNG

Ttrl9 COMPANY OF CnlllST1A..'f l'Ol'LE, assembled in

COD\-ention at Newark, New Jersey, give thanks to Almighty God, who!OC Dame alone is Jehovah, for the privi1pge o{ 8Crving him Bnd biB kinguom, We declare a9
10110\'."1:1 : ,
D:X'AUSC we 11a\'C devoted oUl"i'Ch'cs to the senice of

ARlaJAGEDDON

51

hO\':lh God and his kingdom nnder Christ, 'l'rP, by his

(ol'or :lnd 81Jpointment, are witnesses (or Jehovah,-

,T(

Isaiah 43: 10-12; 61: 1, 2.

The law of J ehol'all Ood is supreme, ond !Ohould be
obeyed by all pelflOruI, and must be obeyed by those perSODS who ha\'e co\'Cnnnled to do his will. When the law
of man is in confiict with God's law we must ond will
obey God's law rather thlUl man's law. In obedience to
God'a law, as!Ct forth in Ezekirl 33 and other prophccies
of the Scriptures, we round hia warning that God \\111
destroy all who wilUully violate hia law ond who opporo
bis kingdom.
The kingdom of God under Chru.l is ot hnnd, and as
Christiana and sen'(Ult." of Jelio\'llh we doc1are our unqualified allegiance to him aud his l..-i.ngdom. The time
for the cxution of Jeho\'oh'. judgments draws nigll.

Sn.tan is man's woret cncmy, and by means of frnud

aUllll.c<:eit Satan ia attempting to turn nlt the people
against God and thereby bring about their destruction.
Sutan employs religion to deceive pel'SOns who are sincere. Religion is a form or worship based upon the traditioos of men. C~ri.stinnily is the true won:hip of Almighty
God by serving him in obediencc to his commandment!.
There are many religions. There is but one Christinnity.
A knowledge of the teachings of the Bible is therelorc
of vitnl importance to all who will gain e\'erlllrling life.
In fulfillment of J E'hova1l'S propbocy U:ere bits arisen
ill the earth a powerful religious organi1.ation which is
wrongfully called a "Christian" organization. That organization is not only rcligiOUB, but also political and
commercial, and ig Satan's chief visible instrument Cnlployed and used to ruJe tho world and to keep the people
in ignorance and in subjection to se11ish men. That l'E!li
gious organization designates iUteI! as the ''Hierarehy

52

AR MAG EDD ON

of the Cathblic Church" and namC8 the millions of sin

cere persons who are supporters of that organization as

the "Catholic population". but which persons arc not

members of the Catholic Church. The Hierarchy is composed of a few mCD, the controlling Dllmber of whom

arc citizens of Italy, but who rule the masses of sincere

persons called the ('Catholic population" who reside in
0\cr:; part of the earth. The "IIicrarchy" is !}gainst God
and his kingdom under Christ, and at the'same time
claims the right to rule the world in tIle name of Christ,

thereby decehjng multitudes of good persona who are

sincere supporters of the Catholic Cllllrt~h. Those who
compose the Catholic Church arc the mer. of the Hierarchy, and other priedg, some ot which priests .lire un
duly favored, while many other priests are mere menial
servants of the Hierarchy and compelled to do the bidding of the TIierarchy.
'l'he Scriptures declare that all persons who hl) ally
means oppo...e Jehovah God and Christ Jesus are wIcke!1
and that in due time 'all tlU:l wicked God will destroy'.
-Psalm 145: 20.
We call all the sinccre people of the carth, including
Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Gentiles, to witness that
in Germany the true worilhipers of Almighty God are
cruelly and fiendishly persecuted, and many of them
killed, aud that such persecution is done by religionists
who have forgotten God ancl who follow the teachings
of mell. It is well known and generally conceded that
the Uitler gorernment and the Hierarchy, that rules the
Catholic population, nrc in full accord. FllTthermorc we
call all good persons to witness that within New Jersey
r eligionists, led by the Romnn Catholic llierarchy, hMe
indulged in and continue to indulge in the cruel persecution and P!mishmcnt of true Christians, merely because Buch Chr.i;;tians declare the truth of God's Word

ARMAGEDDON

53
ani! Cllrry Cod's messnge to the people in obedience to
Jehovah's cQJmnandments.
We \'igorously protest against the erucl persecution
of Jehovah's witnesses by religionist.!, and we denounce
as cruclly wicked t he persecution of aU persons because
of their faith or belief. Regardlcss of all persecution we
will continue to scrve Jehovah God, relying upon his
promise that in due time he will duly recompense the
wicked by completely destroying them. Je...'<Us Christ, as
.Jehovah's chief officer, says to those who pcrsccde his
followers: 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least
of these my brethren, ye ha\'e donc it unto me.... Depart 1rom me, ya cursed, into e\'erlasting fire prepared
for the Devil and his mesi>engers. 'l'hese shall go into
everlasting destruction.'-Matthew 25.
The indisputable facts show that the world's greatest
tribulation is at thc door and that there is only ODC way
of escape. In obedience Io Jeho\'sh's commandment we
warn all persons, without regu-rd to religion, race or
rolor, that their only hope is in the kingdom of God
under Christ, All who would Jive. must take their stand
firmly Oll thc Eide of Jehovah God and his King, Chri1;t
Jesus, aud givc heed to the words of Jehovah, to wit:
'Behold my servant [Christ Jesus] ; he shall judge the
llntioru, nud in his name sholl the nntions hope.' (Matt hew 12: 1821) 'l'hereforc the people a.re wa.rned that
they must no longer rely tlpon lind gh'c SlIpport. to rt'ligionists, but that they ml1st rely upon JehO\'ah God's
('()nunandments and must find protection and Mlvation
only by and through the kingdom of God under Christ.
We ha\'C no desire to innuenee the political afIairli of
this world, but in obedience to God's commandmrnt we
muet sound his warning, that the people may be informed
and may inteUigently choos.e whom they will servc,
We send loving greetings to our persecuted breth-

ARMAGEDDON
ren nnd bid them be of good courage and to remember
1he words of our Lord: "8\1a11 not God a\'"cngc his
own clcd? , , . He will avcnge th~m speedily" (Luke
18: 7, 8) ; and, further, to gi\'"c heed to the words of the
Lord J('.~\lt'I IIdd.rcsscll to his faithlul 8l'i\'ant:J; <one thou
faithlui unto dCIlUI, and I will give thee the crO\l""n of
Hic." Dlp."scd is the lot o.f thoae who arc permitted to
en<lu rl' all manner of 611ff~' ring for the sake of the name
of J ehovah antI h.is kingdom tlnde.r Christ. ( Matthew
5: ]01 2) The everlasting pen(.'(', joy and life of the propIc is centered in the greet Prince of l'cace, whooc governmcut is at t he door nnrl which will be administered
in full righteoume!li> ond to the good oi all obedient ones.
-Uainh 9: 6, 7; 32: 1.
H Y.l'IOLYED. That a copy of this Dedaration and Warning be. published throughout Ule earth.
[Dnted October 18, 1936]

Ir you believe in God ond Ilia \Vord, instead

of the traditions of meD; if you love righteou&ness, and hate iniquity, nod you nre for God and
Christ .JCBUS, then you will support this Dcclll.
ration. I ask you, thcreforc, thnt evcry one who
is of that mind support it by rising and saying,
Aye.
(Thill DeclurntlQn Ilnd Warning
Il rLsJng VOle anti shout

W8.II

uDanlmcusly adopted b)"

of"Aye"and amidst f;Ntl.t cnthusllUlm.]

QUESTIONS

riis

qucstion is sometimes usked: Those

who henr tho kingdom messnge now, and
WllO fail to ouey it, will they die at Anna.
gc(ldoll and remain dead for ever, or will they

QUESTIONS

65

have an awakening out of death' WiD all who

die at Armageddon remain dead for evert

A dogmatic answer to that question would
be improper. The creature can know for a eertainty only tho things which God clearly reveals. A conclnaioD may be properly reaehed
by harmonious Bod BOund reasoning upon the
Scriptur.. tbst are made plain. Some bave read
into the publieatioD8 of the W Btch Tower Bible
II Traet Society conclusions that are not war
ranted, One of which is the following: "All who
die at Armageddon will perish and never be
awakened out of death." 80ch 8 conclusion is
errooeolll', and has resulted from taking an i8().
latcd statement out of its setting and ignoring
other ltatements made bearing upon the point.
The following statement appears in ODe of
the Society's publications: "Those creatures on
earth who hear the truth muat choose whom
they will serve." This statement is limited to
those who HB.UL To "hear" means to receive
knowlooge, to perceive and understand. To reCuse to hear means to disobey. Said Jesus: "JIe
that believeth on the SeD hath everl8Btiog life:
and he that believeth not the SOD shall not see
life; hut the wrath of God abideth OD him."Jobs 3: 36.
The word "believeth", as used in this text,
means to bave faith, whit"h comes only by first
receiving knowledge. Th. apostle mak.. this
point very plain. (Roman. 10: 13-15) Jehovah
baa taken out of the world a people for IUs name

66

ARMAGEDDON

and upon such persons has laid the obligation

to proclaim God's message, to the end that
others might r eceive knowledge thereof. Those
who do receive the information, who have faith
in God and in Christ, and who then obey the
commandments of the Lord, arc tll C ones who
fcccive the benefits of God's promise of life.
To hear, UlcreCore, includes nnd meaDS the receiving information and knowledge and huving
fuiUl in God and in Christ, based upon thnt
knowledg('. If, after having progressed to that
point, the creatu re then fails or r(l[uses to obey,
and dies, there would be no reason why such
person should be raised out of death, because
he has deliberately sinned against light.
. rrhc message of th e Idngdom is proclaim ed
within the hearing of mnn y of them tha t do not
hear. Such nrc llJHl cr conl1('mnation by j eaSon
of inherited (lisllbility. 'l1hc wrath of God abides
upon them for th o reason t.here is no wny to
get out [rom under that inherited disability except by and through faith in tho shed blood of
Christ J esus. Not having heard, therefore, they
have no faith. The text cleorly means that i
they nc"er hen r and never have faith, they
would coutinue to ahide [or ever under the condemnation, and not live.
Those who pass through Amlageddon by reason of beiug hidden by J ehovnh, 8S be has promiere, nrc the ones Wl10 receive 'the mark in their
foreheads'. (Ezekiel 9: 4-6) That must mean
that such creatures r eceive in formation con-

QUESTIONS

.7

cemjng God's purpose, They have faiUl ju God

and in ChriHl Jcsus, and take a course in harmony therewith, They have an intelligent knowledge of the truUl, they consecrate tilemsclves
to do the will of God, obey him, and remain
fajthiul. Lct it be concluded, for the sake of
the argumcnt, tbat aU otbers die at Armageddon, and yet tbat does not necessarily menn
that they will perish nnd never be awakened
out of death.
JEIIOVAU 'S PURPOSE

The purpose of Jehovah must be kept in mind,

otherwisc one cannot reason clearly upon 8ny
part of Ood's 'Vord. It clearly appears from
the Scriptures tilot in addition to the kingdom
class, the royal house, J~lOvah's purpose is to
have a multitude, without specific number, who
hear the message of the kingdom, obey God's
commandments, serve and praise llim, and Christ
Jesus, at and prior to Armageddon, and that
such multitude Jesus feeds and leads unto tile
fountain of living waters. (Revelation 7: 9-17)
Such nre the ones that will pass through the
terrors of Armageddon. BeCore one enn enter
this great multitude class he must receive some
information, must be or good will toward God
and his kingdom wlder Christ; rmst take his
stand on the side of God and Christ, and connect llimself with God's organization; he must
flee to Ole city of refuge (Numhers 35: 6-34),
which is God's organization under Christ Jc-

58

ARMAGEDDON

sus; he must thereafter hear nnd obey the commandmcnts of God nnd remajn faithful. The

promise of Jehovah to such is: "Before the day

of the Lord's anger .... All yo ... oC the enrth
[thnt is, the earthly class or g'f ent multitude],
... seek righteonsncs~, seek meekness: it tUlly
be yo shnll be hid in the day of the Lord's anger,"
(Zepllnlliah 2: 1-3) That prol1use is to thOf;C who
.are fuJly ohedient to God's commandments. Such
C011StitUtC the "oUler sheep", whjch J callS Christ
takes unto himself and gathers into tbE: fold.
-John 10: 16.

The "goat" class docs not cnlbrnce every person on the earth who is not or Ule "other sheep"
class, but "the gonts" manifestly refers to those
who illtreat the persons who 81'e devoted to
God Illld his kingdom, and tl1\I8 fight against
God. Since sueh persons profess to serve Ood
they ~hould know and shou1c1 do better. There
are millions of other persons on earth wbo are
neutral so far as Ule '1ittle flock''' or royal house
is concerned. It clearly appears that the "gout"
cluss consists of those who 118VC received some
knowledge of God and Christ Jesus, and who
claim to be servnnts of Ood alld are the ones
whom the Lord reproves when he says : <;Many
will sny to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we
not prophesied in thy name' and in thy.nnme
Jlnve cast out devils! and in thy name done many
wonderful works? And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew yon: depart from me, ye
U1at work iniquity."-Matthew 7: 22. 23.

QUESTIONS

They have posed as the ser\'ants of the L ord

and held themselves ou t as such, nDll at the same
time havo persecuted the Lord by persecuting
thoso who faithfuJly serve him. Jesus declarcs
tha t such persons ~hn ll perish i which means
that they would not hnn a resurrection. "And
these sl.lfill go away i nto everlasting punighment i but the righteous into Ii.fe eternal."-lIat-

thew 2.1: 46.

But how about tilC other millions now OD the
earUl who ha\"e Dot, by reason of their actioD,
placed themselves in the "goat" class' There
is no promise to them timt they will be hidden
dllring Armageddoll, and no Teason t o believe
tl16t they will be hidden. It follow8, thell, that
th ey will HO down in th e great battle of Armageddon . For us to sny, however, thot such p ersons will perish and never be awnken ecJ out of
death would be suying more than the Scriptures

say.
To be of the <hidden' el (l!~B, that is to say, those
that will pass throug h Armageddon, will be
a very great privilege froTO Jehovnh. Such persons begin to praise Ood when they take their
stand on God's side, and continue to praise him
nnd Christ forev er. They continue to live, and
do not die, becanso of their faith in God and
in Christ J esus llnd because Christ Jesus 1eads
them unto the Countoin at life. Such arc the ones
who have Ole promise tha t tlley will survive,
that is to ~aYt live through and beyond Annagoodon. 'Vith them regeneration begins when

GO

ARMAGEDDON

they fully take their stand on the side of the

Lord. 'fhey pnss tllrough Armageddon and their
regeneration continues to perfection. They have
God's approval. The only favor greater than
that is to be made a member of the royal house
or to be one of the 'princes on the carth',-Psnlm
45: 16.
In the type one who fled to Ole city of refuge
nnd then got out of bounds was properly slain
by the avenger. (Numbers 35: 2G28) That prophetic picture shows that those who flee to and
find refuge in God's organization, and who then
get out of bounds by failing or refusing to be
obedient, will suffer death. It would seem that
Ulere is no reason why they should be awakened
out of den til.
WARNI:\'G

Many ot Ule nations of Ule earth call themselves Chl'istinn nations because within the borders thereof there are many who claim to be
sen'ants or Ood:Such persons, Bnd particularly
the leaders in the religious organizations, have
some knowledge of God, because they ba.e the
Bible and claim to be1ieve it. and claim to teach
it, but God clap:ses them as wicked because they
are lawless. llaving received some knowledge
of the tnltll, they pursue n course directly opposite thereto, and for that renson they nrc
wicked. 'they claim to be of Ood's organizat.ion,
that is, to be of 'IJsrael1J. Ood commands his witnesses to 'give warning to the wicked'. lIe says

QUE

~T

ION:3

Gl

to his servants: "Therefore, .. . speak unto the

house of Israel," that is, to those who claim to
be of God's people. ""'When I say unto the wicked
[lawless (Rotherham translation)], . "' . thou
shalt .... die," then the responsibility is upon
the one who has received the winning. When
such have been warned and then continue in
their COUIse of lawlessness or wickedness, God
says to them <they shall die in their iniquity',
that is, in their lawlessness. Thus dying it would
not seem reasonable tllnt SUell would have a resnrrection, (Ezekiel 33: 6-] 2) Clearly those referred to by the prophet in the foregoing texts
are those who profess to be of I srael, that is
to say, of Ood's people,-See Vind'icatioll, Book
Two, page 206.
OTIIERS

Thero are millions who make no profession

or claim to being Christian and who have not
<rheard" the message of the kingdom. Although
that messngll of the 1-ingdom is proclaimed in
the hearing of such, many df? not hear; but some
of them hear and become pa'rt of the great ;y.ultitude, Many of these have never pretended to
be Christians. Since the promise of being hid
during Armngeddon is only to those who obey,
it reasonably follows then that no others will
be hidden. Probnhly aU the others are going
down in death in the grcat conflict, because the
purpose of the Devil is to destroy all the bu
ruan race and he attempts to do it. Will all such

GO

ARMAC~DDON

persons, including those who have not hC'.:ml,

perish and never have a resurrection' ?\TO oue
has any reason to Tench such n conclusion. God
1ms Hie 'power to raise tllenl ont o~ death. ,rill
he do S0'
RESURRECTION

J ef;US says all in their graves shall come forth,

some to life and some for jmlf,'1Ilcnt. (John 5: 28)
Tho pUTpO~{' of euch awakening out of death is
to furni$:h Ulcm an opporhmily to obey and live.
J'urthermore it is "'Titten: "There shall be a
resurrection of the dead, both of tile just and
nnjust/' (Acts 24 : 15) "TIc hath appointed n
day, in tile which he will judge the world in
riA'hteousne~s, by that man wllUDl he bath or
dained; whereof he hath given n~Sllrllnce unto
nil men, in tbat he hath raised him from the
df'lltl." (Acts 17: 31) Fmlhel'lllorc it is writtf'll:
'The Lord .JeslIs Christ ... shall judge the living and the dead nt his app(lnrin~ and kingdom.'
(2 Timothy 4: 1) or n ece~::; ity this text must in.
clnde aU per~ons no.w on the earth, nnd who die
at Armageddon, aside from those who arc of
the Ugoat" clnss, that is, the wicl;;ro one!". To say
that all persons now on the eorth who die ut
Armageddon wiU perish nnd never be resurrected is entirely nnscriptuml. Nothing tlmt has
appeared in tile publications of the Watch Tower
Society will warrant the conclusion that all such
perish. Some !'elfwise attempt to read into the

QU :':S TIONS

63

Scriptures nnd into the pUblications thnt which

is not warranted.
It is the bounden duty of nIl who now hnvl'!
the truth to tell others who will hear that Goel's
,Vord discloses his purpose through Chri st Jesus. The responsihiJity now resting upon tllOse
who nrr enlightrned is to be witnesses to the
naille and kingdorn of Jehovah to the end that
those who desire may hear and have the opporhmity or finding the way to life: The specific
cOllunondmcut to Jehovah's witnesses at this
preFent time is: "This gospel of the l;:ingdom
sha ll be preached in aU the world for a witness
unto nll nations i and then shall the end come."
(M atthew 24: 14) 'L1lli s gospel must be proclaimed to all, ll S we have opportunity, as a
witness to them . Those who are of good will
towllrd God will hear nnd take their stand on
the side of Ute Lord, whether th ey be of "Christendom" or outside th ereof. The warning must
be given to those of "Christendom", who claim
to be on tile side of thc Lord but are not ond
who are pursuing a lawless or iniquitous course
ond who arc described in the Scriptures as wick.
cd. Those who heed the warning and change
tbE'ir course of action,. and follow God's rightP<lU", wny. have the promise that they may be
hid and lin. Tho~e who do not shall not live,
as J~ho,"ab dedare8.
v't enryone who loves God and his kingdom
be dilip:ent now to oJx>y the commandments oC
the Lord. Those who do will be continuously pro-

ARIIAGEDDON

cluiming the message or Ood's lililgdom, and

will not be unduly concerned ns to just who
will or who will not su rvh'e Arrnng('ddon. ~'or
any of J plJovah's witnesses to go to 0. person
uJI(I dogmntically say to Ruch, "Yon nrc of ilia
])evil and wiu die at Armageddon nnd remain
dead," wOldd be entirely out of order and unproper, because tho Lord will do the judging.
'rhe duty of those who loye Ood he clearly defincs when he Eays : "Go through, go through
the gates j prepare ye the way of tile people j
enst tiP. cast up the highway j gntber out nle
stones j lift up n standard for the people." (Isaiah 62 : 10) The Lord will see to the result in
his own good wny.
The conclusion seems to be irresistible, therefore, that those WIIO JI8.ve the promise of being
hiddell anti carri ed through Armageddon are
the olles who faithfully obey God's commandmentR after taking UH~ir stand on tile side of
the Lord j that those who will be destroyed and
remain dead nre of the "gont" elMS: that there
Ire millinns of others now on earth who will
go down into death during A rmngeddoll and
WllO will be awakened out of denth. Have in
mind always that life is tJl0 girl of Ood through
Jesus Christ our LOTd nndiR given to those who
hem;, who love and who obey and serve Ood.
Fnr tree booklet descriptive of all Wauh Tower publication. and the term. on which they may be had, write
Th. W.lch Ta...., 117 AA... St., Brookl,n, N. Y.