of problems.” How good it is to know, then, that there is just one Authority on protecting children! Jehovah God, man’s Creator, is the Source of all authoritative advice on rearing and protecting children. How this should relieve Christian parents of the frustration that comes to those who think that there are hundreds of authorities on the subject! Knowing who the right Authority is, Christian parents can rear and protect children in certainty and be free of the frustration that afflicts those who try to bring them up without “the discipline and authoritative advice of Jehovah.”—Eph. 6:4.

TRAINING FROM INFANCY

8. When should protective training begin? Why so?

⁸ Protection for the new generation should begin from infancy. That infancy is the time to begin is made clear by the great Protector, Jehovah God, whose Word says: “Train up a boy according to the way for him; even when he grows old he will not turn aside from it.” The younger the child, the easier is the establishment of good habits. A child is incomparably more easily trained than the most intelligent dog. A child can be taught to run, to climb, to swim, to stand and to walk and even to speak several languages. Protective moral habits can likewise be taught from infancy. Dogs themselves are trained not to steal. Shall parents, then, teach dogs not to steal and fail when it comes to their own children? Give the right training from infancy.—Prov 22:6.

9, 10. Why is training from infancy so vital, and how does the case of Moses illustrate the indelible benefits of such child training?

⁹ Giving protective training from infancy is vital, too, because it gives the new generation a basis for their faith, a basis for making momentous decisions that they must make as they reach the age of maturity. Such training will enable the new generation to make decisions in harmony with the will of God. The case of Moses is an outstanding example of the value of protective training. Moses was born in Egypt, at a time when Israelite babes were to be put to death because of Pharaonic decree. The Bible account at Exodus, chapter two, tells how the babe was put in an ark by his mother Jochebed and placed among reeds by the bank of the river Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter found him. Moses’ sister Miriam, who had been posted nearby, stepped forward and asked with admirable tact: “Shall I go and specially call for you a nursing woman from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter responded to this opportune question and agreed to having a Hebrew woman being brought to her; the woman was Moses’ own mother. “Take this child with you,” said Pharaoh’s daughter, “and nurse him for me.” Time passed. “And the child [Moses] grew up. Then she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, so that he became a son to her.” (Ex. 2:1-10) Moses’ parents, Amram and Jochebed, thus had given the youth protective training from infancy, instilling in the child’s mind the laws of God and the love for God.

¹⁰ The training Moses received from infancy imparted to him a basis for his faith, a basis for a tremendous decision he was later to make. Yes, on the basis of the training given to Moses at his home in Goshen, he chose rather to be with the people of God, rejecting the royal court and its lucrative and luxurious opportunities, despite the fact that he had been given training in all the worldly wisdom of the Egyptians. “Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” (Acts 7:22) The education Moses received in Egypt was designed to fit him for a high office in the government, if not even for the Egyptian throne. But did Moses say: ‘Hum, it appears as if I am in line for a big governmental post, maybe the throne itself. Now, I would like to help my people, but I will just wait till the king dies, and then from the throne of Egypt it will be easy to help my people’? No! Moses rejected such thoughts. “By faith Moses, when grown up, refused to be called the son of the daughter of Pharaoh, choosing to be ill-treated with the people of God rather than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin.” (Heb. 11:24, 25) Moses made the right decision, for once he was in power he may well have been faced with overwhelming temptations. The example of Moses is the highest recommendation for protective training from infancy. What indelible benefits such training brings!

11. To make protective training of children a success what else is required, and how is it demonstrated?

¹¹ Success in protective training of children today requires not only that it begin from infancy but that there be unity of action and right example set by the parents themselves. Parents who are true Christians are not to be divided on the matter of training their children. They have only one Authority, one authoritative Source, so why should they not be at unity? Unity of action means that the wife will not undermine the husband’s discipline nor the husband the wife’s discipline. Unity of action means that both parents enforce Jehovah’s discipline, not just the father. The mother does not allow the children to do as they wish, and then, when father comes home, they suddenly have to conform to Jehovah’s ways. The program for protecting the new generation is not off and on; it must be in effect twenty-four hours a day.

GIVING CHILDREN THE MIND OF GOD

12. What is Paul’s counsel, and how are children brought up in the authoritative advice of Jehovah?

¹² Children need the mind of God on matters. The imparting of this knowledge, beginning at infancy, continues progressively right through those crucial teen-age years. The apostle Paul wrote this counsel: “Fathers, do not be irritating your children, but go on bringing them up in the discipline and authoritative advice of Jehovah.” (Eph. 6:4) How are children brought up in the authoritative advice of Jehovah? Paul’s words “authoritative advice,” in the original Greek, literally suggest the idea of putting a mind into someone. Well, whose mind does the child or youth need for protection? Jehovah’s mind, of course! To bring children up in the authoritative advice of Jehovah, put the mind of Jehovah into the children, not only while they are infants or youngsters but continually, progressively.

13. How can parents give children the mind of God at an early age, and whose example shows it can be done?

¹³ To give children the mind of God it is necessary for parents to teach them God’s commandments, using language and illustrations appropriate to their age. Break the words of God down into digestible form so that even very young children can grasp them. Did not Eunice put the mind of God into Timothy “from infancy”? It can be done. It requires patience, a good deal of time and the need to make divine principles clear to the childish mind. But, as in the case of Timothy, how great the benefits!—2 Tim. 3:15.

14, 15. (a) What must parents make clear to their children? (b) Explain how parents could put the mind of God into their children regarding such matters as stealing and lying.

¹⁴ Parents are really putting the mind of God into children when they make it crystal clear that they must and will uphold the supremacy of Jehovah’s law. For example, when teaching children not to steal, explain why—that there is much more than mere parental wish or desire involved in the matter. Let the children know it is not just your mind on a matter but that it is God’s mind and that you are accountable in the eyes of God to enforce divine law. So after explaining what stealing is, take the Bible, open it to appropriate verses and read to the child what the mind of God is: “You must not steal” is what God commands. But go beyond Exodus 20:15 and read other verses, such as Ephesians 4:28: “Let the stealer steal no more.” By doing this the child knows that it is a serious matter, that God’s will is of primary importance and that his parents will always support God’s commandments.

¹⁵ Progressively protect the new generation with the mind of God. After one point has been made clear, go on to another. For instance, explain to the child what lying is, who the first liar was, why falsehood displeases God and what the fate of liars will be. Sit down again with the child and open the Bible, showing the child what the mind of God is. Besides reading scriptures that express God’s disapproval on lying, show that God himself sets the example, reading, for instance, the scriptures: “All the paths of Jehovah are loving-kindness and trueness.” “It is impossible for God to lie.” (Ps. 25:10; Heb. 6:18) The use of scriptures expressing the divine will on matters of conduct and that God himself sets the example, coupled with good parental example in all these things, will give a child powerful protection against the evils of the day.

16. At an appropriate age what should young people know, and so what should the parents do about it?

¹⁶ As children grow older, there comes a time when parents need to give them God’s mind on proper moral conduct between the sexes. Again, mere parental statements forbidding what is wrong are not enough. Give Jehovah’s “authoritative advice” by going to the Bible and reading the scriptures about the chaste conduct that God requires of Christians. Knowledge of worldly pitfalls can also be given. Teen-age girls of Christian parents, for example, can be warned what is likely to happen as they grow in attractiveness: how worldly boys and men may approach them, putting temptations before them. Before these temptations occur, parents need to protect the new generation by giving them the protective authoritative advice of Jehovah God.

SHARPENING GOD’S COMMANDMENTS IN THEIR MINDS

17. (a) Besides progressiveness in child training, what else is important, and why? (b) How is its importance stressed by Moses?

¹⁷ Just as important as progressiveness, in protecting the new generation, is repetition. Once a child has been instructed with God’s mind on certain principles of conduct, the matter is not ended. It is easy for a commandment to become hazy, fuzzy, unclear. When one is faced with a temptation, he needs God’s word so sharply etched in his mind that he can resist the temptation just as quickly and surely as Joseph resisted the temptation put in his path by Potiphar’s wife. There was not the slightest doubt in Joseph’s mind that if he yielded to the temptation, he would be sinning against God. (Gen. 39:7-12) Repetition to sharpen God’s commandments in our minds is the idea behind Moses’ words at Deuteronomy 6:6, 7: “These words that I am commanding you today must prove to be on your heart; and you must inculcate them in your son and speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.”

18. (a) Why did Moses so command the Israelites, and why are his words so apt today? (b) What are the twofold benefits of heeding this divine counsel?

¹⁸ This repetitive inculcating of Jehovah’s mind on all matters is for the protection of both children and parents. In this world with wickedness so commonplace, with temptations to go wrong almost everywhere, it is more vital than ever to keep the Word of God, the commandments of God, always fresh in our mind. Moses warned the Israelites of the conditions to come when they would have contact with heathen nations. He knew that there would be a tendency to fall away from God’s laws; so Moses exhorted them to faithfulness and commanded them to protect the new generation by regularly inculcating God’s laws into youthful minds. Similarly with Christians today, in this world where it is impossible to avoid total contact with those who are not true worshipers of God, protection is gained by keeping God’s commandments clear in mind. And when parents inculcate these divine laws in their children ‘and speak of them when they sit in their house and when they walk on the road and when they lie down and when they get up,’ the parents also get reflex benefits from all this. Parents have impressed upon their own minds the mind of God. The idea, then, is to put the mind of God into the children and continually sharpen the awareness of divine commandments in their mind by repetition, so that there is no mistake as to what they mean.

19. What fact regarding divine law should be made most clear to children, and what therefore should be the conduct of both adults and children under those circumstances?

¹⁹ Make it clear, too, that divine law applies just as much when children are away from home as it does when they are at home. Young people at times may go to different localities or cities where they are temporarily away from the eyes of their parents. Teach children that, though they may not be under the immediate purview of human supervisors, they are never away from the eyes of Jehovah God! “The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, keeping watch upon the bad ones and the good ones.” (Prov. 15:3) This scripture shows that nothing escapes the notice of Jehovah God. He has the means of observing everything, small or great. But, unlike the spies and secret police of worldly nations, Jehovah’s watching is for our good. Children should know this and be taught that, when away from home, they are not free to indulge in worldly practices that they would never do when under the eyes of parents and servants in the Christian congregation. Adults themselves should always set a fine example for the new generation when they visit strange cities and are away from their home congregation.

20. Explain some of the authoritative advice of Jehovah that should be given children. What will be the result?

²⁰ Many, then, are the principles of conduct that children should be taught from infancy onward. What a broad range Jehovah’s protective authoritative advice covers! Teach children the Bible view of money so that they neither overvalue it nor undervalue it. Teach them moderation in all habits. Teach them God’s law regarding association and how bad association will assuredly spoil their good habits. Teach them to read what is wholesome and upbuilding. Teach them to resist the worldly crowd, to flee from folly and badness no matter how much ridicule is heaped upon them by worldly youths. Teach them to “quit being fashioned after this system of things.” (Rom. 12:2) Teach them responsibility by giving them responsibility. Teach them respect for the property of others. Teach them the sanctity of human life. How often newspapers tell of some child shooting another person, accidentally or otherwise! Why should children be pointing guns, toy or real, at people in the first place? Teach children to put on the “weapons of the light” and to wield God’s Word, “the sword of the spirit.” Give them a personal copy of the Bible at an early age. Teach them divine law regarding marriage, that a Christian is ‘free to marry only in the Lord.’ Let children know the sad results of flouting Jehovah’s laws. All this is a tremendous responsibility, this putting the mind of God into children; but the result is protection for the new generation.—Rom. 13:12; Eph. 6:17; 1 Cor. 7:39.

21. To avoid the worldly trend, what will Christian parents do, resulting in what blessing for their children?

²¹ Though the worldly trend is for adults to need protection from the new generation, Christian parents will not allow this trend to develop in their own households. Start from infancy, as Moses’ parents did. Keep on giving children the authoritative advice of Jehovah, making certain that the great Protector’s commandments are implanted ineradicably in their minds by repetition. Give young persons the mind of God through those critical teen-age years when increasing snares confront them. Protect the new generation with wholehearted interest and love. Then the new generation will be used both now and in the new world, to glorify forever the one whose authoritative advice makes protection possible—Jehovah God!

Each One Will Render an Account

“We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. So, then, each of us will render an account for himself to God.”—Rom. 14:10, 12.

1, 2. With whom do we all have an accounting? Regarding what, and why?

NO PERSON can escape rendering an account to God. The great Judge, we are assured, “will make an accounting on the earth.” It makes no difference where we live or what religion we profess, “there is not a creation that is not manifest to his sight, but all things are naked and openly exposed to the eyes of him with whom we have an accounting.”—Rom. 9:28; Heb. 4:13.

² Whether done in public or in secret, we will render an account for our deeds. All that we do is “openly exposed to the eyes” of the Judge of the universe. We must render an account as to how well we have measured up to the commandments of God: “The conclusion of the matter, everything having been heard, is: Fear the true God and keep his commandments. For this is the whole obligation of man. For the true God himself will bring every sort of work into the judgment in relation to every hidden thing, as to whether it is good or bad.”—Eccl. 12:13, 14.

3. What does the Bible show regarding accountability of children?

³ Children themselves are not entirely free from rendering an account to God. It is true that parents are primarily responsible before God for their children; thus if one of two parents is a worshiper of Jehovah, then any children born to this union are holy in God’s eyes. (1 Cor. 7:14) But it is well to keep in mind that the Bible record shows that God has not closed his eyes to the wrongdoings of children. At one time Jehovah executed a jeering gang of forty-two children by means of two she-bears because these delinquents showed disrespect for Jehovah’s prophet.—2 Ki. 2:23, 24.

4. In view of what is said in the Scriptures, how should parents instruct their children?

⁴ It is well for parents, then, to instruct their children that they are accountable to God, just as the parents themselves must render an account to God. In ancient Israel children who became incorrigible delinquents suffered according to the will of God by being put to death: “In case a man happens to have a son who is stubborn and rebellious, he not listening to the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and they have corrected him but he will not listen to them, his father and his mother must also take hold of him and bring him out to the older men of his city and to the gate of his place, and they must say to the older men of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he is not listening to our voice, being a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of his city must stone him with stones, and he must die. So you must clear away what is bad from your midst.” (Deut. 21:18-21) Today God still holds children accountable for being obedient to their parents “in union with the Lord,” as Ephesians 6:1-3 shows: “Children, be obedient to your parents in union with the Lord, for this is righteous: ‘Honor your father and your mother’; which is the first command with a promise: ‘That it may go well with you and you may endure a long time on the earth.’”

ACCOUNTABLE AS TO JEHOVAH’S DISCIPLINE

5. For what are parents accountable to God, and so what question arises?

⁵ After showing that children are not free from rendering an account, the apostle Paul goes on to stress the obligation of the parents before God: “And you, fathers, do not be irritating your children, but go on bringing them up in the discipline and authoritative advice of Jehovah.” (Eph. 6:4) Note that parents are accountable before God to bring their children up, not only in the authoritative advice of Jehovah, but also in the discipline of Jehovah. It is in this matter of discipline that parents sometimes are lax. Though showing loving care and attention, though teaching them God’s Word, parents may fail to enforce Jehovah’s laws. Since parents will render an account for the way they bring up their children, the question arises: What is Jehovah’s discipline?

6. With what does Jehovah’s discipline begin, and why is it so important?

⁶ Jehovah’s discipline does not necessarily begin with the literal rod. It begins with right parental example. Jehovah sets the perfect example, as does his beloved Son. We are to imitate them, becoming a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word “discipline” itself comes from the same root as the word “disciple.” A disciple is one who follows the example of a leader. So, then, discipline has a lot to do with discipleship, for children are to imitate their Christian parents and become disciples of good leaders. By setting the right example, parents aid their children to become disciples of the Lord Jesus; thus example is a means of applying Jehovah’s discipline. Parents may teach their children what is right in God’s eyes, but they can hardly expect their children to be better than the example the parents set at home and elsewhere. Parents cannot practice things that are wrong in God’s eyes and then expect the children to do all the things that are right. This means that at times parents must discipline themselves to ensure that they conform their lives in every respect to the righteous standards of Jehovah’s Holy Word. Then the little ones will not only take in your instruction but see by your example what is the right way to go.

7. (a) How should Jehovah’s discipline be applied? (b) Why should parents not exasperate their children, and how can such be avoided?

⁷ If parents are to render a good account to God for the way they bring up their children, they must apply Jehovah’s discipline in love but with firmness. This calls for a positive discipline, not a lazy kind in which parents bribe their children into good behavior. Firm discipline means that there will be no parental pussyfooting. The child needs to know what his parents stand for and that they cannot be shaken from Jehovah’s principles by any amount of arguing, wheedling or crying. Though firm, Jehovah’s discipline is applied in love, so that it is consistent, reasonable and righteous. The loving parent realizes that children are not perfect and will make mistakes. If children are badgered by threats of punishment for every little imperfection, little mistake or accident, then they become irritated. Paul said: “Do not be exasperating your children, so that they do not become downhearted.” (Col. 3:21) If children are exasperated by their parents, they become nervously deranged and cannot benefit from reproof. Hence the loving parent, though firm, is reasonable. The child can appreciate reasonableness. Make explanations to the childish mind. Then the child can go along with it, knowing that it is being led in the direction that Jehovah God directs.

8. As shown by Jehovah’s Word, what kind of discipline will sometimes be required, and what will be its benefit?

⁸ All children of Adam need correction, and at times firm discipline requires the rod, in the administration of pain. “Foolishness is tied up with the heart of a boy; the rod of discipline is what will remove it far from him.” (Prov. 22:15) Jehovah’s discipline is thus not a watered-down discipline such as that advised by some worldly authorities who would always hold back the rod. But the literal rod is what is basically meant at Proverbs 23:13, 14: “Do not hold back discipline from the mere boy. In case you beat him with the rod, he will not die. With the rod you yourself should beat him, that you may deliver his very soul from Sheol itself.” At times, then, a parent will need to speak to the child by the administration of pain. This pain, God’s Word assures us, is not going to kill the child; but it will have beneficial effects, protective benefits for the child, protecting “his very soul from Sheol.”

PRECLUDING PARENTAL PAIN

9. How is Jehovah’s discipline protective in a twofold way?

⁹ Jehovah’s discipline is protective in a twofold way: (1) For the child himself and (2) for the parents themselves. Undisciplined, the child might continue in a way displeasing to Jehovah and lose out on life in God’s new world. Undisciplined, the child, by its delinquent conduct, will give pain to the parents. A child cannot be expected to imagine intellectually the anguish and pain he has the power of inflicting on his parents by his misbehavior. Something must be done, then; otherwise a child will bring a lot of suffering to the parents’ hearts and minds. “Anyone becoming father to a stupid child—it is a grief to him; and the father of a senseless child does not rejoice. A stupid son is a vexation to his father and a bitterness to her that gave him birth.” “The rod and reproof are what give wisdom; but a boy let on the loose will be causing his mother shame.”—Prov. 17:21, 25; 29:15.

10, 11. (a) How may parents avoid suffering pain? (b) Besides the literal rod, what else may be used in applying Jehovah’s discipline?

¹⁰ Now, what will prevent the parents from suffering all this shame, vexation, grief and heartache? Why, Jehovah’s discipline. Since delinquency is the logical outcome of a child’s unrestrained actions, “the rod and reproof” are necessary. To preclude the parents from suffering grief and pain, the child must suffer pain. “Chastise your son and he will bring you rest and give much pleasure to your soul.” “The one holding back his rod is hating his son, but the one loving him is he that does look for him with discipline.” “Chastise your son while there exists hope.” (Prov. 29:17; 13:24; 19:18) Sometimes parents are reluctant to speak to their children this way, yet parents are accountable to God to discipline their children Jehovah’s way.

¹¹ Not always, of course, need Jehovah’s discipline involve the use of the literal rod. There may be a reproof and humiliation by words of the mouth, the words of the mouth being used with rodlike effect. That the lips can be used in such a way is evident from Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “Shall I come to you with a rod?” As children grow older, the rod of the mouth and the deprivation of privileges may well form much of the discipline.—1 Cor. 4:21.

12. What should be done to ensure that the discipline is “Jehovah’s”?

¹² Whether it be the literal rod or the rod of the mouth, let the discipline be administered in such a way that it is Jehovah’s. Young people should understand whose discipline their parents are carrying out and that the parents are not merely pleasing themselves. The child or youth must be made to know that the parents are responsible before God to carry out his discipline. Remember, it is the “rod and reproof.” There should always be a clear-cut explanation as to why the rod is being administered. The child should understand what commandment of Jehovah has been violated, so that the discipline will really be Jehovah’s.

RENDERING AN ACCOUNT

13, 14. (a) What is even more serious to parents than the grief undisciplined children bring? (b) How is accountability to God for applying his discipline illustrated in the case of Eli?

¹³ Undisciplined, a young person’s delinquent acts will bring grief and reproach to the parents, but, more seriously, the negligent parents will render an account to God. Illustrating that parents, as well as those in responsible positions in God’s organization, are accountable to God for applying Jehovah’s discipline is the case of high priest Eli.

¹⁴ As a father, high priest and judge of Israel, Eli was lax in applying Jehovah’s discipline. His two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, served as officiating priests and so should have been exemplary in their conduct. But not so: “The sons of Eli were good-for-nothing men; they did not acknowledge Jehovah.” The Bible account goes on to show how these sons serving as priests were not content with the portion God’s law assigned to them. These greedy sons also served themselves ahead of Jehovah. Before satisfying their own appetites, they should have offered the fat on the altar to Jehovah; but they put themselves ahead of Jehovah. Their father and high priest apparently gave them no rebuke, so that Jehovah told Eli: “You keep honoring your sons more than me.” In his old age Eli did mildly rebuke his sons but only when their conduct became even more abominable and scandalous: “He had heard of all that his sons kept doing to all Israel and how they would lie down with the women that were serving at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” Eli’s sons merited death under God’s law and still he did not apply Jehovah’s discipline by ousting the vile ones from office. Hence Jehovah announced that the influence of Eli’s house was to be destroyed and his sons would both die on the same day. Still Eli did not take disciplinary action against his sons but allowed them to stay in office. Finally, through the prophet Samuel, Jehovah declared: “You must tell him that I am judging his house to time indefinite for the error that he has known, because his sons are calling down evil upon God, and he has not rebuked them.” Eli appears to have indulged or pampered his children from infancy onward; and when his sons’ delinquency became notorious, he, in his old age, mildly remonstrated when he should have taken disciplinary action. Yet neither as father nor as high priest and judge of Israel did he apply Jehovah’s discipline. For this failure God held Eli accountable: “The error of the house of Eli will not be brought to exemption from punishment.”—1 Sam. 2:12–3:14.

15. How may failure to apply Jehovah’s discipline affect a Christian father today, and so how does God view the matter?

¹⁵ So accountable are parents in God’s eyes as to whether they apply Jehovah’s discipline that the Christian apostle, speaking of the qualifications for being an overseer in the congregation, wrote: “The overseer should therefore be . . . a man presiding over his own household in a fine manner, having children in subjection with all seriousness; (if indeed any man does not know how to preside over his own household, how will he take care of God’s congregation?).” It is not a light thing in God’s eyes for a father to be negligent in bringing up his children in the discipline of Jehovah.—1 Tim. 3:2, 4, 5.

16. As shown by a newspaper report, what are the fine results of bringing children up Jehovah’s way?

¹⁶ When children are brought up in “the discipline and authoritative advice of Jehovah,” with the knowledge that they as well as their parents are accountable to God, the fine results cannot be kept secret. When a newspaper writer visited the United Worshipers District Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Yankee Stadium in 1961, he observed the many young persons present and wrote an article that appeared on the front page of the Queens County (New York) Post, of August 2, 1961, which said:

“Today when one sees so much juvenile delinquency, so many undisciplined children, so little respect of young for older, so great increase in crime year after year by those 20 years and less, he is suddenly stopped short as he beholds a huge organization made up of hundreds of thousands of families that have no juvenile delinquency problems. And naturally he wonders why. . . . When it comes to their children, Jehovah’s Witnesses get advice from the same book they turn to for advice on every other phase of life—the Holy Bible. . . . Jehovah’s witnesses believe the best way to fight delinquency—is to prevent it. You’re ready to agree when you see the large numbers of young Witnesses of Jehovah who take up the ministry instead of mischief, witnessing instead of wandering and preaching instead of prowling. You perceive that the young people here at Yankee Stadium don’t represent a once-a-year Youth Revival, but a year-round way of life. The world conditions, which make some young people purposeless thrillseekers with an ‘eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die’ attitude, foster in these young Witnesses a sense of responsibility. They have an assured expectation for something better and a desire to want to share it with their fellow man. They have a very real purpose in life and the importance of it gives them that feeling of worth so lacking in modern youth.”

REMAINING TIME FOR DOING GOD’S WILL

17. (a) As to accountability, what do the Scriptures show regarding the great mass of mankind who refuse to live by Jehovah’s Word? (b) Unless they change, what will be the end of those disobedient to God?

¹⁷ Not all persons, of course, are dedicated worshipers of Jehovah God; yet all must face an accounting. If God’s true worshipers are to render an account, what of the great mass of mankind that refuses to do his divine will, keeping on doing the will of the nations? The apostle Peter declares: “For it is the appointed time for the judgment to start with the house of God. Now if it starts first with us, what will the end be of those who are not obedient to the good news of God? ‘And if the righteous man is being saved with difficulty, where will the ungodly man and the sinner make a showing’?” Unless they change their course of action ‘the end of those who are not obedient to the good news’ of God will be “at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels in a flaming fire, as he brings vengeance upon those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus. These very ones will undergo the judicial punishment of everlasting destruction.”—1 Pet. 4:17, 18; 2 Thess. 1:7-9.

18. What must a person stop doing it he wishes to escape “judicial punishment,” and to whom will the ungodly render an account?

¹⁸ Today the majority of mankind are indulging in a wild spree of worldliness; but if we want to escape the “judicial punishment” soon to be meted out to them at Armageddon, then, whether young or old, we cannot afford to spend more time doing things such as the apostle Peter describes: “The time that has passed by is sufficient for you to have worked out the will of the nations when you proceeded in deeds of loose conduct, lusts, excesses with wine, revelries, drinking matches, and illegal idolatries. Because you do not continue running with them in this course to the same low sink of debauchery, they are puzzled and go on speaking abusively of you. But these people will render an account to the one ready to judge those living and those dead.” So the ungodly and those who speak abusively of you for doing God’s will must “render an account” to God’s Judge, Jesus Christ, “the One decreed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.”—1 Pet. 4:3-5; Acts 10:42.

19. How should the Christian feel as to the use of time, and why is there no need for despair? But what should be done?

¹⁹ For the Christian, the time passed in his life doing the will of the nations has been enough, too much in fact; but he could not help it, having been born in this system of things and not knowing God’s truth. But when one learns the truth from the Holy Bible, there comes a time to change, to turn around and to live by God’s laws. While one may begrudge the time that he formerly spent on doing the world’s will, the strength and energy formerly spent on worldly sprees, there is no need to despair: There is still time ahead of us. But not much. Peter goes on to say: “The end of all things has drawn close.” Seeing that not much time remains for this world, we will want to use the remainder