‘Glorious Good News from the Happy God’

“Also, in all the nations the good news has to be preached first.”​—Mark 13:10.

1. What does the Bible foretell for this day with regard to: (a) bad news, (b) good news?

WE ALL welcome good news, do we not? But where is good news to be found today? Certainly not in the news media of the world! Dark clouds hover over mankind, and for most people there are no silver linings. Employment has become insecure. Food is costing more. Crime and violence are on the increase. Morals have plunged to new low levels. World rearmament “races out of control.”a It is just what the Bible foretold for this day: “Anguish of nations . . . while men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth.” However, is there only bad news for today? No, for the same scripture goes on to tell Christians: “Raise yourselves erect and lift your heads up.” And why? “Because your deliverance is getting near.”​—Luke 21:25-28.

2. Why is this the grandest of good news? (Luke 2:10)

² Here, then, is good news. When we examine it closely, it turns out to be the grandest of good news. It is good news to make you happy.

3. How is the “good news” variously described in the Greek Scriptures?

³ The expression “good news” appears more than 120 times in the Christian Greek Scriptures. The Gospel writers Matthew and Luke speak of “the good news of the kingdom.” Mark’s Gospel proclaims “the good news about Jesus Christ.” The apostle Paul refers to “the glorious good news of the happy God.” And the apostle Peter describes the “good news” as “the saying of Jehovah” that “endures forever.”​—Matt. 4:23; Luke 8:1; Mark 1:1; 1 Tim. 1:11; 1 Pet. 1:25.

4. How do the Scriptures emphasize the permanency of the “good news”?

⁴ The permanency of the “good news” is also emphasized in the Revelation to the apostle John, where we read of “everlasting good news” that an angel declares “as glad tidings to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.” This angel calls on all men to “fear God and give him glory,” yes, to “worship the One who made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters.” This is because, as John writes, “the hour of the judgment by him has arrived.”​—Rev. 14:6, 7.

5. Why has mankind in general failed to accept the “good news,” and with what result?

⁵ At this climax of the ages “the glorious good news” shines forth brilliantly. But does mankind in general view it as good news? Paul tells us at 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4: “The good news . . . is veiled among those who are perishing, among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through.” The good news brings Satan’s system of things into judgment. Those who support Satan’s system will perish because they “do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus.”​—2 Thess. 1:8.

6. What blessings await those who heed the “good news”? (Ps. 37:11, 29)

⁶ However, those who heed the good news will receive blessings beyond the power of mortal man now to fathom, so marvelous will they be! It was in appreciation of the good news that Paul exclaimed: “O the depth of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments are and past tracing out his ways are!”​—Rom. 11:28, 33.

THE BOOK OF “GOOD NEWS” AND ITS AUTHOR

7. Why may the Bible be described as the most magnificent literary work of all time?

⁷ Where is the good news to be found today? Only in God’s Word, the Bible​—truly a unique book of boundless wisdom. What splendid panorama the Bible opens up to us, extending from the beginnings of creation, down through all mankind’s history into these present critical times, and on through the grand millennium of Christ’s glorious reign! And yet, this book of good news was recorded by just ordinary folk like us​—devoted men selected by Jehovah, and empowered by his spirit to write his message. Jehovah saw to it also that it was preserved for us, against all attempts to contaminate or destroy it. The “good news” has come down through the centuries in the form of sixty-six “little books,” of varying lengths and content, but each contributing its indispensable part to the most magnificent literary work ever to appear on the face of this earth​—the Holy Bible.​—Ps. 19:7-11.

8. (a) What does the book of “good news” magnify above all else? (b) How does God’s name set him apart from all other gods?

⁸ Above all, this book of “good news” magnifies the name and sovereignty of the true and living God, Jehovah. (Rev. 4:11) Wonderfully it portrays him as the eternal, happy God​—“Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness and truth, preserving loving-kindness for thousands, pardoning error and transgression and sin.” (Ex. 34:6, 7) We can have confidence in this Sovereign Lord of the universe. Jehovah is a compassionate, fatherly God, so different from Christendom’s unexplainable Trinity and from the millions of ancestral gods and lifeless idols worshiped in the non-Christian religions. He is God the Almighty, the Most High over all the earth, and his illustrious name Jehovah stands for his purpose to deliver from this Satanic world those who love him.​—Ps. 83:17, 18; Ezek. 38:23.

MARVELS OF GOD’S CREATION

9. What marvelous qualities did Jehovah show in creating the earth? (Jer. 10:10-12)

⁹ Jehovah’s exercise of wisdom, foresight and love are breathtaking to contemplate. (Ps. 40:5) When he constructed our “spaceship” Earth, placed it in the heavens and prepared it as man’s everlasting home, he did not overlook even the minutest details. Home planners of this twentieth century could learn much from the forevision Jehovah displayed when he built and provisioned this earth. He gave our earthly home a foundation that will never be moved and a beautiful star-studded ceiling that will declare his glory for all ages to come. As Proverbs 3:19 states: “Jehovah himself in wisdom founded the earth. He solidly fixed the heavens in discernment.”

10, 11. (a) What provisions did Jehovah make for man long before creating him? (b) How has the earth become filled with bad news? (Duet. 32:5)

¹⁰ For the future happiness of his creature man, Jehovah decorated this earthly home with a delightful array of color. He carpeted it with lovely green fields and forests that not only provide restful beauty but also absorb and store energy from the sun. Thus our earthly home has its own built-in power supply. Jehovah so arranged it that all living things could draw on this power supply. By providing the various kinds of grains, fruits, vegetables and other foods, he saw to it that earth’s larder was well stocked even long before he created man. That larder will always remain full, for Jehovah later declared: “All the days the earth continues, seed sowing and harvest . . . will never cease.”​—Gen. 8:22; Ps. 104:14, 15, 24.

¹¹ Jehovah also provided precious metals and gems, valuable minerals and radioactive elements, along with the treasures of coal and oil. Only in recent years has man come to realize how marvelously his earthly home was equipped at the time of creation. If only man had used all this provision to the benefit of humanity and to the glory of God, each new discovery would have become a source of good news. (Compare Deuteronomy 8:6-9.) But, instead, greedy men have failed to thank earth’s Designer and Maker. They have acted like vandals in misusing and abusing Jehovah’s glorious creation. They have polluted the earth, ruined its resources and built an arsenal of nuclear armaments that places mankind on the brink of self-destruction. They have filled the earth with bad news. But it will not always be that way.

12. Why can it be said that man is made in “a fear-inspiring way”?

¹² Jehovah’s grandest of all earthly creations is man himself. Just look at how he is built! What a magnificent creation the original perfect man must have been, made in God’s spiritual “image” and with a physical body of design and workmanship far superior to any machine that man has ever thought out or constructed! (Gen. 1:27) Truly, we should say to Jehovah: “O Jehovah, . . . I shall laud you because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, as my soul is very well aware.” (Ps. 139:1, 14) And consider, the human being that is you, all developed from an egg cell as small as a pinpoint. That was all the space the Great Designer, Jehovah God, needed to write down the original blueprint from which you were constructed in all your parts. That makes you feel very small, does it not?​—Eccl. 11:5.

WHAT THE “GOOD NEWS” IS ALL ABOUT

13. (a) Why is it that our bodies no longer function properly? (b) With regard to our earthly home, what strong confidence can we have ? (Ps. 145:17-20)

¹³ Truly it was a disaster that the first man and woman chose to rebel against Jehovah’s sovereignty and fall into sin. Because of inherited sin, our wonderfully designed bodies no longer function properly, and in time all of us die. (Rom. 5:12) Many of mankind have added to their imperfections by abusing their bodies and contaminating their minds. They fall far short of reflecting the ‘image of God.’ Human society has become selfish and corrupt. But we today who love God can strive to reflect his personality. And we can have strong confidence that he will set things right in our earthly home, ousting the vandals who have ruined it, and renovating it so that it will at last shine forth as a beautiful paradise, to the delight of all mankind and to God’s glory. That is what the “good news” is all about.​—Rev. 11:18; Ps. 37:37, 38.

14. What “good news” has been proclaimed as to a “seed”?

¹⁴ This very special “good news” started to be proclaimed from the time that sin came into the world. It was then, in Eden, that Jehovah announced his purpose to provide a “seed,” a Messiah and Deliverer, to crush the “original serpent,” Satan, and remove all his works of wickedness. (Gen. 3:15; Rev. 12:9-12) Abel, Enoch and Noah exercised faith in that good news, but though God destroyed the ungodly world in the Flood, the promised “seed” had yet to come. Next, the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.​—Gen. 22:15-18.

15. How was the “seed” identified? (Luke 24:25-27)

¹⁵ Who would this “seed” prove to be? Through literally hundreds of prophecies, penmen inspired by God foretold in minute detail the manner of Messiah’s coming, his ministry, his suffering and death and his resurrection to God’s right hand. Thus, the same God who had shown such marvelous foresight in preparing and provisioning our earthly home also foretold long in advance whom he would use in bringing to earth the final state of paradisaic beauty.

16. When and how did the “seed” appear?

¹⁶ After some four thousand years of waiting, the principal one of the “seed” of promise, namely, Jesus Christ, made his appearance. (Gal. 3:16) In announcing the human birth of Jesus, Jehovah’s angel said to humble shepherds: “I am declaring to you good news of a great joy that all the people will have, because there was born to you today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10, 11) At thirty years of age, Jesus was baptized and anointed by God’s spirit, and in his hometown synagogue at Nazareth he announced his purpose in coming to earth by reading the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Jehovah’s spirit is upon me, because he anointed me to declare good news to the poor, he sent me forth to preach a release to the captives and a recovery of sight to the blind, to send the crushed ones away with a release, to preach Jehovah’s acceptable year.” Then, after sitting down, Jesus said to his own townspeople: “Today this scripture that you just heard is fulfilled.” (Luke 4:18-21) But did they rejoice at the good news? No. Instead, they tried to kill Jesus.

17. As made known by Jesus, what bright hope does the “good news” provide?

¹⁷ In due course, “Jesus set out on a tour of all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news of the kingdom and curing every sort of disease and every sort of infirmity.” (Matt. 9:35) So, Jesus told of a Kingdom rule that would bring grand blessings to mankind, and he indicated the marvelous range of those future blessings by healing people of their sicknesses and frailties. (Luke 7:22) Yes, the “good news” provided bright hope of a release from sin and death, from wicked rule by Satan and by man, and from bondage to false religion.

WHY WE SHOULD THANK GOD AND CHRIST

18. What proves that God and Christ really care for mankind?

¹⁸ This “good news” tells how much God really cares for his human creation on earth: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) How we should thank Jehovah for this loving provision! And how we should thank the Son, Jesus Christ, who said of himself: “No one has love greater than this, that someone should surrender his soul in behalf of his friends”! (John 15:13) This self-sacrificing love became the very basis for “good news.”

19. (a) What did Jesus’ death accomplish? (b) Why was Jesus not interested in producing a human family of his own?

¹⁹ It was in behalf of the “good news” that Jesus submitted to the cruelest of deaths. And what did his death accomplish? By his unswerving loyalty in upholding his Father’s sovereignty to the death, Jesus showed himself to be fully qualified for the exalted post of Ruler in the kingdom of heaven. And by maintaining sinlessness to the death, Jesus preserved his right to perfect human life, which he could now use like “ready cash” in buying back all that Adam had lost for mankind. (Heb. 5:8, 9; Rom. 5:19) Jesus could have married and produced a perfect human family of his own. But he was not interested in that. He was interested in us, Adam’s helpless family, and in doing his Father’s will by ransoming us from sin and death. How fitting it was that “God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every other name.”​—Phil. 2:9-11.

20. (a) What is Jesus able to accomplish in his present position of service? (b) What hope does the “good news” hold forth for the ‘groaning creation’?

²⁰ Now, according to the power of his own “indestructible life,” Jesus serves as “a priest forever” in the heavens, so that he is able to remove for all time the effects of inherited sin. This he has done already in behalf of his “little flock” of anointed followers, selected first from among the Jews and then also from among the Gentile nations, so that they have been brought into a “new covenant,” with the prospect of ruling with him in his heavenly kingdom through a resurrection as spirit creatures. This is the good news that Paul and other disciples proclaimed so vigorously in the first century. (Rom. 1:15, 16; Heb. 7:16, 21; 8:7-13) But the “good news” tells also of the hope of life eternal to be enjoyed by the “great crowd” of Har–Magedon survivors and an even greater crowd of the dead of mankind that will be resurrected in the restored paradise. This is marvelous “good news” indeed for the ‘groaning creation.’​—Rom. 8:20-22.

21. (a) Who especially have suffered at Satan’s hands? (Rev. 6:9) (b) Why is it now due time for God’s Kingdom rule to be restored over all the earth? (Rev. 11:17, 18)

²¹ Yes, mankind has suffered over the centuries, and especially has this been true of loyal servants of God, who have been persecuted and even killed by Satan and his religious agents. But their integrity will be rewarded. (Rev. 2:10) They have shared with Jesus in answering Satan’s challenge that God could not put men on earth who would remain loyal to God under every kind of trial. Throughout six thousand years of human history they have proved that nothing can turn God’s true servants from their love and devotion to him. These faithful worshipers of Jehovah appreciate that man-rule cannot bring unity and happiness to mankind. Only God’s righteous sovereignty can do that. And now that man-rule has shown itself to be a complete failure, the time is at hand for Jehovah to deliver his loyal servants, vindicate his sovereignty and restore his Kingdom rule over all the earth.

Sounding Forth Good News in All the Earth

“Into all the earth their sound went out, and to the extremities of the inhabited earth their utterances.”​—Rom. 10:18.

1. (a) What climactic day have we now reached? (b) How may we ‘prove ourselves ready’? (Mark 13:32-37)

TIME is fast running out! The generation from 1914 has now witnessed the fulfillment of the major part of Jesus’ great prophetic “sign” describing “the conclusion of the system of things.” The “great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again,” is about to break in all its fury over the entire earth. We must remain always on the watch, awake, alert, ready. As Jesus says: “On this account you too prove yourselves ready, because at an hour that you do not think to be it, the Son of man [Christ Jesus] is coming.” Jehovah’s hour of reckoning with Satan’s world hastens on!​—Matt. 24:3, 21, 22, 34, 42, 44.

2. How may we avoid sharing in the sins of Babylon the Great? (Jer. 51:6)

² Proving ourselves ready includes separating ourselves completely from all worldly, false religion and maintaining that separateness. (Jas. 1:27) Indeed, those who love God and truth are plainly told: “Get out of her [Babylon the Great], my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues. For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind.”​—Rev. 18:4, 5.

3. What record shows false religion to be worthy only of destruction?

³ In Christendom and in non-Christian lands, that world empire of false religion has built up a shocking record. She has rejected the true and living God, Jehovah, not even wanting to mention his name. She has taught demonic false doctrines, such as the inherent immortality of the soul, and hellfire torment of the dead. Her Inquisitions, her wars and her oppressions have brought torture and misery to millions. Recall that the two world wars of this century, which took 69 million lives, started in Christendom between countries that claim to be Christian. How great is Christendom’s bloodguilt! False religion’s superstitions, fortune-telling, spiritism, druggery​—these also are hateful in Jehovah’s eyes.​—Deut. 18:9-13; Isa. 65:11, 12.

4. What positive action is required of true worshipers?

⁴ However, it is not sufficient just to get out of false religion. It is necessary to get into the ark of spiritual protection that Jehovah today provides. This is not some material structure, some temple or particular location on earth. As the Son of God, Christ Jesus, stated: “God is a Spirit, and those worshiping him must worship with spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) So true worshipers of God not only separate themselves from all idolatry and superstitious practices; they also study and apply God’s Word in their lives, cultivate Christian personalities and are ‘spirited’ in their service, giving themselves heart and soul in showing love for God and neighbor.​—Mark 12:28-31.

EXECUTION OF GOD’S ENEMIES

5. How will false religion be executed? (Jer. 25:34, 36)

⁵ With startling suddenness, Jehovah will execute judgment on the world empire of false religion! Revelation 18:21 describes it thus: “A strong angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and hurled it into the sea, saying: ‘Thus with a swift pitch will Babylon the great city be hurled down, and she will never be found again.’” Her judicial punishment will be swift and final.

6. Why will the “ten horns” fail in their attack on the followers of the “Lamb”? (Matt. 10:28)

⁶ But more is to come! The “ten horns” of the wild beast will turn next on true religion, and thus “battle with the Lamb,” Christ Jesus. (Rev. 17:12-14) No, they cannot touch Christ on his heavenly throne, but they can, so they think, get at his apparently defenseless disciples here on earth. Will those political “horns” succeed in their attack? No! For Jehovah’s loyal servants will stand firm against this final demonic attack, even as they are doing in many countries in Africa, the Orient and the Communist world at this present time.

7. Why can events at Har–Magedon and thereafter be described as “good news”? (Rev. 14:6, 7)

⁷ The political “kings of the entire inhabited earth” will then find themselves at the world situation called Har–Magedon, and it is there that, as “Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them.” (Rev. 16:14, 16; 17:14) Finally the victorious Christ will hurl Satan and his demons into the abyss of immobility, opening the way for the start of His glorious thousand-year reign for the blessing of all mankind. What enthralling “good news” is all of this!

A PARADISE OF JOY!

8. What paradise of joy is already available to those who love Jehovah? (Isa. 35:10)

⁸ This is what opens up to those who love Jehovah​—not just after the great battle at Har–Magedon, but now! For already, in this time of the end, “the mountain of the house of Jehovah [the place of his true worship]” has been “firmly established above the top of the mountains,” which “mountains” are where Babylon the Great carries on her sectarian rites. Oh, what happiness! Peoples of the nations are streaming in the thousands to the Kingdom Halls and other places, there to join with Jehovah’s people in true worship. As the prophecy says: “Many peoples will certainly go and say: ‘Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah . . . and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.’”​—Isa. 2:2, 3.

9. To what extent has the spiritual paradise now been restored?

⁹ The faithful remnant of anointed witnesses of Jehovah, who bore the brunt of the work and persecutions during the earlier days of this “time of the end,” have been joined by an unmistakably “great crowd.” They come in their multitudes! This is demonstrated in that, in 1976 at the annual observance of the Memorial of Jesus’ death, more than 4,870,000 assembled in over 39,600 congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses earth wide. Truly, the spiritual paradise has swelled to global proportions!​—Dan. 12:4; Rev. 7:9.

10. (a) How will the spiritual paradise serve like an ark? (Isa. 26:20, 21) (b) How will the entire globe come to be a reflection of the spiritual paradise? (Ps. 72:18, 19)

¹⁰ This spiritual paradise will be like an ark of protection, with a precious load of passengers, in passing through the “great tribulation” into the pollution-free earth beyond! Then, cruel rulers will no longer oppress and persecute. No more will Jehovah’s worshipers have to battle against Satan and his immoral world. The “great crowd” will have wholesome, rewarding, stimulating work to do, in transforming the entire globe into a physical paradise of loveliness​—a delightful reflection of the spiritual paradise, concerning which Isaiah wrote: “The wilderness and the waterless region will exult, and the desert plain will be joyful and blossom as the saffron. Without fail it will blossom, and it will really be joyful with joyousness and with glad crying out. . . . There will be those who will see the glory of Jehovah, the splendor of our God.”​—Isa. 35:1, 2.

11. What assurance does the Bible give that the dead will not be forgotten?

¹¹ Nor will the dead be forgotten! How many on earth today can remember or even name forefathers of a hundred years ago? Very few! But God remembers them. He remembers all our forefathers, who have toiled and suffered back through six thousand years of human history. (John 5:28, 29; Mark 12:26, 27) On the basis of Jesus’ loving sacrifice, Jehovah​—the great God of loving-kindness—​will resurrect them, the small and the great. They will stand before his throne, with opportunity to meet his further requirements for entering into a happy, abundant life that goes on forever. (Rev. 20:12) What grand good news is all of this! How we should thank our illustrious God, the Author of this good news!

“GOOD NEWS” FOR OUR FAMILIES

12. In Colossians chapter 3, what are some of the points of loving counsel for families?

¹² In our families, we should want to obey the “good news.” For the good news can help us to live a happy family life together, now and on into the future. What fine principles does the Book of Good News, the Bible, provide us in this regard! For example, if you just read the third chapter of Colossians, all of it, you will find there loving advice for helping all families successfully to weather the storms of this “time of the end.” It is not too difficult in these critical times to succeed together as a family, especially when you “clothe yourselves with love, for it is a perfect bond of union.”​—Col. 3:14.

13. What Scriptural examples show the value of guiding little ones from infancy?

¹³ And what of our little ones, our children? We love them, and we want them to love us. So what better examples could parents follow than those excellent models of child training provided for us in God’s Word, and which helped to produce such stalwart advocates of truth as Samuel, David, John the Baptist, Timothy— and, of course, our Master himself, Jesus! But we need to watch over our little ones and guide them from infancy in developing Christian personalities. We cannot expect perfection to result in this imperfect world, but we can expect that Jehovah will bless our efforts, for, as Psalm 127 (verse 3) states it, our children are “an inheritance from Jehovah,” and they will be a blessing to parents who train them in His way.

STANDING FIRM FOR THE KINGDOM

14. What way of life will lead to eternal happiness?

¹⁴ Are we not happy that we have come to know Jehovah and his Son? This knowledge has brought us into a way of life that leads to eternal happiness. It is an active, meaningful life. It centers around our showing deep love for Jehovah and self-sacrificing love for our neighbor, and especially for our own families and our brothers. In living the truth we don’t have to follow a long list of “don’ts.” There are a few “necessary things” to refrain from, which would harm us spiritually, for example, those mentioned at Acts 15:28, 29: Idolatry, blood, fornication. But our Christian way of life is a positive living of the truth, a joyful, happy manner of life as dedicated, baptized slaves of God. It is life with a purpose. Great will be our joy, now and on through into the paradise earth, if we heed well Paul’s words: “Whatever you are doing, work at it whole-souled as to Jehovah, and not to men, for you know that it is from Jehovah you will receive the due reward.” (Col. 3:23, 24) And the great work that must be done today is to get “this good news of the kingdom” preached in all the earth as a witness before the end comes!​—Matt. 24:14.

15. What features of the “good news,” yet to be fulfilled, should fill our hearts with praise?

¹⁵ We look forward to Jehovah’s creating “new heavens and a new earth” in which “righteousness is to dwell.” When through a resurrection in the spirit, all the 144,000 members of Christ’s “bride” are united with him in the heavens, and when the new clean society of mankind is fully operative in the earth, what a glorious day that will be! The very certainty of this “good news” fills our hearts with praise for the great God who is making “all things new” and who promises to “wipe out every tear” and remove all things that cause outcry or pain. Yes, even the enemy death is to disappear under the glorious rule of Christ’s kingdom. As we today stand firm for that kingdom, and in support of Jehovah’s sovereignty, let us do our utmost to be found finally “spotless and unblemished and in peace.”​—2 Pet. 3:13, 14; Rev. 21:1-5; 1 Cor. 15:25, 26.

THERE IS WORK TO DO!

16. What great work must yet be completed? (John 14:12)

¹⁶ When Jesus was on earth, he started something that was to grow until it filled the earth. Even within that generation it came to be said: “That good news . . . was preached in all creation that is under heaven.” (Col. 1:23) However, Jesus himself foretold an even grander witness for the “conclusion of the system of things,” saying that “in all the nations the good news has to be preached first.” And what next? Why, “then the end will come.” (Mark 13:10; Matt. 24:3, 14) Has that preaching work now been completed? No! For the end has not yet come.

17. Why will Jehovah’s Witnesses be busy right up until the time of the “great tribulation”? (Isa. 6:8, 11)

¹⁷ The end does not come just because we might think it is the due date, or because we feel that our territory has been well worked. It comes when Jehovah has carried through the great work of Kingdom preaching to the extent he wants, and then he will bring the “great tribulation.” Until that time there is work to do! And we as Jehovah’s Witnesses are the ones assigned to do it! The arrival of the “great tribulation” should find the preaching work at the height of its forward movement, at the very peak of its momentum throughout the earth. The arrival of the Lord Jesus to execute judgment will come as a complete surprise​—even to Jehovah’s people, for it will no doubt find them at their busiest time of activity!

18. Why is it necessary to “keep on the watch”? (Luke 21:34-36)

¹⁸ Jesus tells us: “Keep looking, keep awake, for you do not know when the appointed time is. . . . Keep on the watch.” (Mark 13:32-37) What if, in expectation of the “great tribulation,” Jehovah’s Witnesses had eased up, and stopped watching and making plans for the future, in 1914, in 1925, in 1975 or at any other date​—could this have resulted in the expansive spiritual paradise that we see today? How glad we are that Jehovah has energized his people to keep sounding forth good news in all the earth!

19. In our day, what does it mean to worship God with spirit and truth? (Rev. 7:15)

¹⁹ Jehovah’s advancing theocratic society will be a going concern, a go-forward organization, right down to and through the “great tribulation.” For the worship of God with spirit and truth is positive, enthusiastic, spirited and progressive. More and more sections of the earth, in Western lands, in the Orient and elsewhere, are now receiving a thorough witness, and who knows how much farther the “glorious good news” will be sounded forth before the end! As Paul stated, it is “woe” to us if we do not declare the good news, for that is God’s will and work for our day!​—1 Cor. 9:16.

20. How does ‘faith follow the thing heard’? (Rom. 10:10)

²⁰ Jesus himself set the pattern for sounding forth the good news, and his anointed followers have followed in his footsteps down until this day. In referring to this, the apostle Paul quoted Isaiah 52:7, saying: “How comely are the feet of those who declare good news of good things!” Now in all the earth a “great crowd” joins the anointed remnant in sounding forth that good news. But not all persons heed the message. Paul tells us: “Nevertheless, they did not all obey the good news. For Isaiah says: ‘Jehovah, who put faith in the thing heard by us?’ So faith follows the thing heard. In turn the thing heard is through the word about Christ. Nevertheless I ask, They did not fail to hear, did they? Why, in fact, ‘into all the earth their sound went out, and to the extremities of the inhabited earth their utterances.’”​—Rom. 10:15-18; Isa. 53:1; Ps. 19:4.

21. What shows the “good news” to be unconquerable? (Rev. 10:7)

²¹ Today the situation is similar to that in Paul’s day. The “glorious good news of the happy God,” concerning his Christ, is being sounded forth to earth’s extremities. In some countries, harsh rulers or ingrained Babylonish religion have stood as barriers to the light of truth. But the good news continues to be sounded forth, and in more and more places “faith follows the thing heard.”

22. In anticipation of the triumph of the “good news,” what should we now be doing?

²² May our feet continue to be “shod with the equipment of the good news of peace,” and may we, as Paul did, continue “to bear thorough witness to the good news of the undeserved kindness of God.” (Acts 20:24; Eph. 6:15) Yes, may we “behave in a manner worthy of the good news about the Christ, . . . standing firm in one spirit, with one soul striving side by side for the faith of the good news, and in no respect being frightened by [our] opponents.” (Phil. 1:27, 28) The “good news” must triumph! May each one of us be very busy in ‘sounding forth good news in all the earth.’ Thus we will continue to be made happy, and to make many others very, very happy!