mercy have ascended as a remembrance before God. So now send men to Joppa and summon a certain Simon who is surnamed Peter.’ Accordingly Cornelius said [to Peter]: ‘Four days ago counting from this hour I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, when, look! a man in bright raiment stood before me and said: ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been favorably heard and your gifts of mercy have been remembered before God.’ While Peter was yet speaking about these matters the holy spirit fell upon all those hearing the word.”—Acts 10:3-5, 30, 31, 44, NW.

18. The privilege of dedication is available to whom?

¹⁸ Of whatever nation, origin, status in life, extent of inherited disability, the way to God’s approval through dedication and faithful service is open to you. That way you may take with confidence, and you should do so. Notice what was stated in this connection at the time of the inauguration of the glorious temple constructed under the direction of Solomon. The prayer of inauguration was, in part: “Moreover concerning the foreigner, that is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name’s sake (for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thine outstretched arm); when he shall come and pray toward this house; hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner calleth to thee for; that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.”—1 Ki. 8:41-43, AS.

19. Understanding is necessary on what further points?

¹⁹ As has been discussed in other articles in The Watchtower, Scripturally there is a difference between consecration and dedication. Consecration, as this is used in the Scriptures, refers to God’s act of installing the associate priests with Christ Jesus and applies only to Christ and the anointed spirit-begotten members of his body, and this act, of course, follows or comes after the individual dedication of those Christians who are eventually called to be members of the body of Christ. The hopes of these are heavenly and are not the earthly hopes of Jehovah’s “other sheep.” An individual makes a dedication to Jehovah God; and what follows thereafter? What must a dedicated person do to receive and retain Jehovah’s lasting approval and be successful in his dedicated Christian career? What do the Scriptures lay upon the dedicated Christian? These questions we shall consider in our next issue.

“Nothing Doing!”

In Eastern Germany two witnesses were going from house to house preaching the good news of God’s kingdom. At one place a man was busy working in his back yard and as one of the witnesses tactfully began to explain the purpose of their visit, the man, sensing that they were Jehovah’s witnesses, became so panic-stricken with fear that he shouted, “Nothing doing!” and rushed into his house lest any one see him talking with the witnesses.

He having shouted so loudly that his neighbors, who were also working in their gardens, wondered what was going on, the two witnesses thought it best to follow the panic-stricken householder into his house. There they were able to calm him and tell him about the Kingdom hope. Arrangements were made to call back upon him and now he wishes to get immersed at the very first opportunity, to confess publicly that he is one of Jehovah’s witnesses. Today he recollects with amusement his once fearful cry, “Nothing doing!”