Watchtower: Heaven and Purgatory by J.F. Rutherford, 1931

8/20/2019 Watchtower: Heaven and Purgatory by J.F. Rutherford, 1931

1/68


2/68


3/68

AND

p URGATORY

y 1 F utherford

Author

of

The

Harp of

God Deliverance CreatioD Reconcilia

tion

Go\

-erwnent Life .Prophecy

Light.

These

are only

u.

few

of Judge Ru

therford's nu

merous writings. Their combined circu-

la.tion exceeds 93 500 000 copies.

Made

in th

e U. S A.

Copyrighted 1031 by

I NTERNAT

IO

NAL BIBLE

STUDENTS

ASSOOIATION I

Publisher

THE WA l (l l i

T OWER L E

. TBACT

SO IETY

Brooklyn

New

York, U. S. A. I

London Toronto Stratbfleld Cape Town

I :Berne Magdeburg

I

e ~ ~ ~ . ~


4/68

FOREWORD

Many people ilisbe-

i

ol'c in a heaven, and

JIltlllY

more do not be-

li

ove

in

a

purgatory

Probably

yon have b

n

IImused, perhaps even

disgusted, with the

ll SUal

conceptions or descrip-

tions of both places.

Th

e

l l

thor of tl1is book, how-

over, does not draw

upon his imagination.

sticks

strictly

to the

~ c

r e ~ c r i p

t u r e s and

points out to you only

what the Bible says

tbout Heaven and

Pur-

gatory.

TEE PUBLISHERS


5/68

Heaven and Purgatory

L OO at that headline in the morning pa-

per.

'Three

Murderers Electrocuted;

Spmn Aid of Clergy.' Seems to me these crim-

inals are

becoming more hardened every day."

With these words Mr. Churehman greeted Mr.

Christian as the latter entered his offi e.

r

i s ~ i v n :

Well, what about

iU

Ghwtchman What

about

it

Why, such men,

knowing

that

in a few minutes they shall die

and

be compelled to meet their Maker, refuse

the

last

rites of tbe clergy Would you think

that they wanted to go to hell for ever I \Vhy,

this paper tells of three

men

that were electro-

cuted

last

night

at

the

Sing Sing

prison

for

kill-

ing the warden of another

prison

. One of them

was a Catholic, another was a Protestant Epis

copal,

and

the third was a Jew. When the

time came to lead these men to the death eham-

bel' the prison officials had ki.ndly arranged for

the clergymen to be there to administer to those

condemned men the l

ast

rites

.

The

iiTst one to

go to the chair was the Catholic,

and

wheli the

priest

stepped forward to administer the

last

service the condemned man not ouly refused

him, but

cursed the minister

and

went to death

scorning the help of the clergyman. The next

. I .


6/68

4

HE VEN

AND

P

URGATORY

oue was led

to

the chair aud he did the same

thing und refused to l

et

the Episcopal clergy

man

do anything

for

him.

Th

en the

Jew

fol

lowed, ancI when the rabbi attempted to do some-

thing fOI hiru he refused. This

paper

says

that

all tln eo

or the

se meu went to death scorning

the a id

0

1 Lhe lergymen. cannot understand

why

I l ~ J l

would do that. These t

hr

ee clergymen

had their trip

to

the prison for nothing, when

iJ1

e men

mi

ght

ha

ve

had

some good doue

for

them.

What are

we coming to, n y h o w ~

7wistia n May inquire, Mr. Churchman,

wllat goou the Catholic priest could have done

for the JlIall who was about to die, and what

good Ule

Protestant

preacher or the J ewish

rabbi

might have done

for

the othel s that would

have

ll

eJpeu them

¥

f the Catholic

priest

could

have elm le Borne good

for

one, why could he not

have

done lhe same thing

for

all the others1

Why ShO llld three clergymen be employed to be

on

; l U

at such a time1

re

there different

ways of saving men who are all condemned to

die

Cilltwchrnwn

Well now, that is rather a

diffi-

cult

qu

estion

for

me, but sur ely these cle

rgym

en

could have helped save the

so

uls of these men.

Why do

we

have clergymen i f they are not to

help when death is impending1 was brought

up a Catholic and know

that

the Catholic

church teaches that the very wicked go to eter-


7/68

HE VEN ND P URG TORY

5

nal torment, while the righteous go to everlast-

ing rest in heaven and that those who die in

venial sin

th

at

which

is

capable of being for-

given) go to a middle state

of

limited pun-

ishment; and tbat such place is ca lled purga-

tory . f one goes to that place, purgatory, his

friends

on earth

may help him out if they em-

ploy the servic

es

of a priest of the church to

intervene for him. I lmow that many prayers are

made for those who thus die and go to purga-

tOly. f this man, knowing that he was about

to die, would refuse to let the priest administer '

the last rites to him, how

co

uld he expect any

clergyman'

thereafter

to

pray for

the repose of

his soul

in

purgatory '

Eve

ry Catholic knows

that when a person is about to die i f he is a

Catholic, the

priest

is called to administer the

la

st rites of the church. I have always under-

stood t

hat

such is a

pr

oper thing to

do

. Don't

you think so 1

Olwistian:

What aliout the other fellow

who

was a Protestant1 Did he have any chance to

go to purgatory¥

Ohu? chman:

Well, I don't think

th

e Protes-

tants

believe

in

purgatory, but doubtless his

minister could have helped him go to heaven.

Ohristian:

And the J ew , what about him ,

Did he have a different kind

of

soul,

or

what

could his rabbi do for him ¥


8/68

HE VEN ND PURG TORY

Ohurch,lta41:

You

ar

e asking me 1I don't know

about tlle J ews. I wlder

st

and

th

ey

do

not believe

in

going to

1,

caven when they die; but maybe

they do. Don·t you believe

that

all goo d persons

go to heaven when they die, and

that

the had

ones go to tonnent, and that the others who are

wieked

go

to pl1l'gator y aud can later be trans-

ferred to heaven f some good

pri

est says pray-

ers

for

them ' IVby, I thoug

ht

ahnost everybody

believed that . ,VlIy,

her

e

I

have a copy of the

Messenger

o

the Sacred Hea ·t

which is

a

re-

ligious pape

l'

that I take regularly. t is pub-

lished

by

the Extension Press,

at

the Brooks

Building, Chicago. Let me read to you what

it says bout what a prie

st

can do at death:

Tbe

pardon

crtlcifb the aid of which is to obtain

pard

on of God and to pal'don on

e s

neighbors,

is

of

in

estimable merit. Among its many benefits

after

b

e-

ing blessed by a

pri

est ,

is

that of a ple

nary

indulgence

at

the moment of death.

f tlle pl'iest were there at the

ti

me of death

surely he could do as much as or more than the

crncifix that had been blessed by the

priest

.

Oh1'isili(JJ :

From whom does the

priest

get

authority

or

power to bless a crucifix and

im-

part

inestimable merit to i t t Or where does

he g

et

the authority to administer rites

or

bene-

fits to auother at death Y

Ghu olllmcvn:

\Vhy, from his ehul'eh, and

that

authority is given by the Bible.


9/68

•

HEAVEN

AND PURGATORY

7

OMistiarn: o you believe

n

God and

n

the

Bible1

Oh1 'chma n: Wby, certainly I do.

Olwistil1(lt: Then you should take what the

Bible says about this matter. I am sure you are

quite sincere, Mr. Churchman, and want to be

lieve only what is l ight. I also lmow that the

Ca tholic chmch teaches that many go to pur

gatory at death and can thereafter be aided by

the

pray

e

rs

of the living made

n

their behalf.

f

you should find that the Bible does not sup

port

that pmgatorial theory would you still be

lieve it1

Oh1wchmlJlYl,: Wby, of comse I would have to

believe what is in the Bible, because that is

God s

Word

of trnth. Surely the Bible teaches

that

men go to

pur

ga

tor

y

at

death and can be

aided by the

prayers

of others, and especially

by the prayers of the priest. Surely the priests

would not be teaching something that is not in

the Bible.

Oh istilJlYl,:

A moment ago you stated to me

that

the Catholic church teaches that there are

three places to which persons may go

at

death;

that one is pUl gatory, another is heaven, and

another eternal torment. Can you tell me where

you learned that

OhurchmaAt:

Wby

certainly, I have a book

right

here in my desk, written

by

the late

and

:venerable cardinal Gibbons, one of the grea,test

-


10/68

•

8 REA

VEN AND P U

RGATORY

men in our

cbur

cb,

t

is called

he Faith of Qu,

Fathe, s,

[Truc

es the book from bis desk] On

pa

ge

205

this statement

is

made:

[R

eads]

The Catholic

OIn1ro11 tenches

that,

besid

es a plac

e

of eterna

l tOl'ments lor tilo wicked an.d of ever

la

s

tin

g

l cst fOl the dghteous,

lhere

exists in the ncxt life a

middle stuto Ol temporary

pUllislmlcnt,

allotted Ior

those who

ll

UVC di ed

ll

vcuiu l

Hin, 01

who have no t

satisfied

tbo

juaLi

ec

ol

Oo

d

CO l' SillS

" Iroady

forgiven, '

She

also

toaulles

us

tbat , ,

dt

bouglt the

so

ul

s eonsigued

to

this intel'llleruato state,

co

mmonly

cu

ll

ed

pl11'gatory,

cannot belp

themselves, they

lIIlIY be aided by the

sllffrages

of

lbc faithfnl 011

eart

h, l

'he

ex istcnee

of

Iltll'gatory naturally

impli

es

tho calTelative

dogma

th

e utility of

praying

I01

Lho

d

eu

d-

i ol th

e souls

consigned

to

this middle

staLo

Itll' C

110t

l'eached the

term of their journey, 'riley arc

Htill exiles

from

heav

en

and

it subjects

for

Divino

clemency,

Ghr

istian : I concede t l l ~ it is siateo in the

book, but is any BiNe l e

f el'OllCO

g i \ OIl to sup

port

that statemen

t?

Wherc

ill

the Bible

do

you

find anything upon which can be based the

theory of purgatory1 f i t is true that some go

to

purga

tory at death Iud thore undergo pun

ishme

nt

for an indelinite L

m

e,

anel

can be

reo

lieveel by othel's, is it not l'ensonable to expect

that

some reference to

tIle

Bible can be fOlIDd

to support iU

Gh l f

chnnan Well, you know tbat it is the

practice in ~ h church to administer the last


11/68

REAVJ :N AND PURGATORY 9

rites

or

sacrifices just before death. Many a

man makes a confession and repents when he

is

about to die, and the

Pro

tes

tant

clergyman says

that

such go to heaven, while I believe they

go

to

purgatory

. Surely all these clergymen would

not be teaching the people that those who malce

a confession

on

their deathbed go to heaven

or

purgatory

unless the Bible teaches

that

. Now

I remember a soripture

text tbat

the clergy use

to support

theu

'

wOl 1;

whcn they administer the

last rites

, and

it shOws that

the dead

go

to pur-

gatory.

t

is about two thieves who were cruci-

fied at the same time esus was crucified and

one of them made a deathbed confession and

Jesus told

im that

be would go to paradise

that

vel'y day.

f

that'is true, then the three men

who were electrocuted

last

night, as this paper

says, could have be en benefited by the clergy

if they had confessed aud asked for forgiveness .

Ghrist an: f

a man can be a thief all the days

of his life,

or

a

murd

erer, and the) a few

min-

utes before

l1\s

death make some confession be-

fore a priest or clergyman and be immediately

sent to purgatory Or to heaven,

that

would be a

premium on crime, wouldn't it1

Xf

deathbed con-

fessions provide an immediate passport into

ease or glory, then

that

would be much induce-

ment for many men to live dishonestly, under-

standing

that

they could escape at the

last

mo-

ment. I know

that

the clergymen teach this very


12/68

10 lIEAVEN AND PURGATORY

strange arid unreasonable doctrine and millions

of people

ha

ve been induced to believe it.

Wbat

about a man who tries all his life to do

ri

ghtt

Does he fare any better? He deals honestly with

his neighbors, helps the poor, and goes .straight,

as we say. He is illtreated and robbed by a

thief, and when they both come to die the thief

has

only to confess

to

some clergyman a few

minutes before death aJld then everything is

ll

right

with

hin:l

Honest men hear such teaching

and

it

disgusts them with the Bible. These often

say I f

that is the kind of God you serve, then

I don't want to have anything to

do

with him.

I submit

that that

kind of religious teaching

has produced a great crop of in fidcls and made

men much worse instead of better.

Chttrchmam: But i f

the Bible teaches it, then

how

are

you going to get arouud

itt

I f

the Bi-

ble says the thief may

go

to heaven or paradise

if

he confesses at death, how can you afford to

dispute itt

Christian:

I know

that

you bonestly lielieve

that

doctrine of purgatory concerning thieves

and

mmderers

who make uealllbed confessions,

but

I am going to ask you to consider

that

Bible

text

that

you mention

and let U

see

i f it

does

actually support such a theory. \Te both believe

the Bible

is

true,

but

we must understand what

the Bible means.


13/68

HEAVEN AND POllGATORY

11

hief n Paradise

G h r i s t i O / l ~ : Let me

have your Bible and I

will

read

that

script

ur

e.

t

is

fo

und

in Luke

23

:

33 ,34 and 39-43 : And when they were come to

the place, which is

ca

lled Ca

lvar

y, there

th

ey

crucified

him,

and the malefactors, one on the

ri

ght hand, and the other on the left. Then said

J esus, Father, fo rgive them; for they know not

what they

do.

And they

part

ed his raiment,

and cast lots. And one of t

he

malefactors which

were hanged railed on him, ~ a y i n g f thou be

C

hr

ist, save thyself and us. But the other an

swering, r

eb

uked him, saying, Dost not thou

fe

ar

God, seeing thou art in the same condem

nation

And

we

ind

ee

d justly;

for

we rece ive

the due rewa

rd

of our deeds; but this man hath

done nothing amiss. And he sa

id

unto J

es

us,

Lord, remember

me

when thou comest into thy

kingdom. And Jesus said tmto him, Verily I

say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in

paradi

se.

Th

e contention is that

th

e thief went to

para-

dise.What is meant

by

paradise Does it mean

purgatory or heaven, or where is it ' The book

from which you

ju

st

quoted, called

Th

e

a

it

h

of

Our Fathers says, concerning purgatory ,

that 'there exists in the next life a middle s

tate

of temporary punishment allotted for those

who

have died in venial sin, or who have not satisfied

the justice of God for sins already forgiven.


14/68

12

HEAVE,

AND PURGATORY

. The soul consigned to this intermediate

state, called pm-gatory, cannot help itself, but

may be aided by the prayers of others on earth'.

The contention of the clergymen now is that J e·

sus went to

paradise

and that the thief also went

there at

the same time.

f

Jesus went to para·

dise, then paradise could not mean purgatory,

for the reason

that

he did not have any sins

wha tsoever

and

there would lHwe been no rea·

son for him to go there. Note these scriptures

concerning

Jesus.


15/68

lIEAVEN

AND PURGATORY

13

and

about that

there

cannot be the slighte

st

doubt. f Jesus did not go to heaven that day,

then

there must

be something wrong about

the

interpl'etation given by the Protestant preach

ers. The Scriptural r ecord is that

Jesus

was

dead, and in

the

grave

for three

days, and on

the third day he was resllrrected from the dead

by the power of Jehovah. See 1 Corinthians

15: 3,4, and Acts 10: 40 . On the day he was

resll1'l'ected J

eSllS

said to one

of

the women to

whom he appeal'ed:

Touch me not j

for

am

not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my

brethren,

and say

nnto them, ascend unto my

Father, and your Father j and to my God, and

yonr God. John 20 : 17) At least thl'ee days

had

elapsed since the

death

of

the

thief,

and

Jesus had not

gone

to heaven then Further-

more,

Jesus

did

not

ascend into heaven llntil

the end

of

forty-three days after his crucifLxion.

The record in Acts

1:

6·11 is

that

on that date,

namely, forty·three days after the crucifixion,

and after

the

conversation with

the

thief on the

cross, J eSllS ascended into heaven. f paradise

means heaven, and the thief went to paradise

the same day

that

he died,

as

the clergymen con

tend, then he reached there fOl'ty-three days in

advance of Jesus. Thus he would be given

the

preeminence over the Lord himself.

That

would

be wholly uID'easonable, and it is wholly un

scriptural. n Colossiaus 1: 18 it is written that


16/68

14 RE VEN AND PURG TORY

Jesus was the Jli'st one raised from the dead

and was given the preeminence over all. n

2 Timothy

1:

10 it is written tbat by tbe appear

ing

of

Jesus

in

heaven he opened

the

way to

life and immortality. 'rhat settles the question

beyond ll doubt, tbat the thief bad not been

even

raised

from the dead

at

the end of the

forty-tbree-day period, and, to be sure, could

not bave

appeared

in

paradise

before

Je

sus

ascended into heaven. The

Scriptures

conclu

sively

state

that

when a

man

dies he must re

main d

ead

until the resurrection takes place.

We cannot imagine that the

Lord

God made a

more favorable arrangement for thieves than

he has made for honest and sincore men. The

Bible is entirely consistent with itself. Note

now God's

rille with regard to honest men.

The eleven disciples who remained faithful

and true

to

Jesu

s, and who continu

ed

faithfu1

unto death,

had

this rule clearly and positively

stated to them by J esus, and they were told that

they

coilld not go to heaven until the second

coming of J esns Christ. In J

OM

the fonrteenth

chapter

it is written

that

Jesus said to them:

I

go [away to heaven] to prepare a place for

you.

And

I

will

come aguin, and receive

you unto myself; that where I um there ye may

be also. He did not say that these men woilld

die and come to

him,

but that at his second .

coming he would come

for

them. Accorqrng to


17/68

HEAVEN AND P U

RGATORY

15

the clergymen the thief went to heaven the very

day he died, and these faithful disciples of J

e-

sus Christ must await the second coming of

Christ Jesus. Furthermore, J esus said, in Mat-

thew 7: 21: Not

everyone that saith

unto me,

Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of

heaven; but he that doeth the

will

of my

Fa

-

ther. In what respect had the thief done the

will of GodY Certainly none whatsoever . The

only thing he

had

done was to express his be -

lief that J esus was the King. The Apostle Paul

was a faithful follower of Christ J esus and a

special witness for the Lord to

the

Gentiles and

he said

that

he could not go to heaven until the

second coming of the Lord aud his resurrection.

His words

in

2 Timothy

4: 7,

8 are: I have

fought a good fight, I have finished my course,

I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid

up for me a crown of righteousness, which the

Lord, the righteous judge, shall give

me

at

that

day ; and not to

me

only,

but

unto all them also

that love his appearing. n that same chapter

it

is r ecorded

that

the judgme

nt

of

th

e dead

cannot take place until the second coming of

Christ J csus and his kingdom, and you will

agree that.his kingdom

is

not

yet

in full ope

ra

-

tion.

The riOl d laid down the

rul

e by which all must

be govJrned who ever reach heaven, and it is

stated/ in Matth

ew

16:

24

in

th

ese words:

If

/


18/68

•

16

HE VEN AND

PURGA ORY

any man will come after me, let him deny him-

self, and take up his cross, and follow me. The

thief

took no such action as here stated

by

J

e-

sus,

and

certainly those

who

confess for

the

first ti.ri:le when they are upon their deathbed

could not possibly meet these l'equirements. The

divine rule here is that a man must follow in

the

footsteps of J esus,

and

he could not

do

that

when he did not start Wl

til

he was

ready

to die.

Furth

er

more, J es

us stated

that

those who

will

enter heaven must suffer persecution for

right

-

eousness' sake and must overcome the world,

The thief had suffered

for

wrong doing, and not

for

righteous doing, and he

had not

even made

-an

effort to overcome the world. These thr

ee

men

that

you read about irl the paper, who re-

fused the clergy, what

co

uld the clergy do to

get

them into heav

en

or

purgatory or

anywhere

'else¥ In 2 TinlOthy

2:

11, 12 is written, It is

a faithful saying: For if we be de

ad

with

[Chl'

ist

Jesu ], we shall also live with him : if

'we suffer with him], we shall also reign with

him. Again, i t is written,

in

Philippians

1:

29

that there

is given unto us, as Christians, the

privilege

of

'suffering

with

Christ Jesus, and

such is the condition that must be met by those

who go to heaven,

Furthermor

e

the thief died upon t ~ cross,

and dead creatures

do

not go to heaven or to

paradise, When a man is dead he does\not do


19/68

HE VEN

ND PURG TORY

17

anything, because he lmows nothing.

t

is. plain-

ly written in the ScAptures

that

'the living

lmow

that

they must die,

but

the dead know not

anything', and that 'there is no Imowledge nor

wisdom nor device ,vith the dead in the grave,

where they are'.-Eccl. 9: 5, 10.

G h ~ t I c 7 m U l n : But you know

the

clergymen say

tJhat

when a man dies it is his body that dies

hut

the soul goes immediately to purgatory,

hell

or

heaven.

G wistian:

Again the clergymen are wrong,

because

the

Bible teaches exactly contrary to

that.

Every

person s a soul. No man has a

soul; aud

therefore 'his soul' could

not

go any-

where. God formed

man

out of

the

elements of

the

earth

and breathed into his nostrils the

breath

of life, and a soul,

or

living creature, re-

sulted. That is the plain statement in Genesis

2: 7. When the breath goes out of a

man

he is

dead.

t

is the soul, otherwise called the man,

that is dead, because a man is a soul. But i f

there is any doubt about it, there is

another

scripture which plainly ·

says: The

soul that

sinneth,

it

shall die.

(Ez

e

k.

1

8:

4)

Wbat

man

is he

that

liveth, and shall not see death? shall

he deliver his soul from the

hand

of the grave

'

(Ps.

89: 48) Every animal is a soul, because the

scriptu'l:es so

state

. NUill . 31: 28) Man is the

highest order of animal, and when he dies he

goes into the grave

or

condition of death,

just


20/68

18

HEAVE..' AND PORGA'fORY

like other animals.

In

proof of that, read Eccle-

siastes 3 : 19,

20.

Chttf chman:

But

do es

n

t

the scripture say

that the soul returns to God

who

gave

i

Ch, istian: No,

the scripture that you· refer

to says that the breath or spirit of life returns

to God: Then shall the dust return to the

earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto

God

who

'gave it. (EccJ. 12: 7) The word spir-

it

here is the same word as

in

Genesis

6:

17

and

in the R ebl ew rendered

br

eath of life. God

gave the

br

eath of life and God takes

i t

away,

but the breath of life is not a living creature.

The theo

ry of

the clergymen is tllat the thief

went to heaven or paradise the same day he

was crucified, and they base that false theory

upon the further false theory of the inherent

inlmortality of

ll

souls.

Th

e Devil

is

the one

who

really made the statement tl1Ut the soul does

not di

e,

and J esus says that the Devil was a

liar from the beginning.

(G

en. 3: 4;

John

8: 44)

Th

e thief died and went into the grav

e,

and he

is still in the grave; and he must remain there

until God's due time for the Tetnrning of the

dead

in

the r

es

urr

ection, and

that is

still

f ~ l t n r e

There is 110 doc

trin

e more plainly taught in the

Bible than that of the resurrectioll of the dead.

f men are alive in purgatory

0

1' paradise or

anywhere else they cou ld not be resurrected,

because resurrection means raisll1g up to life.


21/68

HEAVEN AND PURGA rORY

9

That

being true, deathbed confessions of thieves

or

other criminals,

or

of any olle else, for

that

matter, cannot get them immediately into life

anywhere.

Ch'tM chrnan:

Then tell me what J es

us

meant

when he said to the thief : Today

shalt

thou

be with me

in

paradise."

·istian I shall be very glad to do that,

because those words of

Je

sus

are

elltirely con

sistent with every other statement

in

the Bible

and

mean exactly what they

sa

y.

For

tlll·ee

years and more, to

the

day of his c r u c i f L ~ o n

J esus had b

ee

n teaching the

Jews

concel'lling

the kingdom of God. Time and again he had

publicly taught

that

Jehovah God

had

sent him

into the world to tell them the truth, and that

one great truth he must tell, and did tell, was

of

and

concerning the kingdom of God, which

kingdom God had promised to Jesus. All the

prophets of God before the coming of Jesus had

foretold the coming of

the

Messiah, which means

Christ the Lord. J es

us

had made

it

plain that

he was the long-promised Messiah,

King

and

Rnler. Practically everybody in

Pal

estine lrnew

that

he claimed to be the Son of God and the

King. The clergymen of that day were the

Pharisees and priests, and it was their duty to

know

and

to teach the Word of God to the peo

ple. They had every reason to believe that J e-

sus was the Messiah, but they were selfish men


22/68

20

RE YEN

m

IJRGATORY

and Knew that when the people accepted

him,

they, the clergymen, would have to hunt some

other kind of job. They opposed Jesus and

pe

rs

ecuted

him

and finally caused lllin to be

crucified. The Roman governor then

in

charge

of the affairs of Jerusalem offered to release

Jesus

and not

put

him to death, but, instead,

the clergymen cried out for

the

release of Barab

bas, a no

tor

ious criminal, and demanded the

life-bleod of J esus. The judglne

nt

was unjustly

given against

Jesus

and he was led to the cross

and there crucified. A sign was written and

placed over his cross, bearing thes e words:

TIDS IS THE KING OF THE

JE

'WS." The

motley mob was erying out agaulst the King

of tlle Jews; hence everybody lmew that J

~ u s

claimed to be the

King

and clainlet

that

he

would have a kingdom.

The

clergy stood by and mocked Jesus, and

incited the mob to

do

the same thing. One of the

thieves who was being crucified mockingly cried

out to Jesus:

' 'If

thou be Christ [the King],

save thyself

and

us."

Th

e other thief evidently,

had

reached the conclusi

on

that

J esus was all

that

he claimed to be, and that he was the King,

and

that he would have a kingdom. So he

-

buked the first-mentioned thief, aud thus ad

dressing his words to J esus he showed that he

believed in Jesus, and he said to him: "Lord,

remember me when thou eomest into thy king-


23/68

HEAVEN

AND PURGATORY 2

dom.

The

answer of Jesus to the thief is really

in

the form of a question: Verily I say unto

thee today: Shalt thou be with me

in para-

dise'" Another translator renders this text in

this

manner: Verily I

say

unto thee this day:

"With me shalt thou be in paradise. Roth.)

The words of

Jesus

cannot be

properly

con-

strued to mean

that

he expected to go to

para-

dise

that

very day himself. He made

the

state-

ment that very day that he was being crucified.

His words

may

be

properly

paraphrased

lil{e

this: 'Thief, you have shown by your words that

you believe that I am Christ the

King and that

I will have a kingdom.

This

is real faith on your

part,

and

when you see I am dying like wrong-

doers.

But

on this day I solemnly put a question

to you, Shall you be with

me

in

paradise

To

be sure, I will have a

paradise

in due time and

the opportunity will be given to men to enter

into that

paradise condition,

and

shall you be

with me then1 You are exercising real faith to

be with me or on my side this day, when the

clergymen and all others are against me. Shall

you be with me

and

on my side when I come into

my kingdom and establish paradise? f so, you

will have a splendid chance.'

The words of

Jesus

do not positively, con-

clusively and arbitrarily state

that

the thief will

ever be

in

paradise, as many have been led to

believe. He did not say, Thou shalt, but his


24/68

22

iliA -' AND PURGA RY

words aTe, "Shalt thou f The fo rm of the phrase

shows that theTe must be a condition attached

to the thief's going to paradise, and that con-

dition would be that after he was raised fr

om

the dead he still continue to exercise faith in

Christ J esus as King and obey his law and

therefore be on the side of J esu

s.

Any other

construction plaoed upon these words of Jesus

would mean that J esus then

a11d

ther e flnally

and

conclusively stated

th

e judgment

on

the

thief regal'dless

of

what he.mi'

ght

do when awak-

ened out of death.

Th

e judgment takes place

at

the time of the res

urr

ection

01'

awakening out

of death. (John 5: 29,30) To ohange the words

of J esus and make them read,

"T

hou shalt be

with me, instead of as they really are, "Shalt

thou

"

is clearly

wTong

. No other r easonable

construction can be put upon the words of J e-

sus than that he propounded the question to

the thief.

t will be more tolerable for the thief in para-

dise than for the clergymen, because on another

occasion Jesus

sa

id to these hypocritical men:

''How can ye escape the damnation of hell

I

(Matt. 23: 33) ''But I say unto you, It shall be

more tolerable for Tyre and Sidoll at the day of

judgment, than for you. (Matt. 11: 22) Accord-

ing to the wrong construction that has been

pl

aced upon this text, when upon the cross the

Lord

then determined finally the destiny of


25/68

IEA.\,EN AND PURGATORY 23

•

the thief, regardless of what he might do when

the times of restoration begin. Suoh conclusion

is

wholly inconsistent.

Chu ·chman:

Well, where did the thief

go that

day when he died 1

Christian:

He

did not go anywhere.

He

died,

and the

pre

sumption is that he was buried. You

may therefore properly say

that

the thief went

out of existence and thus

must

remain dead un

til the resurrection. The thief

is

still dead, and

will not be awakened out of death until

the

kingdom of Christ is in full control of earth's

affairs. This is corroborated by the words writ

ten in 2 Timothy 4: 1: 'The Lord Jesus Christ

shall judge the living and the dead

at

his ap

pem·ing and his kingdom.' n Acts 24: 15 it

is

written: Thel·e shall be a resunection of the

dead, both of the just and unjust. Then all

those awakened out of death will be

tried

and

judged by the Lord Jesus as the great Judge.

Jesus said: 'Marvel not

at

this: for the hour is

coming,

in

the which all

that

are

in

the graves

shall

hear

his voice, and shall come

forth;

they

that

have done good, unto the

re

sun-ection of

life; and they

that

have done evil, unto the res

urrection by judgment.' (John 5:

28 29

R.V.

Surely the thief had done evil, and he must come

out of death

at

the appearing and kingdom of

Christ to receive his

trial

and jndgment.

At

that

time,.

i

he

is

still with the

Lord

,. that is

to

•


26/68

24

RE

ND PURG TORY

•

say, on the side df the Lord, and

ha

s faith in the

Lord

Je

sus

Christ

and does

right

he

will

e-

ceive everlasting life, and his life will be on the

earth

because God made the ea

rth

to he inhab-

ited and made man for the eart

h I

sa. 45 : 12, 18.

Ohlt chman

But

what about paradise '

lA7ha

t

is meant by that

Ohristian

"Paradise" means a beautiful gar-

den, like ECten During the reign of C

hrist

the

earth it

se

lf

will be made like unto paradise, be-

cause the promise of God is

that the earth shall

be made gl

or

ious,

(I

sa. 60 :

13;

Ezek. 36

: 35)

The thief, if ob edient to the law of God's king-

dom, will be given life eve

rla

stillg on the

earth

and then he will be

truly

livi

ng

in paradise.

Responding to the request or the thier,

Jesus

said : "Ve

rily

I

say

m

to thee today." The

word

"verily" means positively, firmly, t ruly 01 sure-

ly

, 01 amen; t as we say

in

these days, all

right.

t

is clear that this is in substau

ce

what

Jesu

s said to the thief: 'You have made an im-

por tant request of me, and you are on my side

when all othe

rs

are against me. All right, now

I

say

to you firluly, Shall you

be

with me

01

on

my side in paradi

se

f so, you shall have

an

opportunity for life.' .

O m ~ r c h m a n Why have

so

many people

honestly given this text an improper

meaning

Glwistian

The chief reason is that Satan

'

indu

ced men to misconstrue the Scriptures, in


27/68

HEAVEN AND

PURGATORY

25

order to hide the

truth

from them. One of the

ways

in

which he did th

at

with

this text

is

this:

You will note by an examination of the text that

there is a

C 1l1llla

immediately following the

word thee and

that

the next word, today,

begins with a capital letter for

th

e evident pur-

pose of giving emphasis. That makes the text

appear as though Jesus positively said to the

thief : 'You shall go to paradise today.' There

were no punctuation marks in those days. Such

marks were first used in the fifteenth century.

Now omit the C 1l1llla and put the emphasis on

the wmd today ,

and

note that it

reads:

I

say

unto thee today [this

day

when all are

against

me], Shalt thou .be ,vith me [on

my

side] in

paradise' The meaning is entil'ely different.

All portions of

the

Bible

ar

e consistent;

and

when all other sc

rip

tures show

that

when a man

dies he is dead and must remain

so

·until the

resurrection, then this scripture must harmonize

,vith those and t

he truth

is

that

they do fully

harmonize. · .

Chlirchman Then

th

e thief

has not

gone to

purgatory

yeH

Ohristiwn No, he has not. There is no such

place as

purgatory ta

ught by the Bible,

and

therefore the teaching concerning

t

is false.

You can s ~ how this

scriptur

e relative to the

thief has been wron

gf

ully applied to teach pur-

gatory: There is not a single

text

in

the

Bible


28/68

26

RE VE..'<

AND PURGATORY

to warrant the conclusion that anyone goes to

purgatory.

Ohu1 ohman:

Then the

priests

have no author

ity or power to pray men out of purgatory 1

Ohristian

Certainly not. No man has power

to forgive sins.

h r i ~

t Jesus became the advo

cate of those who are fully devoted to God, and

when these do some wrong and ask for forgive

ness he makes intercession for them

and

God

forgives

the

sins. This is

proven

by

the

state

ment

written in 1 John 2: 1, 2, which states that

i f we sin we have an advocate with the

Father

which advocate is Jesus Christ; and

then

again,

in the same chapter: God is light,

and in

him

is

no darkness

at

all. . . .

f

we confess

our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us

our

sins

and

to cleanse us from all

uUl

'ig

ht

eo

us

ness. 1 John : 5-9; 2: 1) This proves that

no man has

any

authority to forgive sins,

and

any man who claims to

thus

have

authority

is

mi

srepresenting God alld deceiving the people.

Chu1 Ghman:

In

the li

ght

of these scriptnres

i t

seems that i f the

priests or

clergymen or any

one else collects money from the living upon

the representation that such money is to be used

to

say

prayers

for the dead to help them in

pur

gatory, such method is obtaining money under

false pretense and is therefore a 'great

fraud

and a wrong.


29/68

IlE

'EN AND P UIlGATORY 27

ist

lln

: Your conclusion is exactly right.

This

purgatory

do

ctrin

e

has

been worked over-

time by men called clergymen or priests

and a great amolUlt of money has been wrong-

fully collected from the peo ple upon the pretext

that it

would be used to get the dead out of

purgatory. The time has now come when God

will make lmown the truth to the people, and

kllowiIlg the

truth,

they will turn away from

these false teachers

aud

hypocrites and will

t

um

to God and

righ

teousness.

071Al1 chman: Why

hav

e not the people re-

ceived

the

trutJ1long agot

Olwistian Because Satan has long been the

invisible ruler of

this

world and has blinded the

people by using the clergymen to teach false

doctrines to them. (2 Cor.

4:

3, 4) God's prom-

ise is that at the end of the world light shall

gradually come

and

the people will know the

truth. (1 COl .

10:

11) That time has now come

and

the

p e o p l ~

must know the truth, and they

ar

e beginning to leal'll it. No doubt many a

priest has honestly thought he had a rig

ht

to

pray

o ~

the dead

and

he

lp

them ont of purga-

tory, because he

had

b

ee

n improperly taught.

Many good, hou

est

people have

l i ~ e d that

their friends wel'e

or

are in purgatory, and have

b

ee l

glad to give up money to help them. But

they have been wrong. Now they must know

the

truth, and all honest persons will want to


30/68

8 HE VEN ND PURG TORY

be guided liy the truth. The value of tlie m ~ n e y

is

not so much. The

great

wrong done

has

been

to misrepres

ent

God by teaching

that

he would

permit

men to go to a place of suffering and

punishme

nt and permit other

men to help them

out

upon a money consideration. Thus God s

name and his

Word

have be

en

defamed; and the

Devil

has

been responsible

for

it.

Ohu,·chm .lln:

Then

yOlt

do not think

that

the

Catholic priest, the

Protestant

clergyman

or

the

Jewi

sh rabbi could have helped those three men


last night

1

O h r i s t i a ~ : Most certainly not. They had no

power to help them,

and their

pretense

at

so

doing would be

and was a

misr

epresentation of

God.

In

all probability, when these poor fellows


are

brought

forth

from

the grave and told the truth they.

will

have a

far better chance for everlasting life in para-

dise

than that

Catholic priest, the

Protestant

clergyman

or

the Jewish rabbi.

Heaven

Ohltrohm .lln: f you can he

lp

me to unC1erstand

what

the Bible teaches concerning a man s go-

ing to

heaven I shall be

very

thaulcfnl. I have

attended many funerals

and

have often hea,

rd

officiating clergymen

say

concerning the

dead:

This

man

(or

woman)

is

now in heaven. I

wonder

i f that

is

true

I have noticed

that i f

a


31/68

RE

EN AND PURGATOl\Y 9

man had some influence over

the

people,

and

had a good r eputation and plenty of money, the

clergyman often

says:

'TIns

man

was a good

man and

has gone

straight

to heaven.' Then I

have heard the clergyman say concerning the

d ~ a d 'This man made a fnll confession just be-

fore his death alld expressed his faith in 'the

Lord, and when he died he went

straight

to

heaven

and

is now in heaven.' What does the

Bible teach about these

tlnngs'

Oll ristian: n each instance which you have

mentioned the clergyman has been wrong and

has

stated that

which is

not

the truth.

Ohurchman: Often have I heard the clergy-

man at

the

funeral

of some small clrild say some-

thing like

this:

'This little child never comnritted

a sin,

and

when

it

died

it

went

straight

into

heaven.' Many a time when I have observed the

wickedness of men I have thought how much

better

it

would have been had they died as little

children and gone stl'aight to heaven. IVe know

that

a babe is

not

responsible

for

wrongdoing,

and

could

not

do

wrong;

aud don't you under-

stand

that

the clergyman was

right

when he

said

that

the pabe

has

gone t9 heavenY

Ohristian:

'rhe

clergyman making that state-

ment was entirely wrong. The Scriptures say)

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did

my mother conceive me. ''Wherefore, as by one

man

sin e ~ t e r e

in

to the world, al,

ld death

by


32/68


33/68

REA

YEN AND PURG TORY

31

do God's will, and not man

's

will. Remember

tha t

Jesus

said concerning the Bible, which is

Hod's'vYord, Thy word

is

truth.

No

man can

afford to accept anything that is out of harmony

with

th

e Bible.

Ghlll chmlltn : Plea

se, tell

me

what the Bible

says about going to heaven.

rist u : The great Creator of the universe

is Hod. He is the Almighty Hod and is also r ~

vealcd by the names J ehovah and Most I-Iigb.

He

caused the Bible, whioh is his Word, to be

written for the benefit of men

who

want to Imow

the truth and to do right.

(2

Tim. 3: 16, 17) The

habitation of Jebovah God is in heaven.

He

caused to

be

written

in

his

Word:

l'he heaven

is my

tlu

'one, and the earth is my footstool.

(Isa. 66: 1) That means tllat heaven

is

mOl e

lofty and exalted than the

ea

l·th. Jehovah God

is the self-existing and inunortal One. Concel'll

ing him it is written, n 1 Timothy 6: 16, that

'he only

hath

inunortality, dwelling in the light,

whom

no

man hath seen, nor ever can see'. The

reason is that God is the

great

spirit Belllg and

man is a human creature. By his

prophet

Isaiah

Jehovah declares

that

he made the

earth

fo

r

man and ,he made mau for the earth. (Isa.

45:

12,

18) God formed man out of the elements

of the earth, and hence

it

is written that man

is of the earth, and earthy.

An

earthly creature,

therefore, could not inhabit heaven.

f

he ever


34/68

32

HE VEN ND

PURG TORY

goes to heaven he must be changed from a hu

man to a

spirit

creature.

The organism

or

body

of

man

is

flesh,

and

the life of man is in the blood. (Gen.

9:

4) t

is stated, in 1 Corinthians 15: 50 that flesh

and blood cannot inhel·it the kingdom of God .

The doctrine universally

taught

to the people

by organized Christianity , so called, is that all

good men, women and children at death go to

heaven.

There

being

so

many branches

and

di

visions of so-called organized Christianity ,

and desiring to keep the people in the proper

atp-tude the clergy 'say to them : It matters not

to which one of the churches you belong,

just

so

you belong to one. We are all traveling different

roads, but to the same goal, and that is heaven:

This conclusion is based upon the false doctrine

of inherent immortality of all souls. The .teach

ing is in substance fuis: That death does not

mean cessation of living existence, but merely

means the transition from one condition of life

on earth to a condition of life either in heaven

or in hell. So

far

as orthodox religion is con

cerned, earth is merely a breeding place or an

incllbator to produce

and

nourish creatures

for

one or the other of two places, hell or heaven.

A

man of a

co=unity

who has been success

ful in business, is a member

of

some church or

ganization,

has

rendered public service to the

people and contributed large sums of money to


35/68

HEAVEN

ND

PURGATORY

33

the poor, en(\s bis

earthly

course in death.

At

bis flmeral the clergyman unhes

itatingly

tells

those who hear

that

tbis

man was

a good man

and

that he

is not

dead

but that

he

has

passed

innnediately into heaven. The people are in

duced to believe rus statement,

and

many do be-

lieve it. The statement of the clergyman, how

ever, is wholly unsupported by the

Word

of God,

and

is

therefore untrue.

t

misl

ea

ds the people

and

gives them

an

e

ntir

e

ly

false conception of

God s purpose. f the man

jnst

described is

dassed as a good man and, according to the

clergy, goes innnediately to heaven, then

it

fol

lows that heaven mnst he full of like men who

have lived

and

died. However, the

man

thus

described is not good within the meaning of

the Scriptures.

The Bible shows that Abel, Enoch, Abraham,

Isaac and

all of his prophets received the ap

provalof God.

Heb.il:

1-39) They died faithful

to God. Concerning David, one of these proph

ets, it is even written that he was a man

after

God s own heart. Those men not ouly did good

to the people,

but

were faithfully devoted to

God and to his righteous use. They aU died,

but

not one of them went to heaven or ever can

be

in

heaven. Some of them died pl·actically

three thousand years before

Jesus

was on earth.

According to the teachings of the orthodox

clergy, all those men

must

have gone to heaven;


36/68

34

HE VEN ND

PURG TORY

and

according to the testimony of J

es

us,

who

spoke with authority, not one of them went to

heaven. You must choose whom you will be-

lieve, clergymen or the Bible.

In

his conversa-

tion with Nicodemus, J esus said: No man hath

ascended

up

to heaven. (John 3: 13) This is

conclusive proof that not one of them went to

heaven. Even though David was a man

after

God's own heart, and had God's approval, it is

written,

in

Acts 2: 34: David is not ascended

into the heavens.

J

es

us named John the

Baptist

as the greatest

of all the prophets. God selected John to be the

anllouncer

of

the Messiah, and

John

was faith-

ful

and true to his

co=ission

and suffered

martyl'dom because of his faithfulness to God.

Concerning J ohn, J esus said: ''He that is least

in

the kingdom of heaven is

greater than

[John].

(Matt. 11: 11) The I'eason that these

good and faithful men did not

go to heaven and

never can be in heaven is plainly set forth

in

the Bible and enables one to see cle

arly

what is

required to take place before one of the human

race can be taken to heaven.

The Bible is consistent: every

part

thereof is

in harmony with every other part. The propel'

understanding of the Bible makes clear the pur-

pose of Jehovah God Man is a human creature;

and since no hUman creature can entel' heaven,

which is the habitation of the spirit creattues,


37/68

HEAVEN AND PURGATORY 35

then it follows

that

a man could not enter heav-

en without being changed from human to spirit.

Jesus

spoke with

authority

and he said to Nico-

demus : ''Except a man be born again, he cannot

see

the

kingdom of God.

That

which is born of

the flesh is flesh; and

that

which is

born

of the

spil·it is spirit. John 3: 3 6) In other words,

in

order for

a

man

to go to heaven he must be

born of the

spirit

and become a sphit creature.

'l'he statement by the cl

ergy and

other ortho-

dox supporters that there are many roads lead-

ing to heaven is utte

rl

y false and is not sup-

ported by any scripture

in

the Bible. God has

pointed out in his Word one way,

and

just one,

by which the man may

in

due course enter the

heavenly realm. This is so important that we

cannot afford to accept

the

opinions of

any

man

upon the question. The Bible alone is the au-

thority upon which we must rely.

he Way

When the first

man

was sentenced to

death

God announced then

and

there his purpose to

bring

forth

from his universal organization a

seed which would be used as

his

chief instru-

ment for the establishment of righteousness on

earth

and

to bring

man

back into harmony with

himself. That seed is made up of those who con-

stitute the heavenly kingdom. The seventh chap-

ter of Revelation

is

authority for the statement


38/68

36

RE VEN D

PUR

G TORY

that there will be only 144,000 and One

of that

specially favored and elect kingd

om

class. The

One is

Christ

Jesu

s and the 144

,00

0

ar

e his

associates and members of his body. These will

be of the l


39/68

IiEAVEN

AND

PURG

ATORY

37

ity,

and

this he was given by Jehovah at his

.resurrection.

Concerning

Jesu

s

and

his resurrection

and

appearing in heaven it is wrItten, in 2 Timothy .

1: 10, that he broug

ht

life

and

immortality to

light. Before that there was no way open

for

man to have everlasting life and no possibility

for any

man ever to

hav

e immortality

or

ever

to

get

to heaven. These facts are set forth

so

plainly

in

th

e

Scriptures

that

there is no ex-

cuse

for

any r eal student of the Bible to be mis-

led concerning the

tr

uth thereof.

After

hi

s resurrection and ascension into

heaven the

way

was opened for

man

to

enter

that way

to heaven,

and

then God began to take

out from amongst men those who shall be asso-

ciated

with

Christ

Jesus

in

the kingdom of heav-

en. Only those living on earth

at

t

hat

time, or

who would live on earth thereafter, could possi-

bl

y be of the heavenly c

la

ss, and these

mnst

meet the conditions or requil ements of God

before they could be taken to heaven.

A rich

rul

er came to J esus

and aSKed

im

what he should

do

to inll

erit

eternal life. He told

J es

us

that he had been obedient to the law of

God in ,every respect. J esus then said to the

ruler: What you lack n ow is this: You must

sell all

that

you have

and

give to the poor, and

you shall have /

treasure in heaven;

.

and

come


40/68

38 HE VEN

ND

P URG TORY

and follow me.' (Luke 18: 18-23)

What

JeSus

really meant was that the affection of t.his man

should cease to be attached to t.hings earthly,

and

his devotion 'and allegiance should be to

God, because that was the comse that J esns

took.

To his disciples J esns said : I f any man will

con'le after me, l

et

him deny himself, and take

np his cross, and follow me. (Matt. 16: 24, 25)

Np man wotlid

do

what iJesns here says unless

M

believes in God lind in Christ as tbe

great

Redeemer. These scriptures therefore prove that

in

order

for

any man ever to make even a start

to go to heaven he

must

first belie

ve

that God

is the rewurder of tbose that diligently seek

him and serve him; und

that

Jesus Christ is

the Redeemer und Savior of man, and then he

must

commit himself to the will of God

by

agreeitlg to do God s

will

us he learns it. Befol e

he could do these things he must have some

faith, and faith comes only by having a kp.owl-

edge of God's

purpos

es und then by relying up

on God's Word. To say that

I I

man can believe

anything that he wants to and reach heaven is

worse

than

error

.

I t

is

clearly misleading, and

destruotive of faith.

The

agreement to

do

G od's will is not made

with man,

but

each individual must make

it

with

the

Lord. This agreement

IS

made only

by

those

who have and who exercise faith in Qod and in


41/68

HEAVEN

AND PURGATORY

39

Christ. f God is pleased to do so , lie makes a

covenant with the one thus showing his faith;

and

this is called a coven

ant

by sacrifice because

it

is an agreeme

nt

to do God's will

and it

leads

to the sacrifice of everything that is earthly,

and this particularly includes

the ri

ght of man

to live on earth .

No

one can decide to go to

heaven without sacrificing for

ever

Iris

right

to

live as a human creatm-c. God then gives his

word of promise

that

such a one shall have

the

right to live as a spirit creatm·e and,

if

faithful

to is covenant, shall live forever

in

heaven.

n

James

1: 18

it

is written: Of his own will

begat he us with

the

word of truth, that we

should be a kind of first£nrits of his Cl·ea tures.

The word begat or begetting ) used here

means to

briJ;

g

forth

and

to acknowledge by the

Father

that

the one so brought forth

is

the son

of God. The one thus brought forth is just now

starting

in the heavenly way. f he faithfully

performs

Iri

s

part

of the covenant he will re

ceive a complete change in

the

resm-rection

from human to s

pirit

life. God considers

im

a

spirit cr

ea

ture

from the time he

is

brought

forth

because be must live,

if

at all, as a

spirit

crea

hue. Since no hmnan creatm·e can ever be of

the

heavenly kingdom, it follows, then, that,God

would

not

call any human creature to heaven

or

offer him a place in heaven. All those who

are called or invited by Jehovah to heaven are


42/68

40

called

after

they become the sons of God,

'brought forth,' as just stated. All those brought

forth

r eceive the call,

but

the ScriptUl'es show

that oIily a few are chosen for the heavenly

kingdom. Many

do

not respond to the

ca

ll. For

many

are

called, but few are chosen. (Matt.

22: 14) Those who do not respond to the call by

seeking the kingdom are never chosen; .but i

they still maintain their faith in God and n

Chri

st

they may

be

given life as spiI'it creatures

at

the resurrection and will see the kingdom and

be servants in the kingdom

but

will neve

l

be a

part

of the heavenly kingdom. Such

are

desig-

nated

in

Revelation 7 as the great mUltitude :

Th

erefore are they before the

th

rone of

God,

and serve binI day and night in his temple; and

he t

ha

t sittetb on the till·one shall dw ell among

th

e

m. -R

ev.

7:

15.

Those who do respond to the call for the king-

dom, and

who

thereafter become unfaithful 01

lawless, su·

J fer

everlasting destruction. The

Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they

shall gather out of his kingdom all things that

offend, and them which do ini


43/68

RE

VEN ND

P URO TORY

41

Those

who

respond to the call for the

lci.ng-

dom of heaven and who devote themselves un-

equivocally and wholly to

God

and to his cause,

and who continue fai t

hii.

u and are

fOlmd

faith-

ful

by

the

great Jud

ge Ch

rist Je

su

s

are chosen

and anointed to perform a special work while

on earth, and

i f

this work is done faithfully to

the end such shall be members of the heavenly

lci.ngdom.

In

this connection

Jesus

said: Not

everyone

that

saith unto

me Lord

, Lord, shall

enter into

t.he

kingdom of heaven; but e

that

doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

(Matt. 7 : 21) t wonld be fa r safer to take these

words of

Je

sus than to believe the unsupported

statement of some clergyman that a man can

travel his 011'11 way and go to heaven. The plain

s

tat

ement of Jesus

is th t

he must

do

God's will.

God's

Will

G h l V r o h m a ~ :

How may a man know what is

God's will1

Ghris iam:

The will of God man learns from

the Bible. Among other things it is written that

the will of God is

that

aU

who

have a

part

in

the heavenly kingdom must overcome the world.

To his

fo

llowers J esus, in John 16:

33

sa

id

''Be of good ch

ee

r ; I have overcome

th

e

wo

rld.

He told his disciples tnat they must

do

likew ise :

they mu

st

overcome the world . The world

meims the organization of peoples of the e

arth


44/68

42

HEaVEN AND

PURGA ORY

which rule over the earth and which organiza-

tion is under the supervision and direct influ-

ence and control of

Satan

the Devil. The au-

thority

for

this staten ent is found in

John

12:

31 and 2 Corinthians 4: 3 4.

To

overcome the world means that one must

take his stand on the side of God and his king-

dom, be obedient to God's will, and r efuse

to

have

any

part in

the affairs of the world. t

is

written, in

James

4:

4:

Ye

adulterers

and

adultel'esses, know ye not that the friendship

of the world is enmity with God whosoever

therefore will be a friend of the world

is

the

enemy of God. Adultery

is

he

re

used

in

a

symbolic manner, and means the illicit or wrong-

ful cooperation with the rulers of this world

by

one who professes

to

be a Christian. Clear-

ly it means

that

the man who participates in the

politics or

rnlers

hip of this world, whether he

be a clergyman or a financier, and who shows

he

is

a friend to the world by upholding

its

schemes, cannot be pleasing to God,

but

is

classed

as

God's enemy.

He might be

a very

moral man and have a good name and reputa-

tion amo

ngst

his neighbors; but

that

is not

suffi-

cient. Mere morality, chastity and honesty, and

doing good deeds to one s neighbor, are not a

passport into heaven, by any means. The real

Christian

must

be all of this and much more.

He mnst be entirely for God and for his cause,


45/68

HEAVEN AND PURGATORY

43

seek to know God's

will

as fOlmd in his Word,

and then faithfully do

it

. This he accomplishes

by faith

in

Christ

Jesus

as his Redeemer, and

' in God us his

great

Benefactor. Therefore

it

is written concerning the Christian: This is the

victory that overcometh the world, even our

faith. (1 John

5:

4)

No

man will take this

course and

go

on to victory unless

he

has ab-

solute faith in

God.

No man can have this faith

without some knowledge of God's way and

pur

-

pose; and God has

but

one way, not many, and

that way

is

not found in any

part

of organized

Christianity on earth.

Ch lu·chma 1/

:

But surely the babes go to heav-

en1

Christian: The clergy claim that little chil-

dren

or

babes

go

to lleaven

at

death.

For

the

purpose of supporting their contention they

cite the words of

Jesus

written

in

Luke 18:16:

Suffer little children to

corne

lmto me, and

forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom

of God.

Jesus

did not say

that

these little il-

dren would l

Je

in heaven. This conclusion of the

clergy comes from taking a few words out of

their setting and ignoring the context. Other

words

utt

el'ed to the disciples at the same time

llhow that these disciples of

Jesus had

raised

the question as to which one of them would be

the greatest

in

the kingdom of heaven. n Mat-

thew 18: 2 4 it is stated : And J'esus called a


46/68

HE VEN AND PURGATORY

little child unto him, and set him in the midst

of them, and 'said, Verily I say unto you, Ex-

cept

ye be converted [change

your

conduct],

ahd become as little children,

ye

shall not enter

into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever

th

ere-

fore shall humble himself as tms

little child,

the

same

is

greatest in the kingdom of heaven. A

little child, therefore, was used

as

an illustra-

tion. A child has complete confidence in and

is

obedient to

its

par

ent. Likewise all those who

enter the kingdom of heaven must have com-

plete

faith and confidence

in

God and be wholly

obedient

to

the heavenly

Father

This requires

one to walk in humility or in full submission to

God. .

All

recognize the fact

that

a babe

has

not suf-

ficient mental capacity to make a contract. No

one can even start on the way to heaven until

he makes first a contract or covenant to do God's

will. That contract must be preceded by some

knowledge of the ransom price paid by

Jesus

Christ. The babe could not

grasp

such knowl-

edge nor exercise such

faith

. The

Scriptures

therefore plainly show

that

there will be no

babes

in

heaven.

f

a

babes go to heaven, then

it would be well i f almost all were to die'

as

babes.

Nor

should the d

eat

h of a babe

bring

sor-

row. Be assured

that

babes do

not

go to heaven.

At death the babe goes into the grave, wmch

is

properly

called hell .

t is

there unconscious,


47/68

RE YE.. 'f

ND POBG TORY

45

silent, and out of existence until the resurrec

tion.

At

the

L esUl l ection

the

Lord

will

awaken

ll the babes out of death and give them an op

POltunity to grow up to manhood, ob ey God

and live

011

the earth for ever.

O h ~ £ c h 1 1 t a ' / l : I note that often Christians are

persecuted. nus that Ull)'ihing to do with their

going to hea,ren '/

OMisti£lln

The Cln'istian who ultimately

reaches the heav()uly kingdom must suffer much

opposition, and must continue faithful

un

to God

eltn'ing

aU

oppositiou and persecution. The

reason for that is tllat Sata

n,

who is the god of

this worlel, violelltly opposes Goel and his king

dom.

Sa

tan eroployed divers means to kill J

e-

sus. L he chief instrument Satan used in the

per

secn.tion of

Jesns

was the clergy of that day.

Although those c ergymeu then claimed to rep

resent Goel on earth, they

co

nstantly opposed

J esus

anel

persecuted him; and he told them

that they wel'e induced so to do by reason of

the influence of the Devil. (John

8:

42-44) Just

after his disciples had been taken iuto the cove

nant for the kingdom J'esu

s,

n

John

tbe fif

te

enth chapter, said to them,

n

substance:

I

am your Master and have chosen you out of the

worlel, and therefore the worM hates you; the

world persecuted me,

al1d

it

will

persecute you

also, because the serval1t must be like the Mas

te

r.

These apostles did su

ffe

l all mamler of


48/68

46

HEAVE. "i ND PURG TORY

persecution, and that persecution came upon

them from the clergy

and

the fanatical religion-

ists. Amidst all that persecution the disciples

were faithful. The faithful apostle

Paul

wrote,

in

2 Timothy 2:

11,

12:

It

is a faithful saying:

For if we

be dead with him,

we

shall also live

with him:

if we

suffer, we shall also reign with

him: if

we deny him, he also will deuy us.

Thu

s he

states

the condition precedent to en-

tering

tlle kingdom, which is directly in contra-

diction of the clel'gymen's contention

that

a

man

can

trave

l any

road

and reach heaven.

There

are

today many men clainling to be

preachers of God's IV

Ol'd

who call themselves

pastors

and call the congregation their

flock

and who

take the title Doctor of Divinity

and

pose as preachers of the Bible

but

who

in fact

deny

that

the blood of

Jesus

Christ

has

any

purchasing value

for

man, Such deny the Lord,

within the meaning of the apostle's words, Of

them

it is

further written

in

the Scriptures:

For

there al'e certain men crept

in

unawares,

who were before of old ordained to this con-

demnation, ungodly men,

turning

the grace of

God into

la

sciviousness,

and

denying the only

Lord

God, and our

Lord

Jesus Christ.

(Jude

4)

It

is plainly stated tllat these shall have no part

in heaven, although they claim to be God's spe-

cial representatives. Then the Apostle Paul

adds:

'Persecutions

and

afflictions came unto


49/68

HE VEN ND PURG TORY

7

me,

but out of them

aU

the

Lord

delivel ed

me.

Yea, all tllat will live godly in ChTist Jesus

shall suffer pel·secution. The Christian

s

per-

mitted to suffol persccution

that

he may en-

til ely prove his faithfulness to God under

the

test.

He

must

llrove faithful before he cau he

taken to heaven. Paul s wOl ds prove this: "I

have fought a good

figlJl,

have finished my

course, I have kept the r>1ith . Hencefol th there

is laid up for me

t

crO

ll of

righteousness,

which the LOl d, the righteous judge, shall give

me at

that

day; and not to me only, but unto all

them also

that

love his appearing.

-2

Tinl.

4:7,8.

Furthel more, it is shown by the Scriptmes

that

those

who will be

of tho heavenly kingdom

mu

st

be faithful witncsses or God and of Christ

Jesus, making

Im

owJl to o t h e ~ s the kingdom of

God

. J ehovah God is not se

le

cting men merely

to get them to heaven. He is taking out a people

for h

is

name, which people must be his witnesses

while on

earth

. n Revelation 12: 17

it is

\Vl it-

ten

that

those

who

faithfully obey the command-

ments of God are the special

targets

of Satan

the enemy, and to obey the commandments each

one of the heavenly l

cingclom

class must be G0d s

witness. Today there

are mOl e than 150,000

clergymen

in

the United States, not a single one

pf whom is teaching tbe people of and concern-

ing God s kingdom

for

the relief and blessings


50/68

48 HE. .

VEN ND PURG TORY

of

mankind on earth. Today there is a small

company

of

men and women who use all their

spare

time, especially on Sundays, in going

from house to house to inform the people

of

God's kingdom and are preaching this good

news by exhibiting to the people the printed

message

in

book form. This little company of

witnesses are constantly persecuted by the

clergymen. You must judge from the facts and

the Scriptmes

as to whom the clergymen rep-

resent, God or the Devil.

t

was the clergy class

that

persecuted Jesus. This little company of

faithful follower s

of

Christ esus, who are wit-

nesses for God and who are being persecuted,

are

in the class with Christ J esus. All of such

who enter the kingdom of heaven must be faith-

ful unto God even to the very end. To such

J esus said, in Matthew 24: 13: ''He

that

shall

endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Knowing this, and because of their love for God,

the faithful men and women are determined to

put forth the mess' ge of God's kingdom to the

people regardless of all opposition and perse-

cution.

Those who become members of the heavenly

kin,gdom

will,

in the

resurr

ection, be changed

from human to spirit creatures, and then they

shall see the Lord and will be granted the

great

bles.sing of life divine. To such, and to such only,

who thus continue faithful,. esus, in Revelation


51/68

HEAVEN

AND

PURGATORY

49

2: 10, says: ''Be thou faithful uoto 'death, and

I will give thee a crown of life." n harmony

with this

it

is written: "Acco

rding

as

bis

di

vine power

hath

given

lllltO

us

all

things that

pertain uoto life and godliness, through- the

knowledge of him that

hath

called us to glory

and virtue whereby are given unto us exceed

ing great and precious promises; that by these

ye might be partakers of Lhe divine nature, hav

ing

escaped

Lhe

corruption that is

in

the world

through lust. And beside this, giving all

dili-

gence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue

knowledge; und to lrnowledge temperance; and

to temperance patience; and to patience godli

ness; und to godljlless brothe

rly

kindness; and

to brotherly kindness charity. For i these

things be in you, and abound, they ma

Documents

Watchtower: Heaven and Purgatory by J.F. Rutherford, 1931