IS religion the haven of rest and protection and salvation for the millions of refugees, whose numbers are daily increasing? Look at the Poles, the Czechs, the Austrians, the Spanish Basques, or the Jews, and honestly answer the question for yourself. The great prophetic Book of Authority foretells that a "great multitude" of REFUGEES are now on the trek and will gain life unending on earth in peace and without molestation from oppressors. Who are these refugees? Will you join their ranks and find the refuge desired ? You must choose, now! The contents of this book furnish vital information for your guidance, from the authoritative Source.

THE PUBLISHERS

Author: J. F. RUTHERFORD
 —ooOoo —

FIRST PRINTING
10,000,000 copies

COPYRIGHT, 1940
AND PUBLISHED BY
WATCHTOWER
BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, INC.
International Bible Students Association
Brooklyn, N. Y., U. S, A.
 

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Made in the United States of America

REFUGEES

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"WHY are there so many people fleeing from their homes, and hunting in vain for a place of security? In 'most all the nations multitudes have been driven from their native land, and are wandering aimlessly throughout the earth. 'Most all people now seem to be in fear of losing everything they have. What are we coming to?"

A group of sincere farmers, following their time-honored custom, sat about the warm stove in the country store, discussing current events, and the foregoing question concerning refugees was up for consideration. A Christian, whose hope is centered entirely in The THEOCRATIC GOVERNMENT, entered the store, and immediately the group of farmers requested his expression on the foregoing questions. In reply the Christian called attention to the admitted physical facts and cited many Bible texts in support of his conclusion. The substance of his answer appears below:

You are fully aware of the fact that at no time within the memory of man have the nations of earth been in such a deplorable condition as now. Since the close of the World War in 1918 woes have contin-

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uously increased upon the people. In all nations there are now many refugees seeking a place where they might abide in security and have a reasonable opportunity to enjoy some comforts. That the number of refugees is certain to increase in the near future must be conceded, and this fact alone increases the distress of many among the people who now have a measure of peace and security. You are among those who seek the best information obtainable as to why so many sorrows have come upon the people. Otherwise you would not have asked me the question about the refugees. Desiring to see righteousness prevail amongst men, you should be diligent to learn the truth, and by so doing you will clearly see why there are so many refugees, and why in the very near future the sorrows upon mankind will increase, and what will be the end of such.

Jehovah foreknew the trouble that would beset those who serve him, and He made provision for their instruction that they might go in the right way ' and escape the enemy and find the place of complete refuge. He foreknew how the demons would attack his consecrated people and how they are now attacking all those who serve him and his kingdom. Today he is revealing to all such faithful ones his means of protection, refuge and salvation. He foreknew and foretold the time of trouble coming upon the world, and in which all the nations now find themselves. To those who seek him he gives full assurance that if they put their trust fully in him and walk obediently with him they shall have protection and shall not be disappointed. "Thus let them who know thy name put confidence in thee, that thou hast not forsaken the searchers for thee, 0 Jehovah." (Psalm 9:10, Rotherham) The people now on earth who are

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of good will toward God, and who are otherwise known as Jonadabs (2 Kings 10:15-23) and pictured by Jonathan (1 Samuel 18:1-4), have learned of the Almighty God and have found that his Word is the only safe and true guide. (Psalm 119:105) All the consecrated, both of the remnant and those who will form the "great multitude" (Revelation 7: 9-17), must now be on the alert and diligent at all times to avoid the snares of the enemy and to find safety and refuge, as provided by the Most High.

WORLD CRISIS

The divers nations are facing the greatest crisis of all time. The ruling factors of all nations appear to have a premonition of approaching disaster. Refusing to give heed to God's Word, they are in the dark as to what is just ahead. Each nation is like a frightened man walking in the dark. The controlling force that now moves the nations into action, both offensive and defensive, is fear. The visible rulers of the nations are in a state of great perplexity, sensing, as they do, that some unseen power is moving them rapidly to a great climax. They hesitate not to say that the present nations, cannot survive unless some sure remedy is found, and none of them appear to have any knowledge of such sure remedy. Political prognosticators attempt to foretell the future, but no one has any real confidence in any of such political, religious prophecies. They are in a desperate state of mind, and there appears to them a great pall hanging over them which forebodes disaster. The Lord foreknew this time of distress and foretold it in these words: "Upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; . . . men's hearts failing them for fear." — Luke 21:25, 26.

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The ruling elements of the nations of the earth ignore these prophetic words of the Lord and the other prophecies, which make known to the diligent student of God's Word what unseen forces are moving the nations to the greatest climax of all time. Concerning such unseen powers the Lord says 'They go forth to the kings [ruling powers] of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the great battle of God Almighty [that is, to Armageddon]'. And what is that invisible force or power? The Lord answers that it is the power of wickedness, the Devil, "the prince of demons," and his associated demons, who, themselves being blind to God's purpose, lead the credulous ones into the ditch of destruction. (Revelation 16:13-16) All nations of the earth today are under the influence and control of the demons. Fear has led these ruling powers into the snare of the demons and caused them blindly to hunt a place of refuge, which they fail to find. — Proverbs 29: 25.

FACING DEATH

All the nations are facing death, and at the universal war of Armageddon, that is, "the battle of that great day of God Almighty," all nations shall die. That will not be "death" of the nations at the hands of other nations, but death administered by the Almighty Power of heaven: "The Higher Powers" (Romans 13:1); Jehovah God and Christ Jesus constituting the Higher Powers. The battle of the great day of God Almighty will be fought by Jehovah and Christ Jesus, supported by all the holy angels of heaven, pitted against the Devil and other demons and their supporters on earth who continue on the side of the wicked ones. All the nations suffer the same fate or come to the same end, because all na-

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tions of earth are on the wrong side, that is, on the losing side. All of such nations are against the THEOCRATIC GOVERNMENT, that is, the government or kingdom of the Almighty God. At the battle of Armageddon all such nations shall cease for ever; as it is written: "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." (Psalm 9:17) "The wicked shall be turned back unto Sheol, even all the nations that forget God." — American Revised Version.

In that battle of the great day of God Almighty democracies will not survive over Communistic governments, Nazism, monarchies or imperialism. All forms of human government shall perish for ever. Only the THEOCRACY will survive. The indisputable facts now disclose that all nations have forgotten God, the Almighty, "whose name alone is Jehovah." (Psalm 83:18) All of these nations are visibly ruled by political, commercial and ultrareligious elements, and all are under the control of the invisible host of demons, and the Almighty God says that the end of such is "hell". His judgment concerning the nations of earth announced in the foregoing text is, in brief, "To hell with them."

THE PEOPLE

The people of the various nations under the control of the ruling powers are in great distress and are in fear and trepidation. There is upon them an ever-increasing fear of death, which deadly enemy approaches them from every side: death at sea, from submarines, torpedoes, deadly mines, seaplanes and warships; death on land, from bombs falling from the air, and death from many other instruments of war; death from starvation resulting from blockades and the restriction concerning food. The theory and prac-

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tice of the nations is that the men who fight must have the food while those who remain at home have little or none. The people fear death from natural and accidental causes. They are in constant fear of political, religious and other gangsters. They find themselves driven like dumb beasts from their native lands and the homes that they have built. Cruel dictators order them to depart, and they must obey. As refugees they flee before the cruel rulers. Millions of them become exiles, without a place to lay their head and with no means of obtaining food and shelter, and they proceed, knowing not where, and they face the future in utter despair. Fear of death holds them in grasp. The condition of the people, as now seen, was long ago described by the Lord Jesus in these words: "There shall be great distress in the land." — Luke 21:23.

These words of the Lord Jesus describe a condition that today exists in every nation on earth. Even in the nation of the United States there are millions on relief, and fear that even this little relief shall be taken away, and they shall be left to starvation. The people see no way out because they have been kept in ignorance and are yet in ignorance of God's gracious provision made for those who trust wholly in him. Their ignorance is due to the Devil and his religious representatives on earth who have deliberately withheld from the people a knowledge of God's Word. Jehovah God foretold this present time in these words: 'Darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people.' (Isaiah 60:2) By reason of much morbid fear the Devil has ensnared mankind in his trap of religion. The people being ignorant of God's provision, they follow the blind religious and political guides.

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SEEKING REFUGE

Numerous persons are seeking a means of escape, but, being blind, fail to find the way of escape. A notable example is that of a late American columnist, Heywood Broun. The New York Times of December 21, 1939, reporting on the funeral of Mr. Broun, says: '"Turning to the reasons why he wanted to become a Catholic, Mr. Broun gave four [reasons], . . . The third was fear of death. . . . The fourth reason, in the words of Mr. Broun, . . . 'There is nothing more ridiculous than individualism ... I cannot even see why Almighty God would be interested in my individual prayer, or even my individual sacrifice, . . . That spiritual corporation I believe to be the Catholic Church.'" That man because of fear sought a place of security, and the Devil led him into the Catholic religious system. In this connection have in mind the words of the Almighty God, that "religion is a snare", because religion is of the Devil. (Deuteronomy 7:16) From time immemorial the Devil has used religion and religious practices to ensnare men. Men teach religion and falsely hold before the people religion as a means of escape from the Devil and death; and fearing to go contrary to the teaching of religious men, such fearful ones fall into the snare of the Devil, even as the Lord foretold. — Proverbs 29: 25.

Religion has never been a safeguard against death. Even the so-called "Christian religion" has long been the chief means used by the Devil to entrap men in his snare that leads to destruction. The beginning of the practice of religion was a desire on the part of man to escape death and to become wise like demons. The Almighty God plainly stated to the first human pair that the penalty of death would be inflicted upon those who willfully disobeyed his law. (Genesis 2:17)

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That great deceiver, the old Serpent and Devil, who is the chief of the demons, offered his religion to Adam and Eve as a means of escaping death. He said to them: "Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the. day ye eat thereof [in violation of His law], then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as gods [the demons associated with Satan]." (Genesis 3:4, 5) That is to say, if man would adopt Satan's religion and practice the same he would escape death and be as wise as the Devil's wicked associates, which in the Scriptures are designated "demons". But religion furnished no protection to Adam and Eve, and has never been any protection to any man. Fear and the ambitious desire to be wise as the demons led Adam and Eve into the snare, and they died, and by reason of their sin all their offspring inherited death. — Romans 5:12.

The dominating nations of earth now practice the so-called "Christian religion", and the leaders among men urge upon the people "more religion" as a means of protection and salvation. Religion, however, will furnish no protection or means of escape at the battle of the great day of God Almighty, which is now rapidly approaching. In that great fight at Armageddon no nation will find protection because of religion, neither will God spare individual persons of any nation because of their religion, whether they be sincere religious practitioners or bad religionists. Religion has never at any time safeguarded any man against death. A great religionist, backed by the religious system of the Roman Catholic organization, prosecuted the war in Spain from 1936 to 1939, in which great multitudes of persons died. Almost all the people of Spain were then the practitioners of the Roman Catholic religion. That religion did not spare any of them or protect

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any of them. Religion furnished no protection for the people of Poland or Czechoslovakia, and which people held, steadfastly to the Catholic religious system and the practice thereof. God's Word plainly declares that the practitioners of religion, and religion itself, shall be destroyed at the battle of Armageddon.

AFTER DEATH

All persons can now see that religion does not safeguard men against death. To further deceive the fearful peoples the Devil by means of religion, which his representatives teach, imposes upon mankind a further fraud, inducing them to believe that religion is a safeguard after death and that religion opens to them future protection and endless happiness. Is religion a passport to unending bliss? Is religion a safeguard and means of escape from torments of the Catholic "inferno" of hell or "purgatory" taught by that religious system! Where can the correct answer be found to these questions? No man has ever returned from "purgatory" or hell to give testimony concerning the matter. The doctrine of "torment in purgatory or hell" is taught only by imperfect men. The doctrine is not found in the Bible. Cardinal Gibbons, a noted Catholic authority, in his book The Faith of Our Fathers, pages 205 to 208, says: "The Catholic Church teaches that, besides a place of eternal torments for the wicked and of everlasting rest for the righteous, there exists in the next life a middle state 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. She also teaches us that, although the souls consigned to this intermediate state, commonly called purgatory, cannot help themselves, they may be aided by the [prayers] of

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the faithful on earth. The existence of purgatory naturally implies the correlative dogma — the utility of praying for the dead." "His soul will be ultimately saved, but he shall suffer, for a temporary duration, in the purifying flames of Purgatory. This interpretation is not mine. It is the unanimous voice of the Fathers of Christendom."

Set over against the traditions or teachings of men, consider now the commandments of Jehovah God and the words of Christ Jesus, who spoke with full and complete authority from Almighty God. Addressing religious teachers, who were teaching the traditions of men, Jesus said: "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? . . . Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites! well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." — Matthew 15:1-9.

Do you care to believe and follow the traditional teaching of imperfect men who practice religion for hire, or do you prefer to follow the authoritative words of the Lord Jesus Christ? Remember, then, the words of the scripture: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." — John 17:3.

DESTINY

Some religionists insist that Almighty God has predestinated the end of all human creatures and that therefore some of them must go to "purgatory", some to heaven, and some to "hell", which they interpret as "eternal torment". Those doctrines, however, are en-

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tirely false. God has not predetermined the end of any individual. God has predestinated or predetermined that a fixed and limited number taken from among human creatures, who maintain their integrity toward God, shall be forever with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven as spirit creatures; and he has provided for another company of individuals, but without a fixed number, who receive God's approval for their faithfulness under the test applied, and which faithful persons shall live forever on the earth. "What shall be the end or destiny of individuals, God does not predetermine. God sets before men his fixed rules, and those who obey him enter into everlasting life, and those who disobey him die and remain dead. God is no respecter of individuals. (Acts 10:34) Man, therefore, has much to do with fixing his own destiny or end. To those who agree to serve Almighty God he says: "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19) "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3: 36) "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." — John 17:3.

God permits men to choose either life or death; hence man fixes his own destiny by the course he takes. "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth." (Psalm 34:15,16) Almighty God is the fountain of life. (Psalm 36: 9) 'Salvation

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belongs to God,' by and through Christ Jesus. (Psalm 3:8; Romans 6:23) There is no other means of salvation to life. — Acts 4:12.

Will you take a chance by following the traditional teachings of religious men, or will you be guided by the Word of Almighty God"? Religion is the product of the demons, used by them to ensnare men and turn them away from God and into destruction. Those who embrace and follow the traditional and religious teachings of men will find that they will end in destruction, because religion is contrary to and in defiance of the Word of Almighty God. Choose for yourselves whom you will serve, whether the Lord or the demons. That same proposition was put up to the Israelites, who had covenanted to do God's will; and that is the fixed rule of God concerning all persons who will live. Joshua, who was devoted to Jehovah God and had God's approval, under inspiration from Jehovah said to the Israelites: "Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods [the gods or demons who by means of religion debauched the people and from which demon-controlled land God brought his faithful servant Abraham] which your fathers served on the other side of the flood [that is to say, the other side of the river Euphrates (Vss. 2, 3)], and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord." — Joshua 24: 14.

What, then, is the safe and sure guide for man? The answer is, The Word of God, which is the truth. (John 17:17) "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105) The time is here, therefore, because the greatest crisis is at hand, that all men must choose whom they will serve, whether religion taught by the Devil, or Almighty God and his King Christ Jesus.

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