*** w64 2/1 p. 68 More Is needed than Bibles *** able to preach with understanding and show the fulfillment of prophecies, and so it has been since. As the apostle Paul shows, “God has revealed [these things] through his spirit.”—1 Cor. 2:9, 10; Acts 2:2-36. Another requirement for understanding the Bible is a right heart condition, a sincere desire to learn, a ‘consciousness of one’s spiritual need.’ That is why Jesus spoke in parables or illustrations, to separate the casual and curious listener from the sincere inquirer. The latter would heed Jesus’ words: “Let him that has ears listen,” that is, remain to hear more.—Matt. 5:3; 13:9-16. In particular is help needed from God’s dedicated servants to understand the Bible. This is strikingly borne out by the experience recorded at Acts 8:26-39. A sincere inquirer, an Ethiopian official, was reading the prophecy of Isaiah but could not understand it until Philip, the evangelist, made it clear to him. If reading the Bible were all that were needed to understand it and to be impelled to act upon it, then each individual member of the Christian congregation would be complete in himself, like a whole human body, but not so. The apostle Paul likens the entire Christian congregation to a human body and the individual members to the various parts or organs of a body, such as the hands, feet and head. All of these have the greatest need for one another, for which reason it has well been said of them: “All the organs of the body are constantly in debt to one another.” Yes, as the apostle shows: “The eye cannot say to the hand: ‘I have no need of you’; or, again, the head cannot say to the feet: ‘I have no need of you.’” If Bibles were all that were needed, then the illustration of Paul would be pointless.—1 Cor. 12:21. The very fact that Jesus Christ gave his congregation “some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelizers, some as shepherds and teachers,” shows that more is needed than Bibles. As the inspired writer goes on to show, God provided these men for “the training of the holy ones, for ministerial work, for the building up of the body of the Christ, until we all attain to the oneness in the faith and in the accurate knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of growth that belongs to the fullness of the Christ.”—Eph. 4:11-13. Just as human instruments, dedicated to Jehovah God to do his will and upon whom he has placed his spirit, were needed in the early days of Christianity, so there is need for such today. By means of a figure of speech Jesus foretold that there would be human instruments. This is found in his great prophecy regarding the end of the system of things, where we now find ourselves: “Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their [spiritual] food at the proper time? Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so. Truly I say to you, He will appoint him over all his belongings.” This “slave,” the facts show, is to be found among the Christian witnesses of the New World society.—Matt. 24:45-47. Yes, more is needed than printing and distributing Bibles. They must be read, understood and acted upon. The Bible, and Bible prophecies in particular, cannot be understood until God’s due time, and then only by sincere inquirers with the help of God’s holy spirit and his dedicated earthly instruments. That is why this magazine is published and why the witnesses of Jehovah stand ready to instruct personally every sincere seeker for truth, and that “without money and without price.” Having ‘received free, they give free.’—Isa. 55:1; Matt. 10:8.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 02:43:33 +0000