watchtower: fred franz gilead talk - september 7, 1975

8/19/2019 Watchtower: Fred Franz Gilead Talk - September 7, 1975

1/15

This c l a s s is being s e n t f o r t h in c o P l a b o r ~ t i o nwf h he

Watchtower Bible

and

T r a a t S o c i e t y o f New York, Inc. by

the

Watch

Tower Bib l e

a n d T r a c t S o c i e t y o f P e n n s y l v a n i a . Now

t h e

q u e s t i o n

raised t o d a y ,

What

r i g h t does t h e Watch Tower B i b l e and

T r a c t S o c i e t y h a v e t o send m i s s i o n a r i e s o u t i n t o

t h e

f i e l d

o r e v a n g e l i e e r s . The

Amerlcan

T r a n s l a t i o n r e n d e r s t h e

word

e v a n g e l i z e

l t m i s s i ona rg . f t

Who a u t h o r i z e d the Watah Tower Bible and T r a c t S o c i e t y

o f Pemsylvanfa t o send m i s s i o n a r i e s a l l a r o u n d the g l o b e ? ,Now

such

c h a l l e n g i n g question may b e a l a o raised

with

an ear l ier c i r c u m s t a n c e .

And t h a t i s based o n s t h e f a c t tha t

.the

Wktch Tower Bible en

Tract

Socfety was founded by a

man

who became

a n e v a n g e l i z e r off w o r l d note,

one o f the most eminent e v a n g e l i z e r s o f t h i s t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y

and

e s p a c i a i l y a t t a i n e d g l o b a l fame

whm he made

his

t r i p

a r o u n d

t h e

w o r l d i n t h e

year

1912.

Tliat;man was

C h a r l e s Taze R u s s e l l o f A l l e -

gheny, ~ e n n s ~ l v a n i a .

be

Now.

ve

o f t e n wondered about t h i e m a t t e r .

Ma

you

have

t o o .

Ju s t

how

g e l i z e r ~

.

.

d i d

Russell

become a n e v a n g e l i z e r ? Who made

him

an evan-

/.-=

. t the. time t h a t h e

l ived

this - p r o f e s s e d C h r i s t i a n or-

g a n i z a t i o n

tha t

wa5 symbol i zed i n J e s u s ' p a r a b l e by the d r a g n e t tha t

g a t h e r e d i n f i s h suitable and u n s u i t a b l e f o r o r t h o d o x Jews t o eat

t h i s p r o f e s s e d C h r i s t i a n o r g a n i z a t i o n wae s t i l l In o p e r a t i o n and

was

g a t h e r i n g i n

these

d i f f e r e n t q u a l i t i e s

of

symbol i c

f i s h .

That

meant

tha t the

various

r e l i g i o u s e s t a b l i s h m e n t s 61 Chrletendom we re a n

operacYion. F o r i n s t a n o e , there

was

t h e Ang l i c a n Church with t s

r u l i n g t - b o d 9 and the P r o t e s t a n t

Ep%@bo &3.

Churc'h with i t s r u l i n g

. >

ody.

There

was

t h e Methodi s t

Church

158th its Conference ;

thsre

was alao t h e P r e s b y t e r i a n Church,

t o

which Russell

used

t o b e l o n g ,

i t s

Synod. These

was

a l s o t h e C o n g r e l j a t i o ~ a lChurch t ihich

R u s s e l l

joined, with

i t s Central Congrega t ion . - B u t

by

none

of these


2/15

cont rol l ing organiza t ions of t h i s dragnet organiza t ion was Russel l

made

an

evang eliee r or missionary. Well now, si nc e Russe ll broke

away from a l l these re l i gi ou s i n st i t u t i on s of Christendom, they

d i d n r t

recognize him and he became known

as

Pastor Russel l and

remember hyw t he cle rgy would r a i s e t he qu est ion, Who made him

a

.

.\

pas tor?

So the va l id i ty of

h i s

minis t ry

was

questioned and chal-

__

lenged by- th e cJergy of t h i s dragnet or gani zati on about which t h e

j

Lord Jesu s Chr ist spokein th e 1 3t h chap ter of Hatthew.

So, . i n view

. o f those

th ings

have of ten wondered, How did Russel l become what

he d id become?

And

lheybe

you've wondered about the mat ter too .

So

ju s t bega6 t o th ink about the

q r s t

century when this Christian

ev an ge li st ic work o r missionary work was

f i r s t s t a r t e d . Now

t he

r a r e

word ffev ange lizer w r

w evangelizer^^'

i s a

Se~t

ord i n th e Bible ;

i t occurs

only three

times;

twice nevang eli zer and once ffevangel-

i z e r s . Now we

remember

how Jesus se nt f or th hi s 1 2 apost les and

then he sen t out afterwards

70

di sc i pl es of h i s t o go out preaching

the good news of the Kingdom and these

70

d i s c ip l e s

a re

genera l ly

d i f fe ren t ia ted f rom the

1 2

apos t les

by b eing

called l tevangeliatsf l

o r nev ang eli zer s.v And so t he re were

7

of th ese evangelizers t ha t

.

the Lord Jesus Chrfs t se nt fort h. Now th e record says t h a t

he

se nt them f o r t h by twos.

Now

we're not t o imagine t h a t by sending

t h e

70

evangel izers ( i f wefre a llowed t o use th a t t e r m because they

d id

OF

evangel the good news of the Kingdom)

by

sending them &rth

.

by twos the Lord Jesus Christ was not-

N-. fQ>.q

each two a committee

+s

s o t h a t f o r t h e 70 evangelizers th er e were 35 co rn it te es of two.

Well, you're miss$onaries. You1re being se n t f o r th today a f t e r your

graduation as missionaries--the l a s t telegram we heard was about

two being sent t o Bolivia , and then ther e ar e othe rs who ar e being

s e n t ,

m ybe

f ou r o r s i x o r e i g h t, t o a different country

as

assign-


3/15

ment

fo r

work.

NOW

don't you miss ion ari es th in k because you a r e

being se nt fo rt h two to geth er o r maybe fo ur o r s i x or paybe e ig ht

that you re being s e n t f o r t h as

a

committee t o t ake over the work

f o r th e land t o which you a r e assigned. No such thin g. Your being

s e n t f o r t h

s

ind ivi dua l missionar ies t o coopera te together and t o

cooperate with the branch of t h e Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

which i s operat ing and direct ing the work in the

la nd t o which you

are ass igned Bo a c t as

.an

evangelizer . So don' t ge t t h i s committee ide

into your head because you are

eing

out i n groups t o spec ia l l and .

O^ Jesus ~ h r i s t i n i ~ h e d i s course as the g re a t e s t ~ v a n ~ e l & e rf

a l l

and then

Lme

moved on and there

i s

a

man who comes on th e scene

and he I s the only one who i s di re c t l y ca l l ed an evangel ize r . Tha t' s

h i s p er so na l t i t l e . We f i nd i t i n Acts chapte r 21 verse

8 .

Andthat

1

i s

P h il i p of Caes&r$a,

and when Paul visited

him

on h i s stopover there

a t

Caesarea,

w y

he

was

cal l ed Ph i l i p th e evangel izer . He's the

on ly one. Paul t o l d Timothy i n h i s f i n a l l e t t e r

2 Tim. 4:5

t h a t

he should do the work of an evangel izer, but Ph i l ip i s t he one who

is d ir ec t l y and the only one thus ca l l ed person ally en evaqgelizer .

But of course we 'know that there were oth er evangel izers .

. +

Now how d id t h f s man come on

t h e scene

ancI

who

made him an

evangel izer or missionary?

Now t ha t ' s

t he po in t l o observe. Well

remember how t h e s c r i p t u r e (Eph.

4 :11

t e l l s u s how t h e Lord Jesus

Chris t ascended on high and l ed

a

body of capt ives and how he gave

gifts

i n t h e

fo rm

of

men;

This l e t t e r says t h a t he g ve son@ a s

apost l e s nd some

as

prophets and some as evangel izers and sone as

-

shepherds and te ac he rs . And th e Lord Je su s

C h r i s t ,

t h e head of th e

congreg at ion, he gave not only

apostles

not only prophets, but

a l so evange l ize rs . Mow how did t h i s

P h i l i p

become an evangelizer

o f not e, of s p e c i a l mention, i n th e Bibl e? Well, you know her. he


4/15

which was

expandfng

and

impressing

Greek-apeakfng Jews

as

well

as

complaint made .

the Hebrew-speaking Jews,

And

t h e r e w s because

evident ly there w s pre,judice against the

Hebrew-speaufcSng

Jews against the widows

who

spoke

t h e

Greek language which was the

universal

language

of the

day

.

Yet

t h e r e

was

some

s o r t

of

p r e J u d i c e

agaias

t

these foreign-language

ta lkera

among the dis iples

They

weren't

receiving

he i r allowance of food

t o

t h e t r s a t i s f a c t i o n and

t h e problem came

up

before t he apos t l e s o f Jesus

Chris ,

What d d

t hey

do? Well, they t o l d

t h e

whole congregation to recommend seven

men who were really spiFitugl characters

whom

they, the

eportles,

*

might

appoin t

aver

t h i s

b u s i n e a a

And

s o

t h e r e

we r e

seven

i jho

were

reconmended

and

t h e f i r s t two were Stephen and a l s o t h i s Ph i l i p and

then o t h r a .

And t h e a p o s t l e s appdgnted them t o

b e

over t h i s

b u a l n e s a .

Well,

now,

i f

you look up the McClintockts and Strong's Encyclopedia

af

R e l i g i o u s Knowledge,

youfll And that t h e work

t h a t

the

aposkles

assfgned to these

seven

men i s c a l l e d

a

ssm2.-secular

work.

But the,

t-ipas les d f d n T twant t h a t semt seculesr work; they unloaded

it

onto

t h e s e seven men and s a i d

you

take care

of that.

Well,

werre

going

t a

spe c ia l i z e

on

prayers and

teschirsg.

Now were

these 1 2 apostles

of

the

Lord Jeeus

Christ

by unloading t h i s

raspansfbdLZty fob

&king

care

of tables, were they making of themse9vsor

mere

f i g u r e

heads i n

t h e cangregatSon o f God a n d of Jesus Christ?

They c e r t a i n l y not

making themselves f i g u r e heads because they specia l ized on spiritual

things. They were more a c t i v e at the sp r i tu (z lend

of the

matter

than

a t t h e

semi-secular end of the matter. So, things

prosperea

when

they did tha.t:, when they unloaded the

things

t o which they had

n o t been appofnted b y

Jesus

C h r i s t

a8

apostles t o t ake care of as

His ~vitnesses

o

all t h e congreg&tSons. And they spec ia l i zed o

the.

greachtng and t h e Lord

Gad

ble s sed

them,


5/15

3

Now we find with regard t o t i ~ h l l i p that he l e f t t h i s

jab of'

taking

czre of t ab le s a t Jerusalem (did

you

know t h a t ? ) he l e f t t h a t

job, and

he

went down t o Sandria.

Then when he

was

down the re

in

Sama~ia

7 )

h e d i d a preaching work

and

performed

many signs and

wonders. And

i t

was

because of

the work t h a t he d i d down t h e r e

and

afterward t h a t he became

an

evangel i s t .

Now,

who made Philip

a n

evangel i s t , r evangelizer

?

Oh, we

s a y

t he apos t les , t h a t

body

of

apostles--of course, i t cou ldn f t be any o the r wag

But was i t

We'll read the account: Let the Bible speak f o r S t s e l f . It

was

be-

caus-e

of

the gerseaut ion t h a t was s t i r r e d up

by

Saul of Tarsus t h a t

t h e record says

a l l th

discigl;s, a l l t h e members of the

Jew5 h

eon-

gregat ion , w e r e s c a t t e r e d from the - c i t y except the 12 apos t les .

And

s o Ph i l ip , as

one

of

the

refugees o r fugitives, he went down t o

Samaries onnd he preached just as thekBfble says a l l t h e othelgs

who

were s c a t t e r e d went preaching. And Jehovah was s p e c i a l l y

with

PhZl ip

and he established

a

congrcgatian t he re , and

i t

was only l a t e r when

t h e

apos t les heard

a b o u t

t h i s ,

what

was

goSng

on

down

t he r e ,

t h a t

they dispatched two

aP the members of t he apostolic body t o

0 down

t he re and see that

they

had the holy s p i r i t

of

God

imparted t o them.

And then a f t e r t h a t , what happened? Why, God, Jehovahf

angal

talked t o P h l l f p and says,

Now

you go--this i s t h e a s s l g m e n t t o you

from Jehovah's angel--you

go

down

t o

t h e

road

t h a t leaas southward

from

Jerusalem t o

Gaza

And

he

went down t h e r e

o n

t h a t assignment

.

from Jehovah's angel

and

then was when

he

had the encounter

with

the

Ethiopian eunuch and ha baptized hfm

and

a f t e r the baptism, why he

was

quickly caught away

o r

l e d away

by God's s p i r i t .

And he went down

t h e r e

t o t h e

Philistine

seacoast

and up

the coas t

t o Caesarea

where

he

s e t t l e d

down and he

had

four

daughters and he

was there as

a n

evangel i s t when

the

apos t l e P a u l cams o tha t b o a t t r l p b c k t o t h e .

Holy

Land.

And so t h a t ' s rvhat

happened

with phi --how

he

became


6/15

an evangel izer . Mow these

are

thzngs t o note, f r fends . Then

some-

' t h i n g happened r i g h t after t h a t , and the Lord Jesus C h r i s t took ac t i o n

and he took d i r e c t ac t ion without consul t ing any man o r body of men

on

earth.

And t h a t ' s when he, the Head of the congregation, met Saul

of

Tarsus, t h e persecutor , there on t h e road leading t o Damascus. He

stopped him and he sa id , Now t h i s i s a chosen vesse l under me I m

choosing hfm,

as,

the Head

of

the church, without consul t ing any people

on ea r t h , and he chose Saul t o be

an

evangelizer, t o car ry

th

message not anlp t o the Jews but a l s o to all t he Gentile nat ions.

.

Well,

what

about . ~erusalemnd t h e body down t h e r e?

Later on

t h e account

kel ls

u

t h a t Barnabae .took

Paul

( o r Saul

of

Tarsus)

down

t o Jerusalem. But they were a l l afraid of him and Saul o r Tarsua ( o r

Paul)

t e l l s

us t h a t when he went u p there t o Jerusalem he

s w

none

of t h e apos t l es except Peter , with whom he spent 15 days and a l s o

t h e ap o s t l e J m e s . Those are the only two. Then he

w nt

back t o

Tarsus and he continued oh h i s labors . Later on, why arnabas w s

sen t

down

t h e r e t o

Antioch

an8

he

hunted up Saul, brought him

-re ?)

arid they t a l k s d , i n Antioch f o r q u i t e a while.

Paul became

a

member

of the Antioah congregation and

he was

one

o f

the prophets there i n

as

t h a t congregation

Syria, why

od l s

s p i r i t spoke

t o

t h a t congregation t h e r e i n Aritioch

and said, ~ o wf a l l things, you set as ide , You, t h i s congregation

i n Antioch, you s e t a s i d e these two men, nm-ely arnabas

and Saul

-- -

f o r t h e work f o r which have commissioned them,

And so the Antioch

they

-

congregation d id t h a t and he-laid t h e i r hands

upon

Paul ( o r

Saul)

and Barnabw and sen t them f o r t h ,

as

a numbep of t r an s l a t i o n s read,

sent

them forth--and they went f o r t h by the holy s p f r i t operat ing

'

through

the

Antioch congregatZon

and

they

went

out on t h e i r first

__ --. --


7/15

missionary assignment. So you see the Lord Jesus Chrkt

was

actiRg

as the Head of the congregation and taking ac t i on d i r e c t l y , without

c

consul t ing anybody here on ear th what he could do and what he could

not do.

And he

acted i n t ha t way i n regard t o Saul and Barnabas

and

they were both ap os tl es of t he Antioch congrega tion. And so they

went out on (? ) th e work and had great, success nd i n course o f

t i m e

they completed their 'sfirst missionary tour and where d i d they

go

where did they report?

Therels

a

record ? ) you read i t for .yourself

i n th e c losiz lg

verses

of the 14th chapter of Acts.

They

went back to

Antioch t o t he con g~e &ti on therd and the account says t ha t they re-

l a t ed th ings

i n

d e t a i l t o them, t o . t h i s congregation t h a t had com-

mi tt ed them t o th e undeserved kindness of God f o r th e work t h a t they

had performed. So t h e r s 1 s where they rep ort ed. So th e recor d a l s o

s a id t h a t they stayed Antioch not

a

l i t t l e

t i m e

Now, what

happened?

A l l

of a sudden something occurred and Paul and Barnabas

they go up t o Jerusalem. Well, what' s the ma tte r? What br in gs them

up t o Jerusalem?

r

.

Well, i s i t $he body

of

apost les and'of o ther e lde rs of the

Jerusalem congregation that summoned them up there and s a y , Look here

.

We have heard t h a t you two men

have

gone out on a missionary tour nd

f inibhed

t

and you haven' t come up ha re t o Jerusalem t o r epo r t t o u s.

Be-ye -k~ew You know who w e are e

re

the counci l

? )

of Jerusalem.

Dontt you reco gni ie the headship o f the Lord Jesus Christ?

f :you

d n l

t come on up here

i n

a hurry, wetre going t o t ke di sc ip l inary

act ion against you

s

that what the account says? Well, i f

they

had acted that w y toward P a u l and Barnabas bec use they repor ted to

the congregation by m2ans of whfch the holy s p i r i t had sent them out

i2f

t hen th i s counci l io f. . .post les*-~erusale2

anddother elders of the

L

Jewish congregztion vrould have p u t themselves

bbve

the hezdship of


8/15

t he

Lord Jesue

Christ

But that

isn't what occurred. We

know

w h a t

happened--how dews came down from JerusaLem and s t i r r e d up t he

matter

of circ umcis ion and

i t

roubled the congregation there i n

Antioch so much t h a t the Antioch se n t Paul and Barnabas up t o Jeru-

salem t o have the council s e t t t l e the i s sue . And of course being

s e n t by t h e congregation a t Antioch, they

ha6

t o come back and r e po r t

and

advise t he congregation of t he set t lement of the gues t ioq of the

de c is i on t ha t w a s made

by

the counci l there

a t

Jerusalem.

And then

when

i t

was ha%

they were arguing i n favor of Christ ians from the' Gentiles

not

having t o be oircurncised

like

t he Jews

i t

was t hen th a t Pau l and

Barnabas to ld what ~ o d ;ad ddna

by.

means of them i n th e Ge nt il e world

.

And then

t was

t h a t the counc i l go t the repor t . Then they went back

t o Antioch which had s e n t them f o r t h t o make

known

the decision and

t h e

~ e ru sa l e m ounci l s e n t a long

t

men, Judas and S i l a s , wit h them.

And so they del ivered th e repor t from the counci l and th er e

w s

great

reJoicing among the Gent i le bel ievers.

Now

ti

passes

and

Paul .and Barnabas a r e

a t

Antioch. And what

do

occurs now? Well,4they rec ei ve an assignment from somewhere on t h e i r

next move? The -account says t h a t t h e two men, Paul and Barnbbas Paul

s a i d t o him,

f

a l l th ings , l e t us go and v i s i t the congregatzons

t h a t we have e s t a b l i she d and t hey a l l agreed

? ) on t h i s matter and

then t b . n a t t e r of accompanying them came up(?)

Who was

going t o

go

with

them? And

Barnabas was In favor o f Mark, John Nark, but Paul

.

d i dn ' t want him because he

had

l e f t them i n Pamphylia i n Asia Minor

and had not gone along with them t o th e f i n i s h of the

f i r s t

mission-

a r y

tour. So

P a u l

didn't have any confidence In

M a ~ k

or

the time

being.

And

he had a very very loud a l te rca t ion(?) as you know, and

i t

r e s u l t e d i n

a

s p l i t and Barnabas took along Mark and

i t

proved t o

be

a

good cho ice because efter ward s Paul zppr eclat ed now th e f a i t h -

fu lness of Kark and s a id he i s

a

useful servant even t o me. But what


9/15

.

about Paul? Well, he chose S i l a s o r Slvanus as h i s companion

i n

h i s missionary tour . And i s one t h ing

we

must note again, how t h i s

happened up i n Antioch toward th e cl os e of t he 15 th chap ter of Acts

t

says

t h a t g f t e r PauL and arnabas had been commended by the

bro thers of t h e Antioch congregation t o t h e undeserved kindness of

God t h a t they went fo rt h on the second mfsslonary to ur of th e ap os tl e

Paul. So agai n, th e Antioch congregation was being used t o send out

missionar ies of gr eat eminence i n Bible hi s t or y. Then la t e r on,

a f t e r completing t he second missionary t ou r , t he apos t l e ~ a u li n a l l y

re tu rn s t o Antioch and then

cts 18:23 t e l l s us t h a t a f t e r

he

had

spent

some

time

i n

Antioch i n Syria. then he s t a r te d out on h i s th i r d

*

missionary tour and he

was

a m n who wanted t o break f r es h ground.

H e di dn ' t l i k e t o buil d on another man's foundation, where another

man had -pioneered th e w y

as

an eva.hgelizer, bu t he wanted t o break

new graund. And t h a t ' s what he di d,

And s o as we examine t h i s account of the se two most ou ts tand in g

among the m issfonarie s recorded i n Bible h i st o r y we fi n d

that

they

were

sen t ou t espec ia l ly by the

Lord

Jesus Chr i s t .

the ead

of the

ch,

a

fact which the Watch

T m r

Bible and Tra ct Soc iet y had upheld

and accepted ever s ince the Society was

formed. So we se e how th e

.Lord Jesus Christ i s the Head of the church and has a right t o a c t

di rec t , wi thout any other

? )

org an iza tio ns i n view, not matter who

t h e y a r e .

He i s

t h e Head of'the churoh.

We

ca n' t chal leng e what

.

he does.

.

Well, now, the se th ing s, considerin g the se th ing s I n the first

century helps u s t o understand what i s taking p l ac e i n ou r time, i n

these l a s t two ce nt uri es, th e 19t h and 20th, w i t h r eg ar d t o ~ ~ s s i o i . 1 -

ary

work o r evangel izing work And

t

he lp s us t o understand who

ra is ed up Pas tor Russel l , o r Char les

Taze

Russell , as a world evan-


10/15

t o a magazine h ere i n Brooklyn, poin ting out

th

end of th e Genti le

T ines i n 1914 and a f t e r t ha t he was a ls o associa ted i n publ i sh ing

books on the Bibl e and i n

879

why he s t a r t e d

a

new re l ig io u s

maga

z ine The Watch Tower. Who authorized t h i s man t do th a t ? Later on

what d id he

do?

1884

he

had t h i s organized Society, Zion's Watch

Tower Tra ct So ciet y, inc orpo rate d under t he

laws,

the membership laws

of t h e S t a t e of Pennsylvania. And, mind you, fr iends, when he founded

t h a t SocPety, t h e Watch Tower Bi bl e and Tr ac t Soci ety, he wae not

founding

a

do-nothing s oc ie ty , o r org ani zat io n. No, you read t h e

ch ar t er and -the purpode of t h a t organiza tion and i t s t a t e s t he re i n

t h e c h a r t e r

t at

the purpose

o f

t h i s s o c i e t y

i s

t o promote t he

d i s -

seminat ion of Ch ri st ia n knowledge by means of v ar io us pr in t ed publica

t i on s and by whatever means the b o q d of di re ct or s decides

as

being

wi th in the

l a w

Well, who raised up Pastor Russell to do

t h l s

from which you

missionar ies here today are receivin g a ben ef i t ? Evident ly the Lard

Jesus Chris t

d i d ;

God's

s p i r i t

did;

i t

could do that , Jesus Chris t

do i n t he f i r s t

century and

the

s p i r i t God could

opera te

th a t way i n t he f i r s t way and why not a l s o i n

the

19t h century?

And

a l l t he fa c t s of h ia tory wi th regard t o th e Watchlbwer Bible and

Trac t Soc iet y, t h i a a c t lv e, do-something society--had Jehovahrs

bl ess in g end approval and th e f r ui ta ge thereof shows th at i t was

-

something with which Jehovah God

was

implicated.

Well, s o t h a t Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society operated

throughout the years and then t o

m ke

the s t o r y s hor t , we come dawn

t o t h e year 1942.

And

can

remember a

s p e c i a l m e t i n g t h a t

w s

he ld on Thursday, September 24, of t he yea r 1942 new president

had

ar is en t o presi de over the a f f a i r s of th e Watch Tower

B i b l e

and

Tract Society and on t h i s sp ec if ie d dat e, why h e *ca l led

a

J o in t


11/15

bozrd of directors of the Pennsylvania co~porat ion

of the New Yosk corparation--there was a Joint meeting of us ?)

of th es e boards. Because both o these corporatfons

were

now in the prodect t h a t was going t o be submitted t o t h i s

And

I

can PaTIembe~how there

was

a t t h at m&ing, which

held up i n

Brother

Rutherford's ,

the

former pres iden t , office--

t

tras

preeenL ? ) the

new

pres ident N.H. Knorr and also vice-president

. C. Covington, and

a@c-~ etary-treasurer E. QAnAanbesg ,arid H.H.

ReZm

was

y r o o m a t e a t the time,

and

a l s o

T. J.

Sul l iven

and b t h u r

and myself--there were all members

of the

Mew

York corporatfoa

a t

t h a t

meeting

and

there

5

hembers of t h e

Pennsylvania

oorp-

a t

t h a t

meeting.

Now we g a t t age the r and the

president of

Socie ty, o'r both Soo is t l e s , BrotherRnorr,

h e f i r s t read a

gor t fon

t

f

the cha r te r of t h e

New

York Corporation

to this

j o i n t boar4

meeting-

i t was

devoted t o promoting

t he

preaching and

teaching of the

news. And

then he

ca l l ed a t t e n t f o n

t o t h e act

t h a t up the re a t

Farm the re

was

a bu i ld ing , G i l s a d

by

name,

and

i t

was not

being

t o the full extent , only

to

one-third of

i t s

eapaai ty ,

And then

e

pointea out t h e

f a c t ,

something

t h a t

he had cherished i n hfs heapt

a

long; tlme,

that

t h i s would

be

an excel le ;nt .place t o e s t a b l i s h

sehool for t h e

t r a i n i n g and greparlng of missionar ies ,

Well,

this

a delightful

prapoaal t h a t was submitted by t h e president t o a l l

r e s t of

u s

board members and

t he r e

was favorable d i s c u s s i o n _ a l l

bout t h i s proposed school.

~pkie-w s-a-de ~fk~dnd than

rooma te ,

H H Reimer,

he made the motion t h a t the president

of

societies se t i n fnueian

the opera t ion

t o establish

such a

f o r t h e ppeparing of

men

and women who a t nornentrs not ice

b e sent

out in

the preachLng work t o d i f f e r e n t countPLes. Then

C. Covington, the vtce-president and

also

l eg l cauasel

he

added


12/15

Society should be authorized t o make a l l plans and arrangements t o

s e e t h a t t h i s school i s es tabl fshed according t o h i s d i s c r e t i o n and

t h a t he should a l s o make a l l plans and arrangements t o see t h a t

t h i s school

i s financed and kept i n operation. Well, I seconded t h a t

motion and the motion was unanimously accepted, approved, b y a l l

those present .

And r i g h t a f t e r t h a t then, the pres ident he

made

f u r t h e r proposals about educational work of

t h e

Society and proposed

a publ ica t ion of a chool textbook t h a t would be used

by a l l

the

congregations ofJehovahts people and a f t e r the motion was made, why

T . 5

Sul l i van approved of that; eduoatisn pot ion too s o that-now the

ques t ion

was

*thrown t o

a

uni ted boakd meeting and t h i s

was

a l s o

unlmously approved. So you see, dear f r i ends , t h a t t h e boards of

d i r e c t o r s of t h e

New York c o ~ p o r a t i o n nd of the Pennsylvania as


13/15

t h a t means? According

Lo

thes aiary,

Hebrew

diary,

gram

t h e land

of

I s r a e l ,

why t h i s I s t he

second

day o f

the month T i s h r f

o the

lunar year 1976 and do you know whkt t h a t means?

That here on t h i s

day of your

g r a d u a t i o n

why

i t

i s

t he second day

of

t he

seventh

millennium

of man's exis tence

h e r s on earth.

I s n ' t

that sameth2ng?

I s n ' t t h a t sometkSng

grand

[applausef t h a t %he opening day of t h e

seventh millenfiium o f mankind's exis tence

i s

s ignal lzed by the opera-

t i o n of t h e Watch T&P

B i b l e

and Tract Society i n P u l l compliance

of the

terns

of'

i t s c h a r t e r

sendiYrg out

the

59th

USS

f

th

Gilea8

s c h o o l

f o r

m i s s i a n a r i a s

Furthermore,

I r n

t o l d t h a t

by

the

a r r a nge -

ment

of

the '

ew

York

corporation

wa

already

have

same

20

bro ther s

and

s i s t e ~ s

ho re

gofng t o

fom

c l a s s

No. 60 i n

t h e Qf lead

School and

very

i n t e r e s t i n g that

a t t h e

end

o f

6

cen tur ies of human

existence

here

on

earth, why

c lass

o r 60

S

Bo2ng

t o

a t a r t

i t s

sctcruoling at; t h e

opening

of t h e 7 th rnillennSm

of

mankLndts exis tence.

These

w e

surgrSsing th ings , s t a r t l i n g things , haggifying th ings ,

o v e r

which

we

can

re jo ice ,

and

h

sure t h a t

many

of

us

here can

be

very, very

happy

t h a t Jehovah

God

put i n t o t h e

mind of

B~otherKnorrand

i n t o

h i s

h e a r t t o establZsh t b i s rnkssionary school a t

Gi l e a d .

Jehovah God

c e r t a i n l y

has

blessed

i t

and

by i t s

frtalt

why

i t has

become

-known

as an approved agency i n

the

band o f Jehovah God s o t h a t there fs no

need

t o

challenge

the pight

and

the

authority of t h i s S o c i e t y

t o send

out miss ionar ies .

And,

f r i ends , no t i ce thls , , t h a t

just as God used

of the

.

the

Antiach

cangregatian t o send out the two most outstanding-m s-

s i o n a r i e s of the

first

c e n t u ~ y ,

Pau l

nd Barnabas s o today Jehovah

G od

i s

using the Watch Tower Bibleand T ~ a c t ociety

cr

Pennsylvania

i n

eoolaboratZon w i t h t h e Mew Yosk corporat ion t o send

orat

f u r t h e r

miss ionar ies and

they

are deterrnfne4 t o keep on i n

that

course, Thst 's

something very,

very gra.tifgting.

So, you missionaries can proceed


14/15

.

14 .

Jehovahgs approval and you have h i s backing; your r e ?) sen t f o r t h

by

a

q u a l i f i e d organizat ion t o put you i n t h e missionary f i e l d ,

A

t h e Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

s

sending

you out , g iving you your t i c k e t and a l so

i t s

making arrangements

f o r your missionary home i n fo re ign lands under the supervis ion of

t h e branches which thewatch Tower Society has i n these var ious lands .

So l e t t h a t

b e

c l e a r l y understood by

you

missionaries. Now, t i m e

t h a t

i s

l e f t

for

t h i s system of things

i s

s h o r t . We don t know

whether wef re going t o meet one another again. But t h e r e s one thing

sure--that although

w

may be s c a t t e r e d and you

may

never get back

here before Dhe 3-year

l i m i t

i s

up, and you may even i n the course

of

development of things i n these fore ign lands, be separated, not be

a b l e to- .get i n touch with the branch over the re l e t alone ge t i n

-i

touch with the Society o r with t h e Watch Tower School of Gilead--

what a re you going t o do? What s going t o be your help? Well, t h e

very 4 k P ~ g ane force, a c t i v e force , tha t

was

operat ive i n t he f i r s t

century, God s holy s p i r i t ,

t h a t can be with you no mat ter where

you

a re .

J u s t

as

David s a i d i n h i s 139th psalm, i n verse

7

and 8:

Where can go from your s p i r i t and where

can

r u n away from your

face? If

ascena up t o heave, look you would be there and

12 I

.spread out my couch I n Sheol, look you would be there . And we cannot

get away from God s s p i r i t i f we s t i c k close t o him as we ve been

exhorted

by

previous speakers t o do.

That

s p i r i t

w i l l continue with

us i f w a r e t r y i n g t o do Godls w i l l and keep i n touch with h i s

organizat ion, the loca t ion doesn f t matter

a t a l l .

And t h a t s what

we

want-every

l a s t

one of us wants t h a t holy spirit.

A s

David

said

t h e r e i n the 51s t Psalm and verses

1 0

through 12 he says there :

Create i n me

a

pure h e a r t , God, and put within

me

a

new

s p i r i t ,

a

s t e a d f a s t one. Do not throw m e away from before your face and


15/15

3 5

e xa l t a t i on of sa lva t ion

by

you.

So we s h o u l d a11

be

l i k e tha t ;

we

bonf t want Gad s

holy

s p i r i t

to be taken away from us, L e t t s pursue the course, as we ve been

encouraged

ta

do t h i s

morning

by p r e v i o u s speakers t o speak t o our

g u n s - - s t i c k to our assignment and even though the forces

of

the

enemy

may come a g a i n s t u s t o

t r y

t o d e s t r o y us w e can pray just as

a v tU prayed

i n

the

143 P s a l m and the 9 t h

verse onward where he

says

Deliver me

from

y e n e m i e s , Jehovah; h a v e taken

cover with you.

n d then he

adds

t h a t

Q o d t s

spirit

i s

good and

may

t lead

me

i n the

l a n d

of

uprightness. ...Oodrsspirit i s good-.

May

t

lead

m

i n t h e

land

of

u p r l t n e s a ,

and

that s what

you

want

to .

You

want

God's

spirit

t o be with

you

because

i t s good

spirit; it will keep you

doing g d o d t h i n g s

and

you

w nt t

t lead

you

not i n a

land of

wickedness an8

eorrkption

with

this w o r l d

but i n

a

land

of upright-

ness, So, as T conclude my remarks to you

t h i s

nornlng

I f i n d

n o t h i n g better t o quote t o

y o u

t h a n the words of

the

apos t l e Paul

a t

the

close

of

his

second

letter

t o

the Corinthians

c h a p t e r

13,

v e r s e 1 4 , where

he

says

t h e

loving-kindness o f the

Lord

Jesus Christ

and t h e undeserved

Wndncss o f

Jesus

C h r i s t and t h e

l o v e

o f

God and

the

shar ing in

the

holy spfr ie b e with you

always

watchtower: fred franz gilead talk - september 7, 1975

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