34567

JANUARY 15, 2012

D
SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION

STUDY ARTICLES

FEBRUARY 27–MARCH 4

True Christians Respect

God’s Word
PAGE 3 ˙ SONGS: 113, 116

MARCH 5 -11

Learn Watchfulness From

Jesus’ Apostles
PAGE 9 ˙ SONGS: 125, 43

MARCH 12-18

Learn From ‘the Framework

of Truth’
PAGE 15 ˙ SONGS: 107, 13

MARCH 19-25

Making Whole-Souled
Sacrifices for Jehovah
PAGE 21 ˙ SONGS: 66, 56

MARCH 26–APRIL 1

A Royal Priesthood to
Benefit All Mankind
PAGE 27 ˙ SONGS: 60, 102
34567 6
PURPOSE OF STUDY ARTICLES

JANUARY 15, 2012 STUDY ARTICLE 1 PAGES 3-8

Vol. 133, No. 2 Semimonthly

This article will show how true Christians
ENGLISH have always made an effort to be guided

by God’s Word. We will learn what our
THE PURPOSE OF THIS
MAGAZINE, The Watchtower, yeartext will be for 2012.
is to honor Jehovah God, the

Supreme Ruler of the universe.

Just as watchtowers in ancient STUDY ARTICLE 2 PAGES 9-14
times enabled a person to In this article, we will study three lessons
observe developments from that we can learn from the apostles and
afar, so this magazine shows us
the significance of world events other Christians in the first century about
in the light of Bible prophecies. how to keep on the watch. This study COVER: A street market
It comforts people with the ´
should strengthen our determination to in San Cristobal de las
good news that God’s Kingdom, Casas, Mexico. A pio-
which is a real government in
bear thorough witness about God’s King-
heaven, will soon bring an end dom. neer couple who
to all wickedness and transform
learned the Tzotzil
the earth into a paradise. It language witness to
promotes faith in Jesus Christ, STUDY ARTICLES 3, 4 PAGES 15-26 an indigenous family
who died so that we might gain The Law of Moses required that the
everlasting life and who is now
Israelites make sacrifices to Jehovah.
ruling as King of God’s Kingdom.
This magazine has been pub- Christians do not have to obey that Law.
lished by Jehovah’s Witnesses But Jehovah expects us to show gratitude
continuously since 1879 and is to him in other ways. These articles will
nonpolitical. It adheres to the
Bible as its authority. explain how the Law of Moses helps us
to do that.
This publication is not for sale. It is

provided as part of a worldwide Bible
educational work supported by voluntary
donations. Unless otherwise indicated,
STUDY ARTICLE 5 PAGES 27-32
Scripture quotations are from the modern- The greatest need for mankind is to be
language New World Translation of the
Holy Scriptures—With References. reconciled to God. This article explains

how a royal priesthood will help mankind MEXICO
“Some Expressions Explained” are
contextual explanations of words used to become reconciled to God and how POPULATION
within an article.

we will benefit. 108,782,804
The Watchtower (ISSN 0043-1087) is
published semimonthly by Watchtower
PUBLISHERS
Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.; 710,454
M. H. Larson, President; G. F. Simonis,
Secretary-Treasurer; 25 Columbia Heights, TRANSLATION WORK
Brooklyn, NY 11201-2483, and by Watch
Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada, 30 indigenous
PO Box 4100, Georgetown, ON L7G 4Y4. languages
Periodicals Postage Paid at Brooklyn, NY,
and at additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes
to Watchtower, 1000 Red Mills Road,
Wallkill, NY 12589-3299. 5 2012
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society
of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved.
Printed in Canada.
 True Christians
Respect God’s
Word
HINK about the first time you had a con-

T
“Your word is truth.”
—JOHN 17:17. versation with one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
What do you remember about it? Many of us
would say that the one thing we remember is that
the Witness used the Bible to answer all our ques-
LOOK FOR THE ANSWERS tions. How happy we were to learn about God’s
TO THESE QUESTIONS: purpose for the earth, what happens when we die,
and the hope for our dead loved ones!
What was the difference be- 2 But as we continued to study, we realized that
tween the meeting in Jerusalem we can learn much more from the Bible than just
in the year 49 and church the answers to our questions about life, death, and
councils after that? the future. We started to value the Bible because it
is the most helpful book in the world. The advice
from the Bible has always helped people. Those
who carefully follow it will be happy and do well

in life. (Read Psalm 1:1-3.) True Christians have al-
Who were some of the men ways accepted the Bible, “not as the word of men,
who defended God’s Word after but, just as it truthfully is, as the word of God.”
the time of the apostles? (1 Thessalonians 2:13) A brief review of how peo-
ple in the past either used the Bible or ignored it
will show the difference between those who truly
respect God’s Word and those who do not.
A DIFFICULT PROBLEM IS SOLVED
How did faithful Christians 3 Thirteen years passed after the first uncircum-
study the Bible in the late cised Gentile, Cornelius, was anointed. Many
1800’s? Why was this a good
way to study? 1. When you first talked to Jehovah’s Witnesses, what was
one important thing you noticed that was different about
them?
2. What are some of the reasons why you value the Bible?
3. What problem put the unity of the Christian congregation
in danger? Why was this a difficult problem to solve?

3
SOME EXPRESSIONS EXPLAINED
If we respect God’s
Word, we think of it as
the highest authority on
all matters and base all
our beliefs on it
Circumcision: Removal
of a man’s foreskin. The
Law of Moses required all
males to be circumcised.
Usually, Gentiles were not
circumcised. They were
uncircumcised
Proselyte: Proselytes
were Gentiles who had
converted to the Jewish
religion. They accepted
the God of Israel and the
Law of Moses, and males
were circumcised

more Gentiles had become Christians.
During this time, a problem arose that
put the unity of the Christian con-
gregation in danger. Should the Gen-
tile men be circumcised according to
the Jewish tradition before they could
be baptized? That was a difficult ques-
tion for a Jew to answer. Jews who
obeyed the Law would not enter a
Gentile’s home. If they would not even
do that, they certainly would never
treat a Gentile as a brother! Jewish
Christians were already greatly perse-
cuted for leaving the Jewish reli-
gion. If they now welcomed uncircum-
cised Gentiles as their brothers, this
would only cause more persecution
for the Christians. It would also sepa-
rate Christians from those of the Jew-
ish religion even more.—Galatians 2:
11-14.
4 In the year 49, the apostles and
older men in Jerusalem, who were
themselves circumcised Jews, “gath-
ered together to see about this affair.”
(Acts 15:6) Their meeting was, not a
boring religious argument about un-
4. Who gathered together to solve the prob-
lem? What questions could someone have had
about this discussion?
important details, but an exciting dis-
cussion about Bible teachings. Every-
one involved in the discussion gave
his opinion. How would they solve the
problem? Would they allow someone’s
preference or prejudice to influence
their decision? Would the responsible
older men wait until the situation in
Israel improved for the Christians and
then make a decision? Or would they
agree to something that they did not
really believe was right just so that a
final agreement could be made?
5 At church councils, or meetings of
church leaders, it is common for these
leaders to accept ideas that they real-
ly do not agree with just so that there
can be a final agreement. It is com-
mon for some of the leaders to try
to make others vote for their ideas.
But nothing like that happened at the
meeting in Jerusalem. Still, the apos-
tles and older men were able to make
a decision that everyone at that meet-
ing agreed with. How could that be? It
is because even though they had dif-
ferent opinions, all who were there re-
5. In what important ways was the meeting in
Jerusalem in the year 49 different from church
councils?

4 SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION

 spected God’s Word, and they used
the Scriptures to solve the problem.
—Read Psalm 119:97-101.
6 It was the words at Amos 9:11,
12 that helped to solve the problem.
These words are quoted at Acts 15:16,
17. It says: “I shall return and rebuild
the booth of David that is fallen down;
and I shall rebuild its ruins and erect it
again, in order that those who remain
of the men may earnestly seek Jeho-
vah, together with people of all the
nations, people who are called by my
name, says Jehovah.”
7 But someone may argue that this
text does not say that Gentiles who
became Christians did not have to be
circumcised. That is true. But Jewish
Christians would have understood it
that way. Why? Because Jewish Chris-
tians thought of circumcised Gentiles
The apostles and older
men in Jerusalem
respected God’s Word
as brothers, not as people of the na-
tions, as the scripture says. (Exodus
12:48, 49) For example, Bagster’s ver-
sion of the Septuagint says at Esther 8:
17: “Many of the Gentiles were circum-
cised, and became Jews.” “Those who
remain of the men” were those who
remained of the house of Israel. This
included Jews and circumcised prose-
lytes. The Scriptures said that they
would become one people for God’s
6, 7. How did the apostles and older men use
the Scriptures to solve the problem about cir-
cumcision?
JANUARY 15, 2012
name together with “people of all the
nations,” that is, uncircumcised Gen-
tiles. So the answer from the Scrip-
tures was clear. Gentiles who wanted
to become Christians did not have to
be circumcised.
8 God’s Word and his spirit helped
those sincere Christians to agree on a
decision. (Acts 15:25) Even though the
decision would probably cause more
persecution of the Jewish Christians,
those who were faithful followed that
direction based on the Bible.—Acts 16:
4, 5.
THE DIFFERENCE BECOMES
VERY CLEAR
9 The apostle Paul foretold that after
the death of the apostles, true worship
would be corrupted by false teachings.
(Read 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 7.) Even
some of those who had responsibilities
in the congregation would reject true
teachings. (2 Timothy 4:3) Paul warned
elders in his time: “From among you
yourselves men will rise and speak
twisted things to draw away the dis-
ciples after themselves.” (Acts 20:30)
The New Encyclopædia Britannica tells
us one main reason why false teach-
ings were allowed. It says that some
Christians who had training in Greek
philosophy began to use this philoso-
phy to explain their Christian beliefs.
This made them feel good about their
own knowledge, and they thought that
it could help educated pagans to ac-
cept Christianity. An example of an
8. Why did Jewish Christians need courage to
make the decision that they made?
9. What is one important reason why false
teachings corrupted true worship? What im-
portant Christian teaching was corrupted?
5
important Christian belief that they
corrupted with a pagan idea is the doc-
trine, or teaching, about who Jesus
Christ is. The Bible calls him the Son of
God, but those who loved Greek phi-
losophy taught that he is God.
10 Later, church leaders argued
about this doctrine at several church
councils. They could easily have found
the answer to the question about the
identity of Jesus Christ if they had
looked in the Scriptures. But most of
them did not think that what the Bi-
ble said was important enough. In fact,
most of them had made their own de-
cision even before their councils start-
ed, and nothing could change their
opinion. The decisions made at these
meetings rarely said anything about
the Bible.
11 Why did church leaders not use
the Scriptures more when they made
decisions? Scholar Charles Freeman
explains that it is because what the Bi-
ble says did not agree with their idea
that Jesus is God. Jesus’ own words
show that God is greater than Jesus.
Because these leaders could not deny
his words, church tradition and the
opinions of men became more impor-
tant for them than the Gospels. Even
today, many church leaders think
that the sayings of those whom they
call the Church Fathers are more im-
portant than the Word of God! If you
have ever discussed the Trinity doc-
trine with a student of religion, you
have probably noticed that.
10. Where could church leaders have found
the answer to the question about the identity of
Christ?
11. On whose authority did church leaders
base their decision? Why did they do that?
6 SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION
12 The Roman emperors had a great
influence on these meetings. For ex-
ample, Professor Richard E. Ruben-
stein wrote about what happened at
the Council of Nicaea. He says that the
new emperor, Constantine, had made
the bishops very rich. In less than a
year, he had given them back all that
had been taken from them, such as
their churches, their jobs, and their ti-
tles. He had given the bishops the spe-
cial treatment that the pagan priests
had received before them. As a result,
Constantine was able to have a strong
influence on the decisions made at
the Council of Nicaea, perhaps even
to change them. And Charles Freeman
wrote that after that meeting, the em-
peror started to have more influence
in the church. He gave power to the
church and influenced its teachings.
—Read James 4:4.
13 Church leaders could not accept
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but
many of the common people thought
differently. That is because the com-
mon people clearly understood and ac-
cepted what they read in the Scrip-
tures. But the church leaders instead
wanted the money and power that the
emperor could give them, so they ig-
nored the Bible. Gregory of Nyssa,
who was a religious leader during this
time, made a critical comment on how
the common people, such as clothes
salesmen, money changers, grocers,
and servants, talked about religion.
Gregory did not like that many of the
common people explained that the
Son is different from the Father, that
12. What influence did the emperor have?
13. Why, do you think, did church leaders not
accept the clear truths from the Bible?
Waldo Wycliffe
the Father is greater than the Son, and
that the Son was created out of noth-
ing. The common people were able to
explain these truths by using the Bible.
This is something that Gregory of Nys-
sa and the church leaders were not do-
ing. They should have listened to the
common people!
“WHEAT” AND “WEEDS”
GROW TOGETHER
14 What Jesus said in one of his par-
ables tells us that from the first centu-
ry on, there would always be some true
anointed Christians on the earth. He
compared them to “wheat” that grew
among “weeds.” (Matthew 13:30) Of
course, we do not know for sure which
men or groups were part of the anoint-
ed class. But we do know that there
have always been some who had the
courage to defend God’s Word and to
speak against the false teachings of the
church. Let us talk about a few exam-
ples.
15 Archbishop Agobard of Lyons,
France, who lived between the years
14. How do we know that there have always
been some true anointed Christians on earth
from the first century on?
15, 16. Who were some of the men who re-
spected God’s Word?
JANUARY 15, 2012
Tyndale Grew Storrs
779 and 840, spoke against the wor-
ship of idols, churches dedicated to
saints, and church practices and wor-
ship. Bishop Claudius, who lived at
the same time as Bishop Agobard, also
rejected church tradition and did not
approve of prayers to saints and the
worship of objects. In the 11th centu-
ry, Archdeacon Berengarius of Tours,
France, was excommunicated, or ex-
pelled from the church, because he re-
jected the Catholic teaching of tran-
substantiation. He also believed that
the Bible is a greater authority than
church tradition.
16 Peter of Bruys and Henry of Lau-
sanne, who lived in the 12th century,
were two other men who loved Bible
truth. Peter of Bruys stopped serving
as a priest because he believed that
the Catholic teachings of infant bap-
tism, transubstantiation, prayers for
the dead, and worship of the cross did
not agree with the Scriptures. In 1140,
Peter was burned to death because of
his beliefs. Henry, who was a monk,
spoke against corrupt practices and
wrong worship in the church. He was
arrested in 1148 and was in prison for
the rest of his life.
7
 17
About the time that Peter of Bruys
was killed, a person was born who
would later have great influence on the
spread of Bible truth. His last name
` George Storrs (who lived from 1796 to
was Valdes, or Waldo.1 (See footnote.)
He did not have religious training like
Peter of Bruys and Henry of Lausanne,
but he valued God’s Word so much
that he gave up his material things and
had parts of the Bible translated into
a language that many common people
in southeastern France spoke. Some
were so happy to hear the Bible’s mes-
sage in their own language that they
too gave up their material things and
used their lives to speak about Bible
truth with others. The church leaders
did not like that at all. In 1184 these
Our yeartext for 2012:
“Your word is truth.”
—John 17:17
zealous men and women, who were
later called the Waldenses, were ex-
communicated by the pope and were
not allowed by the bishop to go back to
their homes. This actually helped
spread the Bible’s message to other
areas. In time, in many parts of Eu-
rope, there were followers of Waldo,
Peter of Bruys, and Henry of Lausanne
as well as others who separated them-
selves from the church. In later centu-
ries, others defended Bible truth: John
` `
1 Valdes has sometimes been called Pierre Valdes
or Peter Waldo, but we cannot be sure of what his
first name was.
17. What important things did Waldo and his
followers do?
8 SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION
Wycliffe (who lived from about 1330
to 1384), William Tyndale (who lived
from about 1494 to 1536), Henry Grew
(who lived from 1781 to 1862), and
1879).
“THE WORD OF GOD
IS NOT BOUND”
18 Enemies of the Bible have not
been able to stop Bible truth from
spreading. At 2 Timothy 2:9, we read:
“The word of God is not bound.” In
1870 a group of sincere Bible students
began to search for the truth. How
did they study? First, someone asked a
question about a certain subject. Then,
they talked about it. Next, they read
all the scriptures that were about that
subject. When they agreed on how
these scriptures related to one anoth-
er, they decided on an answer and
wrote it down. This was a good way to
study because it followed the example
of the apostles and older men in the
first century. It is encouraging to know
that these faithful men in the early his-
tory of Jehovah’s Witnesses made sure
that their beliefs were based complete-
ly on God’s Word.
19 Our beliefs are still based on the
Bible. That is why the Governing Body
of Jehovah’s Witnesses has chosen Je-
sus’ words at John 17:17 as our yeartext
for 2012: “Your word is truth.” Every-
one who wants to have God’s approv-
al must live according to the truth. So
we should all continue to do our best
to be guided by God’s Word.
18. How did sincere Bible students in the
19th century study the Bible? Why was this a
good way to study?
19. What is the yeartext for 2012, and why is it
appropriate?
 Learn
Watchfulness
From Jesus’
Apostles
MAGINE the scene on the last night of Jesus’

I
“Keep on the watch with
me.”—MATTHEW 26:38. life on earth. Jesus has come to one of his fa-
vorite places, the garden of Gethsemane, just
east of Jerusalem. He has come here with his
faithful apostles. Jesus has many important things
WHAT CAN YOU LEARN ABOUT: to think about, so he needs to find a place where
he can be alone to pray.—Matthew 26:36; John 18:
Watching for direction on 1, 2.
where to preach? 2 The apostles Peter, James, and John follow Je-

sus farther into the garden. He tells them: “Stay

here and keep on the watch with me,” and then
he leaves to pray. When he comes back, he finds
his friends sleeping. Again he tells them: “Keep
on the watch.” But Jesus finds them sleeping two

more times! Later that same night, none of the
Being vigilant with a view to apostles are ready for what happens. They do not
prayers? keep on the watch. They even abandon Jesus and
run away!—Matthew 26:38, 41, 56.
3 The apostles certainly felt sorry about not

keeping on the watch. Those faithful men quickly

learned from their mistake. The Bible book of Acts
shows that they became an excellent example of
how to keep watchful. Their example must have

helped other Christians in the first century to do

Preaching even when there
the same. Now more than ever, we need to keep
are trials?
on the watch. (Matthew 24:42) Let us talk about
three lessons that we can learn from the book of
Acts that will help us to keep on the watch.
1-3. What mistake did the apostles make during Jesus’ last
night on earth? What shows that they learned from their mis-
take?

9
SOME We are watchful when
we accept Jehovah’s direc-
EXPRESSIONS tion, pray continually, and
EXPLAINED keep our zeal and urgency
in the preaching work
THEY WERE WATCHFUL FOR
DIRECTION ON WHERE TO PREACH
4 The first lesson is that the apostles
were watchful for direction on where
to preach. The Bible shows us how Je-
sus used God’s spirit to guide the apos-
tle Paul and his companions on a very
interesting journey. (Acts 2:33) Let
us read about it from the beginning.
—Read Acts 16:6-10.
5 Paul, Silas, and Timothy had left
the city of Lystra in southern Gala-
tia. Some days later, they came to a
Roman highway that would take them
west to the most populated area in the
district of Asia. They wanted to fol-
low that road to visit cities where
thousands of people needed to learn
about Christ. But something sudden-
ly stopped them. Verse 6 says: “They
went through Phrygia and the coun-
try of Galatia, because they were for-
bidden by the holy spirit to speak the
word in the district of Asia.” The Bi-
ble does not say how, but in some
way the holy spirit stopped the trav-
elers from preaching in the district of
Asia. Paul and his companions under-
stood that this direction from the holy
spirit meant that Jesus wanted them to
preach somewhere else.
4, 5. How did holy spirit direct Paul and his
traveling companions?
10
We bear thorough
witness by giving a good
witness at every opportu-
nity we have
6 Where did Paul and his compan-
ions go? Verse 7 explains: “Further,
when getting down to Mysia they
made efforts to go into Bithynia, but
the spirit of Jesus did not permit
them.” Because God’s spirit stopped
them from preaching in Asia, they
went north and planned to preach in
the cities of Bithynia. But when they
got near Bithynia, Jesus again used
the holy spirit to stop them. The men
must have wondered why. They knew
what to preach and how to preach, but
they did not know where to preach. It
was as if they had knocked on a door
that led to Asia, but it had not opened.
Then they tried again in Bithynia, and
the same thing happened. Did those
zealous preachers stop trying? No,
they did not!
7 The decision that they made next
might have seemed a bit strange.
Verse 8 tells us: “They passed Mysia
by and came down to Troas.” The trav-
elers turned west and walked 563 ki-
lometers (350 miles). They passed by
one city after another until they came
to the port of Troas. From this port,
people would travel to Macedonia by
ship. Verse 9 tells us what happened
next: “During the night a vision ap-
6, 7. (a) What happened to Paul and his com-
panions near Bithynia? (b) What decision did
the disciples make? What was the result?
SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION
peared to Paul: a certain Macedonian
man was standing and entreating him
and saying: ‘Step over into Macedo-
nia and help us.’ ” Finally, Paul and his
companions knew where to preach.
It was as if they had knocked on a
door for the third time, but this time it
opened wide for them! They immedi-
ately sailed for Macedonia.
8 What can we learn from this? Note
that it was only after Paul began his
journey to Asia that God’s spirit start-
ed to direct him. Then, it was only af-
ter Paul came near Bithynia that Je-
sus gave him more direction. Finally, it
was only after Paul came to Troas that
Jesus directed him to Macedonia. Je-
sus is still the head of the congrega-
tion, and he may direct us in a simi-
lar way. (Colossians 1:18) For example,
Jesus may direct us
if we work hard
to reach our goals
you may have been thinking about
serving as a pioneer or moving to a
place where the need is greater. But it
may be that it is only after you make
an effort to reach your goal that Jesus
will use God’s spirit to direct you. It
is like driving a car. A driver can di-
rect his car to turn left or right but
only if the car is moving. In the same
way, Jesus may direct us to do more in
our ministry but only if we are moving,
that is, if we are working hard to reach
our goal.
8, 9. What can we learn from Paul’s journey?
JANUARY 15, 2012
9 But what if your efforts do not
have immediate results? Should you
think that God’s spirit is not guiding
you and then stop trying? Remember
that things did not immediately hap-
pen the way Paul expected that they
would. But he kept trying. He kept
knocking until he found a door that
opened. If you continue to search for
“a large door that leads to activity,” you
can have good results too.—1 Corinthi-
ans 16:9.
“VIGILANT WITH A VIEW
TO PRAYERS”
10 Let us now talk about a second
lesson that we learn from our brothers
in the first century. They were “vigilant
with a view to prayers.” (1 Peter 4:7)
To keep on the watch, we must contin-
ue to pray. Remember that in the gar-
den of Gethsemane just before his ar-
rest, Jesus told three of his apostles:
“Keep on the watch and pray continu-
ally.”—Matthew 26:41.
11 Peter heard these words of Jesus
in the garden of Gethsemane. Lat-
er, he experienced how important the
prayers of others can be. (Read Acts
12:1-6.) In the first verses of Acts chap-
ter 12, we learn that Herod treated
the Christians badly because he want-
ed to please the Jews. He likely knew
that James was an apostle who had
been very close to Jesus. So Herod had
James killed “by the sword.” (Verse 2)
The congregation loved James very
much, so this was a great test for the
brothers!
10. What shows that to keep on the watch, we
must continue to pray?
11, 12. Why did Herod treat the Christians, in-
cluding Peter, badly? What did Herod do?
11

An angel led Peter through the huge iron gate,
which opened on its own
12 What did Herod do next? Verse 3
explains: “As he saw it was pleasing
to the Jews, he went on to arrest Pe-
ter also.” But earlier some apostles
were miraculously released from pris-
on. Peter was one of them. (Acts 5:17-
20) Herod may have known that. He
wanted to make sure that Peter would
not escape. Herod had “four shifts of
four soldiers each to guard him, as he
intended to produce him for the peo-
ple after the passover.” (Verse 4) Imag-
ine that! Herod had Peter chained
between 2 guards, with 16 guards
working day and night to make sure
that this apostle did not escape. Her-
od’s idea was to please the crowds
12
by killing Peter after the Passover. In
this terrible situation, what could the
brothers do?
13 The congregation knew exactly
what to do. Verse 5 says: “Peter was
being kept in the prison; but prayer
to God for him was being carried on
intensely by the congregation.” Their
prayers for Peter were intense and
from the heart. The death of James did
not cause them to become hopeless or
to think that their prayers were use-
less. On the contrary, they knew
that the prayers of faithful worship-
pers are precious to Jehovah. If these
prayers are in harmony with his will,
he answers them.—Hebrews 13:18, 19;
James 5:16.
14 What can we learn from what the
congregation did? That if we want to
keep on the watch, we need to pray
not just for ourselves but also for our
brothers and sisters. (Ephesians 6:18)
Do you know of brothers and sisters
who are enduring trials? Some may be
enduring persecution or natural disas-
ters. Others live in countries where the
government wants to stop the preach-
ing work. It would be good to pray in-
tensely for these brothers and sisters.
You may know of some who are having
problems that others would not easi-
ly know about, such as family trou-
bles, discouragement, or sickness. It
would be good to think of people you
can mention by name when you speak
to Jehovah, the “Hearer of prayer.”
—Psalm 65:2.
13, 14. (a) What did the congregation do
when Peter was arrested? (b) What can we
learn about prayer from what the congregation
did?
SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION
 15 But what happened to Peter?
While Peter was sleeping during his
final night in the prison, something
amazing happened. (Read Acts 12:7-
11.) Imagine: Suddenly, there was a
bright light in his prison cell. Peter
was chained to two guards, but they
did not see that an angel was standing
by him. The angel told him to get up
quickly. And the chains simply fell off
Peter’s hands! The angel led him out of
the cell and right past the guards who
were standing outside. Then the huge
iron gate opened on its own, and Pe-
ter and the angel went through it. Af-
ter they left the prison, the angel dis-
appeared. Peter was free!
16 It strengthens our faith to think
about Jehovah’s power to rescue his
servants. Of course, we do not expect
Jehovah to rescue us in a miraculous
way today. But we have strong faith
in Jehovah’s power to help his peo-
ple. (2 Chronicles 16:9) By using his
powerful holy spirit, he can strength-
en us to endure any trial. (2 Corinthi-
ans 4:7; 2 Peter 2:9) And Jehovah will
soon give Jesus the power to resurrect
millions who are now like prisoners
of death. (John 5:28, 29) Our faith in
God’s promises can give us great cour-
age to endure trials today.
TRIALS DID NOT STOP THEM FROM
“BEARING THOROUGH WITNESS”
17 Here is a third lesson about keep-
ing on the watch that we can learn
from the apostles: They did not al-
15, 16. (a) How did Jehovah’s angel free Pe-
ter from prison? (See the picture on page 12.)
(b) Why does it strengthen our faith to think
about the way that Jehovah rescued Peter?
17. How was Paul an excellent example of
someone who preached with zeal and urgency?
JANUARY 15, 2012
low trials to stop them from preach-
ing. To keep on the watch, we must
preach with zeal and urgency. The
apostle Paul was an excellent example
of someone who did this. He worked
hard in the preaching work. He trav-
eled to many places and started many
congregations. Even though he en-
dured many trials, he kept preaching
with zeal and urgency.—2 Corinthians
11:23-29.
18 The last time we read about Paul
in the book of Acts is in chapter 28.
Paul arrived in Rome to be put on trial
before the Roman ruler Nero. Paul was
a prisoner, maybe chained to a guard,
but this could not stop the zealous
apostle! Paul continued to find ways to
preach to others. (Read Acts 28:17, 23,
24.) Just three days after Paul arrived,
“he called together those who were the
principal men of the Jews” so that he
could witness to them. The local Jews
chose a day to see Paul again, and this
time, he gave an even greater witness.
Verse 23 says: “They now arranged
for a day with him, and they came in
greater numbers to him in his lodg-
ing place. And he explained the mat-
ter to them by bearing thorough wit-
ness concerning the kingdom of God
and by using persuasion with them
concerning Jesus from both the law of
Moses and the Prophets, from morn-
ing till evening.”
19 Why did Paul have good results
in his preaching work? Verse 23 gives
us some of the reasons. (1) He taught
18. How did Paul continue to preach when he
was a prisoner in Rome?
19, 20. (a) Why did Paul have good results in
his preaching? (b) Even though some did not
accept the good news, what did Paul do?
13
 “THE BOOK OF ACTS
WILL NEVER BE THE SAME FOR ME”
A traveling overseer explained how he
felt after reading the book “Bearing
Thorough Witness” About God’s King-
dom: “The book of Acts will never be the
same for me.” He had read the Bible
about God’s Kingdom and about Je-
sus Christ. (2) He helped his listeners
“by using persuasion,” that is, by giv-
ing them good reasons for believing.
(3) He used the Scriptures to reason
with people. (4) He showed that he
cared more about people than about
himself by bearing witness “from
morning till evening.” Paul gave a pow-
erful witness, but not everyone ac-
cepted the good news. Verse 24 says:
“Some began to believe the things
said; others would not believe.” This
resulted in disagreement, and the peo-
ple left.
20 Did Paul become discouraged be-
cause not everyone accepted the good
news? Not at all! Acts 28:30, 31 tells us:
“He remained for an entire two years
in his own hired house, and he would
kindly receive all those who came in
to him, preaching the kingdom of God
to them and teaching the things con-
cerning the Lord Jesus Christ with
the greatest freeness of speech, with-
out hindrance.” With these encourag-
ing words, the inspired book of Acts
ends.
21 What can we learn from Paul’s ex-
21. What can we learn from Paul’s example
when he was a prisoner in a rented home?
14
book of Acts many times, but now that
he had read this publication, he felt he
could benefit much more from reading
the book of Acts.
ample? While he was kept as a pris-
oner in his rented home, Paul was not
able to preach from house to house.
But he did not allow this to discourage
him, and he kept preaching to all who
came to visit. In the same way, many of
God’s people today keep their joy and
keep preaching even though they are
in prison because of their faith. Some
of our dear brothers and sisters are
not able to leave their homes or may
even live in nursing homes because of
old age or sickness. As much as they
can, they preach to doctors and staff,
visitors, and others. Their desire is
to bear thorough witness about God’s
Kingdom. We value their example very
much!
22 When we read about the apostles
and other Christians in the first centu-
ry in the Bible book of Acts, we learn a
lot about being watchful. We certain-
ly want to imitate them by preaching
with courage and zeal while we wait
for the end of this old system of things.
The greatest honor we can have is to
bear thorough witness about God’s
Kingdom!—Acts 28:23.
22. (a) What publication is helping us to ben-
efit from the Bible book of Acts? (See box
above.) (b) What do you want to do while you
wait for the end of this old system of things?
SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION
 Learn From
‘the Framework
of Truth’
HAT the apostle Paul wrote in the Bible

W
“[You have] the framework
of the knowledge and of helps us to understand the importance
the truth in the Law.” of many parts of the Law of Moses. For
—ROMANS 2:17-20.
example, Paul explained in his letter to the He-
brews that Jesus was a “faithful high priest” who
offered a sacrifice once for all time. Those who
put faith in it can be at peace with God and get
WHAT ARE YOUR ANSWERS “an everlasting deliverance.” (Hebrews 2:17; 9:11,
TO THESE QUESTIONS? 12) Paul also explained that the tabernacle was
only “a shadow of the heavenly things.” Jesus was
What did the sacrifices in the the Mediator of a covenant that was better than
Law of Moses represent? the Law of Moses. (Hebrews 7:22; 8:1-5) It was
very helpful to Christians in Paul’s time that he
explained what the parts of the Law of Moses rep-
resented. What he explained can help us too to be
more grateful for all that God has done for us.

2 Some of what Paul wrote to Christians in
In what way are our sacrifices
Rome was for the Jewish Christians who lived
similar to certain sacrifices that
there and who had been taught about the Law
the Israelites offered?
of Moses. He told them that since they knew
the Law, they already had “the framework of the
knowledge and of the truth” about Jehovah and
his righteous reasons for the laws he makes. They
understood and loved the basic truth taught in the
Which sacrifices does Jehovah Law. So like faithful Jews before them, they could
accept, and which ones does teach others the basic truth about Jehovah.—Read
he not accept? Romans 2:17-20.
1. Why is it important for us to understand what Paul said
about the Law of Moses?
2. Why did Jewish Christians know more about God and the
reasons for his laws than people who were not Jewish?

15
SOME EXPRESSIONS EXPLAINED
Framework of truth: Shadow:
The basic truth about Something described
God found in the Law in the Bible that gives
of Moses. This expres- some idea of an impor-
sion is used at Romans tant thing that would
2:20 happen later. Various
parts of the Law of
Moses were shadows
that represented great-
er things that would
happen when Jesus
came
Mediator: Attitude:
One that helps hu- The way we think and
mans to benefit from feel about something,
an agreement with God such as how we feel
so that they can be at about serving Jehovah.
peace with him. Moses We show our attitude
was the mediator of by our actions
the Law covenant be-
tween Jehovah and the
nation of Israel, and
Jesus was the Mediator
of the “better cove-
nant” (Hebrews 7:22)

SHADOWS OF reminded the Jews that they were sin-

JESUS’ SACRIFICE
3 The basic truth found in the Law
of Moses, which Paul described as the
framework of the truth, helps us to
understand Jehovah’s purposes. The
lessons Jehovah taught his people by
means of the Law are still important.
So we will now learn about the sac-
rifices and offerings required by that
Law. These offerings led humble Jews
to Christ and helped them to under-
stand what God required of them.
And since Jehovah requires the same
basic things of his servants today, his
laws to the Israelites about sacrifices
can help us to examine the way we
serve him.—Malachi 3:6.
4 Many parts of the Law of Moses
3. How do we benefit from learning about Jew-
ish sacrifices?
4, 5. (a) Of what did the Law of Moses remind
the Jews? (b) The sacrifices were “a shadow” of
what?
ful. For example, anyone who touched
a dead human body had to cleanse
himself. For this to happen, the priest
would kill a healthy red cow, burn it,
and use its ashes to make “water for
cleansing.” On the third and the sev-
enth day after the person became un-
clean, the priest would sprinkle this
water on the person to purify him.
(Numbers 19:1-13) When a woman
gave birth, she was unclean for a time.
After that time had passed, she had
to offer a sacrifice for her unclean-
ness. All of this reminded the Jews
that everyone is born with imperfec-
tion and sin.—Leviticus 12:1-8.
5 The Jews had to offer animal sacri-
fices for forgiveness in many other sit-
uations in life. Whether they realized
it or not, the sacrifices they offered at
the tabernacle and later on at the tem-
ple were “a shadow” of Jesus’ perfect
sacrifice.—Hebrews 10:1-10.

16 SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION

THE RIGHT ATTITUDE ABOUT
SACRIFICES
6 Jehovah required the Israelites to
offer only animals that were “sound,”
or healthy, not blind, injured, de-
formed, or sick. (Leviticus 22:20-
22) When the Israelites offered fruits
or grains to Jehovah, these offerings
needed to be the “firstfruits” and “the
very best” of their harvests. (Num-
bers 18:12, 29) Offerings that were not
the best were unacceptable to Jeho-
vah. When the Israelites offered the
best animal sacrifices, this represent-
ed that Jesus’ sacrifice would be spot-
less and unblemished. Jehovah would
sacrifice what was best and most
precious to him in order to save man- Which animal would you have offered to Jehovah?
kind from sin and death.—1 Peter 1:
18, 19.
7 If the person making a sacrifice
8 An Israelite could give Jehovah a
was truly grateful to Jehovah for all of
sacrifice that was voluntary to show
His goodness, then he would be hap-
gratitude. Or he could ask for Jeho-
py to choose the very best from what
vah’s approval by voluntarily giving a
he had. The person could choose what
burnt offering. In such cases, it was
to offer. But he knew that God would
probably easy for him to choose the
not be happy with a sacrifice that was
best animal. He would feel happy to
not the best he had. If he offered some-
give that animal to Jehovah. Today,
thing that had defects, he would show
we do not need to offer the sacrifices
that he did not think that sacrifices
mentioned in the Law of Moses, but
were important or even that he felt
we make other sacrifices. We use our
that Jehovah was asking too much of
time, energy, and resources to serve Je-
him. (Read Malachi 1:6-8, 13.) This ex-
hovah. The apostle Paul talked about
ample should make us think about the
the “public declaration” of our hope
way we serve God. We can ask our-
and “the doing of good and the shar-
selves: Why am I serving Jehovah? Do
ing of things with others” as sacrifices
I need to change the way I am serving
that please God. (Hebrews 13:15, 16)
him? Am I giving him my best?
Our attitude, or how we feel, about
6, 7. (a) What did the Israelites need to re- serving Jehovah shows how grateful
member when they chose a sacrifice? What
did an acceptable sacrifice represent? (b) What 8, 9. What do we learn from the way the Isra-
questions might we ask ourselves? elites felt when they offered a sacrifice?

JANUARY 15, 2012 17

 we are for all that he has given us. So
just like the Israelites, we need to ex-
amine the way we feel about serving
God and why we serve him.
9 In some situations, the Law of Mo-
ses required an Israelite to make a sin
offering or a guilt offering if he had
We can be
Jehovah’s friends
if we willingly sacrifice
our resources and
energies in his service
sinned. Since these offerings were re-
quired, do you think that it was dif-
ficult for the Israelite to offer them
willingly? (Leviticus 4:27, 28) Not if he
really wanted to keep a good relation-
ship with Jehovah.
10 Today, we may say something
that offends a brother, either without
realizing it or because we do not think
carefully before we speak. Or maybe
our conscience tells us that we have
done something wrong. If we really
want to please Jehovah, we will do all
that we can to correct the wrong. This
could mean that we have to apologize
sincerely to the brother we offended.
Or if we have done something serious-
ly wrong, we should seek help from
the elders. (Matthew 5:23, 24; James 5:
14, 15) To correct a sin against a broth-
er or against God requires action on
our part. It is like making a sacrifice.
10. What “sacrifices” might we have to make if
we have done something wrong?
18
When we are willing to do so, we can
have a good relationship with Jehovah
and our brother, and we will have a
clean conscience. These good results
convince us that Jehovah knows what
is best for us.
11 Other sacrifices mentioned in the
Law of Moses were communion offer-
ings. They showed that a person was at
peace with Jehovah. The person mak-
ing such an offering and his family
would eat the meat of the sacrificed
animal, perhaps in one of the temple’s
dining rooms. The priest who sacri-
ficed the animal as well as the other
priests who were serving at the temple
each received a piece of the meat. (Le-
viticus 3:1, footnote; 7:31-33) The rea-
son that the person made this offering
was that he wanted to have a good re-
lationship with God. It was as if he, his
family, the priests, and Jehovah him-
self were all having a meal together
with joy and in peace.
Jehovah’s basic
requirements for his
servants never change
12 So making a communion sacri-
fice was like inviting Jehovah to a
meal. What a great honor it was for
an Israelite when Jehovah accepted
his invitation to such a meal. He sure-
ly wanted to offer God the very best.
Communion sacrifices were part of
11, 12. (a) What were communion sacrifices?
(b) What can we learn from communion sacri-
fices?
SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION
the framework of truth found in the
Law of Moses, and they showed that
all who want to have a peaceful rela-
tionship with their Creator can do so
by means of Jesus’ greater sacrifice.
Today, we can be Jehovah’s friends if
we willingly sacrifice, or use, our re-
sources and energies in his service.
EXAMPLES OF SACRIFICES THAT
GOD DID NOT ACCEPT
13
Jehovah accepted sacrifices if the
person offering them had the right at-
titude. But the Bible also has some ex-
amples of sacrifices that God did not
accept. Why was he not pleased with
those sacrifices? Let us learn about
two situations.
1 4 The prophet Samuel told
King Saul that the time had come for
Jehovah to destroy the Amalekites. He
told Saul to kill all of them and their
animals. But after Saul won the bat-
tle, he allowed his soldiers to let Agag,
the king of the Amalekites, live. Saul
also kept the best of their animals
to sacrifice to Jehovah. (1 Samuel 15:
2, 3, 21) What did Jehovah do? Be-
cause of Saul’s disobedience, Jehovah
did not want him to be king over Israel
anymore. (Read 1 Samuel 15:22, 23.)
What do we learn from this? That God
accepts our sacrifices only if we obey
his commands.
15 There is another example in the
book of Isaiah. The Israelites in Isa-
iah’s time were offering sacrifices to
Jehovah only because this was re-
quired of them. At the same time,
13, 14. Why did Jehovah not accept what Saul
wanted to sacrifice?
15. What did the Israelites show when they of-
fered sacrifices while doing bad things?
JANUARY 15, 2012
they continued to do many bad things.
Because of this, Jehovah did not ac-
cept their sacrifices. He asked: “Of
what benefit to me is the multitude of
your sacrifices?” He told them: “I have
had enough of whole burnt offerings
of rams and the fat of well-fed ani-
mals; and in the blood of young bulls
and male lambs and he-goats I have
taken no delight.” He also said to
them: “Stop bringing in any more val-
ueless grain offerings. Incense—it is
something detestable to me.” Why
did he not want their offerings? God
said: “Even though you make many
prayers, I am not listening; with
bloodshed your very hands have be-
come filled. Wash yourselves; make
yourselves clean; remove the bad-
ness of your dealings from in front of
my eyes; cease to do bad.”—Isaiah 1:
11-16.
16 Jehovah did not accept the sac-
rifices of those who continued doing
God accepts our
sacrifices only if we
obey his commands
what was wrong. But he accepted the
prayers and sacrifices of those who did
all they could to obey his commands.
The framework of truth that was in
the Law of Moses taught such individ-
uals that they were sinful and needed
Jehovah’s forgiveness. (Galatians 3:19)
When an Israelite understood what
the Law was trying to teach him, he
16. What sacrifices does God accept?
19

We can have Jehovah’s approval
if we offer sacrifices that please him
felt very sorry for his sins and wanted
Jehovah to forgive him. Today, we too
need to remember that only by means
of Christ’s sacrifice can Jehovah for-
give our sins. If we understand the im-
portance of Christ’s sacrifice and are
truly grateful for it, Jehovah will be
“delighted” with all that we do in his
service.—Read Psalm 51:17, 19.
SHOW FAITH
IN JESUS’ SACRIFICE!
17The Israelites saw only “a shad-
ow” of God’s purposes. But we have
the reality. (Hebrews 10:1) The laws
about sacrifices taught the Israelites
what they needed to do in order to
have a good relationship with God.
17-19. (a) How can we show Jehovah that
we are grateful for Jesus’ ransom sacrifice?
(b) What will we learn about in the next article?
20
They needed to show him their grati-
tude, have a desire to give him their
best, and understand that they needed
his forgiveness. Today, the Christian
Greek Scriptures help us to under-
stand that by means of Jesus’ ransom
sacrifice, Jehovah will remove sin and
death forever. By means of the ran-
som, he can forgive our sins so that we
may have a good conscience even now.
The ransom is a wonderful gift from
Jehovah!—Galatians 3:13; Hebrews 9:
9, 14.
18 To benefit from the ransom sacri-
fice, we need to do more than just un-
derstand what it means. Paul wrote:
“The Law has become our tutor lead-
ing to Christ, that we might be de-
clared righteous due to faith.” (Gala-
tians 3:24) We must show our faith by
our actions. (James 2:26) Jewish Chris-
tians in the first century understood
the framework of truth because they
Jehovah accepts our
offerings if we give
him our best
knew the Law of Moses. Paul encour-
aged them to act according to what
they learned from it. In this way, they
would be living according to the truth
that they taught others.—Read Ro-
mans 2:21-23.
19 Although we are not required to
obey the Law of Moses, we must still
offer sacrifices that please Jehovah. In
the next article, we will learn how we
can do this.
SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION
 Making
Whole-Souled
Sacrifices for
Jehovah
N THE first century, Jehovah made it clear to his

I
“Whatever you are
doing, work at it whole- people that Jesus’ ransom sacrifice had ended
souled as to Jehovah.” the Law of Moses. (Colossians 2:13, 14) Jehovah
no longer required any animal sacrifices and other
—COLOSSIANS 3:23.
offerings that the Jews had been making for hun-
dreds of years. The Law had fulfilled its role as a
“tutor leading to Christ.”—Galatians 3:24.
2 This does not mean that Christians are no lon-
SEE IF YOU CAN ANSWER:

ger interested in sacrifices. In fact, the apostle Pe-
How can we honor Jehovah in ter spoke of the need to “offer up spiritual sac-
our daily activities? rifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
(1 Peter 2:5) Also, the apostle Paul had made it
clear that every part of a Christian’s life is like
“a sacrifice” dedicated to God.—Romans 12:1.
3 We make sacrifices for Jehovah, either when

we offer certain things to him or when we give

up certain things so that we can serve him better.
What sacrifices do we make in From what we know about the sacrifices that the
our worship of God? Israelites offered, how can we make sure that our
sacrifices are acceptable to Jehovah?
SACRIFICES IN DAILY LIFE
4
It might be difficult to understand how the
things we do every day can be involved in our

making sacrifices to Jehovah. Such activities as
What things can we give to housework, schoolwork, secular work, or shop-
Jehovah?
ping may not seem to be activities that could
1-3. (a) Since Jesus gave his life as a sacrifice, does this mean
that Jehovah no longer requires any kind of sacrifices from
us? Explain. (b) What question may we have about our sacri-
fices?
4. What must we remember about daily activities of life?

21
SOME EXPRESSIONS EXPLAINED
Spiritual sacrifices: Whole-souled: We give Sacrifice of praise:
Things that are part of whole-souled sacrifices Publicly declaring
our worship, including to Jehovah when we Jehovah’s name
field service, prayer, and give him our very best (Hebrews 13:15)
meeting attendance

affect our relationship with him. But if
you have dedicated your life to Jeho-
vah or hope to do so in the near future,
it is important to remember that these
daily activities really can affect your
relationship with him. We are Chris-
tion of our lives. That is why Paul en-
couraged us: “Whatever you are doing,
work at it whole-souled as to Jehovah,
and not to men.”—Read Colossians 3:
18-24.
5 Our daily activities are not part of

tians 24 hours a day, and we need
to use Bible principles in every situa-
our service to God. Yet, the fact that
Paul encouraged us to work “whole-
souled as to Jehovah” makes us think
about how we should behave at all
times. So, what do we learn from
this? Do we always behave and dress
as Christians should? Or in our dai-
ly activities, might we be ashamed to
say that we are Jehovah’s Witnesses,
either because of the way we behave
or because of the way we dress? We
should never let that happen! We do
not want to do anything that might
make people think badly of God’s
name.—Isaiah 43:10; 2 Corinthians 6:3,
4, 9.
6 Let us discuss how a desire to

work “whole-souled as to Jehovah” af-

fects how we think and act in differ-
ent situations. During our discussion,
we need to remember that all sacrifices
that the Israelites presented to Jehovah
had to be the very best.—Exodus 23:19.
5, 6. What can help us decide how we should
behave and dress?

22 SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION

HOW YOUR LIFE IS AFFECTED
7 When you dedicated yourself to Je-
hovah, you made a good decision. You
promised to use your entire life in his
service. This meant that you would
put him first in every situation in life.
(Read Hebrews 10:7.) No doubt you
have had excellent results when you
have made an effort to learn what Jeho-
vah thinks about a specific matter and
then acted according to his will. (Isaiah
48:17, 18) We are a holy and happy peo-
ple because we imitate Jehovah, who
instructs us.—Leviticus 11:44; 1 Timo-
thy 1:11.
8 Jehovah thought of the sacrifices
of the Israelites as holy. (Leviticus 6:
25; 7:1) The Hebrew word translat-
ed “holiness” has the meaning of being
separate, or belonging only to God. If
we want Jehovah to accept our sacri-
fices, we must stay away from anything
in the world that is unclean. We can-
not love any of the things that Jeho-
vah hates. (Read 1 John 2:15-17.) This
means that we avoid anyone or any-
thing that would cause God to view
us as unclean. (Isaiah 2:4; Revela-
tion 18:4) Also, it means that we can-
not keep looking at or thinking about
things that are unclean or immoral.
—Colossians 3:5, 6.
9 Paul encouraged fellow believers:
“Do not forget the doing of good and
the sharing of things with others,
for with such sacrifices God is well
pleased.” (Hebrews 13:16) So if we al-
7. What is involved in our dedication to God?
8. Why is it important for us to remember that
the sacrifices of the Israelites were holy to Jeho-
vah?
9. Why is the way we treat others important?
JANUARY 15, 2012
ways do what is good and if we help
others, Jehovah will view our actions
as an acceptable sacrifice to him. If
we show love for others, we prove that
we are true Christians.—John 13:34, 35;
Colossians 1:10.
SACRIFICES IN WORSHIP
10 One way that we can do good
things for others is through “the pub-
lic declaration of our hope.” Do you
use every opportunity to give a wit-
ness? Paul said that we need to “of-
fer to God a sacrifice of praise, that
is, the fruit of lips which make public
declaration to his name.” (Hebrews 10:
23; 13:15; Hosea 14:2) It can be helpful
to think about how much time we use
to preach the good news and how we
can improve the way we preach. Many
Our conduct is a
sacrifice to Jehovah
if we please him at
all times
Service Meeting parts help us to do
this. But what we really must remem-
ber is that our field service and infor-
mal witnessing activities are “a sacri-
fice of praise,” a part of our worship,
so our sacrifice should be the very best
that we can offer. Of course, we have
different circumstances, but our atti-
tude about serving Jehovah often af-
fects how much time we use to preach.
10, 11. How does Jehovah view our preaching
work and our worship? What should this moti-
vate us to do?
23
 11 We regularly worship Jehovah
both at home and in the congregation.
He requires that we do this. Although
we no longer have to obey the law of
the Sabbath or go to Jerusalem for fes-
tivals, we can still learn from those
laws. Every day we have many things
to do, but God still expects us to use
some of our time to study the Bible,
pray, and attend meetings. And the
head of the family has the responsibil-
ity to study the Bible with the rest of
the family. (1 Thessalonians 5:17; He-
brews 10:24, 25) So it is good to ask
Our faith is a
sacrifice to Jehovah
if we trust that
he will fulfill
his purposes
ourselves, Could I improve my wor-
ship to God?
12 King David sang to Jehovah: “May
my prayer be prepared as incense be-
fore you.” (Psalm 141:2) It is good to
think about how often we pray and
what we pray about. The book of Rev-
elation compares “the prayers of the
holy ones” to incense. It says that ac-
ceptable prayers rise to Jehovah like a
pleasant odor. (Revelation 5:8) In an-
cient Israel, the incense that was regu-
larly offered on Jehovah’s altar had to
be carefully prepared according to a
12. (a) The offering of incense in ancient wor-
ship can be compared to what today? (b) How
can we offer our prayers like incense?
24
special recipe. It was acceptable to Je-
hovah only if offered according to the
guidelines that he had given. (Exodus
30:34-37; Leviticus 10:1, 2) Similarly, if
we pray in the way that Jehovah has in-
structed us to pray and view prayer as
something holy, we can be sure that he
will accept our prayers.
WE GIVE AND WE RECEIVE
13 The money we contribute to sup-
port the worldwide work is like a
sacrifice, whether we give a lot or a
little. (Mark 12:41-44) In the first cen-
tury, the congregation in Philippi
sent Epaphroditus to Rome to care for
Paul’s needs. Epaphroditus brought
Paul some money as a gift from the
congregation. This was not the first
time that the Philippians had shown
generosity to Paul. They sent this gift
to Paul because they did not want
him to worry about money but, rath-
er, wanted him to use more of his time
in the ministry. What did Paul think
about the gift? He called it “a sweet-
smelling odor, an acceptable sacrifice,
well-pleasing to God.” (Read Philippi-
ans 4:15-19.) Paul was truly grateful for
the kindness of the Philippians, and
Jehovah was pleased too.
1 4 Today, Jehovah is also ver y
pleased with our contributions to
the worldwide work. And he prom-
ises that if we continue to seek first
his Kingdom, he will give us what
we need to keep our faith strong and
to live each day.—Matthew 6:33; Luke
6:38.
13, 14. (a) What did Epaphroditus and the
Philippian congregation do for Paul? How did
Paul feel about it? (b) How can we follow the ex-
ample of Epaphroditus and the Philippians?
SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION
 Do you use every opportunity to give a witness?
SHOW THAT YOU ARE GRATEFUL
15 We have many reasons to be
grateful to Jehovah. Each day we
should thank him for the gift of life.
He gives us everything we need to be
alive, such as food, clothing, shelter,
and the air we breathe. Also, we are
grateful for the accurate knowledge
of Bible truths that gives us faith and
a hope for the future. So we should
15. What are some of the things for which you
are grateful to Jehovah?
JANUARY 15, 2012
worship Jehovah and offer sacrifices of
praise to him because of who he is and
what he has done for us.—Read Reve-
lation 4:11.
16 The previous article mentioned
that Christ’s ransom sacrifice is a pre-
cious gift of God to mankind. This gift
shows how much God loves us. (1 John
4:10) How do we show that we are
grateful for it? Paul said: “The love
16. How do we show that we are grateful for
Christ’s ransom sacrifice?
25
 the Christ has compels us, because
this is what we have judged, that one
man died for all.” He continued: “He
died for all that those who live might
live no longer for themselves, but
for him who died for them and was
raised up.” (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15)
Paul was saying that if we are really
grateful for what God has done, we
will use our lives to honor God and
His Son. We show our love and grati-
tude to God and Christ by our obedi-
ence and by our desire to preach and
make disciples.—1 Timothy 2:3, 4;
1 John 5:3.
Does appreciation
for Jehovah’s goodness
move you to improve
in your ministry?
17 Would it be possible for you to im-
prove the sacrifice of praise that you
offer to God? After thinking about all
the good that Jehovah has done for
them, many have been motivated to
make changes to have more time for
the preaching work and other work
for Jehovah’s organization. Some have
been able to auxiliary pioneer for one
or more months each year, and oth-
ers have been able to regular pioneer.
Some others have helped with con-
structing buildings that are used for
Jehovah’s service. These are excel-
lent ways to show our gratitude. If we
17, 18. In what ways have some increased
their sacrifice of praise to Jehovah? Give an ex-
ample.
26
serve God with the right motive, that
is, to show him gratitude and give him
thanks, God will accept what we do for
him.
18 Many Christians have been moti-
vated to show their gratitude to Je-
hovah. Morena is one of them. She
was raised as a Catholic but had many
questions about God and the meaning
of life. She searched for the answers
both in Catholicism and in Asian phi-
losophy. But it was only when she be-
gan studying the Bible with Jeho-
vah’s Witnesses that her questions
were clearly answered. Morena was
very grateful to Jehovah for what she
learned in the Bible because it gave
her real happiness. So she wanted to
thank him by using all her energies in
his service. Immediately after her bap-
tism, she regular auxiliary pioneered,
and as soon as her circumstances al-
lowed for it, she became a regular pio-
neer. That was 30 years ago, and Mo-
rena is still in full-time service.
19 There are many faithful servants
of Jehovah whose circumstances do
not allow them to pioneer. Whatever
we can do in Jehovah’s service, all of
us can offer acceptable sacrifices to
him. In our conduct, we apply Bible
principles and remember that we rep-
resent Jehovah at all times. In faith,
we need to trust that God will fulfill
his purposes. In fine works, we help
spread the good news. We show that
we are truly grateful for all that Jeho-
vah has done for us. So let us continue
to make whole-souled sacrifices for Je-
hovah.
19. How could you increase your sacrifices to
Jehovah?
SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION
 A Royal
Priesthood
to Benefit All
Mankind
URING the evening of Nisan 14 in the year

D
“You are ‘a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy 33, Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles ob-
nation, a people for spe- served the Jewish Passover for the last
cial possession.’ ” time. Then, Jesus told Judas Iscariot, who was
—1 PETER 2:9.
about to betray him, to leave. Next, Jesus intro-
duced a different observance. This observance
was later called “the Lord’s evening meal.” (1 Co-
rinthians 11:20) Jesus twice said: “Keep do-
CAN YOU EXPLAIN? ing this in remembrance of me.” This occasion is
also known as the Memorial. It is a special occa-
When did Jehovah first promise sion when we remember what Christ did, espe-
a royal priesthood? cially that he died for us. (1 Corinthians 11:24, 25)
Jehovah’s Witnesses all over the world obey this
command by holding the Memorial every year. In
2012, Nisan 14 of the Bible calendar begins at sun-
set, Thursday, April 5.

2 The disciple Luke tells us in a simple way
How do members of the new
what Jesus did and said on that occasion: “He
covenant become a royal
priesthood?
took a loaf, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to
them, saying: ‘This means my body which is to be
given in your behalf. Keep doing this in remem-
brance of me.’ Also, the cup in the same way after
they had the evening meal, he saying: ‘This cup
means the new covenant by virtue of my blood,
How will the royal priesthood which is to be poured out in your behalf.’ ” (Luke
benefit mankind? 22:19, 20) How did the apostles understand these
words?
1. Why is “the Lord’s evening meal” also called the Memori-
al? What is the purpose of this observance?
2. What did Jesus say about the bread and the wine?

27
SOME The royal priesthood that
will benefit all mankind is
EXPRESSIONS formed by Jesus Christ and
EXPLAINED 144,000 anointed Chris-
tians who will be both kings
and priests over mankind
for 1,000 years
Sinful people need to be
reconciled to God, that is,
to have their sins forgiven
so that they can have God’s
approval and friendship
again

3 The apostles were familiar with connected. When Jehovah introduced

the animal sacrifices that priests of-
fered to God at the temple in Jeru-
salem. These sacrifices were made to
gain Jehovah’s approval, and many
were sacrifices for forgiveness of sins.
(Leviticus 1:4; 22:17-29) So when Je-
sus said that his body would be given
in their behalf and his blood would be
poured out in their behalf, the apostles
understood that he would give his own
perfect life as a sacrifice. His sacrifice
would have much more value than an-
imal sacrifices.
4 What did Jesus mean when he
said: “This cup means the new cove-
nant by virtue of my blood”? The apos-
tles knew Jeremiah’s prophecy about
that new covenant. (Read Jeremiah
31:31-33.) Jesus’ words showed that he
was now introducing that new cove-
nant. This new covenant would re-
place the Law covenant that Jehovah
had made with Israel through Mo-
ses. Were these two covenants con-
nected?
5 Yes, their purposes were closely
3. How did the apostles understand Jesus’
words about the bread and the wine?
4. What did Jesus mean when he said: “This
cup means the new covenant by virtue of my
blood”?
5. What opportunities did the Law covenant
give Israel?
the Law covenant to Israel, he said: “If
you will strictly obey my voice and will
indeed keep my covenant, then you
will certainly become my special prop-
erty out of all other peoples, because
the whole earth belongs to me. And
you yourselves will become to me a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
(Exodus 19:5, 6) How did the Israelites
understand these words?
THE PROMISE OF “A ROYAL
PRIESTHOOD”
6The Israelites knew what a “cove-
nant,” or serious agreement, was be-
cause Jehovah had made covenants
before with Noah and Abraham. (Gen-
esis 6:18; 9:8-17; 15:18; 17:1-9) As part
of his covenant with Abraham, Jeho-
vah had promised: “By means of your
seed all nations of the earth will cer-
tainly bless themselves.” (Genesis 22:
18) Jehovah made the Law covenant
to help fulfill this promise. Based on
this covenant, Israel could become Je-
hovah’s “special property out of all oth-
er peoples.” For what purpose would
Israel become a special property? So
that they could become “a kingdom of
priests” to Jehovah.
6. What promise did the Law covenant help to
fulfill?

28 SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION

 7 The Israelites were familiar with
kings and priests. But there was only
one man of ancient times who had
been both king and priest at the same
time with Jehovah’s approval. That
was Melchizedek. (Genesis 14:18)
Through the Law covenant, Jehovah
gave the Israelites the opportunity of
having “a kingdom of priests” chosen
from their nation. The Scriptures later
speak of these chosen ones as “a royal
priesthood,” that is, kings who would
also be priests.—1 Peter 2:9.
8 A king, of course, rules. But what
does a priest do? Hebrews 5:1 ex-
plains: “Every high priest taken from
among men is appointed in behalf of
men over the things pertaining to God,
that he may offer gifts and sacrifices
for sins.” A priest appointed by Jeho-
vah represents the people before God.
He begs Jehovah to forgive the sins of
the people by offering Jehovah sacri-
fices. Also, a priest represents Jehovah
before the people by teaching them
God’s law. (Leviticus 10:8-11; Malachi
2:7) In these ways, the priest helps sin-
ful people to be reconciled to God,
that is, to have a friendship with God
again.
9 The Law covenant gave Israelites
the opportunity to become kings and
priests to benefit “all other peoples.”
But there was something that the Isra-
elites needed to do to have this won-
7. What did the Scriptures mean by “a king-
dom of priests”?
8. What do priests appointed by God do?
9. (a) What did Israelites need to do to have
the opportunity to be “a kingdom of priests”?
(b) Why did Jehovah appoint some as priests
within Israel? (c) Why could the Israelites not
be “a kingdom of priests” under the Law cove-
nant?
JANUARY 15, 2012
derful opportunity. God said: “If you
will strictly obey my voice and will in-
deed keep my covenant.” Could they
“strictly obey” Jehovah? Yes, but not
perfectly. (Romans 3:19, 20) It is for
this reason that Jehovah appointed
some as priests within Israel. These
priests did not serve as kings. They
made animal sacrifices for the sins
of the people. (Leviticus 4:1–6:7)
These sins also included the sins of
the priests themselves. (Hebrews 5:
1-3; 8:3) Even though Jehovah accept-
ed these sacrifices, they could not com-
pletely remove sin from the Israelites.
The priesthood under the Law cove-
nant could not completely reconcile
even sincere Israelites to God. It is as
the apostle Paul said: “It is not possi-
ble for the blood of bulls and of goats
to take sins away.” (Hebrews 10:1-4)
The Israelites had the
opportunity to become
“a kingdom of priests”
Because the Israelites did not obey all
the things in the Law, they came under
a curse. (Galatians 3:10) In that condi-
tion, they could not serve all other peo-
ples as a royal priesthood.
10 This does not mean that Israelites
could never become part of “a king-
dom of priests” as Jehovah had prom-
ised. If they sincerely tried to obey
Jehovah, they would have this oppor-
tunity, but not while they were under
the Law. Why not? (Read Galatians 3:
10. What was the purpose of the Law cove-
nant?
29
19-25.) To understand this, we need
to know what the purpose of the Law
covenant was. The Law protected obe-
dient Israelites from false worship. It
also helped them to understand that
they were sinners and needed a great-
er sacrifice than their high priest could
offer. The Law was a “tutor” that would
Jesus made it
possible for others
to be part of a royal
priesthood
prepare them to accept the Christ, or
Messiah. These names mean “Anoint-
ed One.” However, when the Messiah
arrived, he would introduce the new
covenant that Jeremiah prophesied
about. Those who accepted the Christ
became part of the new covenant and
would actually become “a kingdom of
priests.” Let us talk about how.
MEMBERS OF THE NEW COVENANT
BECOME A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
11 In the year 29, Jesus of Nazareth
became the Messiah. He was about 30
years old when he got baptized. His
baptism showed that he was willing
to do Jehovah’s special will for him.
Jehovah then said about him: “This
is my Son, the beloved.” And Jehovah
anointed him, not with oil, but with
holy spirit. (Matthew 3:13-17; Acts
10:38) God anointed Jesus so that he
could be High Priest and future King
11. How did Jesus become the foundation of a
royal priesthood?
30
for the benefit of everyone who be-
lieves in him. (Hebrews 1:8, 9; 5:5, 6)
He would then make it possible for
others to become part of a truly royal
priesthood.
12 As High Priest, what sacrifice
could Jesus offer that would make it
possible for the inherited sin of those
who believe in him to be complete-
ly forgiven? What Jesus said when
he introduced the Memorial of his
death helps us to understand that the
sacrifice was his own perfect human
life. (Read Hebrews 9:11, 12.) After
Jesus was anointed to be High Priest,
he allowed himself to be tested and
trained until his death. (Hebrews 4:
15; 5:7-10) After he was resurrected,
he went to heaven and offered the val-
ue of his sacrifice to Jehovah. (He-
brews 9:24) From that time on, Jesus
could “plead” with Jehovah for those
who exercise faith in his sacrifice. He
could help them to serve God with
the hope of receiving everlasting life.
(Hebrews 7:25) His sacrifice also made
the new covenant valid.—Hebrews 8:6;
9:15.
13 Those in the new covenant would
also be anointed with holy spirit.
(2 Corinthians 1:21) Faithful Jews and
then Gentiles were included. (Ephe-
sians 3:5, 6) What would happen to
those in the new covenant? Their sins
would be completely forgiven. Jeho-
vah had promised: “I shall forgive
their error, and their sin I shall re-
member no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34)
Now that Jehovah had forgiven their
12. What did Jesus’ sacrifice make possible?
13. What would happen to those in the new
covenant?
SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH EDITION
sins, they could become “a kingdom of
priests.” Peter told the anointed Chris-
tians: “You are ‘a chosen race, a roy-
al priesthood, a holy nation, a people
for special possession, that you should
declare abroad the excellencies’ of
the one that called you out of dark-
ness into his wonderful light.” (1 Pe-
ter 2:9) The apostle Peter quoted the
words that Jehovah used when He in-
troduced the Law to Israel. Peter here
repeats these words and applies them
to Christians in the new covenant.—Ex-
odus 19:5, 6.
A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD THAT
BENEFITS ALL MANKIND
14 Where do those in the new cov-
enant serve? They serve on earth. As
a group, they are a priesthood. They
represent Jehovah to people by preach-
ing about “the excellencies” of Jeho-
vah and by giving spiritual food, or in-
14. Where does the royal priesthood serve?
struction. (Matthew 24:45; 1 Peter 2:
4, 5) After their death and resurrec-
tion, they are completely able to do the
work of both kings and priests with
Christ in heaven. (Luke 22:29; 1 Pe-
ter 1:3-5; Revelation 1:6) In a vision,
the apostle John saw many spirit crea-
tures near Jehovah’s throne in heav-
en. They are singing “a new song” to
“the Lamb.” They sing: “With your
blood you bought persons for God out
of every tribe and tongue and peo-
ple and nation, and you made them to
be a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they are to rule as kings over the
earth.” (Revelation 5:8-10) In anoth-
er vision, John said about these kings:
“They will be priests of God and of the
Christ, and will rule as kings with him
for the thousand years.” (Rev. 20:6)
These kings, together with Christ,
form a royal priesthood that benefits
all mankind.
The royal priesthood will benefit
mankind forever
 15 How will the 144,000 benefit peo-
ple on earth? Revelation chapter 21 de-
scribes these priests as a heavenly city,
New Jerusalem, called “the Lamb’s
wife.” (Revelation 21:9) Verses 2 to 4
say: “I saw also the holy city, New Je-
rusalem, coming down out of heav-
en from God and prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. With that I
heard a loud voice from the throne say:
‘Look! The tent of God is with man-
kind, and he will reside with them,
and they will be his peoples. And God
himself will be with them. And he will
wipe out every tear from their eyes,
and death will be no more, neither will
mourning nor outcry nor pain be any-
more. The former things have passed
away.’ ” These are wonderful bless-
ings! There will be no more tears, grief,
pain, or cries of sorrow because death
will no longer exist. Mankind will then
become perfect and be completely rec-
onciled to God.
16 Revelation 22:1, 2 tells us more
about the blessings that come from
this royal priesthood. It says: “He
showed me a river of water of life, clear
as crystal, flowing out from the throne
of God and of the Lamb down the mid-
dle of its broad way. And on this side
of the river and on that side there were
trees of life producing twelve crops of
fruit, yielding their fruits each month.
And the leaves of the trees were for
the curing of the nations.” This vision
shows us how “the nations,” or family
groups of mankind, will be complete-
ly cured of the imperfection inherited
from Adam. Truly, the former things
will have passed away.
15, 16. In what ways will the royal priesthood
benefit mankind?
www.watchtower.org
THE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
COMPLETES ITS WORK
17 By the end of 1,000 years of ser-
vice, the royal priesthood will have
helped mankind to become perfect.
The High Priest and King, Jesus Christ,
will then present the perfect human
family to Jehovah. (Read 1 Corinthians
15:22-26.) The royal priesthood will
have completed its work.
18 How will Jehovah use the mem-
bers of the royal priesthood after that?
Revelation 22:5 says: “They will rule
as kings forever and ever.” Whom will
they rule over? The Bible does not say.
But they will continue to have great
value to Jehovah. They will have im-
mortal and incorruptible life and expe-
rience in helping imperfect mankind.
So they will continue to be kings and
to be used by Jehovah to fulfill his pur-
poses forever.
19 We will be reminded of these Bi-
ble teachings when we observe the
Memorial of Jesus’ death on Thursday,
April 5, 2012. The anointed Christians
still on earth will show that they are
part of the new covenant by partaking
of the unleavened bread and the red
wine. This will remind them of their
wonderful privileges and responsibili-
ties in God’s eternal purpose. All of us
who attend want to show deep grati-
tude for the royal priesthood that Jeho-
vah God has chosen to benefit all man-
kind.
17. What will the royal priesthood have done
by the end of 1,000 years?
18. After the members of the royal priesthood
have completed their work, how will Jehovah
use them?
19. Of what will all those who attend the Me-
morial be reminded?
ws12 01/15-E