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34567 august 15 2012 d simplified english edition study articles september 24-30 i am with you page 3 songs 65 2 october 1-7 carry on as kingdom citizens page 9 songs 16 98 october 8-14 beware of the devil s snares page 15 songs 61 25 october 15-21 stand firm and avoid satan s traps page 21 songs 32 83

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34567 august 15 2012 vol 133 no 16 semimonthly english 6 purpose of study articles the purpose of this magazine the watchtower is to honor jehovah god the supreme ruler of the universe just as watchtowers in ancient times enabled a person to observe developments from afar so this magazine shows us the significance of world events in the light of bible prophecies it comforts people with the good news that god s kingdom which is a real government in heaven will soon bring an end to all wickedness and transform the earth into a paradise it promotes faith in jesus christ who died so that we might gain everlasting life and who is now ruling as king of god s kingdom this magazine has been published by jehovah s witnesses continuously since 1879 and is nonpolitical it adheres to the bible as its authority study article 1 pages 3-8 daniel was told that the true knowledge would become abundant in the time of the end daniel 12:4 this article explains how that prophecy has come true in a wonderful way it also shows how we can be sure that jesus is with those who serve jehovah god study article 2 pages 9-14 learn who the citizens of the kingdom are this article considers what jehovah requires of them and how they show their love for his requirements cover a kingdom publisher witnessing to a shepherd in ´ the bafata region of guinea-bissau this publication is not for sale it is provided as part of a worldwide bible educational work supported by voluntary donations unless otherwise indicated scripture quotations are from the modernlanguage new world translation of the holy scriptures with references study articles 3 4 pages 15-26 satan often hides traps that he can use to catch us he wants to make us do what he wants these articles discuss how we can protect ourselves from five of his traps they are uncontrolled speech giving in to fear and pressure feeling too much guilt materialism and the temptation to commit adultery also in this issue some expressions explained are contextual explanations of words used within an article 27 a meeting marked by unity and thrilling plans the watchtower issn 0043-1087 is published semimonthly by watchtower bible and tract society of new york inc l weaver jr president g f simonis secretary-treasurer 25 columbia heights brooklyn ny 11201-2483 and by watch tower bible and tract society of canada po box 4100 georgetown on l7g 4y4 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 30 there exists a reward for your activity guinea-bissau population 1,515,000 publishers 120 bible studies 389

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i am with you many will rove about and the true knowledge will become abundant daniel 12:4 i what is your answer in our time how have people been able to find the true knowledge how have those who accepted the truth become many in what ways has accurate knowledge become abundant magine that you are in paradise each morning you wake up feeling good and excited to start a new day you have no aches or pains you have no more health problems you can see hear smell feel and taste perfectly you have a lot of energy you enjoy your work you have many friends and you have nothing to worry about these are blessings you can have when god s kingdom rules the earth our king jesus christ will give humans these blessings and make sure that everyone on earth learns about jehovah 2 at that time god and his son will help loyal ones to teach others about jehovah in fact jehovah and jesus have always helped loyal christians to teach others before he went to heaven jesus told his disciples i am with you so he would continue to help them read matthew 28 19 20 to strengthen our faith in jesus promise we will now discuss a prophecy that daniel wrote in babylon more than 2,500 years ago he wrote about our time many will rove about and the true knowledge will become abundant daniel 12:4 we now understand that in this verse to rove about means to study carefully the prophecy shows that those who carefully study the scriptures would have the marvelous blessing of finding the true or accurate knowledge of god s word the prophecy also says that the true 1 2 a how do we know that jesus is with us now and will be with us in the future b according to daniel 12:4 what would happen when some carefully studied the scriptures 3

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some expressions explained the true knowledge accurate knowledge of god s word colporteurs pioneers were called colporteurs before 1931 knowledge will become abundant those who find this knowledge would accept it and teach these truths to others also people everywhere would be able to learn these truths we will now see how this prophecy has come true this will strengthen our faith that jesus is with his disciples today and that jehovah will fulfill all his promises for the future sincere christians find the true knowledge began a small group of sincere christians in pennsylvania u.s.a met together to study the bible carefully and to search for true knowledge 2 timothy 3:1 they called themselves bible students they were humble people the apostasy foretold by the apostle paul started after the death of the apostles and spread as quickly as fire acts 20:28-30 2 thessalonians 2:1-3 for hundreds of years even those who called themselves christians did not have the true knowledge religious leaders said that they believed in the scriptures but taught people teachings of demons lies that dishonored god 1 timothy 4:1 as a result most people did not know the truth about god instead they were taught such lies as god is a trinity the soul does not die and some souls burn in hell forever 4 but things changed in the 1870 s about 40 years before the last days 3 what happened after the death of the apos 3 with god s help the bible students learned truths that many people had not known for hundreds of years who sincerely wanted to do god s will they were not the wise and intellectual ones jesus said would not be able to find the true knowledge matthew 11:25 the bible students carefully read discussed and meditated on the scriptures and they prayed for god s direction they compared different verses in the bible and studied the writings of others who had searched for bible truth little by little the bible students learned truths that many people had not known for hundreds of years 5 the bible students were very happy about what they were learning but 5 why did the bible students print tracts called the old theology simplified english edition tles 4 how did a group of christians in the 1870 s begin to search for bible truth 4

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they did not become proud they understood that these truths had always been in the bible so they did not tell others that they had found something new 1 corinthians 8:1 instead they printed tracts called the old theology to help others learn bible truths the first tracts helped people study the bible so that they could reject all false traditions of men and accept the true teachings of jesus and the apostles or the old theology the old theology no 1 april 1889 page 32 6 since the 1870 s jehovah s witnesses have learned many marvelous truths.1 see footnote when we study these truths we are not just learning facts we are learning exciting things that improve our lives these truths make us happy and give us hope for the future they help us to get to know our loving god jehovah and understand his will they explain who jesus is why he came to earth and died and what he is doing now these precious truths help us to understand why god allows evil things to happen why we die how we should pray and how we can be truly happy 7 we can now understand prophecies that were a secret for a very long time but are being fulfilled in the time of the end daniel 12:9 many of these prophecies are in the gospels 1 you can learn more by watching the dvds jehovah s witnesses faith in action part 1 out of darkness and jehovah s witnesses faith in action part 2 let the light shine 6 7 a what truths have jehovah s witness and in the book of revelation for example jehovah has helped us to know about things that happened in heaven that no human could see we know that jesus has become king that there was a war in heaven and that satan was thrown down to the earth revelation 12:7-12 god has also helped us understand the meaning of things that we can see we understand why there are wars earthquakes sicknesses and food shortages and why people do the bad things that make our times hard to deal with 2 timothy 3:1-5 luke 21:10 11 8 jesus told his disciples happy are the eyes that behold the things you are beholding for i say to you many prophets and kings desired to see the things you are beholding but did not see them and to hear the things you are hearing but did not hear them luke 10:23 24 that is how we feel today jehovah god is the one who has made it possible for us to see and hear or understand the truth we are so grateful that he uses his holy spirit the helper to help us fully understand the truth read john 16:7 13 we should never forget that the truth is precious and that we need to help others to learn it many accept the true knowledge in the watch tower of april 1881 less than two years after the magazine began to be printed there was an 8 who is the one who has made it possible for 9 us to understand the truth 9 what invitation was in the watch tower of es learned since the 1870 s b what truths were you especially happy to learn august 15 2012 april 1881 5

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article called wanted 1,000 preachers the article invited those who could give half or more of their time to the preaching work to become colporteurs or pioneers they were asked to go everywhere they could to search for sincere christians who loved god but did not have accurate knowledge and to teach them the truth about god and the bible 10 the bible students invited others to preach because they realized that true christians must preach the good news at that time there were only a few hundred people who attended the meetings of the bible students so not as many as they had hoped for accepted that invitation but many people who read a tract or a magazine realized they had found the truth and they wanted to help others for example in 1882 a person from london england who had read a watch tower magazine and a booklet of the bible students wrote please instruct me how and what to preach so as to accomplish the blessed work god wishes done 11 in 1885 there were about 300 colporteurs they had the same goal as we do today they wanted to make disciples of jesus christ but the way they did this was different from how we do this today we usually study the bible with one person at a time we then invite the bible student to attend meetings with the congrega10 what did many want to do after reading tion but in the past the colporteurs studied with groups of people they placed books and then invited interested ones to meet together to study the bible in this way the colporteurs formed new congregations which they called classes the bible students realized that true christians must preach the good news for example in 1907 a group of colporteurs searched through a city to find those who already had copies of millennial dawn books also called studies in the scriptures then the colporteurs invited them to a sunday meeting in the home of one of the interested ones on that sunday a colporteur gave a talk about the divine plan of the ages for the whole day on the next sunday he encouraged those who attended to continue meeting together regularly in 1911 the brothers tried another way of making disciples fifty-eight brothers traveled to different parts of the united states and canada to give public talks they would write down the names and addresses of interested people who attended those meetings then they would organize these interested ones into groups that met in private homes in this way they formed new congregations in 1914 there were 1,200 congregations of bible students around the world simplified english edition 12 the invitation for 1,000 preachers 11 12 a what was the goal of the colporteurs b how did the colporteurs form new congregations 6

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today there are about 109,400 congregations all over the world and about 895,800 brothers and sisters are pioneers almost eight million people now accept the true knowledge and use it in their lives read isaiah 60:22 1 see footnote this increase is amazing since jesus foretold that many people would hate his disciples he said that people would persecute them put them in prison and even kill them luke 21:12-17 although satan his demons and many humans have tried to stop the preaching work jehovah s people continue to make disciples and are having wonderful results they are now preaching in all the inhabited earth from the hottest parts to the coldest in mountains in deserts in cities and in places where few people live matthew 24:14 only with jehovah s help could they do all this work true knowledge becomes abundant the bible students were humble people who sincerely wanted to do god s will 13 true knowledge has become abundant because many are preaching the good news it has also become abundant through publications such as books and magazines in july 1879 the bible students published the first watchtower magazine at that time it was called zion s watch tower and herald of christ s presence the bible students hired a company 1 see isaiah s prophecy light for all mankind ii page 320 13 what do you find amazing about the preaching work 14 how has true knowledge become abundant through our publications august 15 2012 14 to print 6,000 copies of that first magazine in english charles taze russell who was then 27 years old was chosen to be the editor and five other mature brothers regularly wrote articles for the magazine today 42,182,000 copies of each issue of the watchtower are printed in 195 languages it is the most widely distributed magazine on earth the second most widely distributed magazine is awake we print 41,042,000 copies of each issue of awake in 84 languages also about 100 million books and bibles are printed each year 7

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jehovah values your efforts in spreading the true knowledge of god the money for this work comes from voluntary donations read matthew 10:8 those in the printing business are impressed by this because they know that machines paper ink and other materials are very expensive a brother who buys materials for bethel printeries says that when business people visit bethel they are amazed at what we can do with voluntary donations they are surprised that we can afford such modern printing presses that can produce so many publications they are also surprised at how young and happy the workers at bethel are knowledge of god will fill the earth 15 saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth 1 timothy 2:3 4 jehovah wants people to know the truth so that they can worship him properly and receive his blessing through the preaching work he has gathered a faithful group of anointed christians he is also gathering a great crowd out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues who have the hope of living forever on earth revelation 7:9 17 the number of true worshippers everywhere on earth has really grown over the past 130 years this increase clearly shows that god and his appointed king jesus christ have been with jehovah s servants on earth by directing protecting organizing and jehovah and jesus have been with us by directing protecting organizing and teaching us teaching them jehovah has kept his promise to help many find the truth in our time and we can be sure that he will fulfill his promises for the future the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea isaiah 11:9 just think of the wonderful blessings humans will have at that time 17 what does the increase in the number of jehovah has made the true knowledge abundant because his will is that all sorts of men should be 15 where do we get the money to print our 16 publications 16 why has jehovah made the true knowl edge abundant true worshippers show simplified english edition 8

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carry on as kingdom citizens carry on as citizens philippians 1:27 footnote what is your answer who can be citizens of the kingdom what does it mean to learn the kingdom s language history and laws how do kingdom citizens show that they love god s laws he apostle paul encouraged the congregation in philippi to behave in a manner worthy of the good news read philippians 1 27 the word behave in this verse means carry on as citizens or behave as citizens these words had special meaning for the congregation in philippi why because it seems that the roman empire had allowed the philippians to have a form of roman citizenship and to be protected by roman law philippians were proud of being roman citizens because this gave them benefits that few people had at that time 2 those in the congregation in philippi had a better reason to be proud paul reminded those anointed christians as for us our citizenship exists in the heavens philippians 3:20 they were citizens of god s kingdom which is much greater than any human government god s kingdom gave them protection and benefits that no other government could give ephesians 2 19-22 3 paul s counsel to carry on as citizens was mainly for those who will rule with christ in heaven philippians 3:20 but it can be applied to those who will live on earth and be ruled by god s kingdom why because we all serve the t 1 2 why did the words carry on as citizens have special meaning to the congregation in philippi 3 a who can be citizens of the kingdom b what will we consider in this article 9

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some expressions explained citizens people who are accepted by the government as members of the country to carry on or behave as kingdom citizens to do what jehovah requires of those who serve him as their king social networking web sites internet sites such as facebook that allow people to share personal information with individuals and groups of people same king jehovah and his requirements are the same for all his servants ephesians 4:4-6 today many people work hard to become citizens of a rich country but the opportunity to be citizens of the kingdom has much more value to help us better understand what a great opportunity this is let us compare some of the requirements for becoming a citizen of a human government with those for becoming a citizen of god s kingdom we will then consider three things we must do if we want to continue to be citizens of the kingdom requirements for citizens learn a new language the bible calls it the pure language read zephaniah 3:9 what is that language it is the truth that the bible teaches about god and his purposes to speak the pure language means to obey god s we speak the pure language when we obey god s laws and principles laws and principles as citizens of god s kingdom we may learn the basic teachings of the bible quickly and get baptized but after our baptism we must work hard to speak the pure language better and better how can we do that each of us needs to continue to make the effort to use in our life what we learn from the bible 5 study the history a person who wants to become a citizen of a country may have to learn the history of its government since we want to be 5 why should we learn all we can about the learn the language some governments require that those who want to be citizens learn to speak the main language of the country some people have to work hard for years to speak the new language well even after they become citizens they may quickly learn the rules of grammar but may need much more time to become good at speaking the language god s kingdom also requires that those who want to be its citizens 4 what is the pure language what does it 4 mean to speak the pure language history of jehovah s people in our time simplified english edition 10

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citizens of god s kingdom we should learn all we can about it we should imitate the example of the sons of korah in ancient israel they loved jerusalem and its place of worship and liked to talk about the history of that city not because the city was beautiful but because it was the town of the grand king jehovah the place of worship in jerusalem was where the people learned about jehovah s law and worshipped him those ruled by jehovah the king of jerusalem were the people he approved and loved read psalm 48:1 2 9 12 13 in our time god also has an organized people on earth like the sons of korah we should want to like the sons of korah do you love pure worship and its history study and tell others about the history of god s people the more we learn about jehovah s people and how he helps them the more real god s kingdom will be to us this will strengthen our desire to preach the good news of the kingdom jeremiah 9:24 luke 4:43 we learn god s laws and principles by reading the bible each day know the laws human governments require that their citizens learn and obey the laws of the country so we can expect jehovah to require that all citizens of his kingdom learn and obey his laws and principles isaiah 2:3 john 15:10 1 john 5:3 human laws are imperfect and can be unfair but the law of jehovah is perfect psalm 19:7 do you enjoy reading the bible each day and learning god s laws and principles psalm 1 1 2 each of us has to make the effort to study god s laws nobody else can do this for us kingdom citizens love god s laws 6 to continue to be kingdom citizens we need to know god s laws and love them many citizens of human governments say that they agree 6 why can we expect jehovah to require that 7 we learn and obey his laws and principles 7 why do kingdom citizens obey god s laws 11

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with the laws of the country but when they do not like a certain law and they think nobody is watching they disobey it often they obey laws only to please men colossians 3:22 kingdom citizens obey god s laws for a different reason we love jehovah that is why we are happy to obey his laws even when no other human is watching isaiah 33:22 read luke 10:27 8 how can you know whether you truly love god s laws by thinking about your attitude for example think about the way you react when you receive counsel it may be about something that you feel is a personal choice such as the way you dress before you learned the truth you may not have cared a lot about the way you looked or perhaps you dressed in a way that could make others have immoral thoughts as your love for god grew you learned to dress in a way that honors him 1 timothy 2 9 10 1 peter 3:3 4 you may think that there is nothing wrong with the way you dress now but if an elder told you that many in the congregation feel that the way you dress is not proper how would you react would you make excuses get angry or refuse to make changes one of the most important laws that citizens of the kingdom must obey is to imitate christ 1 peter 2:21 paul said that even the christ did not please himself and in the same way each of us should please his neighbor in what is good for his upbuilding romans 15 8 9 how can you know whether you truly 2 3 to keep the peace in the congregation a mature christian should always want to avoid doing things that offend the consciences of others romans 14:19-21 9 now think about your attitude toward sex and marriage those who are not citizens of god s kingdom might think that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality pornography adultery or divorce but kingdom citizens have learned to think of the results of their actions and how their actions will affect others before they learned the truth many lived an immoral life they now know that sex and marriage are gifts from god they love jehovah s laws and know that those who disobey god s laws about sex and marriage cannot be kingdom citizens 1 corinthians 6:9-11 but they also realize that their heart can make them do wrong things jeremiah 17:9 so they are grateful that they receive specific warnings that help them to continue obeying god s laws kingdom citizens are grateful for warnings human governments may warn their citizens about certain foods and medicines of course not all foods and medicines are bad but if something could be harmful the government will protect its citizens by warning them about the danger it is the government s duty to give these warnings god s kingdom also gives 10 11 what important warnings does god s kingdom give us how do you feel about such warnings simplified english edition 10 love god s laws 12

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warnings to its citizens it warns us about things that could make us disobey god s laws and damage our relationship with him for example many people use the internet for communication education do you pay attention to warnings from the faithful slave about the internet and entertainment god s organization uses the internet to do many good things but many of the sites on the internet are dangerous for those who want to keep doing what is right web sites that show pornography are clearly dangerous for many years the faithful slave has warned us about these sites and we are so grateful for these warnings 11 lately many have been using another type of site these sites are known as social networking web sites they can have benefits but can also cause much damage so we must be very careful if we choose to use them we could be communicating with people who are bad associations 1 corinthians 15:33 that is why the faithful slave has given us warnings to help us to have the right thinking about these sites have you read all the articles from the faithful slave about the use of social networking sites it would be dangerous to use these sites without first reading these august 15 2012 articles.1 see footnote it would be like taking a powerful medicine without first reading the warning on the bottle 12 those who ignore the warnings from the faithful slave will harm themselves and those they love some have become addicted to pornography or have committed sexual immorality and think that jehovah cannot see what they are doing it is very foolish to think that we can hide what we do from jehovah proverbs 15:3 read hebrews 4:13 jehovah will not allow those who keep ignoring his requirements to be citizens of his kingdom just as a human government may not allow people who commit certain crimes to be its citizens anymore.2 see footnote 1 corinthians 5:1113 but jehovah is merciful and uses the elders to try to help those who have sinned galatians 6:1 those who repent and stop doing what is wrong can be friends of jehovah again and continue to be kingdom citizens 2 corinthians 2:5-8 it is a great honor to serve such a loving king kingdom citizens value education many governments work hard to educate their citizens they build schools where people can get a basic education citizens of god s kingdom 1 for example see awake july 2011 pages 24-27 august 2011 pages 10-13 and february 2012 pages 3-9 2 see the watchtower of march 15 2012 pages 30-31 12 why is it foolish to ignore warnings 13 how do kingdom citizens show that they value education 13 13

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your family worship evening can help you and your family become good kingdom citizens are grateful for these schools where they can learn to read and write and learn the skills they will need for work they do all they can to benefit from this kind of education but they are even more grateful for the education that jehovah gives them through his organization for example his organization encourages us to read it encourages parents to read to their children each month the faithful slave publishes the watchtower and awake the three issues of these magazines have many pages full of information about the bible if you read just a few pages a day you can finish reading them in a month in this way you can continue to benefit from the education that jehovah gives us 14 each week kingdom citizens receive training at their congregation meetings for example for more than 60 years the theocratic ministry 14 a what training do we receive b what school has helped students to be good teachers of god s word are you in this school also the faithful slave has emphasized to us the importance of having a family worship evening every week this study helps the family to become more united have you used the suggestions given in our publications for family worship evening?1 see footnote 15 many citizens of human governments try to get others to support a political party some even go from door to door to do that kingdom citizens all over the world show they support god s kingdom by preaching to people on the street and from door to door for example the purpose of the watchtower is to announce jehovah s kingdom and as mentioned in the first article the watchtower is now the most widely distributed magazine on earth it is a great honor to tell others about god s kingdom are you zealously preaching the good news of the kingdom matthew 28:19 20 16 soon god s kingdom will be the only government ruling the earth the laws of the kingdom will be the only laws that guide humans will you be a good citizen of god s kingdom at that time now is the time to prove that you will be in all the decisions you make each day do all things for jehovah s glory and prove that you are behaving as a good citizen of god s kingdom 1 corinthians 10:31 1 see the watchtower august 15 2011 pages 6-7 and our kingdom ministry january 2011 pages 3-6 15 what great honor do we have 16 how can you prove that you are a good cit suggestions for family worship evening have you used izen of god s kingdom simplified english edition 14

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beware of the devil s snares come out from the snare of the devil 2 timothy 2:26 how would you answer if you are always critical of others what should you do what lessons can we learn from pilate and peter about not giving in to pressure and fear of man he devil tries to catch jehovah s servants but he is not always like a hunter who kills the animals he catches what the devil really wants to do when he catches someone is to make that person do what he wants read 2 timothy 2:24-26 2 a trapper may use different snares or traps to catch an animal he may start a fire to get the animal out of its hiding place so that it becomes easier to catch it or he may catch the animal by using a noose he may also use a trap that he has hidden the animal touches it and is crushed the devil also uses traps to catch god s servants if we do not want to get caught we must be alert and pay attention to the warning signs that help us to know where satan s traps are in this article we will discuss how we can avoid three of the traps that the devil has used to catch some of god s people these traps are 1 uncontrolled speech 2 giving in to fear and pressure and 3 feeling too much guilt the next article will discuss two more traps of satan t put out the fire of uncontrolled speech how can you avoid feeling too much guilt when animals are in the woods they are safe a hunter may set a part of the woods on fire so that the animals will come out of their hiding places as they try to run away then the hunter 1 2 what traps of the devil will we discuss in this article 3 4 what could happen if we do not control the way we speak give an example 3 15

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