Keys of

Heaven

explain ed in

Seven Bible Treatises

by

J. F. RUT I; ERFORD
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Page
8

Act of God

10 Oppression
19 Keys of IIeaveo

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2B The Rock
87 Location of tile
Kingdom

45 The Sabbath
54 The Flood

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Not only a mongst the Englishspeaking nations of the world
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KEYS OF HEAVEN
Act of God
HEN a calamity befalls a peo:Qle it is
usual to say that such is 'the act of
God'. A gr eat storm causes the rivers
to rise, working much destruction of property
- and people, and this is charged against J ehovah and called 'the act of God' . Public carriers
and other corporations protect themselves
against damages by inserting in their contracts
the statement that they will not be responsible

for any damages resulting from 'the act of

God'. The courts of law and law writers define
'the act of God' as 'an inevitable accident against
which ordinary care and prudence could not
guard; the interruption of the ordinary course
of events such as is not to be looked for in advance'. If a storm wipes away a bridge and a
railway tmin with its passengers goes down,
that is saiel to be an act of God. The question is,
Are these things such as I have described the
result of God's acts 1 I an swer, No, they are not;
and the claim that such things do constitute the
act of God is entirely without Scriptural authority. God is therefore wrongfully charged
with such calamities.
Who, then, is responsible for the storms and
like extraordinary acts that often r esult in much
3

KEYS OF HEAVEN

suffering to the people 7 I answer that such are

properly chargeable against Satan the Devil;
and the reason I shall give from the Scriptures.
That Satan has power to produce storms and
li ke unusual things cannot be doubted. Jesus
spoke of Satan the Devil as "the prince of devils" Illld as "the prince of this world" and as the
Ill l t' who iN the 'uemy of God and Christ. In
J';plll'~iIlIlH 2: 2 I 'ntan, the prince of this wicked
wo,.hl, iH ('Illird the "prince of the power of the
[Ii i... I" 2 ('o";IItldllll", chapter foUl', Satan is
('1111\,,1 '1111' god "I' thiH wiclwd world', meaning
Lhnt hI' iH I hI' illvi"ihll' 1'111"1' or the lVorld hming
and ~X(',.!'iHIIlp; ~1'(It\l POW(',', J 1\ lJebrews 2 : 14
it is wJ'ilt~1I tlulL NII["" hilS Iho power of death.
J Ie hilS illllidcd 1\<'11[11 11[1011 l1Iany persons.
H WIlH SlltUII tho i)Qvi l who constantly sought
to kill.I(,HllR, hN'llllHI' .1t'HllH WIIH the beloved Son
or Ollt! HI\lIt to ('1\ 1'1 h to Loll UIlI tl'utll. ~rhat Satllil hllH l"llI'('I' III pI'odll('O stoL'ms is plainly
HlllllI'lL hy II'lmt hI' IlUllHCd to come to pass
Il),(Ui Il HL .JnN II " llild hiH discip] s. 'i'hey were in
tl IHml "P"" thl' :-:';C!L oj' GalileG and J"esl1s was
n~It'~p in the bool, I1l1d 11 great storm arose,
whie" hoCtlJUC so violent that the boat was about
to bo I'ap~il\cd. 'rlte record in Luke 8 : 23-25 is:
"So they set sail, During the passage he fell
asleep, alld there came down a squall of wind
on t he lake, so that the boat began to fill and
tJley were in deadly peril." (Weymouth) "Alld
they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Mast er, master, we perish! Then he arose, aBel 1'0buked t he wind and the raging of thc wat!'!':
and they ceased, and there was a ru1111. AIIII

ACT OF GOD

he said unto them, Wllere is your faith 1 And

they, being afraid, wondered, saying one to another, Wl1at manner of man is this I for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they
obey him."
But why Sh0111d Satan bring storms and like
disasters upon the people and cause them to
charge the responsibility up to God' The r eason is that Satan has always tried to indnce men
to curse Jehovah God. If the people could be
made to nnderstand that J ehovah God is r esponsible for these disasters they wonld hate
r ather than love him, and this Satan well knows;
hence his course of action. To appreciate this
we must get the proper understanding of the
great question at issne. Wl1en Satan rebelled
ago,inst God he induced man to sin by telling him
that God is a liar. He then defied J ehovah God,
saying that no man could be pnt on the earth who
11lider great stress would be faithful to God. In
order that aU creation might in dne time be
flilly convinced that J ehovah is the only true
God, from whom blessings come, J ehovah permitted Satan to go his full linllt in wickedness.
In due time he will destroy Satan and all his
power. For this reason the book of J ob is written in the Bible. In the book of Job, which is
fully c:l.:plainecl in the book brought to your
doors and which is called. L ife, the record is that
Job was a very rich man who served God faithfully . Satan declared that he could compel Job
to curse God, and was permitted to try. Satan
brought a great windstorm IVhich destroyed
Job's house and killed all bis children and most

KEYS OF HEAVEN

of his sel'vants. Then he brought other calamilies upon ,Job. He affiicted .Job with boils and
Hlt'n ul'ollghL lhree pious-faced religionists who
cinilllcd to he Job's rriends and who tormented
l,i", 1'01' d,'YH. li e induced Job's wife to call upon
him to l'll1"S~ Ood. Amidst all this .Job remained
trllo alld flliUII'lu to God, und Sutan failed in his
efforts.
For the same purpose Satan has caused the
people to be taught for many centuries that all
the storms, the bugs, and insects, and like things
that bring disaster upon the people come because the people have not contributed to their
cburch and been faithful to it, and hence God
is displeased with them and sends calamities.
Many persons ha"e thereby been induced to
curse God and turn away U 'OID him. In due time
.Jehovah God will bring to pass events that will
surely convince all creation that Satan is the
wirked one and that Jehovah God is the Giver
01.' life and happiness to those that serve him.
What, 11Ic'll, IS Ille pI'oper understanding or
f'xplnlllltion or lhe words "act of God'" The Bihit' t l"lIly Hay" I hnl nil lhe wOl'ks of J ehovah are
l1(\rl'l' t, lIl1ll lhlll ull his ways are good and just,
r ip;hl Ilnd truo. Uod is love; which means he is
(>11 t i .. ply unselfish.
He does punish wickedness
Illld d~('laros that he will completely destroy the
wi'lll'ully wicked, and this he has done and will
do for the honor of his name and for the good
of those who love righteousness.
Some of the acts of J ehovah God recorded in
the Bible are these : Because of Adam's lVi lli ;I .~
clisobedience he sentenced him to death, cl(pclled

ACT OF GOD

him from Eden and put him to death. The children of Adam, acting with a host of the Devil,
filled the earth with violence, and the record is
that God sent a great deluge and destroyed all
flesh upon the earth except Noah and his iqJ.mediate family, who were faithful to God. That
great delnge was an act of God; but before he
performed it he gave full notice, so that it could
not he said that it was an inevitable accident
against which ordinary care and prudence could
not gllard.
The Egyptians under the r ulership of Phar aoh and his associates greatly oppressed God's
chosen people the Israelites. They cried unto
God and he led them out of Egypt by the hand
of Moses, and when the Egyptian army pursued
the I smelites for the purpose of destroying
them God destr oyed the Egyptians in the I{ed
sea. That was an act of God. It was not, however, an inevitable accident against which the
Egyptians could not guard and about which
they could not know, because God had previously given full notice to the Egyptians of bis purpose to punish them if his people wei'e further
persecuted.
When God's people the I sraelites were marching to Canaan tbe Amalekites wickedly persecuted them, and in his own due time God sent
his army unde r Saul against the Amalekites and
they were destroyed. That was an act of God"
but it was not an inevitable accident against
which the Amalelcites could not guard, beca use
for four hundred years notice had been given

KEYS 01' HEAVEN

thai they ~lto llid sufl'er fo r their wicked perseoution of Clod 's people.
'rite Jews, once God's chosen people, turned
IIlI'uy to the Devil and against J ehovah God.
'.I'll oy wero 11nfaithflLi to their covenant and became idolatrous. In clue time Jehovah God permilled the armies of Babylon to lay siege to
J ernsalem and to cause millions of the people
to die by the sword, by famine and pestilence,
and the city to be completely deshoyed. That
was an act of God, but it was not an lllevitable
accident that could not be lool,ed for in advance
and against which prndent men could not guard
themselves. On the contrary, Jehovah God sent
Ilis prophets Ezekiel, J eremiah and Isaiah and
others to the Jews and gave them full \l'a rnlllg
of his pnrpose to punish them for their wickedHOSR, and in d ne time he did punish them. An
n i 01" (lad, tholcrore, is not 'a ll inevitable accilil'lIi (hot ("nlillot he looked 1"01 in advance' ae('lJl"llilll,; (0 lltt' t1~fillj(i()11 givPII hy worldly wise
Jl It'II

'rill' H('l"il,tlll"l'S ('UII('hI Kivcly prove thut God

lIeV(' 1" [uk(' K UrlVIIII(UgC of his enemies by bringill g IIPOII I hem u tiisus(er which they could not
l(JIow of ill auv81lce; and this is furth er proof
Ihat all such calamities are from Satan, the
rlll'IIIY o\" Ood. Satan canses these to be charged
against Ood for the very purpose of turning
tlle people away fr om Him.
Now the Scriptnres make it clear that another
great and mighty act of God shall soon come
to pass. '1'11e Scriptures describe it as II "8( 1lIl1 l.(e
work" aud a "strange act" and add thal ill the

ACT 0])1 GOD

progress thereof the wisdom of the worldly

wise men shall perish. In Isaiah, chapter 28, it
is written: "For the Lord shall rise up as in
mount Perazim.. he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his
strange worl,; and bring to pass his act, his
strange act. Now, therefore, be ye not mockers,
lest yom' bands be made strong." By the words
of his prophets J eremiah and Ezekiel God declares tha t he will completely wreck "Christendom" and that there will be so many dead persons as the result of his "strange act'~ that the
living will not be able to bnry them. By his
prophet Habakh-uk the Lord tells of how he will
march his army through the Imld and desolate
it and that he will thrash the nations in his
anger and that so terrible will be the spectacle
and power of Jehovah exhibi ted that the sun
and the moon shall stand still, and then all shall
know that it is the act of God.
That great act of God will not be as the worldly wise men have defined it: an inevitable accident against which pTUdent persons cannot
guard. Just at t his day Jehovah God is sending
his witnesses throughout the l and with his message of warning to "Christendom", telling of the
greRt and terrible strange act that is just ahead.
That message of warning he has caused to be
printed in millions of books and in mRny languages, and these are given a wide dis.tributiou
throughout the land called "Christendom". God
is causing notice now to be served upon the
rulers, and particularly upon the clergymen, in
order that their mouths may be for ever

10

KEYS OF HEAVEN

estopped from saying that 'thel'e came upon us

an illevitable disaster which we as prudent men
could not know about in advallce'. The responsibility i" Up01l God's witnesses to now take this
llwssugC 01' wal'llillg to the people, and then the
l'oKpoll"iliility is upon those to whom it is
urought to give due and propel' consideration
to tllat message. Refnsing to Ileal' the message
and destroying the uooks that contain the message will furnish no excnse to anyone to ever
say that he did not know that this great act or
God was about to be performed. A.rma!,:eddon
is rapidly approaching, and Jesus described it
as the greatest trouble that ever came upon the
world 01' ever will come again. Both Jesus and
God's other prophets declared that in that

trouble the remnant of people who are of good

will and honest heart, and who will hear and
heed the message of warning and take their
slnlld 011 the side or Jehovah, will be preserved
Ilnd tHk~' 1I t1lrolll{h the trouble. Be wise and give
n h ~H rjll g' on r. May it please you to do so and
l'ccciv (.Il() protection and blessings of J ehovah .

Oppression
o MERELY

recount the oppressions that

are upon the people and from which they
suffer could result in no good. If, however, the people c!ln ascertain the cause of such
oppression and suffering, and how it is going to

OPPR ESS ION

11

end and wben tbe people will-get complete relief, tbat will bring comfort to muny that now
monl'll. It is tbe duty and commission of every
one who is fully devoted to God to comfort those
",JlO mourn, and sncb is the purpose of these
radio speeclles. This is not a message of comfort coming from man, but it is merely telling
the people wbere in God's Word it bolds out to
them comfort and the blessings they have so
long desired.
'l'he United States is the richest country uudel' the snn. The material wealth of. this land
far surpasses anything that Solomon ever had,
and yet there are millions of p eople in this lund
who are in great need of food and raiment. The
farmer, who with much e:>:pense and laborious
effol-t raises his crop of wheat, must go to the
market and sell it for less than it cost him. The
poor laboring man who lives in the city needs
the same wheat, and yet he is compelled to pay
more than fonr times the price that the farmer
Teceives. Someone is reaping profit from that
upon which he hus bestowed no labor. The farmer has a heavy mortgage on his farm, and on
this he is required to pay a high rate of interest.
He must also pay his taxes. Unless he pays the
interest and the taxes he loses not only his labor
but his home. He suffers greatly under the op
pressive burden and despairs of relief. He has
sevelal children wItom he loves dearly and he
looks upon them with pity and sorrow. He sees
nothing in the fnture for them. The government continnes to spend his hard-earned money
to build war ships, airplanes and other instru-

12

KEYS OF HEAVEN

ments of destruction, und fails to furnish any

r elief.
'l'he U1au who lahors iu the factory or shops
tri es to consel've his earnlllgs and to save for a
tillle of evelJ greater need. He deposits his
Jlloney in some bauk for the purpose of saving
it. 'l'be bank is impropel'ly and criminally managed, it fails, and his savings are swept away.
His wages are rechlCed or his job is taken away
from him and he has neither work nor money
for himself and family. He sees the oppr essive
and cruel hand over hun, but he does not 1<now
how he can get allY r elief therefrom.
The merchant for a time carries on a legitimate busilless ont of which he earns an honest
living. A gigantic corporation appears on the
scene, undersells the small merchant until he is
driven out of business and illto bankmptcy, and
(\wn raises UlO price of what the people have to
hu y. In the enu the smull mOl'chant passes ont
or ('xistcllcc nncl the people suffer. Both the
ulcrchullt a lld his customers are oppl'essed by
giJ.(lIntio corporate pOWCI'.
In l'ccellt ypurs the tendency has been to concClllrate the weal!h and the power ill the hands
of a few. Today a few men who are exceedingly
rich control the financiers of the land, the manufacturing illterests, the public press, the f ood
supply, and pnblic officers, and ill fact everythillg, while the masses .of the people suffer under great oppression, and they are on the verge
of despair. Every man's hand seems to be
against his neighbor, selfishness holds swuy, and

OPPRESSION

13

seldom do we see one that is anxiolls to render

aid to his fellow creatlue. '
What do these distressing conditions inclicate ~ The answer is fonnd in the Scriptures
and shows that exactly these conditions were
fOTetold by the Lord and that they would corne
to pass upon the earth "in the last days". In
2 Timothy, third chapter, it is written: 'In the
last days grievous times will set in, men will be
lovers of self and lovers of money, and will oppress their fellow man.' To whom is the blame
properly laid for these times of peril, oppression and suffering tbat are laid upon the peoplc 7
, The religious leaders of the land tell their congregations that God is sending snch time of
stress upon them because they have not faithfully supported their chm-ch organization. The
people hearing this Cllrse God and turn away
from lrirn. But is Jehovah God responsible in
any degree for the suffering of the people nowt
Most emphatically no, Jehovah God is love.
Who, then, is r esponsible, and who is the great
oppl'essor of mankind Y The Scriptural answer
is that Satan the Devil is the great oppressor.
For centm-ies he has been the invisible ruler of
this world. He has influenced and induced mCll
to grow exceedingly selfish and to oppress each
other and then caused these conditions to be
charged against God, the pmpose being to drive
the human race into desperation and turn them
away from the great and loving Jehovah. Those
who compose the ruling powers of this world
Satan has used as his instruments to oppress
the people in general. He uses the religionists

14

KEYS OF HEAVEN

to tell the peojJle that which tUl'llS them away

from God and his Word. J ehovah through his
great Prophet shows that in these last days Satan would be cast ont of heaven and down to
earth and then he would make the burdens of
the people greater. In Revelation, chapter
twelve, it is written: 'IV oe to the inhabitants
of the earth! fol' the Devil is come down unto
you, having great wrath, because he knoweth he
hath but a short time.' Satan's time to tlU'a the
people against God is short; as he Imows, and
he is using every desperate means in an attempt
to accomplish his purposes.
The Bible abounds with proof that Jehovah is
the Friend of the OlJpressed. I here quote a few
texts in support of this statement. Psalm 9: 9 :
"The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble." Psalm
10 : 17, 18: "Lord, thou hast heard the desire of
the humble; thou wilt prepm'e their heart, thou
wilt canse thine ~ar to heal': to judge the fatherless Illid tile oppl'essed, that the man of the earth
may no 11101'0 oppress."
That the people of good will now on earth
might learn that Jehovah is the God of mercy
who will aid the oppressed he instructs them
in his W orc1 to pray, as set forth in Psalm 119:
133, 134, 121, to wit : "Order my 'steps in thy
word; aud let not any iniquity have dominion
over me. Deliver me from the oppression of
man; 60 will I keep thy precepts. I have done
judgment and justice; leave me not to mine oppressors."

OPPRESSION

15

The promise of Jehovah God is that in due

time he will hear the eries of the 0ppI'esseel and
fully and completely relieve them from their
distresses. In Psalm 72: 4 the Lord gives this
precious promise : "He shall judge the pOOl' of
the people, he shall save the children of the
needy, and shall breale in pieces the oppressor."
When and how will Jehovah God break the
power of the 0l?pressor anel grant relief to the
people? The BIble answers that this lie will do
by Christ his King, that he will break the oppressor in the great battle of Armageddon just
ahead, and that then the blessings will (low out
to the people who obey the righteous laws. J ehovah has perlllitted the Devil to go his limit in
wickedness because of his defiance and challenge
to the Almighty God. But the end of his way
has come, and when his power is destroyed all
will see that Satan is a fraud and a snare and
that J ehovah is the true and loving Friend of
mankind from whom all blessings fiow.
Satan has laid hold upon the selfish men of the
earth, who are more astute and powel'ful than
other men, for his instruments for oPPIession.
A few of these have grown very rich by Illeans
of fraudulent practices against those who produce the wealth. 'When Satan's power is tlestroyed, no longer can such men act as agents
01' representatives of Satan and no longer will
they be permitted to oppress ~Ulyone . Christ
J eslls has now come and taken his power and
begun his reign. He lms cast Satan out of heaven and now Satan's power to oppress the people
will soon and for ever end.

10

KEYS OF HEAVEN

'

The facts well Imown show that since 1914

great cOTporations have increased their power
many fold and Ul that proportion the people
have sl1:l1'el'ed oppression. The men who bestow
tlte labor to produce the wealth of the land receive little of it. They grow poor, while scheming and selfish men grow exceedingly rich.
These pOOl' ones suffer under the oppression
and they cry unto God, and their cries are now
heard and God will shortly act; therefore it is
written, in James 5: 1-4: "Go to now, ye rich
men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall
come upou you. YOUI' riches are cOl'l'upted, and
yOUI'. garments are moth-eaten. YOll!' goLd and
silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall
be a witness against you, and shall eat your
fl esh as it were fire . Ye have heaped treasure
together for the last days. Behold, the hire of
the labourers who have reaped down your fields,
which is of' you kept back by fraud, crieth; and
the cries or (JlClU which have reaped are entered
into th~ cars 0[' the Lord of Sabaoth." Here the
IJonl God is rel'erred to as the God of battle,
becallse in the great battle of Armageddon he
will completely wreck the oppressor and all of
his organization and bring everlasting relief to
suffering humanity.
This great relief J ehovah will accomplish
. shortly, when the power of Christ Jesus will destroy the wicked oppressor and all wickedness
and lift the people out of despair. Not only will
his kingdom destroy the oppressor, but Clu'ist
will rule in righteollsness and the pOOl' will have
an equal show with those who have heretofore

OPPR ESS ION

17

enjoyed plenty. One of the names J ehovah has

given Chr ist J esus is that of "Shiloh", which
means the Peaceful One. He is the great Prince
of Peace, and in righteousness shall he rule. In
the prophecy Wlitten at Genesis 49: 10 concerning this great and righteous King it is saitl :
"Unto him shall the gathering of the people be."
With gladness and joy will the people seek his
kingdom. Concerning that time and the blessings that will come to mankind God's prophet
wrote (Psalm 103: 6) : "The Lord execnteth
righteousness alld judgment fo r all that are oppressed." The oppressed millions of eaith have
longed for the coming of the day of relief. The
apostle Imew, of course, that &uch relief and
blessings can come only through God's kingdom
and that those who will thus r ule in righteousness are the sons of God. Therefore he wrote,
in Romans g: 22, 19: "For we know that the
whole creation groaneth and tr availeth in pain
together nntil now. For the earnest e:>tpectation
of the creature waiteth for the manifestation
of the sons of God."
In the Scriptures the cruel and oppressive
corporations and ruling power s are described
under the symbol of a beast, wlrile the Devil
himself is pictured under the symbol of a lion,
the king of the beasts. Concerning the kingdom
of the Lord and the happi ness that will then be
the portion of the people it is written (Isaiah
35: 9) : 'No lion shall be there, nor any r avenous beast shall be f01IDd there.' This means that
Satan and his oppi"essive agents are gone for
ever . Then the people will have a plain and lID-

18

KEYS OF HEAVEN

IDndered way to travel in righteousness and return fully to the Lord and be restored. Then
ever), man shall have IDS own house and sit
nnder his own "ine and fig tree and shall not
lJe afraid that someone will take tIDS away from
hlm. He may see IDS cIDldren grow up in happiness and prosperity and Lmow that never again
shall the opp ressive hand be laid upon them.
In tIDS day of oppression the idle rich revel
in what they have not produced, while millions
suffer for want. God's kingdom will entirely
change these conditions, because it is written in
Iris Word, in Isaiah, chapter twenty-five, that in
IDS kingdom the Lord shall provide plen ty and
shall spread a feast for the benefit of all mankind; he will remove blindness fl'om their eyes,
and give them a full lmowLedge of that which is
right and bring them what every hOJ.'lest heart
desiles. Some of the good resul tiug to the peopLe is described in these words (Isaiah 25 : 8, 9) :
''Be will swallow up death in victory; and the
Lord God will wipe away tears fi'om off all
faces; alld the rebuke of IllS people shall he take
away f rom off all the earth ; for t he Lord hath
spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, La,
tlris is am God ; we have waited for him, und he
will save ns; this is the Lord; we have waited for
hlm, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation."
J ehovah's witn esses are now coming to you
with the plain eJ..'jJlanation of the Bible prophecies, that you may learn for yourself that J ehovah is the great God of righteousness and
-truth and yonI' l'eal Friend. The books that they
bring to your attention show you where to find

KEYS

OF HEAVEN

19

these great truths in the Bible, that you may

prove to yourself how relief is coming. Gain
this knowledge and take courage and know not
only that J ehovah God has promised relief, but
that relief is neal' at hand .

Keys of Heaven
HRIST J ESUS, the mighty Son of God,
had twelve a ostles, among whom was
P eter. From
divine record appearing
' at Matthew 16: 19 the words of J esus addressed
to P eter are as follows : "I will give unto thee
the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bOUlld in
heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven." Millions of
p ersons now on earth have in all good conscience
been led to believe that these words of J esus
prove that Peter was the first pope and was
given supreme authority over the church and
that the bishops of Rome have been his successors in office and therefore have supreme authority over the Christians of the earth. The
Scriptures do not at all support such a conclusion. Surely all good people waut to have the
truth, and by the Word of God aloue can we
obtain the truth.
The supreme aud absolute authority over the
church resides iu J ehovah God; as it is written
in 1 Timothy 3: 15 : "The church of the living
God." God made Christ J esus the Head over his

lhe

20

KEYS OF HEAVEN

church, which is the body of Christ; as it is writt en, in Colossians 1: IS: 'Christ is the Head of
the body whicb is the chmch.' At Ephesians
5: 23 it is written: "Christ is the head of the
church : and he is the saviour of the body."
These scriptures conclusively prove that the
supreme authority is ill Jehovah God and that.
he has made Christ Jesus the Clrief One or H"ad
of Iris church. "The church" means the class tllat
is separate and distinct from the world. This
proves that the conclusion announced that Peter
was given snpreme authority over the church
is entirely wrong, and also conclusively proves
that no man has ever succeeded Peter as the
chief one in authority over the church. What,
then, did Jesus mean when he said to Peter:
"I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom
of heaven" t
In the Scriptures the word keys is used symbolically to represent the privilege of unlocking
hidden truths and receiving an understanding
thereof. On another occasion Jesus used the
identical word key to show its meaning. The
Pharisees' and doctors of the law constituted the
clergy and leaders of the I sraelites. It was incmnbent upon them, and therefore their privilege and duty, to expound God's law to the people. They were unfaithful to God, fell into
ignorance themselves concerning the kingdom,
and took away from the people the opportuni Iy
to tmderstand God's purposes. For this reason
J esus said to them, as the record at Luke 11 : 52
r eads: 'You have taken away the key of knowledge. You entered not the kingdom yourselves,

KEYS OF HEAVEN

21

and you have hindered others from entering.'

The favor which these clergymen might have
had J esus conferred upon Peter, giving to him
the keys .of the kingdom of heaven, which J esus
told P eter he should have and which clearly
meant that Peter in due time should be given
understanding of the kingdom of heaven. Other
scriptures fully corroborate this conclusion.
The kingdom of heaven was a mystery hidden
from the understanding of men for many centuries. Th~ proof of thi s is found in the Bible,
at Colossians 1: 26, 27, which says : 'The mystery
of the kingdom of heaven which was hidden for
ages and generations, but now is made lmown
to his saints.' Primarily the kingdom of heavon
means the royal house of heaven, and consists

of Christ J esus and the 144,000 members of his

body. For more than foul' thousand years this
gr eat truth was a hidden mystery, and the disciples of Jesus did not begin to understand it
until after his ascension into heaven and lmtil
the coming of the llOly spirit at P entecost. When
Jesus was with his disciples on earth he spoke
to them in parables and dark sayings. These
words appear in Matthew, chapter thirteen:
'Without a parable spake he not lmto them, in
order that the prophecy might be fulfilled, saying, I will utter things which have been kept
secret from the foundation of the world.' It
was God's purpose to have th;is mystery r evealed some time, and therefore Jesus told
Peter that he had been selected as the one who
would have the privilege of fiTSt knowing the
mystery concerning the development of the

KEYS OF HEAVEN

kingdom of heaven. Jesus gave to Peter these

keys, which means the privilege to unlock these
truths for himself and for his brethren in Christ.
Note that the 1V0rd keys is in the p'lura] and
shows more than one. The facts wmeh subsequently appear in the Bible show that there
were two keys, and that tbey were, to wit, (1)
the first l,ey showing God's purpose to take out
from the J ews some of the church or kingdom
of heaven company; and (2) th'e key disclosing
God's purpo se to take out from the Gentiles
or non-Jews a part of those which shall compose the kingdom of heaven class.
When these keys or privileges were given to
Peter and he used them there could be no snch
thing as a successor to him. Ther e is no Scriptural proof that Peter ever had a successor in
this. ~~he pl'ivilege was granted to him exclusively. He performed the privilege and duty of
unlocki.ng these mysteries, which he did by the
grace of God. Now please note from the Scriptures how he did this.
Peter and the other disciples thought that
Christ J esns was going to set up the kingdom
with the J ews while he was on earth, and tIlls
is proven by tlleir words spoken to hllu on the
very day of his ascension into heaven. They
said, as appears in Acts 1 : 6: "Lord, wilt thou
at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel V" The answer of J esus to that question was
that the disciples should wait at J erusalem until they had r eceived the holy spirit aud then
they would know about the kingdom. Ten days
later was P entecost, and it was then at J eru-

KEYS OF HEAVEN

salem when Peter received the first of these

keys. It was there revealed to him by the holy
spirit for the first time what is the mystery of
the kingdom of heaven. The second chapter of
Acts of the Apostles tells of Peter's standing
np and sl?eaking to his brethren and telling
them the meaning of the death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ and the beginning of the kingdom. Peter then, lmder the inspiration of the
holy spirit of God, told the people that .Jesus
Christ was the approved one of God and the
great Messiah or King for whom they had
looked, that the Jews had put him to death and
that God had raised him uP . Ol.lt of death and
had anointed him and appointed him to be
King. Then Peter added these words : "rhere-

fore let all the house of Israel know assuredly

that God has made Jesus both Lord and Cln:ist,
the anointed King.' It was then and there that
Peter used the first key committed to him by
Jesus Christ to unlock to the Jews the mystery
of the kingdom of heaven. He told them that
God would send Jesus Christ again, whom the
heavens must retain lmtil the time of the setting
up of the kingdom and the restoration of all
things, and about which all the holy prophets
had written.
For three and one-half yelIs thereafter the
apostles preached the gospel of God's kingdom
to the Jews exclusively. Then the Lord handed
to Peter the other key by which he unlocked the
mystery of the kingdom to the non-Jews or
Gentiles. Peter was then at Joppa. The Lord
caused to be r evealed to him in a vision that

24

KEYS OF HEAVEN

the gospel must be taken to the Gentiles. At the

same time Cornelius, a Gentile, had been praying to God. The record at Acts 10: 4, 5 is that
the Lord by his angel said to Cornelius: "l'hy
prayers and alms are come up as a memorial
before God, and now send men to Joppa and
call for Peter.' Then Peter went to Cornelius,
and Cornelius told him of a vision that he had
received by the angel of the Lord. Note now at
Acts 10: 34, 35 the words of the apostle: "Then
Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a trnth
I perceive that God is no respecter of persons;
but in every nation he that feareth him, and
worketh righteousness, is accepted with him."
Later Peter in conference with the other disciples told them that God had visited the Gentiles, given them the gospel for the purpose of
taking out a people for his' name, and that these
together with the Jews would constitute the
kingdom of God under Christ. Thus was made
clear by the second key, which Peter received
from Christ Jesus, the inysteTY of the kingdom
concerning the Gentiles.
There can be no such thing as a successor to
Peter in this, because he had finished and completely used those. keys by unlocking and making known God's purposes to take out the kingdom of heaven class from both J ews and Gentiles. For the purpose of confusing many and
for the purpose of turning the people away from
'J ehovah, and to induce. them to give their devotion to some creature, Satan by fraud and
'd eception has induced many good persons to
believe that Peter has had successors and that

"

Peter uses the first key

.Peter uses the second key A.D. 36

Page 23

26

KEYS OF HEAVEN

to the successor in office has been granted supreme authority in the church. This is plain
blasphemy and is another proof of the means
which Satan employs to use "organized Christianity" to deceive and mislead the people.
At the time of speaking to Peter about the
keys of the kingdom of heaven Jesus also said :
''''Wnatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." lIIen
have wrongfully claimed that this constituted
authority gave to other men in the church the
power to forgive sins. Such claim is entirely
wrong. "What Jesus meant, as plainly appears
from the Scriptures, was that the acts of Peter
in unlocking these mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven both to the Jews and to the Gentiles
would be fully confirmed by the Lord.
No man has ever been granted the power to
forgive sins. On the contrary, it is plainly Ivritten nl 1 John, chapter one, that God through
Christ Jesns forgives sins and there is no other
means provided. In fact, Peter himself stated
there is no other name given under heaven aside
from Christ Jesns whereby we may be forgiven
and saved. The Word of God has been misrepresented to the people, and men have commercialized and wrongfully used it to tal'e from the
people then' hard-earned money. Worst of all,
the honor and worship due to Jehovah has been
gh,:en to men, contrary to the rules stated in
Psalm 29 : 2: "Give unto the Lord the glory due
unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness." J ehovah's witnesses now bring to

KEYS OF

HEAVEN

27

you Bible helps which will enable you to prove

to yourselves what is the truth concerning the
kingdom of heaven. W11en you know these truths
you will give glory to God, to whom glory properly belongs.
'I.'he trl1e representatives of Christ 011 earth
have never been popular, for the r eason that
Satan the Devil has opposed and persecuted
them because of their faithfulness to the truth.
Satan is the ~od of this world, and Jesus declared that Ius own true followers would be
hated by . the. ruleTs of the world. P eter was a
f aithful follower of Christ J esus and he was
persecuted and suffeTed a rnartYT's death because of his faithfulness. Would it not seem
strange if Peter would have a successor who
wOll1d be popular with the nations of the world
and who would himself form a paTt of the
. world 1 The high official in the organization
called the papal church, and who claims to be
the successor of P eter, is highly esteemed
amongst men and nations. I have no quarrel
with him or auy other high officials who always
seek to justif-y their course, but the people must
know the truth, that they may do the will of
God. One who is highly esteemed aud honored
in this world is not pleasing to J'ehovah, and no
one could be a faithful follower of Peter uuless
he is pleasing to J ehovah. Concerning those
who are highly esteemed in this world Jesus
said (Luke 16: 15) : ''Ye are they which jl1stify
yourselves before men ; but God knoweth your
hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among
men is abomination in the sight of God." The

28

KEYS OF HEAVEN

Scriptures declare that God sets the members

in the body according to his pleasure. No one
has a successor in the hody of Christ. Peter is
one of the pillars in the Lord's organization.
Peter finished the work with the keys that were
delivered to him. He could not and did not have
a successor in office, because to no one else aside
from Peter were the keys given. Keep in mind
that it is the truth that sanctifies, as is written in Romans 3 :'4: 'Let God be true, though
every man be false.' Let honor be conferred
upon J ehovah, to whom all honor is justly due .

The Rock'

EHOVAH'S chief representative is Christ

Jesus, who always speaks with authority because he speaks in full harmony' with J ehovah's will. The divine r ecord, at Matthew 16: 18,
discloses t hat Jesus said to his disciples: ''Upon
this rock I will build my church; and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it." These words
of Jesus have been frightfully misconstrued and
misapplied by men who claim to be teachers of
the Bible. This text has for centuries been the
basis for the claim that the Apostle Peter was
made the chief one in the church and that the
popes of Rome in theiT order have been the successors o:ll Peter and upon this chief one the
church of God is built. From the book of the
late Cardinal Gibbons I quote these words, to
wit: "Here we find Peter confessing the divinity

THE ROCK

29

of Christ and in reward for that confession he

is honored with the promise of primacy." If
the Scriptures show that this conclusion is
wrong, then all should accept the Bible, and not
the words of men. Only the truth sanctifies, as
Jesus stated, and only the truth can make one
free.
It is at once manifest that the word rock was
used by J esus symbolically. He was not talldng
about building a strncture on a literal rock, but
he was talldng about erecting the church upon
the great Rock It is necessary to determine
what is the church, then what is the meaning
of the word "rock" as symbolically used in the
Bible. The church means a class of creatures
that Jehovah God selects for himself and anoints
to carry out his purpose. Jesus Christ is the
Chief One and Head of the church. The class
taken out from amongst men is God's church,
and it is written, at 1 Timothy 3: 15 : "The church
of the living God"; proving that the church belongs to Jehovah. That Jesus Christ, J ehovah's
Chief Officer, is the Head or Chief One of the
church is proven by the words written at Ephesians 5: 23, to wit: 'Christ is the Head of the .
church which is his body.' These scriptures
prove that the church belongs to Jehovah and
that Christ Jesus is the Chief One in that church
and the builder under Jehovah's directiou.
The Scriptures-refer to J ehovah God as the
great Rock because he is the eternal foundation
that can never be moved. In Deuteronomy 32:
3,4 it is written: 'I will publish the name of J ehoyah God; he is the Rock; his work is perfect.' At

30

...

KEYS OF HEAVEN

the fifteenth verse of the same chapter J ehqvah

is refer red to as 'the Rock of salvation'. At
1 Samuel 2 : 2 it is written : "There is none holy
as the Lord: for there is none beside thee :
neither is there any r ock like our God." At
P salm 18: 2 it is written: 'Jehovah is my rock
and the power of my salvation.' At Psalm
62: 1, 2 it is written : "Truly my soul waiteth
upon God: from him cometh my salvation . He
only is my r ock and my salvation; he is my def ence: I shall not be greatly moved." The Scl'iptures refe r to Jesus Christ as the chief Rock or
corner stone of J ehovah God's organization because he is t he express image of J ehovah and
the chief anointed One used by J ehovah to carry
forward his pl1l'poses. At I sai ah 28 : 16 it is
written concerning Christ Jesus tbe H ead of the
church: " Therefore thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I lay in Zion fo r a foundation a sto ne,
a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure
found ation; he that believeth sh"ll' not make
haste."
It is quite clea r that P eter himself understood
that J esus Christ did not mean that he would
build the church on Peter and make P eter the
chief one ther ein, because Peter, in hi s first
epistle, referred to Clnist J esus, sayi ng that
Christ J esus is the Chief Corner Stone and
Head of the church and that the other members
are living stones built np into the spiritual house
of God.
The circumstances under which J esus ut ter ed
the words were these : H e was teaching hi s disciples and testing them as to their knowledge

THE ROCK

31

of and concerning himself, and hence he propounded to all of them the question: 'CWhom say
ye that I am ," The others remained mute, and
Peter answered : "Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God." J eS llS replied : 'Flesh and
blood did not reveal that fact to yon, Peter, but
my Father which is in heaven. Thou art Peter ;
that is your name.' The word from which the
name Peter is derived means a piece of rock,
while the word "rock" upon which J esus said
he would build his church means a mountain
or mass of rock. Then Jesus, refel;l:ing to himself, and not at all to Peter, used these words:
"Upon this rock I will build my church, and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it." In
brief, what Jesus there said was this: 'Jehovah
God;the great Rock, has appointed and anointed
m e the chief One i'n his kingdom. "Christ" means
God's anointed One, and I, Christ, am therefore
the rock which Jehovah has appointed as the
Head of his kingdom and upon which I will
build my church which is my body. My church
shall shar e with me in my kingdom, and all the
power of hell and destrnction shall not prevail
against it.' Compare this with what other scriphues say. At 1 Corinthians 10 : 4 it is written
that God's chosen people drink of the. rock which
Moses fore shadowed and which rock is Christ.
:8.t Colossians 1 : 18 it is written: 'Christ is the
Head over his church which is his body.' Christ
and the chmch constitute the kingdom which
belongs to Jehovah God.
.
Jehovah is from everlasting to everlasting,
a nd his power is without lin1itation; hence he

32

KE:YS OF HEAVEN

is referred to as the great Rock. Christ Jesus,

being the Cbief One in God's organization, is a
great Rock. "Rock," therefore, symbolically
stands for Jehovah's universal organization as
well as for Jehovah himself. In the second chapter of Daniel's prophecy it is stated that a stone
was cut out of the mountain or mass of rock
without hands and that it smote the image,
wbich pictures Satan's organization, and ground
that wicked organization to pieces and became
a great mOlmtain filling the whole earth. That
was a prophecy. Without doubt the mountain
out of which the stone is cut without hands is
Jehovah God's universal organization, while the
stone ' cut out represents God's anointed King
Christ and which becomes the capital or cbief
part of God's great organization. The kingdom
under Christ is an organization of itself, taken
out from God's universal organization, and
Christ's kingdom becomes mighty and rules the
whole world. Tbis is a cryptic or symbolic way
of describing the kingdom of Christ; therefore
Daniel prophesied in chapter 2, verse 44: 'The
God of heaven shall set up a k-ingdom wbich
shall never be destroyed; the kingdom shall not
be left to others, but it shall break in pieces and
consume all others and shall stand for ever.'
The purpose of Jesus in teaching his disciples
was to lay a fOlmdation for their faith, to prepare them as teachers of others. He said to
t~em, as appears at Luke 22: 29, 30: 'I covenant
wlth you for a lnngaom as my Father has covenanted with me, that ye may sit in my kingdom
l'uling the nations.' His disciples heard his


"Upon this rock I will build my church"

Page 31

34

KEYS OF HEAVEN

words, but they did not appreciate what the

meaning thereof was until Pentecost, when they
received the holy spirit. When J esns spoke the
words it was a day of examination, and he propounded the question to all of these disciples.
The spirit of the Lord God directed Peter to
reply: "Thou art the Christ." Christ Jesus replied: 'I am that rock, and upon that rock I will
build my church, which is my body, and a part
of my kingdom; and "0 power can prevail
against it.' There is not t he slightest evidence
that J esus told Peter that he would build the
church upon Peter; but he did say that God's
anointed One would build up the church on himself. Peter so understood the words of the Lord
J esus after he r eceived the holy spirit, because
he wrote, in 1 Peter 2: 5, addressing his f ellow
Christians : 'Ye are living stones, built up a
spiritual house and made acceptable to God by
J esus Christ.' The other apostles so understood,
because it is written, ill Ephesians, chapter two:
'Jesus Christ himself is the chief corner Stone,
in whom all the building is fitly framed together,
growing up unto the holy temple of the Lord.'
Thus it appears that J ehovah is the supreme
Hoel. or mOlmtain eternal; Christ J esus is a
great Hock, which is made the Head of J ehovah's organization; and the true members, or
lesser stone,s, form the body of Christ, and
therefore form a part of Jehovah's organization.
It clearly appears that Satan worked this
scheme to make it appear that Peter was given
supremacy or supreme anthority over the
church, his pmpose being to tum the attention


THE ROCK

3G

and worship of men to creatures and away from

the great Creator, That unholy scheme has been
worked .to its limit by the enemy Satan, Millions
of professed Christians have been caused to
give their allegiance and devotion to men rather
than to God, and few have r eally known anything about God and his great King Christ J'esus, Now the time is come to know, and J ehovah sends forth those who love him and says
to them : 'Ye are my .witnesses to tell the people
that I am God.' In obedience to his command ment men and w<lmen ar e coming to your door s
with an explanation of the Scriptures to 'e nable
you to see and to lea rn ::tbout the gr eat J ehovah
and his kingdom, God has reserved this time of
t eaching the people nntil now, because now his
kingdom is at hanel. He is having notice served
upon his enemies and upon all "Clu'istendom"
of his purpose to destroy Satan's organizatio n,
and at the same time having information brought
to the peopJe that they may learn of Jehovah
and who he is, take tileir stand on his side, and
qe spared in the gre::tt conflict that is just ahead ,
J esus said the gates of hell shall not prevail
against his organization or Idngdom, and they
shall not,1'he kingdom of God under CI)ristshall
fill the entire world and rule it ill righteousness.
That kingdom of God is t1le hope of the world,
and the on ly hope, No organization of men could
ever bl'ing about r elief, God's kingdom will
bring the heart's sincer e desire of everyone
who loves righteousness,
What is meant by the "gates of hell'" The
word "hell" means the condition of death, the


36

KEYS OF HEAVEN
,

tomb or the grave, while the gates refer to the

way of entering into death and the grave. The
death penalt-y was nlflicted upon Adam because
of sin, and by inheritance all mankind have been
horn in sin; and thus the "gates of hell" have
stood open to all men. God has made Jesus to be
the Redeemer and Deliverer of mankind from
'd eath and the grave. Jesus gave his life that
those who believe on and obey him shall not
perish, but live. In Psalm 16 itis written thatJesus died and went to hell, but he did not remanl
there. Christ Jesus is the Head and fOlmdation
of the church; and hell tlierefore did not prevail
against hbn, because God raised hbn up out of
death. (Acts 10: 40) Jesus then said, as appears
at Revelation 1: 18: "I am he that liveth, and
was dead i and, behold, I am alive for evermore,
:Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."
'Jesus Christ gained the complete victory over
death and hell. Having the keys, as he stated,
means that to him, Christ Jesus, has been committed the power to release mankind from death
and the grave. Concel'l1ing his faithful followers Jesus says, at Revelation 20 : 6: 'Blessed and
holy are they; for over such the second death
shall have no power.' This is proof conclusive
that hell shall never prevail against Christ and
the membe.r s of his body which is the churcll.
These at their resurrection are made immortal;
which means they will never more be in danger
of death.
Furthermore, it is written concel'11ing J esus
and those who shall be partakers of the first
resurrection and kingdom that he shall destroy

LOCATION OF THE KINGDOM

37

the enemy death and the grave and give immortality to the members of bis body. At 1 Corintbians 15: 25, 26, and 54, it is written: "For he
must reign, till he hath put all enemies under
bis feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed
is death. So when tbis corruptible .. . shall
have put on immortality, then shall be brought
to pa ss the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."
What a subtle trick the enemy Satan has
worked upon t he people in making them believe
that any. man hold s primary place in the .church.
Tbis trick has turned men away from God and
to the worship of creatures. The truth is that
God is the great Rock, Christ J esus the chief
R ock or foundation of the chm-ch which is his
body, and those who are faithful followers of
Christ J esus unto death shall constitute the
church against which death shall never prevail,
but which will sta nd forever and will be to the
eternal vindication of J ehovah God.

Location of the Kingdom

'R E BIBLE says more about the kingdom
of God than about any other doctrine. Jesus was sent to the earth by J ehovah to
make lmown God's kingdom. Immediately following his temptation in the wilder"ness Jesus
began bis earthly ministry by preaching the
message, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."

38

KEYS OF HEAVEN

God's kingdom is called "the kingdom of heaven" because the authority thereof proceeds from
heaven. It is called "the Idngdom of God" because God is the King Eternal and he is the
Author of the kingdom. It is called "the kingdom of CIu:ist" because the H ead thereof is
God's anointed Son Christ J esus. For many
centuries men have asked the question : "Wllere
is the Idngdolll located '" The improper, and
therefore the un scriptlnal, answer to that question has caused much confusion and doubt
amongst men.
The creeds of "organized Christianity", so
called, answer the question substantially in
these words, to wit: That when a man becomes
a Christian, the Idngdom of God is set up in
that man's heart j and when the whole world is
converted and the kingdom is set up in the
llearts of all men, then it can be said thllt the
kingdom has fully come. Their conclusion is
based upon the authority of the words of Jesus,
who said, as appears in the A lttho,ized Ve,sion
of the Bible, to wit, "The ldngdom of God is
within you." Here the words of Jesus are improperly quoted; and these words, thus misquoted, have f urnished the excuse for the clergy
to say that the kingdom is within the hearts of
men and ther efore "organized Christianity"
must convert the world. To arrive at the proper
answer to the question the setting of the text
must be determined. At Luke, chapter seventeen, the Bible r ecord shows that the Pharisees
came to J esus and demanded of him to know
when the kingdom of God should come. Jesus

LOCATION OF THE KINGDOM

39

answered them saying: 'The lringdom of God

cometh not by an outward show, neither shall
they say, It is here or there, for behold, the
kingdom of God is within you.'
It is apparent that the words of J esus, as
above stated, are inconsistent with the answer
given by "organized Christianity" to the questi9n as to the location of the kingdom. The
Pharisees were the enemies of J esus and of
God, and surely J esus could not have meant to
t ell those men that the kingdom of God was
within their hearts and in the hearts of other
men who were lilmwise enemies of God. These
same Pharisees 01' clergymen attempted to kill
Jesus, and J esns had told them that they were
the childr en of the Devil. (John 8: 40-44) They
being the Devil's children and his instrUIDent s,
J esns could not have, told them that the kingdom of heaven was within them. What, then, is
meant by the wOTds used by J esns, "The Inngdom of God is within you"1 The marginal r eading of this te~:t in the .Authorized Vet'sion says:
"The kingdom of God is among yon." The
Emphatic Diaglott r endel's the text with these
words : "God's royal majesty is among you."
An entirely different mealing attaches to the
text when it is properly r endered. The facts
are these :
God purposed from the beginning of the
world to set up a I<ingdom to his own honor and
glory. H e appointed 'and anointed ChTist Jesus
as the one to be the King 01' royal One. In God's
due time this anointed arid mighty One must
t-ake charge of the world affairs. From the very

40

KEYS OF HEAVEN

day Jesus was anointed, however, it is properly

said that he was the King or royal One elititled
to rule the world. The Pharisees knew that he
was teaching concerning the kingdom and saying that 'the kingdom of heaven is at hand', and
they therefore, thinking to entrap Jesus, came
to him and demanded that he tell them when the
kingdom should come. The answer of Jesus, as
disclosed by his langnage appearing in the
Diaglott translation, was that the kingdom
would not come with an outward show, with
bands of music and a great exhibition of gold
lace and much shouting of people, but that the
royal One is now here "among you", meaning
that he himself was then the King and he stood
in their presence. The Pharisees so understood
Jesus, because they afterwards charged him
with the C1;ime of sedition, and their testimony
against him before Pilate was that Jesus
alaimed to be Christ the King. (Luke 23: 2)
The fact that they persecnted Jesus and caused
him to be put to death is corroborative proof
that they were the children of the Devil, and the
will of the Devil they were doing, even as J llSUS
to,Jd them. They were acting deliberately against
him in their attempt to do him injury.
Shortly thereafter Jesus was put to death and
God raised him up out of death and exalted him
to the highest place in heaven. From that time
forward his faithful followers looked forward
to thecoming again of the Lord and to his kingdom, because Jesus had promised that he would
come again and set up the kingdom. Knowing
this, the Devil immediately got busy to becloud

LOCATION OF THE KINGDOM

41

the minds of men and thereby, induce them to

believe tha,t the kingdom would not come at all
as they anticipated. He induced the leaders of
"organized Christianity" to teach the people
that the kingdom of God is set up in the hearts
of men, and in sUPl?ort of this false claim caused
such teachers to Illlsuse and misapply the words
of Jesus himself. It has been an easy matter,
therefore, for them to induct! the people to believe that Jesus meant 'the kiugdom of God is
within your "hearts'.
"The kingdom of God" means that righteous
government which shall rule the whole world
in righteousness and bring ):lOnor and glory to
the name of the great J ehovah God and everlasting blessings to the people. Christ Jesus is
God's anointed one, as the Head of that kingdom, and concerning him it is written, in Isaiah,
chapter nine: 'The government shall be upon his
shoulder; and of the peace of his government
and righteous rule there shall he no end; and
he shall be the one who will dispense everlasting life to the people.' This great and heartcheering truth is the very thing that Satan tries
to keep hidden from the people, because Satan
lmows that the kingdom of heaven is the ouly
hope for the world.
.
John tbe Baptist was the forerunner and announcer of the kingdom. At Luke, the sixteenth
chapter, it is written : "The law and the prophets
were until John; since that time the kingdom of
God is preached." Tbe prophets foretold the
coming of the King, and John the last of the
prophets announced that the King had come.

KEYS OF HEAVEN

John the Baptist was a type of the true followers of Christ Jesus, and the work he did finds
a duplication at the end of the world, where we
now are. From the time of Pentecost lmtil about
A.D. 1874 the true followers of Christ preached
the coming of the kingdom. About that time
and until 1914 the Lord did a special work of
restoring to the true Christians the meaning of
many scriptures that had been hid aud obscured
by reason of the false teachings of men. In 1914
Jehovah God placed his beloved Son upon his
royal thron e of authority, and there he began
to exercise his hingly power. The outward evidence of that fact was the fulfilment of J?rophecy uttered by Jesus himself, that the begmning
of his kingdom would be marked by the W orId
War, followed by famines, pestilence, and distress amongst the nations. Such outward evidence showing the beginning of the kingdom was
good news or gospel to his true followers, and
therefore the Lord gave cO=aJid.ment, at Matthew 24: 14, saying : "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a
,vitness unto all nations; and then shall the end
come."
In obedience to this co=andment the true
followers of Christ Jesus are now going to the
people with the message of the. kingdom of God,
informing the people of the truth, to enable the
people to prepare to receive the kingdom. They
are coming to your homes with the message in
book form. As John the Baptist announced the
King at his first coming, so Jehovah's witnesses,
who are coming to your houses and whom John

LOCATION OF THE KINGDOM

43

foreshadowed, announce that the Royal One

has begun his r eign. The enemy of the truth
would have the r eople believe that this preaching of the gospe of the Idngdom is propaganda,
and they so make this untrue charge. The witnesses of Jehovah are not trying to induce anyone to join some organization, but are merely
telling tbe people the trutb of and concerning
t he Lord's ldngdom in obedience to his commandment; ther efore tbey could not be engaged
in propaganda.
The counterparts of the Pharisees or Jewish
cler gy are fOlmd in the leaders of "organized
Cbristianity" at this present day. Like the
Pharisees, these modern leaders scoff at the
proof concerning the ldngdom and still try to
l(eep the people in the dark. These opposers of
the truth, thinking to confuse God's witnesses,
now demand to know where is the proof of tbe
ldngdom and where will the ldngdom be, and
the answer is propedy given by Jehovah's witnesses now from the Bible, 'The Idngdom of
heaven is among you.' This answer is true, because the King Christ J esus is upon his thron.e
and has begun to exercise his royal power. Alr eady hE} has cast Satan out of h eaven and down
to the earth, and his next gr eat act will be the
destruction of Satan's entire wicked organization. Satan is now bUl'l'iedly gathering his
forces for Armageddon, and in preparing for
this he is attempting to cause greater dm'lmess
upon the mind or under standing of the people.
Ther efore the prophecy of Isaiah applies to this
very day wherein, the prophet said, 'darkll"ss

44

, I

KEYS OF HEAVEN

covers the earth, and gross darkness is upon

the people.' By the mouth of that same prophet
Jehovah God gave co=andment tllat his faithfnl witnesses must go forth and tell the people
the truth; and to them he says: 'Arise now, and
shine, for t.hy light is come, and the glary of
God is risen upon you; go therefore, aud tell
the people that they may lmow that J ehovah is
God and Christ is King, and that the kingdom
is now here.'
Some would censure the message of truth, because it appears to be a criticism of "organized
Christianity" and its leaders. These therefore
attempt to prevent the preaching of the truth at
this time. There is no disposition on the part
of God's witnesses to merely criticize others, because that would accomplish no good. It is their
duty, however, to tell the truth; as J esus ,p ointed
it out to the Pharisees who were the clergy of
that day and who were the instnlIDents of Satan, even so now it is the expressed will of God
that his witnesses point out the truth to the people, even though it exposes others to ridicule
and criticism.
The kingdom of God is the' only hope of the
world; and God will now have the proclamation
made of and concerning his kingdom that the
people may lmow who is their real friend. He
therefore gives co=andment to his faithful
witnesses, as stated ,by his Prophet Isaiah, at
the sixty-second chapter, to go and prepare the
way of the peopfe by gathering out the stumbling-stones 01' false doctrines which have
caused them to be held in darlmess. He com-


THE SABBATH

45

mands bis witnesses to lift up J ebovab's standard f01: the people that tbey may Imow which
is the right way to go. It is the kingdom of God
under Christ that will lift the burden from the
people and bring to them complete r elief. For
this reason those who love God and their fellow
man are anxious to tell this good news to others.
This they do by preparing and bringing to you
books which explain the Scriptures and enable
you to find in your Bible the trnth of and concerning God's kingdom and the everlat ting
blessings it will bring to suffering humanity.
Truly, then, today the kingdom ot heaven is
among you. The invisible King Christ is present, and his representatives are in your midst,
advertising the King and his kingdom in order
that the people may understand and prepare to
r eceive God's blessings, and in order that the
name of J ehovah God may be for ever vindi. cated.

The Sabbath
OES J ehovah God corrqnand that the people living in so-called 'Christian' lands
must observe Sunday by refraining from
wOTk and by attending some church meeting?
Men of good conscience hold different views upon
this matter, and their views differ because of
lack of understanding. The proper understanding of the Bible gives the correct answer to the
question; but before considering the Bible an-


46

KEYS OF HEAVEN

swer we do well to give con sideration to some

extreme views eJ..']Jl'essed by men and' which have
had great influence on others.
R eligious teachers amongst men, and who
claim to believe the Bible, insist that men should
be compelled to refrain from secular work or
harmless pleaslll'e on Sundi\Y and that they
should attend some. church meeting. Other re
ligious teachers, who are even more extreme,
say that it is a violation of God's law to fail to
keep 'the sabbath day. I quote the words of one
of these religious teach!lrs, who says: "We have
got to be careful how we take the hours of the
sabbath day for secular work, for God will
surely bring us to judgment concerning the mat
t el'. Church attendance on the sabbath day is
a defmite obligation to God." In support of their
views these men of good conscience cite the pro
visions of the law which God gave to the Israel
ites, which law appears in the Bible and which
I quote from Exodus, the thirty.first chapter, to
wit: "Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore, for
it is holy lmto you: everyone that defileth it
shall surely be put to death: for whosoever
doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut
off from among his people. Six days may work
be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of
rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any
work in the sabbath day, he shall' surely be put
to death. Wherefore the children of I srael shan
keep the sabbath, to obsel've the sabbath
throughout their generations, for a perpetual
covenant. Ii is a sign between me and the chil
dren of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord

THE SABBATH

47

made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day

he rested, and was r efresh ed."-Vss. 14-17.
The agnostic and infidel, who know not Jehovah God, bnt who ridicnl c him and r eproach
Iris name, give another erroneons answer to the
question. They quote the answer of the clergymen, and then the scriptures just cited, and
their answer is, to wit: "In the face of these
texts there are some who claim to love this
bloody and barbarous God of the Jews." They
claim that tbe law of God wldch punished the
J ews with death for deliberately breaking the
sabbath is lml'easonable and cruel.
We must assume that both the religious teachers and the agnostic and infidel honesty express
their views, and then we ask, Why are their
answers so different? The reason is given in the
Bible, to wit, that Satan the Devil, by the exercise of fraud and deception, has blinded men
to the truth, his purpose being to tum men away
from God. It is not important as to the. manner
of doing this, but Satan is bent npon turning
.men away from God regardless of the means.
Re induces th~ r eligious teacher to say that the
only way man can escape the penalty for the
violating of the sabbath law is by attending
some man-made organization called a "church"_
'l'his extreme and el'l'oneous view expressed by
the r eligious teachers produces agnostics and
.infidels and causes them to ridicnIe God and
turn away from him. In answer to the religionists' view that men shonId attend church these
.agnostics and infidels often quote from the Bible the words fOlmd at Job 15 : 2, to wit ; "Why

48

KEYS OF HEAVEN

should I listen to a self-conceited wise man utter

vain knowledge and fill his belly with the east
wind l' By r eason of these extreme and conflicting views many good people are left in doubt
as to what is the right thing to do.
God's law given to the Jews, and which I have
just quoted, does not refer to the Sunday observance by the nations of "Christendom". The
J ewish sabbath day ,was the seventh day of the
week) ancl not the first. Ther efor e, if the law
r eqUIred the attenclance of church on 'the sabbath day that law could not be obeyed by going
to some church on Sunday, the first clay of the
week. But the r eligious teacher s are not properly applying or interpreting the law of God
relative to the sabbath day. That law never had
any application whatsoever to anyone except
the Jewish people. It is written in the Bible, at
Galatians, chapter three, and Colossians" chapter two, that Christ Jesus fulllli ed the law and
put an end ther eto so far as to observing the
typical part thereof. He fulfilled the type.
Ther efor e in addressing Christians and r eferring to the Jewish sabbath the inspired apostle
wrote, at Colossians 2: 16, 17: ''Let no man therefore juclge you in meat, 01' in drink, or in respect of an holy day, 01' of the new moon, or of
the sabbath days; which are a shadow of things
to come." With the Christian all days are just
the same and what is wrong to be done on one
day it is wrong to do on any other day. If an
act done on Wednesday is right, it is also right
to do the same act on Sunday or Saturday or
any other day.

T HE SABBATH

49

When the primary purpose of Jehovah is u nderstood the proper answer to the question, as
set forth in the Bihle, can be readily under stood,
The J ews were the coven:lIlt people of God, having solemnly agreed to do the will of God, and
they were promised by J ehovan that if they did
obey his law perfectly they should live, and not
die, a nd that a willful hreaking of their contract
would be punished by the penalty of.death, The
J ews being God's typical people, and used to
foreshadow things to come, the law applied to
them exclusively, As stated in Colossian s 2: 17
and Hebrews 10: 1, the law was a shadow 01'
type of better and greatel' tlungs to come, The
word sabbath means "rest", and by establishing
the sabbath day wi tJ, his covenant people, the
J ews, Jehovall God gave an implied covenant 01'
promise to establish in the future a righteous
government for the benefit of man and that such
government would be one of peace and I'est, By
his la IV God was annoullcing to the J ews, and
through tllem to all seekers of truth, his purpose
concerning the blessing of the human race,
In the book called G"eation, and which is
brought to your doors by Jebovah's witnesses,
the detailed explanation of the Bible account of
creatIOn is set forth, showing that. the creation
of tllings pertaining, to earth and man was done
by J ehovah God in six periods of time called
"days", each of which days was seven thousand
years in duration; and on the seventh period
called "day" God rested from his creative 1V0rk,
which he had concluded by t be creation oLman,
Du ring the seventh period of time God provided

50

KEYS OF HEAVEN

man an oppornmity to prove his faithflllll ess

and loyalty by showing the proper appl'eciation
of the great Creat01' in being obedient to his
law.
,
At the beginning of the seventh day period
of time the perfect mall fell away to Satan the
Devil and Jehovah sentenced him to death. God
could have wiped out mankind and Satan at
that time, but he chose to wait for the maturity
of his purpose. God would now teach the Jews,
his chosen people, and, through them, others,
that he would restore obedient man and give
sucb everlasting life at the end of the seventh
day period, which is the day or period of r est,
and which was foreshadowed by tbe sabbath.
J ehovah God's plUpose of giving the law to the
Jews was to establish their faith in him so that
they would know that the only way for man to
obtain life is by being obedient to God, Jehovah
had said to the J ews, as isr ecordeain L evitious
18 : 5: "Ye shall therefore keep my stan1tes, and
my judgments ; which if a man do, he shall live
in them : I am the Lord."
But, argues the agnostic, why should God inflict the death penalty on man merely for working on the sabbath day ' Wby should that be
such a heinous crime 1 It was not a crime against
man, and there is nothing in the Bible w11ich
implies that man can properly make it a crime
to do on Sunday w htl t is right to do on any other
day, It was a crime against God for violating
his co=andment, and only God could properly
inilict p.unishment therefor. It was a very small
thing to l'equire of the J ews to r efrain from

THE SABBATH

51

work on a specific day,. a thing which they could

easily have kept or obeyed. Hacl God co=anded them to do something that they could not do,
then punishing them with death would be entirely a different matter: God did not require
them to do a hard thing, but their failing to do
what they could easily do, and their willful violati on of his law, showed a lack of faith in and
respect for God, and a desire to follow Satan.
God was teaching them that all who follow the
Devil must ultimately suffer death and that
those who would gain life must be obedient to
Jehovah God because he is the ouly Life-giver.
No other penalty aside from the death penalty
could be inflicted and teach the importance of
this lesson.
God had made pl'omise to Abl'aham the father
of the Jews that he would raise up a Seed
through which blessings should come to all the
families of the earth. (G en. 22: 15-18) Abraham
had faith in God and looked to that day when
God, by the promised Seed, the Messiah, would
. set up a government of righteousness and that
government would be one of rest and peace for
all. This is proven by the words of Jesus, who
said, in John, chapter eight : 'Abraham saw my
day aud rejoiced.' By keeping the law governing tbe seventh day, 01' sabbath, the Jews would
have in substance said: 'Jehovah is our God,
Creator and Ruler. We have faith ill him and
will obey him, and we believe in due time he
will give us complete rest in that government
which he promised should come through the
Seed of our, father Abraham.' By their willful

52

KEYS OF HEAVEN

disobedience of God's law, which they could

easily have kept, th~y showed that they had no
l'espect for God and were therefore worthy of
death.
It is wl'itten, in Galatians, chapter three, th!\t
the law was a schoolmaster provided to teach
the Jews and to lead them until the comin~ of
the Messiah. When Chri~t Jesus, the proIDlsed
Seed, did come some of the faithful Jews believed on him and entered into the rest by faith
in him as the King and Savior. Concerning this,
Paul, a Jew, addressing his fellow Jews who
had become the followers of Christ J esus, said,
at Hebrews, chapter three : "So we see that they
could not enter in because of unbelief." (Hebrews 4 : 2, 3) "For unto us was the gospel

preached, as well as lmto them : but the word

preached did not profit them, not being mixed
witll faith in them that heard it. l?or we which
have believed do enter into rest." Those who
have truly devoted themselves to Jehovah God
by faith i.11 the blood of Christ J esns and by full
obedience to God's commanc1ments have by faith
entered into rest. They see that God's pm-pose
is to give complete rest at the close of the
seventh day p eriod to all who put themselves
wholly and completely under the ruler ship of
Christ . Thus having faith in God and his kingdom tmder Christ, the true Clll'istian is nolV at
rest and !mOIVS that the kingdom of Christ will
give not only rest but.full and complete life to
all obedient ones during his r eign.
Sunday observance, therefore, is not commanded anywhere in the Bible. Sabbath ob-

THE SABBATH

53

servance by the J ews was commanded pmely

for a typical purpose. Satan has seized llpon
this provision of the law given to tIle J ews and
has IVrongfnlly caused men to make laws requil'in(l' people to refrain from doing 1V0rk 01'
indulgwg in certain pleasure on Sunday. Ext remists have caused the enactment and enforcement of laws by which they attempt to prevent
persons from going about on Sunday exlribiting
books and delivering them to the people, which
bo oks eJl.-plain and make clear the Bible. They
proceed upon the t!teory tlmt this is work and
in violation of the Sunday law. Such wrongful
laws have been invoked recently against the
witnesses of the Lord who are preaching the
gospel on Sunday. No earthly power has the
right or authority to make a law which would
interfere with the preaching of the gospel of
the kingdom of God . No civil or municipal authority has any right to make a law that would
make u deed done on Friday lawful and the same
deed done on Slmday unlawful. Law is a rule
of action commanding what is l'ight and prohibitiug what is wrong. If it is not wrong (0
play baseball on Friday, it is not wrong to play
it on any and every day.
Wl,at the people need is the truth . God's law
governing thp sabbath day typically refened to
the cQming of the kingdom. Observance of t hat
law showed faith in God and Iris promised King
that would bring rest and blessings to tbe people. Chl'ist Jesus came and fulfilled the law because he was and is the King j thel'efore nothing
could be gained by obsel'ving 1his t ypical law

54

KEYS OF HEAVEN

after the coming of Christ. The kingdom of God

under Christ is now here, and within a short
time all must be brought to a lmow ledge of God
and his kingdom, and those who obey will live.

The Flood
HERE is an abundance of tangible proof
that at one time there was a great deluge
upon the earth. The Bible contains conclusive pl'oof theI'eof aud g ives the cause.
"Worldly wise men have said that the flood came
by the falling of rain from the clouds. Both the
Bible and the physical facts show that such conclusion is wrong. There never had been any
rain before the tlood, and could not have been.
The deluge was prOdl"lced by the falling of a
great canopy of water and mineral substance
which had for centuries beel" held around the
earth . J"ehovah God had pnt it there, and when
his time came for it to fall he caused it to come
down to accomplish his own good purpose.
'l'he word anntt!c!I" means having the form of
a ring. The annular system has reference to the
snccessive rings snrrounding the earth and composed of ,water and mineral substance in solution, and which rings were held in place by centrifugal ener gy. Men have contended that nothing that is heavier than air could r emain in
space above the earth. The model'll airship completely eA'":plodes that theory. The airplane
moves rapidly, carrying, ill addition to its own .

THE' FLOOD

55

weight, a heavy load of freight and passengers,

and remains aloft wltil tl,e engules are stopped
and then it falls as a dead weight, It is the energy
moving the plane at a rapid rate that keeps it
aloft; and it was the energy causing the canopy
to move swiftly that kept it aI'onnd the earth
nn til God' s due tinIe for it to come down .
Of the successive rings abont the earth the
one farthest away from the earth was composed
of water chicHy. Heavier rings composed of
carbon and other mineral substance hung nearer
the earth and f ell to the earth long before the
crea tion of man, th ereby forming the coal beds
and other mineral deposits. During the period
from tbe creation of mau until the deluge the
water ring spread itself out like au envelope
and covered the entire earth and therefore
caused climatic conditious upon the ear th to be
practically the same at the eq nator as at the
pol es. Vegetation that grew in the north and
sonth polar regions is proof thereof. Animals
that are adapted to the eqnatoriaJ ..:egions uave
in recent years been found inbedded in the perpetual ice at the north pole. Atl nntelope was
r ecently found in the ice fields of Siberia fully
ilnbedc1ed in the ice and preserved, and it had
green grass in its stomach, provi.ng til at i t was
feedulg upon grass at the time it was CllUgllt in
the flood. A mastodon was found frozen in the
ice, with green food in its mouth.
The physical facts show tll at no man ever
saw the sun lmtil after the flood, beca use the
canopy that enveloped the ' earth prevented the
SLill from shinmg directly on the earth. The

56

KEYS OF HEAVEN

canopy did admit light. Had the sun shone directly upon the earth, air currents would have
resulted and there would have been rainfall.
The rain bow IVmch appeared for the first time
after the flood is conclusive proof that there was
no rain prior to the flood. At Genesis 2 : 5, 6 it
is written : "The Lord God had not caused it to
ram upon the earth, . . . But there went up a
mist from the earth and watered the whole face
of the ground." By reason of the canopy that
envelOlJed the earth the climate of the earth
might be well illustr.ated by that of a hothouse,
and for this reason gigantic trees and other
vegetation grew. Furthermore, there was no
winter or S\1JlllDer prior to the flood . The first
mention in the Bible of these seasons is after
the flood, showing that the climate throughout
the whole earth was the same by reason of the
canopy.
The Bible makes mention of the "great deep",
thus distinguishing from the seas the great
deep. It was'the water canopy or rillg surrounding the earth that is descrihed as "the great
deep", and about that there is not the slightest
doubt. At Job 38: 10,11 it is written: "And brake
up for it my decreed place, and set bars aud
doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but
no fmther ; aIld here shall thy proud waves be
stayed." At Psahn 104 : 5, 6: "Who laid the
foundations of the earth, that it should not be
removed for ever. Thou covel'edst it with the
deep as with a garment; the waters stood above
the mountains," Psalm 42 : 7 says: "Deep calleth
unto deep at the 110ise of thy waterspouts : all

THE FLOOD

57

thy waves and thy billows are gone over me."

The record at Provelbs, chapter eight, shows
the Logos speaking these words concerning
crcation: ''VIThen he prepared the heavens, I
was there ; when he set a compass upon the face
of the depth; when be establi~hed the clouds
above; when he shengtheued the fountnins of
the deep."
Withm a few short centuries after the tragedy
of Eden Satan and his agents had fill ed the
earth with violence, and nil mell aside CIom
Noah and his family, were turned away trom
J ehovah God. The record at Genesis, chapter
six, is : "And God saw that the wickedness or
man was great in the earth, and thnt eve ry imagin atio n of the thoughts of his heart was on ly
evil continnally . . .. And the Lord said, I wi U
destroy man, whom I have created, rrom the
face of the earth; both man, al10 beast, ancl the
creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it
r e1)el1teth me that I have made them." 'rhen God
sent r iglJteous Noah to give wtuning to the people of the coming deluge which God would ClUploy to destroy all the wicked on the earth. At
the dir~ction of the Lord Noah bum a great
boat and took into it his own family and ce rtain
of the animals, as the tecord in Genesis says :
"And it came to puss after seven days, that the
wate rs of tI,e Dood were upon 11le earth. rn the
sLx hundredth year of Noah's life, in tile second
month, the seventeenth day of the month, the
same day weie all the fountain s of the gr eat
deep broken up, and the windows or heaven
were opened."

58

KEYS OF H-E ,AVEN

TIns Scriptural statement cannot possibly

r efer to the oceans of water, because they were
not ''broken up", but r emaiu even to this day.
Without a doubt the words "the windows of
heaven" refer to tbe brealcing-up of the great
canopy of water that surrounded the earth, and
this produced the deluge or f1ood_
That miter ring would move with greatest
-velocity in the region of the equator. The breaking-up of the canopy at the equator would admit
the wateT and vapors to earth's atmosphere, and
it would rnsh on to the poles north and south,
and, because of the decreasing velocity, would
- begin to fall at the poles, just W,e an airplane
comes down when the forward motion ceases.
The outermost part of the water canopy was
f arthest r emoved from the r efl ected warmth of
the ear th and would ther efore be frozen. This
is supported by the wor ds written at J ob 38 :
29,30, whiCh say that the frozen face of the deep
had the appearance of a stone on which fro st
had accumulated for centmies. When God broke
the canopy, the water would descend to the
earth' s atmosphere and the velocity with which
it was moving would hml the ice, water and
snow to the poles where it would fall; and that
explains why tropical animals and tropical vegetation were there and became imbedded in the
ice and have been preseTved all these centnries.
The extreme cold would destroy all animal and
vegetable life. At both the Jlorth and the south
poles perpetual ice now exists, where at one time
these places prod nced an abundance of vegetation.

THE FLOOD

59

When the canopy was completely broken up

and all the water thereof had fallen, the earth
by revolving in its elliptical orbit produced the
winter and summer seasons in their respeotive
order; and since the polar regions get little of
the sunlight, perpetual winter exists there. The
detailed description of the flood and its cause
and results is set forth in 'the book Creation.
You will find it profitable to avail yourself of
tins book and study it carefully.
The flood was an act of Jehovah God. He
sent it on the earth for the purpose of'destroying the wicked on the earth. Concerning that
world and the world that now exists the Apostle
P eter, under inspiration, wrote, contras ting one
with the other. At 2 Peter, the third chapter,
these words appear: "Knowi ng tllis fll'st, th at
ther e shall come in the last days sco (fo r B, wulking after their own lusts, and saying, 'Vltel'e is
the promise of his corning? fO l' since the fu th 1'S
fell asleep, all thhlgs continne us they werc,
from the beginning of the creation. ]1'01' tIns
they willingly are ignorant oE, that by thc word
of God the heavens were of old, and thc ea~'th
standing out of Ule water und in tile wuter;
wher eby the world that then wus, being overflowed with water, perished; but the lJeuvens
and the earth, which are now, by the same word
are kept in store, r eserved unto fire against the
day of jndgment and perdition of U11godly men."
On another occasion I have submitted to you
the proof from the Scriptures showing that we
are now in the last days. It is in these last days
that God has made plain to those who search for

60

KEYS OF HEAVEN

the truth, and who seek to sel've him, the real

meaning of the flood, why God sent it, and what
it foreshadowed, In the text just quoted from
P eter these words are used: "And the earth
[tJ1at was] standing ont of the wateT and in the
water," ~lhat wO)lld be possihle only when the
water surrounded the entire earth, as the Scriptures show was the case. The canopy of ~ater
enveloping the entire earth, and which canopy
God broke, caused the flood.
Now in the last days, says the apostle, when
devout men and women are looking for the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ aud his kingdom according to the proInise, thel'e would come
men who clainl to teach the Bible but who deny
the Scriptural statement of the flood and who
scoff at tbe idea of tbe coming of tbe Lord, and
that we are in the last days, and who say,
'Wher e is there any proof of the second coIning
of the Lord and his kingdom l' Only a few days
ago I read a statement appearing in the public
press made by a highm:-critic clergyman who
said concerning my speech on "The Kingdom
of God" that all this tall, about the second coming of Christ is to=Yl'ot, This is exactly in
harmony with the prophetic utterance of the
apostle showing that these men are doing what
the Lord foretold , Then adds the apostle: 'For
thi s I'eason such men are willingly ignorant concerning the meaning of the great flood, of the
coIning of the Lord, and of the great destruction
that is coming upon the world.' Further, the
aFlostle says in this connection: 'The world
which now is, by the word of God is kept in

THE FLOOD

61

store, reserved for destruction by fire.' This

exactly corresponds with the prophecy of Jesus
to the effect that, as soon as the wituess work
is done by Jehovah's witnesses, then will come
upon the world the greatest trouble ever befor e
known. That' witness work is now in progress,
,even though greatly opposed by Satan and his
agents. AJ5 God sent Noah to give warning before the flood, even so now he sends his witnesses to give warning before Armageddon. In
his great prophecy of Matthew, chapter tweutyrour, Jesus says that in Noah's day the people
r efused to heed the warning and were destroyed,
and that exactly the same thing will come to
pass in the last days, where we now arc. Let
the people take warning that the kingdom oJ:
God is here and alllllllst come to know that J'ehovah is God.
"Yhat great lcsson is given to mall by the
flood and the record thereof in the 13i ble t It
fully proves these facts, to wit, tll!lt the I'e is bllt
one Almighty God; that he has made mcn free
moral agents and set before thelll the opportmrity of doing good or pursnil1!; evil; that he
does not prevent men from taklllg their own
course; that iiI his own good time Jehovah ex
lrihits Iris alnrighty power, thereby demonstratIng to creatures that he is the Almighty God,
and this he does for the vindi ctltion of h.is name,
that good may r esult to men. The flood ro re. shadowed God's purpose to destroy the present
wicked world. Men cannot escape respo nsibility
by mer ely r efusing to hear and g-ive beed to the
truth. Be. assured that God will shortly vincli-

62

KEYS OF HEAVEN

cnte his name by destroying Satan's organization, and particularly that -part called "Christendom". He is now warning the rulers and the
people of his purpose so to do, that no one can
ever have the excuse to say that had he known
what was coming he would have done differently. The people of good will, and who desire
righteousness, will now avail themselves of the
opportunity to learn the truth and profit therehy.

How Many Times

- Have You Asked?
F THE Devil is really the cause of all the sorrow,
trouble and death in the world, why does not God,
who, the Bible states, is almighty, put an end to the
Devil and aU his wicked work Y

If the Oreator has the power to destroy the Devil,

why bas he waited aU these CenlUl'ies and up to this
very minute looked on with apparent indifference
while the Devil is making such a terrible wreck of the
human family Y

7'h.,'. is only one correct, logicul '.lJly

to such quostions.
In Judge Rutherford's books Ite shows not only why
God bas uot interIered with the Devil in his lloforious
work, but also why to bave done so before his set time,
. which is shown in the Bible, would Imvo beeu incon
sistent with Jehovah's pOl'feeL wisdom, justice und
love.

'1'he books listed below, bound in oIOI,h, slamped in

gold, may be had singly for 30' Itch; fottr for $1.00,
0 1' the entire set of twelve 01' $3.00.
The Harp of God

Prophecy

Reconcilintion

Deliverance

Government

Vindicalion, BoDle 1

Creation

I:.i gbt, BODie 1

Vindication, Book 2

Life

Light. Book 2

Vindication, Book 3

Mailed anywhere postage prepaid.

TilE

WATCH

TOWER, 117 Adams St., Brooklyn, N. Y.

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WATCH TOWER BIBLE &. TRACT SOCIETY

and

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