J. F. Rutherford

“ God has invited us to use our reasoning faculties (Isaiah 1:18) ; and if we believe these great truths taught in the Bible, we can reach no other reasonable conclusion than that restitution is the great objective of God's plan relative to the human race, and that restitution blessings are near because the kingdom of heaven is at hand, even at the door. Let those who are cast down look up now; let the sorrowful be glad; let the sad hearts be comforted, and the broken hearts be bound up. Lift up your heads and rejoice in the fact that the day of deliverance for mankind is at the door! ”

“ Paul says: "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."—1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. ”

“ There is now a newness of life, which does not result from being transferred to another climate, but from being given a new dominating factor in our lives, namely, the will of God. Honest Heart, or whoever takes this step, now has new hopes, new aims, new ambitions, new aspirations, and new ideas. He is not looking for earthly honor and glory; but he is looking forward to the time when he might be forever with the Lord in his kingdom and be a part of the seed of Abraham according to the promise, through which the blessings of mankind will come. ”

“ Without the manifestation of justice it would have been impossible for Jehovah so fully to manifest his love toward man in providing for his redemption and subsequent blessing. When one understands the office of justice and why it was manifested, he rejoices. A failure to understand and appreciate the divine attributes makes it impossible for one properly to appreciate Jehovah's goodness and loving kindness to mankind. Jehovah is too good to be unjust. He is too wise to make a mistake ”

“ The importance of Jesus and his work is magnified when we consider that he in heaven and in earth was the dearest treasure to Jehovah's heart. He was God's dearly beloved Son. He was the most precious thing possessed by the great Creator, Jehovah. It was the supreme sacrifice on behalf of Jehovah to use him to redeem the human race. It was God's great love for fallen humanity that prompted him to do this; hence we read: "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ”

“ But why should the great, the good, the pure, the sinless Man die in such an ignominious manner as this? Was there no other means whereby man could live? The Scriptures answer that there is no other way whereby man could get life. Divine justice demanded the life of the perfect man Adam and took that life. Divine justice could receive nothing as a substitute for Adam except the life of a perfect human being. Adam was put to death because he was a sinner. The one who would redeem Adam must die as a sinner, yet without sin. And all this Jesus did. ”

“ In that day the priest alone was in the Holy and the Most Holy; and even so on the antitypical day of atonement no one is in the Holy condition except those who are in relationship with Christ, the great high priest. The Lord has been pleased to permit these during the gospel age to have some understanding of his Word, therefore receiving the sweet and refreshing music from his harp; and the light has grown in brilliancy and the music in harmony as the understanding has increased. To the world in general, Christians have been despised because not understood. ”

“ He is the Head of the elect; he is the precious One. Those who believe on him, to such he is precious; and those who hold fast to that belief shall not be confounded. To believe means to act by fully consecrating oneself to do the Lord's will. This great One, the Lord Jesus, has been and is a stumbling-stone and a rock of offense to those who have not believed. Those who have not appreciated the fact that he is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and that it is a privilege to suffer with him, have been offended and turned away from him. It is a great privilege to suffer with Christ. ”

“ The apostle Paul makes it clear that the death of Jesus was for the benefit of the entire human race when he says: 'Jesus, ... by the grace of God, tasted death for every man'. "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."—Hebrews 2;9; 1 Timothy 2:5,6.
[231] "Sin is the transgression of the law." (1 John 3:4) "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23) Adam transgressed the divine law and for this reason suffered the penalty of death, and this penalty came upon all mankind by inheritance. ”

“ The doctrine of eternal torture is unjust, because God is just. Justice is the foundation of his throne. God plainly told man that if he sinned he would die. If thereafter he put him into eternal torment, then he increased the penalty after man had violated the law, and this is contrary to every principle of justice. All of Adam's children were born imperfect. "There is none that doeth good, no, not one," (Psalm 14:3) Every child is born imperfect. ”

“ By faith she sees the blessed day, not far distant, when back to life shall come that beloved brother. By faith she sees him hurrying over the highway of holiness, until he is made strong, vigorous, and returns to the days of his youth, and shall dwell in peace and happiness for ever. ”

“ Jesus likened his humanity to bread. He said: "I am the bread of life.... This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.... For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.... ”

“ And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor and glory, and blessing. ”

“ Paul wrote: "Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ; whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain ”

“ It would be very unjust for Jehovah to permit such a one to be born under conditions over which he had no control and then, because he could not obey perfectly, to put him into eternal torture. Man's sense of justice is shocked at the thought of torture of any creature. The justice that man possesses is a God-given quality. The more Godlike a man is the more just he is. We must know, then, that God deals justly with all of his creatures.
[76] The doctrine of eternal torment is devoid of the attribute of love. Every good father loves his children and children love their father. ”

“ Repentance means a change of mind respecting one's relationship to evil; and conversion means a change of one's course. But neither repentance nor conversion, nor both together, brings the individual into relationship with God. Being drawn to Jesus, he must exercise faith. Faith means first to understand and believe that God exists; that he is the great rewarder of them that diligently seek him; that the Bible is his Word of truth; that Jesus is his beloved Son and our Redeemer ”

“ Praise then shall take the place of sorrow. No longer will the people assemble in cemeteries on Decoration Day to pay tribute to their hero dead, because then their dead will be restored to them; and the one who shall be the greatest hero in their minds and hearts will be the great Messiah, who has brought the people the unspeakable blessings. Then will the people assemble, not to discuss politics, nor to wrangle over who shall hold the offices, but to improve their minds and to study the beauties and wonders of God's creation and to sing songs of gladness to his praise.—Isaiah 35:10 ”

“ While the Lord will rule with an iron hand, compelling obedience, yet his rule will be a righteous one, and he will reprove with justice. He is pictured by the Prophet as ruling in faithfulness and righteousness, thus: "With righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins."—Isaiah 11:4,5. ”

“ Life, that which has been the desire of men in all ages, will be completely realized—life in fullness, when men and women will be strong and vigorous, and there shall be no more pain, no suffering, no sorrow, no death ”

“ Interpreting his own parable, Jesus said that he was the man who had gown the good seed; that the field is the world; and that the good seed are the children of the kingdom, and that the tares are the children of the wicked one; that the enemy who sowed them is the devil; and that the harvest is the end of the world.—Matthew 13:37-39. ”

“ No one will attempt to gainsay the fact that just now, in the year 1921, all the nations are in distress and the people in all branches of business—socially, politically and otherwise—are in perplexity and know not what to do. And men of earth who are engaged in business affairs are so fearful that their hearts are failing them, not knowing which way to turn nor what to do. ”