Yes, you can become a literal Son of the living God in Heaven! But this will not occur by accident. It takes effort, definite planning and training. Don't miss this supreme reward because you didn't follow the proper guidelines!
THE nerve-chilling screech of the telephone shattered the tranquility of the city's early morning hours. The time: 2 a.m. The date: Monday, January 16, 1967. The place: Chicago, Illinois. A young reporter, just asleep after a 24-hour assignment, heard the following words as he lifted the receiver: "There is a fire at McCormick Place!" He called for a taxi, dressed quickly and mumbled under his breath about being called at this hour, after the long assignment he had just completed, just "because a janitor must have seen a waste basket burning." The taxi sped quickly to the offices of radio station WBBM, where he was employed. He quickly located the mobile unit, an automobile equipped with radio transmitter and tape recorder, specially marked to provide immediate access to the scene of any disaster. As he drove south he noticed a dull red glow illuminating the low-hanging clouds. "That couldn't be McCormick Place — it just couldn't be," he thought. "That building is fireproof. Besides, when it was completed they said it was more durable than the coliseum in Rome!" He drove into the huge parking lot which was now rapidly filling with fire-fighting apparatus, and began to dictate into the portable tape recorder. "It was," he said, "as if there were a giant fist inside the columbarium-like exhibition center which just pushed out the entire center section of the west wall." The firemen retreated, regrouped their lines and set about with a will to extinguish the holocaust.
A New Problem
In the sub-zero temperatures most of the available fire hydrants were frozen, there was no water available with which to fight the inferno. But these firemen were professionals, THEY DID NOT GIVE UP! Utilizing one of the principles of the seven laws of success, they were resourceful! They broke through the ice of nearby Lake Michigan and supplied their huge snorkels from this inexhaustible source! The fire was out at about eight o'clock the following morning. "Where there's a will, there's a way," the old saying goes, and these highly trained and skilled fire fighters found a way to control the blaze against tremendous odds. The fire was out — they had accomplished the first step of a long and arduous series to follow.
Only the Beginning
That same afternoon the National Association of Housewares Manufacturers was scheduled to open an exhibition. Sales representatives from all the Midwestern states were on hand. Multiple thousands of dollars and untold hundreds of man-hours had been expended to make this possible. Hearing the news of the destruction of McCormick Place, some of the sales personnel began packing for the trip home. However, the majority of those involved dipped into their reservoir of knowledge and training and came up with another principle from the seven laws of success — they persevered. They too, were professionals, they were there for a sales campaign and have it they would! Quickly the wheels began to roll. The facilities of the Chicago Coliseum were made available to provide makeshift, but workable quarters. McCormick Place crews as well as hundreds of volunteers set about the task of removing the bleachers from the previous night's basketball game. The Boone Sound Engineering Company, who were the original installers of the public address equipment in McCormick Place made all their facilities available to the displayers. Radio station WBBM, the CBS outlet in Chicago, cancelled all its network commitments and opened its tremendous facilities to all exhibitors to provide a huge radio clearing house, broadcasting all day long with information vital to the convention. An air freight company volunteered to fly in new displays from any point in the country. Sign companies worked around the clock to provide the necessary show cards. Illinois Bell Telephone Company provided a complete temporary switchboard for the use of the exhibitors. The convention went on, almost as scheduled!
An Object Lesson
When it seemed impossible to fight the fire — a way was found! When it seemed impossible to hold the convention — a way was found! All this was made possible because a few individuals rolled up their sleeves and made a way! Their goals were clear-cut and despite the fact that seemingly insurmountable obstacles lay in their path, THEY FOUND A WAY! The fire was out and then the even greater task of securing facilities in which to hold the gigantic convention were completed! Brethren of God's Church, these people, though totally without their knowledge, set a tremendous example for us! They possessed six of the seven laws of success. They had a GOAL — to hold a convention. They worked tirelessly toward that goal despite problems which they could not possibly have foreseen. They had a goal and they attained it! Those responsible for the engineering of this mammoth program were EDUCATED, trained for and skilled in the work which they were doing. HEALTH, in most of these people, was sufficiently good to enable them to go without sleep, to miss meals and to call on extra reserves of strength for the duration of this crisis. Law of Success No. 4 is DRIVE. No question about that one here! They drove themselves far above the average in order to meet their commitments. Number 5 is perhaps the most fitting law in this entire illustration. The emergency law — RESOURCEFULNESS. An entire city, people who were strangers to each other, united and worked together toward a gigantic goal. They dug deeply into mental and physical resources and they came up with some amazingly resourceful ideas. Said one executive: "At first, we thought we were licked, but as we got this thing rolling it became a real challenge. Actually, we rather enjoyed it!" Law No. 6 is PERSEVERANCE. They stayed with this job and saw it through. The seventh, and most important law, is Divine Guidance. They did not have access to this one, but their goals were physical, not Spiritual, and they, by and large, set about with a will which would put many in God's Church to shame!
Our Goal
We, in God's Church have a goal too. Our long-range goal is the resurrection! Birth into the Family of God at Christ's Second Coming! This goal will be achieved in a step-by-step attaining of other lesser goals. We call this process GROWTH and OVERCOMING. McCormick Place, where many Midwest brethren have assembled to observe many of God's Holy Days, now lies a twisted mass of charred rubble, broken concrete and ashes. The temporary goals of extinguishing the fire and holding the convention have been realized. Their greatest goal is yet to be reached — the rebuilding of that tremendous lake-shore colossus! The men involved in these tasks were trained — they were highly skilled in their individual fields and they used their minds and talents effectively! Before we can qualify for positions in God's Government we too will have to become highly skilled in the use of His law, we will have to persevere, we will have to be resourceful and learn to be administrators of the Ambassador program! Our goal is high — the highest — it's total stakes for total rewards. And it's well worth the effort!
Those Who Attained
In the requirement manual, the Bible, we find recorded the many necessary characteristics for achieving the goal. Notice the drive and the sheer will power which those who have gone before us have demonstrated. They were the pathfinders, the ones whose examples have marked the route for us. First and foremost, of course, is the example of Jesus Christ. Notice Hebrews 5:9: "And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." I Peter 2:21 tells us that He set us an example which we are to follow. I Corinthians 11:1 shows us that the apostle Paul clearly understood and lived by that example and he exhorted his people to do the same. Read slowly and carefully Philippians 3:10-14. Let these powerful words sink in deeply. "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; IF by ANY means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained [note the apostle Paul was not "saved"), either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before [he buried the past and didn't let it hinder him), I PRESS toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." He had a goal and he labored vigorously toward it! In Deuteronomy 30, God gave the House of Israel (and it applies as well to us now) a choice. A choice of whether or not we want to accept and live by the law of God. This is a complete program, an entire way of life, administered by Christ through His Church. If we choose to follow this way of life after God has opened our minds to understand, then we are expected to follow with all our might that entire way of life! True Christianity is a total and complete CHANGE. We are to totally bury what we were before God called us, to study diligently to learn to live by the entire program which Christ is administering through His Church. Learning to follow this program takes drive, it requires the setting of will and it demands the successful completion of a certain prescribed course. Notice Mark 7:20-23. "And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man." Here are some of the first guidelines of Christianity. These things mentioned here are some of the basic components of our natures! These must be removed! These must be conquered! God's Spirit has been promised as an aid to guide us into all truth, but we must also work hard to accomplish this overcoming! Read Psalm 42:1. "As the hart [male Deer] panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." David sincerely desired to learn God's way — not what he thought about the law — but what God had said! Thus, he became qualified to rule over the entire nation of Israel in the Resurrection. He set specific guidelines for you and me to follow. In Philippians 3:8 the apostle Paul showed that he was willing to give up any physical thing which he possessed in order to achieve the reward of the Kingdom. He was not continually looking backward at all, he had "given up" for Christ's service — he buried his past, counted it nothing more than manure, and instead pressed FORWARD toward the final goal. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. As Christ helped those individuals in the past, He will help us to learn the same program which those men followed.
Look to Headquarters
"Look to Headquarters" is not some empty slogan which is a sort of theme for this Philadelphia era. Headquarters is giving us the training which will fit us for offices in the Kingdom, just as the professionals mentioned at the outset of this article were trained along specific lines. Hearing the sermons and reading the articles is not all, however. A potential candidate must use his mind and concentrate on his "lessons" too. In Psalm 55:17 David explained how he prayed three times in a day. He had to be concentrating his energies to do this. No drifting or daydreaming here! He was keeping close to his Creator and making definite progress in learning to administer a specific program. Notice Psalm 40:8: "I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." Get in the habit of learning how to set your will to follow what the law says — then study specific parts of the Bible and strive to literally carry out what you have learned. Suppose, instead of trained and skilled firefighters at the McCormick Place fire we had only willing passersby. Perhaps their "hearts were right" — they may have sincerely wanted to help extinguish the fire, but they would not have known how to operate the various pieces of equipment which might have been provided for their use. No matter how good their "attitudes" might have been, they were not trained in the use of available apparatus. Many of us are the same way when it comes to studying. We want to do what is right, we want to obey. But much of our study time is wasted because we have not been taught bow to study. Many brethren have told me that they find it extremely difficult to remember Scriptures or to remember what they have heard on the broadcast or in sermons.
Positive Not Negative
Christianity is a positive thinking way of life. Par too many of us present the Truth of God, especially to our children, as a series of "don'ts." "Don't keep Christmas," "don't color valentines," "don't," in short, "have fun." Notice in Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things..." Paul could do whatever was required of him, not because he possessed an early edition of a Dale Carnegie course, but because his mind was so much on the example of Christ, because he was so well acquainted with His "method" that Christ would add the help which Paul lacked. "... through Christ which strengtheneth me.,' In Philippians 2:12 we find: "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Take the Ambassador program and apply it personally in your own situation! There are two major reasons why many of the brethren are not making the progress they should: They do not see the goal or objective clearly. They do not have the will to accomplish the goal. Neither of these is Scriptural. It is impossible to make Spiritual progress unless the goal or objective is clearly seen. Read and reread, until you have virtually memorized the principles of the new booklet, THE WONDERFUL WORLD TOMORROW, What It Will Be Like. This will make crystal clear for you, literally and specifically, what life under God's form of government will be like — it will make it as clear to you, as real to you, as January's newspapers spell out the details of the McCormick Place fire. Sincerely doing this will also overcome the second reason for coming up short: the will to succeed in this endeavor. It would be a selfish individual indeed who would not desire to teach God's way of life to human beings around this world. To help make headlines like: TOTAL DISARMAMENT ACHIEVED! or NEW, PURE LANGUAGE SWEEPS EARTH! Have we been so bombarded with the swill of this society today that we can no longer be stirred up? Are we so accustomed to one disaster and problem after another that we cannot get excited, almost tremble with anticipation against the time when a gigantic banner headline will proclaim: MILLIONS HAIL KING OF KINGS! To see the marvelous plan of God unfold around this world would be a supreme privilege indeed, but how much greater would be the joy to be permitted to help with the work, to actually be given part of the responsibility of DOING, not just watching.
A Personal Note
As I was sitting at my typewriter preparing this article I was interrupted by a knock at the door. An individual was going from door to door collecting for the March of Dimes, gathering money to aid in the fight against polio and other crippling diseases. "A fine gesture" you say, and perhaps it was. But how much better AND MORE EFFECTIVE when the government of God, under Christ, brings about Divine and immediate healing of the terrible diseases, then begins by programmed instruction to teach all the peoples of the world the proper manner of living which will avoid the causes of these scourges entirely! That time is coming, brethren! It is coming as surely as tomorrow's sun! The beauty of the entire program is that we — you and I — can have a personal part in carrying out this work! The horrible travesty of it all is that some of us who could have a part will miss out simply because we never took the time to clearly visualize the goal, because we just could not get motivated to prepare for and qualify for an office! Study brethren! Get the goal clearly fixed in mind, then PRESS toward it! Make those seven laws of success work for you! People have put them to use to make a physical goal a reality. Let's get stirred up about the Spiritual goal and prepare for a place in it! Luke 12:32 tells us that it is out Father's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. He WANTS to share it with us! Let's really bear down and set an iron-clad will to be there and to have a part in it!