The Watchtower Society and John and Morton Edgar - A2Z.org

Iof the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil"-Ecclesi:~stes VIII, 11. Business men declare that tliere isdishonesty in all commercial concerns; that no businesscan succeed on lines of strict integrity. In these times itis much more difficult to do good than to do evil. Frequentlywhen you do a kindly action for anyone, you donot even get thanks; and if you are gentle and loving,people think you soft and try to take advantage of you.If you endeavour to lead an honest, straightforward life,you are certain to meet with opposition. "All that willlive godly in Jesus Christ shdl suffer persecution"-I Timothy 111, 12. The development of good characterin the present time meets with opposition at every turn.Need we wonder at this when Satan is the god of thisworld, the prince of the power of the air?It will be very different when Christ takes His power torelgn. He will judge the people with righteousness, andevil will no longer be permitted. Of that time we read:"When the judgments of the Lord are in the earth, theinhabitants'of the world will learn righteousness"-IsaiahXXVI, 9. When Christ is reigning, every time a mansins the penalty .will follow swiftly and surely, and, onthe other hand, every time a man does a righteous act hewill be rewarded immedi~tely. Thus the righteous willbe encouraged, and the sinner will be discouraged; thepeople will soon find that it will pay to do good; that thebetter they are the more they succeed, and the worsethey are the greater they suffer-the very reverse of whatobtains at present. The inhabitants of the world willthen learn righteousness, and will flourish (Psalm LXXII,7); as their moral imperfection disappears, their mentaland physizal imperfections will also disappear, until finallythey will attain to that perfection lost by Adam. 'Christ's Reign Autocratic.At first, the people will require to be forced to obeyrbut the necessary punishment will be of a reformative29