WATCHTOWER - SEPTEMBER 15, 1997

 

Page 13: Bear in mind that John the Baptizer did an Elijahlike work before the "day of Jehovah" came in 70 C.E.

Correction: The "day of Jehovah" is still future.

Isaiah 13:6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.

Amos 5:18 Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness, and not light.

Revelation 6:14-17 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

 

Page 13: After the death of Christ's apostles, there was an apostasy from true Christianity, even as Baal worship flourished in Israel of Elijah's day. (2 Peter 2:1)

Correction: Apostasy has always been a problem in the congregations.

Galatians 3:1-2 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

 

Page 13: Professed Christians began to mix Christianity with false religious doctrines and practices. For example, they adopted the pagan and unscriptural teaching that man possesses an immortal soul. (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10; Ezekiel 18:4)

Correction: God has an everlasting covenant for your soul!

Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you; The sure mercies of David.

 

Page 13: Christendom's apostates have stopped using the name of the one true God, Jehovah. Instead, they are worshipping a Trinity.

Correction: The name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is Yahweh.

Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name (not names) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"

 

Page 13: From the 19th century onward, leaders of Christendom's churches began to voice doubt about many parts of the Bible. For instance, they rejected the Genesis account of creation and bowed down to the theory of evolution, labeling it "scientific."

Correction: Many leaders of Christendom's churches have not embraced evolution.

 

Page 13: Once known as International Bible Students, these faithful servants of God later received the Scriptural name Jehovah's Witnesses. - Isaiah 43:10.

Correction: True Christians will be Jesus Witnesses.

Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Page 14: Like Elijah, faithful anointed ones accepted divine correction and recovered from inactivity. Their eyes were opened to the grand privilege of preaching the Kingdom message.

Page 14: Performing the Kingdom-preaching work until it is finished is a privilege granted only to those who are faithful like Elijah.

Correction: True Christians will preach about Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,

 

Page 15: To which of these heavens did the prophet Elijah ascend? Evidently, he was transferred through earth's atmosphere and placed on a different part of the globe. Elijah was still on earth years later, for he wrote a letter to King Jehoram of Judah. (2 Chronicles 21:1, 12-15)

Correction: Elijah did not ascend until after Jehoram had been in power for several years.

2 Kings 1:17 So Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. Because he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.

 

Page 15: We have good reason for faithfulness and optimism. Remember that John the Baptizer did an Elijahlike work before the "day of Jehovah" struck in 70 C.E.

Contradiction: The Watchtower says that the "day of Jehovah" struck in 70 C.E. but is future.

Page 15: With Elijah's spirit and power, anointed Christians have done a similar God-given work throughout the earth. This clearly proves that the great "day of Jehovah" is near.

Page 16: Centuries after the days of Elijah and Elisha, the apostles Paul and Peter associated a coming "day of Jehovah" with Jesus Christ's presence and the then future "new heavens and a new earth." (2 Thessalonians 2:1, 2; 2 Peter 3:10-13)

 

Page 16: To survive Jehovah's great day - when God destroys his enemies and saves his people - we must seek Jehovah and display meekness and righteousness. (Zephaniah 2:1-3)

Note: With the revelations of the New Testament, we are saved through Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

 

Page 17: With similar zeal, the remnant of anointed Christians today render sacred service to Jehovah and take the lead in preaching the good news. Since the mid-1930's, they have encouraged all those accepting the Kingdom message and hoping to live forever on earth to dedicate themselves to Jehovah and get baptized. (Mark 8:34, 1 Peter 3:21)

Correction: The good news is Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the good news, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you; unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Galatians 1:8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other good news to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

Page 18: Those hoping to survive "the day of Jehovah" and live forever on earth must wholeheartedly support true worship.

Note: True worship comes from the heart not attending organizational meetings.

John 4:23-24 "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

 

Page 19: This world's political element will destroy false religion, and "the wild beast" - the United Nations - will have a principal role with "the ten horns."

Correction: The "wild beast" is a person not a organization.

Revelation 17:11-12 "And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast."

 

Page 19: Under the influence of Satan the Devil, these enemies of Jehovah's sovereignty will make an all-out attack in an attempt to destroy God's earthly organization. (Ezekiel 38:14-16)

Correction: Satan will prevail over the saints not a organization.

Daniel 7:25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.

 

Page 25: John Wycliffe, a respected Oxford scholar, preached and wrote powerfully against the unbiblical practices of the Catholic Church, basing his authority on 'God's law,' meaning the Bible. He sent his students, the Lollards, out across England's countryside to preach the Bible's message in English to anyone who would listen.

Note: John Wycliffe was against religious organizations.

In its most developed form, Wycliffe's philosophy represented a complete break with the church. He believed in a direct relationship between humanity and God, without priestly mediation. By a close adherence to the Scriptures, Christians would, Wycliffe believed, govern themselves without the aid of popes and prelates. Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Vol. 28, page 28.

 

Page 26: The council was composed of 2,933 priests, bishops, and cardinals. Hus agreed to recant if his teachings could be proved wrong by the Scriptures. To the council, that was not the question. His challenge to their authority was cause enough for them to burn him at the stake in 1415, as he prayed aloud.

Note: Many disfellowshipings have occurred after questioning the authority of the organization.

In Crisis of Conscience I related the disfellowshipment of Edward Dunlap who, after over fifty years of association, most of them spent in "Bethel service," was in effect "put out on the street" at nearly seventy years of age, disfellowshiped for having expressed viewpoints in conversation among friends that did not conform to all of the organization's teachings. In Search of Christian Freedom, page 358.

 

Page 31: Nevertheless, similar loyalty to Christ's spiritual brothers and to Jehovah's organization is necessary for all those in the Christian congregation today.

However: Acts 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men."

 

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