Dr. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries has posted an excellent illustration, based on a 1984 Watchtower publication, that clearly shows the Watchtower Society to be a false prophet organization. Make sure you read Dr. White's explanation, then consider printing this image to keep in your Bible for the Jehovah's Witness that knocks on your door. A brother and I are meeting with a JW in a few weeks, Lord willing, and I will be sure to have this handy. Make sure you click the image for full size.
I used to spend a lot of time on the subject of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. It was the second major group I tackled and studied. I still have a huge number of their old, old books, shelves of them, actually. I also have a whole set of what are called "bound volumes," yearly compilations of all of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. Of course, much of this is now available digitally on the Watchtower Library CD Rom (which isn't easy to get hold of, but not impossible). Anyway, I just checked the dark corner of one of my shelves and pulled out the bound volume for the Watchtowers of 1984. On the cover of the May 15, 1984 publication (repeated on page 4) is a picture of a group of elderly people, all looking upward. The title give is "1914: The Generation That Will Not Pass Away." You will look in vain for such confident promises in today's Watchtower publications, as they have effectively buried the 1914 prophecy, but it was front and center for many decades. In fact, on page 5 of this same publication we read, "If Jesus used 'generation' in that sense and we apply it to 1914, then the babies of that generation are now 70 years old or older. And others alive in 1914 are in their 80's or 90's, a few even having reached a hundred. There are still many millions of that generation alive. Some of them 'will by no means pass away until all things occur.'---Luke 21:32."
Well, I was sent this graphic a few days ago. It contains that same cover picture (I double checked it in my own printed edition), but identifies each and every person in the picture by name, and gives the date when they all passed away. A tremendous testimony to the status of the Watchtower Society as a false prophet---just like Harold Camping already is (1994), and will be proven yet again in about three weeks. False prophets come, false prophets go, but Christ continues to build His church, not by the popularity of His teachings, but by the changing of the heart.
A new page full of excellent resources on major Cults and World Religions with an emphasis in reaching those trapped under these false teachings has been added to the blog. Here's the intro:
Jesus made it clear that salvation comes through no other but Himself in John 14:6 when He said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Yet one must only survey the multitudes of world religions and cults to understand the majority of the world's population deny this truth. And while Christian cults may acknowledge and accept the words of Christ in the passage above, they twist and distort other Scriptures to deny the deity of Christ and the doctrine of justification by faith alone, thus stripping away the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of sin and adding works as necessary for salvation.
Similar to the Last Days Apostasy page, this page is dedicated to providing you the best resources to equip and prepare you to understand the basic teachings of religions and cults in order for you to defend the Christian faith and share the Gospel with the lost. In these last days of deception, Christian intolerance, paganism, and calls for religious unity at the cost of denying the fundamentals of Christianity, it is imperative you are well-informed not only to defend the truth against the lies, but to
...always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear... - 1 Peter 3:15
Each section is broken down by religion or cult and will include various trusted websites, books, videos, and other tools to prepare you for battle. This is a lot of information, so please take your time and visit often as you finish with each resource. The Cults and World Religions page will be updated as new resources are discovered. I pray God uses this page
...for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. - Ephesians 4:12
If you are a non-Christian and perhaps belong to one of the belief systems mentioned on this page, please know the purpose here is to lead you to the love, grace, and mercy of the One True God through His Son Jesus Christ. Please consider exploring the resources in the applicable section and seriously examine whether what you believe is actually true. Eternity is forever, so it is critical you have the right Answer as our beliefs do not create truth, rather our beliefs must conform to the truth. I pray you seek the Truth that offers you eternal life, for there is no other name, Jesus Christ, under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). And remember,
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. - Hebrews 11:6
The Watchtower Tract and Bible Society, better known as Jehovah's Witnesses, publishes a daily reader for their members. This years reader, Examining the Scriptures Daily—2010, explains it's purpose in the forward on page four: "For each day of the year, it highlights a Scriptural text—a gem of wisdom from Jehovah, who inspired the writing of the Bible. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17) Following each text are supporting comments taken from recent issues of The Watchtower."
The reading for today, August 12, 2010, found on page 81, is exceptionally heretical and I feel compelled to bring it into the light:
Thursday, August 12
Do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God.—1 John 4:1.
In harmony with John’s counsel, we always encourage those we meet in the preaching work to test what they have been taught by comparing it with the Bible. That is a good rule for us too. If any statements come to our ears that are critical of the truth or that cast aspersions on the congregation, the elders, or any of our brothers, we do not accept them at face value. Rather, we ask: “Is the one spreading this story acting in harmony with what the Bible says? Do these stories or allegations further Jehovah’s purpose? Do they promote the peace of the congregation?” A sound rule is found in the words of the apostle Paul: “Do not go beyond the things that are written.” (1 Cor. 4:6) Yes, we should not go beyond the things that are written in the Bible or, by extension, beyond the Bible-based counsel written in the publications of the faithful and discreet slave. w08 4/15 1:18, 19
This reading comes from 1 John 4:1 out of the New World Translation (NWT) followed by an excerpt from the April 15, 2008 edition of The Watchtower magazine. The Watchtower magazine is numbered like a Bible, you will find this excerpt from the first article, paragraphs 18 and 19 (w08 4/15 1:18, 19). The Watchtower Tract and Bible Society has their own version of the Bible, the NWT. The NWT isn't a translation at all, as evidenced by the lack of experience in Greek and Hebrew held by the translating team. The NWT is a revision of the Bible done to support the positions of The Watchtower Tract and Bible Society.
It is no wonder they number The Watchtower like a Bible, Jehovah's Witnesses treat The Watchtower equal to the Bible. They admit so much here in this text:
"we should not go beyond the things that are written in the Bible or, by extension, beyond the Bible-based counsel written in the publications of the faithful and discreet slave"
Today, Jehovah's Witnesses claim that the Watchtower organization is the faithful and wise servant of Matthew 24:45, a claim once made by the founder Charles Taze Russell. The claim they are making is that publications of The Watchtower are equally infallible and inspired as the Bible is. They are instructing Jehovah's Witnesses to evaluate statements for truthfulness by examining not only the Bible, but The Watchtower.
This is exactly what John is warning us against!
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1 (ESV)
How are we to test the Watchtower to see if it is from God? According to scripture, we are to compare it with scripture. The Watchtower says differently, The Watchtower says to test against not only scripture but against itself. Indeed, The Watchtower is a false prophet.
The Watchtower has added an additional test, not of the Bible, to determine if something is true. "Do they promote the peace of the congregation?" Calling your elder a false prophet is not going to promote the peace of the congregation, but it is true. This is an example of how The Watchtower trains Jehovah's Witnesses to be loyal to the organization, placing it above God and His Word.
We find some good advice hidden among heresy:
A sound rule is found in the words of the apostle Paul: “Do not go beyond the things that are written.” (1 Cor. 4:6)
Listen to Paul, not the Watchtower. The Watchtower itself goes beyond the things that are written. Paul was talking about the Bible, not The Watchtower.
They knock on your door every so often. They knocked on mine last Saturday morning, but unfortunately I was in the backyard and didn't know they were there until they left. They are the "Jehovah's" Witnesses and they need Jesus. So many Christians are afraid to engage in a conversation with them or simply choose to ignore them. But because they need Jesus, they need us to share the truth with them in love, not avoid them.
The following 2-part video from The Way of the Master will help you gain better understanding of this cult and equip you to witness to these false witnesses. These lost people are diligent in sharing their religion with others and have hijacked a name that every Christian should own. We are the true witnesses of Jehovah. Be bold in your faith and equip yourself to share the love of Jesus Christ with anyone who knocks on your door, especially "Jehovah's" Witnesses."
