2. Jehovah’s Witnesses May 7, 2015

3. Overview -Introduction -Key Beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses -Distinctive Practices -A Few Defenses -What We Learn from Jehovah’s Witnesses

4. Introduction

5. A Few Quick Facts -Around (in some fashion) since the 1870s -Boast membership of over 19.9 million (Mormonism: 15 million) -For several years, the fastest growing religion in the United States. -Current growth rate: 2.2% per year (Catholicism: 1.1%)

6. Key Beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses Adapted from Dr. James White, Alpha and Omega Ministries

7. “Jehovah’s Witnesses have little truly systematic theology … In fact, they have almost no consistent doctrinal system at all except for one thing: they do have an ecclesiology that stresses loyalty to the Watch Tower organization above everything else.” Ray Mattera

8. 1.Jehovah’s Witnesses is God’s only true organization on this earth. They are the “faithful and discrete” slave of Matthew 24:45.

9. “Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time?” Matthew 24:45 (NWT)

10. “Is not the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society the one and only channel which the Lord has used in dispensing his truth continually since the beginning of the harvest period?” The Watchtower Society

11. Charles Taze Russell 1852 - 1916

12. Joseph Franklin Rutherford 1869-1942

13. “YOU are my witnesses,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “even my servant whom I have chosen...” Isaiah 43:10 (NWT)

14. 2.Jehovah (God the Father) is the only true God.

15. The Nature of God in Scripture: 1.The Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all God. 2.The Father is NOT the Son, the Son is NOT the Holy Spirit, the Father is NOT the Holy Spirit. 3.There is only one God.

16. “We believe there is one living and true God, who in essence, while eternally existing, is three distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all having the same nature, attributes, and perfections.” Friends Church Statement of Faith

17. “Sincere persons who want to know the true God and serve him find it a bit difficult to love and worship a complicated, freakish-looking, three-headed God.” The Watchtower Society

18. “JEHOVAH”

19. 3.Jesus is not God. Instead, He is a “god”; He is God’s first creation, by whom everything else was created.

20. Jehovah’s Witnesses Beliefs about Jesus -Jesus was sinless, born of the Virgin Mary. -He is Jehovah’s anointed savior, and His only- begotten Son. -He gave His life a ransom sacrifice to purchase Adam’s descendants from the power of sin, death and the devil.

21. Jehovah’s Witnesses Beliefs about Jesus -He is not God, but a god. -He was the first of God’s creation, and the one who created everything else in this world.

22. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 (NIV)

23. Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. John 8:58-59 (NIV)

24. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. Romans 9:5 (NIV)

25. “…while we wait for the blessed hope--the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13 (NIV)

26. “For in him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” Colossians 1:16 (NIV)

27. New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures

28. “A frightful mistranslation… erroneous… pernicious… reprehensible.” Dr. Bruce Metzger

29. “You greased my head with oil; My cup is well-filled.” Psalm 23:5 (NWT)

30. “[The New World Translation is] the single most dangerous piece of anti-Christian literature around.” Dr. James White

31. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 (NIV) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” John 1:1 (NWT)

32. Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” John 8:58 (NIV) Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, I have been.” John 8:58 (NWT)

33. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. Romans 9:5 (NIV) To them the forefathers belong, and from them the Christ descended according to the flesh. God, who is over all, be praised forever. Amen. Romans 9:5 (NIV)

34. “…while we wait for the blessed hope--the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13 (NIV) “…while we wait for the happy hope and glorious manifestation of the great God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13 (NWT)

35. “For in him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” Colossians 1:16 (NIV)

36. “…because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible,+ whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All other things have been created through him and for him.” Colossians 1:16 (NWT)

37. “[The New World Translation is] the single most dangerous piece of anti-Christian literature around.” Dr. James White

38. 4.Jesus is actually Michael the Archangel.

39. “There is Scriptural evidence for concluding that Michael was the name of Jesus before he left heaven and after his return.” “‘Michael the great prince’ is none other than Jesus Christ Himself.” The Watchtower Society

40. Michael Jesus

41. “But then Michael, one of the foremost princes, came to help me.” Daniel 10:13 (NWT) “During that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of your people.” Daniel 12:1 (NWT)

42. “…because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (NWT)

43. 5.The Holy Spirit is a force, not a person.

44. “[The Holy Spirit] is not a person, but is a powerful force that God causes to emanate from himself to accomplish his holy will.” The Watchtower Society

45. “I baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Mark 1:8 (NIV) “I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with holy spirit.” Mark 1:8 (NWT)

46. 6.There are two classes of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

47. “Then I saw, and look! the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who have his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.” Revelation 14:1 (NWT)

48. “After this I saw, and look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands.” Revelation 7:9 (NWT)

49. 1. The 144,000 – These are the “anointed” Jehovah’s Witnesses. 2.The “Great Crowd” – Most practicing Jehovah’s Witnesses.

50. The 144,000 – the “Anointed” Class -Consist of all true Christians from Jesus’ resurrection until now. They are the only genuinely “saved” people and are the only ones able to experience the many blessings of the New Testament. -Are self-identified by the taking of communion at the annual Memorial of Christ’s death. -Although they were supposed to all have been “sealed” by 1935, there were 12,604 from this group in 2014.

51. The “Great Crowd” -The vast majority of Jehovah’s Witnesses (8 million+). -Are not saved by grace (not “justified” by faith), but must earn salvation through becoming like Christ.

52. 7.We are living in the end of the end times. Armageddon may happen at any time. The fate of people at Armageddon is determined by what group you find yourself in.

53. When Armageddon Hits… - The 144,000:Will be resurrected spiritually and enjoy eternity with Christ in heaven. -“Great Crowd”: Will stay here on earth and be able to be a part of the millennium. Will (hopefully) grow to be more like Christ, and will face a test at the end of time determining their ultimate outcome.

54. When Armageddon Hits… - “Everyone Else”:If they die before Armageddon, will be resurrected and have chance to grow in knowledge of God. If they die after Armageddon, will be wiped off face of the earth.

55. Unique Beliefs about Eternity -There is no Hell or eternal punishment. People who don’t ultimately accept Jehovah cease to exist. -There is no real “resurrection.” People who die cease to exist for a time and are recreated by Jehovah as they were before.

56. “[The Christian clergy] is the most reprehensible of all of God’s enemies.” The Watchtower Society

57. Distinctive Practices

58. Preaching / Witnessing

59. “It is in our endurance in proclaiming 'this good news of the kingdom' that we may attain to salvation.” The Watchtower Society

60. -Publishers:~ 10 hours a month -Auxiliary Pioneers:30-50 hours a month -Regular Pioneers:70 hours a month -Special Pioneers:130 hours a month (usually in special location) -Missionaries:130 hours a month (usually in other countries) Hours per Month Witnessing

61. Prophecy

62. 1874 1877 1914 1915 1918 1943 1975 Prophesied Years of the End according to Jehovah’s Witnesses

64. Birthdays

65. -There are only two references to birthdays in Scripture: Genesis 40:22 and Matthew 14:6-10. -In both instances, both individuals celebrating a birthday were pagan (Pharaoh and Herod, respectively), and both had someone put to death. -Therefore, the Bible is teaching us that the celebration of birthdays is an evil practice and should be avoided. Birthdays in Scripture (according to JW’s)

66. Blood Transfusions

67. -God forbids Noah from eating animal life that still has blood in it (Genesis 9:4) -A blood transfusion is given to someone intravenously, and is like “eating” blood. -Therefore, a Jehovah’s Witness is forbidden from blood transfusions. Blood in Scripture

68. Government

69. A Few Defenses Adapted from Ron Rhodes, Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah’s Witnesses

70. 1.“Tell me about your organization’s history!”

71. 2.Colossians 2:9 and the meaning “divine quality.”

72. “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form…” Colossians 2:9 (NIV) “because it is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily..” Colossians 2:9 (NWT)

73. Can you name a single renowned Greek scholar who agrees with the Watchtower rendering of Colossians 2:9 or a single Greek lexicon that has “divine quality” as the definition of theotesis?

74. 3.1 Thessalonians 4:16 and the “Trumpet of God”

75. “…because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (NWT)

76. If reference to the archangel’s voice makes the Lord Jesus an archangel, then—to be consistent—doesn’t having God’s trumpet make Jesus God?

77. 4.A Comparison of Yawheh and Jesus

79. In view of the fact that numerous Old Testament passages about Yahweh are directly applied to Jesus in the New Testament, what does that tell you about Jesus’ identity? Download Chart at: http://www.breadoflifebiblestudy.com/Lessons/03TheTriuneGod/Arti cles/YahwehISYeshuah08.pdf

80. 5.Give them the Gospel!

81. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

82. What We Learn from Jehovah’s Witnesses

83. -We need to beware of unhealthy fascination with end times, especially with “date setting.” -We need to beware of authoritarian structures within any church, denomination, etc. -We need to heed the warning of 1 Timothy 6:3-5 and 2 Timothy 3:7.

84. If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. 1 Timothy 6:3-5 (NIV)

85. “…always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 3:7 (NIV)

86. -“What the cults will do for a lie, most Christian’s won’t do for the truth.” -We need to take seriously our study of God’s truth, moving beyond “milk” to “solid food.”

87. Final Thought

89. Y H W H J H V H