Who REALLY REALLY is the "Faithful & Discreet Slave"? >>>IS<<<<

by Mad 35 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

Arthur

The author "was telling us ALL to be Faithful & Discreet" at the time of his coming,
Yes Mad, Jesus' words were not limited to a short span of time before his return, but applied to all annointed Christians in the congregations beginning in the first century. This is in harmony with the apostlic writings.
1 Peter 4:10:
"Each one, as a good manager of God's different gifts, must use for the good of others the special gift he has received from God."
1 Corinthians 4:1,2:
"You should think of us as Christ's servants, who have been put in charge of God's secret truths. The one thing required of such servants is that they be faithful to their master."
Leolaia

It's clear the Jesus' parbles were identifying types of individuals - those who are faithful, and those who are unfaithful.
It is also important to note that the faithful and wise servant is promoted over the master's household AFTER the master comes, as "the master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know" (v. 50). The same language occurs in v. 42 (the parable of the unexpectedness of the burgler), v. 37 (the illustration of the coming of the Son of Man as like the unexpected coming of the Flood in Noah's day), v. 36 (the claim that only the Father knows when the time of the coming will be), and then in ch. 25 in v. 13 (the parable of the ten bridesmaids), and v. 19 (the parable of the talents). The coming itself is described in 24:30-31 and 25:31-46. It is clear throughout that the same event is being referred to. The Society applies all of this material as referring to a future Armageddon (= coming of the Son of Man in judgment) except for the parable of the faithful and wise servant. For no apparent reason, they claim that "this" coming must have been the one in 1914, and not the future coming at Armageddon (note however that parousia does not occur in this parable). The reason for this special pleading is of course self-serving: they want to claim that THEY have already been promoted over the Lord's household, and this can only occur AFTER the coming itself. But the parallelisms between the parables would demand that, to be consistent, the Son of Man has already come on the clouds of heaven, the sheep and goats have already been separated (which, btw, they also believed until 1995), the Son of Man has already come like the Flood of Noah or like a thief in the night, and that the time of the coming known only to the Father has already happened. Of course, this is not what they claim. The promotion of the faithful steward, however, is clearly parallel to the five "wise" bridesmaids going into the wedding hall with the bridegroom (25:10), the faithful servant being invited to "come and join in your master's happiness" (v. 21, 23), and the sheep who are given "the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world" and "eternal life" (v. 34, 46). The evil slave who says that "My master is delaying" and who beats his fellow servants (24:49), who is presented as the opposite of the faithful and wise servant, is cast off to "where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth" (24:51) and this is clearly parallel to the five "foolish" bridesmaids who are locked out of the wedding hall (25:10-12), the "wicked and lazy servant" who is "thrown into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth" (v. 30), and the goats who go "to the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels" and "eternal punishment" (v. 41, 46). In both cases the reward and punishment is not meted out until AFTER the Lord comes. In effect, the Society is presumptuously claiming that they have already been rewarded BEFORE the Lord has come to divide between the sheep and goats.
Arthur

The evil slave who says that "My master is delaying" and who beats his fellow servants (24:49), who is presented as the opposite of the faithful and wise servant, is cast off to "where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth" (24:51) and this is clearly parallel to the five "foolish" bridesmaids who are locked out of the wedding hall (25:10-12
I'm glad you brought up these parables Leolaia. I had forgoten about those examples. It reminds of a conversation that I had a while back with another ex-Witness about the whole subject of the "Slave Class"; particularly what Jesus' other parables revealed.
Even if one were to go along with the Society's assertions that the Faithful Slave is a "class", it still creates some serious issues for them. One of the characteristics of the Unfaithful Slave, and the Foolish Virgins, is that they had arbitrary expectations as to when the Lord should return. These unfaithful ones would no doubt try to set a time table for the Lord's return. I can't think of any other denomination that has fit this description more than the Watchtower Society. Not only that, but the Watchtower leaders; particularly Rutheford used such time tables to push, manipulate, and coerce their fellow Christians into accelerated activity in preaching a "New Gospel". (i.e. "Millions Now Living Will Never Die; Religion Is aSnare and a Racket, etc.)
avidbiblereader

I agree with Leolai,
Christ when asked by Peter in Luke 12:41 “Lord, are you saying this illustration to us or also to all?”
Would have fulfillment in Christ words in Mark 13:37 37 But what I say to YOU I say to all, Keep on the watch.”
Hypothetical, if it only applies to 144,000 does this not excuse any obligation and nullify Christ words in Mark 13:37, it is meant on a personal levela and our own faithfullness not a class and then us to the class.
abr
ninja

another point why it cannot be the society...when the inspection was made in 1919...the society thought jesus arrived in ....(((1874)))..... and that is what they were proclaiming....a false prophecy...why would Jesus appoint a false prophet as his faithful and discreet slave?
Mad

Thanks for the HELP, Jgnat!
I TOLDja I was slow! That is a fabulous site!
Agape,
Mad
Mad

The Truth & people are two seperate things! Going to all the meetings and doing everything instructed by our org is not "being in the truth"! Merely working together.
Being faithful to God & Christ IS "being IN the Truth.
the Mad JW
BizzyBee

The Truth & people are two seperate things! Going to all the meetings and doing everything instructed by our org is not "being in the truth"! Merely working together.
Being faithful to God & Christ IS "being IN the Truth.
the Mad JW

Well, I kind of agree (without defining other terms like, "faithful"). But of course you know, Brother Mad, that JWs refer to being Jehovah's Witnesses as being "in the truth," and conversely they refer to anyone who isn't a JW as being "not in the truth." Clearly, in that context, "the truth" is synonymous with being a Jehovah's Witness and practicing adherence and faithfulness to the dogma of the Watchtower Society. BTW, I was in "the truth" for 23 years, and this distinction was as well-known and common to me and my family and congregation as the sun in the morning and the moon at night.
Leolaia

Arthur...What is striking about these parables (which are all designed to explain the perceived delay in the Lord's parousia, compare Matthew 24:3 with the earlier Mark 13:4) is that the central fault is the failure of long-term planning. The faithful and wise servant has food to dispense to others because, like faithful old Joseph, he saved up food during the years of plenty. What Joseph did was act on his faith by saving up surplus food as a reserve when the "appointed time" comes. Similarly, this is a theme in the parable of the ten bridesmaids. The wise bridesmaids had brought along extra oil for their lamps. This was a precaution in case the bridegroom arrives later than they had expected. The foolish bridesmaids had expected the arrival to have been much sooner, and did not plan for the long term. And this was the same fault with the wicked servant who merely hid the master's talent in the ground. The wise servants invested the money so that it could accrue interest during the long term.
The Society has repeatedly advised Christians to not plan for the long term because the Lord's coming is instead "imminent". They are like the foolish bridesmaids who say, "What's the point of bringing extra oil when the Master is coming any minute?!" They are like the wicked servant who says, "What's the point in trying to invest my Master's money when he is coming any minute to get it back?"
*** w38 11/1 p. 323-324, 332 Fill the Earth Part 2 ***
If in obedience to the divine command the Jonadabs or great multitude will marry and rear children after Armageddon, would it not be Scripturally proper for them to begin doing so immediately before Armageddon? and should the Jonadabs now be encouraged to marry and rear children? No, is the answer, supported by the Scriptures. ....It would therefore appear that there is no reasonable or Scriptural injunction to bring children into the world immediately before Armageddon, where we now are.... The resurrected ones, that is, "children of the resurrection," have no [marriage] ties, because death has dissolved whatever marriage relationship existed with reference to them. There is no need, at the resurrection of them, to again take on such marital relationship. They will have nothing to do with the divine mandate to "multiply and fill the earth", which manifestly does not apply to the "children of the resurrection".
*** w67 2/1 p. 81 par. 6 Servants of God Full Time ***
They do not choose to get established in a career in the business world, because they cannot see throwing in their lot with a system that God’s Word plainly says is ‘going out of business’ in the near future. So how do they react to "attractive offers" from the world? During his last year of high school one young brother, just a short time ago, was offered scholarships that would have completely paid for a college education. But he knew that success he might enjoy in the world would be, at most, short-lived.
*** g69 5/22 p. 15 What Future for the Young ***
If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things. Why not? Because all the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years.... Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers. If you are in high school and thinking about a college education, it means at least four, perhaps even six or eight more years to graduate into a specialized career. But where will this system of things be by that time? It will be well on the way toward its finish, if not actually gone!
*** g74 11/8 p. 11 Is This the Time to Have Children? ***
Today there is a great crowd of people who are confident that a destruction of even greater magnitude is now imminent. The evidence is that Jesus' prophecy will shortly have a major fulfillment, upon this entire system of things. This has been a major factor in influencing many couples to decide not to have children at this time. They have chosen to remain childless so that they would be less encumbered to carry out the instructions of Jesus Christ to preach the good news of God's kingdom earth wide before the end of this system comes.-- Matt. 24:14.
Mad

Thanks for your help, Jgnat- I told you I was slow!
Mad

Who REALLY REALLY is the "Faithful & Discreet Slave"? >>>IS<<<<

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