May you have both have peace!
In light of this thread and dear pjschipper’s current conundrum (i.e., ARE we following men?) I am SO glad that Frankie received the message he/she did! To help make my Lord's message to you… and any others with “ears” to hear… CLEAR… I am to direct you to the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector recorded at Luke 18:9-14, which, in the NWT, states (and dear pjschipper, you might want to “pay more than the USUAL attention” here):
“… he spoke this illustration also to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and who considered the rest as nothing: ‘Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and began to pray these things to himself, ‘Oh God, I thank you I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give the tenth of all things I acquire.’ But the tax collector… standing at a distance… was not willing even to raise he eyes heavenward, but kept beating his breast, saying ‘O God, be gracious to me… a SINNER.’ I tell you, THIS man went down to HIS home PROVED more righteous… because everyone that exalts HIMSELF… will be humiliated, but he that humbles himself… will be exalted.”
Do you see? First, the Pharisee believed he was righteous… better than all the others… because he kept the Law. And did you notice, he was praying to himself. Why? Because God wasn’t listening to him. Wait, what?! God wasn’t listening to a RIGHTEOUS person? Dear ones, hear and get the sense of my Lord’s words that, “I came to call, NOT righteous people… but sinners.” Matthew 9:9-13
And so, the tax collector, who confessed he was sinner… and not out of some fake “I’m a sinner because we’re all sinners,” attempt to fool God, but truthfully, because he WAS a sinner… and so openly admitted it… to his own humiliation… proved to be MORE righteous than the Pharisee who kept the Law! Why? Because, as my Lord also said: “Persons in health do not need a physician, but the ailing do.”
Dear, dear, dear pjschipper… may you also have peace… and may you hear and get the SENSE of it: you belong to an organization of people the majority of whom believe they are approved by God because they “don’t sin.” Because they “keep the Law.” Because they “practice righteousness.” Unfortunately, they entirely MISS the meaning of my Lord’s reason for coming… and for giving his life. Righteous people, dear one, have no need of salvation… because they can save themselves.
I ask you, if our Lord was here in the flesh today, do you REALLY think you’d find him in a Kingdom Hall, among all those oh-so-righteous “Keepers of God’s Law”? Truly? I think you would find him at the nearest homeless shelter. Or perhaps a hospital. Some have said maybe even a bar (then, again, maybe we would find him at a district convention… you know, sitting next to one of the donation cones and seeing just what’s what…)
Our Lord is the same dear one… yesterday… today… and forever. HE has not changed. And h is LIGHT has not changed. So that an organization that constantly has to change its teachings and doctrines… because what they prophesied… or what they projected… or what they taught… was WRONG… cannot be “from” him... and thus cannot be from God. May you hear… and get the sense of it.
And may you hear the call of the Spirit and the Bride who, to this day, KEEP saying “Come! Take life’s water, holy spirit, FREE!” The “Door” to the Ark [of the Covenant], which Door is our Lord (John 10:7) has NOT been closed. He stands WIDE open… and waiting.
I bid you peace… and ears to hear. If you wish them, all you need do… is ask. Psalm 40:6
Your servant, both, and a slave of Christ,
SA