1) So if Jesus was in heaven and came in 1914 where exactly was he and where is he now? is he on earth? I know is invisible presence but 2) where exactly? uh is he up in heaven? so then 3) what was the point of coming if he was gonna stay up there? he might as well not come until he was ready to actually do things. 4) So what exactly is he doing right now? Just watching us? Freaking Jesus.... answer me please!
Bible Students and Jehovah's Witnesses both believe in the parousia of Christ (invisible presence). However there is a 40 year difference. Bible Students believe the presence began in 1874, while the JW's believe it happened in 1914.
Now while they both believe in the Presence, they define it differently. In Chapter 4 of Volumes one of Studies in the Scriptures, it reads:
That our Lord intended his disciples to understand that for some purpose, in some manner, and at some time, he would come again, is, we presume, admitted and believed by all familiar with the Scriptures. True, Jesus said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age" (Matt. 28:20), and by his spirit and by his Word he has been with the Church continually, guiding, directing, comforting and sustaining his saints, and cheering them in the midst of all their afflictions. But though the Church has been blessedly conscious of the Lord's knowledge of all her ways and of his constant care and love, yet she longs for his promised personal return; for, when he said, "If I go, I will come again" (John 14:3), he certainly referred to a second personal coming
This feature of the Lord's presence is one that has been discarded by the Jehovah's Witnesses. It would seem as if they were addressing the articles to the Bible Students. Notice what the Watchtower Society teaches about the Presence:
"Not only are we not to look for Christ to be visible to human eyes when he comes again but we should not even think of his leaving heaven and coming within the confines of earth's atmosphere for him to be present. He returns or "visits" the earth as did Jehovah in times past, by turning his attention to things of earth. Thus Jehovah did not literally come down or "visit" (King James Version) the Israelites while they were in Egypt or at the time of the birth of John the Baptist; rather, he "turned his attention" to them. Likewise, when he began to call out a people from the nations for his name he did not literally "visit" but "turned his attention to the nations." (Ex. 4:31; Luke 1:68; Acts 15:14, NW) See also An American Translation and Moffatt." The Watchtower 02/15/55 pp. 102-103
Later in 1969 they wrote
"Then should you think of Jesus as invisibly present in the earth's atmosphere? When the Bible speaks of Jesus' return, it does not at all follow that for him to be present he has to leave his abode in the heavens". - The Watchtower 08/15/69, p. 485
Some points to keep in mind:
If our Lord only turns his attention to the earth, then the heavens still retain Him as he descends FROM heaven.
"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." Acts 3:19-21
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:3;
In this verse, "go" and "place" are specific, "location", "room" "I will come again" to take us back to this place.
"Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house." Matt 12:29
Keep in mind that according to Matt 12:29 - our Lord "enters the strong man's house". This is Satan's house, which is the earth atmosphere, (tataroo)
So in essence, the JW's say they believe in a invisible presence, but their definition does not sgree with the doctrine itself. According to them, Jesus is still in heaven, he simply turns his attention to the earth in 1914. But if that is the case, then when Jesus told his disciples, "Lo, I am with you always." By their definition, that constitutes a presence. So, the Lord has ALWAYS been present.
RR
