Gathering yourselves together is being fulfilled right here in this discussion board. You don't need a physical church any more to associate with others of like mindedness.
As far as preaching he "good news", yes, that was fulfilled by JWs in 1947 when NH Knorr did a worldwide speaking tour early in the year. Later that year on November 30, 1947 the "end" occurred as prophesied; that is, the "end of the gentile times" when the Partition Agreement went into effect, officially ending Jewish exile. The "end" of Matthew 24 is misinterpreted by JWs and many others to be the "end of the world" that occurs at Armageddon.
Otherwise, JWs are the true "temple in its right condition" sect from 1886 to 1996. But not after 1996. The parable of the separation of the sheep and goats specirfically applies to the Witness organization. When Christ comes he separates the sheep from the goats in this organization. The sheep are the "little flock" whom he removes and brings to "other sheep not of this fold" where Christ is gathering sheep. Thisis the most important point, therefore, for you to address. That is, that Jesus sends out TEN SLAVES to gather his sheep into different flocks and then those flocks are combined into one. The WTS is one of those ten slaves but which becomes apostatae and an organization mixed with sheep and goats.
The WTS is like a bus going from New York to Los Angeles. Christ is waiting on the West Coast in San Diego. So its okay to ride that bus west until the San Diego turn-off. If you don't get off and change destinations, then continuing on to L.A. will lead to death. Remember, you have to get off the broad road leading off into destruction and go down the narrow path. What does that say? That says that being on the broad road is okay up to a point. But you must remain awake to see when to get off and go down the narrow path.
Your problem is that you think once you have foun the true religion, you must stick with it until the end. WRONG. It is only an approved path until the second coming when Christ shows the way of the sheep to another place and then abandons the WTS which has become apostate.
In other words, the WTS is represented by the 10 virgins. They are all on the same road and their journey is the same. They all nod and all their lamps grow dim. But when the messiah arrives, it is only the 5 wise virgins that get their lamps to burn brightly because they brought the extra oil. They do not share their oil with the foolish virgins, not one drop. This is the point where the sheep are separated from the goats within this organization. This is where the wise virgins leave the broad road and find the narrow path. The foolish virgins, not paying attention, continue down the same broad road that now leads off into destruction.
Salvation comes through the INDIVIDUAL RELATIONSHIP you have with Jehovah and the Bible and not through an organization. Then once you develop this individual faith and connection, then you "gather together" with others who have a direct relationship with Jehovah with no organizational "mediator" to connect them to God and Christ, which is the error of the WTS.
Witnesses fall into idolatry by worshipping the angel that gives them spiritual food. Remember, John was tempted to do this by bowing down to the angel who gave him the vision, but he was told, "Be careful! Do not do that! Worship only God." So yes, it is tempting to be impressed by the WTS who promotes itself as the "faithful and discreet slave" and to rejoice in finding the true religion. But that only goes when they actually are still teaching the truth. When you find them not teaching the truth, then they are not impressive. They want to claim they are the FDS and have you accept that whether they qualify or not or are teaching the truth or not. That's where the division between the sheep and goats or wise and foolish virgins occurs. The foolish virgins don't care about truth and embrace the lies the WTS weaves for them in the darkness. They don't really care if the WTS is right or wrong, they just know this is the only true religion around. But others, who embrace what is in the Bible vs. what is in the Watchtower, like the Bereans who check things out, find out the WTS errors and then they "Get out of Babylon the Great, My people" and find out where else Christ is gathering his flock.
The CRITICAL ERROR is staying with the WTS by default since they see no public organization with these values. But if they read the Bible carefully, they would see that all the other NINE SLAVES where Christ is gathering his sheep are secret societies. The woman is hidden in the "wilderness." The woman represents the primary body of Christ's followers. The "wilderness" represents being hidden and secretive.
Thus the WTS now fulfills an organization where everybody is always taking in knowledge but never coming to an accurate knowledge of the truth. Thus an organization having a form of Godly devotion but proving false in its power.
Yes, the WTS served as the "temple in its right condition" after the 2300 evenings and mornings from 1886 to 1996. Since 1996 Jehovah deals directly with spiritual Israel. Further, the GB was identified as the "man of lawlessness" on November 10, 1992 when a letter was sent to them by an inspired anointed brother informing them of this. Now the WTS has been abandoned into spiritual darkness and is now an apostate organization.
the question you need to ask yourself is: ARE YOU PROMOTING TRUTH? OR YOUR FAVORITE ORGANIZATION?
We are told to KEEP TESTING to see if we are still in the faith. You're not doing that. The WTS might have been the "true religion" in 1960 or 1980, but is it NOW?
LS
