COMMENTS YOU WILL NOT HEAR AT THE 1-26-03 WT STUDY
DECEMBER 15, 2002 PAGE 8
"DRAW CLOSE TO GOD"
James 4:8 (are you using other Bible translations?)
James 4 (ESV)
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Introduction
The WTS feels that people can only draw close to God by coming through them. This is spite of what Jesus said:
John 14 (NIV)
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
And Paul said:
1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NWT)
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men , a man, Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all[this is] what is to be witnessed to at its own particular times. The WTS makes writes much about the Catholics praying through human saints, such as Mary, the mother of Jesus. Yet they teach the only way to know God is through them.July 15, 1987 WT page 19
Because Jehovah God does not give his holy spirit apart from his Word, and we cannot hope to receive holy spirit if we ignore the earthly channel Jehovah is using today, "the faithful and discreet slave," represented by the Governing Body of Jehovahs Witnesses. Without help from this "slave," we would neither be able to understand the full import of what we read nor know how to apply what we learn.Matthew 24:45-47.So does the Bible teach?GodJesusWTS or FDS or GBYouOrGodJesusYouThe WTS says: Would you not agree though, that actually having such a relationship (with God) requires far more than just talking about it or displaying slogans? And what slogan do non-JWs read daily on the WT buildings in Brooklyn?"Read Gods Word the Holy Bible Daily"Yet we find almost weekly, JWs have to be reminded to do so and to open their Bibles and follow along at the meetings. So who is "just talking about it or displaying slogans"?It is true as the WTS says that Jesus sacrifice opened the way of approach to God in a fuller sense.Ephesians 3 (AMP)
11 This is in accordance with the terms of the eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in [the person of] Christ Jesus our Lord,
12 In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear). Perhaps the reason so many JWs have to be told to ready their Bible daily and to follow along in the Bible when verses are being read, is that the WTS gets in the way. The WTS does all the deep study and research and puts it in their publications. No wonder so many JWs say "the paragraph says" or "the magazine says" or "the book (study) says" rather than saying, "the Bible says." The explanations of the Bible by the WTS become more important than anything in the Bible itself. Now lets examine what the WTS feels are three means to draw close to God.KEEP ON "TAKING IN KNOWLEDGE" OF GODJohn 17 (AMP)
3 And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent.Notice how the WTS shows the superior value of the NWT by saying that instead of just using the word "know" they use "taking in knowledge of God." They refer to the original Greek meaning as being a continuous process. See, it is not necessary for the average JW to check out a Greek lexicon and see what it says. The WTS has done it for them and protected them from any wrong thinking in these "worldly" research sources. I invite you to add some non-JW research sources and to your own research. Be like the ancient Bereans at Acts 17:11Acts 17 (NIV)
11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17 (NLT)
11 And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul's message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth. How does one come to know God intimately? "Form a longing" for the Bible not setting for the basics, looking into the Bibles deeper teachings.What would one of those be? Can you explain why this is no longer true?*** w85 5/1 4 Is God Delaying His Judgment? *** Thus judgment would be executed sometime during the life span of people seeing the first evidence of the time period foretold by Jesus. The start of this time period would mark the beginning of the end for Satans world, against which Gods newly established Kingdom in heaven would execute divine judgment. Bible chronology and the fulfillment of Bible prophecy provide ample proof that this time period began in 1914. Thus before the 1914 generation completely dies out, Gods judgment must be executed.
Are you "intimidated by such teachings" as the WTS says? Dont be, because you must know from the Bible yourself what these mean and do not rely on the WTS.And you can be confident that you need only the Bible and holy spirit and Gods blessing to do understand such things.But beware! Such knowledge could give you a big head: Pride. Dont let the elders know of your increasing knowledge. You will make them feel inadequate.The quote in this paragraph is not attributed to anyone but using the Internet I found that it is the foreword by Charles Osgood to "A Science Odyssey: 100 Years of Discovery." This is something to think about doing when secular sources are quoted. Take two or three of the main words and pop them into Google.com.But the WTS cautions, never use knowledge "as a means to exalt ourselves over others." Only the elders have that privilege.EXPRESS YOUR LOVE FOR JEHOVAHOf course, those not taught through the WTS, are wasting their time. "Many who claim to love God really do not." That sounds like the KH. Of, thats right, its the people they dont love, they do love God.1 John 4 (NLT)
20 If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen? Yes, these non-JW people "may be sincere about strong feelings that well up in their hearts. Such feelings are good, even commendable when in harmonay with accurate knowledge (as taught by the WTS). But they do not in themselves amount to real love for God. Why?" Love for Jehovah, then is genuine only when it is expressed in obedient actions (as taught by the WTS).So Mother Teresa was a bust. Jimmy Carter is wasting his time. The lady down the street that spends 20 hours a week at the food pantry is whistling Dixie. Well, Ill let God be the final judge of that. You have to make decisions every day, both major and minor. And what might those be? For instance, what kind of conversation will have have with your workmates, schoolmates, neighbors?Will you draw closer to those who show little or no love for Jehovah, or who will seek to strengthen your relationships with spiritual people? Yes, the Bad Association song is being sung here. Do not associate with people who lie and gossip behind your back. Oops, I guess that means missing the meetings.And now the WTS version of WWJD: What would Jehovah want me to do? (translation: what would the WTS and the elders say I must do?) And how do we express our love for Jehovah? We give to him our time and energy.Even if we were to refuse to preach the good news of Gods Kingdom, he could cause the stones to cry out! Then are JWs wasting their time?! When we give to Jehovah, we SHOULD do so GLADLY. BUILDING INTIMACY BY MEANS OF PRAYERAccording to the WTS, even our prayers could not be good enough. It is worthwhile to pause and consider the quality of our prayers. They SHOULD be sincere expressions that come from the heart. By meditating before we pray, We can make our prayers specific and meaningful, thus avoiding the practice of repeating phrases that feel familiar. They should tell the brothers that pray publicly at the meetings and assemblies.Read prayers in the Bible to get some ideas but dont repeat them word for word. Conclusion To draw close to God, you need to draw close to fellow humans. If you ignore or actively hate those on earth, God is far from you no matter what you say. To be close to God, you must be a truth teller. To draw close to God, you only have to go through Jesus Christ. No man or woman on earth, no organization paid the price Christ did to be that approach to God. Next week, learn how "Of earths six billion inhabitants, some six million worshipers of Jehovah or about 1 in 1,000, have found "the very knowledge of God." The rest of them are bird food (See Revelation 19:17-21)