Posts by hippikon

We would like to ask you good folk ( the bad ones can play as well) for suggestions for baby names. It’s getting close now and we need ideas. We don’t know the sex yet. I thought of name him “Farkel”.if it’s a boy. But he may hate me when he grows up!

14

Good Bye Everyeone

by proplog2 in

jw
friends

i am against official censorship.

i feel it is each individuals responsibility to walk away from groups that you find offensive.

although i am an a-theist i am not a-moral.. in greek mythology you have prometheus and epimetheus.

hippikon

Bye - I enjoyed your posts

"God was evolutions biggest mistake"

Hippikon

4

KM July 2001

by hippikon in

can you serve where there is a greater need?

have you ever contemplated moving to where there is a need for more kingdom proclaimers?

if in-vited to step over ... and help, would you respond as did the apos-tle paul?

hippikon

Glad to be of service.

God was evolutions biggest mistake

1

My new site. - Under Construction

by hippikon in

my new site.

.

im still working on it - ok. http://communities.msn.com/quantumefficiency&naventryid=100

hippikon

Test

God was evolutions biggest mistake

5

Watchtower Study - July 15

by hippikon in

"if god is for us,who will be against us?

(b) when identifying the true religion, what is the pivotal question?.

isaiah 65:13, 14.. .

hippikon

"IF GOD IS FOR US,WHO WILL BE AGAINST US?”

“What, then, shall we say to these things? If God is for us who will be against us?” – Romans 8:31

WHEN the Israelites headed for freedom after spending 215 years in Egypt, much of that time in slavery, “a vast mixed company also went up with them.” (Exodus 12:38) These non-Israelites had experienced ten awesome plagues that wrought havoc upon Egypt and made a laughingstock of its false gods. At the same time, they had observed—especially from the fourth plague onward—Jehovah’s ability to protect his people. (Exodus 8:23, 24) Although limited in their knowledge of Jehovah’s purposes, they were sure of one thing: The gods of Egypt had failed to protect the Egyptians, whereas Jehovah had proved himself strong in behalf of the Israelites.

1.Who left Egypt with the Israelites, and what led them to do so?

Forty years later, just before the Israelites entered the Promised land, Moses’ successor, Joshua, sent two men to spy out the land. There they met Rahab, an inhabit-ant of Jericho. From what she had heard about Jehovah’s powerful acts to protect the Israelites during the 40 years since their leaving Egypt, she knew that if she wanted God’s blessing, she must support his people. Because of her wise decision, she and her household were spared de-struction when the Israelites later captured the city. The miraculous way in which they were saved was in itself unmistakable evidence that God was with them. Thus, Rahab’s confidence in the God of the Israelites was not misplaced.—Joshua2:1, 9-13; 6:15-17, 25.

2.Why did Rahab support the Israelite spies, and why was her confidence in their God not misplaced?

Fifteen centuries later, Jesus Christ healed a blind beggar near the rebuilt city of Jericho. (Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43) This man begged Jesus to show him mer-cy, indicating that he recognized that Jesus had God’s backing. The Jewish religious lead-ers and their followers, on the other hand, generally refused to accept the miracles Jesus performed as proof that he was doing God’s work. Instead, they found fault with him. (Mark 2:15, 16; 3:1-6; Luke 7:31-35) Even when confronted with the fact that Jesus was resurrected after they had put him to death, they were unwilling to admit that this was of God’s doing. Rather, they took the lead in persecuting Jesus’ followers, trying to hinder their work of “declaring the good news of the Lord Jesus.” But some Jews, and later many non-Jews, took note of these events and eval-uated them correctly. To them it was obvious that God had rejected the self-righteous Jew-ish leaders and was backing the humble fol-lowers of Jesus Christ.—Acts 11:19-21.

3.(a) What miracle did Jesus perform near the rebuilt city of Jer-icho, and how did the Jewish clergy react? (b) What did some Jews, and later many non-Jews, come to realize?

Who Today Have God’s Backing?

On the question of true religion, one clergyman said in a recent TV interview: “I would insist a religion is true if it makes a person a better person when he or she lives by it.” Granted, true religion does make people better. But does the fact that a religion pro-duces better people in itself prove that it has God’s backing? Is that the sole criterion for determining if a religion is true?

4, 5. (a) How do some people feel about choosing a religion? (b) When identifying the true religion, what is the pivotal question?

Everyone appreciates being able to make personal choices, including the choice of re-ligious affiliation. But having the freedom to choose does not guarantee that a person will make the right choice. Some people, for ex-ample, choose a religion on the basis of its size, wealth, ceremonial pageantry, or their family ties. None of these things are in any way decisive in determining whether a reli-gion is the true one or not. The pivotal ques-tion in this matter is: Which religion urges its followers to do God’s will and gives solid evi-dence of divine backing, so that its adherents can say with confidence, “God is for us”? 6Jesus laid down the rule for distinguish-ing true worship from false when he said: “Be on the watch for the false prophets that come to you in sheep’s covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will recog-nize them.” (Matthew 7:15, 16; Malachi 3:18) Let us review some of the “fruits,” or identi-fying marks, of true religion so that we in all honesty can determine who today has divine backing.

6.What words of Jesus shed light on the matter of true and false religion?

Identifying Marks of Those Having God’s Backing

They base their teachings on the Bible. Je-sus said: “What I teach is not mine, but be-longs to him that sent me. If anyone desires to do His will, he will know concerning the teaching whether it is from God or I speak of my own originality.” And also: “He that is from God listens to the sayings of God.” (John 7:16, 17; 8:47) Logically, to enjoy God’s backing, one must teach only what God re-veals in his Word and reject teachings based on human wisdom or tradition.—Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:3-9; Colossians 2:8.

7.What does it mean to teach only what is based on the Bible?

They use and publicize God’s name, Jeho-vah. Isaiah foretold: “In that day you will cer-tainly say: ‘Give thanks to Jehovah, you peo-ple! Call upon his name. Make known among the peoples his dealings. Make men-tion that his name is put on high. Make mel-ody to Jehovah, for he has done surpassingly. This is made known in all the earth.’” (Isaiah 12:4, 5) Jesus taught his followers to pray: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified.” (Matthew 6:9) Therefore, wheth-er Jew or non-Jew, Christians were to serve as “a people for [God’sj name.” (Acts 15:14) God is obviously pleased to back those who are proud to be “a people for his name.”

8.Why is it important to use God’s name in wor-ship?

They reflect God’s joyfulpersonaIitj~ As au-thor of “good news,” Jehovah is “the hap-py God.” (1 Timothy 1:11) So how could his worshipers be unhappy or persistently pes-simistic? Despite world distress and person-al problems, true Christians maintain a joy-ful spirit because they regularly feast on rich spiritual food. Isaiah contrasts them with those practicing false religion: “This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: ‘Look! My own servants will eat, but you your-selves will go hungry. Look! My own servants will drink, but you yourselves will go thirsty. Look! My own servants will rejoice, but you yourselves will suffer shame. Look! My own servants will cry out joyfully because of the good condition of the heart, but you your-selves will make outcries because of the pain of heart and you will howl because of sheer breakdown of spirit.’ “—Isaiah 65:13, 14.

9.(a) Why does joy characterize members of the true religion? (b) How does Isaiah contrast true reli-gion with false?

They base their conduct and their de-cisions on Bible principles. “Trust in Jehovah with all your heart and do not lean upon your own understanding,” the writer of Prov-erbs advises us, “in all your ways take notice of him, and he himself will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5, 6) God backs those who look to him for direction rather than to the contradictory theories of humans who ignore godly wisdom. To the extent that a person is willing to pattern his life after God’s Word, he will avoid having to learn by trial and error.—Psalm 119:33; 1 Corinthians 1:19-21.

10.How do those having the true religion avoid having to learn by trial and error?

They are organized in the manner of the first-century Christian congregation. Jesus set out the principle: “Do not you be called Rab-bi, for one is your teacher, whereas all you are brothers. Moreover, do not call anyone your father on earth, for one is your Father, the heavenly One. Neither be called ‘leaders,’ for your Leader is one, the Christ. But the great-est one among you must be your minister.” (Matthew 23:8-11) A congregation of broth-ers precludes having a proud clergy class that honors itself with high-sounding titles and elevates itself above a laity. (Job 32:21, 22) Those shepherding the flock of God are told to do so “not under compulsion, but willing-ly; neither for love of dishonest gain, but ea-gerly; neither as lording it over those who are God’s inheritance, but becoming examples to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:2, 3) Genuine Chris- tian shepherds refrain from trying to make themselves masters over the faith of others. As fellow workers in God’s service, they sim-ply strive to set a fine example.—2 Corinthi-ans 1:24.

11.(a) Why can members of the true religion not be divided into a clergy and a laity class? (b) What example are those taking the lead among God’s people to set for the flock?

They are submissive to human govern-ments and yet remain neutral. He who fails to be “in subjection to the superior authori-ties” cannot expect to have God’s backing. Why? Because “the existing authorities stand placed in their relative positions by God. Therefore he who opposes the authority has taken a stand against the arrangement of God.” (Romans 13:1, 2) However, Jesus rec-ognized the possibility of a conflict of interests when he said: “Pay back Caesar’s things to Caesar, but God’s things to God.” (Mark 12:17) Those desiring to have God’s backing must “keep on. . . seeking first the kingdom Lof God] and his righteousness,” while at the same time obeying the laws of the land that are compatible with their higher responsibil-ities to God. (Matthew 6:33; Acts 5:29) Jesus stressed neutrality when he said of his disci-ples: “They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world.” He later added: “My kingdom is no part of this world.” —John17:16; 18:36.

12.What balanced position regarding human gov-ernments does God require of those desiring to have his backing?

They are impartial in working “what is good toward all.” (Galatians 6:10) Christian love knows no partiality, accepting all peo-ple regardless of their skin color, economic or educational status, nationality, or language. The working of what is good toward all and especially toward those related to them in the faith helps to identify those having God’s backing. Jesus said: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.”—John 13:35; Acts 10:34, 35.

13.What part does love play in identifying God’s people?

They are willing to suffer persecution for doing God’s will. Jesus forewarned his follow-ers: “If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also; if they have observed my word, they will observe yours also.” (John 15:20; Matthew 5:11, 12; 2 Timothy 3:12) Those having God’s backing have always been un-popular, as was Noah, who condemned the world through his faith. (Hebrews 11:7) To-day, those desiring God’s backing dare not water down God’s word or compromise god-ly principles so as to avoid persecution. As long as they faithfully serve God, they know that people will be “puzzled and go on speak-ing abusively” of them.—1 Peter 2:12; 3:16; 4:4.

14.Do people having God’s approval necessarily find universal acceptance? Explain.

Time to Evaluate the Facts

Ask yourself, ‘What religious group is noted for sticking closely to God’s Word, even when its teachings differ from the beliefs of most people? Who stress the importance of God’s personal name, even using it to identi-fy themselves? Who optimistically point to God’s Kingdom as the only solution to all hu-man problems? Who uphold Bible standards of conduct, at the risk of being considered old-fashioned? What group is noted for hav-ing no paid clergy, all of its members be-ing preachers? Who are praised for being law-abiding citizens, even though they refrain from taking part in politics? Who lovingly spend time and money in helping others to learn about God and his purposes? And de-spite all of these positive things, who are still looked down on, ridiculed, and persecuted?’

Millions of people throughout the world have evaluated the facts and have become convinced thatJehovah’s Witnesses alone are practicing the true religion. They have reached this conclusion on the basis of what Jehovah’s Witnesses teach and how they con-duct themselves, as well as on the basis of the benefits their religion has brought. (Isaiah 48:17) Millions are, in effect, saying, as foretold at Zechariah 8:23: “We will go with you people, for we have heard that God is with you people.”

15, 16. (a) What questions will help us identi-fy the religious group that enjoys God’s back-ing? (b) What conclusion have millions of people reached, and why?

Is it presumptuous of Jehovah’s Witness-es to point out that they alone have God’s backing? Actually, no more so than when the Israelites in Egypt claimed to have God’s backing in spite of the Egyptians’ belief, or when first-century Christians claimed to have God’s backing to the exclusion of Jewish reli-gionists. The facts speak for themselves. In 235 lands Jehovah’s Witnesses are doing the work Jesus foretold that his true followers would be doing in the time of the end: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”—Matthew 24:14.

17.Why is it not presumptuous of Jehovah’s Wit-nesses to point out that they have the true religion?

Jehovah’s Witnesses will continue to car-ry out this commission, never allowing perse-cution or opposition to impede their activity. Jehovah’s work must and will be done. Every attempt others have made during the past century to hinder the Witnesses from accom-plishing God’s work has ended in ultimate failure, for Jehovah promised: “Any weapon whatever that will be formed against you will have no success, and any tongue at all that will rise up against you in the judgment you will condemn. This is the hereditary posses-sion of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness is from me.”—Isaiah 54:17. That Jehovah’s Witnesses are stronger and more active now than ever before—and this in the face of worldwide opposition—is proof that Jehovah finds pleasure in what they are doing. King David said: “By this I do know that you have found delight in me, be-cause my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.” (Psalm 41:11; 56:9, 11) Never will God’s enemies be able to shout in triumph over Jehovah’s people, for their Leader, Jesus Christ, is moving ahead to final victory!

18, 19. (a) Why is there no reason for Jehovah’s Witnesses to desist from doing their preaching work, even though they are opposed? (b) How does Psalm 41:11 support the fact that the Witnesses have God’s backing7

Can You Answer?

•What are some ancient examples of people having God’s backing?

•What are some identifying marks of the true religion?

•Why are you personally convinced that Jehovah’s Witnesses have God’s backing?.

1

Watchtower Study - July 22

by hippikon in

moving ahead to final victory!

a white horse; and the one seated upon it had a bow; and a crown was given him, and he went forth conquering and to complete his conquest.revelation 6:2. .

by divine inspiration the apostle john was able to look some 1,800 years into the future and describe the enthronement of christ as king.

hippikon

MOVING AHEAD TO FINAL VICTORY!

“Look! a white horse; and the one seated upon it had a bow; and a crown was given him, and he went forth conquering and to complete his conquest.”—REVELATION 6:2.

BY DIVINE inspiration the apostle John was able to look some 1,800 years into the future and describe the enthronement of Christ as King. John needed faith to believe what he saw in vision. We today have clear evidence that this foretold enthronement took place in 1914. With eyes of faith, we see Jesus Christ going “forth conquering and to complete his conquest.”

1.What future events did John see in vision?

Following the birth of the Kingdom, Satan was evicted from heaven, causing him to fight harder and with greater fury but in no way improving his chances of success. (Rev-elation 12:7-12) His anger has caused world conditions to grow ever more critical. Hu-man society seems to be disintegrating. To Jehovah’s Witnesses this is clear evidence that their King is moving forward “to com-plete his conquest.”

2.How did the Devil react to the Kingdom’s birth, and of what is this an evidence?

A New World Society in the Making

Once the Kingdom was born, it was time to bring the restored Christian congregation — now with increased Kingdom responsibili-ties — more closely in line with the pattern of the first-century Christian congregation. Thus, in its issues of June 1 and 15, 1938, The Watchtower examined how the Christian or-ganization should operate. Later, the issue of December 15, 1971, more clearly identified the modern-day Governing Body in the ar-ticle “A Governing Body as Different From a Legal Corporation.” In 1972, bodies of el-ders were appointed to provide help and di-rection for the local congregations.

The restoration of proper oversight greatly strengthened the Christian congre-gation. Also contributing to this were the provisions made by the Governing Body to instruct the elders in their duties, including the training of them in judicial matters. The gradual developments involving God’s earthly organizational arrangement and their positive results were foretold at Isaiah 60:17: “Instead of the copper I shall bring in gold, and instead of the iron I shall bring in silver, and instead of the wood, copper, and instead of the stones, iron; and I will appoint peace as your overseers and righteousness as your task assigners.” These positive changes reflected divine blessing and evidenced God’s approval of those who had come out in zealous support of his Kingdom.

3, 4. (a) What organizational changes have been made in the Christian congregation since the King-dom’s birth, and why were they necessary? (b) Of what benefit have these changes been, as foretold by Isaiah?

The loving attention and guidance God gave his people after the birth of the King-dom did not go unnoticed by Satan. For ex-ample, in 1931 this small group of Christians went on public record that they were more than just Bible Students. In accordance with Isaiah 43:10, they were Jehovah’s Witnesses! Coincidentally or not, the Devil unleashed a wave of unprecedented persecution around the globe. Even in lands normally known for religious liberty, such as the United States, Canada, and Germany, the Witnesses were repeatedly forced to fight legal battles to re-tain their freedom of worship. By 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court had reviewed 71 cas-es involving Jehovah’s Witnesses, two thirds of which were decided in their favor. Today, throughout the world, legal battles continue so that, as in the first century, there can be a “defending and legally establishing of the good news.”—Philippians 1:7.

5.(a) How did Satan react to Jehovah’s blessing on His people? (b) In harmony with Philippians 1:7, how have Jehovah’s people reacted to Satan’s anger?

During the 1930’s, in the days lead-ing up to World War II, dictatorial gov-ernments placed bans or restrictions upon the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germa-ny, Spain, and Japan, to name only three. But in the year 2000, these three countries alone had almost 500,000 active proclaim-ers of God’s Kingdom. That was almost ten times the number of Witnesses in the entire world in 1936! Clearly, bans and restrictions cannot prevent Jehovah’s people from mov-ing ahead under their victorious Leader, Je-sus Christ.

6.Did bans and restrictions prevent Jehovah’s peo-ple from moving ahead? Illustrate.

What a manifestation it was of this for-ward movement when, in 1958, New York City saw the largest convention that Jeho-vah’s Witnesses had ever had, the Divine Will International Assembly, with a peak at-tendance of 253,922. By 1970 their work had opened up in the three countries mentioned above, except in what was then known as East Germany. But the Witnesses were still under ban in the huge Soviet Union and in its allied nations in the Warsaw Pact. Today, in these former Communist nations, there are well over half a million active Witnesses.

7.What outstanding event took place in 1958, and what dramatic change has taken place since?

Jehovah’s Witnesses have been blessed with increase because they have continued “seeking first the kingdom and [God’s] righ-teousness.” (Matthew 6:33) In a literal way, Isaiah’s prophecy has already seen fulfill-ment: “The little one himself will become a thousand, and the small one a mighty na-tion. I myself, Jehovah, shall speed it up in its own time.” (Isaiah 60:22) And the end is not yet. Just during the past decade, the number of active proponents of Kingdom rule increased by over 1,750,000 persons. These have voluntarily become part of a group about which a 1950 Watchtower made this observation: “God is now getting ready a new world society.... This nucleus will go through Armageddon, ... the first on the field of action in the ‘new earth’.. . , orga-nized theocratically, knowing organization procedures.” The article concluded: “On-ward, then, steadily, all of us together, as a new world society!”

8.What has been the result of Jehovah’s blessingon his people, and what did The Watchtower in 1950 have to say about this?

Along the way, this ever-growing new world society has acquired know-how that has proved invaluable today and perhaps even will during post-Armageddon restora-tion work. For example, the Witnesses have learned to organize large conventions, to of-fer fast emergency relief, and to construct buildings quickly. This activity has caused many to look upon Jehovah’s Witnesses with admiration and respect.

9.How have the things that Jehovah’s Witnesses have learned over the years proved beneficial?

Correcting Wrong Impressions

Still, there are people who accuse Jeho-vah’s Witnesses of being out of step with hu-man society~ This is mainly because of the Witnesses’ Bible-based position on such matters as blood transfusions, neutrality, smoking, and morals. But the public is in-creasingly beginning to admit that the views of the Witnesses have merit. For example, a doctor in Poland phoned the administrative office of Jehovah’s Witnesses and said that she and her colleagues at the hospital had for several hours been debating the subject of blood transfusions. The discussion was triggered by an article that appeared that day in the Polish daily Dziennik Zachodni. “I per-sonally regret that blood is overused in the medical field,” the doctor admitted. “This must be changed, and I am happy someone has broached the subject. I would like more information.”

During a conference held last year, med-ical authorities from Canada, Europe, Israel, and the United States discussed material de-signed to help doctors treat patients without the use of blood. It was pointed out at this meeting, held in Switzerland, that contrary to popular opinion, the mortality rate of pa-tients who received blood transfusions is ac-tually higher than that of patients who did not. Witness patients were generally able to leave the hospital sooner than those treated with blood, which in turn usually cut down the cost of treatment.

10, 11. Illustrate how wrong impressions about Je-hovah’s Witnesses have been corrected.

Many positive comments have also been made about the neutral stand tak-en by Jehovah’s Witnesses before and during World War II when they bore up under the Nazi onslaught. The video Jeho-vah’s Witnesses Stand Firm Against Nazi As-sault, produced by Jehovah’s Witnesses and appropriately premiered at the Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany on No-vember 6, 1996, has elicited many favor-able comments. At the opening of a similar presentation at the notorious concentration camp in Bergen-Belsen on April 18, 1998, the director of the Center for Political Education in Lower Saxony, Dr. Wolfgang Scheel, ad-mitted: “One of the embarrassing truths of history is that Jehovah’s Witnesses rejected National Socialism with far greater determi-nation than did the Christian churches.... No matter how we may feel about the teach-ings and religiousness of Jehovah’s Witness-es, their steadfastness during the Nazi re-gime commands respect.”

12. Give an example of how prominent individuals have praised the stand taken by Jehovah’s Witness-es as regards political neutrality.

When prominent individuals or court decisions come out in favor of Jehovah’s Witnesses on controversial issues, it may break down prejudices and cause the Wit-nesses to be viewed in a more positive light. This often opens the way for them to speak with people never before willing to listen. Such actions are therefore welcome, and Je-hovah’s Witnesses truly appreciate them. This reminds us of what happened in the first century in Jerusalem. When the Sanhe-drin, the Jewish high court, wanted to do away with the Christians because of their zealous preaching, Gamaliel, “a Law teacher esteemed by all the people,” sounded a warning and said: “Men of Israel, pay atten-tion to yourselves as to what you intend to do respecting these men. ... Do not med-dle with these men, but let them alone; (be-cause, if this scheme or this work is from men, it will be overthrown; but if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them;) otherwise, you may perhaps be found fighters actually against God.”—Acts 5:33-39.
14 Like Gámaliel, prominent individuals have recently spoken out in favor of reli-gious freedom for Jehovah’s Witnesses. For example, the former chairman of the Inter-national Academy for Freedom of Religion and Belief argued: “The religious rights of a religion should not be denied simply be-cause its convictions are viewed by society as unacceptable or unconventional.” And a professor of the scientific study of religion at the university of Leipzig posed a pertinent question as regards a German government commission set up to investigate so-called religious sects, asking: “Why should only religious minorities come under scrutiny but not the two large churches [the Ro-man Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church]?” For an answer we need look no further than to the words of a former Ger-man official, who wrote: “There can be no doubt that behind the scenes, church zealots dictated the political course the government commission took.”

13, 14. (a) What judicious observation in behalf of the early Christians came from an unexpected source? (b) Give examples of favorable comments that have been made in behalf of God’s people to-day.

To Whom Do We Look for Relief?

What Gamaliel said merely highlights the fact that a work with divine backing can-not possibly fail. The early Christians doubt-lessly benefited from his words to the San-hedrin, but they did not forget that Jesus’ words about his followers being persecuted were also true. Gamaliel’s action put a stop to the religious leaders’ plans to do away with them, but that did not eliminate perse-cution altogether, for we read: “At this they gave heed to him, and they summoned the apostles, flogged them, and ordered them to stop speaking upon the basis of Jesus’ name, and let them go.”—Acts 5:40.

When Jesus was on trial, Pontius Pilate, finding no fault in him, tried to release Jesus. But he was unsuccessful. (John 18:38, 39; 19:4, 6, 12-16) Even two members of the San-hedrin, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, who were favorable to Jesus, were lim-ited in what they could do to prevent the court from taking action againstJesus. (Luke 23:50-52; John 7:45-52; 19:38-40) The re-lief that humans achieve when they stand up in defense of Jehovah’s people—for what-ever reason—is limited at best. The world will continue to hate Christ’s true followers, even as they hated him. Complete relief can come only from Jehovah.—Acts 2:24.

15, 16. (a) Why was Gamaliel’s action limited in its effectiveness? (b) How were three other influen-tial individuals limited in what they could do in be-half of Jesus?

Realistically, Jehovah’s Witnesses expect persecution to continue. Opposition will cease only when Satan’s system has gone down in final defeat. Yet, this persecution, even though unpleasant, does not cause the Witnesses to refrain from fulfilling their commission to preach the Kingdom. Why should it, since they have divine backing? They look to their courageous Leader, Jesus Christ, as the proper example.—Acts 5:17-21,27-32.

17. What realistic view do Jehovah’s Witnesses take, but why are they not weakened in their resolve to continue preaching the good news?

From its very beginning, true religion has faced strong opposition. Shortly, it will be the object of an all-out attack by Gog, Sa-tan in his debased condition since his ouster from heaven. But true religion will survive. (Ezekiel 38:14-16) “The kings of the entire inhabited earth,” under the guidance of Sa-tan, “will battle with the Lamb, but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them.” (Revelation 16:14; 17:14) Yes, our King is moving ahead to final victory and will soon “complete his conquest.” What a privilege to be moving along with him, knowing that shortly no one will ever again contradict Jehovah’s worshipers when they say: “God is for us”!—Romans 8:31; Philippians 1:27, 28.

18.What difficulty still lies ahead for Jehovah’s people, but of what outcome are they convinced?

Can You Explain?

•What has Jehovah done to strengthen the Christian congregation since the Kingdom’s birth?

•What has Satan done to try to stop Christ from completing his conquest, and with what results?

•What balanced view should we have of favorable action by non-Witnesses?

•What will Satan shortly do, and with what outcome?

1

My new site. - Under Construction

by hippikon in

my new site.

.

im still working on it - ok. http://communities.msn.com/quantumefficiency&naventryid=100

hippikon

My new site.

Im still working on it - OK

http://communities.msn.com/QuantumEfficiency&naventryid=100

Disowned

by hippikon in

jw
friends

(so the image link didn't work).

im still working on it - ok. http://communities.msn.com/quantumefficiency&naventryid=100

hippikon

(So the image link didn't work)

Im still working on it - OK

http://communities.msn.com/QuantumEfficiency&naventryid=100

18

A deep and serious question for Francoise

by expatbrit in

jw
friends

francoise old chap:.

it has been noted that in several threads you have commented on how wonderful conventions are for, to quote your elegant phrase, "getting laid".. this raises questions in the minds of us (me?

) who never had any success whatsoever in this worthwhile endeavour.

hippikon

If you comb your face you may have more luck.