Were any of you anointed?

by TimothyT 70 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Awen

  @ N Drew. yes basically it's a continual process. One can lose out on the promise if they don't handle the word of God correctly (think GB).

  Revelation 7:3 "Wait! Don't harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants."

  This scripture brings home the point that it's only at the point of death does one know of whether one will be in heaven with Christ or not. We have a hope, but it's not assured. It depends on what we do with this gift that determines how things turn out. So when the WTS says a person has "finished their earthly course and is now reigning with Jesus", it's all speculation as only God, Jesus and the person themselves know what the end result is.
• 

  Quendi

  I have never considered myself to be "anointed", among the "called and chosen" or ever having the "heavenly hope". So I never partook of the emblems during the Memorial celebration. Now that I'm out, I have attended other church services where communion was offered. I still don't partake or participate in those celebrations.

  I'll probably be pilloried for this, but I don't believe it is God's purpose for all Christians to go to heaven when they die. I believe there is a scriptural reason for belief in everlasting life on Earth. That is my belief and leaving the WTS hasn't changed that. In addition, I think that when Paul wrote of those who 'ate and drank' unworthily, he was speaking of those who partook of the emblems when they were not called to life in heaven. In other words, I don't think that all Christians in the first century believed they would go to heaven, and that is why Paul said that Christians had to discern whether they were of the body of Christ or not. I know others think differently, and they certainly have the right to believe as they choose. For myself, I like the idea of unending life on a physical Earth in a human body.

  Quendi
• 

  Awen

  @ Botswanna "What does the Bible mean when it says beware for those partaking unworthily though?"

  Matthew 25:14-30

  The Parable of the Bags of Gold

  14 "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
  19 "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,' he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.'

  21 "His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

  22 "The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,' he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.'

  23 "His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

  24 "Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,' he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

  26 "His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

  28 "‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

  I hope this answers your question.
• 

  Awen

  @ Quendi

  2 Peter 3:13 confirms what you just posted.

  "But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God's righteousness."

  Not all will go to heaven, some will be on earth. I mean you consider that is where we started out in the first place. It would seem a waste of time and energy on God's part to send everyone to heaven if that was His original purpose.

  Isaiah 45:18
  New International Version (NIV)
  18 For this is what the LORD says-
  he who created the heavens,
  he is God;
  he who fashioned and made the earth,
  he founded it;
  he did not create it to be empty,
  but formed it to be inhabited-
  he says:
  "I am the LORD,
  and there is no other.
• 

  still thinking

  Hi Timmy. I asked this question a while ago too...here are some of the answers I got to add to yours.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/207723/1/Did-anyone-on-this-site-claim-to-be-of-the-annointed
• 

  N.drew

  Quendi, I believe someone with the earthly hope of living forever can partake. I think the bible calls unworthy someone who is neither hot nor cold. 1 Corinthians 11:27 says in an unworthy manner, does it not mean "not serious", in other words, selfishly, or out of curiosity only? I believe it is also alright to refrain from taking them even with the hope of reigning with Jesus, because you might not be particularly holy that day, then doing so next time becomes something to look forward to. I have not done so, yet, and do not plan on doing so (today). It is a symbol and I have not considered it much, I have been "out" of the society for 2 years only. I did not go to the last memorial. 2 Timothy 3:5
• 

  Quendi

  The idea that those with an earthly hope may partake of the communion bread and wine is a new one for me, N.drew. It certainly is worth investigating and I want to thank you for bringing it to my attention.

  As far as the "new earth" Peter writes about, Awen, that is an old promise. Isaiah says the same thing at Isaiah 65:17. The earth was created for humankind and I don't believe God has ever abandoned his original purpose to have it populated by an undying, perfect human family. That is where my hopes lie, although it is equally certain that some humans will receive everlasting life in heaven. I believe their role will be to serve as kings and priests with Christ as the book of Revelation and 1 Corinthians 4:8 state.

  Quendi
• 

  Perry

  The insomnia due to researching the Society and stimulants I took to stay awake led to a mental breakdown and I was hospitalized.

  Sorry to hear that discreet slave. The magnitude of the disception is overwhelming.

  The "annointed", in the Watchtower organization simply means that the leaders who run the printing presses are Justified (sinless before God). The salvation of everyone else is dependent upon doing what the ones who supposedly are Justified says to do. This is a foreign gospel to the early Christian congregation and is but another "damnable heresy".

  w.38 p.104,105

  30 If one has the hope of the high calling and his

  expectation is that he will be for ever with Christ.

  Jesus in heaven, then he must be dead to everything

  earthly ; as it is written : “Set your affection on things

  above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead,

  and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Col. 3 : 2,3)

  …

  33 The Jonadabs, or “other sheep”, are in a different

  condition. The Jonadabs have fled to the Lord and

  there found refuge. They are still human creatures,

  not even justified, because the receiving of life everlasting

  depends upon their faithful obedience within

  God’s organization and faithfully abiding there until

  the wrath of God is passed at Armageddon. It follows,

  therefore, that a Jonadab would not have the witness

  of the spirit that he is a son of God. The Jonadab

  must show his appreciation of the goodness of God by

  faithfully obeying the commandments of the Lord,

  and continue to seek meekness and righteousness and

  to joyfully await the time when he shall be fully

  ushered into the flock of the Lord and receive life

  everlasting on earth.
• 

  Perry

  The idea that those with an earthly hope may partake of the communion bread and wine is a new one for me, N.drew. It

  certainly is worth investigating and I want to thank you for bringing it to my attention.

  Quentin,

  The bread and wine symbolize the contract between a believer and God to get their sins forgiven... not for a governmental position as theWT teaches.

  In the Greek, the English words “testament” and “covenant” in the King James Bible are translated from the exact same word. The word simply means a contract. So for clarity, the KJV references below are using the English word “contract” in their places.

  What is God’s New Contract For?

  The bible is very clear:

  For this is my blood of the new contract, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. - Matt 26:28

  For this is my contract unto them, when I shall take away their sins – Romans 11: 27

  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new contract, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first contract, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. – Hebrews 9:15

  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new contract in my blood, which is shed for you. – Luke 22:20

  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new contract in my blood: this do ye, - 1 Corinthians 11:25

  This is the contract that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them. And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. - Hebrews 10:16, 17

  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new contract; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. - 2 Corinthians 3: 6

  For two thousand years, bible-believing Christians have understood the New Testament to say what it means and to mean what it says. They obeyed Jesus’ command to “this do ye” in 1 Cor. 11:25 to drink of the cup and to eat of his symbolic flesh during the Lord ’s Supper which memorialized God’s instrument (Jesus) for getting our sins forgiven and escaping judgment.
• 

  GLTirebiter

  What does the Bible mean when it says beware for those partaking unworthily though?

  The word "hypocrite" sums it up nicely. See Matthew 23, especially verses 5-7 and 23-28. "All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’" "You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside may also be clean." Partaking to make a show of holiness without first converting your own heart and soul: that is what makes you unworthy!