Dear friends,
If one presents a Jehovah's Witness with these scriptures,
it may give them something to think about.
(John 14:15)"If you 'love' me, you will observe my commandments."
(verse 21)"He that has my commandments and observes them,
that one is he who loves me. In turn he that loves me,
will be loved by my Father, and I will plainly show myself
to him."
What were Christ's commandments?
First of all, what is the commandment of God?
(Luke9:34)
And a voice came out of the cloud, saying:
"This is my Son, the one that has been chosen, Listen to him."
God commanded we MUST LISTEN to Jesus!
(John 8:47)"He that is from God listens to the sayings
of God. This is why you do not listen, because you are not
from God."
(John 18:37)Jesus said,
"Everyone that is on the side of the Truth,
listens to my voice."
(John 15:20) Jesus also said to his disciples,"if they
have observed my word, they will observe yours also."
(John 15:14) "You are my friend if you do the things I am
commanding you."
(John 14:23)"If anyone loves me, he will observe my word,
and my Father will love him and we shall come to him and
make our abode with him. He that does not love me does not
observe my words; and the word that you are hearing are
not mine, but belongs to the Father who sent me."
(John 15:17)"These are the things I command you, that you
love one another."
(John 14:1)"[exercise]faith in God, exercise faith also in
me."
(John 8:51)"Most truly I say to you, If anyone observes my
word, he will never see death at all!"
(John 6:48)"I am the bread of life, your forefathers ate the
manna in the wilderness and yet died. This is the bread that
comes down from heaven so that ANYONE may eat of it and NOT DIE.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone
eats of this bread he will live forever, and, for a fact,
the bread that I shall give is my flesh in behalf of the life
of the world."
(verse 53)"Most truly I say to you, Unless you eat that flesh
of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in
yourselves. (spiritually dead) He that feeds on my flesh and
drinks my blood has everlasting life and I shall resurrect him
at the last day, for my flesh is true food, and my blood, true
drink. He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains
in union with me, and I in union with him. Just as the living
Father sent me forth and I live because of the Father, he also
that feeds on me, even that one will live because of me. This is
the bread that came down from heaven, It is not as when your
forefathers ate and yet died. He that feeds on this bread will live forever."The sayings that I have spoken to you are spirit
and are life. But there are some of you that do not believe."
You might ask,
"Do you believe Christ's words? Do you obey them?
If not, ask them why?
Is it because of the teachings of their church you do not obey?
Christ? Is it because of the church's doctrines? Or is it fear
of what others may think of you?
Then present to this scripture:
(Mark 7:7)"It is in vain that they keep worshipping me, because
they teach as doctrines commands of men. Letting go the
commandment of God, you hold fast the tradition of men."
(see also Jerimiah 17:5)
"Cursed be the able bodied man who puts his trust in
earthling man and actually makes flesh his arm, and
whose heart turns away from Jehovah himself.
(verse 7) "Blessed be the able bodied man who puts his
trust in Jehovah and whose confidence Jehovah has become.
And he will certainly become like a tree planted by the
waters, that sends out its roots right by the watercourse,
and he will not see when heat comes but his foliage will
actually prove to be luxuriant. And in the year of drought,
he will not become anxious nor will he leave off from
producing fruit."
(verse 12-13)"There is the glorious throne on high from the
start; it is the place of our sanctuary. O Jehovah, the hope
of Israel, all those who are leaving you will be put to
shame. THose apostatizing from me will be written down even
in the earth because they have left the source of living
water, Jehovah."
You might ask, "who do you put your faith in, God's word?
or men who are religious leaders ?
I'd remind them of this scripture quoted often, yet not
getting the sense of it's true meaning.
(Matt. 28:19-20)
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of people of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the holy spirit, TEACHING them to OBSERVE
ALL THE THINGS I HAVE COMMANDED YOU. And look, I am with
you all the days until the conclusion of the system of
things."
Now stop, let them think about what is being said here.
What does this scripture mean? Doesn't it mean Christ's
disciples must preach, making more disciples, teaching
them to do all the commandments they were taught to do?
Passing it on to others? Of course it does!
Ask them," Does your religious leaders teach their students
to observe all the things Christ commanded his disciples to
do?
If not, then they are not teaching the Truth.
After all Jesus Christ is the Truth! (John 14:6)
He is the LIGHT. (John 8:12) "I am the Light of the world."
(John 3:17-19)"For God sent forth his Son into the world,
not for him to judge the word, but for the world to be saved
through him (not religous organizations)He that [exercises]
faith in him is not to be judged. He that does not [exercise]
faith in him has been judged already, because he has not
[exercised] faith in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Now this is the basis for judgement, that thelight has come
into the world but men have loved the darkness rather than
the light, for their works were wicked. For he that practices
vile things hates the light and does not come to the light,
in order that his works may not be reproved. But he that does
what is true comes to the light in order that his works
may be made manifest as having been worked in harmony with God."
You may want to ask them, "Does your religion allow to be
examined or questioned? Does it allow you to see faults that
had been done in the past and present?
(Amos 5:10) "In the gate they have hated a reprover and
a speaker of perfect things they detest."
Does your religion hate a reprover? Does it allow examination
of it's claim that God has chosen it to dispence sprititual
food at the proper time? Are you allowed to examine it's
teachings when Christ had (?) chosen them?
Have you researched it's past teachings? If not, why not?
Why do you fear?
(1 John 4:18)"There is no fear in love, but perfect
love throws fear outside because fear exercises a restraint."
Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born from
God, and everyone who loves the one that caused to be born
loves him who has been born from that one. By this, we gain
the knowledge that we are loving the children of God, when we are loving God and doing his commandments."
(1 John 5:1-12)"For this is what the love of God means that
we observe his commandments and yet his commandments are not
burdensome, because everything that has been born
from God conquers the world.
And this is the conquest that has conquered the word,
our faith. Who is the one that conquers the word but he
who has faith that Jesus is the Son of God?
This is he that came by means of water and blood,
Jesus Christ; not with the water only but with the water
and with the blood. And the spirit is that which is
bearing witness, because the spirit it the truth."(1 John 5:1-6)
(verse 9) If we receive the witness men give, the witness
God gives is greater, because this is the witness God gives,
the fact that he has borne witness concerning his Son. The
[person]putting his faith in the Son of God has the witness
given in his own case. The [person] not having faith in God
has made him a liar, because he has not put his faith in
the witness given, which God as witness has given concerning
his son. And this is the witness given, that God gave us ever
lasting life and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son
has this life, he that does not have the Son of God, does
not have this life."
If one really reads the Bible, we see God tells us we get
life if we are 'in Christ'. Not 'in man made religions'.
In Christ we are saved. In no other name are we saved.
(1 Corinthians 7:23) "You were bought with a price, stop
becoming slaves of men."
Love 'in Christ'
Trudy
