This is the first installment of my bible study actually a long letter about apostates its about 6 pages long
I guess this is a warning however its an interesting read.If you would like me to post the other pages let me know
PLEASANT memories invariably come to mind when we as Christians reflect on the time when we first learned the'
truth from God's Word. It was beautiful, reasonable, satisfying. How our hearts swelled with appreciation when we I
learned about Jehovah and his lofty qualities, including his great love and his mercy! We rejoiced when we came into
association with fellow believers who showed genuine Christian love and lived by Bible principles.
2 How thankful we were to learn that Jehovah will soon remove pain, sorrow, and even death. (Revelation 21:3, 4) ,
Imagine, living forever on a paradise earth, with perfect health and complete happiness! It was almost too good to be I
true. But it was true. It was backed by God's Word. It was thrilling! Undoubtedly, we felt just like Jesus' disciples I
when he appeared to them after his resurrection.They said to one another:"Were not our hearts burning as he was ~
speaking to us on the road, as he was fully opening up the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32) Yes, on learning the truth I
and dedicating our lives to Jehovah,we found ourselves in a spiritual paradise.What a blessing!
3 But being in Jehovah's spiritual paradise is not something we can take for granted.We came into this paradise
voluntarily; we can walk right out (or be put out) if we go into unbelief or willfully violate Jehovah's righteous laws. Of
course,this will not happen if we keep strong the 'love we had at first,' if we continue to appreciate all of Jehovah's
provisions to keep us spiritually strong. (Revelation 2:4) But the Devil and other opposers of true worship are skilled in
deception. We should never forget that they stand ever ready to break our integrity if they can. Their propaganda is
designed to weaken our faith, to cool our love for God, to sow doubts in our minds-yes, to make the spiritual paradise
appear to be no paradise at all.
4 To borrow from a proverbial saying, we could come to the point where we would find it difficult, perhaps even
impossible, to see the forest of the spiritual paradise because of looking so closely.at the imperfect human trees now in
it. The thrill we had in learning the truth of God's Word, the grand hope we came to have, the love we developed for
God and our spiritual brothers, and the zeal we had for Jehovah's service can fade. If drastic steps are not taken to
reverse any such spiritual deterioration, soon God's loving requirements seem to be oppressive. The wholesome spiritual
food from "the faithful and discreet slave" may seem to be something contemptible, and the brotherhood
of loving servants of Jehovah may appear to be a household of enemies. Then the only satisfaction, of a perverted kind,
may come in beginning to beat one's fellow slaves with slander and half-truths.-Matthew 24:45-51.
5 Yes, we could not only lose the blessings of the spiritual paradise now but, more seriously, also lose the hope of
living eternally in the earthly Paradise. And we could lose out for the same reason that Adam and Eve lost the Paradise
of Eden. They had everything they needed to be perfectly happy and could have lived forever. But
independence-actually a different teaching-was more important to them than were obedience to Jehovah and the
blessings of Eden. Eve was deceived. While Adam was not deceived, he let the force of circumstances, including the
strong influence of his wife, cause him to sin also. Therefore, they were put out of Paradise, to live a miserable life until
their death. They lost the prospect of everlasting life for themselves and brought an inheritance of sin and death upon
their offspring. (Genesis
3:1-7, 14-19, 24; 1 Timothy 2:14; Romans 5:12) What a terrible price to pay for their so-called
independence!
6 The apostle Paul expressed this concern: "I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent seduced Eve by its cunning,
your minds might be corrupted away from the sincerity and the chastity that are due the Christ." (2 Corinthians 11:3)
Paul found it necessary to write regarding some erroneous teachings.that were circulating in his day. In his second letter
to the congregation at Thessalonica, he wrote: "We request of you
not to be quickly shaken from your reason nor to be
excited either through an inspired expression or through a verbal message or through a letter as though from us, to the
effect that the day of Jehovah is here. Let no one seduce you in any manner."-2 Thessalonians 2:1-3.
Have No Dealings With Apostates
7 Now, what will you do if you are confronted with apostate teaching-subtle reasonings-claiming that what you
believe as one of Jehovah's Witnesses is not the truth? For example, what will you do if you receive a letter or some
literature, open it, and see right away that it is from an apostate? Will curiosity cause you to read it, just to see what he
has to say? You may even reason: 'It won't affect me; I'm too strong in the truth. And, besides, if we have the truth, we
have nothing to fear. The truth will stand the test: In thinking this way, some have fed their minds upon apostate
reasoning and have fallen prey to serious questioning and doubt. (Compare James
1:5-8.) So remember the warning at
1 Corinthians
10:12: "Let him that thinks he is standing beware that he does not fall."
8 With loving help from caring brothers, some having doubts sown by apostates have recovered after a period of
spiritual turmoil and trauma. But this pain could have been avoided. At Proverbs
11:9 we are told: "By his mouth the
one who is an apostate brings his fellowman to ruin, but by knowledge are the righteous rescued." Jude told fellow
Christians to "continue showing mercy to some that have doubts; save them by snatching them out of the fire." (Jude
22, 23) Paul advised the overseer Timothy to instruct "with mildness those not favorably disposed; as perhaps God may
give them repentance leading to an accurate knowledge of truth, and they may come back to their proper senses
'Do Not Be QuicklyShaken From Your Reason'
"We request of you not to be quickly shaken from your reason nor to be excited either through an inspired
expression or through a verbal message or through a letter as though from us."-2 THESSALONIANS
2:1,2.