WATCHTOWER - DECEMBER 15, 1999

 

Page 4: Even in China, where only 0.1 percent professes to be Christian, Christmas is very rapidly gaining in popularity.

Correction: Millions of true Christians worship at unorganized "house churches" in China.

No one knows for certain how many Christians are in China. The Chinese government acknowledges the existence of 10 million Christians in its registered and regulated churches. In their appeal, the house church leaders cited 80 million believers, based, they said, on foreign estimates. The Oregonian, September 7, 1998.

 

Page 5: In the fourth century C.E., the prevailing church in the Roman Empire changed the name of the Saturnalia, the pagan Roman festival of the birth of the sun-god, and made this part of Christmas. The Christmas celebration amounted to a revival of local customs with a different name tag. How was that possible?

Correction: Christmas is not the celebration of the birth of the sun-god but of Jesus Christ.

Acts 10:15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call common."

 

Page 5: Gift-giving is one custom that has never faded away. For a long time, Koreans have found much joy in giving and receiving gifts. This was one reason for the popularizing of the Christmas celebrations in Korea.

Note: Do you give gifts?

Acts 20:35 "I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

 

Page 5: After World War II, for the U.S. soldiers stationed in Korea who wanted to strengthen their ties with the people, churches were places to meet and to distribute gifts and relief aid. Especially on Christmas Day did this occur.

Note: Do you give gifts?

Matthew 10:8 "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."

 

Page 6: In some ways we can say much the same about the celebration of Christmas. At first it was a "beast" living outside of Christianity.

Correction: The angels of God celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ.

Luke 2:9-14 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

 

Page 6: The recognition of Sunday (the day of Phoebus and Mithras as well as the Lord's Day) by the emperor Constantine ... may have led Christians of the fourth century to feel the appropriateness of making the birthday of the Son of God coincide with that of the physical sun.

Correction: True Christians gathered to worship on the first day of the week named Sunday.

John 20:19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you."

Acts 20:7 Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.

1 Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.

 

Page 6: The pagan festival with its riot and merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit or in manner.

Correction: True Christians do not practice riotous behavior.

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 

Page 6: Yes, a festival of the sun-god, outside of true Christianity, was brought into the prevailing church. It got a different name - yet its pagan character remained.

Correction: The Watch Tower is guilty of false accusations.

Colossians 2:16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

 

Page 6: And it helped to infuse paganism into nominally Christian churches and to corrupt individuals' spirituality. History bears out that as Christendom developed, the original attitude of "love thy enemies" gave way to moral degradations and violent wars.

Correction: Only one half of Christians are true Christians.

Matthew 25:1-2 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish."

Note: Are you expecting Jesus Christ?

Matthew 25:13 "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

 

Page 7: The atmosphere of Christmas was noticeable, but any sign of welcoming the Christ was not.

Note: Have you welcomed Jesus Christ into your life?

Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."

 

Page 8: The Bible writer Ezekiel wrote of the sun worship practiced at Jerusalem's temple: "Look! at the entrance of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with ... their faces to the east, and they were bowing down to the east, to the sun.

Page 8: It is similar in Christendom, where practices rooted in the sun worship of Saturnalia come to the fore at Christmas.

Correction: True Christians will worship Jesus Christ.

Matthew 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

 

Page 8: Because Christmas falls far short of representing Christ correctly. In fact, it obscures his true standing now. Jesus is no longer a babe in a manger.

Note: Jesus was worshipped as a baby.

Matthew 2:10-12 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

 

Page 8: Over and over, the Bible highlights that Jesus is now the Messiah, the powerful King of God's heavenly Kingdom. (Revelation 11:15)

Correction: Jesus was born the Messiah.

Hebrews 10:5-7 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come; In the volume of the book it is written of Me; To do Your will, O God.'"

 

Page 8: Frankly, Christmas has benefited neither the lands of Christendom nor other countries, including those in the Orient. Rather, it has diverted attention from the true Christian message about the Kingdom of God and the end of the present wicked system. (Matthew 24:14)

Correction: The Watch Tower is preaching a different "good news" not centered on Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the good news which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you; unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

 

Page 9: In that scenario, for over one hundred years now, Jehovah's Witnesses have been pointing to the real solution to the problems that have plagued this troubled land. That solution is God's Kingdom in the hands of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 6:9, 10)

Correction: The real solution is changing people through Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:5-6 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

 

Page 10: The Witnesses were English. His deep-seated hatred made it difficult for him to listen. "I did not always show that I was glad to see them," he says, "but they persevered in calling and talking with me, and I began to see that God's Kingdom would put an end to all the political and social injustices that I was fighting to eradicate." - Psalm 37:10, 11; 72:12-14.

Correction: Jesus Christ will end all of the political and social injustices.

Revelation 19:15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

 

Page 11: When he was 22, William joined the Ulster Defense Regiment, a part of the British army recruited locally.

Note: Not all military personnel are evil.

Matthew 8:8-10 The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"

 

Page 12: Gradually, though, Bible counsel, such as that found at Isaiah 2:2-4, changed his outlook. He saw that in the end Jehovah was his real protection, just as He was for the first - century Christians.

Note: True Christians look to Jesus Christ for their eternal protection.

Matthew 28:20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

 

Page 12: Reflecting on what the truth has done for me and my family makes me eternally grateful to Jehovah and his organization.

Correction: True Christians are eternally grateful to Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Page 12: I remember saying to God that there must be one true religion somewhere! Just a few days later, one of Jehovah's Witnesses called on Robert and left some literature.

Correction: True Christians realize look to Jesus not to a religion.

Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

 

Page 13: "The promise at Daniel 2:44 was a real eye-opener. I saw that God's Kingdom was the real means for removing all the injustices that I was struggling against."

Correction: Jesus Christ will remove all the injustices in the world.

Isaiah 63:3-4 "I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, and trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My robes. For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come.

Revelation 6:16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!"

 

Page 13: She and Robert found that instead of being divided by hatreds and prejudices springing from their different traditions and cultures, they now had many things in common. The most powerful of these was a love for Jehovah God.

Note: Do you love Jesus Christ?

John 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."

 

Page 13: Now they work together in bringing God's message of true peace to people of all backgrounds and beliefs in this troubled land.

Note: God's message of true peace is found in Jesus Christ.

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

 

Page 14: THE apostles must have been shocked when their beloved Master, Jesus, told them that they would all scatter and abandon him. How could such a thing be - in this, his hour of greatest need?

Answer: To fulfill Bible prophecy.

Matthew 26:31 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'"

Mark 14:27 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'"

 

Page 14: Similarly, many of us have moments in our past that we recall with some degree of shame, moments when fear caught us by surprise and kept us from standing as boldly for the truth as we would have liked. (Compare Romans 7:21-23.)

Correction: Being under the Law brings fear and insecurity.

Romans 7:1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?

Note: A true Christian will have boldness through the Holy Spirit.

Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

 

Page 15: So when Paul said to his fellow believers, "We are not the sort that shrink back to destruction," he meant that he and his faithful Christian readers were determined never to turn away from Jehovah and stop serving him.

Correction: Paul meant that salvation would be centered on faith not self-determination.

Hebrews 10:38-39 "Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

 

Page 15: Judas Iscariot was one who shrank back to such destruction, as did other enemies of the truth who willfully worked against Jehovah's spirit. (John 17:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:3)

Correction: The "son of perdition" was never saved.

John 17:12 ... and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

 

Page 15: If direct persecution fails to achieve his ends, he seeks to erode the faith of true Christians through subtler means. He wants to see bold, zealous Witnesses of Jehovah silenced.

Correction: True Christians will be Jesus Witnesses.

Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

 

Page 16: This upstart sect, these Christians, who have apostatized from Judaism, they have none of these things! Did such scorn find its mark? Some Hebrew Christians were evidently troubled by the attacks.

Correction: Many Hebrew Christians were still zealous for the law.

Acts 21:20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law;"

 

Page 16: Let us examine two reasons that Paul gave his brothers and sisters there in Judea for never shrinking back to destruction.

Note: Paul was addressing a "mixed multitude" of true and false Christians.

Galatians 2:4-5 And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

 

Page 16: The temple in Jerusalem was merely a copy of a far greater reality, Jehovah's spiritual temple, a building "not made with hands." (Hebrew 9:11) Those Christians had the privilege of serving in that spiritual arrangement for pure worship. They served under a better covenant, the long-promised new covenant, which had a Mediator superior to Moses, Jesus Christ.

Correction: The "spiritual temple" was the body of Jesus sacrificed for the sins of the world.

Hebrews 9:12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

 

Pages 16-17: He thus made a fitting prophetic type of Jesus, whose priesthood depended, not on any imperfect human ancestry, but on something far greater - Jehovah God's own oath. Like Melchizedek, Jesus serves not only as High priest but also as King, one who will never die.

-Hebrews 7:11-21.

Note: Have you come to Jesus?

Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

 

Page 17: Heartwarming, too, are Paul's comments showing that this High Priest is the same unchanging Jesus whom the Christians in Jerusalem had known. He was humble, kind, and one who can "sympathize with our weaknesses." (Hebrews 4:15; 13:8)

Note: Have you come to Jesus?

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Note: Have you come to God since He is unchanging.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Psalm 102:27 But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.

Malachi 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change;"

 

Page 17: Those anointed Christians had the prospect of serving as Christ's underpriests! How could they even think of shrinking back to "the weak and beggarly" things of corrupt Judaism?

Correction: God is faithful to reward true Christians with eternal life.

1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Page 17: Paul reminded them that they had been "exposed as in a theater" to reproaches and tribulations. Some had suffered imprisonment; others had sympathized with and supported those in prison. Yes, they had shown exemplary faith and perseverance. (Hebrews 10:32-34)

Note: True Christians will suffer for the name of Jesus.

Matthew 24:9 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake."

 

Page 17: On the contrary, "remembering the former days" would remind the Hebrews of how Jehovah had sustained them under trial.

Note: True Christians are helped by the Holy Spirit in their testimony of Jesus.

John 15:26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me."

 

Page 17: We are reminded of Jesus' exhortation to store up treasures in heaven. No thief can steal these treasures; no moth or rust can consume them. (Matthew 6:19-21)

Note: A true Christian will be in heaven to enjoy these "heavenly" treasures.

Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

 

Page 17: In fact, these treasures can be destroyed only if a Christian shrinks back to destruction. That would squander any treasure he had stored up in heaven.

Correction: Heavenly treasures can not be destroyed.

Matthew 6:19-20 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal."

 

Page 17: Like the first-century Christians, we live at a time when members of the more popular religions sneer at us and mock us, pointing proudly to their impressive religious edifices and the antiquity of their traditions.

Note: True Christians will suffer for the name of Jesus.

John 15:21 "But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me."

 

Page 18: Even after his death, there were more miracles. As foretold, though, such gifts eventually ceased. - 1 Corinthians 13:8.

Correction: Spiritual gifts will not cease until the return of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 13:10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

 

Page 18: However, we live during a significant fulfillment of the extensive temple prophecy of Ezekiel chapters 40-48. Thus, we have seen the restoration of God's arrangement for pure worship.

Correction: The restoration of pure worship occurred at Pentecost.

John 4:24 "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

Acts 2:33 "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear."

 

Page 18: That spiritual temple has been cleansed of all forms of religious pollution and idolatry. (Ezekiel 43:9; Malachi 3:1-5) Think of the advantages that this cleansing has given us.

Correction: The "spiritual temple" is your body through faith in Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:21-22 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

 

Page 18: During the first century, the future looked dark for the organized Christian congregation.

Correction: The future was not dark for true Christians in the first century.

Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

 

Page 18: Jesus had foretold that it would be as if a newly planted wheat field were oversown with weeds, making the wheat virtually indistinguishable from the weeds. (Matthew 13:24-30)

Correction: The wheat or true Christians would not disappear until the end of the age.

Matthew 13:28-30 "He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

 

Page 18: By the end of the first century, when the aged apostle John was acting as the final restraint against corruption, apostasy was already flourishing. (2 Thessalonians 2:6; 1 John 2:18)

Correction: True Christians were flourishing long after the first century.

Blessed is he who understands what it is to love Jesus, and to despise himself for Jesus' sake.

The Imitation of Christ, St. Augustine, Chapter VII. (Compare John 14:21)

 

Page 18: Not long after the death of the apostles, a separate clergy class arose, oppressing the flock and wearing distinctive garb. Apostasy spread like gangrene. How discouraging for faithful Christians.

Correction: The clergy were mostly servants of the true Christians.

He who has true and perfect charity, in no wise seeks his won good, but desires that God alone be altogether glorified. He envies none, because he longs to be blessed in God as the highest good. The Imitation of Christ, St. Augustine, Chapter XV.

 

Page 18: They saw the newly established arrangement for pure worship become overwhelmed by a corrupted form. This developed less than a century after Christ founded the congregation.

Correction: The Watch Tower proclaims Paul to be wrong!

Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

 

Page 18: Now, consider a contrast. Today, pure worship has already lasted longer than the period until the apostles died. From the time of the publication of the first issue of this journal back in 1879, Jehovah has blessed us with increasingly purified worship.

Correction: The true Christian faith did not need to be redelivered to the saints.

Jude 1:3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

 

Page 18: Jehovah and Christ Jesus entered the spiritual temple in 1918 for the purpose of cleansing it. (Malachi 3:1-5)

Correction: The Father and the Son will come to the person that loves Jesus.

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."

 

Page 18: Since 1919, the arrangement for worshiping Jehovah God has been progressively refined. Our understanding of Bible prophecies and principles has become clearer.

Note: Solomon warns individuals about people and organizations like the Watch Tower.

Prov 24:21 My son, fear the LORD and the king; do not associate with those given to change;

 

Page 18: Like those Hebrew Christians, we have a second reason for rejecting a cowardly, shrinking course - our own record of endurance.

Correction: True Christians will realize that God is doing the work of endurance.

Philippians 2:12-13 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

 

Pages 18-19: Whether we have begun to serve Jehovah in recent years or have been doing so faithfully for decades, we have built up a record of Christian works.

Note: True Christians will be servants of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:24 ... for you serve the Lord Christ.

 

Page 19: Many of us have suffered persecution, be it imprisonment, ban, brutality, or loss of property.

Note: True Christians will suffer for the name of Jesus.

Acts 5:40-41 And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

 

Page 19: All of us have endured, continuing in our faithful service to Jehovah despite life's challenges and tests. By doing so, we have built up a record of perseverance that Jehovah will not forget, a storehouse of treasures in heaven.

Note: True Christians are slaves or servants of Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

 

Page 19: Yes, let us be resolved that "we are not the sort that shrink back to destruction"! Let us, rather, be "the sort that have faith." (Hebrews 10:39)

Note: Is your faith in Jesus Christ?

Acts 24:24 And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

 

Page 19: Yes, you may see spiritual brothers and sisters of every age who surmount all manner of obstacles in order to serve Jehovah. How precious the faith of each one! - 1 Peter 1:7.

Note: Is your faith in Jesus Christ?

Galatians 2:15-16 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

 

Page 20: Notice, too, that he used the expression "we." Paul was a righteous man. Yet, he did not speak down to his audience, as if he were on a lofty plane of righteousness far above them.

Correction: Paul on occasion would correct a congregation.

1 Corinthians 4:21 What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

 

Page 20: As an imitator of Jehovah, Paul endeavored to see God's people as Jehovah sees them. That was not merely in terms of their faults but in terms of their good qualities and their potential for choosing to do good in the future. (Psalm 130:3; Ephesians 5:1)

Note: Paul was an imitator of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.

Correction: Apart from Jesus Christ there are no good qualities or potential in us.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

 

Page 20: Yet, we can help one another far more if we take note of and value the unique faith that each one possesses. With such encouragement, faith is more likely to grow.

Correction: A true Christian's faith will grow by abiding in Jesus Christ.

John 15:3-5 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

 

Page 21: Habakkuk evidently wrote his book just over two decades before the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E.

Page 21: When Jerusalem was sacked in 607 B.C.E., Jeremiah, his secretary Baruch, Ebed - melech, and the loyal Rechabites saw the truth of Jehovah's promise to Habakkuk.

Correction: Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 B.C.E.

In 588 BC Zedekiah led a revolt against Chaldea, and two years later (586 BC) Nebuchadnezzar's army destroyed Judah and razed Jerusalem. Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Volume 15, page 57.

 

Page 21: They kept living because of their faithfulness. Likewise, we will keep living if we are found faithful when the end comes. What a vital reason for strengthening our faith now!

Correction: Many true Christians are killed for their faith.

Acts 12:1-2 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

 

Page 22: It is easy to talk about a relationship with Jehovah, but to build and strengthen that relationship requires work. That is work we need to do!

Correction: True Christians will place their sincere faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."

 

Page 22: The persecution that threatened this faithful man was evidently so vicious, so violent, that Jehovah "transferred him," taking him from the living state to the sleep of death before the enemies could lay hold of him.

Correction: There is no "soul sleep" according to the Scriptures.

Revelation 6:9-10 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"

 

Page 22: Before he went into the sleep of death, Enoch may have had a vision of some kind, perhaps of the earthly Paradise in which he will awaken one day soon.

Correction: Enoch probably saw a vision of the return of Jesus Christ.

Jude 1:14-15 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

 

Page 22: Remember, too, that the sort that have faith do not serve Jehovah on the basis of a date or deadline when God will fulfill all his promises. Rather, we are resolved to serve Jehovah forever.

Note: True Christians serve Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God

 

Page 22: Primarily, though, we attend Christian meetings to worship Jehovah God. We do so by joining in prayer and song, by listening intently, and by offering "the fruit of lips" - expression of praise to Jehovah in our comments and parts on the meeting.

Note: Do you worship the Father and the Son together?

Revelation 5:13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!"

 

Page 23: Another way to build faith is through the preaching work. Paul wrote: "Let us hold fast the public declaration of our hope without wavering, for he is faithful that promised."

Note: True Christians will confess Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:8-9 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

 

Page 23: Did ones in the next city on his missionary tour, Thessalonica, find Paul shrinking back in fear? No he "mustered up boldness." He conquered fear and continued to preach boldly.

Correction: The Holy Spirit will give a true Christian power and boldness with assurance.

1 Thessalonians 1:5 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.

 

Page 23: So if you do not feel particularly bold about your ministry, or if some aspect of it in particular strikes you as intimidating, why not appeal to Jehovah to do the same for you?

Note: Are you abiding in Jesus Christ?

Acts 2:38-39 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

 

Page 24: You can do so by building yourself and others up through adept use of God's Word, by studying Bible examples of faith and bringing them to life, by preparing for and participating in Christian meetings, and by holding fast to the precious privilege of the public ministry. As you do these things, be assured that you are, indeed, one of "the sort that have faith."

Correction: Are you holding fast to Jesus Christ?

2 Timothy 1:13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Revelation 2:13 And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith ...

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