All right. The part of the chapter that I want to focus on there is beginning in verse number 10 where the Bible reads: "'Ye are my witnesses,' saith the Lord, 'and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, I am the LORD, and beside me there is no savior."
The title of my sermon this evening is Jehovah's False Witnesses. I'm going to be exposing the cult of the Jehovah's witnesses. Many people today, and surprisingly even Christians, have this idea. A lot of times when you speak to them they'll have this idea that Jehovah's witnesses, they believe, are just a Christian that kind of has a little bit of a different view. More and more, and the reason why is these people out knocking on doors deceiving people, and they tell them that they want to have a Bible study. They tell everyone that they're just a Bible student. They believe in God. They believe in the same Bible. They'll even refer to themselves as Christians. I'm going to prove from the Bible tonight that the Jehovah's witnesses are far from being a Biblical Christian, number one.
Man:
That's right.
Deacon:
The Jehovah's witnesses are so far out in left field it's not even funny. Not only that, I'm going to prove that the doctrines that the Jehovah's witnesses teach in their ... I can't even remember what they're called. What are they called? The Kingdom Hall. That they teach in the Kingdom Hall are doctrines of devils. They're man made doctrines that are doctrines of devils and they're wicked.
I'm going to read to you, first of all. The very first thing that I'm going to do is I'm going to give you a background on ... This is the only thing that I'm going to read from any other source other than jw.org. I'm not going to stand up in here and tell you why I think that they're wicked and why I think that what they believe is of the devil. I actually printed off ... I went to the Jehovah's witnesses' official website, and I looked at all the major doctrines that they believe. I printed it all first hand so that I could read exactly, verbatim, word for word what the Jehovah's witnesses read.
This will be the only thing. I'm going to give you a background and a history of the founder and everything of who founded the Jehovah's witnesses first. Wikipedia reads: "Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity.The group claims a worldwide membership of more than 8.2 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance figures of more than 15 million, and an annual Memorial attendance of more than 19.9 million. Jehovah's Witnesses are directed by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, a group of elders in Brooklyn, New York, which establishes all doctrines based on its interpretations of the Bible. They prefer to use their own translation, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, although their literature occasionally quotes and cites other translations. They believe that the destruction of the present world system at Armageddon is imminent, and that the establishment of God's kingdom over the earth is the only solution for all problems faced by humanity."
"The group emerged from the Bible Student movement, founded in the late 1870s by Charles Taze Russell with the formation of Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society, with significant organizational and doctrinal changes under the leadership of Joseph Franklin Rutherford. Jehovah's Witnesses are best known for their door-to-door preaching, distributing literature such as The Watchtower and Awake!, and refusing military service and blood transfusions. They consider use of the name Jehovah vital for proper worship. They reject Trinitarianism, inherent immortality of the soul, and hellfire, which they consider to be unscriptural doctrines. They do not observe Christmas, Easter, birthdays or other holidays and customs they consider to have pagan origins incompatible with Christianity. Adherents commonly refer to their body of beliefs as "the truth" and consider themselves to be 'in the truth'."
Joseph Franklin Rutherford took over in 1917, and they had a convention in 1931 on July 26th in Columbus, Ohio. Rutherford "introduced the new name, Jehovah's witnesses, based on Isaiah 43:10 which reads: 'Ye are my witnesses,' saith the Jehovah, 'and my servant whom I have chosen,' which was adopted by resolution. The name was chosen to distinguish his group of Bible students from other independent groups that had severed ties with the society, as well as symbolize the instigation of new outlooks and the promotion of fresh, evangelizing methods."
Like I said, that's the only thing that I'm going to read that is not directly from jw.org. That's just what Wikipedia cited, and they just gave you ... A lot of the resources you could look them up yourself. I'm not exactly sure that they used, but everything else ... I printed off a list of all the doctrines, and this is what it is, all their major doctrines: salvation, the name of Jehovah is Jesus God, Jesus' death, Jesus' resurrection, hell, and the immortality of the soul. We call that 'soul sleep'. I'm going to let them tell us what they believe and then we're going to open up the King James Bible and we're going to see if that's what the Bible teaches.
Like I said, they are so far from being Christians it's not even funny. That list of doctrine that I just read off to you, they literally reject every single one of them from the Bible, every single one of them. Not one of them of they believe. Quickly, you turn to Acts Chapter 16 Verse 30. I'm going to read to you from What is Salvation, from jw.org. This is their answer. What is salvation?
"The Bible's answer. The terms 'save' and 'salvation' are sometimes used by Bible writers to convey the idea of a person’s being delivered from danger or destruction. Often, though, these terms refer to deliverance from sin. Since death is caused by sin, people who are saved from sin have the hope of living forever. What is the way of salvation? To gain salvation, you must exercise faith in Jesus and demonstrate that faith by obeying his commandments."
The Bible shows that you must have works, or acts of obedience, to prove that your faith is alive. However, this does not mean that you can earn salvation. It is 'God’s gift' based on his 'undeserved kindness,' or 'grace.' Can you lose out on salvation," is the bottom part here. "Yes. Just as a person saved from drowning could fall or jump back into the water, a person who has been saved from sin but fails to keep exercising faith could lose out on salvation. For this reason, the Bible urges Christians who have received salvation “to put up a hard fight for the faith.”
There's one other article that just goes together with this one. I'm going to go ahead and read it now. The title of it is Does the Bible teach 'Once Saved Always Saved'? The Bible's answer, "No, it does not teach the doctrine of ‘once saved, always saved.’ A person who has gained salvation by faith in Jesus Christ can lose that faith and the salvation that comes with it. The Bible says that maintaining faith requires great effort, a 'hard fight.'
"The Bible warns against serious sins that will keep a person from entering God’s Kingdom. If salvation could not be lost, such warnings would be meaningless. Instead, the Bible shows that someone who has been saved can fall away by returning to a practice of serious sin. Christians are commanded to 'keep on the watch.' Those who fall asleep spiritually, whether by practicing 'works belonging to darkness' or by not fully performing the works that Jesus commanded, lose their salvation."
You are in Acts Chapter 30. This is going to obviously seem very elementary to everybody, but we're going to go through the plan of salvation, basically. I don't want to leave a single stone that's not turned. We're going to check every single one of these from the gospel from the very beginning. Look at Acts Chapter 16 Verse 30. Did you notice how they give lip service to "it's by grace" over and over again? Just like everybody does. They tell you, "You're not earning it, but you have to be good. You're not earning it, but if you don't keep the commandments, if you don't have the obedience, well then you're going to go to hell." They're just speaking out of both sides of their mouth.
Look here in Acts Chapter 16 Verse 30. The Bible says: "And brought them out, and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved'? And they said, 'Exercise faith and demonstrate that faith by obeying his commandments.' No. That's what the New World Translation says. "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
I'm going to read you a list. You go to John Chapter 10 Verse 28. I'm going to read to you just the couple other verses that clearly state that the only requirement for salvation is believe. Only. There's one requirement for salvation. Now, if there was anything else that you had to do to get to heaven other than believe, would the statement be true, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved?" Would that be true? If you believed but there was something else you had to do, would that be true?
Man:
No.
Deacon:
No. It would not. John Chapter 6 Verse 47. Jesus preaching says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, hath everlasting life." John Chapter 3 Verse 36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." He separates the last one into two groups: those that believe, those that don't believe, showing that there is one requirement, thus, for salvation over and over again.
I'm going to read off another list. I know this seems very elementary to you. I'm sure because half the people in here are probably just out soul winning and quoting these verses from memory. Here, Ephesians Chapter 2 Verse 8, I'm going to read off a list of verses that not only say that it's by believing, but they actually point blank say, "It's by believing and it's not by obedience. You do not have to demonstrate your faith by works." We should. That's two different questions. That's two different subjects.
Ephesians Chapter 2 Verse 8 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." When I'm out soul winning and I quote this to someone, I'll always point out the fact that just like God often does all throughout the Bible, he restates the same thing in four different ways. He says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith." It's by grace. You don't deserve it. What's grace mean? It means you're given mercy. "For by grace are ye saved through faith."
Then he says it again in another way. "And that not of yourself." Again, you didn't earn it. You haven't merited this. "And that no of yourself." It is the gift of God. What is a gift by definition? It's free, right? It's something that is given to you freely. "It is the gift of God not of works, lest any man should boast." He restates himself four time just to make sure that nobody misunderstands him.
Titus Chapter 3 Verse 5 says, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Philippians Chapter 3 Verse 9: "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Romans Chapter 3 Verse 28: "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Romans Chapter 4 Verse 4: "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
Another thing that God often does in the Bible is contrast things. When you have something that you can compare something to, it makes it that much easier to understand both of them. Over and over again he puts on this side works, and then he put on this side grace.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
He puts on this believing and then he puts on this side commandments. He says, "This is how you get to heaven. This is not how you get to heaven."
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
Over and over and over again in the simplest form. You're in John Chapter 10 Verse 28. We're going to see what the Bible says because that's what they say each time. When they read down [inaudible 00:12:43], the next one is the divine name in the Hebrew Scriptures. Then they say "the Bible's answer." Supposedly, they say that's what the Bible teaches. We're going to look in the real Bible and look and see what the Bible teaches. Does the Bible teach once saved, always saved?
I'm going to have to get where you're at there in John Chapter 10 Verse 28. John Chapter 10 Verse 28 says, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Notice three times again he restates himself. "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Notice the last time he's the clearest, just like in Ephesians Chapter 2 Verse 8 9. The last statement there was, "Not of works, lest any man should boast."
The very clearest statement ... He does the same thing here. He says, "I give unto them eternal life." It's everlasting. How long is eternal? It's forever, never ending. "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish." Then he ends it with, "neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." When I'm out soul winning you know what I tell people? "That means that nothing can change that. Do you understand that?" They're like, "Yeah. That's what I thought it meant." That's what everybody tells me when you ask them that.
Is that the same thing that you thought that meant? That nothing can't change that once you're saved? People will all the time say, "Yeah. That makes perfect sense with what I thought." The Bible said ... Flip over 1 page to John Chapter 11 Verse 25. Thank you. John Chapter 11 Verse 25: "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." Verse 26: "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." Then he asked the question, "Believest thou this?"
John Chapter 3 Verse 16, the most famous verse in the Bible: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." My favorite verse that demonstrates that salvation is instantaneous is John Chapter 5 Verse 24. It says, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life," "hath" as in present tense, "hath everlasting life and shall not come," future, "into condemnation; but is," present tense, "passed from death unto life."
He is explaining, at the very moment that you believe ... You're not saved when you die. A lot of people think that ... If you're just asked a random person that's not saved that says, "I'm a Christian," they went to church a few times, but they have a basic idea of what the Bible ... Even they grew up maybe, and they have a basic idea of the Bible, they would say, "Yeah. You're saved when you die and when you go to heaven." That's what they would say is salvation. That's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that you are saved at the moment that you trust Christ as your savior.
Man:
Yeah.
Deacon:
At that moment you are saved. The Bible says you're "sealed until the day of redemption."
Man:
Amen.
Deacon:
You're "sealed until the day of redemption." Like I said, that probably felt like you didn't need to hear it, because I'm sure 99.9% of people in here are saved, but I want to start at the foundation. When I'm done, I don't want anybody to be able say, "Well, used missed the point here, and that was related here." I want to make sure that I start at the foundation of what they believe. I'm going to show you clearly from the Bible over and over and over again, that what they believe is heresey and what they believe is doctrines of devils, and they are not Christians. They are far from being Christians.
Man:
Amen.
Deacon:
Now, the next point that I'm going to focus on is the name Jehovah. That's their biggest thing. That's why I want to jump from salvation to the name Jehovah. That's their biggest thing. If they're right about anything, surely they're right about this. If they're right about any of the subjects we're going to talk about, they have to be right about this one. Now you turn to Exodus Chapter 6, and I'll read to you what they believe form jw.org.
The Divine Name in the Holy Scriptures is what this entitled. "The divine name, represented by the four Hebrew consonants יהוה, appears nearly 7000 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. This translation renders those four letters, known as the Tetragrammaton, 'Jehovah,'" is the name. "That name is by far the most frequently occurring name in the Bible. While the inspired writers refer to God ... " Listen to this, "While the inspired writers refer to God by many titles and descriptive terms, such as 'Almighty,' 'Most High,' and 'Lord,' the Tetragrammaton is the only personal name they use to identify God."
Then over on the other page ... I want to read this part too because it says, "Why is the name missing from many Bible translations? The reasons vary. Some feel that Almighty God does not need a unique name to identify him. Others appear to have been influenced by the Jewish tradition of avoiding the use of the name, perhaps out of fear of desecrating it. Still others believe that since no one can be sure of the exact pronunciation of God’s name, it is better just to use a title, such as 'Lord' or 'God.'"
You're going to see the reason why the King James Bible translators put "Lord" for Jehovah here in just a minute. If you were to go back and read that, you would see how deceptive they were in the way that they worded that statement. They didn't want to tell you the real reason why. Here in Exodus Chapter 6 is actually where the name Jehovah is first introduced, in Exodus Chapter 6. We'll start reading there in verse number 1.
The Bible says, "Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them."
In the very passage where God himself reveals the name Jehovah to Moses, he actually says right before that, look in Verse 3, "And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty." The Jehovah's witnesses said that, "while the inspired writers refer to God by many titles and descriptive terms ... " One of the titles they listed was "Almighty," when God himself said that "God Almighty" was one of his names.
You turn over to Psalms Chapter 83. Psalms Chapter 83 ... God didn't consider it a title. God considered it one of his names. This is the passage that every Jehovah's witness has memorizes, Psalm Chapter 83. If you're going to start discussing what God's name is, they're going to quote this to you. I would guarantee when they have Bible studies that that's the first thing that they start teaching them. I'll show you why here in a minute, because there's a reason why. This ties in with salvation very closely, and there's a reason why they make such a big reason or a big deal about the name Jehovah. We're going to see here in just a minute.
I'm going to show you ... Number one, we already know without a shadow of a doubt that God has other names, because he himself just said that he was known by the name "God Almighty." Then he introduces the name Jehovah. We, obviously as believers in Jesus Christ, know that Jesus Christ is another name that he has. The name above all names, a name that they reject from the stance of what the Bible says that it is.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
We're going to look here in Psalms Chapter 83 Verse 17, and I'm going to show you that the interpretation of what they have in this verse is way off. It's way off. Look at Psalms Chapter 83 Verse 17. Actually, I don't have it in my notes. I'm going to have to turn to it too. Psalms Chapter 83 verse number 17. Verse 17 says, "Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish." Verse 18, this is their verse, "That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth."
They'll quote that to you or they'll turn you to it and they'll say, "See?" The Bible says his only name is Jehovah. Some will even go so far to say that it's blasphemy to call him any other name but Jehovah, and that it's wrong to refer to the Lord by anything other than Jehovah. Let's compare scripture with scripture. You can never just take one verse of the Bible and just make it mean whatever you want. Let's see what the Bible ... Because the Bible will always define itself. Always.
Man:
Yeah.
Deacon:
Turn to Psalms Chapter 148 Verse 13, but if you didn't lose it already, keep Psalm 83 in your hand or find it again. Psalm Chapter 148 Verse 13 ... Psalm Chapter 148 Verse 13 ... The Bible reads, "Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven." Notice, the exact same statement is in Psalm 83 that's in Psalm 148. If they want to take the interpretation of Psalm 83 as meaning, when it says that his "name alone is Jehovah," that that means that's the only name that he has, well then they have to be consistent with their logic. They have to be consistent with their interpretation here. They have to also create a contradiction in one book of the Bible, and believe that another name that he has, and it's his also his only name, is Excellent. As in his name is literally Excellent.
Man:
Yeah.
Deacon:
Ridiculous. It's stupid. It shows that the people reading, that they don't read the Bible and try to find out what the truth is.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
That they have a doctrine and then they go back to their Bible and they change the New World Translation to say what they want it to say.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
They have no interest in the truth. There is so many things ... Here in a minute I'm going to read an article that is literally going to seem so bizarre to you it's not even funny. When I read it, it just blew my mind. The Bible is really, really clear. Let me give you a quick background on what the word Jehovah means. The word 'Jehovah,' like they said, is referred to as the Tetragrammaton. It's four consonants in the Hebrew. It is only a Hebrew word.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
It does not exist in any other language, period. It is only a Hebrew word. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament was written in Greek. While I talk to you, turn to Psalm Chapter 2 Verse 2 in your left hand, and then once you get Psalms Chapter 2 Verse 2, get acts Chapter 4 Verse 25. In the King James Bible, the translators, when they translated the King James Bible, 7 times in the Bible they transliterated the word Jehovah. That means that they took the word Jehovah in Hebrew, and they just stuck it straight into English. They didn't change it. They didn't translate it at all ... 7 times.
Every other time they translated the word Jehovah into English as meaning Lord. I'm going to prove that that is actually the correct interpretation. That's the correct translation. I'm going to prove from the Bible that that is the correct translation. Now, if you're in Psalms Chapter 2 Verse 2, the Bible says, "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed." Notice that "LORD" is in all caps, just like if you were to look all throughout the Bible.
Like they said, "7000 times it appears in the Old Testament," the name Jehovah. When you see Lord in all caps, that is the King James Bible translators telling you that that in Hebrew is the word Jehovah and they translated it to Lord. They put it in all caps, just like when they transliterate the word Jehovah, they put it in all caps each time so that you know that Lord in all caps is the same word, so that you're able to connect the dots without anybody tell you.
In Psalms Chapter 2 Verse 2 ... I'll read it to you one more time. It says, "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed." In Psalms Chapter 2 Verse 2, that is a Hebrew text. In the New Testament, many times the disciples and the apostles, the holy men of God that spake, they would write down ... What was the New Testament written in?
Man:
Greek [inaudible 00:25:45].
Deacon:
Greek. The New Testament was written in Greek. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. When they are citing a verse from the Old Testament ... Like Psalms Chapter 2 Verse 2 is quoted here in Acts 4:25. What do they have to do from Hebrew to Greek? They have to translate, right? Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, whoever's writing in the New Testament, if they want a quote from the Old Testament, they have to translate from Hebrew, which is what the original scripture was written in, into Greek, which is what the scripture and they are writing in at that time. They're translating the Bible.
Let's look here in Acts Chapter 4 Verse 25. Let's see how Luke translated the word "LORD," all caps, which is Jehovah in Hebrew. Let's see how he translated that word. Acts Chapter 4 Verse 25 says, "Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?" Verse 26, "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ."
If you look over at Psalms Chapter 2, it also says "Lord" there. Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, when he sat down to write his New Testament in Acts, he quoted a Hebrew text and he translated that word as Lord. The Jehovah's witnesses, they'll attack the King James Bible translators, and they'll look at your Bible and say that it was wrongly translated from Old Testament Hebrew into English, because the king James Bible translators translated it as Lord, when that's the exact same translation that Luke did from the Old Testament.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
Now, if that's not authoritative enough for you, I'm going to read to you from Jesus. Let's see how Jesus translated it. Psalm Chapter 110 Verse 1: "The LORD," all caps, so this is Jehovah, "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Luke Chapter 20 Verse 41: "And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David's son?" David himself sayeth in the Book of Psalms, "The LORD," in the Old Testament that was Jehovah, "The LORD said unto my Lord sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."
Jesus himself translated it the exact same way that Luke did. He translated the Hebrew word Jehovah from Hebrew to Greek as "Lord." You don't have to know Greek to do this. Go in your Bible ... If you were to go get a New Testament ... It's called a Textus Receptus, which is the Greek text that underlies the King James Bible and the New Testament. If you go and get a Textus Receptus, turn to 1 Peter Chapter 3, I believe it's Verse 6. Where is says that "Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord." The Greek word is [Greek 00:28:47]. Every time that the word "Lord" shows up in the New Testament, you can check it in your English Bible and see what the word is in Greek.
Every single time it's [Greek 00:28:58], every single time. Not sometimes, every single time. It's the Greek word, [Greek 00:29:04]. I've looked it at numerous, just random passages just to double check it numerous different times. Just like in the Spanish language, they'll have the word [Spanish 00:29:12], and it can double for two things. It can mean sir, as in just giving respect to a man, but it can also refer to God as in [Spanish 00:29:20], referring to God. That's how the word "Lord" in the New Testament was when it was written in the King James Bible.
The word 'Lord' would double for ... Just like "Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord." She was giving reverence onto her husband. Then also, it can be used many times to refer to the Lord as in God. Now I'm going to explain to you why this is such a big deal. You can turn to John Chapter 17 Verse 3. John Chapter 17 Verse 3 ... I'm going to gradually move my way into the next point because they overlap so much.
The reason why the Jehovah's witnesses put so much emphasis on the name of Jehovah, is because they reject that Jesus Christ is Jehovah. They reject that Jesus Christ is Lord. They try as hard as they can to distinguish between the two. In their Bible, over and over again, it's very obvious that they're trying not to let the reader know that Jesus Christ is Lord. Over and over again ... It's very, very obviously.
I'm going to read to you from their own literature, jw.org, about is Jesus Almighty God? This is what they say. "Jesus' opposers accused him of making himself equal to God." Then they cite John 10:30-33. "However, Jesus never claimed to be on the same level as Almighty God. He said: 'The Father is greater than I am.'" Then it reads, "Jesus’ early followers did not view him as being equal to Almighty God. For example, the apostle Paul wrote that after Jesus was resurrected, God 'exalted him,'" referring to Jesus, "to a superior position. Obviously, Paul did not believe that Jesus was Almighty God. Otherwise, how could God exalt Jesus to a superior position?"
I have one more where they speak about ... actually two more where they speak about Jesus. Now listen to this. It says, "The Bible identifies God as the primary source of salvation, often referring to him as 'Savior.' In addition, God used various men to deliver the ancient nation of Israel, and the Bible calls them 'saviors.'" Watch what they say here. "Likewise, since God provides salvation from sin through the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Bible refers to Jesus as 'Savior.'"
If you're paying attention to what they're trying to do is they literally equate Jesus Christ as being exactly the same as the great men of the Old Testament, like Moses, like David. They're saying it's exactly the same. That's why Jesus is referred to our savior. One more here. This one's even worse. It says, "Does the identity of God have to be a profound mystery?" 1 Timothy 3:16 says it is, right?
Man:
Yeah. That's right. Yeah.
Deacon:
"It did not seem so to Jesus. In his prayer to his Father, Jesus made a clear distinction between him and his Father when he said: “'This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.'" They just quoted John 17:3. Then it says this, "If we believe Jesus and understand the plain teaching of the Bible, we will respect him as the divine Son of God that he is." Listen to this, "We will also worship Jehovah as 'the only true God.'"
Point blank. They make no bones about what they believe. Anybody can get on jw.org and see what they believe. You're in John Chapter 17. You should be in. The passage that they were referring to earlier when they said that "Jesus' accusers" ... "Those that opposed Jesus accused him of putting himself on the same level as God but he didn't?" He literally said what made them angry was "I and my father are one."
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
That's literally what he said. What more could he say to say that "I'm God." He said, "I and my father are one." Then they took up stones to stone him. These people are nuts.
Man:
Yeah.
Man:
Yeah.
Deacon:
John Chapter 17 Verse 3, this is the passage that they're referring to. It says, "And this is life eternal," this is Jesus praying, "that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." On the surface, Psalm 83 kind of seem like, "Well maybe his only name is Jehovah." Obviously, we know the Bible so we know that's not true, but could you see how a person could think that. Then when you compare scripture with scripture it's obvious. If you look deeper into those passages, Psalm 83 and Psalm 148, in both of the passages is the same context. He's comparing God to those of the earth.
He's saying that, "His name alone is Jehovah," as in he's the only one with the name Jehovah and those of the earth don't have that name. Then he says, "His name alone is excellent," as in his name excels all those of the earth. "His name is greater than all those of the earth." Both of them are exactly the same. It's obviously, once you compare the passages, what it meant. Keep your hand again here. We're going to compare two passages again. You have John Chapter 17 Verse 3, and then we're going to look at 1 John Chapter 5 Verse 20. 1 John Chapter 5 Verse 20 ... They look at there at John Chapter 17 Verse 3 and they say, "See? 'Jesus said the only true God and Jesus Christ,' therefore, Jesus Christ cannot be the only true God."
Like I just demonstrated in Ephesians Chapter 2 Verse 8 and 9, John Chapter 10, anyone that knows the Bible at all knows that God repeats himself over and over again. What he does is he says the same thing and he restates it in a different way to give you more understanding. The whole purpose of it is to give you more understanding, to enlighten you even more. In James Chapter I, the Bible says this as an example. James Chapter I says, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this ... " To be consistent, if you're a Jehovah's witnesses, you must believe that God and the Father, because he says "God and the Father," that the Father's not God and God's not the Father.
By that logic, that's what you would have to say to be consistent with your interpretation. If you notice, if you're paying really close attention to what I'm reading, they keep trying to use logic to fool somebody that doesn't know the Bible. That's what they keep doing. They keep trying to find loopholes and use philosophy and try to compare different things, and it's very, very deceitful. It's very subtle.
In 1 John Chapter 5 Verse 20, the Bible reads, "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding." Like I said, what's the reason why God repeats things? To give you an understanding, right? So it says, "The Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true." This is an exact parallel passage to what we just read ... "That we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true even in his Son Jesus Christ." Now, watch this statement, "This is the true God and eternal life."
Man:
Amen.
Deacon:
Referring to Jesus Christ. These people will over and over again just deny up and down that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that's the exact reason why they make this big distinction between Jesus Christ and Jehovah. Why Jehovah does not mean Lord, but then they'll call Jesus "Lord" over here because he's not Jehovah. It's two different things. Turn to Philippians Chapter 2. Philippians Chapter 2 Verse 5 ... The reason why Jesus restated that, when he said, "That they might know thee, the only true God," and then he says, "And Jesus Christ who now has sent," it's to give you a deeper understanding. It's to give you a deeper understanding of who God is. The Bible's clear. God was manifest in the flesh.
Man:
[inaudible 00:37:10]
Deacon:
It's very clear. "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God." Over and over again the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is God. "Under the Son he sayeth, 'Thy throne, oh God, is forever and ever.'" It's not a debate whether Jesus Christ is God from even ... I'm going to talk about it here in a minute. I'll go ahead and go through that right now. The Jehovah's witnesses, they have their own Bible. They do not use a Bible that is made just by a generic publisher, or a committee, or a society. They have the New World Translation.
They did this translation internally. As in, Jehovah's witnesses sat down and they translated their own Bible. When I was reading through Wikipedia, I didn't have time to read all of it, but they received so much flack and so much heat form the most liberal Christians you cannot even imagine, like John Ankerberg. You heard James White in the interview with Pastor Anderson talking about how it's just so obvious about their version is just so off the wall and they just change whatever they want. Completely liberal Christians will criticize them about their translation.
What they do is, in their translation ... Like I said, the New Testament is written in Greek. It's written in Greek. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. The word 'Jehovah' is 4 characters that exist only in the Old Testament. Only. They are not in the New Testament. When the Jehovah's witnesses were translating their Bible and the New Testament, and they come across the word "Lord" in the Greek [Greek 00:38:42], they decide first whether they believe, "Is this talking about the God that I believe in or not?" If it is, then they just change that word to Jehovah. It's not a translation because that's wrong. That's not what the word means.
They just change the word Lord from Greek as Jehovah whenever they feel like it. Whenever they feel like it, they'll do that. When it quotes like in 1 Peter Chapter 3 Verse 6 and it says that, "Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him 'Lord,'" they leave it as "Lord." You can look in their Bible and you can look from the text that they use, the Westcott and Hort Greek Text, that's the text that underlies their Bible. Every time it's [inaudible 00:39:15], every time. They'll change it. So, you can see their inconsistency.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
Now, this is why it's important. Look down at Philippians Chapter 2. Philippians Chapter 2 ... This is why it matters. Philippians Chapter 2 Verse 5, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." Sounds like Paul thought that Jesus was God.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
Verse 7: "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
In Verse 11 here, when they get to "Lord," they translate it correctly. They put "Lord." In all these other instances, when it's not talking about Jesus, and they think it's just talking about the God that they believe in that doesn't exist, Jehovah, they just put "Jehovah" down. Because they don't believe in the Jehovah of the Bible, Bible the Jehovah of the Bible, as I'm getting ready to demonstrate right now, is Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus Christ.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
Now, this is where they made a big, big mistake. Turn to Isaiah Chapter 45. Isaiah Chapter 45 because this passage is actually a quote from the Old Testament. Isaiah Chapter 45 ... Isaiah Chapter 45, we'll begin reading in Verse 21. The Bible says, "Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the LORD?" All caps, that's 'Jehovah' in Hebrew. "Have not I the LORD? And there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."
Who is speaking right now? Jehovah, right? Jehovah is speaking. Watch the next statement. Verse 23: "I have sworn by myself ... " Who swore? Jehovah, right? "I have sworn by myself the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness." He keeps making this personal. "I have sworn out of my mouth." "I have sworn by myself." "The word is gone out of my mouth." Then watch what he says next. "And shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." That quotation in Philippians 2 is a quote form Isaiah 45 where Jehovah is prophesying about a day when every knee will bow to him and every tongue will swear. When we go over to Philippians 2, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, tells us that that name they're going to swear by is Jesus Christ.
Man:
Yup.
Deacon:
Turn to Romans 14 because this gets even weirder. Romans Chapter 14 ... Romans Chapter 14 ... I'm going to read ... I printed off just this out of the New World Translation because this is why it's stranger ... even more strange. Because in the New Testament, Isaiah 45 is actually quoted 2 times, not once. It's quoted in Philippians 2, and then it's also quoted in Romans 14. You look down at your Bible in Romans 14. I'm going to begin reading in Verse 10, and I'm going to read it out of the New World Translation. Watch what they do here. It says, "But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you also look down on your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God." What's yours say?
Man:
Christ.
Deacon:
"Judgement seat of Christ." Watch this, "For it is written: ‘As surely as I live,’ says Jehovah,‘to me every knee will bend, and every tongue will make open acknowledgment to God.’ So, then, each of us will render an account for himself to God." Notice, when it was "Lord," they put Jehovah, but they had to be real, real careful because it was talking about the judgement seat of Christ. So what did they do when it said "Christ?" They changed it to "God" so the reader couldn't make the connection that Jesus Christ is Lord, that Jesus Christ is actually the thrown that we're going to be standing before.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
Do you see how it's completely and plainly deceitful? How there is no way in this world, there is no way on this planet that the translators of that Bible had any way of making some sort of accident. One time they acknowledge that it's a quotation. They acknowledge that it's a quotation because they change it to "Jehovah" instead of translating it to "Lord" correctly. Then the other time when it's referring to Jesus, they just put it as "Lord" to make sure they make the distinction, because they don't believe that Jesus Christ is God.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
Because they reject that Jesus Christ is Lord, and because of that they're going to go to hell.
Man:
Yeah.
Deacon:
I'm going to read to you real quick who they actually believe that Jesus Christ is. This was weird. I've heard this before ...
Man:
Yeah.
Deacon:
If you want to look it up, you can read it if you don't believe me.
Man:
Yeah.
Deacon:
I thought it was weird, man. Okay. "THE spirit creature called Michael is not mentioned often in the Bible. However, when he is referred to, he is in action. In the book of Daniel, Michael is battling wicked angels; in the letter of Jude, he is disputing with Satan; and in Revelation, he is waging war with the Devil and his demons. By defending Jehovah’s rulership and fighting God’s enemies, Michael lives up to the meaning of his name, 'Who Is Like God?' But who is Michael? At times, individuals are known by more than one name. For example ... " They believe except for Jehovah, right? I just thought of that.
"At times, individuals are known by more than one name. For example, the patriarch Jacob is also known as Israel, and the apostle Peter, as Simon. Likewise, the Bible indicates that Michael is another name for Jesus Christ, before and after his life on earth. Let us consider Scriptural reasons for drawing that conclusion." I'm not even going to read them because they're ridiculous. Really, when you look through them, it is just like the most ridiculous proofs. Sometimes people that are lying can make good proofs and deceive people. These look like a child sat down with a Bible and tried to come out with them. It's a bunch of blasphemous garbage is what it is.
Turn to John Chapter 20 Verse 24. John Chapter 20 Verse 24 ... They struggle real hard to say, "Jehovah, he only has one name, but Jesus Christ he has many names. That's fine there." John Chapter 20 verse 24 is where you are. The next article I'm going to read is, Did Jesus Die on a Cross? Not only do they reject everything we've looked at so far, it goes much, much longer than this. It says, "Many view ... " This is the Bible's answer, they say.
"Many view the cross as the most common symbol of Christianity. However, the Bible does not describe the instrument of Jesus’ death, so no one can know its shape with absolute certainty. Still, the Bible provides evidence that Jesus died, not on a cross, but on an upright stake. The Bible generally uses the Greek word [Greek 00:46:53], which was referring to the instrument of Jesus’ execution ... which is referring to that. Although translations often render this word 'cross,' many scholars agree that its basic meaning is actually an 'upright stake.'"
Is there anybody in there who has ever seen a picture of what the Jehovah's witnesses depict Jesus Christ when he's dying? Is there anybody in here? I have ... You're not going to be able to see. I'm not going to be able to show everybody, but there was, on this other page, they actually put a picture on there if anybody can see.
Man:
[inaudible 00:47:22]
Deacon:
That's what it looks like when Jesus died on the cross from the Jehovah's witnesses' perspective. They literally believe that there's this vertical, just like a stake, and Jesus had one hand on top of the other, and his hands were above his head like this. They took one nail and they drove that one nail going through both hands, the one nail. Then there was also one other nail, they believe, that was used to nail his feet.
I'm going to show you that that's a complete and absolutely lie. Even in their Bible this is still there. They didn't change this yet. They will in their next revision, I'm sure. The Bible says in John Chapter 20 Verse 24, "But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. he other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." It's almost like God recorded the fact that Thomas repeated himself just in case somebody came along and said he didn't die on a cross later.
Man:
Right.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
How many nails were used? 2, right? At least 2. I'm sure 2. They didn't use 6. I'm sure they used 2 nails on Jesus, at least. They definitely, 100% did not use 1. Matthew Chapter 27 Verse 32 says, "And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross." Matthew Chapter 27 Verse 40 says, "And saying, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." John Chapter 19 Verse 19, "And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews."
If you remember another verse, if you remember over in Philippians 2 before where we read, it says that he "endured the cross, despising the shame." That's another verse. There Bible literally read there, "the torture stake." I'm not kidding. "He endured ... " I don't think they used the word 'endured,' but it's like, "He endured the torture stake." That is literally what their Bible reads.
Turn to John Chapter 2 Verse 18. Because not only do they deny the death of Jesus Christ, which is one part of the gospel, they also deny the fleshly resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
They deny the fact that Jesus Christ had a bodily resurrection. This is what they say, "The Bible's answer according to after Jesus' resurrection, was his body flesh or spirit? The Bible says that Jesus 'was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.' Jesus’ own words showed that he would not be resurrected with his flesh-and-blood body. He said that he would give his 'flesh in behalf of the life of the world,' as a ransom for mankind. If he had taken back his flesh when he was resurrected, he would have canceled that ransom sacrifice."
See how they keep using logic to deceive the person reading over and over again? "This could not have happened, though, for," meaning like, because for, "for the Bible says that he sacrificed his flesh and blood 'once for all time.'" That's actually changed. That's not what it says in Hebrews, but ... You're in John Chapter 2 Verse 18, and I'll meet you there. I got to turn there also. John Chapter 2 Verse 18, we're going to see what Jesus Christ himself said, whether it was a spiritual resurrection or whether it was a bodily resurrection.
He says in John Chapter 2 Verse 18, "Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body." So, what was going to be resurrected? What was going to be raised up? His body. It was a physical, fleshly resurrection. He showed the holes in his hand to Thomas.
They believe like ... I read about it. It's the weirdest thing in the world too. They believe that he went to heaven in his spiritual body and then God, Jehovah, they believe, gave him this other body that looked exactly like what his body looked like before. It had holes in it and it had a spear where the spear was shoved in his side. That's what they believe. I'm going to read to you real quick also from 1 Corinthians Chapter 15 Verse 3, another proof. "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how 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."
It says "Christ died." His body is [inaudible 00:52:13]. He died, right, on the cross? Then it says that he was buried. What was buried?
Man:
His body.
Deacon:
His body was taken and buried, right? When it says that he rose again, what's it saying rose? What was buried?
Man:
Body.
Deacon:
His body. His body is what was buried and his body was what rose. It was a physical resurrection. It was not a spiritual resurrection. Why do you think they deny that? Because they deny that Jesus Christ had the ability to raise himself up from the dead.
Man:
[inaudible 00:52:41]
Deacon:
That's why. Because it all comes back to the fact that they reject that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's what it all comes back to. Now, this is going to be ... I'm going to do 2 in 1 here. I'm going to do hell and soul sleep all in one. This is their article, Where Are the Dead? This is what they say, "When our loved ones die, we mourn. And we may ask: ‘What has happened to them? Are they suffering? Are they watching over us? Can we help them? Will we ever see them again?’ The world’s religions offer differing answers to these questions. Some teach that if you live a good life, you will go to heaven but if you live a bad life, you will burn in a place of torment. Other religions teach that at death, people pass on to the spirit realm to be with their ancestors. Still other religions teach that the dead go to an underworld to be judged and are then reincarnated, or reborn in another body."
Then it says this, "What basic idea do many religions share? Such religious teachings all share one basic idea—that some part of us survives the death of the physical body. According to almost every religion, past and present, we somehow live on forever with the ability to see, hear, and think. Yet, how can that be? Our senses, along with our thoughts, are all linked to the workings of our brain. At death, the brain stops working. Our memories, feelings, and senses do not continue to function independently in some mysterious way. They do not survive the destruction of our brain."
Turn to Luke Chapter 16. Luke Chapter 16 ... Luke Chapter 16, it's the story of the rich man and Lazarus. We'll begin reading in Verse number 19. "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,aAnd desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments." It says "he lift up his eyes, being in torments." Watch this. "Lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom."
Wasn't that one of the things they said can not happen after death? You are not able to see, hear, and they named all of your senses? It says, "He seeth Abraham afar off." It says, "and Lazarus in his bosom, and cried." Notice, he's yelling. He's talking. He's able to speak. "And he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.'" He's thirsty. Not only is he thirsty, he's being afflicted and tormented. He can feel everything that's happening.
It's because the Jehovah's witnesses have the wrong definition of what death is. I'm going to read to you from Revelation Chapter 20 Verse 11. It says, "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."
Notice, the dead are standing in front of God. They're conscious. They're at the judgement, and God is judging them based upon their works. That's what they believe. They believe that they cease to exist. They cease to exist. I actually have 1 aunt ... All my family, pretty much, is independent Baptist. I have 1 aunt that is a Jehovah's witnesses, and do you know what I noticed as a little child, looking back? I remember this like it was yesterday. Every single funeral that would occur, my aunt would act hysterical. Do you know why? Because she has no hope. She would act hysterical, different than every other person.
Everyone's sad when we're there. Every person's sad, but she's just screaming like ... People are literally, I'm not exaggerating, having to drag her off of the coffin and take her down stairs. I'm not exaggerating. It's because of these wicked, evil teachings of the Jehovah's witnesses. That's really why. I'm not defending her at all. She's been in it long enough, she's probably completely gone at this point. She probably has no hope of being saved. She's been a Jehovah's witness for many, many years at this point. I'm not attempting to defend her, but I'm trying to give you an idea of how this can affect people. Because they believe this garbage. They believe the fact that when you die, you cease to exist. That's what they believe. They believe that the soul is the body itself.
Turn to James Chapter 2 Verse 26, and I'll give you a definition from the Bible of what death is, a biblical definition of death. I'm read to you from the Old Testament in Genesis 25:8 when Abraham died. It says, "Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people." Genesis Chapter 25 Verse 17 says, "And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people."
If you're wondering why I choosing the word "ghost," it's just like, what do we refer to God's spirit as? We refer to it as the Holy Ghost, and then we'll also refer to it as what? The Holy Spirit. Because spirit and ghost are synonymous. It's talking about their spirit leaving their body. The definition of death in James Chapter 22 Verse 26 ... From the Bible. The Bible's definition of death is, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
What's the definition of death? It's when the spirit departs from the body. Like we explained when out soul winning, when the spirit departs from the body, it either goes the 1 of 2 places. It either goes to hell forever or it goes to heaven forever. Now, I'm going to read to you from Philippians Chapter 1 Verse 20. The Bible says, "According to my earnest expectation ... " This is Paul talking about when he dies. "That in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death."
Watch what he says, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." It's positive for him. "But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two ... " He doesn't know what to choose, he's saying " ... having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you."
Notice, when he's abiding in the flesh, he's on this earth, but when he departs, that's his spirit leaving his body. He's no longer in the flesh and he's with Christ.
Man:
Yes.
Deacon:
He's gong to heaven. A person could say, "Well, all these verses say 'spirit.' They don't say 'soul.'" Turn to 1 Kings Chapter 17 Verse 17. Revelation also records the souls under the alter, if you remember that. Revelation Chapter 6 ... 1 Kings Chapter 17 Verse 17 ... 1 Kings Chapter 17 ... We'll skip down a little bit here. We don't read the whole story, but this is the story when Elijah raises the widow woman of Zarephath's young son up after he had died.
It says in Verse 21, "And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again." The next verse says, Verse 22, "And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again." I'm going to read to you what the Jehovah's witnesses believe the soul is. It says, "The word 'soul' in the Bible is a translation of the Hebrew word [Hebrew 01:00:45] and the Greek word [Greek 01:00:47]. The Hebrew word literally means “a creature that breathes,” and the Greek word means “a living being.” * The soul, then, is the entire creature, not something inside that survives the death of the body."
This verse disproves that entire statement. Because the Bible says very clearly, he says, "Let this child's soul come into him again." Meaning what? His soul is not there any longer. They do not believe that the soul and the body can be separate. They believe that literally the body is the soul. That's what they believe. Now, the last point that I'm going to look at here is hell. If I believed all these doctrines that they do too, I would not want to believe in hell either.
Man:
That's right.
Deacon:
Turn to Matthew Chapter 25 Verse 46. I'm just going to use a couple of verses. Because these are all very clear doctrines in the Bible, that even like any mainstream Christian doesn't reject. It just shows you how far from being a Christian that they are. Liberal, watered-down Christians that are unsaved believe almost every doctrine we just talked about, besides obviously that salvation is by faith alone. That's probably the only one that your average Christian that says he's a Christian, that's not saved, would reject.
Look here. This is Jesus speaking. Matthew Chapter 25 Verse 46 ... He just says, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." He doesn't say that the flame is everlasting. Because that's what they claim, that it's just the flame that's everlasting. He create God ... They would say Jehovah, creates a place that will eternally exist with an eternal flame, but the people are just thrown there and they're burned up and they cease to exist. The Bible says right here, "And these shall go away," referring to a group of people, "into everlasting punishment."
The Bible teaches that the punishment in hell will be everlasting. The Bible teaches that that's the second death, showing you how far off they are on what the Bible actually teaches of death. You can be dead, you can be completely dead according to the Bible's definition and be conscious, and be seeing people and crying for a drop of water to be brought to your tongue, according to what the Bible's definition of death is.
You turn to Revelation Chapter 20 Verse 10, and I'll read to you what they say real quick here about hell. This will be the last article that I read. "Those in hell are unconscious and so cannot feel pain. Death not torment in a fiery hell, is the penalty for sin." Then they say, "Eternal torment would violate God’s justice." It's the other way around.
Man:
Yeah.
Deacon:
God does not even contemplate eternal torment. The idea that he would punish people in hell fire is contrary to the Bible's teaching that God is love. These 2 passages, I chose them because these are actually the 2 verses that I use every time I give the gospel. I give Revelation 20:10, and I show them here where the Bible reads, "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." It even uses our scale of time to make sure you don't understand. "Day and night for ever and ever," is what the Bible teaches if a person goes to hell.
Man:
Yeah.
Deacon:
It's eternal punishment. So many people out there think that Jesus believes something different, and they're so much more likely to accept something coming from Jesus. I always say this, and Jesus said the same thing ... Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 25 Verse 46 that "these shall go away into everlasting punishment." It's everlasting, just like this says "for ever and ever." Then he says it's "torment". Just like this uses the word ... Then he says it's "punishment" just like this uses the word "torment."
Then I ask them, "So do you think God wants you to go to a place like that?" Of course, then I go into the gospel. I do that because these are perfect parallels. They both tell you very clearly. There's no way to reject what the Bible teaches here, unless you just want to.
Man:
Yeah.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
That the Bible teaches that hell is an eternal place of punishment for a person that rejects Jesus Christ as their savior.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
You turn to John Chapter 8 Verse 24. I'm going to read the last verse about hell. Here it says ... In 2 Thessalonians Chapter 1 Verse 7, "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power."
He started off in Isaiah Chapter 43 Verse 10, and the title of the sermon was Jehovah's False Witnesses. We've proven without a shadow of a doubt that they are the Jehovah's False Witnesses.
Man:
Yeah.
Deacon:
Now, I'm going to read to you just to remind you what Isaiah Chapter 43 Verse 10 says. It says this, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen ... " This is what I want you to pay attention to ... "that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me." Now look at John Chapter 8 Verse 24, what Jesus says. "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he ... " Referring back to Isiah 43 ... "If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."
If somebody rejects that Jesus Christ is Lord, or that Jesus Christ is ... You want to call him Jehovah? The word 'Jehovah' means Lord. That's all you're saying. If you want to reject that Jesus Christ is Jehovah, that person is on their way to hell.
Man:
Yes.
Deacon:
100%. The amount of Jehovah's witnesses in American in 2015 is 7.86 million Americans. That's not a crazy high number. It's not that crazy, but this will blow your mind. In 2015 it was the fasted growing, so called Christian denomination in the US. According to the Watchtower Society, Jehovah's witnesses spend over 1 billion hours each year proclaiming their message worldwide.
Man:
Wow.
Deacon:
1 million hours out laboring.
Man:
Wait. 1 million or 1 billion?
Deacon:
1 billion
Man:
Yeah.
Deacon:
1 billion
Man:
Okay.
Deacon:
1 billion hours out doing what they consider evangelizing. That's insane. With the amount of people that they have ... They have a lot less attendance than what this number that they're using here. 1 billion hours out ... Listen to this, worldwide baptizing more than 300,000 new members a year. They're baptizing brand new converts, not people that used to be there. They're baptizing around 300,000 new converts a year every single year. They say they're Christians, and they literally reject every fundamental doctrine of the Bible.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
Every single one of them. So many people are deceived about this. You know what? More independent Baptists ... Independent Baptists, more and more, are stopping, or not going soul winning. You know what that means that we have to do? We have to pick up the slack and get to all these doors before the Jehovah's witnesses do ...
Man:
Yeah.
Deacon:
Or before one of these other false prophets do, and give them the true gospel.
Man:
Right.
Deacon:
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father Lord, we thank you, Dear Lord, for this night. We thank you for the clear teachings of your word, and that it's just so consistent. You can compare any scripture with any scripture and it just ... It's clearly the truth. We thank you for the name, which is above every name, which is Jesus Christ, and we thank you for just coming down, God in the flesh, and dying on the cross for our sins, and giving us salvation that's free. It's only by believing. We ask you that you would compel on us a heart that we would love people and want to go out and want to reach people before they're deceived by the Jehovah's false witnesses. We love you, and in Jesus Christ name, Amen.
