It is with real pleasure that I send you a special, personal Invitation to join me at the commemoration of the Memorial of the death of the Greatest Man who ever lived, Jesus Christ.
Here is a very interesting question for you, Ruth. I don’t know what your answer is:
Victor
Jesus Christ was a perfect man. Adam was a perfect man. Adam chose to sin, Jesus chose not to sin. Thankfully, his life buys us ours, because of that.
If he couldn’t sin,, he would have been little more than a robot. Adam, as a perfect man, didn’t NEED to disobey Jehovah. He CHOSE to. To please his sinful wife, I guess. Satan enters here, to promise her independence from God. She bit. Chose to disobey, and that became sin. Adam followed. Jesus, thankfully, didn’t. Romans 5: 18,19 “So, then, as through one trespass the result to men of all sorts was condemnation, likewise also through one act of justification the result to men of all sorts is a declariing of them righteous for life. For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were constituted sinners, likewise also through the obedience of the one person many will be constituted righteous.”
I understand where you are coming from. (I think I do!)
Best regards,
Ruth
Ruth, did you go to the link I sent you? According to your reply, you would not agree with what is written in it.
Would you be willing and able to take that document and line by line or thought by thought, as you see things, refute what is written there by specific Scripture to show me how any of it is in error?
As for the Scripture you sent here: “For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were constituted sinners, likewise also through the obedience of the one person many will be constituted righteous,” is that not saying that just as by Adam all men sinned and died, so by Christ all men are delivered from sin and made alive?
In other words, it won’t be just JW’s or Baptists or Catholics or any brand of Christian, but all people, who will be saved with the Last Adam, just as all people were lost with the first Adam?
Victor
Good question! It reminds me of John 3:36: “He that exercises faith in the son has everlasting life; he that disobeys the Son will not see life but the wrath of God remains upon him.” Similarly Hebrews 5:9 reports: “After he (Jesus Christ) had been made perfect he became responsible for everlasting salvation to all those obeying him”.
So, Jesus, in providing the ransom to ‘buy back humankind out of sin and the prospect of death’ provides that ransom to those believing/obeying him. Not all mankind/religions do, as you well realize.
I am not able to accept any concept that teaches that Jesus is God. Too much scripture denies that. ie: In luke 1, the angels announced to the shepherds “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High.” Jesus himself at John 10:36 called himself “the Son of God.” Jesus was sent into the world by God, so by means of this only-begotten Son, God was with mankind. He died on that stake, and it was his Father who raised him back to immortal spiritual life, eventually, in heaven, (after 40 days of appearing to his disciples, etc.)
At John 17:3, Jesus prayed to his Father: “This is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God (who alone art truly God” NE) and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent” (Notice that Jesus referred not to himself but to his Father in heaven as “the only true God”)
At John 20:17, RS “Jesus said to her (Mary Magdalene) ‘Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’ “. (So to the resurrected Jesus, the father was God, just as the Father was god to Mary Magdalene. Interestingly, not once in Scripture do we find the Father addressing the Son as “my God”)
I am going to Calgary in about an hour and a half, won’t be back until supper, then get ready to go to the Memorial celebration at the Kingdom Hall.
How I do hope you and your wife decide to attend!
I will be looking for you there.
Sincerely, as always,
Ruth.
Ok. You overlooked the last question in this letter:
“As for the Scripture you sent here: ‘For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were constituted sinners, likewise also through the obedience of the one person many will be constituted righteous,’ is that not saying that just as by Adam all men sinned and died, so by Christ all men are delivered from sin and made alive?
In other words, it won’t be just JW’s or Baptists or Catholics or any brand of Christian, but all people, who will be saved with the Last Adam, just as all people were lost with the first Adam?”
Hi Ruth,
I have another question for you, this time concerning the Memorial event tonight, April 9th. Correct me if I am wrong. Your picture in the invitation shows the wine and bread set out on a table. I believe you said that you didn’t know of anyone in Lethbridge that would be worthy of partaking, or the very few that would partake could well be mistaken. Indeed, I believe you said that throughout the world, rare would be the person that would be partaking. Is that so?
Victor
A gentle warning Victor: Jesus made very clear his followers would be hated. Indeed, he said the day would come when anyone killing them would imagine they had rendered a service to God. John 15, 18 – “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is it’s own. Now because you are no part of this world, but I have chosen you out of the world, on this account the world hates you. Bear in mind the word I said to you. A slave is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they have observed my word, they will observe yours also. But they will do all these things against you on account of my name, because they do not know him that sent me.” Jesus continues in that vein until chapter 16 where he warns us that people will actaually kill us, thinking they are doing God a service.
So when you mention the Name: Jehovah’s witnesses, expect about anything. That’s why the general hatred for us among people. It doesn’t bother us, if confirms the prophecy is true. It helps if you understand that.
Jehovah is searching all hearts, and is drawing those to him with hearts he approves. Jeremian 17:10: “I Jehovah am searching the heart, examining the kidneys, even to give to each one according to his ways, according to the fruitage of his dealings.” If a persons heart is right, then Jehovah draws that one to him through the preaching we are doing, and what a happy day that is, when another one finds the narrow road that leads to life!
Which reminds me of the second e-mail this a.m. Im not sure if its come in before, my computer needs a tune up! Matthew 7: starting at verse 13 Jesus says: “Go in through the narrow gate (1 gate!) because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through it, whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it. (15) Be on the watch for the false prophets, that come to you in sheep’s covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will recognize them. Read please, up to verse 21 where he said: “Not everyone saying to me ‘Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will. Many will say in that day did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name? And yet then I will confess to them: I never knew you. Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness.”
Clearly, a warning about the proliferation of ‘false prophets’, and confirmation that only those ‘doing the will of my Father will enter into the kingdom.
So not all religions qualify. In fact, only one does.
The one doing the will of his father, Jehovah God.
So, please keep on praying to Jehovah, and asking questions, and I will do the very best I can to answer all.
Love
Ruth.
We were agreed that I alone attend the JW Memorial at Stafford. I sat with Ruth and husband Al. Everyone was dressed. I think there were two outsiders of about 250 people – I and one young hard-looking fellow, unless other outsiders were there that were similarly dressed as the JW’s.
Ralph and Evelyn Olson were there, and I met Terry Fox again. I met Alana, Ruth’s daughter; Marilyn met her husband, Kelly, coincidentally, as he was on the street directing traffic.
They sang two hymns, had three prayers and a sermon on the breaking of bread and drinking of the cup, as recorded in the gospels and 1 Corinthians 11.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 MKJV
(23) For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread;
(24) And giving thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me.”
(25) In the same way He took the cup also, after supping, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood; as often as you drink it, do this in remembrance of Me.”
(26) For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show the Lord’s death until He shall come.
They had several ushers pass the bread on a bread and butter plate. It was unleavened and small. Nobody partook of it; they just passed it on throughout the whole congregation. They then returned the bread to the table and passed the wine in three stemware glasses. Nobody that I could see partook of the wine. (I was tempted to partake, and I would have been the only one to do so, but didn’t feel led to do so.) I find it so ironic that they pray, preach, and read from Scripture that they are obeying the Lord by holding this memorial to partake of the bread and wine representing His flesh and blood, then they do not partake, which was what He specifically told His disciples to do. How very strange that this contradiction is entirely lost on them!
When the service was over, Ruth asked me if I was disappointed. “On the contrary,” I replied, “I am very thankful I came.” And I was! I felt perfectly comfortable there and would have had a difficult time believing it if someone had told me they passed the bread and wine but could not/would not partake of it. They believe the partaking is only for the 144,000 (Revelation 7:4; 14:1-5), of whom there are very few left alive in their estimation (Ruth, who is in her early ‘70’s, believes she knows one such person, a “saintly woman who is 93 or so”). Of 17 million JW’s, they had 9,000 partake of the bread and wine in 2008.
Ruth believes that many of those partaking do not do so legitimately, being presumptuous or deluded or both.
The people are very friendly (young and old alike) and try to make an effort to smile, acknowledge a stranger, introduce themselves, and make one feel welcome.
Ruth wants so much to convert me and hopes for Bible studies. I am sending her questions, which are designed to make her think.
Some things I DO know!
one is that: God cannot lie (Titus 1:2)
and, that God cannot die (Habakuk 1:12, see also 1 Tim. 1:17, Rev 15:3)
And to believe anything else on this subject is to deny the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God’s most precious gift to mankind. If we accept scripture as is, in total, as God’s word, it’s pretty clear.
There is much more Victor, but are you too closed to consider it? I know, if you had the job of detecting which money is counterfeit, would you run all over studying money to figure which is real? By carefully engaging in a study of the Bible, you can figure out the true religion, you don’t need to run all over examining all of them. The Bible is truly the word of God, studying it will help us find the real truths it contains!
I know you heard enough about the ransom to at least make you think, and you can let me know if you would like us to call and discuss it further.
Be honest Victor with yourself. Change is difficult, but possible.
Love
Ruth.
We have a little book called “What does the Bible Really Teach.” Subject by subject, it clarifys doctrines in a consistent pattern of accepting what Gods word says on the matter.
Ruth, you say, “And to believe anything else on this subject is to deny the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God’s most precious gift to mankind.”
So you are saying that if I believe Jesus Christ is God, I am denying His ransom. How is it, then, that we have been forgiven our sins and have received His new life, not to sin anymore, if we are denying Him by calling Him Lord and God? Is it not by His ransom only that one can be forgiven, freed of guilt, and delivered from the power and tyranny of the carnal nature? All of these I have personally experienced years ago, and they have remained with me to this day. Have you experienced the same?
The Scriptures do indeed declare that God cannot lie:
“On hope of eternal life, which God, Who cannot lie, promised before the eternal times” (Titus 1:2 MKJV).
Concerning the matter of God’s not being able to die, one Scripture you give is from your version, which plainly does not say what almost all other versions say:
“Are you not from long ago, O Jehovah? O my God, my Holy One, you do not die. O Jehovah, for a judgment you have set it; and, O Rock, for a reproving you have founded it” (Habakkuk 1:12 NWT).
“Are You not from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Jehovah, You have ordained them for judgment; and, my Rock, You have established them for correction” (Habakkuk 1:12 MKJV).
It is true that there is a considerable difference of opinion as to what the correct translation of that passage is. However, the context of the passage is plainly the prophet’s concern that Judah is about to suffer a fearful judgment. He is afraid of their death, not Jehovah’s. Look at verse thirteen, for example (not to mention the first eleven or the rest of Habakkuk):
“You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and can not look upon vexation. Why do You look upon those who deal deceitfully? Will You be silent when the wicked swallows one more righteous than he?” (Habakkuk 1:13 MKJV)
The Hebrew word “mooth” has not only the meaning of dying but of being killed or destroyed. Again, with the revelation from Jehovah that a terrible and ruthless nation (Chaldea) was assigned by Jehovah and on its way to Judah to destroy, the prophet was not concerned about His Maker as much as about his own people and himself.
Be honest, Ruth, and pay attention to sound reason rather than to careless and presumptuous translation that adds and subtracts from the Word of God, dealing death to both the translators and those who blindly follow.
It is no secret to me that the ones rendering the New World Translation were not linguistic scholars or skilled and educated in translation, or for that matter, and most importantly of all, familiar with the ways and Person of Jehovah.
Another verse you give also does not speak of God’s inability to die, even in your corrupted translation:
“Now to the King of eternity, incorruptible, invisible, [the] only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (I Timothy 1:17 NWT).
You may argue that the word “incorruptible” means “inability to die,” yet Jesus died and the Scripture declared that He did not see corruption:
“For You will not leave My soul in hell; You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption” (Psalms 16:10 MKJV).
Peter refers to David’s Psalm in his speech at Pentecost:
“Because You will not leave My soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your holy One to see corruption” (Acts 2:27 MKJV).
Though Christ’s body was put to death, He was never dead:
“For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, indeed being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; in which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:18-19 MKJV).
Not only could God die, but He had to die, to demonstrate His power in overcoming death for us, by destroying him who held us in death’s power:
“Since then the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise partook of the same; that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death (that is, the Devil)” (Hebrews 2:14 MKJV).
Perhaps you erred in your reference here, but I do not see any reference to God’s inability to die in this following passage you give, even in your own translation:
“And they are singing the song of Moses the slave of God and the song of the Lamb, saying: ‘Great and wonderful are your works, Jehovah God, the Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways, King of eternity” (Revelation 15:3 NWT).
You have not given me reasonable testimony, with two or three witnesses from Scripture, that God cannot die. What will you say about those matters now? Will you ignore them, not acknowledging that you have been in error and failed? Will you now go on to other arguments?
Whether God can or cannot die is not the point, however, though obviously it is not hard to understand why it is a point to you, since we say Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. I can say that Jesus Christ raised Himself from the dead (didn’t He?), which only God could do, as the Model Man, which only God could be:
Isaiah 59:15-17 MKJV
(15) Yea, truth fails; and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. And Jehovah saw, and it displeased Him that there was no judgment.
(16) And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore His own arm brought salvation to Him; and His righteousness sustained Him.
(17) For He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head. And He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was covered with zeal like a cloak.
Only God can do those things. Only God has power over death, according to Moses. Only God has the keys to death and hell, and only God can give life:
“See now that I, even I, am He. There is no God with Me. I kill, and I make alive. I wound, and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of My hand” (Deuteronomy 32:39 HNV).
He kills and makes alive, He says, as if to say no one else could do so, thus proving Jehovah is God. Yet Jesus Christ said He would raise up His own body in three days. Was He a liar? Or was He the One you deny Him to be, none other than Jehovah in the flesh, called the Son of God only because He came in a human body? Has any other person ever been able to raise himself from the dead? No such person exists because only Jesus Christ has the keys of death and hell:
“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying to me, Do not fear, I am the First and the Last, and the Living One, and I became dead, and behold, I am alive for ever and ever, Amen. And I have the keys of hell and of death” (Revelation 1:17-18 MKJV).
These keys He had, with the power to forgive sins, even before His death and resurrection:
Mark 2:9-12 MKJV
(9) Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven you; or to say, Arise, and take up your cot and walk?
(10) But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority upon earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralytic,
(11) I say to you, Arise, and take up your cot, and go to your house.
(12) And immediately he arose and took up his cot and went out before all. So that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, We never saw it this way.
As John records by the Spirit of God, Jesus Christ declares Himself the First and the Last, the Living One. Who but Jehovah God is first, and who but Jehovah God is last?
Ruth, you make several assumptions of me that are not with knowledge. For example, using your very good analogy, you assume that I would be going about studying various counterfeit currencies to figure which is real. I have known the Real since 1973 and received His Spirit in 1975. That ended any searching or doubts in my mind. Until then, I was in desperately searching and perishing. No longer am I perishing.
I ask you to be willing to be fair and objective, informing yourself of me before you speak – read the record of my spiritual odyssey. There you will find clear testimony and proof that I have not only not rejected Jesus Christ’s ransom, I have been ransomed and transformed from sinner to saint, not by any merit of my own, but by His resurrection power, all praise and glory to Jehovah God, the Lord Jesus Christ!
I will also call you to task on your words, “By carefully engaging in a study of the Bible, you can figure out the true religion….”
I solemnly declare to you that favor with, and connection to, Jehovah God will never come by “figuring.” One never figures out the true religion. I tried, desperately so, until I asked the Lord Jesus to take over my life, and when He did, and when He gave me His Holy Spirit, I had no more figuring to do – I had The Answer, that being Jehovah God, Jesus Christ Himself dwelling in me.
If you have any regard or respect for me, you will read my testimony and hear what I have to say about what has happened to me. You will acquaint yourself with available information before speculating and surmising things that are not true. By God’s grace, I would do the same for you.
I became Jesus Christ’s bondservant or “slave,” as your translator likes to put the Greek to English, which is fine by me. I am a very thankful and joyous slave, who earns far more and has far greater benefits than any king or world ruler that I have ever known about. This even includes King David, King Solomon, and Moses.
You say, “I know you heard enough about the ransom to at least make you think….”
Believe me when I tell you that I have heard and known infinitely more of The Ransom than I heard that night with you, Ruth (I do not use the bolded words loosely).
You say, “Change is difficult, but possible.”
I say that a true nature change is impossible for man, and only possible with God, even as Jesus said. I discovered that truth by trying, failing, and when found in total defeat, being changed by the Resurrection and the Life, God Himself, the Creator, by Whom all things were made.
Willing to talk; no offense taken; thankful for you and Al, Ruth. Frankly, the way I have been feeling lately is that my heart goes out to all members of the Jehovah’s Witness organization. What do I do with that? God knows.
Victor
HI. Thanks for writing Victor.
The opportunity to be chosen to be of the 144,000 was opened up at Jesus’ death. Holy spirit was poured out on the 120 in the upper room in Jerusalem, as Jesus had promised before he left to return to heaven. That gave them witness their destiny would be in the heavens as part of that group. Through the 1st century the calling/choosing continued. Then as the great apostasy that Jesus had foretold took hold, true Christians of the 1st century died off, and the dark ages set in. So very few were added to the 144,000 as the years went on. In the parable of Matthew 13 about the ‘wheat and the weeds’ Jesus explained (24 – 30) that the wheat and weeds should be allowed to grow to-gether until the harvest.(Verse 30) Weeds being false ‘christians’, wheat being true Christians. So there has ALWAYS been someone of that class alive at any given time. Now is the harvest time (another subject) and the ingathering of the balance of the 144000 has been going on apace in this generation. Not many left. We are close to the end. So as they age, and die, and receive their reward, fewer and fewer remain alive. About 8,000 last year thought they were of the annointed. Only Jehovah knows for SURE who he has really called, we don’t. Nor must we try to judge: this one is annointed, that one only thinks he/she is. Not for us to worry about. World – wide the number is quite small, compared to the 7+ million active witnesses of Jehovah.
This is deep material Victor, and I would love the opportunity to get to-gether and then could do a much better job of explaining how it all fits to-gether. Perfectly.
I just pray I will be given that opportunity.
Christian love
Ruth
The reason the emblems are displayed anyway, is that we are obeying Jesus’ command to ‘keep doing this in remembrance of me’. And that we continue to do.
Hi Ruth!
You had yet to address some thoughts we had and answer some questions. The last question, however, was answered when I attended your meeting.
The question was: “I believe you said that you didn’t know of anyone in Lethbridge that would be worthy of partaking, or the very few that would partake could well be mistaken. Indeed, I believe you said that throughout the world, rare would be the person that would be partaking. Is that so?”
You gathered, and displayed and passed around the bread and wine, the symbols of His flesh and blood, declaring you were doing so in obedience to the Lord’s command. You even quoted the Scriptures with the commands in them:
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 MKJV
(23) For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread;
(24) And giving thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me.”
(25) In the same way He took the cup also, after supping, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood; as often as you drink it, do this in remembrance of Me.”
(26) For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show the Lord’s death until He shall come.
You wrote, “The reason the emblems are displayed anyway, is that we are obeying Jesus’ command to ‘keep doing this in remembrance of me’. And that we continue to do.”
Did Jesus command to display only? Where does it say that in Scripture? Or did He command to eat and to drink? I found it highly ironic that while you gather with the physical elements, and with the express purpose of obeying His command, you all, to a member, disobey Him entirely, declining to partake!
You believe that only those you consider to be the 144,000 are worthy to do so. These persons, you say, are numbered from the day the Lord kept His last Passover meal before His death to the present day. But where and how is that doctrine substantiated in the Scriptures? Where is it written that it is only for the 144,000 to eat His flesh and drink His blood?
How do you see yourselves fulfilling the Lord’s words that you must eat His flesh and drink His blood, otherwise you have no life or part in Him? (John 6:53-57)
Ruth, when I ask questions, I always appreciate when people answer them with consideration and direct relevancy. I find it unacceptable when people give me Scripture or doctrine, and then when I give them Scripture and interpretation that appear to refute their doctrines and interpretations of Scripture, they either one – give a failed and dishonest attempt to explain how I am wrong, or two – evade the question, or three – simply give doctrine and Scripture that do not fairly and reasonably answer my question. Then, when I don’t accept their answers, they tell me I am closed or dishonest with myself. But am I truly closed or are they?
You seem to avoid my questions or comments. I understand you are taught to avoid conflict, and you do not wish to enter it, and that is certainly a wise thing to do much of the time. It does not, however, absolve one of speaking the distinct truth and answering legitimate concerns. And consider that you have initiated the dialogue. How reasonable is it that you can say something to another, but the other’s words, spoken to you after considering your argument, are ignored?
We have given you the correspondence with Gayla concerning the stark difference of opinion between Russell and Rutherford. We would like to hear honest, straightforward answers and explanations on these matters. Your reply was simply, “Very interesting.” We think you skirt around the issues just to convert us to your doctrine, ignoring the indicators that are worthy of consideration and reconsideration on your part.
When we ask direct questions, we would like to receive direct answers, substantiated not by doctrine formulated by Russell, Rutherford, Fred Franz, Raymond Franz, or any other man, independent of the Scriptures or interpreted by them from Scripture. We are after sound, reasonable Scriptural answers.
I appreciate you and Al and other Jehovah’s Witnesses that I have met – many of them – Terry Fox, the Olsons, and the Storozes to name a few, and I hope that you will not cast me off for my earnest attempts at getting straight answers.
What did I witness the “Memorial” night? I appreciated the friendliness, discipline, and corporate dedication there. There was involvement of all ages, generations, and walks of life.
Curiously, when Marilyn came to pick me up, she asked directions or instructions of someone directing traffic, only to find that it was your son-in-law! We then got to meet your daughter as I was leaving. We can’t make these things up, can we? I don’t suspect or imagine that you gave your son-in-law instructions to watch for, and buttonhole, Marilyn!
Why did you ask me if I was disappointed? Were you expecting more from the meeting? What was it? Please tell me. I was not disappointed, but thankful.
By the way, I appreciate your warning of being hated for the Lord’s sake. If you red the story of my spiritual odyssey, you would see that I am no stranger to hatred and persecution. I lost my family and everyone and everything in my past for faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to His personal call. I am the black sheep of two large trunk families and all other branch and foreign families. To them, I am anathema, but I am unspeakably thankful that I have the awesome, undeserving privilege of suffering ostracism and hate for His sake.
In the Name of the Entirely, Perfectly Successful Lord and Savior of all mankind, Jesus Christ,
Victor
Dear Victor: How could I have ‘set up’ my son-in-law to meet either of you? I didn’t know you were coming, nor did I know that Marilyn would be picking you up! Just one of those strange circumstances we can’t account for.
I’m finding myself in over my head in trying to respond to your questions. My mind boggles, I get blurry thinking, and I cannot focus like I need to do to to cope with your counter-arguments.
I’m getting awfully afraid, that we are simply going to have to agree to disagree, and wait for Armageddon to see who’s standing and who isn’t!
One thing I must mention, I know that there are alot of apostates out there. I know they hate Jehovah’s people. And of course, the New World Translation. 1st, because it restores the Name to the nearly 6,000 places where it was in the original manuscripts. A name that is, above all hated in this world. If fact I see the pope has ordered it be removed from every CAtholic work, Bible, liturgy, etc. etc. Remove it is the order. they who above all pray the ‘Our FAther’ “Hallowed by thy name”! What name? None other than the name of the only true God, Jehovah.
How Satan hates the Name! And how we love it, and love fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 43: “You are my witnesses, even my servant. . . .”
The fact is Victor, we’ve had many articles/accolades in FAVOUR of the NWT, and there were excellent Greek/Hebrew scholars involved in it’s production. They chose to remain unnamed so the glory would go not to men (them) but to Jehovah God himself. So it’s easier to find haters of the NWT than lovers. Scholars routinely praise it for it’s honesty, clarity and consistency. You won’t find those accolades on the Internet. Too many apostates!
Revelation 12 explains that when the kingdom was born Satan was cast out of heaven, furious, of course, and ‘went to wage war with the remaining ones of her seed (the woman’s, or God’s heavenly organization). And by extension, we are the targets of that fury, and hatred, manifested world-wide. Matthew 24:14 Jesus foretold, “And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
That work is nearly completed, and when it is done to Jehovah’s satisfaction, the end will indeed come. We are waiting for that now. But we are still preaching the good news of the kingdom until it does. That is our message, and that only.
I feel kind of sad that I’m not able to go into each verse you quote and tackle each point you make. I just don’t see a happy ending for that discussion. It seems fruitless, pointless, a haggling over words, translations, to me that truth is clear as crystal, and my faith is strong.
I know you feel exactly the same way.
So it’s kind of agreeing to disagree.
I got excited when you got the 3 messages in 3 days, all from J.W.’s, we both wondered if it could be the holy spirit in action. I knew then, and know it now, time would tell. I got worried I was being presumptuous in hoping Jehovah would/could use me to open your heart, but now have concluded it was my zeal, my intense love for righteousness that impelled me to call you, to call on every one who had shown a speck of interest to invite them to join us.
I’m glad you came, of course, but must now beg off. The points you make, the explanations you give, the viewpoints you have, simply don’t resonate with me, and I feel certain it’s the exact same thing with you, for my explanations, and my attempts to help you to see things the way I see them. I’ve lost count on how many religions there are in this world now, I know they increase exponentially, as people get disenchanted with the ‘higher ups’ and leave disgruntled to start yet another religion. You’ve been right where you are for many many years, I suspect, so I must ask leave to bow out. I simply cannot satisfy your needs/questions/points-of-view in any meaningful way. For us to continue this dialogue is a fruitless exercise in frustration.
Let’s part amicably, on friendly terms, but let’s part.
I am so sorry.
Ruth.
Hi Ruth, Paul Cohen here.
We answer your objections about the Lord Jesus being Almighty God in our section Jesus Christ Is God.
There are, however, some things I would like to say about the only-begotten Son of God. You should know that being called the Son of God does not disqualify Christ from being God. There is also the “Angel of the Lord,” Who is God in the form by which He manifested Himself to men, such as in this instance to Abraham:
“And the Angel of Jehovah called to him from the heavens and said, Abraham! Abraham! And he said, Here am I. And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad, nor do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only one, from Me” (Genesis 22:11-12 MKJV).
There is no problem, according to the Scriptures, with the Son of God being God, any more than there is with the Angel of the Lord being God. There is only one God, but He manifests Himself as He chooses, where and when He chooses. Man is in no position to deny God in whatever form He appears, but it is the nature of sin and unbelief to do so.
So your question might be: Why would God appear as the only-begotten Son of God? The Scriptures give us the answer:
“For it became Him, for Whom are all things and by Whom are all things, in bringing many sons into glory, to perfect the Captain of their salvation through sufferings. For both He Who sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of One, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brothers” (Hebrews 2:10-11 MKJV).
Who but God can sanctify men? Jesus Christ is Jehovah God entering the dimension of man to accomplish this great work. He comes to make the connection with His creation in order to duplicate Himself through those made in His image. It is God Who has come to take us to Himself and to make us One. God, Who is Spirit, came in the flesh, because we, His creation, are flesh. This coming of God is known as the Son of God.
It is all laid out in the first chapter of Hebrews (my comments in brackets; please follow carefully):
Hebrews 1:1-14 MKJV
(1) God, Who at many times and in many ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
(2) has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, Whom He has appointed Heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds [Christ is God the Creator],
(3) Who being the shining splendor of His glory, and the express image of His essence, and upholding all things by the word of His power [Christ is, and expresses, all the power of God], through Himself cleansing of our sins, He sat down on the right of the Majesty on high,
(4) being made so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent Name than they. [Who but God is higher than the angels?]
(5) For to which of the angels did He say at any time, “You are My Son, this day I have begotten You”? And again, “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son”?
(6) And again, when He brings in the First-born into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.” [Only God is worthy of worship.]
(7) And of the angels He says, “Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.”
(8) But to the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. [Christ is called God; there is only one King in the Kingdom.]
(9) You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows.” [He came as the Son of Man.] (10) And, “You, Lord, have laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the works of Your hands.
(11) They shall perish, but You will remain. And they shall all become old as a garment,
(12) and as a covering You shall fold them up, and they shall be changed. But You are the same, and Your years shall not fail.” [This is said to the Son of God. Only God has no beginning and no end.]
(13) But to which of the angels, did He say at any time, “Sit on My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool”?
(14) Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation? [There are ministers of God and there are those who receive them. Above all, there is God.]
Jesus Christ can only be God. There is no other possibility. Only God has immortality; only He can create and sustain life. He has done all of this through the only-begotten Son of God. That is why we worship and praise His Name! Thank You, Lord Jesus, for making Yourself known to us, that we have seen and known Your glory and have this great honor of praising Your Name. Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain, Who sits on the throne of God!
“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!” (Psalms 150:6 HNV)
As for your objection about this Scripture:
“Jesus said to her, Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father. But go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father and Your Father, and to My God and your God” (John 20:17 MKJV).
These words of Christ agree with the other Scriptures I just quoted you. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, came to die for our sins and to be raised again for our justification. We need His death and His resurrection to be made complete.
Christ’s resurrection power was not yet made available until after He ascended, beginning at Pentecost, when He descended on those gathered in His Name. Then were the disciples able to receive Him and to hold onto Him. God, the Father and the Son, came down to become one with them, and they went forth in His Name, preaching His gospel, manifesting His power to heal and to convert souls, suffering persecution gladly and overcoming all things by the power of His Spirit.
“Everyone who transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ, this one has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9 EMTV).
Paul
I am sorry you took the trouble to write, since I am firmly committed to being one of Jehovah’s witnesses, and my faith is very strong. It’s a problem of seeing things from opposite ends of the spectrum.
Our differences are irreconcilable, and taking more time out of our lives to hash out scripture, verse, vs whatever, and translation, etc. is simply an exercise in futility. As I explained to Victor this morning, we are about obeying Jesus’ command to preach the good news of the kingdom, as he foretold in Matt 24:14, before the end comes.
That is when all will be revealed, and I am truly ready for that!
Thanks for your letter, but I must ask you to be kind enough to delete my name from your files, and let’s just say we agree to disagree.
I do thank you Paul.
Sincerely,
Ruth
Ruth, if I had been writing with the hope that my letter would cause you to instantly change your mind about God, I would have never sent it to you. We know that things don’t work that way. Look at the prophets of God in the Scriptures – “Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of Jehovah revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1 MKJV)
Though men do not believe our testimony in Christ, the Word of God endures forever. There is no stopping His Word from accomplishing what God intends when He sends us to speak It. We are not speaking to you in vain.
Your admissions, however – that you cannot understand what we say, cannot answer the Scriptures we explain, feel uncertain about the outcome of what you see as our stand-off, and conclude it is useless for you to continue talking with us – point to the fact that you are in defeat and darkness. You don’t have the Light of God or His victory. If you did, you would know that speaking the truth has great value and effect. If you were in Christ’s victory, you would not be in doubt as to the outcome of our visits, and you would not walk away empty-handed, without giving or receiving an answer.
When you have a heart for the truth, you will be willing to hear our answers to you. You will know that we speak and defend the Truth, not a religion, in order that you might have the victory in Christ. We already have the victory and have nothing to prove or to gain from any person.
We are not trying to talk you out of your religion. We are directing you to the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose flesh and blood you are not presently partaking in, though you must, as He says, if you will have life. While you pass on even the symbolic elements, we partake of the Reality of them. Because we are partaking of Him and have His life, we share with you in order that you might have life, too.
Paul
Hi Ruth,
I’m sorry you misunderstood me about your daughter and son-in-law. I was not foolishly saying that you set it up. I was saying that something beyond us was happening, not to be written off as mere chance. That goes for the three incidents as well as communications with Jehovah’s Witnesses within two weeks, all apparently unrelated.
I understand your inability to answer my questions. I knew you could not answer them, and that is partly why I asked them – to alert you to the fact that while you have man’s indoctrination, you do not have the truth or the freedom that comes by knowing Jesus Christ our Lord personally.
Believing men and having invested in them all you possess, even your very life, I also understand your reluctance to pay any attention to, and to understand, what I am saying or what we write at The Path of Truth. Still, the truth does the work when spoken (written and red) and I know it is working with you to bear fruit by and by.
One of the sure marks of false religion is the forbidding of adherents to read and hear what others write and speak. We are not afraid to be exposed to JW doctrine or any other because we know the truth, the truth has made us free, and we are not intimidated by anything against the truth. On the contrary, we thank God for the opportunity that falsehood affords us to speak the truth against it.
As you well know, I have no problem with you or anyone else coming to the farm and speaking whatever you will. Those among us to whom you speak do not need my protection or defense. They know and understand and can give a reply or give you questions to think about, not because they are coached and trained to do so, as are you and your fellow congregants, but simply because they have been gifted through salvation by His blood to automatically recognize error and give answers to counter that error, usually with great ease.
You and I talked of the training in identifying counterfeit currency, haven’t we? Only this is not by man’s training that we have that wonderful power and freedom to know the difference between good and evil, and truth and error, but by the indwelling Spirit. We have the Resurrection power of Jehovah God, which is something those who formally call themselves His witnesses do not have!
Indeed, Ruth, send us your best teachers and whom you consider to be the most powerful and persuasive witnesses to the farm, as many as you like, and we will meet you, gladly, without enmity or ill will or even inhospitality of any kind. We are also not afraid of your literature or that of any other, as you are afraid of ours, because we know where we stand – on solid rock.
Your leaders stand defensively on the shifting sands of men’s doctrine, and so they forbid you free two-way conversation with others. Of course, they tell you they are looking to your best interests, protecting you from the treacherous notions of the “children of the darkness of this world,” which is how you see us and all others not of your organization. You are taught to reject anything outside “the fold,” lest you be deceived and snared. Simply put, you and your people live in darkness and fear, Ruth, while we are free, reigning with Christ in this world.
How did we get there? We got there through Armageddon! We have been there, as I believe I once told you. And Jesus Christ has won the victory for us. You and your people have interpreted the Scriptures carnally for the past century and more, setting dates, fudging the results, setting more dates, and coming up with spurious explanations for your failures and falsehoods. That is the way of darkness:
“Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell, lest you should meditate on the path of life, her tracks are movable; you cannot know them” (Proverbs 5:5-6 MKJV).
We have no problem with the Name, Jehovah/Yahweh/YHWH. Whatever the pope does, he has problems with all righteousness because he is appointed under God to stand for evil. But as Pharaoh was appointed as a vessel fit for destruction, so also with the pope, and he will have Pharaoh’s end. Those presuming to be Jehovah’s witnesses will also find they have greatly erred. I speak this by sure knowledge and revelation from Jehovah God Himself, Ruth.
You mention the increasing numbers of religions. We are of no religion. We have the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior; He is our religion. Jesus Christ called me out of religion in 1976.
You continue to praise the New World Translation, yet you will not answer a plain example of error and my objection to it (Habakkuk 1:12) because you cannot do so. Your indoctrination and life commitment to the organization prevents your eyes from seeing and your heart from comprehending the plain and simple truth before you.
You stop your ears because you don’t want to be wrong, but God came to save sinners, not the righteous, Ruth – those wrong and not those right; when you confess yourself a perpetrator rather than a victim (He has come to save perpetrators), then you will see Him and rejoice with all your heart, with all humility, while in contempt for the way you have been before Him – not that He will condemn you.
Ruth, we are not sorry we took the trouble to write you. We are thankful. (I see I mistakenly sent you our file I was sending to Paul for the record – as you see we keep these for future reference, in case necessity should arise. Excuse me for that, please.)
Watching for you, and thankful,
Victor
Now. You’ve got me angry!
Jesus clear command to his disciples was to preach the good news of the kingdom in all th earth for a witness to the nations, before the end comes. (Mtt 24:14)
You, instead, make files of those whom you seem to like to criticize and denigrate and run us down because we aren’t taken in by your dark doctrines.!
Matt 28:19, and 20. Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the FAther and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you”
Are you doing that?
A Baptist lady once tried. She mobilized the members of her church one Saturday morning and got 100 out to preach. The 2nd saturday 50 turned out, the third she was there alone. She realized they couldn’t do this work because they DON’T HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. So she began to study the Bible with the Witnesses and came right into the truth!
Experiences like that can be multiplied many times over.
Since the 1880’s we have come from a handful to 7 million, and to the ends of the very earth, literally, and the gospel we preach is the good news of God’s kingdom, in imitation of Jesus Christ. For this we have been thrown in prison, concentration camps, hated, killed, and villified. But we keep going, until Jesus Christ and Jehovah God say “It is enough” in their strength we will keep doing it until then.
What are you doing?
Keeping files on what I said and didn’t say. Running us down.
Problem is Victor, you simply don’t have the holy spirit.
I challenge you people to get out there and knock on doors. Just like Jesus sent his disciples to do Matt 10. Go ahead. Try it. See how long you last.
We are the only people in the face of this world who can and do and continue to do this work because we are the only people on earth that have Jehovah’s holy spirit empowering us to do it!
Put this in your file and try to figure out more ways you can insult me.
Now you’ve made me angry!
Ruth
Hi Ruth,
I’m sorry I angered you.
Let’s look at things rationally and factually, however. The answer to your ire is in hearing and receiving the true story. Are you willing to listen to reason?
You commit the constant offence against me of accusing me of things of which I am innocent, particularly given that if you red my spiritual testimony, you simply would not be able to say the things of me that you do. Why continue in ignorance, accusing me and looking foolish, when all you have to do is open your eyes and heart, and judge what I have already said many times?
Still, I hold no grudge or resentment toward you for your stance, Ruth. Let me reply to your repeated errors and false assumptions in this letter. Had you red my other letters and links I gave you, I would not be compelled to do this; I am constantly re-inventing the wheel in our correspondence with you, but I will still do it for your sake.
You say, accusing: “You, instead, make files of those whom you seem to like to criticize and denigrate and run us down because we aren’t taken in by your dark doctrines.!”
We keep files of all correspondence with all people, friend or foe. You set yourself as a judge of motives, and your judgment is false. However, if I am mistaken, Ruth, then here is what I am willing to do: Show me where I am guilty of any denigration of members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization and I will gladly consider the possible need to apologize to you and all JW’s. I will also gladly have you post publicly or send that apology to as many as you will. Indeed, I will post that apology on our own site. Is that fair?
So that we maintain accuracy with our terms, can we agree on a dictionary’s definition of “denigration”? Here is the definition from WordWeb):
One: A belittling comment.
Two: An abusive attack on a person’s character or good name.
Three: The act of expressing disapproval (especially of yourself).
As for the third definition, I’m sure you’ll agree that we must be free, in righteousness, to express disapproval both of ourselves and others if we or they are wrong. Jesus did it. So one can see where dictionaries don’t always get it right, at least not the way we generally understand words, as you and I do in this case. Let’s try a better dictionary – The Random House Dictionary of the English Language:
One: To speak damagingly of; criticize in a derogatory manner; sully; defame: to denigrate someone’s good reputation.
Two: To make black, blacken.
Ruth, I repeat, if you will give me the exact statements, in context, wherein I have spoken falsely against the Jehovah’s Witnesses, or uttered or published, maliciously or falsely, anything injurious, or written or said anything without good cause about you and your organization, I will gladly, sincerely, and attentively consider, and by God’s grace, I will confess and apologize not only to you, but to all Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Perhaps you are only surmising that I would keep files to “run [you] down”. Is that not what the Scriptures call “evil surmisings” or “wicked suspicions,” as your version puts it (1 Timothy 6:4)?
As for the example of your Baptist lady, I consider Baptists to be in darkness, so it would not surprise me whatever they might do. It means nothing to me. We well know that just as Jehovah’s Witnesses do not have the Spirit, Baptists do not have the Spirit. We were once Baptists; Marilyn and I met in a Baptist Bible school in Saskatoon in 1973 and were married within a year.
A month later, we received the Holy Spirit you say I don’t have, and the Baptists expelled us for it! If you had red my story, you would have known that, but you keep speaking without knowledge, Ruth. Not good. It tells me that you are not being responsible or respectful toward me at all. What kind of “witness” is that? Does that not make you a false witness?
You boast of numbers, Ruth. Is that not another dead giveaway as to your unacceptable standing before God? If numbers count, let’s all go back to the Catholic Church, 1.3 billion strong! If numbers counted, Gideon should have waged war with the Midianites with 32,000 rather than with 300. God is no respecter of numbers, Ruth. Here is what He has to say about such a notion:
“And the Lord said to Gideon, So great is the number of your people, that if I give the Midianites into their hands they will be uplifted in pride over Me and will say, I myself have been my saviour” (Judges 7:2 BBE).
What about the Mormons, Ruth? Are they not a great organization as well, and not much different in age from the JW organization? Do they not go door to door as well, even leaving their own homes and countries, if necessary, for 18-month terms of full-time service? Do they not put the JW’s to shame in certain respects of the kind to which you allude? Therefore there is no boasting before God in matters of this nature, is there?
You speak of being in imitation of Jesus Christ. The Bible is clear that no man can imitate Him; that is why we need to be born again, receiving His Spirit, so that He might live in and through us. Imitating Him is often the problem with those in the world who bear His Name. They go about in their own strength, establishing their own righteousness, presuming they can copy the Savior. They do not consider that they need Him because they cannot be like Him to begin with.
Here you are, indignant with me (“Now. You’ve got me angry!”). Why? There are at least two reasons:
One, you believe I have done something evil that I have not done, at least not that I am aware.
Two, you seem to expect me to recognize and respect, contrary to the counsel of God and the Scriptures, your numbers, dedication, and suffering. Is that not self-righteousness? Sure it is! What else can one call it?
I am well aware of the dedication and persecutions of the JW’s in imprisonment, torture, and death throughout their history and throughout the world, Canada included. While you have chosen to be willfully ignorant of me and my history, despite my pleadings with you, I am anything but ignorant of the JW’s and their history. You are telling me nothing new. However, hear what brother Paul says about sufferings of which you and many boast:
“And though I give out all my goods to feed the poor, and though I deliver my body to be burned, and have not love, I am profited nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3 MKJV).
You may say you have that love of God and neighbor. Whether you have that true love or not can be a subjective thing, can it not? You certainly haven’t loved me by paying respectful attention to much of what I’ve said; you have listened and responded to very little of it. You treat what I have to say with contempt, as though I am ignorant and have nothing of value to express. You brush it away, yet with friendliness. Is your love therefore not feigned? How can anyone respect you for that?
On the other hand, I have ignored nothing of what you have said, and I have responded to almost all of it, specifically and categorically. So who loves who, Ruth? Let the fruits speak for themselves. And I make you angry? Consider that it could be the other way around. Still, I bear patiently with you, do I not?
“So then did I become your enemy speaking to you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16 MKJV)
We keep files of all correspondences for reference (as I said in my note alerting you to my mistake). Nobody needs to rely on undependable memories. Those files contain our words as well as yours. By taking issue with my holding a record of both our words, are you not perhaps afraid and even admitting that your own words condemn you? If you and the JW’s speak the truth, should I not be the one afraid of being exposed and “run down”?
You are perfectly free to keep a file of all my letters, whether you intend to use them for good or for evil; I don’t care. I would be thankful for you to publish my words along with yours for the whole world to hear or read. I am not afraid of public scrutiny (I invite it!), and I am not ashamed of anything I have said. I rejoice that men speak evil of me for His sake, unlike you, who are now angry (though I have not spoken evil of you).
Furthermore, Ruth, far from being ashamed of what we have written you, we place great value on it, because it is the Truth that God has given us in Christ for the sake of all, beginning with those whom we answer. When we answer people in the things of God, as we are doing with you, it is not just our thoughts or opinions that we express, but the thoughts of God as He enlightens our understanding on the issues of life and the application of His Word to the matters at hand.
When Jesus fed the multitudes, He had them gather up the fragments of what was left over. If He so valued the food from God for the body, how much more value should we place on the Food from God for the soul? Yet you treat it contemptuously, as though it is vile garbage, not realizing that you are rejecting the very thing that would make you whole.
So how is it you think to have the Holy Spirit? Because you knock on doors, and as an organization, experience persecution? Do you believe the Mormons have the Spirit because they are as new as you, relatively speaking, have great numbers, go door to door, suffer persecution, and sacrifice their time, finances, and energies as do you?
You ask me, “What are you doing?” What kind of question is that, Ruth? Is it not an accusatory and presumptuous one, as though you think I do nothing to serve Jesus Christ? Again, you know nothing of me, though it is publicly available, and I have tried to make you repeatedly aware of it. You display great disrespect for me and an ignorance of reality in your stance. It should be needless to say, but I must tell you, that none of this is any good in the sight of Jehovah.
I will answer your critical and combative question, though you ignore many of my questions, which are honest, straightforward, and not combative: I spend long hours daily bearing witness to the Lord Jesus Christ to thousands of people, personally and on the internet. I am talking to you, taking all this time away from other associations and activities, including time with my own son, just so you will hear the truth (not complaining or boasting).
Do you think only JW’s go door knocking? I am not a stranger to going door to door. I have done it many times, and I am not averse to doing it again and again, Lord willing. What makes you think otherwise? I am not a stranger to having doors shut in my face and being contemned by stranger and friend alike.
Furthermore, I am not a stranger to having lost family, friends, career, possessions, and social benefits of all sorts for the Lord’s sake. I have been thrown out of many homes. Several of my next door neighbors despise me for identifying with Jesus Christ. We suffer enmity every day by those who condemn us, whom we “make angry” for presumed offenses.
We continue to lose friends and acquaintances. We have lost tens of thousands of dollars worth of business because we speak the truth to the multitudes, Harvest Haven customers included, and we have the correspondence files you hold in contempt to prove it.
Our website has the record of many who disdain us and count us as maniacs, fanatics, heretics, antiChrists, false prophets, a cult, and a danger to society. Some have threatened us and have even called for our blood – evangelicals and Baptists, at that. Were it not for the law of the land in place thus far, and God’s grace more importantly, they would kill us; of that I have no doubt whatsoever. Yet, we continue, without pay from this world. Our paychecks come from the Kingdom and they are far more than worth the cost, even as Jesus promised – a hundredfold, much in every way.
I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that it is not so with you, Ruth. You are not hated as we are, not by a long shot. Neither do we have the presumed advantage you have of many associates and the respect (albeit often a grudging one) of the world as an established institution. We are very few and much alone.
But do these things mean anything to me either way? Do I complain or boast of these things? No, my glory is in the Lord Jesus Christ, for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, even as did Paul the apostle. Admittedly, I have never suffered physical abuse. Several have tried to hurt and even kill us, but the Lord miraculously protected us in those cases. So why do I tell you this? I am simply setting the record straight for yet another person who is willingly ignorant and dismissive of me and my companions in Christ, as though we are stupid fools, children of darkness and of the Devil himself.
I will use Paul’s words, written in a situation in which he found himself, similar to the situation in which you have now placed me:
“I have become foolish boasting. You compelled me” (2 Corinthians 12:11 MKJV).
But God has, according to His will, restored to me in this life that which I have lost, according to the Scriptures:
Joel 2:25-27 MKJV
(25) And I will restore to you the years which the swarming locust has eaten, the locust larvae, and the stripping locust, and the cutting locust, My great army which I sent among you.
(26) And you shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of Jehovah your God, Who has dealt with you wonderfully; and My people shall never be ashamed.
(27) And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Jehovah your God, and no one else; and My people shall never be ashamed.
He has made our business as a witness to the world of how people ought to farm and produce food, deal with dietary, environmental, social, economic, political, religious, medical, and health issues, besides many other necessities of life, in which people are sorely lacking and perishing. Are you not perishing? What of your present illness and condition? Yet here we are with so much to offer you, and you are blinded to it all.
We are given as salt and light, a leaven for good, no glory to us but all to the Lord Jesus Christ.
So what do you have to say to all this, Ruth? Nothing, as usual? Will you simply withdraw, as is your custom? Will you continue professing to care for me when your actions prove so differently?
You say, “We [JW’s] are the only people in the face of this world who can and do and continue to do this work because we are the only people on earth that have Jehovah’s holy spirit empowering us to do it!”
Do your own words and actions toward me bear that out? Have I not shown you they do not?
You say, “Put this in your file and try to figure out more ways you can insult me. Now you’ve made me angry!”
Have I insulted you? Show me where I have been wrong, specifically, quoting words in context, and I will correct whatever is needful of correction. I will retract whatever is necessary in God’s sight. Are you a judge of hearts and motives, Ruth?
I think that in your great contradiction toward me, with unfounded suspicions, false accusations, willful ignorance of me, and more, I have great and just cause to be angry with you, but by God’s grace and His grace alone, I’m not. Neither do I cast you off as you’ve already done with me, more than once.
On the contrary, I am thankful for our reacquaintance.
Victor
Clearly Victor, we aren’t on the same wave length.
We just ‘don’t see eye to eye’.
I absoutely refuse to engage in any more dialogue, arguments, or counter=arguments.
Simply no use.
So, once again, please allow me to say: Let’s agree to disagree.
This we have done.
Now, an end to the endless.
No more.
I sign off now, and forever. Unless you change your mind, because I certainly am not changing mine!
Ruth.
I do not wish to continue this conversation.
Sorry, that’s it.
No more.
Indeed, Ruth, we are not at all on the same wavelength. I have spoken to you from above, from the Kingdom of God.
As per your request, however, I will allow you to say, “Let’s agree to disagree.” Though I do not agree with the disagreement, I will leave it.
When you say you will not change your mind, I believe you. With men these things are impossible, but with God, all things are possible. Only Jesus Christ can change your mind for you, and He will, when your time comes.
Our door remains open to you, Ruth; there is no closing here by us.
On the night of April 21st, 2009, when I sent you my last letter, I, by the Holy Spirit, saw and felt you wince or groan at receiving it. You cannot resist the Truth, and you have a crisis of conscience. How hardly shall a rich man enter heaven, but with Jesus Christ, all things are possible!
Your Armageddon has come, Ruth, when you have least expected it.
Does the Scripture not say that He comes as a thief (Revelation 16:15)? And your reaction is because you have been found naked and utterly unable to gainsay or resist what I have been given to say to you for your sake.
Victor Hafichuk