ALL OF US SHOULD PRAYERFULLY CONTEMPLATE WHAT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN IN THE NEAR FUTURE SUCH AS WITH OUR BROTHERS IN RUSSIA. THE FACT IS JEHOVAH IS IN COMPLETE CONTROL OF MATTERS AND NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS IT WILL BE "IN STYLE" TO HIS GLORY. HERE IS THE TALK BY BR. JACKSON OF THE GOVERNING BODY THAT IS MOST FITTING AT THIS TIME TO REVIEW:
Expect the Unexpected Bro. Jeffrey Jackson, 2016 Annual Meeting
I'm sure everyone of us here today will agree that this year's regional convention program was absolutely fantastic! And probably one of the most common comments that have been made is that many brothers and sisters have said this convention has truly prepared us for the great tribulation and we certainly feel that way.
But as our minds think about the great tribulation and the importance of Jesus words, it's true at times that our imagination perhaps become very active, we have maybe have questions: how long will be the great tribulation? How will it affect me personally? Will I be able to get my medication? What about my cat? Well the short answer to all those intriguing questions is: we don't know. But there is something that we do know beyond any doubt whatsoever, let's turn to the book of 2 Peter 2:9 and this fact fills us with confidence as we look to the future to the outbreak of the great tribulation. So 2 Peter 2:9, there it tells us: So, then, Jehovah knows how to rescue people of godly devotion out of trial...
Yes, brothers and sisters, we know Jehovah! We know his record! We've studied the scriptures! And we totally believe that no matter what happens, even though we don't know the details of what the future holds, we believe that Jehovah knows how to rescue righteous persons. And we've seen time and time again how Jehovah does the unexpected. When we look through the scriptures, that point is emphasized over and over again. There are two scriptures that help to fortify this faith and belief that we have. Let's look at them together. The first one is found in the book of Eph 3:20. Here the apostle Paul under inspiration tells us: "Now to the one who can, according to his power that is operating in us, do more than superabundantly beyond all the things we ask or conceive."
Now this is a fantastic expression! In the writing department if we were to write this, I'm sure the proofreaders would correct it, but this is under inspiration. First start let's think of the word "superabundantly." The proofreaders may tell us for a start, abundant is enough but here we have superabundantly and it doesn't stop there does it? Because Paul then says under inspiration more than superabundantly. And it's gets even better: beyond all the things we ask or conceive! This is certainly making a point, isn't it? What is the point? That Jehovah can do things beyond what we would expect! It's so interesting for us to note that Jehovah does not limit himself to what we ask for in our prayers! And we could be happy of that because he goes beyond anything that we could ever think of to solve our problems. So it's true at times we may see no way out of our problems, we may feel overwhelmed, but remember what does it say here? Jehovah has the power to do more than superabundantly beyond all the things we ask or conceive.
Now the second scripture is in the book of Philippians 4:6. Here again we are told: "Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God that (now notice again) surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Jesus." 2
Have you noticed in several of the talks today, the point is being made over and over again that this precious possession that we have is our relationship with Jehovah. We need to trust him. Now when the peace of God comes to us because of praying to Jehovah and trusting him, what does it say here? Then that surpasses all understanding. Other translations put it this way: surpasses all our dreams, excels all human planning, is more wonderful than we could imagine. Truly, brothers and sisters, we don't need to know all the details of what the future holds. We know that our loving God Jehovah will do things in a wonderful way. Yes, he does the unexpected and he does it with style! That's the amazing thing! As we read through the scriptures we see his over and over again.
Let's think about Haman back in the days of Esther and Mordecai. Haman had a lot of money, a lot of influence and a plan. He wanted to commit genocide to destroy all of God's people and it looked like the plan was going to succeed, but Haman didn't know what Jehovah had in mind. Esther, Mordecai were in place and how things turned out. The very day that the Jews should have been slaughtered and completely eradicated was the day that their enemies were killed instead. But as we read through those events, Jehovah did so many unexpected things. Personally I just love chapter 6. Right in the middle of this intrigue, where we see what Jehovah is preparing, then there is an account about the King not being able to sleep. Isn't it wonderful, you see Haman comes in at the wrong time for Ha'man he assumes wrongly that the King is going to bless him and what's the result? He has to be humiliated, walking around in front of Mordecai on a horse wearing the Kings clothes. That's style. Jehovah didn't have to do that, but when we look back on it, that really is style isn't it? And we can be sure that Jehovah will continue to do these things for his people.
Recently of course we just watched that beautiful presentation with regard to Hezekiah. Didn't that full length movie help us to imagine exactly what happened at that time. But in the case of Hezekiah, what did he do in the time leading up to that event? Well he fortified the city, he stopped up the wells so the Assyrians wouldn't be able to get water, he did all sorts of things to plan and yet, none of that was needed. Why he didn't realize what Jehovah was going to do, the unexpected! We didn't even expect it when we saw that angel in the movie, did we? What a wonderful presentation it was, but you see Jehovah again did the unexpected. None of his people were thinking that Jehovah would do that and yet he had the situation under control.
And of course time and time again as we look through the scriptures, we see this empathized. Moses and the Israelites. If we were standing with them there on the shores of the Dead Sea with the Egyptians coming behind us, who of us would have ever guessed that Jehovah is now going to part the Red Sea? I mean that was unexpected! It was also unexpected that the Egyptians would be so stupid to follow the Israelites! And yet it resulted in a wonderful victory for Jehovah's people. You see, expect the unexpected when it comes to what Jehovah does.
Now thinking back to what the apostle Paul was inspired to say to the brothers in Philippi, let's think about the setting of when he wrote that and a little bit of the background. The apostle Paul said basically 'Don't worry, pray' because Jehovah can do the unexpected. Well was Paul perhaps writing at that particular time as an academic sitting behind a desk, someone who is testing out something he doesn't really know about? Of course not, we remember back at that time in 60 to 61 c.e. the apostle Paul was in prison in Rome. He'd already experienced many, many different hardships. He knew what it was like to be in a time of trial, but even the very fact that he was writing to the brothers in Philippi is of 3 interest. Let's just refresh our memories about this, you see the record in Acts 16, but what actually happened ten years before Paul wrote the letter to the brothers in Philippi? Well Paul was in Asia Minor he was going, trying to find somewhere where the Holy Spirit would allow him to preach. So he went to one location, no, went to another location, no, eventually he arrives at Troas and there one evening he sees a Macedonian man. And what does he say? "Step over to Macedonia." Well Paul naturally assumed this was Jehovah's direction and immediately he made plans to step over into Macedonia and this actually started the preaching work in Europe. Well he arrived first at the seaport of Neapolis and then made his way to Philippi. Well immediately there was some success. Some started to accept the message, but what happened shortly thereafter? Well as we already mentioned today, the account tells us that Paul and Silas were beaten up and thrown into a dungeon, into a prison.
Now if you were Paul and you were sitting there in prison with your back paining, singing songs to bring yourself comfort, perhaps would you think this: 'What is Jehovah doing? I mean I was in Asia Minor, I could have preached anywhere in Asia Minor, but no, the vision said step over into Macedonia, now I'm assuming there's a big door of activity opening, but now here I am in prison. Why did Jehovah direct me to come here?' Honestly, I think most of us would probably start thinking along that line and perhaps be discouraged. Perhaps at times you felt you followed Jehovah's direction and then you've had problems, so we're use to understanding that situation, but what happened that very night? An earthquake! The doors of the prison open up, the jailer and his family accept the truth and then this is where it proves again Jehovah has style! Those magistrates apologize to Paul, Paul says 'no you take us out and you escort us out of the city!' Now that's style! And as we read, what do we notice? I imagine this in my mind it says Paul said goodbye to Lydia and I imagine, maybe I'm wrong, but I'm imagining the magistrates standing outside Lydia's home waiting for Paul to say goodbye and then continue to escort them out of the city. Now not only is that style, but it was practical because it appears that perhaps Luke the doctor was left to stay there in Philippi and establish the congregation and no doubt those magistrates would have thought twice before they did anything bad to the Christians after that.
But what's the point? At times we may feel that there's no way out of our problems, but surely the lesson that we learn over and over and over again is that Jehovah can turns things completely around. Yes even though we might speculate and think, what if maybe he'll do this, in the end when we look back on events, we can't help but be impressed with how Jehovah handles things. He has everything under control.
So that brings us back to the Regional Convention, the Sunday program. We all enjoyed that symposium of talks with the little videos dealing with the great tribulation. Maybe for most of us it took us awhile to work out what they were doing in the basement. Usually by the time there was a knock then we started to realize that it was at the time of the great tribulation. And with excitement we watched as that door opened and there the police, the military were facing our brothers and sisters and you were waiting, will the angel come and take them out? Will fire come from heaven? And we were left hanging, why? The simple answer, we don't know, but one thing is for sure, if Jehovah is on our side, we do not need to fear men. Yes it's true, we don't know all the details of the great tribulation. We don't know exactly what's going to happen in the future, but we do know that our loving Heavenly Father Jehovah God has everything under control! Yes he has style so we can expect the unexpected!
John 14:28 - ‘The Father is greater than I’.
Watchtower teaching: The JW book Let God be True, 1946, p.110 says that Jehovah is greater than Jesus in his office and person. Jehovah they say is intrinsically greater than Jesus, and hence Jesus cannot be God Almighty. The JW book Reasoning from the Scriptures, p.410, says, ‘The fact that Jesus is lesser than Jehovah proves that He cannot be God in the same sense that Jehovah is’.
The Bible Teaching: In John 14:28 Jesus is not speaking about His nature or being (Christ had earlier said in John 10:30, ‘I and the Father are one’), but about His lowly position of incarnation as a man. The Athanasian Creed says that Christ is ‘equal to the Father as
touching His Godhood, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood’. Christ was here contrasting His human humiliation, shame, suffering, rejection, opposition by enemies, and
soon crucifixion, with the Father’s majesty, glory and worship by the angels in heaven.
Key: Jesus said, ‘The Father is greater (Greek: meizon) than I’, not ‘The Father is better (Greek: kreitton) than I’. ‘Greater’ refers to the Father’s greater position (in heaven), not to a greater nature. If the word ‘better’ had been used, this would indicate that the Father had a
better nature than Jesus.
i) The distinction is made clear in Hebrews 1:4 where ‘better’ (Gk: kreitton) is used to teach Jesus’ superiority over the angels in His nature and position.
ii) This difference between ‘greater’ and ‘better’ is seen in this example:
‘The President of a country is greater (Greek: meizon) in position than his people, but as a human being he is not better (Greek: kreitton) in nature than his people’.
iii) Jesus in becoming a man, not only took on a lower position than the Father, but also took on a lower position than the angels. ‘But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death’. (Hebrews 2:9)
QUESTION:‘Do you agree that a President is greater in position but not better in nature than his people?’
QUESTION: ‘In view of greater (meaning higher in position) and better (meaning higher in nature), is it not clear that in John 14:28 Jesus is speaking of the Father’s temporary higher position and not his higher nature than Jesus?
QUESTION: How did Christ make Himself of no reputation when He became a man? (Phil. 2:6-9)
1. He veiled His preincarnate glory in order to dwell among men, but never surrendered His deity or divine glory. On the Mount Transfiguration He allowed His glory to shine briefly. If Christ had not veiled His glory, mankind would not have been able to look at
Him. When John saw His glory on Patmos he said, ‘I fell at His feet as dead’. (Rev. 1:17).
2. He submitted to a voluntary non use of some of His divine attributes (on some occasions) in order to achieve His objectives. He never surrendered His attributes, but He did voluntarily cease using some of them on earth. Jesus showed His divine attributes of:
i) omniscience (‘He knew all men’ John 2:24; 16:30;‘Lord thou knowest all things.’ 21:17
ii) omnipresence (John 3:13 ‘the Son of man which is in heaven’).
As God He was everywhere at once, but as man He chose to walk there.
iii) omnipotence (Matthew 28:18 ‘all power is given unto me’.)
3. He condescended to take on the likeness (form, appearance) of man and the form of a servant. (Phil 2:7). His becoming a man involved gaining human attributes (subject to weakness, pain, sorrow and temptation), but not giving up his divine attributes.
Conclusion: ‘The Father is greater than I’ (John 14:28) said Jesus from the vantage point of His incarnation as a man. This verse relates to Christ’s voluntary subordination to the Father to accomplish His work on earth.‘Greater than’ refers to His greater position not His nature.
Found and (edited) a kids activity notebook, thought I would share a FREE one for download and print/bind
More for kids in the 8-12 age range.
Also attached are extra color sheets activities for the smaller ones.
2016RCKids.pdf
c_m.pdf
(If someone wants to start making a copy of this list in another language topic on here please do...or if I missed something please leave a comment below )
Part of series on:
Larry Graham and Prince: Brothers Forever. social.jw-archive.org #jehovahswitnesses #jw #jworg #prince #larrygraham http://ift.tt/1VCS0nm
View the full article
Continuing from above.
*** w09 3/15 pp. 24-25 par. 3 Righteous Ones Will Praise God Forever ***
3 Jehovah rewarded Jesus with something that his Son did not have in his prehuman existence—indestructible life in heaven. (Heb. 7:15-17, 28) Jehovah was pleased to do this because Jesus had kept perfect integrity under severe tests. Jesus thereby provided his Father with the best, yes the complete, answer to Satan’s lie that humans serve God with selfish motives and not out of unbreakable love.—Prov. 27:11.
Jesus had a right to eternal life before he came to earth; and that is why he could ransom the human race and buy back life for us. (Isa 9:6 Eternal Father) However as the article and the scripture shows he was rewarded with an indestructible life - which he never had before.
*Bold text inserted by M Mills
FREE EMERGENCY KITS for THOSE in NEED
Such a great Idea from a pioneer couple in Colorado USA. We all know we need emergency supplies for our families, but what about those that cannot afford them? You know who they are - brothers, sisters and families right in your congregation. Have them go to http://thinkaheadsafety.com/free-kit/ to fill out the application for a free emergency kit. Would you like to sponsor an emergency kit for someone in need? You can help by sponsoring a kit here http://thinkaheadsafety.com/sponsorships.php.