Demas, Scriptures Daily 13th March 2020

[Colin Browne]

My brothers, don't follow Demas who left the truth because he loved the world more than working with the apostle Paul. Truth never fails - Stick to it!

[Kosonen]

Have you notised that JWs usually express it saying "be in the truth", but apostle Paul usually said instead to "be in Christ". Why this difference?

Here an example:

Romans 16:3 Give my greetings to Prisʹca and Aqʹui·la, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,...7 Greet An·dronʹi·cus and Juʹni·as, my relatives and fellow prisoners, who are men well-known to the apostles and who have been in union with Christ longer than I have…..9 Greet Ur·baʹnus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Staʹchys. 10  Greet A·pelʹles, the approved one in Christ. Greet those from the household of A·ris·tobʹu·lus. …..16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the congregations of the Christ greet you.

[Patiently waiting for Truth]

The CCJW does not have truth. Nor can they have because they are not inspired of God's Holy spirit. 

Truth is from Almighty God through Jesus Christ, not through 8 men claiming to be the F&DS but who have failed in every way to provide true guidance. 

The foundation of truth from God's word has been known for a long long time. So what have the GB of CCJW offered ? False prophecy, lies, heavy burdens and traditions of men. They are indeed a stumbling block of great magnitude and they will suffer for it. Luke 17 v 1&2. 

[Guest Tom Henry]

Most differently, inspired words from a true christian. No witness should be confronted by worldly meanings and understanding. Sticking to Christ words and gods commands will help a true witness to hold on and stand fast to their personal conviction.

The FD&S are but an instrument God uses to pass on spiritual food. They do not consider themselves anything else other than slaves to God and Christ. A parallel to Acts 6.

[Kosonen]

4 hours ago, 4Jah2me said:

The foundation of truth from God's word has been known for a long long time. So what have the GB of CCJW offered ? False prophecy, lies, heavy burdens and traditions of men.

Unfortunately that is true. Many JWs view the religious leaders of Jesus' time clearly negatively. But much what Jesus said about them apply to the religious leaders of Jehovah's witnesses today. And we should be aware that the religious leaders of Jesus' time were responsible for the spirituality of God's people at that time. They where spiritual shepherds. They organized meetings in the synagogues and the worship at God's temple. And Jesus used to go to the synagogue and the temple. There was no alternative to that religious establishment. Jehovah God still used that spiritual arrangement at Jesus' time, despite the unrighteousness that was present. Jehovah did not replace that religious system hastly. Jesus preached 3 and half years simultaneously as this religious system was still valid in God's eyes. So the transition took some years.

It would be good for JWs to see the similarities today with the WT organization and God's spiritual arrangment that existed for God's people at Jesus' days.

And that would serve as an example for what will come.

The book of Daniel have prophecies that tell what will happen to JWs' temple.

For example Daniel 8:9  Out of one of them came another horn, a small one, and it grew very great toward the south and toward the east and toward the Decoration.10  It grew so great that it reached all the way to the army of the heavens, and it caused some of the army and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. 11  It exalted itself even against the Prince of the army, and from him the constant feature was taken away, and the established place of his sanctuary was thrown down.12  And an army was given over, together with the constant feature, because of transgression; and it kept throwing truth to the earth, and it acted and had success.

This prophecy concerns the coming jugement of the WT organization.

 

[Colin Browne]

20 hours ago, Kosonen said:

Have you notised that JWs usually express it saying "be in the truth", but apostle Paul usually said instead to "be in Christ". Why this difference?

Here an example:

Romans 16:3 Give my greetings to Prisʹca and Aqʹui·la, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,...7 Greet An·dronʹi·cus and Juʹni·as, my relatives and fellow prisoners, who are men well-known to the apostles and who have been in union with Christ longer than I have…..9 Greet Ur·baʹnus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Staʹchys. 10  Greet A·pelʹles, the approved one in Christ. Greet those from the household of A·ris·tobʹu·lus. …..16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the congregations of the Christ greet you.

Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth...". He is the bread that came from heaven. The "Way" refers to the path to follow to everlasting life, which the early Christians referred to as being a Christian. The narrow path. See John 14:6; Matt.7:13.

[Kosonen]

1 hour ago, Colin Browne said:

Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth.

Yes, I know. And we should focus on Jesus and the teachning he brought to the world from his Father.

Jesus said Matthew 28:19  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, 20  teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.”

Yes, it would be right to believe all he taught, with no excuses.

Hebrews 1:1 Long ago God spoke to our forefathers by means of the prophets on many occasions and in many ways. 2  Now at the end of these days he has spoken to us by means of a Son,....

So that means that we should now concentrate to learn from the Christian Greek scriptures.

[Colin Browne]

21 minutes ago, Kosonen said:

Yes, I know. And we should focus on Jesus and the teachning he brought to the world from his Father.

Jesus said Matthew 28:19  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, 20  teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.”

Yes, it would be right to believe all he taught, with no excuses.

Hebrews 1:1 Long ago God spoke to our forefathers by means of the prophets on many occasions and in many ways. 2  Now at the end of these days he has spoken to us by means of a Son,....

So that means that we should now concentrate to learn from the Christian Greek scriptures.

Indeed, we should concentrate on the Christian Greek scriptures. Our Scriptures Daily do. But unlike Christendom who call the Hebrew text, "The OLD testament", we believe that to be a misnomer - Which in turn, proves that they are rejecting an important part of Jehovah's word. Some of the prophecies are yet to be fulfilled.

[Kosonen]

7 hours ago, Tom Henry said:

The FD&S are but an instrument God uses to pass on spiritual food.

There are multiple faithful slaves appointed to do that directly by Jesus. And when he finally comes he will reward each of them.

Luke 19:11 While they were listening to these things, he told another illustration, because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God was going to appear instantly. 12  So he said: “A man of noble birth traveled to a distant land to secure kingly power for himself and to return. 13 Calling ten of his slaves, he gave them ten miʹnas and told them, ‘Do business with these until I come.’ 14  But his citizens hated him and sent out a body of ambassadors after him to say, ‘We do not want this man to become king over us.’ 15  “When he eventually got back after having secured the kingly power, he summoned the slaves to whom he had given the money, in order to ascertain what they had gained by their business activity. 16  So the first one came forward and said, ‘Lord, your miʹna gained ten miʹnas.’ 17  He said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because in a very small matter you have proved yourself faithful, hold authority over ten cities.’ 18  Now the second came, saying, ‘Your miʹna, Lord, made five miʹnas.’ 19  He said to this one as well, ‘You too be in charge of five cities.’ 20  But another one came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your miʹna that I kept hidden away in a cloth. 21  You see, I was in fear of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did not deposit, and you reap what you did not sow.’ 22  He said to him, ‘By your own words I judge you, wicked slave. You knew, did you, that I am a harsh man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23  So why did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my coming, I would have collected it with interest.’ 24 “With that he said to those standing by, ‘Take the miʹna from him and give it to the one who has the ten miʹnas.’ 25  But they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten miʹnas!’— 26 ‘I say to you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

 

Luke12:41 Then Peter said: “Lord, are you telling this illustration just to us or also to everyone?”

42  And the Lord said: “Who really is the faithful steward, the discreet one, whom his master will appoint over his body of attendants to keep giving them their measure of food supplies at the proper time? 43  Happy is that slave if his master on coming finds him doing so! 44  I tell you truthfully, he will appoint him over all his belongings. 45  But if ever that slave should say in his heart, ‘My master delays coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46  the master of that slave will come on a day that he is not expecting him and at an hour that he does not know, and he will punish him with the greatest severity and assign him a part with the unfaithful ones. 47  Then that slave who understood the will of his master but did not get ready or do what he asked will be beaten with many strokes. 48  But the one who did not understand and yet did things deserving of strokes will be beaten with few. Indeed, everyone to whom much was given, much will be demanded of him, and the one who was put in charge of much will have more than usual demanded of him.

 

As we see from these scriptures every anointed should aim at being a faithful and discreet slave. And nothing here tells that one anointed in the end time would be subjugated by other anointed. Instead they work in the end time directly for their Master Jesus Christ.

 

Because in the end time the situation is different from the first century. Because in the first century the whole congregation was composed of anointed. But in the end time the anointed are a few and dispersed among the non-anointed.

[Kosonen]

4 minutes ago, Colin Browne said:

Indeed, we should concentrate on the Christian Greek scriptures. Our Scriptures Daily do.

I see that JWs put to much focus on the Hebrew scriptures. The litterature quotes too much from the Hebrew scriptures, instead of the Christian scriptures. And as a result the JWs can not grow spiritually to the exent they would if the spiritual food was more concentrated on the Christian Greek Scriptures.

I must admit that I had fallen for that too. There is really a huge difference between the norms of behavior and and way for life to practise between the Hebrew scriptures and the Cristian greek scriptures.

Jesus came with new light about many things. About riches and material things, love, self-sacrifice etc.

But, it is good to know the Hebrew scriptures and especially the prophecies about the end time. But the way of life for Christians is taught in the Christian Greek scriptures.

 

[Colin Browne]

57 minutes ago, Kosonen said:

Yes, I know. And we should focus on Jesus and the teachning he brought to the world from his Father.

Jesus said Matthew 28:19  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, 20  teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.”

Yes, it would be right to believe all he taught, with no excuses.

Hebrews 1:1 Long ago God spoke to our forefathers by means of the prophets on many occasions and in many ways. 2  Now at the end of these days he has spoken to us by means of a Son,....

So that means that we should now concentrate to learn from the Christian Greek scriptures.

*** ws17 June pp. 13-14 par. 17 Set Your Heart on Spiritual Treasures ***
Consider the experience of a brother named Peter. In 1970, he was 19 years old and had recently begun serving at Bethel in Britain. Peter was preaching from house to house and met a bearded middle-aged man. He asked the man if he would like to understand the Bible. The man was a Jewish rabbi, and he was shocked that a young man thought he could teach him the Bible. To test Peter, the rabbi asked, “So, my boy, what language was the book of Daniel written in?” Peter said, “Part of it was written in Aramaic.” “The rabbi,” Peter remembers, “was surprised that I knew the answer—but not as surprised as I was! How did I know the answer? When I went home and checked the Watchtower and Awake! magazines from the previous months, I found an article explaining that Daniel was written in Aramaic.” (Daniel 2:4, footnote) Yes, the holy spirit can help us to remember information that we have read and put in our treasure store in the past.—Luke 12:11, 12; 21:13-15.

The power of knowledge!

[Guest Tom Henry]

5 hours ago, Kosonen said:

There are multiple faithful slaves appointed to do that directly by Jesus. And when he finally comes he will reward each of them.

True, but not all will receive a heavenly reward.

5 hours ago, Kosonen said:

As we see from these scriptures every anointed should aim at being a faithful and discreet slave. And nothing here tells that one anointed in the end time would be subjugated by other anointed. Instead they work in the end time directly for their Master Jesus Christ

When a person gets baptized, that person is making a personal commitment to god. Not everyone can fulfill the role of the FDS. God's gifts comes to us in different ways. A way that accents your ability to serve God as a slave. Knowledge is a fine example of that ability. 1 Peter 4:10-11

5 hours ago, Kosonen said:

And as a result the JWs can not grow spiritually to the exent they would if the spiritual food was more concentrated on the Christian Greek Scriptures.

The purpose of scripture is to understand "all" aspects of scripture. The O.T. is as important to a faithful christian as the N.T. would. Both have the inspired word of God. Jesus himself quoted from the ancient scrolls.

JW's follow the word of God without limitations with its understanding. Deuteronomy 13:4, Ephesians 5:1, 1 Peter 2:21