Is the Governing Body's "Life-Saving Direction" Based on the Word of God?

[Witness]

 

“I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness.” John 12:46

Our belief in Christ involves obedience to his teachings, the Word of God. (John 12:49,50;14:23-24) Jesus said his words “are full of Spirit and life”, and they can direct us to the illuminated path leading to eternal life. (John 6:63; 8:12; 14:6) We would never choose to walk a path in complete darkness without another one’s assistance, or without carrying some sort of light or lamp. (Ps 119:105) By allowing our heart and mind to absorb and follow Christ’s teachings, we are equipped with the light of truth. (John 8:31-32) We will not be caught walking in the darkness of religious deceit in this world. (Ps 18:28; John 3:21; Phil 2:15) 

“The lamp of your body is your eye. When your eye is sound, your whole body is full of light, but when your eye is evil, your whole body is full of darkness. So be very careful that your light never becomes darkness. For if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in shadow, it will all be radiant—it will be like having a bright lamp to give you light.” Luke 11:34-36 (Phillips Translation)

Of the full gamut of teachings by the organization, is it not true that most beliefs of yesterday, lie in the shadows of the organization’s library of defunct doctrines? Each changed teaching is abandoned to its “dark corners”, as another translation puts it in Luke chapter 11. Yet these doctrines are still discretely catalogued, as if to boast that God has shown His blessings on the organization by providing JWs with “new light”. (Isa 59:8-10; Jer 9:5-6) 

However, this “new light” concept, contradicts what God’s word describes as coming from the Father (Isa 5:20). 

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:16,17

To date, there are a half dozen shifting variations of the doctrine, “this generation” alone; but the perfect spiritual gifts of knowledge from the Father are “sound”, or translated in Luke 11:34 as “healthy”. His word in Jesus Christ is “good fruit” that feeds us spiritually. (Prov 8:19) Phil 2:16 tells us to “hold firmly to the message of life”. Should this good fruit that imparts eternal life, ever be replaced with the shifting, unsound doctrine of men, which the scriptures call “bad fruit”? (Ps 5:9; Matt 7:17,18; 2 Thess 2:1,2; 2 Tim 4:3,4; 1 Thess 2:13) 

“This is the sort of thing you should teach, and if anyone tries to teach some doctrinal novelty which is not compatible with sound teaching (which we base on Christ’s own words and which leads to Christ-like living), then he is a conceited idiot! His mind is a morbid jumble of disputation and argument, things which lead to nothing but jealousy, quarrelling, insults and malicious innuendoes—continual wrangling, in fact, among men of warped minds who have lost their real hold on the truth but hope to make some profit out of the Christian religion.” 1 Tim 6:3-5

Jesus said those whom he sends would provide food/”fruit” that remains; healthful food from the vine symbolizing Jesus Christ. It would never be rejected and tossed into the shadows where countless Wt. doctrines resulting from their futile works in darkness, have fallen as rotten “fruit”. (Isa 59:21; John 13:20; 15:1,2; Matt 7:19,20) 

“Do not work for food that does not last. Work for food that lasts forever. The Son of Man will give you that kind of food. God the Father has shown He will do this.” John 6:27

(Jesus used the terms, “bread” (John 6:32-33,35), “water” - John 4:10,14, “fruit” - Matt 12:33; Eph 5:9, and “meat” used in John 6:27, to describe the spiritual nourishment obtained from the Word of God – truth from Jesus Christ. Matt 24:45)  

With Jesus’ guidance, we are provided a smooth path to our understanding of scriptures. (Isa 42:16) The disciples of Christ whom he sends to preach his word, are to let their light/”lamp” shine as well. (Mal 2:7; 1 Pet 2:9; Luke 8:16; 1 Thess 5:5; 2 Cor 4:6; 1 John 1:56; 4:6) 

Righteous teachings, the result of the light of truth, are never the cause of stumbling; but unrighteous dark teachings stemming from the hearts of corrupt men, cause one to sin, to stumble, as a result of their teachers’ lies. (Ps 56:13; Prov 4:11-12; 2:10-14; 82:5;4:19; Job 24:13; Rom 6:16-18; 2 Cor 11:29; 2 Cor 6:14) 

Once our spiritual eye is open to the continuous and progressive light of truth, we can recognize that anything the governing leaders may demand of us outside of God’s word, involves blatant stumbling blocks we must avoid at all costs; but to those still blind, these treacherous and deliberately placed teachings lead their listeners deeper into the pit of darkness. (2 Pet 2:1-3,15,17-18) If these men were sent by Jesus Christ as a faithful and “sensible” slave, would they demand JWs to blindly obey instructions crafted from their “warped minds”, that do not have the backing of Jesus’ teachings? (Jude 1:4,12-13,16-19) (Prov 3:5-7; Matt 24:48-51) 

Prov 30:6 – “Add nothing to his words, lest he reprove you and expose you as a fraud.”

When Jesus tells us,
that if our "eye is bad"/"causes us to stumble",
then the path we blindly wandered onto, contains stumbling blocks. We have drifted away from the path of life (Heb 2:1; Matt 7:14; John 14:6)

 This compares to our feet needing to be washed of their dust/death path (Ps 119:9,105; 1:1-2; John 13:13,14).
Our faulty perception (bad "eye") is like being blind, which leads us along a path of death, to fall into a dark pit (2 Pet 2:21). If not rescued from the pit, due to our begging God for light and accepting his spirit, we end up being condemned to Gehenna. 

Pluck Out Your "Eye"

The governing leaders predicted the coming of a future announcement containing “life-saving direction” that must be obeyed, whether it seems “sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not”. What will be the origin of this organizational decision? Well, it will not be sourced in the scriptures that tell us God’s word in Christ is always sound and leading to eternal life. (Rom 16:17-18; 2 Tim 1:13; 2:14-16) If we can grasp this point backed by scripture, should we ever entertain any spiritual direction that is warned as being not sound to our ears – not spiritually nourishing? ( Gal 1:8-9; 2 Pet 2:1; Heb 13:9; Titus 2:1) 

These leaders’ “eye” perceives an unexplainable vague path ahead for JWs, based on “doctrinal novelty”. (Eph 5:6) While they demand JWs to work, or slave for the food they receive through their dedication to “Jehovah’s organization”, we can be certain their direction will be a decision made in darkness, void of any light from the Father and the Son. (Prov 2:12-15; Matt 24:24-26; Rev 13:16-17; 2 Pet 2:19; John 6:27; 1 John 1:6; Titus 2:7-8; Gal 1:10) 

According to Luke 11:36 we should be capable of surmising that these are evil men with evil plans, which will stumble their hearers. (Job 38:15; Isa 28:7; John 3:19-20) They taunt the Word of God, living according to their will, and not the will of Jesus Christ. They prefer the darkness and the indulgence of their corrupt teachings. (2 Cor 6:14) 

The book of Revelation speaks of a bright star, “blazing like a lamp”, that falls from the heavens. (Rev 8:10,11;9:1-2; 1 Cor 10:12; 2 Pet 3:17) This is Wormwood, a root of bitterness, which represents the fallen anointed leaders who no longer adhere to the word of God. They have betrayed their King, Jesus Christ. (Hos 9:1; Matt 24:11; John 15:5,6; Rom 1:21; Gal 1:6-9 Col 2:19; 2 Cor 11:1-2; 1 Cor 6:15-16; Rev 17:1-2,5; 19:11,15-16) 

As 1 Tim 6:5 says, they have lost their real hold on the truth, but hope to make some profit out of the Christian religion. . (Luke 4:5-7; 2 Cor 2:17;2 Pet 2:1-3; Phil 3:18-19) 

These spiritual harlots have traded their inheritance Christ promises to share with his faithful servants in the Kingdom, for a “morsel of meat”. (Gen 28:13-14; Ps 37:11; Rom 4:13; Heb 12:15-16) 

When we are cleverly diverted away from the true bread from heaven (Christ -John 6:33), to learn from Satan through the false prophet and beast organization (Rev 16:13,14; 1 Tim 4:1; 2 Cor 11:3—4)

...If we progress and mature whole-souled in that deception, we come to know the deep things of Satan (Rev 2:24)... Satan's solid food... Satan's "meat".

The further down we go into such deceptions, the further down we sink into Hades / the abyss of darkness. Satan gets a strong hold on us, as if we are in chains.

Meat Sacrificed to Idols

And there we have it, with their “father of the lie” at the helm, the two Beasts of Revelation emerged in the last days to lead and stumble the holy anointed ones into sin. (John 8:44; 1 Tim 4:1; Rev 13:1,2,6-7,10,11,12; 16:13-16) As God’s wayward priests, these leaders have built their religious organization on spiritual food “sacrificed to idols”, defiling all holy sacrifices that should be offered to God. (Rev 2:20) 

They have not only defiled themselves, but all of God’s holy priests, His Temple, and all JWs who “married” into these teachings under the “woman” covenant of “Babylon the Great”. (1 Pet 2:5,9; 1 Cor 3:16,17) (Lev 21:6-8,11-12; 2 Cor 6:16; 1 Pet 1:15; 2 Pet 3:10-11; Isa 28:15-18; Rev 17:5; 18:4,9-10) 

Under the rule of the Harlot/”wicked slave”, the ”glorious ones” ("lights" in Zech 14:6,7) have hidden their light of truth, under a basket. (Matt 5:14-16; 24:48-51) 

Col 2:8 (NIRV) – “Make sure no one controls you. They will try to control you by using false reasoning that has no meaning. Their ideas depend on human teachings. They also depend on the basic spiritual powers of this world. They don’t depend on Christ.”

 

 

[Srecko Sostar]

1 hour ago, Witness said:

Of the full gamut of teachings by the organization, is it not true that most beliefs of yesterday, lie in the shadows of the organization’s library of defunct doctrines? Each changed teaching is abandoned to its “dark corners”, as another translation puts it in Luke chapter 11. Yet these doctrines are still discretely catalogued, as if to boast that God has shown His blessings on the organization by providing JWs with “new light”. (Isa 59:8-10; Jer 9:5-6) 

JW members in all stages of their spiritual life, to this day claim the same, "have the truth", "were in the truth", "are in the truth". Apparently they have been accompanied by "God's blessing" all this time when it comes to all those changed doctrines.

[Srecko Sostar]

2 hours ago, Peter Carroll said:

only those in the truth

The JW that was “in the truth” in the past decades had a different truth than the JW of more recent times. They are united only by the WTJWorg administration, which is in legal continuity through all periods of doctrinal changes.

[Witness]

2 hours ago, Peter Carroll said:

only those in the truth ,would understand the correct point of view of changes over time ,those outside of the truth have no understanding ,therefore are in disbelief of whats happening ,it is becoming increasing divided between those in the light and those in the darkness ,as is obvious from the first post in this thread ,many have already been abandoned from the light already...this seperation will increase as humanity  carries on in its ways.....for many its impossible to understand this,,

I agree that there will be a clear distinction between light and darkness, truth and lies and people must make their decision of which to follow (Mal 3:18; Joel 3:14; John 3:19-21), but are you thinking that the light of Christ, which are his words in scripture…which are the words of God…can involve falsehoods?  Failed teachings? That's impossible, isn't it?  Falsehoods stem from the devil, not Jesus Christ. (John 8:44) If one claims that Christ is leading JWs, then the GB's teachings would be just as reliable, just as lasting as his teachings; because, they are his teachings explained truthfully. (John 15:16) They would never cause disappointment to the listener seeking truth.  They would never include the doctrine of men, which an organization requires.  (Matt 24:24,25; 2 Pet 2:1; 1 Thess 2:13)

In any other aspect of life, I am sure you would be upset if you found that you were being misled for any length of time by a lie, that you were once convinced was TRUTH.  How much more so, should you be upset to find that you were being told a spiritual lie by a religious leader.  

 Never would Jesus do such a thing.  Never would he mislead someone with “bad fruit”.   To believe he would offer unsound teachings, through someone he would send, is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. (John 13:20) 

 Do JWs believe that Christ’s admonitions, his commands, do not apply to your leaders? ( Matt 7:15-20)

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." John 16:13

Please tell me where in this defunct doctrine, you find a glimmer of light, of truth, from the Spirit of truth:

"The battle of Armageddon will be all over by the autumn of 1975. It may involve only a difference of weeks or months, but not years." (Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975, wt 8/15/1968).

2 Tim 4:3-4

The simplicity of Christ is pure light and truth, not something obscure, or shaky in its interpretation,  or 'not sound from a human standpoint'.  We are humans, and as humans we are told to "test the spirits" to make sure that what an anointed priest from Christ teaches is sound, nourishing "food" from the Father and the Son. ((Mal 2:7;1 John 4:1) 

 I gave scriptures that clarify truth in Christ is always sound –  always “healthy”.  Where in the scriptures can you verify that truth is not sound "from a human standpoint”  – unhealthy – and in the last days must be offered to those who desire to know truth?

"Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; ¹¹ for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. 2 John 1:9-11

 

 

 

 

[Pudgy]

13 minutes ago, Peter Carroll said:

truth is always constant it has to be ,what changes is the amount of light shinng on the truth ,more light equals more truth.

would you want to still be using windows 3 or 4 or 5 and the first apple phone the choice as always is up to you

If It’s a profession that you took on voluntarily to interpret the word of God, it’s better to be good at it the first time.

ESPECIALLY if you are collecting money at the same time.

Selling Windows 3, or 4, or 5 is problematic when the very first Windows started at Windows 95.

 

[JW Insider]

6 hours ago, Witness said:

"The battle of Armageddon will be all over by the autumn of 1975. It may involve only a difference of weeks or months, but not years." (Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975, wt 8/15/1968).

Sloppy sloppy. Where do you get your quotations? The above quote is a lie. Here's the actual quote:

*** w68 8/15 p. 499 par. 30 Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975? ***
Are we to assume from this study that the battle of Armageddon will be all over by the autumn of 1975, and the long-looked-for thousand-year reign of Christ will begin by then? Possibly, but we wait to see how closely the seventh thousand-year period of man’s existence coincides with the sabbathlike thousand-year reign of Christ. If these two periods run parallel with each other as to the calendar year, it will not be by mere chance or accident but will be according to Jehovah’s loving and timely purposes. Our chronology, however, which is reasonably accurate (but admittedly not infallible), at the best only points to the autumn of 1975 as the end of 6,000 years of man’s existence on earth. It does not necessarily mean that 1975 marks the end of the first 6,000 years of Jehovah’s seventh creative “day.” Why not? Because after his creation Adam lived some time during the “sixth day,” which unknown amount of time would need to be subtracted from Adam’s 930 years, to determine when the sixth seven-thousand-year period or “day” ended, and how long Adam lived into the “seventh day.” And yet the end of that sixth creative “day” could end within the same Gregorian calendar year of Adam’s creation. It may involve only a difference of weeks or months, not years.

 

[TrueTomHarley]

21 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

Sloppy sloppy. Where do you get your quotations? The above quote is a lie. Here's the actual quote:

HA! The crazy malignant woman. She surely knows better.

[Witness]

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

Sloppy sloppy. Where do you get your quotations? The above quote is a lie. Here's the actual quote:

You’re right it was a sloppy choice!  Too good to be “true”!  I do apologize for not going to the source of the quote to double check it.  Accuracy in quoting the org. is important.  Funny though, the Wt’s sloppiness in making the prediction to begin with, never needed an apology – never needed a calling out by its members, when it failed and affected the lives of millions. 

[Witness]

1 hour ago, TrueTomHarley said:

HA! The crazy malignant woman. She surely knows better.

I do know better, and I apologized.  🙂  But do your leaders?  After how many years of failed teachings, do they know better?  

"This is what the Lord of Armies says: Don’t listen to what the prophets are saying to you. They fill you with false hope. They speak about visions that they dreamed up. These visions are not from the Lord."             Jer 23:16

What about you?  Do you know better not to listen to them?

[Witness]

9 hours ago, Peter Carroll said:

truth is always constant it has to be ,what changes is the amount of light shinng on the truth ,more light equals more truth.

would you want to still be using windows 3 or 4 or 5 and the first apple phone the choice as always is up to you

Yes, truth, the entire truth in Christ, is always constant.  But your example seems to be saying that it has its predictable drawbacks which will need to be discarded for another version.   JWs are conditioned to believe this through the traditional teachings methods of their leaders. That’s like being given a piece of fruit where half of it is already rotting, but you’ll eat it anyway in anticipation of receiving another piece soon, with less rot.  (Matt 7:17-20) 

The scriptures tell us there is no sharing of the light of Christ’s truth with darkness or "rot".   The entire piece of fruit from Christ is always “good”. The entire piece, remains.   2 Cor 6:14; John 15:16

 

[TrueTomHarley]

1 hour ago, Witness said:

I do know better, and I apologized.

Granted, you did.

Here’s a fine article about the ‘mother of all lies’ retracted so that no one would believe the ‘lying apostate’ adage. Once again, as with you, it does not appear the lie was deliberate, but the malignancy of the writer is so intense that any ill-report, the wilder the better, is eagerly seized upon and heralded far and wide (and then it turns out to be untrue).

https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2019/01/hey-guys-sorry-about-that-mother-of-all-lies.html

Kind of like how the Russian Orthodox Church squeals with delight (like kids on Christmas morning) at the ban on Jehovah’s people, even though they themselves did not originate it. 

Kind of like how the ‘yellow rain’ dossier was eagerly gobbled up by enemies of a controversial president because they hated him.

Hatred invariably blinds a person.

 

[Witness]

1 hour ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Granted, you did.

Here’s a fine article about the ‘mother of all lies’ retracted so that no one would believe the ‘lying apostate’ adage. Once again, as with you, it does not appear the lie was deliberate, but the malignancy of the writer is so intense that any ill-report, the wilder the better, is eagerly seized upon and heralded far and wide (and then it turns out to be untrue)

Now knowing that this writer twisted the quote, I would not defend him in any way.  I also would not come to the defense of the accurate quote JWI provided, because its writers have twisted the word of God.  By everyone’s upvotes when it was presented, most JWs here seem to defend something that turned out to be speculation not sourced in Holy Spirit.  Remember, its message was heralded far and wide and then turned out to be untrue…and it caused tremendous damage to JWs.  Was it intended?  Was it hatred?  Did the leaders learn from their past mistakes to stop projecting a date of Armageddon that always failed? Did they refer to the word of God before doing so?

Although I regret posting the quote because of its inaccuracy, in this case of quotes, what is the difference?  What side of the fence should we be on when it comes to lies present on both sides? 

I choose God’s word in Christ. 

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”  Acts 1:7