John 1:1-5      Jesus vs. Jehovah's Witnesses

Rev. David Holwick   G                             Jesus and Other Faiths

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

February 21, 2016

  I. The ominous knock on the door.

      A. Jehovah's Witnesses take outreach seriously.

          1) They have knocked on most doors in America, multiple times.

              a) They always go two-by-two.

              b) You may not realize it, but they often have a third

                    person who stays in the car, praying.

          2) They are fervent and well-versed in the Bible.

              a) They probably put most of us to shame in that area.

      B. Their fervency can be irritating.

          1) People slam their doors on them.

          2) Governments harass them.

              a) In Hitler's concentration camps, 98% of the religious

                    dissidents were J.W.s.

              b) They had their own colored badge - a purple triangle.

          3) They irritate themselves - J.W.s are one of the strictest

                sects in America and routinely excommunicate members.

      C. Jehovah's Witnesses have similarities to us.

          1) Like Baptists, they are Bible-based and want to save

                the world.

          2) (Maybe we share their negative reputation, too, which is

                why many Baptist churches are taking "Baptist" out of

                   their name.)

          3) What distinguishes us is some key doctrines.

              a) Is Jesus God, or not?

              b) Can we trust our translations of the Bible?

              c) What does God require of an average believer?

II. Made in the U.S.A.

      A. Like Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses was born in America.

          1) Founded in 1870 in Pittsburgh by Charles Taze Russell.

          2) He was upset at the death of a relative, and disliked

                the Bible teaching on hell and heaven.

          3) He was very interested in prophecy & dispensationalism,

                which divides Bible history into different eras.

          4) His influence is minimized by J.W.'s today, but his

                teachings undergird 90% of the movement.

      B. It began as a Bible study movement.

          1) They emphasized home Bible studies, door-to-door witnessing

                and massive literature distribution.

          2) Today their magazines "The Watchtower" and "Awake" print

                over 50 million copies a month each, twice as many as

                   AARP's magazine.

              a) Their circulation has doubled in 10 years, and they

                    are printed in over 200 languages.

              b) However, they have reduced the pages so they

                    have actually shrunk 40% in content over the

                       same period.

              c) How many actually read them is another question...

      C. After World War I, the movement grew rapidly.

          1) Among those who were converted was Dwight Eisenhower's

                mother and father.

          2) J.W.s now claim to have 8.2 million members worldwide.

          3) (It is also true that a significant number of them leave

                the organization - Eisenhower and his siblings never

                   joined.)

III. The movement has had issues.

      A. It is a top-down organization and very autocratic.

          1) They call it a "theocratic organization" by which they

                mean it is the only valid church established by God.

          2) Obeying the leadership is required of all members.

              a) Those who question the leadership are expelled.

              b) By the 1990s, they disfellowshipped 40,000 per year.

              c) They are told it is acceptable to hate former members.

      B. Many of their leaders have done questionable things.

          1) C.T. Russell had many negative court experiences.

              a) His wife divorced him and charged him with "improper

                    intimacy" with a young woman who lived with them.

              b) He was later charged with fraud and perjury.

          2) In recent times there has been a large molestation scandal.

              a) Leadership has been charged with knowingly covering up

                    crimes.

              b) Australia alone claims 1,000 victims.

              c) Their requirement for two eyewitnesses to substantiate

                    any crime protected many of the molesters.      [1]

      C. Their teachings have changed and their prophecies have failed.

          1) On the question of whether the wicked of Sodom will be

                resurrected on the last day or not, The Watchtower

                   magazine has flip-flopped 4 times.

          2) In Jesus' parable of the sower of the seed, one edition

                identified the sower as Satan, yet a later edition that

                   year identified him as Jesus.

          3) The end of the world was predicted in 1914, 15, 20, 25, 75.

              a) When Jesus did not come back in 1914, they reinterpreted

                    it by saying he did come back, but only to the

                       lower parts of heaven.

              b) In 1974 I was a brand-new Christian and a Jehovah's

                    Witness told me the world would end the next year.

                 All the Witnesses were hyped-up.

                 Some maxed out their credit cards and sold their

                    businesses.

                 Armageddon did not happen, and hundreds of thousands

                    left the movement.

                 Two Witness leaders visited me in the parsonage here

                    a number of years ago.

                 I brought up that experience and one of the Witnesses

                    said, yes, I remember that.  It was really bad.

                 (The other one glared at him.)

          4) Many organizations change their ideas over time - but

                J.W.s claim their organization has a direct line to

                   understanding God's truth, and should be infallible.

IV. What Jehovah's Witnesses believe.

      A. Their views on Christ are based on the heresy of Arius (AD 300).

          1) Jesus is not fully God, but only "a god" with a small "g".

              a) He is a created being just like us.

              b) J.W.s identify him with the archangel Michael, even

                    though the Bible never makes this identification.

              c) What is more, Jesus was not physically resurrected,

                    just spiritually.

                  1> Yet after his resurrection Jesus says in Luke 24:39:

                     "Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself!

                         Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh

                            and bones, as you see I have."

          2) Christians believe Jesus is fully man and fully God.

              a) John 1:1 is the most direct statement.

                  1> J.W. Bible translates it as "the Word was a god."

                  2> Our translations correctly say, "the Word was God."

                      A> Dr. Don Hartley, Southeastern Bible College:

                         "The clause means, everything the Father is in

                            his essence is included in the essence of

                               the Word.

                          The Father and the Word (Son) are the same

                             essence not the same Person.

                          That is what the clause means in the final

                              analysis."                              [2]

                      B> Another key verse is Colossians 2:9:

                         "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity

                             lives in bodily form..."

              b) Do not use 1 John 5:7-8 in the King James Bible.

                  1> They know it is a very late addition to the Bible.

                  2> Modern translations correctly omit it.

      B. Jehovah's Witnesses deny the Trinity.

          1) It is not just Jesus who is downgraded - the Holy Spirit

                is nothing more than the extension of God's power.

          2) But the New Testament treats the Holy Spirit as a person

                who speaks, sends, reminds, makes us feel guilty and

                   can be lied to.

      C. The death of Jesus only atones for Adam's sin.

          1) Your own death pays the penalty for your sin.

          2) Only a select group of people, literally 144,000, will be

                born again and go to heaven.

              a) The best everyone else can hope for is to be resurrected

                    to a new physical life on earth, following the

                       battle of Armageddon.

      D. They reject hell and eternal punishment.

          1) No one should delight in the reality of hell, but Jesus

                clearly taught it.

              a) To pretend he didn't teach it is dishonest.

          2) Jehovah's Witnesses teach that your soul is not separate

                from your body, and when you die you go nowhere until

                   the resurrection.

          3) Those who are not Witnesses will be annihilated.

  V. Their narrow theology produces a narrow mindset.

      A. Jehovah's Witnesses have an anti-cultural stance toward society.

          1) No pledge or saluting to flag, or service in an army.

              a) They only government that matters is God's.

              b) However, they do obey the laws of the countries they

                    live in.

          2) No birthdays or holidays are celebrated.

              a) They can't give, or receive, Christmas presents.

              b) Their attitude is, if it is not explicitly mentioned

                    in the Bible, they cannot do it.

              c) What it really does is separate them from the rest of

                    society so they must rely on their Kingdom Hall.

                  1> Close ties with anyone outside their group are

                        forbidden.

      B. They have rigid moral standards.

          1) Serious sin will get you disfellowshipped.

              a) Many of their moral positions are very similar to ours,

                    especially concerning sex and honesty and work ethic.

              b) They are so strict, divorced people cannot remarry.

              c) You can also be disfellowshipped for smoking, talking

                    with an ex-Witness, or attending a Christian church.

          2) Lying, however, is acceptable if you need to hide the truth

                from God's enemies.

      C. They discourage independent thinking.

          1) The Jan. 19, 1993, Watchtower magazine instructed members

                "to avoid independent thinking."            Sermon #65120

          2) All knowledge is determined by the national headquarters.

          3) Raymond Franz, a member of the Governing Body of the J.W.s,

              revealed that a member who "merely disagrees in thought

               with any of the Watch Tower Society's teachings is

                committing apostasy and is liable for disfellowshipping."

             He had disagreed with some of their teachings and they

                disfellowshipped him.                                 [3]

          4) Their dogmatism is shown by their insistence that the cross

                of Jesus was a stake with no crossbeam, refusal to have

                   blood transfusions, and other "hobby horses."

      D. They have a low education level.

          1) Of all the major religious groups in America, J.W.s are

                the least educated.

              a) Attending college is discouraged because they fear

                    you will learn new thoughts.

              b) Everything you need to know is in the Kingdom Hall.

          2) Their "New World Translation" was done by 5 men: 4 had a

                high school education and one had two years of college.

              a) None of them knew Hebrew and one knew a little Greek.

VI. How should a Christian respond to a Witness?

      A. Be polite and knowledgeable.                       1 Peter 3:15

          1) Don't slam the door on them, but invite them in.

          2) Don't get sidetracked by minor issues like the shape of

                the cross.

          3) Learn about their arguments, and the inconsistencies of

                their teachings over the years.

              a) Why was their truth hidden until 1880?

              b) No earlier groups share more than a few of their ideas.

      B. Focus on Jesus and his salvation.

          1) They earn their (limited) salvation by the work they do.

              a) They must commit to 10 hours a week of witnessing.

              b) They must read 60 pages of Witness material each

                    week - but only 4 pages of the Bible.

          2) Even so, they think heaven and even communion are only

                for a select few.

              a) Let them know the Bible says it is offered to all.

              b) Everyone must be born again.

              c) Share your testimony of how it happened to you.

      C. Ask them to receive Jesus as their savior.

          1) It is not just for the 144,000.

          2) All Christians can share in all the promises.

          3) Do YOU have a share in it?

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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:

1. “Jehovah’s Witnesses cover up child sex abuse and oust a victim,

      Trey Bundy, July 30, 2015; <link>.

2. Email from Dr. Donald Hartley to Rev. Holwick, February 19, 2016.

      Hartley is an Assistant Professor of Theology and Biblical Languages

      at Southeastern Bible College (Birmingham, Alabama).  He has a very

      technical article on Colwell’s Rule/Construction in regard to

      John 1:1c (a major verse on the deity of Christ that is contended by

      Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christians) titled “Revisiting the Colwell

      Construction in Light of Mass/Count Nouns,” July 7, 2004, at

      <link>.

3. “Carelinks Network For Former Jehovah's Witnesses: Raymond Franz,”

      <link>.

Sermon #65120  “The Witness of The Watchtower,” Rev. David Legge,

      The Iron Hall Assembly of Belfast, Northern Ireland, October 2004;

      <link>.

Other resources which contributed material to this sermon:

Various articles in Wikipedia.

# 6612  “Opening the Closed Mind,” Randall Watters, February 27, 2003;

           <link>.

#24544  “Seven Ways Jehovah's Witnesses Distort True Christianity,”

           Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, June 19, 2005; Abe Kudra Collection.

Sermon #10773  “Jehovah's Witnesses,” Rev. Darryl Dash; Abe Kudra

           Collection.

Sermon #17569  “Another Look At the Watchtower Society,” Rev. Michael

           Jackson, New Life Assembly Of God; Janesville, Wisconsin;

           <http://www.nlag.net>.  Abe Kudra Collection.

These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be

downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

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