[Charles Henrickson]

Last year I preached a sermon in which I dealt with some of the major errors of the JWs. I posted the sermon here on FR:

"Who Are the April Fools? How Do You View Jesus?" (Sermon for Palm Sunday, on 1 Cor. 1:18-25)

Here are a few paragraphs:

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Last week there was a ring at the door, and I answered it, and a man and woman were there, handing me a tract and inviting me to a special event coming up. I’ve given you a photocopy so you can see what it says. On the front you can see the questions: “How Do You View Jesus? As a Newborn Baby? A Dying Man? Or an Exalted King?” And there are pictures there to go with it: Jesus as a baby, Jesus as he is dying, and Jesus as a king. Then below the pictures is the invitation: “You Are Invited to Hear the Answer Thursday, April 5, 2012.” Then I opened up the tract, and it says: “Jesus is now reigning as an exalted King. But what does this mean for you? Many believe that Jesus died for them. Yet, how can one man’s death almost 2,000 years ago mean life for others today?” The people at my door, of course, were Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the tract they gave me was from their Watchtower Society. So how do we respond to their questions? Think it through along with me.

“How Do You View Jesus? As a Newborn Baby? A Dying Man? Or an Exalted King?” My first reaction is, “What, is this a multiple-choice question? I only get to pick one?” Because my answer would be, “D. All of the above.” “Newborn Baby,” check. “Dying Man,” check. “Exalted King,” check. They’re all true. And you can’t have one without the other. You’ve got to have all of them right, and not pit one against the other, in order to have the Jesus of the Bible, the only Savior of sinners.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses do not get any of these views of Jesus right, and they do not keep them together. The implication of their tract is that you should not get hung up on Jesus as a newborn baby, like at Christmas, or on Jesus as a dying man, like during this Holy Week, but instead you should focus on Jesus as the exalted king.

Now, is Jesus the exalted king? Yes, he is! No doubt about that. And even the picture of Jesus they have on their tract does have some truth behind it. If you could see it in color, you’d see a Jesus with white hair and fiery eyes, wearing a white robe with a golden sash. And that image does resemble the description of our exalted Lord that John gives us in Revelation 1, as follows: “I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”

Jesus as a glorious, exalted king. And so he is. But the Jehovah’s Witnesses conveniently leave out other images of Jesus that we find in the Book of Revelation, especially that of Jesus as “the Lamb who was slain,” who by his blood has redeemed us sinners. That part they leave out. But again, you can’t have one without the other.

No, you’ve got to keep all of these views together to have the real Jesus. Even the “newborn baby” the JWs get wrong. They do not believe that the Christ of Christmas is the incarnate Son of God, God in the flesh. The Jehovah’s Witnesses would not be able to confess what you just confessed in the Nicene Creed, namely, that the Lord Jesus Christ is “the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.” The JWs have revived the old Arian heresy from the fourth century, that Jesus is just a created being--at most “a” god, small “g,” but not true God in his nature.

But most certainly he is. And there is no salvation, for you or for anyone else, without Jesus being precisely that, that is, the Son of God incarnate. Only God in the flesh could rescue us from our predicament, from the sin and death in which we were trapped.

But people do not want to believe that, that our situation was so bad--that I am so bad of a sinner that I cannot save myself by my own efforts, that it took the death of the very Son of God to save me and to give me life. This is insulting to our pride. We think we’re good enough on our own, that if we try hard enough and are good enough, we can work our way into heaven. That is what the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe, and that is what they try to do. But they are the real fools, from God’s perspective, because they are rejecting the one and only Savior that God has sent.

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This is the Jehovah's Witness tract I preach against in the sermon:

[rcrngroup]

Find a copy of “30 Years - A Watchtower Slave”. Jehovahs Witnesses are a cult, just like the Mormons are. They entrap people with their robotic mind control tactics or violence against those members who wish to leave the cult.

[hulagirl]

He can expect no oral, I can tell you that.

[Belteshazzar]

“A good friend is considering joining the Jehovah’s Witnesses. What should he worry about?”

That the JW’s are wrong about the annihilation of the soul and that hell is real.

[Starstruck]

Tell your friend "You are not an adult and are incapable of making a decision that will affect your eternal life. Here are what strangers think about your choice........".

If your life is not a witness to the greatness of Christ and his sacrifice for you, why should she pay any attention to what you have to say?

[Salamander]

“What should he worry about?”

People who let big dogs loose when JW cultists knock on the door.

[well, you asked]

[ejonesie22]

It’s a cult. Jesus is a god but not coequal to Jehovah..

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-r005.html

[MeekMom]

Have your friend start here -> http://www.bible.ca/jw.htm

Love in Christ,
Meeky

[MWS]

Last I checked, they reject the Uncreated Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

That in itself is a big enough reason to be concerned. The heavy cultish aspects do not help one bit either.

[GeronL]

I studied with them for a short time

[mass55th]

I know they don't believe in celebrating birthdays, or giving presents. My ex-husband had no religious beliefs while I was married to him. He drank alcohol and smoked dope with the people he worked with. He was a special ed teacher in Rochester, NY when we first married. He became a Jehovah's Witness after we separated and divorced. He was (and probably still is) a philanderer, and pathological liar. He married a divorced woman who had been a Catholic. Her son from her first marriage left the home once he was legally old enough to do so. He went to live with his maternal grandparents.

My youngest son couldn't stand to visit them. They threw out all his record albums because they didn't approve of the music he was listening to. My son told me one of the main reasons her son left the home was because he wasn't able to play sports or attend school events.

My ex hasn't had contact with our two sons for many years. I've been divorced since '79, and my kids are in their 40's now. My ex moved to S.C. sometime in the late 90's. Never bothered to inform our children. I found out about the move accidentally when I took my car to a Midas Muffler shop and they checked their database to see if my name was in it. My ex's name popped up with a S.C. address.

[CyberAnt]

I’m not sure I would classify them as a cult, but they’re close.

Go to a Bible bookstore and ask them if they have any good literature regarding the Jehovah’s Witness’ faith.

Otherwise, try the internet and see what you can find which tells the truth about their sect. They have some very strange rules to live by .. and they make it hard for you to leave them, if you decide you don’t want to be there anymore.

Just make sure the person understands what they’re getting into.

[dupree]

I feel sorry for the kids. They are sometimes outcasts because they don’t celebrate holidays or birthdays.

My friend the teacher says they are a pain in the @$$. Doing traditional things in the classroom, like writing about their Christmas traditions, doing a Halloween crossword puzzle, or even singing “Happy Birthday”, becomes a nightmare because of these kids. You either feel guilty for excluding them or hurting the feelings of the non-JW kids, which is 95% of the class. And don’t even get her started on the classroom parties, which are a rare occurrence these days because of “respect for diversity.” Kids can’t even bring cupcakes to celebrate their birthdays anymore—they’re banned. The stated reason is allergies to foods, but the real reason is respecting the ones that don’t celebrate, the 5%.

[SaraJohnson]

He should research former member discussions on the internet. There will probably be a theme of organizational abuse.

It’s a cult and although it feels good to be part of a close knit group, it has it’s downside in being kind of owned by the group which is not always that sane.

I have heard they have organizational requirements for recruitment to the cult. Not quite the same spirit as talking to people about Jesus for the purpose of saving souls for Him.

[lu shissler]

He should worry about his soul!

[chronicles]

We lived next door to a JW family for 3 years. In my opinion, it is a cruel cult. Their sweet little children were not permitted to celebrate anything. And when their non-JW grandmother died the little girls told me (unprompted) that “she didn’t go to heaven, she’s just dead.” The parents would have some sort of meetings at their house every week-my husband called “the coven”.

We also lived in Utah for 2 years, so have some experience with LDS. Practicing LDS are pleasant, honest, moral people, but they follow a false prophet.

[BigCinBigD]

All religions are nothing but cults. This one is just stranger than most.

[mgist]

My friend was a Jehovah Witness, before she converted to Catholisism. They are a cult. I would be very understanding, and offer her the chance to look at other faiths. She is searching for God in all the wrong places. like most cults, they offer great fellowship and community, then it gets ugly.

[John W]

“A good friend is considering joining the Jehovah’s Witnesses. What should he worry about?”

Joining the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

[BO Stinkss]

Why do their churches have no windows?