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Wednesday Dec 13, 2017
Wednesday Dec 13, 2017
Part 5 - Jesus Christ' Resurrection and the Holy Spirit
If you look at the principles on which the Movement is built (which I referred to in lesson 4) you will notice a very important fact. With all their teaching, not once do they go directly to the Bible! With every statement they make they first refer to their own books and the Watchtower in particular. What they do in fact is to come to their own conclusions and then back them up from the Bible rather than the other way round! What does this reveal to us? Especially when they say they adhere closely to the Bible but do not accept all of its teaching.
Please keep that point in mind as we continue to study the Person and work of Jesus Christ and when we come to see what they say concerning the Person of The Holy Spirit. Yes, I said Person not energy source which they call it. We shall see clearly from Scripture that The Holy Spirit is a Person. A He not an it.
Please keep that point in mind as we continue to study the Person and work of Jesus Christ and when we come to see what they say concerning the Person of The Holy Spirit. Yes, I said Person not energy source which they call it. We shall see clearly from Scripture that The Holy Spirit is a Person. A He not an it.
1. What do Jehovah Witnesses believe about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?
"There was no bodily resurrection of Christ. He was raised only as a spirit creature. No one knows what happened to his body. The post resurrection appearances of Christ were materialisations in 'different bodies' ""(Reasoning from the Scriptures p334 & 335.)
Note the title of their book "Reasoning from the Scriptures". So if we find verses of Holy Scripture that conflict with their 'reasoning' ,which takes preference? Are they not saying that all that is in the Bible is not God's Holy Word to be accepted by faith? Only if it is reasonable to our way of thinking is it to be accepted? Please bear that in mind as we continue.
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
There is clear testimony of Jesus appearing in human form after his resurrection. Jesus came to his fearful disciples after his resurrection and appears to them. Initially they first could not believe their eyes and supposed they were seeing a ghost. But Jesus assured them he was not a spectre. He said to them "See my hands and my feet that it is I myself, touch me and see, for a spirit (spectre) does not have flesh and bones as you see I have" (Luke 24:39-40) You cannot touch a ghost but you can a physical body.
Much earlier in his ministry Jesus had forecast that He would die and then rise from the dead. Speaking to his enemies who wanted him dead he said "Destroy this temple(body) and I will raise it up" (John 2:12;) If you are saying he was speaking about the physical temple Jesus knew people would think that way so he added these words to clarify what he meant. "But The Temple he spoke of was His body" (John 2:21;)
The Bible teaches that the atoning death of Christ and the bodily resurrection of Christ are the two main pillars on which the Christian faith stands. We read in Romans 4:25; "Jesus Christ was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised again for our justification."
Again in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 1-5 (the great resurrection chapter), a very long chapter ,where Paul makes it abundantly clear that Jesus was raised from the dead and not only Him but all shall be raised from the dead. There in that chapter Paul makes a special point of saying that these two major doctrines are of first importance (verse 3) "That Christ died for our sins. He was buried. He was raised on the third day. He appeared to Peter and to the twelve and to five hundred on one occasion!!!
Jehovah Witnesses say it is not important what happened to the body of Jesus after His resurrection yet the Apostle Paul went to such lengths to prove the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In John chapter 21 Jesus , following his death and resurrection not only appeared to his disciples by the sea of Tiberius but also provided breakfast for them. Is The Bible true? Every word of it. So why do Jehovah Witnesses deny such clear evidence? Because it conflicts with what they are taught by Jehovah Witness Leaders. And for good measure the resurrected Jesus performed another miracle in causing a great number of fish to come into the nets of Peter and his other fishermen friends.
Finally on the day He ascended into Heaven his disciples witnessed the event
and were told by two angels as you see Jesus taken up into heaven so one day people will see His descent from heaven in similar fashion. (Acts 1:9-11;)
Note the title of their book "Reasoning from the Scriptures". So if we find verses of Holy Scripture that conflict with their 'reasoning' ,which takes preference? Are they not saying that all that is in the Bible is not God's Holy Word to be accepted by faith? Only if it is reasonable to our way of thinking is it to be accepted? Please bear that in mind as we continue.
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
There is clear testimony of Jesus appearing in human form after his resurrection. Jesus came to his fearful disciples after his resurrection and appears to them. Initially they first could not believe their eyes and supposed they were seeing a ghost. But Jesus assured them he was not a spectre. He said to them "See my hands and my feet that it is I myself, touch me and see, for a spirit (spectre) does not have flesh and bones as you see I have" (Luke 24:39-40) You cannot touch a ghost but you can a physical body.
Much earlier in his ministry Jesus had forecast that He would die and then rise from the dead. Speaking to his enemies who wanted him dead he said "Destroy this temple(body) and I will raise it up" (John 2:12;) If you are saying he was speaking about the physical temple Jesus knew people would think that way so he added these words to clarify what he meant. "But The Temple he spoke of was His body" (John 2:21;)
The Bible teaches that the atoning death of Christ and the bodily resurrection of Christ are the two main pillars on which the Christian faith stands. We read in Romans 4:25; "Jesus Christ was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised again for our justification."
Again in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 1-5 (the great resurrection chapter), a very long chapter ,where Paul makes it abundantly clear that Jesus was raised from the dead and not only Him but all shall be raised from the dead. There in that chapter Paul makes a special point of saying that these two major doctrines are of first importance (verse 3) "That Christ died for our sins. He was buried. He was raised on the third day. He appeared to Peter and to the twelve and to five hundred on one occasion!!!
Jehovah Witnesses say it is not important what happened to the body of Jesus after His resurrection yet the Apostle Paul went to such lengths to prove the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In John chapter 21 Jesus , following his death and resurrection not only appeared to his disciples by the sea of Tiberius but also provided breakfast for them. Is The Bible true? Every word of it. So why do Jehovah Witnesses deny such clear evidence? Because it conflicts with what they are taught by Jehovah Witness Leaders. And for good measure the resurrected Jesus performed another miracle in causing a great number of fish to come into the nets of Peter and his other fishermen friends.
Finally on the day He ascended into Heaven his disciples witnessed the event
and were told by two angels as you see Jesus taken up into heaven so one day people will see His descent from heaven in similar fashion. (Acts 1:9-11;)
2. What do Jehovah Witnesses say about The Holy Spirit?
It is a very short statement. "The holy spirit is not a person but the invisible force of God, which moves people to do God's will."
The Person of The Holy Spirit
In Acts 5:1-3 we read the account of a man and wife who lie about a business transaction concerning the sale of some land. Peter having received from God the gift of discernment rebukes them saying "How is it that Satan has so filled your hearts that you have lied to The Holy Spirit...you have not lied to men but to GOD."
Further on in the book of Acts in 8:29; The Holy Spirit SPEAKS to Philip giving him instructions and directions in his work as an evangelist as he is brought into contact with the Ethiopian Eunuch.
In chapter 13 The Holy Spirit is instrumental in setting apart Barnabas and Saul for a special work of ministry.
In Acts 16:17; The Holy Spirit actually prevents Paul and Silas going in one direction and re-routing them in the direction of Europe and Macedonia. Paul then says and these words are so important as to Who The Holy Spirit is.."We concluded that God had called us to preach the gospel unto them"
May I again say we are each one responsible to study to show ourselves approved unto God so search The Scriptures and see if not what I have put to you is true. I am a mere mortal but God is immortal and always speaks The Truth. Search the Word diligently and it will reward you with understanding that will bring you great joy , satisfaction and peace. Jesus is God and The Holy Spirit is God and they are joined to a loving Heavenly Father, blessed Trinity.
Next time we shall look more closely at the Jehovah Witness translation of the New World Translation and see why it cannot be trusted.
The Person of The Holy Spirit
In Acts 5:1-3 we read the account of a man and wife who lie about a business transaction concerning the sale of some land. Peter having received from God the gift of discernment rebukes them saying "How is it that Satan has so filled your hearts that you have lied to The Holy Spirit...you have not lied to men but to GOD."
Further on in the book of Acts in 8:29; The Holy Spirit SPEAKS to Philip giving him instructions and directions in his work as an evangelist as he is brought into contact with the Ethiopian Eunuch.
In chapter 13 The Holy Spirit is instrumental in setting apart Barnabas and Saul for a special work of ministry.
In Acts 16:17; The Holy Spirit actually prevents Paul and Silas going in one direction and re-routing them in the direction of Europe and Macedonia. Paul then says and these words are so important as to Who The Holy Spirit is.."We concluded that God had called us to preach the gospel unto them"
May I again say we are each one responsible to study to show ourselves approved unto God so search The Scriptures and see if not what I have put to you is true. I am a mere mortal but God is immortal and always speaks The Truth. Search the Word diligently and it will reward you with understanding that will bring you great joy , satisfaction and peace. Jesus is God and The Holy Spirit is God and they are joined to a loving Heavenly Father, blessed Trinity.
Next time we shall look more closely at the Jehovah Witness translation of the New World Translation and see why it cannot be trusted.
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