Jehovah's Witnesses Admit False Prophecy

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Watch this video of Pastor Jeff Durbin speaking and arguing with 3 Jehovah's Witnesses in Kauai. Jeff wanted to engage some Jehovah's Witnesses on their bad eschatology (end times view) to demonstrate that the foundation of much of the Watchtower is unbiblical. In this video, the Jehovah's Witnesses admit that the Bible Watchtower and Tract Society gave false prophecy about the coming of Christ. Please forgive the audio issues. This conversation took place on a beach which was understandably windy. The Jehovah's Witnesses were not mic-ed up. There are moments where the audio is a little difficult to hear but much of it is very clear. You can get more at http://apologiastudios.com. Be sure to like, share, and comment on this video. #ApologiaStudios You can partner with us by signing up for All Access. When you do you make everything we do possible and you also get our TV show, After Show, and Apologia Academy. In our Academy you can take a course on Christian apologetics and learn how to witness to Mormons. Follow us on social media here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ApologiaStudios/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/apologiastudios?lang=en Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apologiastudios/?hl=en James White Debate

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00:12
The call is to turn from your sin and put your faith in Jesus. Why are you guys
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Jehovah's Witnesses? Because we accepted a
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Bible study and we started to look into the Bible and many different things.
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Like I had questions in like my homework and I was in high school. And my Christian friends were from the
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Bible. Right on. So you weren't always... My mother had me in Catholic school when
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I was a child. I see. And then I was insecurely wandering around. I had these questions. I was actually thinking, hey we only live and then we die so death must be the answer to life.
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So I really was considering that. Bring it on sooner. I would wait for it to happen. And then I looked into the
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Bible when I was 24 with Jehovah's Witnesses and I learned the truth about life.
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I didn't even care for religion because I saw so much hypocrisy in me. And I could never get my questions.
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I always had so many questions. And nobody knew how to answer them. And in my
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Catholic school education they never taught us what the Bible said. From 1st grade all the way through 11th grade.
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We memorized Psalm 150. Psalm 150. The Lord is my shepherd.
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We memorized it. And anything else out of the Bible we memorized. I see. We had to pay a lot of money to answer it.
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It was all answered and it made sense. It wasn't this high thinking to the point where you're trying to scratch your head and say that doesn't make any sense.
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I don't understand this. It was just like a puzzle for me. So you were more of an agnostic or atheist before?
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I was never an agnostic or an atheist. No, I believed in God. Because I thought, you know, you look around and how could you not believe there's
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God? What I saw of religion I did not like. Because it was just money, money, money.
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And like, you know, the witnesses are all the way around the earth. These cards are all the way around the earth.
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It's the same thing. It's the same truth. It's all from the Bible. United. And we don't pass a plate around, you know, looking for donations.
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So Jehovah's Witnesses don't give tithes and offerings? Well, what? It's all on an individual.
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You know, like in the Catholic Church, they pass a basket around and you have to put, you know, whatever you can afford and whatever you want.
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How about you? Church of Christ.
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Oh, wow. My brother said, I'll never do anything else. I ended up, when
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I got old enough to listen to the preacher and what they were saying, and I was seeing, it was a little country church, you know, preaching adults and rain and dust and all that.
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And on the weekends, what were they doing? Well, that's what they were doing. So I said, well, this is kind of fun.
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I finally had a car. So I went into town, I thought, well, I'll just go to the bigger church of Christ in town.
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That's why. All they talk about is stuff on the back of their head. This is what we received last week.
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This is our donation. That's all they ever preached. Passed the plate around.
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And then I gave up.
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Everywhere I went, it was like,
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I can't take it. So much information. What questions did they answer that were compelling to you?
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Why did we die? Does God have a name? I didn't even know that one. Mine was the biggest thing in my life.
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It was one of the biggest things
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I had. When I was like nine years old, all I heard was the burning of hell.
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And I knew I wasn't good, but I didn't think I needed to burn. I was trying my best.
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See, that didn't make sense to me. The Bible does not teach. Teach. There's a teach about burning hell.
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It's not new at all. It's not new. How about you? I'm a Christian.
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And I guess we can start. I wasn't raised in a
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Christian home. So you guys had it up on me. I wasn't raised in any kind of Christian home.
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16, 17 years old is the first time I heard the gospel. But I actually, unfortunately, got involved in drug and alcohol addiction.
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And God rescued me out of that. I experienced peace with Christ. And my life transformed.
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So that's kind of where I came from. This is my son, Stellar. Hi. He's 10. Yeah, well, thank you.
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So just a question about that. Because it does interest me. I'm from Phoenix. And I've had a lot of Jehovah's Witness friends and acquaintances and neighbors.
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So you mentioned the Bible doesn't mention hell. Well, it does.
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But not with the Bible. But if you understand the definition of hell, it's underground.
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But as far as... It's not a literal place. You know, how can you want something forever that doesn't exist?
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Well, so I guess I would ask you, maybe you can help me with this. When Jesus says... Oh, goodness. He talked more about hell than he ever did about heaven.
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But when he talked about if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it from you. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it from you.
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It's better for you to lose one of your members than to... He did not mean that in a literal way.
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He was just saying... Well, I certainly don't believe he thought you'd cut your eye off. But wouldn't that take the meaning away from it if there was actually no punishment he's referring to there?
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That's how... Than for your whole body to be cast into hell? That's how important your conscience is. When you train your
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Christian conscience. Yeah. To really have Jesus' thoughts and to have Jehovah's thoughts too.
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Yeah. To help you as a protection so you don't sin. Don't sin.
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Yeah. Oh, no,
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I believe he's definitely speaking a metaphor there. And you had his help too.
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Certainly, yeah. So we can't do a lot of things on our own. But the point there is...
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This maybe you guys can help answer this. Where he says it's better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
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To Gehenna. Gehenna was the burning place. The garbage dump. The garbage dump. And they threw thieves and criminals in there too to burn.
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Yeah. That's really... Death is a sleepless state. As a
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Catholic we are taught you need to go to purgatory. Right. Which the Bible mentions nothing about a purgatory. No, no.
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That's what I was able to learn when we died. Because I had lost loved ones. And I didn't grieve or worry about them.
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But when I studied I found out they were just sleeping. And they're in God's memory. And they have a chance to be resurrected again.
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To live forever on earth. Right. Because his intention when he created the earth and put
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Adam and Eve there was for mankind to live forever. On earth. Agreed. And not die.
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The Bible teaches a physical resurrection. God's providence created that arrangement for it to be ruined by two people.
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I agree with that. It's a period of time. It's a time of testing. And very soon now, would you believe man's government?
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Completely. But Christ's kingdom is in the world right now. Yeah. That's the government. Yeah. Amen. So God's government that we pray for in the
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Lord's prayer. That kingdom come. Yes. That will be done on earth. Yes. As it is in heaven. Is about to take over the rulership of the earth.
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You don't believe that he, you don't believe Jesus is on his throne now? No. He is. He is. He's heavenly. But you have to realize the kingdom is in the heavens.
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And the earth is the earth. The earth has never been, it's not going to be destroyed. Man is, you know, destroyed.
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Earth was created for us. And we're created to live on earth. Amen. And you know, like Leslie said.
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That's historic. Right there. That opportunity is still open to those who want it.
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Who want it. I mean, he never strayed away from his original purpose. Those who have had to die, you know, for various reasons.
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Have the opportunity to be resurrected. When this government has been ruling on the earth. Well, that's what
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I was going to ask you. You keep saying when it, when it rules. But Jesus taught and the apostles taught that that kingdom had arrived in history.
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And he's ruling now. He is. But he will. He's up there in position. And all the prophecies about the end times.
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Like one of them is the good news of the kingdom will be preached to all the inhabitants of the earth.
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And then for a witness of death. Then the end of the age will come. So this is what. The Jewish age.
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Well, this system. This system. This world. Under man's rule. You know, I would just, it's interesting you pointed it out.
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There's just two things. Maybe you could, I'd love to hear your take on this. So the one.
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One about the kingdom that you mentioned. And the other is about, again, the punishment and death and things like that.
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You said sleeping. Well, when Jesus refers to the rich man and Lazarus. He says that there's a rich man and Lazarus.
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It's clearly not a parable. He's telling a story about a rich man and Lazarus. They both die. He says Lazarus is in Abraham's bosom during the time of Christ.
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He's referring to this Abraham's bosom paradise. And he's alive there. And he says that the rich man is in Hades.
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And he says, Hades. Yeah. And he says that he's in torment in Hades.
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So he's awake, alive, and in torment. And all he's begging for is that someone would come and cool his tongue with a drop of water.
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And the angels say, basically, there is a gulf fixed between the two of you. So that one cannot cross to another.
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And he says, well, go tell my family. Because I don't want them to come to this horrible place. And he says, basically, you know, the point there is the story is that the rich man and Lazarus are alive and awake.
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And they're in Lazarus' paradise. And the rich man is in Hades in torment. He's in agony.
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And all he wants is to cool his tongue. And that's not even the eternal state of hell.
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Because Revelation says at the very end, in the final judgment, God will cast death and Hades into the lake of fire.
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So, well, I would say that the lake of fire, well, the
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Bible describes it as an awful place. Torment, burning. Gehenna was,
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Jesus uses that, I think, as descriptive of what hell is like. It's burned up. I mean, it's pretty much gone.
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It's smoke goes up forever. It never stops burning. Well, except that what
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I was getting to was that point there where the rich man is actually in torment. And he's clearly in a place where there is fire.
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He just wants to have his tongue cooled. Well, it says two things about death.
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One is that death is, there's a spiritual aspect of death. We're spiritually dead. And then there's the physical aspect as a consequence of sin that we die physically.
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What do you mean? What's that? Yeah, Ecclesiastes, a book of wisdom filled with poetic metaphor and symbolism.
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I don't think there's anything in Ecclesiastes there that would say that, that, that would controvert
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Jesus' statement that people are conscious and in torment as they die. And they're in Hades.
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He was in paradise. Abraham's bosom, paradise.
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Same place Jesus says he was going to go when he died. He says, today you'll be with me in paradise. Right, because there's a metaphor used throughout scripture like that.
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Well, except for example, when Jesus is on the Mount of Transfiguration, who shows up? Moses and Elijah.
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They're alive. They're awake. They're not sleeping. They show up with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. They're not sleeping.
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Jesus says he's not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. In reference to the Old Testament saints that had died.
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Also, do you guys believe that Jesus didn't rise in a physical body? Um, when he, after he died, did he rise in a physical body?
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He was seen by his followers. Yeah, my understanding, and you can correct me if I'm wrong on this.
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My understanding is that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society said that Jesus was resurrected a spirit, but not physically.
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But you don't believe that Jesus was raised physically. We can be ready to see him in a vision, but then he went off into another spirit world.
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So Thomas says to him, I'm not going to believe unless I put my hand on his side and touch the nail prints.
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And Jesus shows up and says, handle me and see it as I myself, a spirit, does not have flesh and bones as you see me have.
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So Jesus, according to that text, had a physical flesh and bone body. The same body he died with.
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I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. It said, being in the position he was in, he could have a physical body, but he could not have one because there were angels.
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Like when the angels came to see you live, they were physical. Yeah, they appeared in physical form. It didn't say they stayed that way, they came back to their spiritual form.
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Yeah, I guess that would be, I had a friend, a Jehovah's Witness friend that actually was very, very committed to the fact that no,
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Jesus did not rise physically from the dead. It was a spirit. He rose as a spirit.
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They did see him, they did touch him, but in the end he went back to his position as a spirit.
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So you believe that we will be physically resurrected at the end of time, but not Jesus? Jesus doesn't need to come back to earth as a human anymore, he can fill the society.
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So he's no longer human? He's a spirit. So he can't represent you? In the name of God's kingdom, amen.
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Amen. He is, and so very shortly he's waiting for his next assumption. We're waiting for, because the prophecies are showing every day on the news.
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Which prophecies? That the 21st. Ah, the Olivet Discourse? You think that's future?
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It's in the near future. Well, it had a tune. Did you ever hear about Babylon the Great? Oh yeah. And the
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Beast. Beast of Revelation. United Nations. Ah, even though John says it's
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Nero? Well, we understand it's the United Nations. Remember there's parallel parts. There's parallel parts.
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Even there was a parallel part when Jesus was on our Matthew 24. But just remember.
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What's that mean? I'm sorry. I'm just trying to understand what you mean by parallel parts. It's just like it refers to, and I don't mean to jump.
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You want a tortilla? Oh, thank you so much. No thanks, we just ate. We just ate, yeah.
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I would definitely take it otherwise. Sorry, I'm sorry. Go ahead. You know, I was just going to say, you know, that the Scripture there in Matthew says that in the last days it will be like Noah.
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Right. Comparing Noah's day to this day. And that there will be parallel things that would come back then and would keep clear here.
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Amen. But everybody had the chance to get on the ark. And Noah reached to those people. And what happens to those fathers and children that says they did not know?
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You spoke of them all the way. I guess, yeah, that's interesting you bring that up.
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Because Mark 13, Matthew 24, Luke 21, that's the Olivet Discourse, right?
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And those parallel passages, it's talking about the same event. And Jesus says in that passage, he's talking to Jerusalem of his day.
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And he says, do you see all these things? Not one stone will be left standing upon another. Referring to the destruction of the temple. And he says that you won't all die before it takes place.
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And then after the end of the Olivet Discourse, wars and rumors of wars, famine, pestilence.
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At the end of all that prediction, he says, this generation will not pass away. And he's referring to the generation he was living in.
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Well, he's referring, I mean, because it says there'll be wars talking about it will affect the whole earth.
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Wars that will affect the whole earth. Well, it was interesting. Have you ever heard about the Pax Romana? In Jesus' day,
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Rome had something called the Pax Romana where they enforced peace. Wars were not essentially allowed.
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So Jesus says in that day, there's actually going to be wars and rumors of wars, which would have been shocking to the first century disciples living in Rome in the
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Pax Romana. And it's interesting because not long after Jesus' death and resurrection, Rome was in complete upheaval.
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It was like every nation was fighting against each other. So that prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus' day. In Jesus' day.
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So if it was, how could it refer to our day? And it was the largest earthquake in history was in Pompeii.
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One of the largest in Pompeii in 62 AD. All that happened in the first century.
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Well, I guess what I'm saying, and forgive me, because I'm not trying to be abrasive. What I mean, what I mean is, is
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Jesus actually talks to his disciples and says that upon you will fall all the blood of the righteous from Abel to Zechariah, son of Berechiah.
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And he says that all these things will be in this generation. And then the Olivet Discourse, he refers to them and says they won't all die.
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And that generation won't pass away to all those things take place. And you can show in the first century before the destruction of the temple.
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We even have external writings outside the Bible that corroborate all those things happened in the first century.
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Yeah. There's four kingdoms.
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And then during the time of the fourth, the God of heaven will set up his own kingdom.
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If you count down from Babylon, Medo -Persian, Greek and Rome, it was during the time of Rome that Jesus set up his kingdom.
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That arrived. I know. Yes. Wait, I thought that Paul says he was enthroned in the first century.
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He actually got on the throne and that's when he cleaned up the heavens. Have you read 1 Corinthians 15?
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Yeah. Paul says that Jesus is seated now, putting all of his enemies under his feet. And the last enemy is death.
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That was in the first century. Who says?
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Where does the Bible say he didn't exercise it until 1914? That's interesting.
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Oh, I see what you're referring to. Revelation 17, where it's the harlots, the mother of all harlots.
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You know, the angel says it's Jerusalem. The angel tells you who it is.
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He says that... Yes. Rome.
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Yeah. So, what's interesting is that in Revelation 13, John tells you who the beast of Revelation is.
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He says he's going to persecute the Christians for 42 months. He's going to die by the sword. And his number is 666.
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And that's a... Well, just real fast. I'll just finish the thought so you can just say what that means.
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John says that he's going to persecute the saints for 42 months, die by the sword, and his number is 666. Nero persecuted the
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Christians for 42 months. He was killed by his own sword. And 666 in a Hebrew cryptogram spells
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Neron Caesar, Nero Caesar. So, John names the beast and says it's Nero Caesar.
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And it says the beast is going to turn on the harlot and burn her and make her desolate and burn her with fire.
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Rome turned on Jerusalem in the first century and burned her and made her desolate. See, that was the first fulfillment.
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But this is talking about in our day that there's going to be a greater fulfillment.
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Well, I guess I would ask you, where would you ever get that? If John names the beast, names the harlot, and all that happened, you can show that Rome did turn on the harlot.
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He did burn her and make her desolate. I know. But these are all recorded in the Bible for our benefit to be able to look back and see the connection, the lessons that were learned there.
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So, we are being carefully guided through every single day of this system by our creator.
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You can just tell by world conditions. You know, they say a whole lot. I mean, you can't.
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I mean, it says that people would grow from bad to worse.
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Well, that we see that's evident today. People don't have any conscience about anything. And would you be the same? And you're young.
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You're young. We've seen a bit. How old are you, Miss Peggy? Forty. Forty what? Yeah. Forty. Oh.
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Younger than my son. You know, I mean, it's true. Well, I guess what
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I ask, and I mean this with so much grace to you guys. You're very intelligent. Do you do all this on your own?
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Well, when I came to Christ, dedicated to the Bible, studying the word of God, and care a lot about the book of Revelation, I guess my question would be in terms of, and just to think about this as Jehovah's Witnesses, who are very zealous and very gracious and loving.
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If Jesus refers to all of those things in the first century, and John actually names the beast, names the harlot, and it all happened, how would any of us have the right to now take those same texts that already were fulfilled and now apply them to us?
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Babylon the Great is not the Babylon of the past. Babylon the Great is a reference in the future.
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I guess I would ask you, where would you ever get that? It's been very, very accurately studied, and we have special lessons.
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Who says? Oh, I get it. Okay, so the watchtower interprets that for you. This is referring to a near future.
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With that, I heard a loud voice from the throne say, and this is Jesus on the throne saying, Look, the tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them.
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And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more. And neither will mourning, or outcry, nor pain be any more.
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The former things have passed away. And the one seated on the throne, Jesus said, Look, I am making all things new.
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He says, Write for these words are faithful and true. This hasn't happened yet. It's about to happen.
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You don't believe we're new creations in Christ? I was newly, I put on a new personality once I started studying.
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That could be saying that you're new. I guess what I'm saying is that's from Revelation 20, was I right about that? 21. 21, so that's right after the marriage of the bride and the lamb.
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That's going to happen. So the harlot is called Jerusalem by the angel. It's Jerusalem, and she's burned by Rome, destroyed.
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Real fast, I'll just finish the thought. I'll just give you something to shoot at. So then the harlot is, I would say the harlot is what
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God referred to his old covenant people when they fell into apostasy. He called her a whore, a harlot.
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Yeah, he names her Babylon. So the harlot, it says, is killing the
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Christians and persecuting them. That happened in the first century. Jesus said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.
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So it says that Rome's going to turn on the harlot. I would say that that is the unfaithful bride of God. And then you see the bride of Christ, the new
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Jerusalem, coming to be married to Jesus. I believe that that happened in the first century when old covenant
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Israel was judged. Just like, oh boy, there's so much we could just say.
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Oh, I'd love to hear you. Yeah. I'll show you. We have a book of Revelation. Where can
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I get that? I'd love to read that. I wish I had one on me. But you know what? We have a website,
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JW .org. Have you heard of it? Oh, simple enough. JW .org. Go there and to the book of Revelation. And they have pictures and explanations.
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You can ask questions. You can have a Bible study online in any language. Oh, wow. We have 962 plus languages that we've translated the
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Bible into. That's intense. Recently, too, on this island. Are you visiting here? I'm visiting, yes. There's a new group forming in the pidgin language.
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Okay. And they're using the pidgin Bible and Hawaiian. Okay. Because people need to learn in the language of their heart.
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You know, because God's word needs to reach our heart. Okay. Not just here, but it has to touch the heart.
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So the offering's being made to everyone. Yeah. Before this peace turns on the planet.
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So we get it in line. And then that's going to be a time of test for all of us. Because if God would make on, he'll turn on us.
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That's the government. And then Jesus, it'll be like touching Jehovah's eyeball. And that's where Jesus takes action.
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He separates the sheep from the goats. Have you heard of the term Armageddon? Oh, yeah. Armageddon is necessary.
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And so these things are in the near future, according to Bible prophecy. According to the Watchtower, right?
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In relation to the Watchtower. Well, I guess what I would ask you is if, again, Jesus says, because you know the
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Bible. This is one thing I respect about Watchtower and Jehovah's Witnesses. It's even in this one right here. It says that you say, how do we know the
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Bible is true? And it says here that because the Bible predicts the future perfectly. And I would agree with you.
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That's one of the testimonies of God's Word. Isn't it only reasonable that our Creator knows that we need to know these answers?
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Yes. Reliable answers. True. So I guess what I'm saying is you know that in, I think maybe you know,
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Deuteronomy chapter 18, 20 through 22, God gives a test of a prophet. And he says that if you have one failed prophecy, you're a false prophet.
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Just one. Not several chances. One shows you're not from God. So if Jesus tells them in that generation, all these things will fall upon you before you all die, if they didn't and they apply to us,
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Jesus is a false prophet. Of course not. But that's what I'm saying. You can't apply, we can't apply those verses to us.
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If Jesus says they were going to happen then, otherwise we turn Jesus into a false prophet. So all these prophecies of the beast and the harlot,
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John says that that was going to happen soon to take place, coming quickly. I believe
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John wrote Revelation in about 64 to 66 -ish AD, shortly before the fall of Jerusalem.
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I believe he was predicting the destruction of Jerusalem, the harlot bride of God, making way for the bride of Christ, the new
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Jerusalem, coming down into heaven from God. But I'll just say this quickly. You mentioned 1914. How many times has the
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Watchtower predicted falsely the coming of Christ in the last 150 years?
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120 years. Because it's all calculated down, according to the scriptures, down to the very day.
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I would really lovingly, with grace, encourage you to look into that. The Watchtower has predicted the coming of Christ many times in the last 100 or so years.
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Well, they look forward to it too, because when he comes on the horse, you know, some people expect him on a cloud, right?
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To rescue them. But he's going to come on a horse as an executioner. 19 what?
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They were saying things like they got it all straightened out.
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We got what straightened out? When they had false prophecies? Yeah, because they did.
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This is not something that we need to be. I would just urge you to think about this, because as a Christian, I'm very sympathetic to the fact that all this has to apply to me too.
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I can't have a standard for me and then also a different one for you, but God's standard applies to all of us. He says in Deuteronomy 18, if you have a false prophecy, you're not from God.
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So if the Watchtower gave many false prophecies in the last 100 years, what's that make the Watchtower?
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I can't look at it in a negative way. Why not? Because the
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Watchtower is nothing guidance from Jehovah. How do you know if they give false prophecies, that they're from Jehovah?
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You know what, I'm telling you. We're totally satisfied with the book of Jehovah. You believe that book, right?
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Yeah. It says in that book that if you have a false prophecy, you're a false prophet. Well, maybe that's true.
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But if they're a false prophet, they're no longer with us. You know, there's a discipline program that goes on.
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Well, no, it came from the top of your organization. You guys lost a significant amount of your membership in the 1970s because of a major false prophecy.
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You're right. I mean, what it was is that they felt like, you know, we don't put any dates on anything.
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I mean, they... What they did then? Well, there's the people... He's not in there.
32:03
That was a prostate. He may have been a prostate. I was brand new studying. I started studying in 1976.
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Oh, that long ago. Wow. Yeah. So you were around kind of on the cusp of all that.
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Yeah. And then they were predicting the end of the world. Oh, yeah. Yeah, a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses really were hurt by that.
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There's a lot of refining that's been going on through the course of time in the organization, lots of refining.
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Can I ask you... Can I just say this to you? Sure. I have to express my gratitude to you guys for your humility.
32:37
I am not saying this to just shine you on. I mean, genuinely, I have never talked to a
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Jehovah's Witness that has so much integrity to be able to say, yes, there were false prophecies, it was wrong.
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You're the first Jehovah's Witness friends I've ever had that have been willing to say that. But I guess my concern is this, is if Jesus had a single false prophecy according to God long before Jesus came, he's a false prophet.
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You have to reject him as a false prophet. I can't. I don't see... No, neither do
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I. Neither do I. I'm not saying that. I'm saying that we have to all admit if he gave a false prophecy according to God's law, he's a false prophet.
33:18
So... But he didn't. He didn't, but the Watchtower did. Well, the Watchtower is... Well, it wasn't just a person.
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The organization was all saying it. What about the fact that it came from the organization, from the top to all of the
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Jehovah's Witnesses? Because many of... I feel terrible. Many of you guys were hurt tremendously. Well, you know, it wasn't the only time, though.
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Smoking for a long period of time. Because when my husband started studying in the 60s, he was a smoker.
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And then eventually they said, you know, we as true Christians don't want to buy something.
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So they gave me like six months to quit smoking. Some grace period. Take some time. Realizing we're imperfect humans.
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Well, I would just urge you just to look at that from my perspective as a Christian. Deuteronomy 18 is the acid test of whether you're a prophet.
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If you have false prophecies, you are not from God. And God says to reject that false prophet. So we're really commanded to reject the watchtower if they have false prophecies.
34:42
Amen. I agree with that. I agree. But have you...
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I'd love to. Thank you. Have you... Have you done any research in terms of how the watchtower translates the original text?
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Very, very, very. Go to JW .org over here. Okay. It has everything.
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It gives you our videos, how the department... And I'm so impressed. Everything is fine -tuned. Everything...
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They have a team set up to check the accuracy of even people that float in the watchtower.
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Yeah. Different agencies, how accurate they are making the effort to be. Even delivering information that's from the world.
35:23
Okay. So, just as an example, in John chapter 1,
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I know you've had Christians bring this up to you before. In the beginning was the word, the word is with God, the word was
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God. The watchtower says the word was a God. So they add the word...
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You know, there's lowercase, G -God. Yeah. And there's uppercase. Yeah. And that's what you need to look at.
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Because the lowercase was Jesus. Jesus... Jehovah is the main
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God. And so he's capitalized. He's the almighty. So you don't believe that Jesus is Jehovah? No. He's his son.
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So... Very definitely. And Matthew, what is it John says, this means everlasting life.
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They're taking in knowledge of you, the true God. And Jesus Christ whom you've sent. But the
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Bible teaches there's only one God. Jehovah. But it calls the Father God, the Son God, and the Holy Spirit God.
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Well, he is not a God. The Catholics teach that. Well, the Bible teaches that. The Holy Spirit is just an energy force.
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Wait. So you don't think the Holy Spirit is a person? No. So Jesus says in John 14, he says,
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The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will guide you into all truth. He will convict the world of sin and righteousness.
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Let me get to that one. John 14. John 14. Boy, you sure studied your...
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Yeah, you've got the memory. 14 what? John 14, let's see here, off the top of my head.
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I'm the man of the truth and the light. Oh, that's... No one comes to the Father except through me.
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Yeah, so that's John 14 through 16, is where Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit. And he says...
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He's going away. And he says... If I could just see that. It's upside down.
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I'm sorry. He says... He says, If you let me keep my commandments, I will not leave you bereaved.
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I am coming to you. In a little while, the world will see me no more. And that day you'll know that I'm in union with the Father, and you in union with me.
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He says... I've spoken these things to you while I'm still with you, that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, which the
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Father will send in my name, there's a change of word there, that one will teach you all things.
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If you look in a regular translation, that actually translates the Greek, it says the Holy Spirit, whom the
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Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things. That's an example of where the watchtower changed the words of the text.
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Well, there's a lot of study that's gone into the original scriptures, and even as they're translating into Latin languages, they're as accurate as...
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Do you know that every English translation in the world translates it as personal?
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Whom the Holy Spirit, He will guide you in all truth, He will convict you. The watchtower distorts the
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Greek language. All I know is when I was a Catholic, they were trying to teach me that the Holy Spirit was a person. Yeah, that's what
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Jesus says. It just says active force. Well, that's what the watchtower taught you, but Jesus says...
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It makes more sense. Well, Jesus... except I want to go with what Jesus said. Your son can hop rocks. Did you know that?
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Yes. Wow. Jesus says, He will guide you into all truth, He will convict the world of sin and righteousness, and in the book of Acts, the
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Holy Spirit speaks to Paul and tells him where to go, and Peter calls the Holy Spirit God.
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That's what the Bible teaches. So, I just want to encourage you with this. Just a thought. There aren't any translations.
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Including Levin Jehovah's name Yahweh, which was in there 70 ,000 times. So, just two points about that.
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Jehovah is in English. Tetragrammaton. It's an English translation of Yahweh. So, God's name actually is
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Yahweh. Amazing. Who causes it to be? It comes from the Hebrew word,
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Ah Yah, which means, I am, I was, I will always be. So, God's real name is
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Yahweh. Jehovah is actually in English. We know that. Yeah. And so, it's not actually his name.
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Yahweh is his name. Y -H -W -E -H. Yeah, it's all consonants, right? No vowels, which is where you get the
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English version of that. But you said something a moment ago. You said that you don't believe Jesus is Yahweh.
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You don't believe he's Jehovah. He's God's son. Do you know that John, the Apostle John, believed he was? How so?
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Well, if you look, a couple places. He's always referred to his father as being greater than him. As a man, humbled, becoming obedient to death.
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Yes. God as a man, when he took on flesh, he became our representative and humbled himself. He came down to ransom his life.
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Amen. Amen. Because Adam and Eve had lost. They were perfect. They lost. But Jesus is the second creation.
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Well, that's interesting you say that, because the Bible says Jesus is eternal. Jesus was the only begotten son.
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Well, that's interesting, because that's what I wanted to get at. It says, for example, in John chapter 1, it says, in the beginning was the
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Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was with God.
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With God. Prostantheon, in the Greek, means an intimate relationship, face to face with. Amen.
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Amen. So there, the Bible teaches there's one God, three co -eternal, co -equal persons, and that text in John says that Jesus always existed from all eternity.
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In the beginning, it's in the Greek, and arke ein halagos, it means as far back as you want to go, forever, without stopping.
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Eons. Eons. What says for eternity in John 1? And do you know another example?
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This is powerful. I care so much about you guys. In Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 and on, it says that Jesus created all things, whether in heaven or on earth, visible or invisible.
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With God's work. Well, what's interesting is if you, Colossians 1, what? Colossians 1, 16. It says, if you don't mind me reading it, can
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I look? Yeah. Because by means of Him, all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities.
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All other things have been created through Him and for Him. Do you know, this is really important.
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I challenge you ladies and sir to go later and look this up. Look in the Greek.
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Maybe you can't read it, but look in every other English translation. The watchtower added words to the text there.
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All other things. You know what, here's what I have to say just real quickly. It means our life. Amen.
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And our children's lives. Yes. If you're a responsible parent. Yes. To get the truth.
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Amen. Which is why I want to challenge you, sister. In humanity, you're my sister in humanity, right?
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You have to see that the watchtower, and I challenge you to go to it later if you love truth, the watchtower added words there to distort who
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Jesus is. Colossians 1, 16. 16. Every single translation says
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He created all things in heaven and on earth. The watchtower added the words all other things.
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Because the watchtower teaches a different Jesus. A different Jesus.
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I trust the watchtower to be... What if I can show you that the
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Bible teaches that Jesus is Jehovah? Would you believe it? Even if the
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Bible said it. I would pray to what I've learned. Even if the Bible says it. It depends on what Bible Jesus always says. See, I trust this
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Bible. Okay, so go to your New World Translation to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation 1.
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1 what? Actually, Revelation chapter 1 verse 8.
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I am the Alpha and the Omega says Jehovah God. It's okay. The one who is and who was and who is coming to be all.
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Okay, so who's the Alpha and the Omega? Jehovah. Okay, so who's Okay, so is there any other Alpha and Omega?
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Jehovah is the Alpha and the Omega, right? He is. Okay, so if you look at the beginning here, you'll see that it's actually
43:24
Jesus who's speaking. But if you want to see it in clear... I can show you many examples, but if you just go to the end of Revelation, Revelation chapter 22, and as you read here near the end...
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Changing words. It says here... Here you go.
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I am the Alpha and my Jesus sent my angel to bear witness to you about these things. So this is Jesus speaking, right?
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Okay, so if you look in Revelation 21, he calls himself the Alpha and the
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Omega. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. You know what?
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There's plan words here, and it is important. It says anyone who takes his portion away from what's...
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Something about the scroll that says, I am bearing witness to everyone who hears the word of the prophecy of this scroll. Anyone makes an addition?
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Anyone makes to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. Do you believe that? Yeah. So if the
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Jehovah's Witnesses have added words to God's word or taken away, would that put them under that condemnation?
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This has been redone and refined. This is the latest translation.
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They have worked out any problems or kinks or misunderstanding. They have put many, many, many, many efforts into it, and I totally trust
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Jehovah to be providing me with the right spirit. So Revelation...
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Does the Bible have Jehovah's name in it in Psalms 83? It has Yahweh. Yeah. So if you read
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Revelation chapter 22, Jesus says, Behold, I'm coming soon. My recompense is with me to repay each one for what he has done.
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I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. We already agree that that's
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Jehovah, but here Jesus says, I, Jesus, have sent my angel. This is
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Jesus speaking, calling himself the Alpha, the Omega, the first, the last, the beginning and the end. Only Jehovah is that.
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He does reflect much. Why does Jesus refer to his Father all through the Bible? Oh, this is what's really important.
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Christians have never believed throughout the entire history of the Church that Jesus is the
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Father. My understanding is most Jehovah's Witnesses believe that... Christians believe that Jesus is the
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Father or the Father is Jesus. No, no, there you go. See, you misheard me.
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That Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Christians believe that. You said that was the
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Trinity. That's not the Trinity. That's called modalism. And in the second century... I thought that was the
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Trinity. Yeah, that's not the Trinity. That's for the Catholics. Nope, they don't believe that either. Catholics don't believe that Jesus is the
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Father. No Christians in history have ever believed that Jesus is the Father. That's called modalism. And it was one of the first heresies ever fought against by the
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Church. But Jehovah's Witnesses have been taught that Christians believe that Jesus is the Father. That's called modalism.
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The Bible teaches... Yeah, you're talking to modalists. They're not
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Christians. The Bible teaches there's one God, three co -equal, co -eternal persons.
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Jesus is not the Father. When Jesus is on the earth, that's Christ, who is eternal God, the second person of the
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Trinity, as a man talking to the Father and the Father speaking to the Son. But the
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Bible teaches that Jesus existed from all eternity as Yahweh. I can show you.
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And I'll leave you with this. Go ahead. Because the name of the
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Father. Jesus is not the Father. Jesus has existed forever alongside the Father, one being of God, co -equal, co -eternal,
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Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. John says that...
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He names the beast. 666 in Hebrew spells Neron Kaiser.
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Nero. Well... Well, we're...
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Well, I think that the way that you just applied that text, the beast...
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In Revelation, it says that the beast is Rome and specifically named as Neron Kaiser, Nero Caesar.
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And... Yeah? Nero? Very good. He was a wicked man that persecuted the Christians and tried to destroy the church.
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And Nero began not only the persecution on the Christians from Rome, but he also... There was...
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He was associated with and a part of Rome's turning on Jerusalem to destroy Jerusalem. Are you a minister in your church?
48:23
I am. I can tell. I'm a minister. But... I'll leave you with this. And I want you to hear my heart because I care so deeply for Jehovah's Witnesses.
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And I know you care for me. I believe that with all my heart. Thank you. So... I'll just challenge you to...
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He's right over here somewhere. He's good. So... So...
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I challenge you to read in a regular English translation Colossians chapter 1,
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John chapter 1, and see that the Jehovah's Witnesses have created a different Christ. And I'll challenge you with this last point on that.
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You said that you didn't believe Jesus was Jehovah or Yahweh. But if you read John 12,
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John 12, Jesus... John refers to Jesus as the one that Isaiah saw on his throne in Isaiah 6.
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You know the scene? You know it. Where Isaiah says he sees this vision of Yahweh or Jehovah and the angels are saying,
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Holy, holy, holy. Yeah. That's Jehovah on his throne. And John says that they were speaking of Jesus on his throne.
49:33
Jesus does take a throne. He is on his throne. I know you believe that, but John says that when they saw Yahweh on his throne, they saw
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Jesus. But Jesus is on the throne. No, no.
49:45
You're missing what I'm saying. I might not be explaining it clearly. In John chapter 12, he...
49:53
I'm sorry. In John chapter 12, John refers to how they saw...
50:01
Here we go. Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and he spoke about him. That's Isaiah 6.
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Jehovah on his throne. He says this. I'm missing here.
50:18
Isaiah said, He has blinded their eyes and has made their hearts hard so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their hearts and turn around and I heal them.
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Isaiah said these things. That's from Isaiah 6. And Yahweh or Jehovah was on his throne. Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and he spoke about him.
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He's referring to Jesus here. That Isaiah saw Jesus when he saw
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Yahweh on his throne, he saw Jesus. That's John 12. And a number of other places can be shown to you to show you that the
50:47
Bible teaches that there's only one God. The Father is called God. The Son is called God. The Holy Spirit is called
50:53
God. It's in your Bibles. But... No, that's what the
50:58
Bible teaches and Christians have taught for... since the very beginning of the church that the
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Holy... I put that in the Catholic religion because I didn't study your religion or anywhere else. I'm historic, orthodox, confessional.
51:11
Now, I'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses and I've learned from Jehovah that he is the true
51:17
God, the creator. So Jesus. And then Jesus was his only begotten son who came after him.
51:22
When you say begotten, what do you think that word means? Well, he wasn't... He just...
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Jehovah created him, right? He wasn't born. He wasn't born like we're born.
51:33
Begotten? Begotten... When John says in John chapter 1 that Jesus is the monogamous theos, the unique and one of a kind.
51:42
Yeah, Jesus... It's not referring to Jesus as in terms of he was created in existence. He came into existence.
51:48
Yeah, that's exactly what you believe. He came into existence. When do you believe Jesus came into existence? Up in heaven when...
51:54
His very first... Jehovah's very first creation was creating Jesus, you might say, or that spirit that represented
52:01
Jesus. And then all those things that he created together... Yeah, you're quoting the
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Watchtower's version of Colossians 1. It comes from the Bible. Except the Bible, the
52:13
Greek text says that Jesus created all things whether in heaven or on earth.
52:19
You don't believe that. You don't believe that Jesus created all things in heaven. He was used by his father. You believe that Jesus created everything in heaven.
52:27
Well, Jehovah's the creator, but he used his son. Do you see my point? Do you see what happened there? I quote the Greek text, and it says
52:34
Jesus created everything in heaven and on earth. But because the Watchtower has added words to that text, you believe he created all other things.
52:42
Whatever, whatever your point of view is, I will think of you when the Great Tribulation begins, which is when the beast turns on the harlot.
52:51
Which already happened, according to John. Well, it's going to happen on a worldwide scale. Who says? Who says?
52:58
The Watchtower. Well, there has to be a way to translate the Bible. You don't believe the Bible can, that God can speak and communicate?
53:04
I can read it in the Greek, you know, that this is happening. And we have pictures that help us. So the Watchtower shows you pictures, and the
53:10
Watchtower interprets it. You believe the Watchtower, not that book. No, I believe it's from the
53:16
Bible. But like I showed you, in Revelation... Okay, so when this happens...
53:22
Yeah. Which thing happens? The Great Tribulation breaks out. But Jesus says the Great Tribulation would happen before his generation all passed away.
53:29
Well, it's going to happen again, just like... Who says? Noah's flood... Right. Rid of the earth of badness then.
53:35
Yes. And so, Jehovah... You know what the rainbow demonstrates? God's covenant to never destroy the whole earth with a flood.
53:43
Yes. But Armageddon is going to be different. It's going to be a war. God's work with Jesus on the white horse to execute.
53:51
It's going to be a major cleansing of this earth, of not just mankind that doesn't want to do things
53:56
God's way, but of man's government, Satan, and demons. It's going to go in the abyss.
54:02
I know. All this is what the Watchtower tells you. It's what the Bible has taught us. Well, except that I was trying to demonstrate to you...
54:08
Except when this happens, and I fully look forward to this and trust it, and I'm getting ready for it, you too, you have your thoughts, and if you're being guided the way you want to, that's your choice.
54:19
Everyone has a choice. That's why we need to sit here. We're not up there preaching and pushing our verge off people. People are free to take it if they want.
54:26
Jehovah's eyes are on us. Jehovah's eyes are roaming through all the earth looking for hearts that are complete toward Him. He doesn't want to destroy them.
54:34
But just like in Noah's day, they had the opportunity to get on the ark. They wouldn't believe that rain was going to fall, number one.
54:41
And then the door was shut. Yep. Okay, so it's the same thing in our day. You have children, and you're responsible for your children.
54:49
So you make those choices for yourself according to what your heart tells you and what the Bible tells you.
54:54
We've made our choice. Right. There are some that won't prove faithful. You know, they're behaving in a wrong way.
55:02
These are Jehovah's Witnesses. They need a lot of discipline, a lot of counsel, and some may not make it because they're not being obedient.
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Wife, I appreciate that's coming from a place of loving concern for me. So I'll give you mine.
55:17
My name is Jeff, by the way. My loving concern for you guys is that the
55:22
Watchtower Bible and Track Association has given to us what Paul would refer to...
55:27
You should go to the website. I will. And I have, actually. But it's given to us what Paul would refer to in 2
55:33
Corinthians 11, another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel. I do have that definition for it.
55:38
2 Corinthians 11. This is what we've gotten. We've gotten. Yeah. It just says, and this is from Brunel's definition.
55:47
It says, pertaining to being the only one of its kind... The only one of its kind. With a specific relationship.
55:54
There you go. That's actually right. Begotten means, essentially, I'll quote
56:00
John 1. Jesus is the monogamous theos, the unique and one of a kind, the only begotten
56:08
God. That's what it says. No, it says monogamous theos, the unique and one of a kind God.
56:15
And it says, who is in the bosom of the Father, in Greek. How come Jehovah says he wants exclusive devotion?
56:22
What does it say? Let me ask you a question. Let me just one thing. In John 17, it's
56:28
Jehovah says he will not share his glory with another. You guys agree with that? Jesus says...
56:34
He wants exclusive. He will not share his glory with anybody. No, he wants exclusive.
56:39
Jesus says in John 17, read John, he says, now glorify me, Father, with yourself, with the glory
56:46
I shared with you before the world was. It says that Jesus shared the glory of Jehovah.
56:52
Because he was used then to create. You just said that Jehovah doesn't share his glory because he says he doesn't.
56:59
But Jesus shares his glory because he is Yahweh. But I'll give you one...
57:05
You gave me a charge. As a man. As a man. Yeah, yeah. God became a man and he became our substitute.
57:12
He submitted himself to obedience, Paul says, to the Father. Philippians chapter 2, it says,
57:18
Jesus who is in the form of God did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped or held on to, but he emptied himself.
57:26
That's where you see Jesus being obedient to the Father. But I want to just call you with this because you gave me your loving charge.
57:32
I'll give you mine. I believe the Watchtower is preaching a false Christ, that it teaches a false gospel, and you believe the same about me, that I have a false
57:41
God and false gospel. Yeah, exactly. I would charge you to see what the Bible truly says about Jesus, that he is the eternal
57:48
God and there is no salvation outside of him. We're studying about his life intimately now.
57:54
Good, good. Would you like one? Yes. Thank you. You're so sweet. Thank you.
58:00
Well, I wanted to tell you, bless you. I'm Jeff. I'm sure we'll see each other around again. God bless you guys. Thank you.
58:06
And thank you for spending time talking with me today. I appreciate you being so gracious. We're not up there forcing anybody.