Part 2 here.
--------------------------
Last week, I began a series called "Test Every Spirit," in which I hope to enlighten you to the errors of various false religions, and even some false beliefs that have come up in the church herself. First, we looked at what Jehovah’s Witnesses believe. How they deny Christ’s deity, claiming that He was simply Michael the Archangel in the flesh. They believe this, even though the apostle Paul said in Colossians 2:9 that in Christ dwells the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form. They claim that Christ was resurrected as a “spirit creature,” even though He Himself said in Luke 24:39, “…a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” They also claim that the Holy Spirit is simply GOD’s “force,” even though twice in Acts (Acts 5:3-4 and Acts 20:28) the Holy Spirit is shown to be one with GOD.
Today, we’re going to begin looking at what the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society teaches about salvation, and death, and Heaven, and Hell. As I mentioned last time, the founder of Zion’s Watchtower Tract Society, Charles Taze Russell, was influenced by teachings that the “end of the world” would come in his own lifetime. These teachings gave rise to what we now know as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (WTBTS), and the many false prophecies they have pronounced about the “end of the world,” or “end of the age.” Even today, they still claim that the end will come sometime during the current generation. In the December 1, 2005 Watchtower, it says,
“As shown by the fulfillment of Bible prophecies, since 1914 we have been living in the last days of the system of things.” (Watchtower, 1/15/2000.)But if you recall, they’ve made at least 6 wrong predictions about when this world would end. And they’ve all been “based on Bible prophecies.” But, I guess if you try enough times eventually you're going to get it right.
Now, we all know what we must do to be saved. But look at what the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society says you have to do in order to be saved (Watchtower, February 15, 1983.):
- It requires, “…taking in knowledge…of God and of Jesus Christ.”
- “…obeying God’s laws, yes, to conform one’s life to the moral requirements set out in the Bible.”
- You must “…be associated with God’s channel, his organization…we must identify that organization and serve God as part of it.”
- You must be, “…connected [to God’s organization] with loyalty.”
“If you find a doctrine or teaching is a lie, you should quickly forsake it…”And if you know someone who is following this doctrine and teaching that is a lie, I would urge you to show them—with love and patience and longsuffering—the glorious truth of the gospel of Christ.
Well, let’s get started by taking a look at what the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach about death. Ask any Christian—that is, any Christian who holds to the truth of the Bible—“what happens to you after you die?” They're more than likely to say that your spirit goes to Heaven if you trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior, or to Hell if you didn’t. That is the correct response. But ask a Jehovah's Witness, and they’ll tell you something completely different. They will say something like,
“The dead have no awareness, no feelings, no thoughts.” (Watchtower, July 15, 2002.)
Another quote:
“The Bible speaks of the ‘force of life’ that is active in earthly living creatures…The ‘spirit’ that departs from humans at death is the life force that originated with our Creator…This life force does not have any of the characteristics of the creature it animates…When the life force stops sustaining the body, man—the soul—dies…Where do the dead go? To Sheol, the common grave of mankind. Our dead ones are not conscious of anything. They are not suffering.” (Kowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life [chapter 9], WTBTS, Philadelphia, PA.)Well, they have it partly right. Sheol is indeed the "common grave" for all, both believers and unbelievers. But what else does the Bible say about this? The Bible teaches that we are awake, and we are completely aware of where we are. Listen to this parable from our Lord Jesus Christ, in Luke 16:22-26—
“So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’”
In this passage we have the doctrines of death and heaven and hell nearly in their entirety. We see what happens immediately after we die, we get a glimpse of what Heaven is like, and we get a look at the torment awaiting those whose souls wind up in the place called Hades.
When we die, we don’t just “go to sleep.” When this body stops functioning, or as it says in one song I’m rather fond of, when our brain stops waving, our spirit still exists, and it is quite aware of what’s going on. Look at the rich guy here. “The rich man…died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham…” Now some people will say, “Yeah, but that’s just a parable.” Yes, this was a parable. But one thing you need to keep in mind is that when Jesus told a parable, He used real things. A sower going out to sow. A son who couldn’t wait for his inheritance. The rich farmer filling up his barns. Every parable Jesus told was realistic. Otherwise, how could the people understand it? He’s not going to tell a story of a guy working on his motorcycle. What’s a motorcycle? But, He would use the example of a man lifting up his eyes from Hades. Because the people knew that when you die, that’s where you go.
The doctrine of "Hell" is one place where “translationism” can really trip you up. I’m not going to argue about the whole “King James Only” thing. I love the KJV, it’s my favorite translation. But I do also use other translations, and I'm very careful about the ones I use. And one thing you notice is that different translations render words like “Hades”, Sheol”, and “Gehenna” differently. Sheol is the place where all of us go—believer and non-believer alike—when we “fall asleep.” "Sheol" is divided into two parts. On one side, you have what Christ here calls “Abraham’s bosom.” Another place He calls it “Paradise.”
On the other side, you have a place of torment, sometimes referred to as “Gehenna” (Heb.), or “Hades.” (Gr.) And in between "Abraham's bosom" and "Hades/Gehenna", there is a great canyon. And I ain't talking about the Grand Canyon, ‘cause it ain't even close. This one would make the Grand Canyon look like First Creek. In fact, it is so great that if you are on one side, there is no way to get across to the other. Not even if you wanted to.
Let’s look at the destination of the spirits of those who die knowing GOD. It’s known by many names. “Abraham’s bosom”. “Paradise.” In John 14:2, Jesus calls it His Father’s house. The writer of Hebrews calls it “another country.” Many of us simply call it heaven. It is where the saints of GOD--those who believe in Christ as their Savior, and those who trusted GOD before Christ came--that’s where they go. Remember last time I made it a point to mention that Jehovah's Witnesses have their own faulty translation of the Bible. I’m about to show you another place where they're wrong. Turn to Luke 23:43. Look at what Jesus says to the repentant thief.
"Assuredly, I say to you, 'Today you will be with Me in Paradise.'"This is where I have to get technical. Because a comma—and where you put it—can completely change the meaning of a sentence. There was a book that came out a couple of years ago. And I kid you not—the title was “Eats, shoots, and leaves.” The whole point of this book was how badly grammar can be butchered. If you leave the commas in that titular sentence, it reads like the story of a panda bear gone bad. In fact, the book starts out with the story of a panda that goes into a restaurant, finishes his dinner, fires a couple shots, and walks out. “Eats, shoots, and leaves.” In other words, he eats, he shoots, and he leaves. Now, take the commas out, and you're talking about the bamboo shoots and the tree leaves that make up his diet. "Eats shoots and leaves". In other words, “He eats shoots, and he eats leaves.” Now that may sound kinda silly, but it shows how the presence—or absence—of commas is vitally important. What does that have to do with Christ on the cross? Watch this.
In nearly every translation of the Bible—and I dare say, every translation other than the New World Translation—the comma comes BEFORE the word “Today.”
“Assuredly [COMMA] I say to you [COMMA] today you will be with Me in Paradise.’”But here’s what the Jehovah's Witnesses do. They take that comma, and they put it AFTER the word “Today.” When you do that, this is how it reads,
“Assuredly [COMMA] I say to you today [COMMA] ‘You will be with Me in Paradise.’”That is such a subtle difference, but it completely changes what Christ said. In the first version, Jesus is telling the man that they will be together, in Paradise, that very day. In the second version, Jesus tells him that very day, that one day they’ll be together in Paradise, but not necessarily that very day. See how tricky that gets? The reason they do this is so that their Bible agrees with their doctrine, rather than their doctrine agreeing with the Bible.
We have another witness, from the Word of GOD, that we are aware of where we are, and what’s going on, after we fall asleep. John records this scene in the Book of the Revelation. Revelation 6:9-10—
And when [the angel] had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?"These were the souls of those who perished for the gospel of Christ, and they were fully aware of what was going on. Because that’s how it is. When we die—when our bodies give out, and we fall asleep—we don’t cease to exist. Our spirit continues on, and we await our final resurrection.
------------------
part 4 tomorrow
