Jehovahs Witnesses Q&A

Featuring answers to actual questions from visitors to this site

'Persecuting' Jehovahs Witnesses?

Question: I am not a JW but I do know that they admit now that it is not for anyone to determine the day (setting dates of the Lord's return). Do you know that they have shown me the same scriptures you have on your site and said the same thing? So why do you persecute them? What have they done to you? -- Crystal, Shipwrcd@aol.com

Answer: They haven't "done" anything personally to me. But because they are deceiving the multitudes, I am obliged, as Scripture says, to "speak the truth in love." My web site doesn't "persecute" JWs or judge them. The Word of God and their own writings (which I quote extensively) judge them. My site simply contrasts, without comment, what the BIBLE says with what THEY teach. Scripture is clear about false prophets and false teachers. Since you must have overlooked that section, I'll reproduce it here:

FALSE PROPHETS
A Study in the Scriptures

"How will we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?"
Deuteronomy 18:21

I. Not every prophecy is of God (I Kings 13:18), "because many false prophets
are gone out into the world."
Jeremiah 28:11, 15-17; Matthew 24:11, 24 (Mark 13:22); Luke 6:26;
Acts 13:6; 2 Peter 2:1; I John 4:1-3; Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10

A. "They speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.
They ... have perverted the words of the living God." Jeremiah 23:16, 36

B. They are not ordained of God, but are self-appointed.
Jeremiah 14:14-15; 23:16-17, 21 ("I sent them not")
Ezekiel 13:6
Revelation 2:20

C. They may be speaking under the influence of a lying spirit (2 Chronicles 18:21),
or presumptuously (Deuteronomy 18:20), from "the deceit of their own heart."
Jeremiah 14:14; 23:16, 17, 21, 26
Ezekiel 13:17

D. They speak lies (Jeremiah 23:25, 26, 32; 20:6; 29:31; Isaiah 9:15; Micah 2:11;
Zechariah 13:3), and in the name of the Lord (Deuteronomy 18:20; Jeremiah
14:14, 15; 23:25; Matthew 7:22).

E. They speak soothing words to those in spiritual darkness and give false
security to those who deserve rebuke.
Jeremiah 23:16-17
Lamentations 2:14
Luke 6:26
John 15:19

F. Sometimes they are even hired to do their work!
Nehemiah 6:12, 13
Micah 3:11

G. Their punishment under the law was death.
Deuteronomy 13:5; 18:20
Jeremiah 28:15-17; 29:31-32
Zechariah 13:3

II. How can we distinguish the true from the false?

A. Any ministry that does not exalt Jesus (Revelation 19:10) and His Lordship
(Mark 9:39; I Corinthians 12:3; I John 4:1-3) is not God-ordained.

B. "By their fruits ye shall know them."
Matthew 7:15-20

C. No true prophecy will contradict the written Word of God.
Isaiah 8:20

D. It must agree with the previously spoken and revealed will of God.
I Kings 13

E. A prophet is recognized as true when the word he has spoken comes to pass.
If it doesn't, it was not the word of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:21-22
Jeremiah 28:9

F. The source of a ministry cannot be determined merely by signs of the miraculous
(Deuteronomy 13:1-5). Satan can perform lying signs and wonders.
Exodus 7:11; 8:17-19; 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 11, 12; Revelation 13:13, 14

G. If the person entices people to follow after another God (Revelation 13:1-5), or
speaks of another Savior, another Spirit, or another gospel, he is not sent by God (2 Corinthians 11:4).

-- Diane Dew

To order a complete, spiralbound copy of these & 80 other topical study outlines,
available at cost (printing plus postage), write: Diane Dew, PO Box 340945, Milw., WI 53234
This is a ministry to the Body of Christ, not a money-making venture.

Got a question? I don't have all the answers, but I know Someone Who does.

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