Beyond the Watchtower Joseph & Elizabeth Taze Malik, BEYWTDOC

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.9 But the lawless one's presence is according to the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and portents 10 and with every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth that they might be saved.11 So that is why God lets an operation of error go to them, that they may get to believing the lie, 12 in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.[2 Thessalonians 2:6-12, NWT]At the time of the resurrection such lawless ones will be revealed and appropriate action taken accordingly.But they exist around us and we cannot ignore this reality.Those who follow such lawless ones will face a judgment as severe as the one that will be pronounced upon such evil men.After all our doctrines would be the same and our resulting deeds will be just as evil as theirs are.What makes their crimes different from our own if we follow them? Can we blame it on Eve the way Adam did? This is why we should not join organizations or groups who may on the surface appear to be well meaning, but which conduct in some way compromises the “TRUTH.”The doctrinal wars that raged toward the end of the apostle John's day were growing more severe and this fact made it necessary for him to discuss the role of the evil slave from this perspective.He phrased matters like this:18 Young children, it is the last hour, and, just as YOU have heard that antichrist is coming, even now there have come to be many antichrists; from which fact we gain the knowledge that it is the last hour.19 They went out from us, but they were not of our sort; for if they had been of our sort, they would have remained with us.But [they went out] that it might be shown up that not all are of our sort.20 And YOU have an anointing from the holy one; all of YOU have knowledge.21 I write YOU, not because YOU do not know the truth, but because YOU know it, and because no lie originates with the truth.22 Who is the liar if it is not the one that denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one that denies the Father and the Son.23 Everyone that denies the Son does not have the Father either.He that confesses the Son has the Father also.[1 John 2:18-23, NWT, ignore paragraph at verse 22]Watchtower witnesses deny the Son when they reject the emblems or teach the He will not return in the flesh as promised in scripture.Their doctrine places the organization between them and the only mediator there is, which is why they have lost the Father as well.Such doctrine is evil and the apostle John identifies the men responsible for it as the “antichrist.” There are other ways in which the Father and the Son can be denied, but most of them commonly place someone or something in authority in such a way that it takes the place of Christ.Their lives then become dependent on it or them.WHY ELDERS?Have you ever given any thought as to why the apostle Paul instituted the “elder arrangement?” Who ran the congregations in the early years before such an elder arrangement was put in place? Was it not the householder (Acts 20:20)? Wasn't it apostasy and famine that created the need for such an august group of hand picked men? Paul needed ministerial servants to collect and deliver funds for famine-stricken Jerusalem.He took this task upon himself, and the “elder” arrangement was a natural outgrowth of this as his battles with the Corinthians, Philippians and Christian Jews everywhere continued to occupy much of his time.Even, so, the elder arrangement was administered by the apostle Paul, and specially trained men such as Timothy and Titus were directly appointed by Paul for this purpose when he “laid his hands upon them.” [2 Timothy 1:6; Titus 1:5; 2:15] This does not mean that there were not also “older men” in the congregations that were naturally such (1 Timothy 5:1,17-21; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1,5; 2 John 1), but it does mean that some were specifically appointed by Paul through Timothy and Titus for special recognition.[1 Timothy 5:22] It cannot be denied that such physical links to the apostle Paul as the “laying on of hands” represented are no longer available on earth today.This “thing that acts as a restraint” would soon pass away as Paul put it.What we now have are individuals who do not know Scripture appointing others who support their erroneous views to positions of such authority [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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