Bethesda Shalom

Part 2

As one traces the history of the beginnings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, two names are indispensable to the formation and development of this cult: Charles Taze Russell and his successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford. In the 1830s, a Baptist minister from New York by the name of William Miller began sharing his new-found belief, that Jesus Christ was going to return around the year 1843. This belief began to gain momentum across denominations, and by 1840 it had become a nationwide campaign. This was the birth of what became known as Adventism and it was from this influence that the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society would emerge.

In this teaching, we examine the history of the Watch Tower cult from its beginnings until the present day. We review some of its teachings that have changed during this period and critique its peculiar version of the Bible, the New World Translation.

Download teaching notes (pdf)

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/2_History_of_Jehovahs_Witnesses.pdf

Part 4

Whenever the doctrine of the Trinity comes under enemy fire, it is a direct assault upon the persons of the Godhead and thus a direct assault on God Himself. The Apostle John understood this when in his day he contended earnestly for the verity of the Christian faith against an early form of Gnosticism called Docetism. John shot it straight and made no bones, saying, “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also” (1 Jn. 2:23). Meddle with the Son and you meddle with the Father; deny a cardinal tenet of Christ’s nature, and you lose the Father in the process! You cannot have it both ways and yet the irony is, the cults insist you can. Whether it be Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, or Christadelphians, each attack the deity of the Son of God, stripping Him of His eternal glory while at the same time insisting that they still have the Father! Concerning the person of Christ, Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus is a created spirit not differing in substance to an angel. They believe and teach that there was a time when the blessed Son of God was not!

In part 4 of this teaching series, we confront this error and present Biblical evidence proving the deity of Christ.

Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/4_The_Deity_of_Christ.pdf

Proverbs 14:14

Adam Clarke in his famous commentary, asks the question: “Who is the backslider?”, he then answers it in three points: 1. The man who once walked in the ways of religion, but has withdrawn from them. 2. The man who once fought manfully against the world, the devil, and the flesh; but has retreated from the battle, or joined the enemy. 3. The man who once belonged to the congregation of the saints, but is now removed from them, and is set down in the synagogue of Satan”

This sermon is a warning against drifting and an exhortation to recover again the ground lost in our Christian walk.

1 Samuel 16:1-7

Of all the many things that God can do that we humans cannot, the one that I have been pondering this week in preparing for this sermon is the omniscience of God! Man is limited in his knowledge, he has present knowledge and past knowledge based on what he can and has observed and experienced around Him. Much of this knowledge I dare say, he’s gleaned from other men. God on the other hand has limitless knowledge — He knows all things past, present and future. No one has ever had to teach God anything, He has all knowledge! He doesn’t have to take a stab in the dark based on mathematical probabilities as to what may be, He has absolute foreknowledge of every single thing that will ever happen under the sun.

As one ponders the omniscience of Almighty God, it ought to both sober us and to encourage us. May this sermon be a means of both to your dear soul.

Psalms 62:1-8

Deliverance is not always instantaneous. Sometimes there is delay, and it’s in those seasons of waiting that if we’re not careful, we can lose hope!! This sermon is an encouragement to the Body of Christ NOT TO LOSE HOPE IN THE WAITING!! Hope is not a throw of a dice, there’s no chance with God. He doesn’t deal with probabilities, HE IS GOD OMNIPOTENT!