Watch Out for False Prophets! [Part One]

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruits you will recognise them (Matthew 7:15,16).

INTRODUCTION

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “...what will be the sign of your coming at the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no-one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many...For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect” (Matthew 24:3-5,24).

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them...Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute (2 Peter 2:1,2).

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognise the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God (1 John 4:1-3).

These words from Scripture may well have been written with people like the Jehovah’s Witnesses in mind, as we shall see through this study.

FOUNDATION

Officially known as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the movement began in 1870 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, by Charles Taze Russell. (Russell was born on 16th February, 1852). Initially the movement was known as Russellites. Russell’s title of “pastor” was self-styled; he had no formal theological education; he was never ordained.

Russell was the proprietor of a chain of drapery stores—he could not find any existing religion to his liking, so founded one of his own! In 1879 he founded the magazine Zion’s Watchtower in which he published his own completely false interpretations of the Bible. In 1886 he published the first volume of six books entitled The Millennial Dawn (later retitled Studies in the Scriptures).

The six volumes of Studies in the Scriptures formed the foundation of the false teaching of the Russellites (later to be renamed Jehovah’s Witnesses). Russell died in 1916.

A few months after the death of Russell, the society’s legal counsellor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, became the second President of the Watchtower Society. The delay in taking command was caused by the fact that he was serving a custodial sentence for “seditious utterances” in the Atlanta Prison. He was born in 1869 and was granted a licence to practice law in 1892, but his title of “Judge” is assumed, for he was never elected to that office. It was under his leadership that the name Jehovah’s Witnesses was adopted in 1931. Rutherford died in 1942.

(Note: neither Russell nor Rutherford had the right or authority to use the titles of “pastor” and “Judge”—which speaks volumes for the suspect credentials of the original founders and architects of the Jehovah’s Witnesses!)

Rutherford was succeeded in 1942 by Nathan H. Knorr. It was during Knorr’s presidency that the society increased from 115,000 to over two million members. In 1961, under Knorr’s leadership, the society produced its own English translation of the Bible entitled The New World Translation of Holy Scriptures. Knorr died in 1977 and was succeeded by Frederick H. Franz, who is the current President of the Society. †
He was the spokesman for the translation committee of the New World Translation.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Their membership has grown considerably in the past few years, but we should note an important fact here: Popularity marked by increased membership does not in itself prove they are right in their teaching. To put it another way, popularity does not mean accuracy.

Membership—                ________________________________________________________________

                                         Worldwide –       1971– 1,5000,000     1985 – 2,100,000     1990 – 6,750,000
                                        ________________________________________________________________

                                         Great Britain –   1971 –   63,000         1985 –   101,000      1990 –    116,000              
                                         ________________________________________________________________

CLAIMS OF THE SOCIETY

They claim that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society was adopted by Christ as His Special Agent in 1918.

Concerning Studies in the Scriptures, J.W’s claim: “People cannot see the divine plan by studying the Bible by itself. We find also that if anyone lays the ‘Studies in the Scriptures’ aside, even after he has become familiar with them, if he lays them aside and ignores them and goes to the Bible alone, our experience shows that within two years he goes into darkness. On the other hand, if he has merely read the ‘Studies in the Scriptures’ with their references, and has not read a page of the Bible as such, he would be in the light at the end of two years.” (The Watchtower dated 15th September, 1910)

“The Watchtower and Tract Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses) is the sole collective channel for the flow of Biblical truth to men on earth.” (Watchtower dated 15th July, 1960)

“The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses) is the greatest corporation in the world, because from the time of its organisation until now the Lord has used it as his channel through which to make known the glad tidings.” (The Watchtower dated 1917)

Frederick W. Franz, current president of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Ìexplaining how their interpretations come from God, stated: “They are passed to the Holy Spirit who invisibly communicates with Jehovah’s Witnesses—and the publicity department.” (Scottish Daily Express dated 24th November, 1954)

DOCTRINES OF THE MOVEMENT

J.W’s have no assurance of salvation. “We must do our best and hope that we will be saved in that day...The earning of the reward of eternal life requires hard work.” (The Watchtower dated 15th August, 1972)

GOD’S WORD: Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life”  (John 5:24). Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all… (Romans 4:16).

J.W’s do not regard salvation as a free gift from God based upon Jesus Christ’s work on the Cross, but on salvation by works. “All who by reason of faith in Jehovah God and in Christ Jesus dedicate themselves to do God’s will and then faithfully carry out their dedication will be rewarded with everlasting life.”  (Let God Be True—1952 edition—page 298) In an earlier [1946] edition of this book, the words “dedicate” and “dedication” appeared as “consecrate” and “consecration” respectively.

GOD’S WORD: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no-one can boast (Ephesians 2:8,9). ...he saved us, not because of righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy…(Titus 3:5).

J.W’s interpret Ephesians 2:8,9 as God gives a person an opportunity to earn his salvation by faithfulness.

GOD’S WORD: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the assurance we have…(1 John 5:11-14).

[b] The Nature of Christ

J.W’s deny that Jesus is also God; they believe He is a god but inferior to Jehovah God. “Jesus is a god, but not God.” (Studies in the Scriptures vol. 5, pages 55, 84, 134) “When Jesus was on earth, he was a perfect man, nothing more and nothing less...Jesus was not God the Son.” (Reconciliation pages 111, 113, repeated in Creation page 58)

GOD’S WORD: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever…(Isaiah 9:6,7). In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning...The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1,14). Jesus said, I and the Father are one (John 10:30).

J.W’s state that Jesus had pre-existence but not eternal existence, and that He was the first creation of God. They believe He was the Archangel Michael (Daniel 12:1). “As chief of the angels and next to the Father, he was known as the Archangel, whose name Michael signifies, ‘Who as God’ or God’s representative, as he was the highest of all Jehovah’s creation…” (Studies in the Scriptures vol. 5, page 84)

GOD’S WORD: For he [God the Father] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and by him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fulness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Colossians 1:13-20).

This passage of Scripture outlining the supremacy of Christ is in itself sufficient to refute the teaching of the Jehovah’s Witnesses on this point, but there is more!

Jesus said to them [the Jews], “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. Jesus cave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no-one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him (John 5:17-23).

And still there is more! Read the following passages for yourself!

Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; Hebrews 13:8; Revelation 1:1-20

GOD’S WORD: As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross…”Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:32,40). Carrying his own cross, he went out to the Place of the Skull...Here they crucified him...Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross (John 19:17-19).

There is no reference to stakes or trees in these verses—and in many more Scripture verses that could be cited—only the Cross is referred to!

[Continued]

Please Note:
Due to the extra length of this article it is divided into three sections, and for ease of navigation we have added extra links at the end of each section
1. The Article – Part One
2. The Article – Part Two
3. False Prophecy Fact Sheet

Extra Links
1. The Article – Part One
2. The Article – Part Two
3. False Prophecy Fact Sheet