Jehovah’s Witnesses

Ruth Graham, the late wife of Billy Graham, is quoted as having said that she “never had considered divorce, murder a few times, but never divorce.” One of the great benefits of forty-six years of marriage is that my wife and I have fought on almost every issue, and we are slowly running out of issues on which to disagree. There is no profit in going back and fighting over things a second time. Why would a person want to divorce and start the process all over again?

The same should be true of church history. At the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., the Arian heresy was put to rest. Arius denied the deity of Christ. The modern Jehovah’s Witnesses cult is simply a resurrection of this heresy. More troubling than their denial of Christ’s Person is their denial of the sufficiency of His work. They believe that a person is saved by putting their faith in Jesus Christ and being baptized, but then they add an additional requirement of works.

The best way to spot the error of a cult is to know what the truth is. The truth is that salvation comes through faith alone. We are not saved by works. Our salvation is not secured by our effort. Any addition to the requirement of faith in what Jesus did is an enemy of the cross.

Our lesson today is taken from the forty-third chapter of Isaiah. It is not about the Jehovah’s Witnesses cult, but rather about that which bears witness to the validity of God’s claim on our lives. The witness that brings glory to God is the life of a true child of God. When God transforms a life, He cleans and polishes it from core to surface, and then reflects His image in the new creation.

Modern Christianity has developed what is called, “witnessing,” as though it is a part-time or isolated responsibility of believers. The Greek term for witnessing is the term from which we get our word, “martyr.” God never intended for witnessing to be an activity we engage in; it is designed to be the new life we live in the power of our resurrected Lord. His original plan is that others “see” God’s activity in our lives and be drawn to Him through it.

This world offers pleasures that cannot be sustained. They pass away to time and circumstance. The peace and joy and purpose that God alone can give bring forth an undeniable witness. Creation shouts forth His presence, and the regenerate life echoes back its reality as old things pass away and new habits and interests develop.

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Isaiah 43:8-13

Observations from the text on the character of God

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Witnessing is not a compartmentalized activity

It is a life response to His love that never tires

A. Isaiah 43:1

B. Isaiah 43:4

C. John 15:16 & Joshua 24:15

D. Jeremiah 31:3

II. It is a life response to His purpose that never fails

A. Consider what He has done

B. Consider what He has promised

C. Consider what He is doing

III. We witness to His deliverance that never disappoints

A. He gives us something different from the world

B. He gives us something that outlasts the world

C. He gives us something that sustains us in the world