Topical Sermons - Executable Outlines

Mark A. Copeland
III. SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDYING WITH JWs
A. REVIEW THEIR DEPENDENCE UPON THE EC FOR THEIR AUTHORITY...
1. You might ask these questions:
a. Do you believe that anyone, anywhere, who just had a Bible, and no other literature,
could understand it and be saved?
b. Can the Bible be interpreted correctly only by the Watchtower?
c. Are you allowed to read material by ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses?
2. Some other questions that might help:
a. Do you believe the New World Translation is the only reliable translation? (note: they
do accept the old American Standard)
b. Are you willing to consider Bible resources other than those approved by the
Watchtower Society?
-- An honest JW will admit his or her dependence upon the EC for their authority
B. REVIEW PROPHETIC CLAIMS OF THEIR AUTHORITY...
1. They believe the Watchtower Society is God’s prophet today
a. “So, does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to
declare them things to come? These questions can be answered in the affirmative.”
(They Shall Know That A Prophet Was Among Them, The Watchtower,
Brooklyn, NY, April 1, 1972, p. 197)
b. “He had a ‘prophet’ to warn them. This ‘prophet’ was not one man, but a body of men
and women...Today they are known as Jehovah’s Christian witnesses.” (ibid., p. 197)
c. “...this group of anointed followers of Jesus Christ, doing a work in Christendom
paralleling Ezekiel’s work among the Jews, were manifestly the modern-day Ezekiel, the
‘prophet’ commissioned by Jehovah to declare the good news of God’s Messianic
kingdom and to give warning to Christendom.” (ibid., p. 198-199)
d. “...Jehovah’s witnesses today make their declaration of the good news of the Kingdom
under angelic direction and support...And since no word or work of Jehovah can fail,
for he is God Almighty, the nations will see the fulfillment of what these witnesses say as
directed from heaven.” (ibid., p. 200)
e. “Yes, the time must come shortly that the nations will have to know that really a
‘prophet’ of Jehovah was among them.” (ibid., p. 200)
f. “...Jehovah is interested not only in the vindication of his own name, but also in
vindicating his ‘prophet’.” (ibid., p. 200)
2. They believe the Watchtower Magazine is how God communicates to people today
a. “Its pages gleam with Scriptural and prophetic truths now due to be published for the
education, comfort and guidance of all who desire to take their stand (and hold it) on
the side of God and His Son, Earth’s Rightful Ruler.” (from an advertisement for The
Watchtower).
b. “Those who believe that God uses ‘The Watchtower’ as a means of communicating to
his people, or of calling their attention to his prophecies, should study ‘The
Watchtower’ with thankfulness of heart and give Jehovah God and Christ Jesus all the
honor and credit and give neither honor or credit to any man.” (The Watchtower,
Brooklyn, NY, January 1, 1942, p. 5)
3. An honest and informed JW believes the following:
a. Their organization has been anointed and commissioned to be God’s ‘prophet’
b. They are under angelic direction and support, directed from heaven
Topical Sermons 339