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| News - Godly Obedience | |||||
 Printer Friendly Version - opens in separate window A couple of weeks ago (July 2005) we had our own 'big bang' theory at Twickenham, as one of the stands was demolished, to make way for a new development. Now there is a gaping hole enabling you to see right into the Stadium - this lead me to some thoughts I will share in a minute, but first…I don't normally get emotional over name tags, but yesterday was different. I was walking though the crowds outside Twickenham Rugby Stadium and my heart was heavy. Thousands of people, attending the Watchtower Society Convention, were wearing a badge that read "Godly Obedience", and yet, I found myself asking the question, "Is that a reality in their lives?" Don't get me wrong, the people believe it, and that is what makes me so sad. People of all races and backgrounds believing they are serving Jehovah, and that they have a possibility of an eternal future; and yet in the very Bible they say they believe in, it is clear they have no hope. Godly in the dictionary means, 'religious' and that seemed to me to be more of an apt description. Religious obedience to a man-made organisation and not to the person of God as revealed in the Bible. What about the obedience part? That led me to thinking, are they obedient to the One who they say they believe in? The more I thought about this, the more I wondered if I could report the badges under some 'Trades Description Act'. The first chapter of the Gospel of John ties in, so clearly, the person of God the Father, God the Son, and His Word - no wonder one of the main acts of disobedience by this organisation is altering the very words that God has spoken to us. Tragically, so many of those attending the convention over this weekend will have no idea that the changes made, have hidden the truth of God from them. Then there is disobedience to the love of God, so that family members are ostracised instead of cared for. Disobedience to the message of God who loves all men so much that He wants no one to perish but all to come into His great Salvation. Disobedience to the Son of God, by rejecting the finished work of Jesus Christ in their lives, which is shown by the majority not taking the bread and wine at the Memorial meal. Disobedience to the heart of God, by rejecting His New Covenant and His Son as the one mediator of that covenant. Yes, I know, there would be a few at this weekend that would seek to claim that they are not disobedient in these things, but that is just it - the few of the remnant of the 144,000 feel they are 'in' and the rest are 'out', in the sense that they have no hope of ever seeing the Lord or being with Him. However, even those who claim they have a 'heavenly hope' are disobedient, in that they are trying to get there through their own resources and not through the grace and mercy of Christ. I am conscious as I write this article from an evangelical Christian perspective, that if the Incitement to Religious Hatred Bill was already on the statute books, I could be accused of causing people to turn against Jehovah's Witnesses. However, the opposite is actually the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Yes, I am saying that these people are wrong and yes, I am saying that the many are being misled by the few that actually know what they are doing. Yes, I am saying that the many are misguided in their loyalty but I am also saying that many, if not most, had no idea what is actually happening. In such circumstances how can you hate them, how can you even think of inciting others to hate them? That fact is, because you know they are wrong, because you know they are giving their life for an empty hope and because you know that they are in danger of spending an eternity outside the very kingdom of God they long for; you want to love them and share the true message with them. You want to pass an, "Incitement to share the truth of Christ Bill". Oh yes, our big bang. You see now the way is open and you can see clearly. There is nothing to stop people walking out, the obstacle ahs been blasted out of the way. In reality Jesus Christ has removed the obstacle that stopped us coming to know Him in reality, may many in the Watchtower Society see the reality of the finished work of Jesus Christ and walk out of the bondage to a man-made organisation and into the freedom that a relationship with Christ brings. Back to the headlines
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