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So david,
Clearly you still give some emphasis to physical healing, though surely a minimal amount from what you say. So can you share with us how God wants us to share his powers to heal with those who need it. Anyone can talk but faith surely can do much more than that.It seems like you want to move away from the subject of the “gospel,” or good news and discuss healing.
I was really hoping to discuss how this good news would reach people and how the work is being accomplished and the Bible examples given.
That's why I was trying to emphasize that people considered Jesus was known for being a “teacher,” and often referred to as teacher. He healed people, sometimes because he had pity for them, and he healed people to show what the power of God would do on a grand scale in the future. But as he himself said, he was sent forth to “declare the good news.” And I would like to discuss this good news and how it is being declared in the earth today.Hi david,
What gospel do the JWs share when they preach?
Do they tell men they must be born again to enter the kingdom?
What do they say about entering the kingdom?Did Jesus, the great Physician, ever refuse to heal when asked?
Quote
Did Jesus, the great Physician, ever refuse to heal when asked?
Neither you, nor I are a Jesus, Nick.
His miraculous healing work served as a visible sign to his generation and gave added evidence of his Messiahship, as prophesied. (Mt 8:16, 17)Quote What gospel do the JWs share when they preach?
Do they tell men they must be born again to enter the kingdom?
What do they say about entering the kingdom?First, I dislike the word gospel. It's just a fancy word that means “good news” and people have confused it with the “gospel” accounts, and don't really appreciate that it is the “good news” of the kingdom, the good news of God, the good news about Christ.
Yes, men must be born again to enter the kingdom.What do we say about entering the kingdom? We say a lot. If you've ever looked at a Watchtower, (a magazine we use to encourage Bible study) you'll notice that it's full title is: The Watchtower Announcing God's Kingdom.
Hi david,
So how do you understand and teach the demand of God given by Jesus that we be born again?Jesus worked and healed in the power of the Holy Spirit of God.
Are we not also vessels for this same power and meant to be following in his steps?
Is it written anywhere that these powers were only for that generation and have now been withdrawn?
Or is the Spirit no longer a Spirit of power and He has lost that power or been changed?God does not change.
His gifts are for all generations surely.Quote God does not change.
His gifts are for all generations surely.“But whether there are [gifts of] prophesying, they will be done away with; whether there are tongues, they will cease.” 1 Cor 13
It appears his gifts are not “for all generations.”
This is turning into a conversation we had in the “tongues” thread.I really would rather discuss the “good news” (gospel) in this “gospel” thread. Thanks.
Hi david,
That scripture does not state when this will happen does it? We should not make presumptionas that it has happened simply because we do not see God's power at present. The usual cause of that is the faithlessness of men and not the withdrawal of powers by God.
The teaching work of Jesus, whom we are meant to follow, could not be separated from his compassionate works of healing. They were all part of his work in God. The kingdom includes life in abundance in the here and now too.Quote Hi david,
That scripture does not state when this will happen does it?
No, but at some point it will, right. And you said: “His gifts are for all generations.”Ok, back the good news.
Anyway, back to the good news:
“Celsus, the first writer against Christianity, makes it a matter of mockery, that labourers, shoemakers, farmers, the most uninformed and clownish of men, should be zealous preachers of the Gospel.” (The History of the Christian Religion and Church, During the Three First Centuries, by Augustus Neander; translated from the German by Henry John Rose, 1848, p. 41)
I'm not sure why I put this quote down. I just want to discuss the greatest news we could ever recieve and how we share that news with others.
Quote Hi david,
We do not read your publications so still await your version of the good news.Really? The Watchtower is the most widely distributed religious journal in the world, being distribued in 148 languages.
MATTHEW 24:14
“And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”What do you think of this scripture?
Funny.
Yes, but we're discussing the good news, the message that is to be preached in all the inhabited earth. How will this take place?Hi david,
Why don't you share what the JWs teach. Don't be shy. How can we know if they are a part of this worldwide work if we do not know what they preach. It could all be nonsense.Quote Hi david,
Why don't you share what the JWs teach. Don't be shy. How can we know if they are a part of this worldwide work if we do not know what they preach. It could all be nonsense.
I was attempting to do that Nick. I began with this scripture:Quote MATTHEW 24:14
“And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”This good news that is being preached by Jehovah's Witnesses in 235 lands is the good news of the Kingdom of God and of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.
It is called in the Bible “the good news of the kingdom” (Mt 4:23), “the good news of God” (Ro 15:16), “the good news about Jesus Christ” (Mr 1:1), “the good news of the undeserved kindness of God” (Ac 20:24), “the good news of peace” (Eph 6:15), and the “everlasting good news” (Re 14:6).Faithfulness in holding on to and continuing to proclaim the good news was counted by Jesus as more important than one’s present life, and Paul recognized that faithfully declaring it was vital. (Mr 8:35; 1Co 9:16; 2Ti 1:8) The individual might suffer the loss of his most cherished possessions, even undergoing persecutions but, in turn, would receive a hundredfold now, “houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, . . . and in the coming system of things everlasting life.”—Mr 10:29, 30.
The good news is the touchstone by which mankind is judged: Acceptance of and obedience to the good news result in salvation; rejection and disobedience bring destruction. (1Pe 4:5, 6, 17; 2Th 1:6-8) Particularly with this fact in view, the individual’s motive in preaching the good news must be pure and he must preach it from the heart, out of love for those hearing. The apostles were so appreciative of the life-giving importance of the good news and were so fired with God’s spirit and with love that they imparted not only the good news but also their “own souls” to those who listened to their preaching. (1Th 2:8)
The good news has been bitterly fought, and the source of the enmity is identified by the apostle:: “If, now, the good news we declare is in fact veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through.” (2Co 4:3, 4)
While Jesus was on earth, he and his disciples announced: : “The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” ” (Mt 4:17; 10:7) Jesus, anointed as Christ, the King, said to the Pharisees, his enemies:: “The kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Lu 17:20, 21) This was the theme, or central point, of the good news during Jesus’ earthly ministry. However, it is not reported that after Jesus’ death the disciples proclaimed the Kingdom as having “drawn near” or as being at hand. Rather, the good news they preached was that after Jesus had laid down his life as the ransom price for salvation, he ascended to heaven and was then sitting at God’s right hand. They also preached about Jesus’ return at a later time and his Kingdom to come.—Heb 10:12, 13; 2Ti 4:1; Re 11:15; 12:10; 22:20; compare Lu 19:12, 15; Mt 25:31.
In the Revelation given to the apostle John about 96 C.E., John saw an “angel flying in midheaven” who had “everlasting good news to declare as glad tidings to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, saying in a loud voice: ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of the judgment by him has arrived.’” (Re 14:6, 7) These inspired statements indicate that in the “last days” there would be an unparalleled proclamation of the good news of the Kingdom.
“This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (Mt 24:3, 14; Mr 13:10; compare Col 1:23.)
Quote How can we know if they are a part of this worldwide work if we do not know what they preach.
As far as I can tell, they are the only ones doing this work in a united way, with a single message in 235 lands. They are the only ones who are making an effort to reach everyone with this life saving message. They do this by going “from house to house.” (the Bible) They also talk to people on the streets, at work, in parks, by telephone, or however they can best reach people. But one on one is the most personal, and the most effective.Nick, I would think you would know a lot of what we preach. For example, we, like the early Christians preach peace. Is this “nonsense”? “Happy are the peaceable,” said Jesus.
Nick, we all know where this is heading. We knew where it was heading 5 minutes before you originally asked the question.
You must be born again….to enter God's kingdom.
Quote Thank you. If you hear the gospel and believe in Jesus Christ is that all? Of course not Nick. The demons believe in Jesus. And they know “exactly” who he is. Yet, not enough.
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Nick, I know you're not part of a religion that's banned in several countries, and so perhaps are having difficulty with this. But if God says: “Preach the good news,” and the governement says: “You may not preach,” whom would you listen to Nick? Who?Just wondering?
A question you repeatedly refused to answer in the “Christians who kill” thread.
ACTS 10:42
“Also, he ordered us to preach to the people and to give a thorough witness that this is the One decreed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.”What if the government orders you to “not preach to the people.”
What then? Who do you follow? God, or man? (Acts 5:29)
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