This is a most encouraging talk by one of the best speakers I have ever heard. Phil Hayworth is an Australian and he has it all right and the most genuine and understanding of what the scriptures are saying. Most of his talks have disappeared so this is a rare find...the music drowns out his voice but if you put ear buds in it’s preety clear...it a gold gem of a talk...I know you will all enjoy and feel so
This talk is especially for my brother and sisters who are in divided homes and find this end of year and Xmas and New Years celebrations a heavy burden to take a stand on....one year you may feel you did a preety good job...another year perhaps not so much,,,,another year it may seem all too much and not worth the anguish and frustration with unbelieving family....your tired and alone with it and sick of being the only one... That’s actually quiet normal...what we do one year or two years...later maybye even five years later we find ourselves a little stronger..and may not do that..it all takes time with a lot of set backs until we are comfortable with a routine....and our families get comfortable .... Jehovah is proud that you keep trying ..each year...another try....just never give up trying because you have already come so far...and done such a great job as a single worshiper of the true God. Your family might not understand,,,,but Jehovah sees your efforts and fights and frustrations..after all. If you found this easy ....it wouldn’t count as much of a sacrifice to Jehovah....please don’t give up....you can do this...!!!! And if you stumble one year..that’s okay...everyone stumbles....many times actually This talk is for you..and besides...I needed to hear it too...because I weaken at times and it’s hard to be the odd man out....and it’s not really even about actually xmas,,,just the principles involved.
Soon all things will be made new...and the hardships will be gone.. I don’t know why but as I get older it gets harder and harder to picture that new world....so I ponder on such paintings....and then I remember....
I’m going to post up a piece from Charles Taze Russell’s commentary. It’s not easy reading...but vital to understand and get the strict warning laid out. Often as Jehovah’s people we think we would never have worshipped the golden calf in the wilderness...many of us at times have become inactive...wounded and bruised...we tend to justify...forget...nullify...our actions in going back to BTG....we don’t look at Xmas or Valentine’s Day etc as going back to BTG...but it is...another demon entity wrapped up in a more cunning dress to appease our actions...tinsel and gaiety to dull our spiritual senses and conscience....and we partake and join in.. NIV Isaiah 8:15 Many of them will stumble, they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured. Message Bible 8:15 Many of them are going to run into that rock and get their bones broken.Get tangled up in that barbed wire and not get free of it. NWT Zephaniah 1:3 I will sweep away man and beast...I will sweep away ....and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked ones I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and I will sip out from this place every vestige of Baal.... 5 and those who bow down on the rooftops to the Army of the heavens. AND THOSE WHO BOW DOWN AND PLEDGE LOYALTY TO JEHOVAH WHILE PLEDGING LOYALTY TO MALCAM. 6 and those who turn away from following Jehovah and who do not seek Jehovah or inquire of him. MSG BIBLE ZEPHANIAH 1:2 I’m going to make a clean sweep of the earth a though house cleansing. GODS DECREE 3: men and women and animals including birds and fish, anything and everything that causes sin, will go but especially people 4-6 I’ll start with Judah and everybody who lives In Jerusalem. I’ll sweep the place clean of every trace of the sex and religion Baal shrines and their priests . I’ll get rid of the people who sneak up to the roof tops at night to worship the star Gods and goddesses ALSO THOSE WHO CONTINUE TO WORSHIP GOD BUT COVER THERE BASES BY WORSHIPPING OTHER KING-GODS AS WELL NOT TO MENTION THOSE WHO DUMPED GOD ALL TOGETHER NO LONGER GIVING HIM A THOUGHT OR OFFERING A PRAYER But take heart because if we do stumble. We can get back up..Peter stumbled badly three times....out of human weakness and fear....we can be like that too. Personally I have stumbled many times....Satan will definetly go after the bruised and battered sheep who are skinned and scattered..because we are already in a vulnerable state...we are easy prey... Thank goodness we have this.. BEREAN STUDY BIBLE Prov 24:16 For tho a righteous man fall seven times, he will get up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin NLT Prov 24:16 The Godly May trip seven times but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.
CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL...Bible commentary Luke 17:32 Remember Lots wife ,,and induction for the foolish virgins She began to remember her goods Lot and his family were not accused of sharing the evil practices of the sodomites. His wife’s outward fault was that of merely looking back. We may reasonably suppose that this implied a heart out of harmony with her deliverance and in some degree sympathetic with the things God had condemned If we Love the things behind so that we with any degree, look back or long for the evil things doomed to destruction in the coming trouble, it will mean that we will not be worthy in having any part in the deliverance The lords people, when they flee shall not covetously look back to the thing which under divine condemnations ,are to pass away. Those whom assume to be more gracious and long suffering than the lord make of themselves opponents who instead of being students of principles of righteousness, attempt to be judges and teaches of Jehovah Let us be of one mind with the lord. His friends only must be our friends, his enemies our enemies. If we affiliate with the Lords enemies we will at least go into a lukewarm condition toward him and his friends. And the lukewarm he will spew out of his mouth. While we should always be on the alert to render assistance wherever needed to convert a brother from the error of his ways, we should make no such effort for him as would tend to make us fall from our own steadfastness into the error of the wicked. neither are we to waste sympathy upon those who depart. If we can neither persuade them nor pull them from the fire we must let them go and should turn at once and render aid to those more worthy. Those who under special guidance of the Lord are now fleeing for the safety of the Mountain of the Lords Kingdom will be held to a much stricter account than are others .....applies particularly to the Lords people who have come out of Babylon. Let them not look back or,otherwise manifest sympathy with that which is condemned of the Lord to overthrow and destruction How slight would be the appropriateness of this injunction forceful if applied to those who fled from Judea in AD 70 but how intensely forceful it is as a caution to Gods people now in the close of the Gospel age. No man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Jesus reference authenticating the literal accuracy of the story of Lots wife turning into a pillar of salt. Who became a monument of the folly of sympathising with evil and evil doers after God has given them up. Type of some who sympathise and fraternise with those who once enjoyed but have left present truth and are condemned by God. (Sorry for any spelling errors as I had to type this out as the article wouldn’t load)
Countries and governments are being toppled one by one and anarchy is covering the earth....Christianity going down...it’s creeping all over the earth...and the earth is groaning... It appears as if the earthly organizations are being disabled... https://apple.news/AFDnp7lGDRcijR2iorR8Xhg
In the past few years, it appears that the “world” is becoming more dangerous and unruly. Jesus warned his followers about these things. He told us not to worry because they are inevitable and necessary, for the fulfillment of Jehovah’s word. ( Luke 12:22-34 NKJV )
This is just a little info..lightly touching on the subject of the existence of bad rulers amongst and leading Jehovah’s people.....since their existence...since he called out a people he would use. Yet it appears from scripture that even at their very lowest..when they we were worst than the nations around them...when they clearly worshipped idols and passed their owns sons thru the fire......when he turned his face away from them or left them for a period of time...and disciplined them harshly. They were STILL considered BY HIM to still be his people ...he always returned to them...and rebuilt them. So the question is....are we ever really justified in warning people away from his people nowadays..... Evilness has always existed amongst Gods own people....Paul warned us of the wolves in sheep’s clothing who would arise and would treat the flock harshly......history repeating itself over and over. So take heart everybody....Jehovah will act thru Jesus to rescue all the down trodden and hurting amongst his household.... And besides...who of any us stand clean before our God....I certainly don’t. I doubt any (many) of you know these names: Elah, Zimri, Tibni, Ahizah, Athaliah, Shallum. That just a few of the evil kings of Israel. The names of the evil kings of Israel or Judah are not exactly household names. In fact, if you think really hard you can probably only come up with the name of only one evil king - but we’ll come back to that later. But these you’ve probably heard of: Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jotham, Hezikiah, Josiah. Good kings. If we were judging we’d use all sorts of algorithms to determine: was the country at peace or war? did it expand the territories? how about personal wealth - did it increase or decrease? But God uses one metric and only one metric: “he did what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord.” Only ONE thing made them a good king! They feared the Lord! And the same was true for the measure of an evil king: “ he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” By the way that is the same for your life. Seven lessons from that period: God is always right! Before we go forward let’s go back to when it began: Here is what God said would happen if they got a king: “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men[a] and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” (1 Samuel 8:11-18). And over the next several hundred years that is exactly what happened! Staying in 1 Samuel 8. We see the importance of training your children right - and the long term effect of one event! There’s a story behind the story. But first, answer a question. Was Samuel a good man? Of course, he was God’s prophet for 70 or so years, he heard the voice of God as a child, he was a child of promise, he anointed the first two kings of Israel. BUT Samuel’s sons for whatever reason did not follow their father’s ways. Verses 1-5 reveals the back story: The people wanted a king because of the actions of Samuel’s sons. “When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.” There is a story behind the story. Every time a mother lost a son to war in Israel, every time a dad lost a daughter to servitude - some of that tragedy rested at the feet of Samuel who it appears was more interested in his country than his family and in losing his family he lost his country. Parents, especially those of you who preach and are parents - it is hard to win the war against the world if you lost it at home. God is always right - I know that was #1 so: God is always right - PART B. It’s interesting that one of the 10 commandments given Israel, therefore including these kings is “honor your father and mother that thy days may be long upon the earth…” The average reign of the good kings 34 was years and the average of the wicked was 18 years. Every good king reigned more than 20 years - only one evil king did. Evil is it’s on worst enemy. There is every reason in the world that living a godly life should be a better life. 2 Chronicles 14:1-3 “Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim…” Almost every time when a good king comes into power or is struck with the greatness of God the first thing they will do is get rid of idolatry. God’s first commands to Israel dealt with their relationships with Him - have no other gods, do not make any graven images or take My name lightly. It is the first command for us too: love God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength. None of us have little graven images we bow down to or offer incense to BUT an idol is anything we put in front of God - sports, houses, career, education, even family can become an idol. It is amazing that any of the kings would be evil by leading the people into idol worship, but it is just as amazing that we sometimes put things in front of God. It is the first command AND THE most often broken command. The power of influence is strong: When a good king was in charge the whole country did better - BUT even more interesting - the lands around them often did better! 2 Chronicles 17:10 “And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat” They prosper, they start fearing the Lord. Church, OUR communities ought to be better places because of our influence around them!! Christian, our friends ought to be better people because of our influence on them. ARE YOU THE KIND OF PERSON WHO IT IS JUST EASIER DOING RIGHT AROUND? God’s needs people of influence in positions of leadership: When there was a good king the whole country did well. Listen young people and parents training them: You are needed to be good for the sake of the land.We desperately need parents who train their children to lead in a godly manner. If we do not we relegate those places to evil leaders and we take steps backward. There is NOTHING wrong with aspiring to lead and be in a place of influence IF you intend on using that influence for the sake of right. Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” !!!!!You can live right even if the king is bad… !!!!!,While Asa was reigning in Judah, there was another kind of king in Israel - Ahab. One person called him the worst king in all of Jewish history! - it was in those days that you had. What kind of influence did Elijah have? A Long and Lasting one When Christ came (Mt 16 - who do people say I am? Elijah!) BUT it wasn’t just Elijah - 1 Kings 19 - v 4 And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” v 14 “ He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” v 18 “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” Elijah was never alone - nor or you (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5).
This man is well worth listening too...tho still a believer of the trinity and hellfire...he was clearly on the way out of BTG and had much understanding on certain things...
I’m sure the Mark of the Beast can come in different forms....for countries like Russia And China it is much more blatant. https://bitterwinter.org/2019-administrative-measures-for-religious-groups/
Religious oppression in China https://bitterwinter.org/zhengzhou-diocese-priest-ousted-for-disobeying-the-party/
Would I sign...would you sign.....we were told at two assemblies ago ...don’t think what is happening in Russia now won’t happen here( Australia)...keeping in mind we were banned in the Second World War and since then have had successfull bombings in KHs since.... My latest readings is that over three hundred brothers and sisters are being prosecuted in Russia at this time...along with other followers of faiths. https://bitterwinter.org/house-churches-in-heilongjiang-severely-persecuted-in-2019/
Seventh-day Adventists, Roman Catholics and Evangelicals Sign a Historic ‘Ecumenical Charter’ that Affirms Faith in ‘One, Holy, Catholic Apostolic Church’ February 20, 2020 by Andy Roman Catholic Cardinal Matteo Zuppi and Adventist Pastor Giovanni Caccamo sign the historic Ecumenical Charter. On Saturday, January 25, 2020 a historical “Ecumenical Charter” was signed by Seventh-day Adventists, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, Evangelicals and Methodists. The signing ceremony took place in the San Paolo Maggiore Roman Catholic Church in Bologna, Italy. The document that was signed is a pledge of commitment to each other. Adventists pledged a commitment to Rome, and Rome reciprocated that commitment. Make no mistake. The churches that signed this document promised to uphold the principles of the Ecumenical Charter which includes affirming an allegiance to each other.