Page 380                         Nov 22, 2009

By Their Fruit You Will Know Them

Christ came to us almost 2,000 years ago to teach us a
pure religion that the apostles and disciples began spreading
throughout the known world. He did not use force or threats
in the course of doing his Father’s work. There is not one instance
where he ever told his followers to use coercion or violence.
This is not the case with Christendom. The following is a small
example of just the Catholic Church's violent ways:

Historical Overview of the Inquistions

(Excerpt)

"Prior to the founding of the Roman Catholic Church
and the establishment of their version of Christianity
as the official state religion of the Roman Empire in
the 4th century, the punishment for heresy among
Christians was usually excommunication from the
church. However with the marriage of church and
state that arose in the 4th Century, people that the
Roman Catholic Church considered to be heretics
also came to be considered as enemies of the state,
and were subject to many forms of extreme punishment,
including death. It wasn’t until the 12th century that
official inquisitions were organized and sanctioned by
the Roman Catholic Church to officially deal with what
they saw as a rise in organized heretical groups within
the Roman Empire."

This event was prophecied long before it happened by the Apostle John:

“¹ And there came one of the seven angels which
had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying
unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the
judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon
many waters: ² With whom the kings of the earth
have committed fornication, and the inhabitants
of the earth have been made drunk with the wine
of her fornication.”
(Revelation 17:1-2) (King James Version)

The excerpt continues:

"The first of the Inquisitions is known as the Medieval
or Episcopal Inquisition and refers to the various
inquisitions that started around 1184. It includes the
Episcopal Inquisition (1184-1230), as well as the
Papal Inquisition (1230), which arose in response to
large popular movements in Europe that were considered
to be heretical by the Roman Catholic Church. It was
during this time (1231) that Pope Gregory IX shifted
the power to punish heretics away from the local bishops
and put the inquisitors under the special jurisdiction and
authority of the papacy. He also established severe
penalties for those found guilty of committing heresy,
and his decree set forth new guidelines for investigating
and punishing heresy in the Roman Empire. Generally,
when an Inquisition was set up to investigate heresy in
a particular area of the Roman Empire, the Pope would
appoint two inquisitors, each of which had equal authority
in the Inquisition or tribunal. Because these inquisitors
had the power to investigate and excommunicate even
princes, they yielded enormous power and influence in
the Roman Empire.

While some of the inquisitors had reputations as being
men of justice and mercy, others were known to subject
people to cruel and unusual punishment, including many
different kinds of torture, which is what the inquisitions are
generally remembered for. Because they could imprison
suspects that they thought were lying, some inquisitors
used torture as an attempt to get them to admit what the
inquisitor wanted to hear. In 1252 Pope Innocent IV
officially sanctioned torture as a way of extracting the
“truth” from suspects. Prior to that time, this type of
extreme punishment was foreign to church tradition and
practice. During the Spanish Inquisition alone, some
historians estimate that as many as 2,000 people were
burned at the stake within one decade after the inquisition
began.

The next major Inquisition period is known as the Spanish
Inquisition. It was set up by King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella of Spain in 1478 with the approval of Pope Sixtus
IV. Unlike the previous inquisition, it was completely under
royal authority and was staffed by secular clergy. It mainly
focused on Jews who had professed to be converts to Roman
Catholicism but who were suspected of having continued to
practice Judaism. Later on, with the spread of Protestantism
into Spain, the inquisition would also begin to persecute
Protestants who broke away from the Roman Catholic Church.
However, after the decline in religious disputes in the 17th century,
the Spanish Inquisition essentially became more and more like a
secret police that would investigate and retaliate against internal
threats to the Spanish authorities. The Spanish Inquisition is
probably the most infamous for its torture and the number of
people executed as a result of it. One historian estimated that
over the course of its history the Spanish Inquisition tried a total
of 341,021 people, of whom at least 10% (31,912) were executed."

From: http://www.gotquestions.org/inquisitions.html

The Monarchy and the Catholic Church became enormously
wealthy by murdering people, especially the rich, and then
confiscating their property. Neither the Kings nor the Catholic
Church has ever issued an apology for these outrageous
crimes and has never returned the stolen wealth to the helpless
victims. People still congregate to their churches today with pride!

Who were some of the victims?

"Waldensians, Protestant religious group of medieval
origin, called in French Vaudois. They originated in the
late 12th cent. as the Poor Men of Lyons, a band organized
by Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant of Lyons, who gave
away his property (c.1176) and went about preaching
apostolic poverty as the way to perfection. Being laymen,
they were forbidden to preach. They went to Rome, where
Pope Alexander III blessed their life but forbade preaching
(1179) without authorization from the local clergy. They
disobeyed and began to teach unorthodox doctrines; they
were formally declared heretics by Pope Lucius III in 1184
and by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. In 1211 more
than 80 were burned as heretics at Strasbourg,
beginning several centuries of persecution."    

From: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Waldense.html

"Albigenses 12th century separated from the Church of Rome. 
All heretics who resided in Languedoc, Toulouse, and those who
in Italy were called Cathari and Bulgari.  They were the subjects
of Raymond, sixth count of Toulouse, having embraced the opinions,
received them under his protection. Innocent III was then the Pope
of Rome.  Hearing of the rapid progress of this sect and fearing its
future influence, the Pope resolved to exterminate them.  First he
excommunicated them, asking clergy to refuse them sacraments;
disallowed intercourse with them; and then a legate was sent from
Rome to demand of Raymond their destruction.  He refused and the 
legate was slain.  Innocent III called on the faithful everywhere to destroy
them.  In 1209 a large army was gathered and equipped under the
guidance of Simon, earl of Montfort.  Terrified by this host, Raymond
yielded to the demands of the Pope.  A nephew of Raymond prosecuted
the war, but was at last forced to submit.  Honorius III, the successor of
Innocent was determined to complete the work, he prevailed on Louis VIII,
king of France to march at the head of a great army, Louis IX finished the
work of his dad.  St. Louis's war, was a terrible and bloody war, which has
continued for several years, and thousands of innocent were slain. The
Church of the Albigenses were drowned in blood." 

From: http://www.religion-portal.com/ReligionFinder/religions/Albigenses.htm

Did Christ ever advocate violence?
Did he tell his disciples to kill or force people to listen to them?
Did he ever say torture and murder was acceptable?

Here is what he once said to his disciples, as an example
for all of us to follow:

^39"But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but
whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,
turn to him the other also.”
(Matthew 5:39) (KJV)

Consider then, the Crusades – also a product of false religion:

(Excerpt)

"The Crusades were in every way a defensive war. They were
the West's belated response to the Muslim conquest of fully
two-thirds of the Christian world. While the Arabs were busy
in the seventh through the tenth centuries winning an opulent
and sophisticated empire, Europe was defending itself against
outside invaders and then digging out from the mess they left
behind. Only in the eleventh century were Europeans able to
take much notice of the East. The event that led to the crusades
was the Turkish conquest of most of Christian Asia Minor (modern
Turkey). The Christian emperor in Constantinople, faced with the
loss of half of his empire, appealed for help to the rude but energetic
Europeans. He got it. More than he wanted, in fact.

Pope Urban II called the First Crusade in 1095. Despite modern
laments about medieval colonialism, the crusade's real purpose
was to turn back Muslim conquests and restore formerly Christian
lands to Christian control. The entire history of the crusades is one
of Western reaction to Muslim advances. The crusades were no more
offensive than was the American invasion of Normandy. As it happened,
the First Crusade was amazingly, almost miraculously, successful. The
crusaders marched hundreds of miles deep into enemy territory and
recaptured not only the lost cities of Nicaea and Antioch, but in 1099
Jerusalem itself.

The Muslim response was a call for jihad, although internal divisions
put that off for almost fifty years. With great leaders like Nur ed-Din
and Saladin on the Muslim side and Richard the Lionheart and St.
Louis IX on the Christian side, holy war was energetically waged in
the Middle East for the next century and a half. The warriors on both
sides believed, and by the tenets of their respective religions were
justified in believing, that they were doing God's work. History, though,
was on the side of Islam. Muslim rulers were becoming more, not less
powerful. Their jihads grew in strength and effectiveness until, in 1291,
the last remnants of the crusaders in Palestine and Syria were wiped
out forever."

From: http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-madden110201.shtml     

Thus, false religion gives itself away. False religion converts
people at sword point. Quite often, people were slaughtered,
tortured and robbed mercilessly by these “religious” imposters.

Some people may say, "Oh, but that was so long ago.
They don't do things like that anymore these days."

Or do they?

NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 10, 2006 (AP)— "A Catholic nun has been
sentenced to 30 years in jail for helping militias kill hundreds of
people hiding in a hospital during Rwanda's 1994 genocide, an
official said Friday."

From: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2644027&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Page 379           Nov 17, 2009

Who Is Jehovah?

Page 378       Nov 12, 2009

The One True Religion

 There is in existence a people who worship The Creator
(of us and the universe) in the way He requires.

Is it difficult? Is it demanding?

No! Jehovah did not make the rules hard or demanding,
men did. For countless centuries men have made up ways
to worship gods that were not only difficult to follow, but
usually stupid and evil ways. This is especially true of the
Jews, who, sadly, started off as Jehovah’s chosen people,
but repeatedly turned their backs to Him. Jehovah sent
many prophets to His chosen people to bring them back 
to Him. The last prophet Jehovah sent to them was his
own Son. This was one more chance to repent and even
then they still rejected Jehovah as well as His Son:

^{8 "}You have let go of the commands of God and are holding
on to the traditions of men." ⁹And he said to them: "You
have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God
in order to observe your own traditions!"
(Mark 7:8-9) (New International Version)

^{13 "}As such, you break the law of God in order to protect
your own tradition. And this is only one example. There
are many, many others."
Mark 7:13) (New Living Translation)

So what does our loving Creator and
Father, Jehovah, require of us? 

³⁴But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put
the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
³⁵Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a
question, tempting him, and saying, ³⁶Master, which
is the great commandment in the law? ³⁷Jesus said
unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
³⁸This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹And the
second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself. ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all
the law and the prophets.
(Matthew 22:34-40) (King James Version)

What God's son did for us was take The Ten Commandments
that were given to Moses and streamlined them for us so
that anyone who is familiar with The Ten Commandments
can follow all of them if they follow his “Two Commandments”.

After all, how can someone who lies, steals, cheats and
kills, love his neighbor or his parents? How can someone
who worships idols say that he loves Jehovah? What else
must we do to show our love for our Heavenly Father?

Many people say they are willing to follow 
Christ, but they lack a sense of purpose. 

Our Messiah had a mission for his followers:

¹⁶Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst
of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and
harmless as doves.
(Matthew 10:16)  (KJV)

What was it that he wanted them to do?

¹Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and
gave them authority to cast out evil spirits
and to heal every kind of disease and illness.
(Matthew 10:1) (NLT)

This was done to demonstrate his power and authority.
And yet, amazingly enough, most of his own people, the
Jews, still rejected him. Today, we rely on the evidence
written in the Bible to prove his authority and continue
the work that he and his disciples started:

¹⁴And the Good News about the Kingdom will
be preached throughout the whole world, so
that all nations will hear it; and then, finally,
the end will come.
(Matthew 24:14) (NLT)

What news? Is it really good news? What kingdom?

Isaiah prophesied about The New Kingdom hundreds
of years before Christ was even born:

⁷ Of the increase of his government and of peace
there shall be no end, upon the throne of David,
and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to
uphold it with justice and with righteousness
from henceforth even forever. The zeal of
Jehovah of hosts will perform this.
(Isaiah 9:7) (American Standard Version)

Ever since Isaiah prophesied this “kingdom of peace
and justice” there has never existed one anywhere in
the world. This prophecy has yet to be fulfilled! We

have been waiting countless centuries.

How much longer will it be?

God's Son, himself said:

⁷For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom, and there will be famines and
earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these are but
the beginning of the birth pains.
(Matthew 24:7-8) (English Standard Version)

These events are all happening now and have been
happening for some time now. For many people now
living, these very things have been going on all their
lives.

What does it all mean?

Christendom is vaguely aware that this is a prophesy
of the end of the world as we now know it. However,
the priests and ministers of Christendom assure their
church members that they have nothing to worry about.
In fact, most of Christendom eagerly awaits “the rapture”:
to be taken to Heaven when the end comes. These priests
and ministers of Christendom have misled their congregations
mercilessly.

Where can we find the truth? 

⁷Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you: ⁸For every one
that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and
to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
(Matthew 7:7-8) (KJV)

It was not enough to sit back in the pew at church
and listen to the sermon drone on and on. We had
to seek the truth for ourselves. Now it is too late!

Page 377                     Nov 7, 2009

The Way of False Worship

Our Messiah came to us almost 2,000 years ago to teach us
his Father’s name and how to worship him in truth and spirit.
Thus, Christianity began as a pure religion that the apostles
and disciples began spreading throughout the known world.

According to the World Book Encyclopedia,

“Christianity spread rapidly, due to the work of St. Paul and the other
apostles. The Romans persecuted the Christians for many years.”
-World Book Encyclopedia “Christianity” Copyright 1963

This work of promoting true Christianity continues today, although
the vast majority of people in the world do not recognize this work
as being beneficial. This is understandable due to the fact that soon
after Christ and his apostles died, numerous false religions sprang
into existence. There were already many false religions in existence
before he was even born, but the most insidious of the false religions
was “Christendom”.

What is “Christendom”?

It was prophesied by our Lord and Saviour, himself that
soon after he and his apostles died false religions would
mislead the masses:

²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and
perform great miraculous signs and wonders so as to
deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones.
(Matthew 24:24) (New Living Translation)

Many encyclopedia accounts tell of the torture and death of
many thousands of true Christians at the hand of false
pagan religions simply because the Christians refused to
worship false gods, which angered the Pagan leaders.
However, persecution and execution did not stop the spread
of true Christianity; something even more insidious occurred
that nearly succeeded!

“Emperor Constantine the Great of Rome granted freedom
of religion to the Christians in A.D. 313 and 'Christianity'
became the official religion of Rome by 350 A.D.”
-WBE “Christianity” Copyright 1963

At first, this seems like wonderful news! However, Emperor
Constantine corrupted the teachings of Christ by combining
them with all of the known Pagan beliefs in an attempt to
create a universal religion. Sadly, this is the origin of the wide
variety of false religions known as Christendom that exists
today. The emperor appointed himself the first “Pontifix Maximus”
or “Pope” of the first newly developed religion known today as
the Catholic religion. Any dictionary will give the definition of
“catholic” as meaning “universal” or “all-encompassing”.

Cath - O - lic

1.	broad or wide-ranging in tastes, interests, or the like; having sympathies with all; broad-minded; liberal.

2.	universal in extent; involving all; of interest to all.

From: http://dictionary.reference.com/

This aptly describes the hodge-podge of beliefs of Catholocism
today. The protestant reformation was a noble effort to get away
from the many false beliefs incorporated into the “new Christianity”
but it did not remove all of the false beliefs. No, they did not get
far enough away from them but tended to incorporate even more
stupidity such as snake handling, faith healing, speaking in tongues,
gospel rock music and other non-Christian beliefs.

Many people believe that a false religion is at least better
than no religion at all. They cling to a belief that they find
to be comfortable and sensible as a way of life.

Is it true that if a religious belief seems good and we practice the
belief with sincerity then we will attain Jehovah’s approval?

Here is a warning from the vision of the Apostle John:

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out
of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so
that you will not receive any of her plagues; ⁵ for her sins
are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.
(Revelation 18:4-5) (New International Version)

Who is “She”?

“She” is false religion. False religion has a history of injustice,
deception and widespread misery as a legacy. The people who
promote false religions will pay soon for their evil deeds. No
prophecy from Jehovah has ever failed to be fulfilled by Him in
his own time. It would be wise to do as the Apostle John suggests
and get out of false religion now and seek the one true one.

How do we find the one true religion?

The Bible states that we will find what we seek!
Jehovah, Himself will guide us:

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone
who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who
knocks, the door will be opened.
(Matthew 7:7-8) (NIV)

How do we recognize the one true religion now?

Let us begin by looking for the obvious signs of false religion.
First, members of the true religion worship only Jehovah.
He requires us to worship him in spirit and truth.

²⁴ God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth.
(John 4:24) (King James Version)

He provided guidelines right in the Bible for us to follow.
For example, consider the 2^nd Commandment:

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the
form of anything in heaven above or on the
earth beneath or in the waters below.”
(Exodus 20:4) (NIV)

It should be clear that we are forbidden to make any kind of
symbol for the purpose of utilizing it for worship.

And yet, what do we see with your own eyes
in the places of false worship?

Statues, crosses, fish symbols, flags, etc. To this very day the
elements of false worship inhabit the churches and temples of
the false religions, just as the Catholic movement established
them 1700 years ago. The Pagans have had statues and other
idols in their temples for many thousands of years longer.

What about The "Christian" Cross?

'That which is now called the Christian cross was originally
no Christian emblem at all, but was the mystic Tau of
the Chaldeans (Babylonians) and the Egyptians."
- Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, 2nd American edition.
(Neptune, New Jersey, U.S.A: Loizeaux Brothers, 1959;
(originally written in 1862), pp. 197-205.

'There is hardly a Pagan tribe where the cross has not been
found. The cross was worshipped by the Pagan Celts
long before the incarnation and death of Christ.'
- 'Crabb's Mythology, p. 163.'

"Various objects, dating from periods long anterior to the
Christian era, have been found, marked with crosses of
different designs, in almost every part of the old world.
India, Syria, Persia and Egypt have all yielded numberless
examples. The use of the cross as a religious symbol
in pre-Christian times and among non-Christian
peoples may probably be regarded as almost
universal, and in very many cases it was connected
with some form of nature worship."
—Encyclopædia Britannica (1946), Vol. 6, p. 753.

"An enormous body of evidence proves that the cross is
not a Christian symbol but has its roots in rank paganism.
Nominal Christians adopted this pagan symbol as a sign
of their religion, even though it had nothing to do
with true Christianity."
-The Cross:
Christian Banner or Pagan Relic?
by Earl L. Henn (1934-1997)
Forerunner, May 1996

Therefore, one sign of a false religion is the presence of
pagan symbols. Idols have been a feature of many false
religions for many centuries.

What is the only Christian religion that
rejects the cross and worships only
Jehovah in spirit and in truth?

Jehovah's Witnesses have a wide reputation for being
the only people on the face of the earth who reject the
cross as a sacred symbol of Christianity and worship
only Jehovah, the one true God.

Page 376          Nov 2, 2009

The Harvest