Human Imperfection, Teboho Kibe [read a book .txt] 📗

conformed his life and teaching to them. Hence he suffered. So if the “five brothers” or other members of the religious part of the Devil’s organization listen to these Scriptures and regulate their lives by them, only then will they not get into the “rich man’s” hopeless, tormented condition.

DEMANDING A SIGN

The rich man thinks he knows better than the Greater Abraham. “Then he said: ‘No, indeed, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them they will repent.’” (Luke 16:30, NW) So he contradicts God: Moses and the Prophets are not enough. He admits that his brothers need repentance, but he wants their repentance to be worked out, not by heeding the Scriptures Jehovah’s witnesses preach, but by a sign. He reveals himself to be like a “wicked and adulterous generation” which “keeps on seeking for a sign”. Yes, “the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks look for wisdom.” (Matt. 16:1-4; 12:38, 39, NW; Luke 23:8; John 4:48; 1 Cor. 1:22, NW) He wants his brothers’ repentance to take place by this sign without the Law of Moses and the Prophets, as if a sign were an indispensable addition to them and they were not sufficient in themselves. Give them an awe-inspiring sign, and do not remove the traditions of the religious elders and the precepts of men which overstep God’s commands and make his Word invalid. (Matt. 15:1-9) So this class in Hades insist on their own way of saving mankind, a way that dispenses with being tormented by the Lazarus class.

The clerical “rich man” today does not want to part with religious traditions, age-old ceremonies and pagan philosophies, which they have sanctified into their religious systems and teachings. They let the people have the Bible, but they do not recommend to their congregations the pure teaching of Moses and the Prophets and now the rest of the inspired Scriptures written to show the fulfillment of Moses and the Prophets. They do not want Jehovah’s witnesses, the Lazarus class, to recommend the Holy Scriptures to the people, exposing the religious traditions, ceremonies and philosophies. No, but let God, the Greater Abraham, give some supernatural sign that will show whether the Lazarus class are true or false and that will not result in such pain for the rich man’s “five brothers”. Again we see how Jesus must have been speaking a parable. For if this were all literal, then how could the rich man ask dead Abraham to send back Lazarus from the dead, when Abraham himself is dead and is unable to resurrect even his own self, not to speak of another person? It is “God who makes the dead alive”. (Rom. 4:17, NW) But will the Greater Abraham do something miraculous with the Lazarus class of Jehovah’s witnesses so as to have them make a forced impression on the rich man’s “five brothers”?

“But he said to him: ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’” (Luke 16:31, NW) So a sign according to their specifications will not be given them, just as Jesus elsewhere told them: “A wicked and adulterous generation keeps on seeking for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. . . . look! something more than Jonah is here.” (Matt. 12:39-41, NW) He took a correct measurement of their religious attitude when he said: “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” And he showed he agreed with Abraham’s words, when he said: “You are searching the Scriptures, because you think that by means of them you will have everlasting life; and these are the very ones that bear witness about me. And yet you do not want to come to me that you may have life. . . . Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; there is one that accuses you, Moses, in whom you have put your hope. In fact, if you believed Moses you would believe me, for that one wrote about me. But if you do not believe the writings of that one, how will you believe my sayings?”—John 4:48; 5:39, 40, 45-47, NW.

All that the Lazarus class could bring them would be Moses and the Prophets and the message of the risen one, Jesus Christ. But no adulterated, compromising message! You cannot really believe the message of the Risen One, and now also the message of his established kingdom, without also believing Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms. For the Christian Greek Scriptures are based on the Hebrew Scriptures. Also the ancient Hebrew Scriptures find their fulfillment in the Christian Scriptures and in the facts of today respecting his kingdom. So if you do not want to believe Moses and the Prophets just for the truth of those Scriptures, then you will not be willing to believe because of a man who has been made alive to God’s favor and who reclines in his favor, no longer a spiritual beggar but an active witness of Jehovah. Besides such a spiritual enlivening of the Lazarus class, Jesus Christ actually did rise from the dead and sent his witnesses, first to the Jews and then to the nations. (Acts 10:40-42) Now his followers as witnesses of Jehovah go preaching the risen Christ and his kingdom to the survivors of the “rich man” class, his “five brothers”. Yet this makes no difference with them. Why not? Because they do not choose to believe Moses and the Prophets and the rest of the inspired Scriptures. They do not want to exercise faith; they want to see a sign.

Will God change his method for the sake of these willful unbelievers? Never! The yawning chasm of his uncompromising judgment still remains there between us and them. So apart from our change of condition since 1919, which is like Jonah’s coming out of the huge fish’s belly to live on earth as Jehovah’s witness and preach to the Ninevites, a sufficient sign, the Lazarus class of Jehovah’s witnesses need not expect God to work any astounding miracle upon them or with them so as to hasten the repentance of the rich man’s brothers’ class. We need no support now by a resurrection of faithful witnesses of old. We are not authorized to compromise the divine message for this day of judgment of the nations by holding back from telling all the counsel of God. We are commanded to use Christendom’s own possession of the Scriptures, Moses and the Prophets and the inspired testimony about the risen Christ and his kingdom. Thus equipped, we are to preach fearlessly. Recognizing God’s favor upon us, we no longer look to the goatish religious leaders and go to them as beggars for spiritual favors. We keep ourselves in the Greater Abraham’s bosom of favor and we preach as he commands us.

Let the goats stop their ears and persecute us in their religious anguish and torment. We cannot compromise and predict any relief from God for them. But seeing we have been so greatly comforted by the Greater Abraham, Jehovah God, we are obliged to go forth and “comfort all that mourn” with the comfort with which He has comforted us through Christ. (Isa. 61:1, 2; 2 Cor. 1:3, 4) Let those who have ears to listen, listen and be comforted. In that way many more straying sheep will hear the Right Shepherd’s voice and turn from their beggarly, sin-diseased, downtrodden condition in this world and come into the favor of the Greater Abraham along with the remnant of the Lazarus class. Thus the great crowd will continue increasing, to swell the voice that is heard saying: “Praise Jah, you people, because Jehovah our God, the Almighty, has begun to rule as king.”—Rev. 19:6, NW.

Okay friends, now lets try to talk about forgiveness. Jewish scholar and writer Joseph Jacobs once described forgiveness as “the highest and most difficult of all moral lessons.” Indeed, many find the words “I forgive you” very difficult to say.

Forgiveness, it seems, is much like money. It can be spent freely and mercifully on others or can be hoarded stingily for oneself. The former is the godly way. We should cultivate generous spending habits when it comes to forgiveness. Why? Because God encourages this and because an unforgiving, vengeful spirit may only make matters worse.

Often heard are the words: “I don’t get mad; I get even!” Sadly, this statement is a guiding principle in many lives today. One woman, for example, refused to talk to her sister-in-law for over seven years because, as the woman says, “she did me unbelievable dirt and I have never been able to forgive her.” But such silent treatment, when used as a lever to pry an apology from the accused or as a weapon with which to punish, rarely satisfies the desire for revenge. Rather, it may simply prolong the controversy, allowing a full-fledged grudge to develop. If this cycle of pain is not broken, the powerful clutches of vengeance can ruin relationships and even one’s health.

The Harm of an Unforgiving Spirit

When a person is unforgiving, the resulting conflict creates stress. In turn, stress can lead to serious illnesses. Dr. William S. Sadler wrote: “No one can appreciate so fully as a doctor the amazingly large percentage of human disease and suffering which is directly traceable to worry, fear, conflict, . . . unwholesome thinking and unclean living.” Really, though, how much damage does emotional turmoil cause? One medical publication answers: “Statistics . . . indicated that two thirds of the patients who went to a physician had symptoms caused or aggravated by mental stress.”

Yes, bitterness, resentment, and spite are far from harmless. These caustic emotions are like rust that slowly corrodes the body of a car. The car’s outside may appear beautiful, but under the paint a destructive process is taking place.

Even more important, our refusing to forgive when there is a basis for mercy can also harm us spiritually. In Jehovah God’s eyes, we might become like the slave in Jesus’ illustration. The slave was forgiven an enormous debt by his master. Yet, when his fellow slave pleaded with him to forgive a comparatively paltry debt, he was harsh and unforgiving. Jesus made it clear that if we are similarly unwilling to forgive, Jehovah will refuse to forgive us our sins. (Matthew 18:21-35) If we are unforgiving, therefore, we might lose our clean conscience before God and even our hope for the future! (Compare 2 Timothy 1:3.) What, then, can we do?

Learn to Forgive

True forgiveness stems from the heart. It involves pardoning an offender’s error and giving up any desire for revenge. Thus, final justice and possible retribution are left in Jehovah’s hands.—Romans 12:19.

It must be noted, however, that since “the heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate,” it does not always lean toward forgiveness even when it should. (Jeremiah 17:9) Jesus himself said: “Out of the heart come wicked reasonings, murders, adulteries, fornications, thieveries, false testimonies, blasphemies.”—Matthew 15:19.

Thankfully, our heart can be trained to do what is right. However, the training we need must come from a higher source. We cannot do it alone. (Jeremiah 10:23) A divinely inspired psalmist recognized this and prayed for God’s direction. He beseeched Jehovah in prayer: “Teach me your regulations. Make me understand the way of your own orders.”—Psalm 119:26, 27.

According to another psalm, King David of ancient Israel came to “understand the way” of Jehovah. He experienced it firsthand and learned from it. Hence, he was able to say: “Jehovah is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness. As a father shows mercy to his sons, Jehovah has shown mercy to those fearing him.”—Psalm 103:8, 13.

We need to learn as David did. Prayerfully study God’s perfect example of forgiveness, as