e-Watchman

Part nine Satan is extremely cunning. The apostle Paul warned Christians that the Devil is adept at disguising himself as an angel of light. It is no wonder Satan is capable of mastering such a clever disguise since he once was a trusted, benevolent messenger of God. How can one tell the difference between an angel and a devil? Only by adhering to God’s word. Have [...]

Part eight Having presented the case for a visible manifestation of Christ to the chosen, what does the Scripture mean that “every eye will see him”? That statement is made in the opening chapter of Revelation, which says: “Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in [...]

Part seven John was the disciple whom Jesus loved. John experienced the Transfiguration of Christ and, as a captive of the Roman empire, was exiled to the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. By inspiration, the aged apostle came to be on the Lord’s day. Although the apostle saw heavenly things, he was not initially transported in vision into the heavens. His perspective was as [...]

Part six On his final trip to Jerusalem, Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees, and they asked him when the Kingdom of God was coming. The Lord answered them, saying: “The Kingdom of God is not coming with striking observableness; nor will people say, ‘See here!’ or, ‘There!’ For look! the Kingdom of God is in your midst.” - Luke 17:20,21 Jesus had just cured 10 lepers [...]

Part five Search the Scriptures through and through, and you will not find the phrase “invisible presence.” As common sense would have it, Jesus has always been invisibly present. The parousia is something very different. To illustrate the point and prove that the manifestation of Christ is the same thing as the parousia, the apostle John wrote the following: “So now, little children, remain in union [...]

Part four After describing all these things destined to occur, Jesus spoke a series of illustrations---each showing the same outcome. The lesson is, there will be a decisive separation among Christians. Jehovah’s Witnesses have no realistic expectation of such a thing. The Watchtower claims the concluding harvest took place over 100 years ago. Supposedly, the angels separated the Bible Students from the mass of members of [...]

Part three Having established that the presence of Christ with the holy ones, yes, his coming alongside them, does not take place until we “see all these things,” now we will distinguish his coming from his presence. This is all the more necessary because of the eschatological mess the Watchtower has created. While Charles Taze Russell did well to differentiate the two Greek words “parousia” and “erkhomai” [...]

Part two Having established that the presence of the Son of man does not take place at the beginning of the epochal period known as the conclusion and the time of the end, as the Watchtower erroneously teaches, it is self-evident that the actual parousia will not begin until the tribulation is cut short. This is provable by Jesus’ illustration of the first leaves of spring [...]

What is the parousia? When will it occur? And why do Jehovah’s Witnesses believe the presence of Jesus Christ has already begun? These questions will be considered. Speaking to his disciples in one of his last post-resurrection manifestations, Jesus said: “And Look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things” Christ being with his disciples [...]