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Evangelism of the Jehovah's Witness
Paul Washer
0:00
0:00 6:48
Paul Washer

Evangelism of the Jehovah's Witness

Paul Washer · 6:48

The key to effectively sharing the gospel with Jehovah's Witnesses is to submit to Scripture, confront them with the biblical gospel, and share personal experiences of the presence and power of God.
In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of submitting to the authority of Scripture. He highlights the need to accept biblical truths even if they cannot be fully explained. The speaker also shares a personal experience of encountering Jehovah Witnesses and offers helpful strategies for engaging with them. He encourages believers to focus on the core message of the gospel and challenges the Jehovah Witnesses to articulate their understanding of it. Additionally, the speaker addresses the issue of denying the deity of Christ and emphasizes the importance of believing the Bible wholeheartedly, even when certain concepts may be difficult to comprehend.

Full Transcript

Oh, something that I feel is very good, one of the things in which it's very important to help the Jehovah Witness to understand anyone who would deny the deity of Christ, is when they ask me, why do you believe that? And I said, well, because I believe the Bible. And I believe the Bible to such an extent that I have to accept everything it says, even if I cannot explain it. And then I go on the attack.

Your problem is this. You believe that you can believe only what you can explain. And if you can't explain it, then the scriptures must not be saying it.

And so you throw out or twist or change some of the texts of Scripture to make them fit your reasoning. You can't do that. I say I am and must be submitted as a slave to Scripture.

I must submit my intellect to Scripture. If Scripture says that there is one God, but Scripture attributes deity to three persons equally, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I must accept that truth, even if I can't explain it. You can't explain it.

So you change the text. I can't do that. Also, another thing that's very, very good when you're dealing with a Jehovah Witness.

I'll never forget this. I was I've been in the jungle for several days with a missionary by the name of Homer Crane. And we came out of there and we were not doing good.

We were supposed to be met by a group of other missionaries. We were not. We had to sleep out in the jungle without mosquito nets, without it.

I mean, laying on the ground. And it was no fun. Well, I came back in and I'll never forget, I was carrying the diesel back up these big drums of diesel.

I was a lot younger back then. And I pulled them out of the back of the boat and I was carrying them up the dock and I got diesel all over me. So not only was I muddy, I hadn't taken my boots off in about five days, hadn't bathed.

And now I had diesel all over me. Well, I finally got everything taken care of. And I'm walking back and I'm walking through the plaza of Iquitos, just trying to make it to a hotel.

That's all I wanted to do. And and here the Jehovah Witnesses just converge on me and I'm like, oh, just not now, Lord. And I'm sitting there as they're talking, just wondering, Lord, do I enter into an argument? What do you want me to do? And just all of a sudden it came into my mind.

What I ought to do. So I just looked at him and I said, you know, I love talking about God. I really do.

And I really appreciate people like you who talk about God. I said, but you know what I like to talk about the most? And I said, and you'll understand this because you're a people who love God. I love to talk about those times, you know, those times in prayer when you're praying and all of a sudden the presence of God just seems to fill the room and fill your heart and you break out in worship and it just goes on for hours and you literally almost have to cry out to God and ask him to take his hand off of you because it'll just kill you because he's so real and his presence is so powerful and there's so much joy in your heart that you literally end up crying out, oh, God, take your hand off me lest I die.

Share with me some of the times you've had like that in prayer. And they just go because they can't. Because there is no presence.

There is no power. There is no joy. And when you see the bewildered look on their face, just say you can't even talk about it, can you? Because you don't even know what I'm talking about.

Because you have a religion. You don't have God. You don't have God because you don't have Christ.

Another thing to do that's very, very helpful is when a Jehovah witness comes up to me, I'll say something like this. Look, I don't want to talk about a lot of things that may be important, but are not the most important thing. Here's what I want to talk about.

I want you to tell me your gospel. I'm going to give you three minutes, five minutes. Tell me what the gospel is.

And they'll begin to talk about the kingdom, the church, works, all you know, everything. All right. And so when they finish, I go now, that's your gospel.

Yes. Would you repeat it again? I want to make sure I understand you. They tell to me again, OK, so that is the gospel.

Yes. Now, let me repeat it to you, because I want to make sure I completely understand you and I repeat back to them exactly what they've told me. Now, is that your gospel? And they say, yes.

Talking about the reign, the kingdom, all these different things. And then I go, OK, for first Corinthians 15, one through four. I read that this was Paul's gospel.

That Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, that he was raised on the third day, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures. You didn't talk about that. Now, then before they can even answer Galatians chapter one, if anyone comes to you with any other gospel.

Let him be accursed. And they go, no, no, no, we mean that, too. No, sir, I gave you two chances.

You repeated yourself. I even said what you said to me and asked you. To verify if I really understood your gospel, and not once did you mention these things, but you got to have them repeat it several times so that they can't say later on, you misunderstood me and it'll stop them dead in their tracks, because rarely have I ever had a Jehovah witness talk to me about the death of Christ.

Sermon Outline

  1. The Problem with Jehovah's Witness Theology
  2. The Importance of Scripture Submission
  3. Confronting Jehovah's Witnesses with the Gospel
  4. Asking them to share their gospel
  5. Repeating back their gospel to verify understanding
  6. Comparing their gospel to the biblical gospel

Key Quotes

“You believe that you can believe only what you can explain. And if you can't explain it, then the scriptures must not be saying it.” — Paul Washer
“I love to talk about those times, you know, those times in prayer when you're praying and all of a sudden the presence of God just seems to fill the room and fill your heart and you break out in worship and it just goes on for hours and you literally almost have to cry out to God and ask him to take his hand off of you because it'll just kill you because he's so real and his presence is so powerful and there's so much joy in your heart that you literally end up crying out, oh, God, take your hand off me lest I die.” — Paul Washer
“Because you have a religion. You don't have God. You don't have God because you don't have Christ.” — Paul Washer

Application Points

  • Submit to Scripture as the ultimate authority, even if it cannot be fully understood.
  • Confront Jehovah's Witnesses with the biblical gospel by asking them to share their gospel and then comparing it to the biblical gospel.
  • Share personal experiences of the presence and power of God to illustrate the reality of a relationship with Christ.

Frequently Asked Questions

How should I approach a Jehovah's Witness?
Start by asking them to share their gospel and then compare it to the biblical gospel.
Why is it important to submit to Scripture?
Because Scripture is the ultimate authority and must be accepted even if it cannot be fully understood.
How can I effectively confront a Jehovah's Witness?
By asking them to repeat their gospel and then comparing it to the biblical gospel, using passages like 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 and Galatians 1:8-9.
What is the key difference between a religion and a relationship with God?
A religion is a man-made system, while a relationship with God is based on a personal encounter with Christ.
How can I share the gospel with a Jehovah's Witness?
By sharing personal experiences of the presence and power of God, and then asking them to share their own experiences.

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