If You Are Thinking of Leaving JWs, Please Listen to This First - David Bercot - WATCHTOWER IN? NO.1

Lesson Transcript

Hi, I'm David Berceau, and the title of this message is, "If You Are Thinking of Leaving Jehovah's Witnesses, Please Listen to This First." Now, I'm an ex-witness myself. In fact, I left JWs nearly 50 years ago. Now, in this message, I'm not going to try to talk you into leaving the organization. If you're listening to this message, I assume you've already made that decision yourself.

Also, I'm not going to be running down the organization, although what I will be sharing is obviously going to touch on matters concerning the organization. So you may be wondering, if I'm not going to try to talk you into leaving the witnesses, and if I'm not attacking the witnesses, why am I recording this message? It's because of what happens to over 90% of those who leave the witnesses. 90% or more ex-JWs don't continue to follow Jehovah. They die spiritually.

They lose their faith in the Bible, and many lose their faith in Jehovah altogether. In short, if you're thinking of leaving the witnesses, you're better off staying where you are if you're not going to continue walking with Jehovah once you leave. So the point of this message is to encourage you to keep walking faithfully with Jehovah once you leave the witnesses. Now, if you're listening to this message, I assume you've already come to the conclusion that the Watchtower Society is not Jehovah's true organization.

If you've spent many years as a witness, like I did, this realization is obviously a bitter disappointment to you. I understand your disappointment, and I feel your hurts. I went through the same disappointment and through the same hurts. As JWs, we were certain that we were part of God's one true organization. We were the body of Christ on earth. In fact, we were essentially the only Christians on earth and the only people who correctly understood the Scriptures.

And then we suddenly realize that we aren't any of those things. And that's quite a blow. And it's easy to just throw in the towel spiritually, to conclude that if JWs aren't the body of Christ, then there is no body of Christ on earth. However, it's important to look at the situation in its historical perspective. The body of Christ has been around for 2,000 years. In the history of Christianity, JWs are no more than a blip on the spiritual radar screen.

Christianity was around for over 1,800 years before the witnesses even came on the scene. And his body will still be around after the witnesses disappear, assuming they do. During the last 2,000 years, all sorts of religious teachers, all sorts of sects and movements have arisen, and many of them have disappeared. Some are still around. The people who were part of these movements were deeply disappointed when they realized that they had been following something that was an error.

For example, in the 1800s, lots of people believed in the Shakers. When these people eventually realized that the Shakers were not God's true church, they were deeply disappointed. But that was no reason to give up on Christ, was it? Just because the Shakers are wrong, or just because the Mormons are wrong, or whoever it is. In fact, it's a greater reason to believe in Christ Jesus, because Jesus foretold that this very thing would happen.

These are his exact words from Matthew: "Be on the watch for the false prophets who come to you in sheep's covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will recognize them." So if we have been misled by a false prophet, we should have greater confidence in Jehovah and Jesus Christ, because things are happening just as Jesus said they would. It's no reason to give up spiritually, even though it is a hard blow.

Now, it's no accident that most people who leave JWs flounder spiritually and lose their faith in God and in the Bible. Those who rule the organization have designed it that way. They convinced all of us that there is no spiritual light outside the organization. There is nothing but darkness in the churches out there. In other words, if Jehovah's Witnesses aren't it, nothing is.

Furthermore, from the time you and I began attending the Kingdom Hall, the Watchtower has worked on us to build in us loyalty to the organization, or loyalty to the governing body. Not loyalty to Jehovah, not loyalty to Christ, but loyalty to the organization. Now, I realize that to a JW, loyalty to Jehovah and loyalty to the organization seem to be one and the same. That's because in Watchtower teaching, there is no possibility that the organization could ever be disloyal to Jehovah.

There is no possibility that it could ever be apostate or in serious error. Of course, the Watchtower freely admits that it is imperfect and that it makes mistakes. In fact, it would be impossible for them to deny it. But what the organization will never admit is that it could ever be so seriously wrong that loyalty to Jehovah would mean leaving the organization and following Christ somewhere else. To a JW, it is impossible that the organization could ever be so flawed or so in error.

So when a JW comes to the conclusion that the organization is so flawed, it means the impossible has happened. And if the organization can be wrong, then so can the Scriptures. If there's no organization, maybe there's no Bible, and maybe there's no God. Unfortunately, that's the downward spiral into which most JWs descend once they leave the organizations, because we were all essentially indoctrinated that way.

None of us could picture, nor were we allowed to picture, Christianity outside of the Watchtower organization. As a result, when JWs leave the organization, they're not prepared to stand on their own two feet spiritually. None of us were ever allowed to do our own independent digging through Scripture. We were only allowed to read the Scriptures through the eyes of the Watchtower. We weren't supposed to use any commentaries, Bible dictionaries, or other literature published by anyone other than the Watchtower.

We even had our own Bible translation. The Watchtower made us totally dependent upon them for our spiritual nourishment. So, of course, when we leave, we're going to flounder. Like I say, they have set it up that way. So when the typical witness leaves, he or she has no idea where to go for spiritual guidance. As a result, they almost always flounder. In the end, they typically turn to the world and to its philosophies, or to politics and social movements, to fill in the gap in their hearts.

The irony is that when witnesses leave the organization, they are usually determined that they are not going to let the Watchtower ruin their lives. But you know, that is the very thing they allow the organization to do. They let the Watchtower rob them of eternal life. Now, to be sure, the organization has done its best to make it difficult to follow Jehovah once you leave, as we've been saying. So there is a reason why this happens.

But remember, the Watchtower cannot deprive you of eternal life without your permission. Yet foolishly, most ex-JWs give the Watchtower that permission. And how do they do that? By holding fast to the skewed spiritual worldview of the Watchtower once they leave. What is that worldview? Well, one, that there's no spiritual light outside of the organization. Two, that all the churches are apostate. They're all part of Babylon the Great. Number three, the witness doctrines are the only true biblical doctrines.

And finally, if the witnesses aren't the true body of Christ, then nobody else is. Now, if you're going to hold to those views, then it's foolish to leave the witnesses. You will go nowhere spiritually. You will lose your faith in the Bible and probably in Jehovah. And you are almost certainly going to throw away your eternal life. But it doesn't have to happen that way. The problem with that spiritual worldview is that it ignores the promises and prophecies of Jesus himself.

Notice what Christ prophesied about his worldwide body. This is from Matthew 16:18. I'm reading from the New World Translation. "On this rock, I will build my congregation, and the gates of the grave will not overpower it." So Jesus said that his congregation would not be founded on the sand, but on a rock, and nothing would be able to stop it. Nothing would ever defeat it. He said the grave would not overpower it, meaning it would never die out. Now, that's a promise we can count on.

It doesn't matter whether a person lives in the first century, or the sixth century, or the 17th century, or the 21st century. Christ's congregation is going to be there. It didn't disappear right after the apostles died, only to be reestablished 1,800 years later as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. That's not what Jesus said would happen. Now, another promise Jesus made is found in Matthew 28:19-20. We're used to reading this for its commandment.

The first part, "Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you." Now, notice the last part, "And look, I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things." So Jesus didn't say he would be abandoning his people right after the apostles died, only to get involved with them again 1,800 years later.

No, he said, "I'm with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things." So his congregation and his people would always be here. Now, please note that Jesus didn't say anything about an organization. That word's not even in the Bible. His congregation is an organism, not an organization. It is the people of God. The body of Christ exists wherever men and women are present who love Jehovah and his son and who serve them.

At the same time, Christ's body is not a loose mixture of individuals who never meet with other Christians. As we see in the New Testament, it is comprised of individual, organized congregations. And such faithful congregations have always existed from the first century all the way through today, without any interruption. They've always been there. Well, yes, you may ask, but what about all the wickedness that has been committed by so-called Christians through the centuries?

For example, the Inquisition, the countless wars, and the general ungodliness that's been out there. Well, that bothers other Christians, not just Jehovah's Witnesses. And all of that was foretold by Jesus. For example, he gave us the parable of the wheat and the weeds in Matthew 13:24. I'm not going to read that entire parable to you, as I think you're already familiar with it. But notice what Jesus says at the end of the parable.

I'm going to be reading to you from Matthew 28, or rather Matthew 13, verses 28 to 30. He said, "The slave said to him, 'Do you want us then to go out and collect them?'" Talking about the weeds. And he said, "No, for fear that while you're collecting the weeds, you uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the harvest season, I will tell the reapers, 'First collect the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them up.

Then gather the wheat into my storehouse.'" So did you notice there that Jesus said the wheat and the weeds would grow together until the harvest? And this tells us two things. One, that the body of Christ would be in existence from the time of Jesus until the harvest. And two, there would be a lot of weeds masquerading as Christians during all those centuries. The wheat and weeds would be growing together, not apart, but together until the very end.

So we should expect to find that through the centuries, there have been all sorts of wicked people representing themselves as Christians. At the same time, through all the centuries, there have always been faithful Christians doing the work of Christ and the kingdom. And I don't mean just one or two people here and there. There've always been churches and faithful bodies. Now, beginning in verse 40 of Matthew 13, Jesus sums up the meaning of the parable.

And this is what he says about the meaning of it, which I think is fairly obvious. He says, "Therefore, just as the weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be in the conclusion of the system of things. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out from his kingdom all things that cause stumbling and people who practice lawlessness. And they will pitch them into the fiery furnace. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.

At that time, the righteous ones will shine as brightly as the sun in the kingdom of the Father." Now, did you notice that Jesus didn't say that he would collect out of the world all things that cause stumbling? No, he said he would collect those people out of his kingdom. So these people were inside his kingdom. In other words, they were professing Christians. Yet they cause stumbling, and they practice lawlessness.

Therefore, we shouldn't be surprised when we look at the history of Christianity to find that there have been many such wicked people inside God's kingdom. Jesus said it would be that way. Now, since this outlook was different from what his disciples would have expected, I mean, it's different from what any of us would want, Jesus gave a second, very similar parable in the same chapter, Matthew 13, saying this: "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet let down into the sea and gathering fish of every kind.

When it was full, they hauled it up onto the beach, and sitting down, they collected the fine ones into containers, but the unsuitable ones they threw away." That is how it will be in the conclusion of the system of things. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the righteous and will cast them into the fiery furnace. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.

So once again, Jesus let us know in advance that the kingdom of heaven would be hauling in fish of every kind, both fine ones and unsuitable ones. At the end of the age, the angels would have to separate out the wicked from among the righteous. And that's the reason why when we look at the history of Christianity, we see so many wicked people inside churches who claim to be Christ's followers. But there have also been many righteous Christians. And it's important that we don't close our eyes to that fact.

Now, don't misunderstand me. This doesn't mean that a godly congregation should not practice church discipline and put wicked people out. But it does mean that in every century, when we look at the entire group of people who have called themselves Christians, that entire group has been a mixture of wheat and weeds, wicked and righteous. Jesus prophesied all these things in advance. So now, 2,000 years later, we can see that the very things that he prophesied have happened just as he said they would.

So rather than being discouraged about this and imagining that, well, true Christianity just doesn't exist anywhere because of this situation, we can rejoice because it means that our king is a true prophet. Well, then how do we recognize the wheat? That's who we want to be associating with. Well, when we look at all the verses that talk about the judgment to come, we find that the final judgment is always based on what we have done, not on our theology.

For example, you're familiar with these verses, John 5:28 and 29. "The hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment." Romans 2:9 and 10.

"There will be tribulation and distress on every person who works what is harmful, on the Jew first and also on the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who works what is good for the Jew first and also for the Greek." Finally, Revelation 20:12 and 13. "And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened, but another scroll was opened. It is the scroll of life. The dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds.

And the sea gave up the dead in it, and death in the grave gave up the dead in them. And they were judged individually according to their deeds." Now, none of these passages say anything about theology or doctrines. They say we will be judged based on how we have lived. Having your doctrines all correct is a good thing, but it's not going to be the basis for how Christ judges you. Now, I'm not saying that doctrines have no value.

From the very beginning, there have always been a handful of essential doctrines that every Christian has had to embrace. But the further back you go in time, the smaller this list becomes. You know, a person can have most of their doctrines correct and still be a very wicked person. And a person can misunderstand a lot of the doctrines of the Bible and still live a life of love and godliness. Now, I'm not suggesting that we try to see how much doctrinal errors we can embrace before Jehovah will reject us.

Now, I'm only saying that we should be charitable towards others who sincerely misunderstand points of scripture or who have been misled. After all, we would want Jehovah to be merciful to us for anything in the Bible that perhaps we may misunderstand. At the same time, we should make every effort to learn and embrace the faith once for all delivered by the apostles.

Jude 3 tells us, "I found it necessary to write to you to urge you to put up a hard fight for the faith that was once for all time delivered to the holy ones." So the faith was once for all time delivered to the holy ones, the people of God. It isn't going to keep changing from century to century with new light. As Hebrews tells us, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Well, how was this apostolic faith delivered? Well, of course, for one thing, through the scriptures.

However, that wasn't the only way it was passed on. Notice what Paul instructed Timothy. This is from 2 Timothy 2:2. He said, "The things you heard from me that were supported by many witnesses, these things entrust to faithful men who in turn will be adequately qualified to teach others." So the apostolic faith was passed on not only through the writings of the apostles. Rather, the apostles also trained men like Timothy.

These disciples of the apostles then trained others to teach the apostolic faith to the various congregations that made up the worldwide body of Christ. Now, don't jump ahead of me. I'm not saying that there are any doctrines of the apostles that are not contained in the scriptures.

Rather, what I'm saying is that the apostles didn't simply hand the body of Christ the scriptures and say, "Okay, figure out for yourselves what these writings mean." Rather, the apostles trained men in the faith so that these men would properly understand the scriptures. And then these men were able to accurately train the next generation of leaders and so on and so on. Well, how well did this system work?

At the end of his life, the apostle John talked about the faith of the elders or the fathers in the faith in his day. We're talking about around the year 100. He also talked about the faith of the young men at the end of his life during that same time. We can read this assessment that the apostle John made in 1 John 2:14. And there we read, "I write you, fathers, because you have come to know him who is from the beginning.

I write you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God remains in you and you have conquered the wicked one." So John testifies that both the older men and the young men were spiritually strong and had correctly grasped the faith. He specifically says, "The word of God remains in you." So at the end of the first century, and as far as we know, John was the last one to die of the apostles, the congregation of Jehovah was still faithful. Its leaders had not abandoned the faith.

Now, wouldn't it be nice if we could talk to those fathers and those young men that John mentions and ask them, "What did the apostles teach on such and such a subject?" or "What does this passage in Romans mean?" Well, the wonderful thing is we can actually do that to a large degree. You see, we have the writings of some of these men to whom John was referring. Their writings, of course, are not scripture, but they bear witness to what Christians believed at the end of the first century.

For example, one of the earliest of these writings was written only a year or so after 1 John was written. In other words, it was written at this time when John testifies that both the young men and the old men were strong in the faith. The writing I'm referring to is a letter from the elders in the congregation in Rome to the congregation in Corinth. And you notice I say it was written by the elders in Rome. It specifically says that there was no pope at that time.

The letter is usually known today as 1 Clement because the elder who did the actual penning of it was named Clement. Now, as I said, 1 Clement is not inspired. It doesn't claim to be inspired, but it gives us a window into what Christians believed in the last years of the apostle John. But it doesn't just end there. There are other letters written 5 or 10 years after 1 Clement. And then there are other letters and essays written 10 or 15 years after those and so on. It keeps going.

Some of the other writers were actually personal disciples of the apostle John. And no doubt John had them in mind when he gave his wonderful testimony there in 1 John about the older men and the young men. These were the men who stood up against the Gnostics, the ones that John warned his readers against in his letters, the ones who denied that Jesus had come in the flesh. Now, I realize that the Watchtower teaches that the whole body of Christ became apostate as soon as the apostles died.

But you know, such a claim is not only an attack against the faithful men of whom John speaks so highly, but it's also an attack on the apostles. It's saying that the apostles were so incompetent that no sooner did they die than the whole congregation of God collapsed. And this was despite the fact that Jesus handpicked these men to be the foundation stones of the congregation built on him as the final foundation or the beginning foundation.

Yet we know that men who were not handpicked by Christ have been able to establish churches that are still with us today after centuries. Examples of such men are Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, Alexander Campbell, D.L. Moody. Now, are we to believe that these other men were able to do what the apostles were not able to do? These other men established churches that survived long after they died. But we're supposed to believe that the apostles were unable to do this.

I know the Watchtower often quotes Paul's words to the Ephesian elders. It's recorded in Acts 20:28-31. I'll read it. It says, "Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers to shepherd the congregation of God, which he purchased with the blood of his own son. I know that after my going away, oppressive wolves will enter in among you and will not treat the flock with tenderness.

And from among you yourselves, men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore, keep awake." Now, did Paul say that after his going away, the whole worldwide body of Christ was going to become apostate? No, he said nothing of the sort, did he? Rather, he only said that oppressive wolves would enter in. Those wolves would speak twisted things to draw away disciples after themselves. Now, when Paul spoke those words, it was a prophecy.

30 or 40 years later, when John wrote his letters, Paul's prophecy had come true. False teachers had come into the body of Christ and were teaching twisted things, saying that Jesus had not come in the flesh. John calls these men the Antichrists. These Antichrists call themselves Gnostics, meaning people who supposedly had secret knowledge. And the Gnostics drew disciples after themselves, just as Paul had prophesied. But once again, they were a minority.

As we've already seen, John commended the faith of most of the Christians of his day. Well, what else were these Gnostics teaching? Well, you know, we don't have to guess. Because during the second and third centuries, the true body of Christ had to battle against the Gnostics. This was a spiritual battle fought with the pen, not with the sword. But as a result of this conflict, we have a lot of writings by true Christians against the Gnostics.

And these writings tell us about the doctrines of the Gnostics and the names of their leaders. And the Gnostics certainly had all sorts of twisted teachings, including that Jesus had not come in the flesh, the very thing John talks about. So the picture is complete. From the writings of the early Christians, we know what the true Christians were teaching at the end of the first century and thereafter. And we know what the ravenous wolves were teaching, the Antichrist.

The whole body of Christ didn't become apostate after the apostles died. But the kingdom was a mixture of wheat and weeds, good and bad fish, just as Jesus said it would be. I mean, the Gnostics were put out of the church, but the Christians couldn't prevent them from calling themselves Christians. To the world, they all look like Christians. And the wonderful thing is that any Christian today can find out for himself or herself what the early Christians believed at the close of the apostolic age.

Much of their writings are still with us today. They're available in various formats. One of these is a 10-volume set called the Anti-Nicene Fathers. This set contains most of the writings we have of the Christians who lived before Constantine and the rise of the state church. In fact, behind me, I don't know if you can see it in the camera, there's a set there of the Anti-Nicene Fathers. So we can know beyond a doubt what the historic Christian faith was before Constantine.

We also know what things changed with Constantine, and we can know what things changed in the centuries after that. And the nice thing is you don't have to spend any money to obtain this information. You can find free PDF versions of the Anti-Nicene Fathers sets on the internet. In fact, at the end of this message, I will provide a link to a site where you can download them for free. And you can read them for yourself.

Or you can just Google Anti-Nicene Fathers, and you'll find a number of sites where you can get them for free. Now, when you read the early Christian writings, I'm going to tell you in advance, you're going to immediately notice two things. First, many of the doctrines Jehovah's Witnesses teach were also taught by the early Christians. This is particularly true on matters concerning how we should live. For example, that it's wrong to go to war. It's wrong to get involved in the government and in politics.

Jehovah's Witnesses teach this, and the early Christians taught that as well. So yeah, you will find a lot of things to connect with. But now, second, you're going to discover that many of the things Jehovah's Witnesses teach, particularly their doctrines, were not taught by the early Christians. In fact, many of the distinctive JW doctrines were never taught by anyone prior to Charles Taze Russell. But how do we evaluate the early Christian writings to know that what they taught is truly the historic faith?

Well, it isn't going to work to take the writings of the early Christians and then evaluate them based on how they line up with what the Watchtower teaches. If you're going to do that, you're simply wasting your time. No, you have to read the early Christian writings with a blank slate. In other words, you're going to set aside all of your own preconceptions. To evaluate their teachings, don't compare what they say with what the Watchtower teaches.

Rather, look at the scriptures on what the early Christians based their teachings. In other words, what they teach about salvation. Look at all of the verses that they quote in support of their understanding of salvation and ask yourself, does this fit the scripture? Does this make sense? Is this a basic common sense reading of this verse and that verse and that sort of thing? And you can do that with every doctrine.

Or another way to put it is read those scripture passages and say to yourself, now, if I didn't know any better, what would I think this passage is saying? You know, if you look at the early Christian writings with a blank slate, without any preconceptions, you'll inevitably find that their teachings line up perfectly with what the scriptures teach. I mean, after all, the early Christians received their understanding of scripture directly from the apostles and from the disciples of the apostles.

So of course, they line up with the scriptures. Now, I'm not saying today that you have to embrace everything the early Christians believed, but you do owe it to yourself to discover what Christians believed right after the apostles died. Nevertheless, if you're like me, you'll find yourself embracing what they believed because it's so very scriptural. And it's also very logical. It just makes perfect common sense.

And the wonderful thing is that with the historic faith, once you grasp it, there are no problem verses. There's no verses you have to hide or to explain away like we would do when we were JWs. In fact, for just about any subject, if you collect together every verse that pertains to that subject and you take those verses seriously and literally, you will end up with exactly what the early Christians believed. Of course, again, the big hurdle is getting past our preconceptions.

It took me a while to do that, and it does for everyone. But if you persevere, you'll find the Bible becoming an open book for you. Now, I realize that this is a pretty tall order. You know, go and read that 10-volume set of writings. I mean, if you have the time, that definitely is the best thing to do. That is what I did personally. The historic faith is going to mean much more to you if you dig it out for yourself and see firsthand with your own eyes.

Now, at the end of this message, I'm going to give you a list of some of the key writings that are representative of what the early Christians taught on various subjects.

In other words, if you don't have time to read all of the volumes, I can at least give you some of the key works, some of the very representative works that'll show you what they believed on a lot of subjects that are going to be on your mind, such as, you know, salvation, war, the Trinity, church and state, you know, just a lot of things like that. I'm going to give you a list of works. You can see for yourself what they believed on those topics.

So, you know, if you don't have time to read them all, you can read those representative works. And you'll have a fairly good idea of what the early Christians believed because they all pretty much say the same thing. Now, I'll tell you in advance, be prepared for some surprises. No matter what a person's church background might be, we've all been indoctrinated with the teachings of some person or some organization.

And everyone imagines that surely the early Christians believed everything just the way their church does. It's not just an issue for JWs. It's a similar issue for the Baptists, the Lutherans, the Pentecostal, the Seventh-day Adventists, etc. And of course, much of what these other groups I've just named, many of the things they believe is also, you'll find that in the early church as well. I mean, there's no church that nothing they believe is found in the early Christian writings. And there's very few churches.

There are some that everything they believe, everything they believe is found in the early Christian writings. Now, as I said, I have made the early Christian writings my special field of study for the past 50 years, just so I could know what the truth was. And so people often ask me, "David, can't you just tell us what the early Christians believed on this subject or that so we don't have to go and read these writings?" Yes, I can do that.

And in fact, I've delivered a number of talks on what the early Christians believed on some key subjects. Again, it'll be better if you read it firsthand yourself. But nevertheless, I realize many people have very busy schedules. And so, yeah, they're not able to just do all the reading I was in a position to do. So there's a link at the end of this message to a YouTube channel where you can go and listen to many of these messages that I prepared about what the early Christians believed on various subjects.

But even if you do listen to those messages, go to the actual writings themselves and verify the quotes that I make. I mean, I usually give you the volume and page where you can find the quotes and go and read them for yourself. Make sure I'm not taking those quotes out of context. I mean, you've been misled once. Don't let me or anyone else mislead you a second time. Now, the value of learning the apostolic faith is that it gives you a permanent anchor that allows you to go forward spiritually.

When you evaluate a particular church, maybe you say, "I want to check out, you know, this church," or maybe it's a house church. There's a lot of independent house churches today where you can meet just with a few families and study the Bible. And you want to evaluate what they're teaching. Well, see, now you have an objective measure. Uh-huh. How does this stack up against the historic faith? And like I say, I have found that so valuable personally, and I know it'll bless you likewise.

And you can also measure what Jehovah's Witnesses teach and see how it measures up against the historic faith, what was taught in the beginning. Otherwise, you know what happens is that most ex-witnesses, they leave the organization and they carry with them their list of Watchtower doctrines. I don't mean they have it written out. They have it up here in their minds. And then if they take the trouble, they compare what various churches teach against this list of Watchtower doctrines.

Well, and soon they find that there aren't any churches that teach that same list of doctrines that Jehovah's Witnesses teach. So like I say, then they give up. Okay, I guess there aren't any true churches. I guess that's it. Maybe there's not a Bible. Maybe Jehovah doesn't exist. The problem is ex-JWs are using the wrong benchmark. Most of the basic doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses come from Charles Russell. In his books, he claimed that God had revealed to him the things that he was writing.

I don't mean that he claimed inspiration, that God was inspiring every word, but he says at the introduction to his books, "I'm just really revealing to you what God has revealed to me." So the witness benchmark is that God revealed to Charles Russell and later to J.F. Rutherford, and still later to the governing body, what the Bible really means.

But you know, different people have been claiming this kind of thing for centuries, that God has revealed to them what the scriptures "really mean." But the difference with the early Christians is that none of them say that God has revealed something special to them, has made it clear to them what the scriptures mean. No, what they say is, "This is what the apostles handed down to us." Now, you see, nobody else can say that.

When you know the historic faith, when you've seen it for yourself firsthand, you're no longer dependent on somebody else who claims a special channel of communication with God. And you don't have to lean on your own understanding either. You can rest on knowing what is the faith that was once for all time delivered to the holy ones. Now, the exciting thing is that the historic faith never disappeared. Today, there are still churches that embrace all or nearly all of the teachings of the early Christians.

Most churches don't, but there are some. But again, I'll remind you, the early Christians put a lot more emphasis on living the Christian life than they did on doctrines. The list of doctrines that they considered essential is quite small. And in every century, up through today, there have been many, many Christians who have embraced the essential doctrines of the apostolic faith and who have loyally lived by the teachings of Jesus.

Of course, there have been plenty of people who have disgraced the name of Christ, just as Jesus said would happen. So if you've concluded that the Watchtower organization is not the true body of Christ, that doesn't mean it's the end of serving Jehovah. It's not the end. It's a new beginning. It's a springboard to be able to do even more for the kingdom of God. But you'll want to do it voluntarily, not because of peer pressures, because you love Jehovah.

Now, we've talked about some of the promises that Jehovah and Jesus Christ have made. And I want to close by mentioning another promise. It's in Psalm 37:28. It says, "Jehovah loves justice, and he will not abandon his loyal ones." Now, you undoubtedly will have many trials ahead of you. Jesus said it would be that way. He said that his followers would often lose parents or children or brothers and sisters for his sake. Yet Jehovah promises he will not abandon his loyal ones.

My wife, Deborah, and I have experienced the fulfillment of that promise in a marvelous fashion. We regularly thank Jehovah for his many blessings and for the huge spiritual family he has given us in Christ. And if you remain loyal to Jehovah, you'll likewise find that he will not abandon you. Of course, if you lose your faith in Jehovah and in his word, then you're not going to experience any of these promised blessings. Let's talk just a second about other steps you need to take right now.

I've talked about learning the historic faith. But in the months and years ahead, your entire spiritual world is going to be greatly shaken. If you persevere, there are marvelous blessings and a large spiritual family at the other end of this. But it's important that you're spiritually fortified for the journey ahead of you. Typically, when Jehovah's Witnesses begin to question the organization, they start pulling away from Jehovah. They begin to read their Bibles less. They pray less.

And of course, this is understandable. The foundations of their faith have been shaken. I understand why this happens. But this is no time to stop praying and to stop reading the scriptures. It's time for the opposite, to pray like you've never prayed before, to read your Bible more than you ever did in the past. Jehovah is not going to abandon you unless you abandon him. So use this period to increase the time you spend in prayer and the time you spend in reading the Bible.

In addition, listen to sermons and messages on websites that are dedicated to the historic faith and what is often called kingdom Christianity. And there are a number of these sites. I'll list a few of them at the end of the message. Most of these I have no direct connection with. Finally, once you leave the organization, take steps to connect with other Christians who are committed to the kingdom of God. I realize it's going to be a little awkward at first. They're going to seem a little strange to you.

And initially, you're going to seem a little different than what they're used to. But you'll find that there are tens of thousands of Christians today across the world who love God with their whole heart, mind, strength, and strength, and who love their neighbor as themselves. They live godly, morally upright lives. In fact, did you know that today thousands and thousands of Christians die as martyrs for Christ every year? Well, again, my name is David Bercel.

If I can help you in any way on your journey, please contact me through this YouTube channel. May Jehovah richly bless you.