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00:00:01 We are at war, and that is very clear. 00:00:04 So for all of us, 00:00:06 we have to protect ourselves 00:00:07 from Satan and the demons 00:00:09 and the spiritual fight is on to the finish. 00:00:11 “Working out [our] salvation 00:00:13 with fear and trembling” is essential. 00:00:15 Let’s open our Bibles to Revelation chapter 12, 00:00:18 and let’s learn why the Devil is so infuriated 00:00:22 and why he hates Jehovah’s servants. 00:00:25 We’re going to focus first 00:00:27 on Revelation chapter 12 and verse 11 00:00:31 —verse 11: 00:00:33 “And they [that’s the anointed remnant] 00:00:37 conquered him [that’s the Devil].” 00:00:40 He hates that. 00:00:42 The anointed conquer Satan the Devil. 00:00:45 They prove him to be a liar. 00:00:47 They’re loyal; they’re integrity-keepers; 00:00:49 their conduct and their words —everything that they do— 00:00:53 conquer the Devil. 00:00:55 And yet, in addition to that, in addition to their faith in the ransom, 00:00:58 verse 11 goes on to say something else which truly infuriates the Devil. 00:01:03 It says that they conquer him 00:01:06 by “the word of their witnessing.” 00:01:10 Matthew 24:14—the preaching activity. 00:01:13 Notice, there is a direct connection 00:01:16 between conquering Satan and our preaching activity. 00:01:20 That’s what he hates, and that is why he relentlessly attacks 00:01:24 our preaching activity and tries to stir up opposition. 00:01:28 He’s conquered by means of the preaching work. 00:01:32 But Satan’s opposition to our preaching work is nothing new. 00:01:36 Let’s open our Bibles to Amos chapter 7, 00:01:39 and note some striking similarities between our day and Amos’ day 00:01:45 —Amos chapter 7. 00:01:48 Now this is when Jehovah God sent Amos to the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel. 00:01:53 Jeroboam was the king, 00:01:55 and he put calf worship there in a city called Bethel, 00:01:59 and calf worship was now a part 00:02:02 of the religion there at the ten-tribe kingdom. 00:02:05 So now Amos finds himself right in the middle of that situation. 00:02:09 But let’s see what happens —how the opposition mounts 00:02:12 and how it’s similar in our day. 00:02:16 Verse 10: 00:02:19 “Amaziah the priest of Bethel” 00:02:22 —so Amaziah is the priest of this State religion of calf worship. 00:02:27 Bethel is the center of apostate religion. 00:02:31 What does Amaziah do? 00:02:33 He sends a message to King Jeroboam of Israel. 00:02:37 Notice now how the religious entity, Amaziah, 00:02:41 sends the message to the State (over to the government), 00:02:45 to King Jeroboam, and gets him all worked up, 00:02:49 and he says: “Amos is conspiring against you 00:02:53 “right in the midst of the house of Israel. 00:02:55 The land cannot put up with all his words.” 00:02:58 Conspiring against Jeroboam 00:03:02 —this was an act of treason. 00:03:04 So you see, this lying report went straight to Jeroboam 00:03:08 from Amaziah (the priest), 00:03:11 but now see what happens here in verse 11. 00:03:15 He stirs up opposition, true, 00:03:18 but now notice the three misleading statements 00:03:21 that Amaziah accuses Amos of. 00:03:25 (1) “For this is what Amos says.” 00:03:29 That’s not true. 00:03:31 Amos didn’t say that. 00:03:33 Amos always said: ‘This is what Jehovah wants me to say. 00:03:36 This is what Jehovah commanded me to say.’ 00:03:39 But Amaziah just says: “This is what Amos [said]”—misleading. 00:03:44 (2) “Jeroboam will die by the sword.” 00:03:49 Amos never said that. 00:03:51 You see, Amos said that it was Jeroboam’s house 00:03:54 —his dynasty or his posterity— that would die. 00:03:58 So, again, a misleading, distorted way of presenting matters. 00:04:03 (3) “Israel will surely go 00:04:06 into exile from its land.” 00:04:09 However, Amaziah does not add 00:04:12 that Amos was trying to help people. 00:04:15 Amos was trying to turn people to Jehovah God. 00:04:18 ‘Serve Jehovah God, and you’ll get a blessing. 00:04:20 Do what Jehovah wants you to do, and you’ll have his favor.’ 00:04:23 So Amaziah doesn’t touch that. 00:04:26 He doesn’t say anything positive that Amos is doing. 00:04:29 So you see, these are the three things 00:04:32 that Amaziah was doing and accusing Amos of 00:04:36 —three misleading statements, distorted half-truths— 00:04:39 in an effort to get the official ban on the preaching activity of Amos. 00:04:46 Do we see something similar today? 00:04:49 We note striking similarities 00:04:51 between the methods of Amaziah 00:04:54 and those employed by the opposers 00:04:57 of Jehovah’s people. 00:05:01 Just as Amaziah tried to silence Amos, 00:05:05 so certain religious leaders today do the same. 00:05:08 They try to block the preaching work of Jehovah’s servants. 00:05:13 Amaziah falsely accused Amos of treason. 00:05:17 Today, some religious leaders falsely accuse Jehovah’s people 00:05:21 of being a threat to national security. 00:05:26 Just as Amaziah turned to the king, Jeroboam, to help in opposing Amos, 00:05:31 so religious leaders today 00:05:34 often turn to political allies 00:05:37 in an effort to support their persecution 00:05:40 of Jehovah’s Witnesses—striking similarities. 00:05:44 When it comes to the preaching work, you see, the Devil hates it. 00:05:49 What would Amos do? 00:05:52 Would he back down? 00:05:54 Would he be intimidated? 00:05:56 Would he cower in fear? 00:05:58 Would he run away from his assignment? 00:05:59 He was just a shepherd boy. 00:06:01 He was one who took care of figs, 00:06:06 and he was a herdsman. 00:06:08 And here he’s taken from his little, bleak surroundings, 00:06:11 and he’s put right in the middle of this hotbed of activity there 00:06:14 at Bethel—apostate center. 00:06:16 It’s interesting that he didn’t go off 00:06:18 into some area where there were no people, 00:06:21 but he was right there at the nerve center. 00:06:24 This little, humble, modest man, Amos 00:06:27 —we don’t know much about him. 00:06:29 He’s not impressive, but his message is impressive. 00:06:33 And more importantly, 00:06:36 you see how Jehovah emboldened him 00:06:39 with his holy spirit to be valiant and courageous 00:06:43 in the middle of this situation. 00:06:45 So let’s see what Amos says. 00:06:47 What did he do? 00:06:49 Verse 16: 00:06:52 “So now hear the word of Jehovah.” 00:06:55 Now, Amos is saying this to Amaziah. 00:06:57 “Hear the word of Jehovah.” 00:06:58 Again, he gives Jehovah all the credit: 00:07:01 ‘It’s not me; it’s Jehovah who asked me to do this, Amaziah. 00:07:06 ‘It’s as if a lion roars; who would not be afraid? 00:07:10 ‘Jehovah speaks, and I’m going to spring into action. 00:07:14 So this is the word of Jehovah.’ 00:07:16 “You are saying [to me], ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, 00:07:19 and do not preach against the house of Isaac,’” 00:07:22 or the descendants of Jacob, which would have been that ten-tribe kingdom. 00:07:25 Amos says: ‘I can’t do that. 00:07:28 ‘I cannot stop. 00:07:30 This commission comes from Jehovah God.’ 00:07:33 Does he cower? 00:07:35 No. 00:07:36 In fact, verse 17: “Therefore this is what Jehovah says: 00:07:40 ‘[Amaziah,] your wife will become a prostitute in the city.’” 00:07:45 Now, that would mean that his wife 00:07:47 would be violated by the soldiers of a conquering army. 00:07:51 ‘Your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword. 00:07:53 You yourself are going to be buried on unclean land.’ 00:07:56 That’s outside of Israel. 00:07:58 ‘That’s what I have to say. Checkmate.’ 00:08:02 It’s amazing. 00:08:04 Amos—really, when you think about this man 00:08:07 and how he just wanted to do Jehovah’s work (Jehovah’s will), 00:08:11 he was not intimidated and neither are we. 00:08:15 When it comes to speaking Jehovah’s word, we will not disobey Jehovah God. 00:08:19 Even in the lands where we have these modern-day “Amaziahs” 00:08:23 fomenting cruel persecution, 00:08:25 like Amos, we keep on proclaiming, 00:08:28 “This is what Jehovah says.” 00:08:32 Well, Jehovah God tried to help those Israelites. 00:08:35 He tried to help them change their ways. 00:08:38 He used Amos to preach to them. 00:08:40 And today, look at us; 00:08:43 look at Jehovah’s people earth wide trying to help people. 00:08:46 And the Devil hates this work. 00:08:48 That’s the point. Why? 00:08:50 Because it conquers him. 00:08:52 The faithful slave is successful. 00:08:54 Look at what the anointed are doing in fulfilling Matthew 24:14. 00:08:59 What is our role at Bethel? 00:09:01 Why are we talking about this to the Bethel family? 00:09:03 Because we are the support group 00:09:06 we are Kingdom Support Services. 00:09:08 In any war, in any war, 00:09:11 we have to have a supply line. 00:09:14 If that supply line is cut off from the front lines, 00:09:18 those front-lines people are in trouble. 00:09:20 And in any war, the idea is to cut off— 00:09:23 The enemy wants to cut off that supply line, 00:09:26 wants to sever the supply line. 00:09:28 It demoralizes the troops. 00:09:30 That’s our job. We are the supply line. 00:09:33 The Kingdom support role is vital as we serve at Bethel. 00:09:37 It’s a noble, honorable, work 00:09:40 to help the preaching work continue to move forward. 00:09:44 Now, as we look at chapter 4, 00:09:47 Jehovah is such a God of kindness and mercy. 00:09:51 In chapter 4, Jehovah repeatedly recounts 00:09:55 how he tried to help his people. 00:09:58 He sent Amos. 00:09:59 He tries to correct them and chastise them, 00:10:02 and he sends Amos back over and over again. 00:10:05 And there’s this reoccurring theme. 00:10:07 Five times He reminds them how He tried to help them 00:10:11 and five times: ‘You did not come back to me. 00:10:15 ‘You ten-tribe kingdom, you did not come back to me. 00:10:19 ‘I tried to help you. 00:10:20 ‘You did not come back to me. 00:10:21 ‘You did not come back to me. 00:10:23 ‘You did not come back to me. 00:10:25 ‘I’m trying to help. 00:10:27 ‘You didn’t come back to me. 00:10:28 ‘So there’s only one option; 00:10:30 you leave me one decision to make; it’s military confrontation.’ 00:10:34 And that’s the way it will be in our day. 00:10:37 There’s one option —military confrontation— 00:10:40 because people will not come back to Jehovah. 00:10:43 Then what will happen? 00:10:45 Chapter 4, verse 12: 00:10:48 “Get ready to meet your God.”
00:00:01 We are at war, and that is very clear. 00:00:04 So for all of us, 00:00:06 we have to protect ourselves 00:00:07 from Satan and the demons 00:00:09 and the spiritual fight is on to the finish. 00:00:11 “Working out [our] salvation 00:00:13 with fear and trembling” is essential. 00:00:15 Let’s open our Bibles to Revelation chapter 12, 00:00:18 and let’s learn why the Devil is so infuriated 00:00:22 and why he hates Jehovah’s servants. 00:00:25 We’re going to focus first 00:00:27 on Revelation chapter 12 and verse 11 00:00:31 —verse 11: 00:00:33 “And they [that’s the anointed remnant] 00:00:37 conquered him [that’s the Devil].” 00:00:40 He hates that. 00:00:42 The anointed conquer Satan the Devil. 00:00:45 They prove him to be a liar. 00:00:47 They’re loyal; they’re integrity-keepers; 00:00:49 their conduct and their words —everything that they do— 00:00:53 conquer the Devil. 00:00:55 And yet, in addition to that, in addition to their faith in the ransom, 00:00:58 verse 11 goes on to say something else which truly infuriates the Devil. 00:01:03 It says that they conquer him 00:01:06 by “the word of their witnessing.” 00:01:10 Matthew 24:14—the preaching activity. 00:01:13 Notice, there is a direct connection 00:01:16 between conquering Satan and our preaching activity. 00:01:20 That’s what he hates, and that is why he relentlessly attacks 00:01:24 our preaching activity and tries to stir up opposition. 00:01:28 He’s conquered by means of the preaching work. 00:01:32 But Satan’s opposition to our preaching work is nothing new. 00:01:36 Let’s open our Bibles to Amos chapter 7, 00:01:39 and note some striking similarities between our day and Amos’ day 00:01:45 —Amos chapter 7. 00:01:48 Now this is when Jehovah God sent Amos to the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel. 00:01:53 Jeroboam was the king, 00:01:55 and he put calf worship there in a city called Bethel, 00:01:59 and calf worship was now a part 00:02:02 of the religion there at the ten-tribe kingdom. 00:02:05 So now Amos finds himself right in the middle of that situation. 00:02:09 But let’s see what happens —how the opposition mounts 00:02:12 and how it’s similar in our day. 00:02:16 Verse 10: 00:02:19 “Amaziah the priest of Bethel” 00:02:22 —so Amaziah is the priest of this State religion of calf worship. 00:02:27 Bethel is the center of apostate religion. 00:02:31 What does Amaziah do? 00:02:33 He sends a message to King Jeroboam of Israel. 00:02:37 Notice now how the religious entity, Amaziah, 00:02:41 sends the message to the State (over to the government), 00:02:45 to King Jeroboam, and gets him all worked up, 00:02:49 and he says: “Amos is conspiring against you 00:02:53 “right in the midst of the house of Israel. 00:02:55 The land cannot put up with all his words.” 00:02:58 Conspiring against Jeroboam 00:03:02 —this was an act of treason. 00:03:04 So you see, this lying report went straight to Jeroboam 00:03:08 from Amaziah (the priest), 00:03:11 but now see what happens here in verse 11. 00:03:15 He stirs up opposition, true, 00:03:18 but now notice the three misleading statements 00:03:21 that Amaziah accuses Amos of. 00:03:25 (1) “For this is what Amos says.” 00:03:29 That’s not true. 00:03:31 Amos didn’t say that. 00:03:33 Amos always said: ‘This is what Jehovah wants me to say. 00:03:36 This is what Jehovah commanded me to say.’ 00:03:39 But Amaziah just says: “This is what Amos [said]”—misleading. 00:03:44 (2) “Jeroboam will die by the sword.” 00:03:49 Amos never said that. 00:03:51 You see, Amos said that it was Jeroboam’s house 00:03:54 —his dynasty or his posterity— that would die. 00:03:58 So, again, a misleading, distorted way of presenting matters. 00:04:03 (3) “Israel will surely go 00:04:06 into exile from its land.” 00:04:09 However, Amaziah does not add 00:04:12 that Amos was trying to help people. 00:04:15 Amos was trying to turn people to Jehovah God. 00:04:18 ‘Serve Jehovah God, and you’ll get a blessing. 00:04:20 Do what Jehovah wants you to do, and you’ll have his favor.’ 00:04:23 So Amaziah doesn’t touch that. 00:04:26 He doesn’t say anything positive that Amos is doing. 00:04:29 So you see, these are the three things 00:04:32 that Amaziah was doing and accusing Amos of 00:04:36 —three misleading statements, distorted half-truths— 00:04:39 in an effort to get the official ban on the preaching activity of Amos. 00:04:46 Do we see something similar today? 00:04:49 We note striking similarities 00:04:51 between the methods of Amaziah 00:04:54 and those employed by the opposers 00:04:57 of Jehovah’s people. 00:05:01 Just as Amaziah tried to silence Amos, 00:05:05 so certain religious leaders today do the same. 00:05:08 They try to block the preaching work of Jehovah’s servants. 00:05:13 Amaziah falsely accused Amos of treason. 00:05:17 Today, some religious leaders falsely accuse Jehovah’s people 00:05:21 of being a threat to national security. 00:05:26 Just as Amaziah turned to the king, Jeroboam, to help in opposing Amos, 00:05:31 so religious leaders today 00:05:34 often turn to political allies 00:05:37 in an effort to support their persecution 00:05:40 of Jehovah’s Witnesses—striking similarities. 00:05:44 When it comes to the preaching work, you see, the Devil hates it. 00:05:49 What would Amos do? 00:05:52 Would he back down? 00:05:54 Would he be intimidated? 00:05:56 Would he cower in fear? 00:05:58 Would he run away from his assignment? 00:05:59 He was just a shepherd boy. 00:06:01 He was one who took care of figs, 00:06:06 and he was a herdsman. 00:06:08 And here he’s taken from his little, bleak surroundings, 00:06:11 and he’s put right in the middle of this hotbed of activity there 00:06:14 at Bethel—apostate center. 00:06:16 It’s interesting that he didn’t go off 00:06:18 into some area where there were no people, 00:06:21 but he was right there at the nerve center. 00:06:24 This little, humble, modest man, Amos 00:06:27 —we don’t know much about him. 00:06:29 He’s not impressive, but his message is impressive. 00:06:33 And more importantly, 00:06:36 you see how Jehovah emboldened him 00:06:39 with his holy spirit to be valiant and courageous 00:06:43 in the middle of this situation. 00:06:45 So let’s see what Amos says. 00:06:47 What did he do? 00:06:49 Verse 16: 00:06:52 “So now hear the word of Jehovah.” 00:06:55 Now, Amos is saying this to Amaziah. 00:06:57 “Hear the word of Jehovah.” 00:06:58 Again, he gives Jehovah all the credit: 00:07:01 ‘It’s not me; it’s Jehovah who asked me to do this, Amaziah. 00:07:06 ‘It’s as if a lion roars; who would not be afraid? 00:07:10 ‘Jehovah speaks, and I’m going to spring into action. 00:07:14 So this is the word of Jehovah.’ 00:07:16 “You are saying [to me], ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, 00:07:19 and do not preach against the house of Isaac,’” 00:07:22 or the descendants of Jacob, which would have been that ten-tribe kingdom. 00:07:25 Amos says: ‘I can’t do that. 00:07:28 ‘I cannot stop. 00:07:30 This commission comes from Jehovah God.’ 00:07:33 Does he cower? 00:07:35 No. 00:07:36 In fact, verse 17: “Therefore this is what Jehovah says: 00:07:40 ‘[Amaziah,] your wife will become a prostitute in the city.’” 00:07:45 Now, that would mean that his wife 00:07:47 would be violated by the soldiers of a conquering army. 00:07:51 ‘Your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword. 00:07:53 You yourself are going to be buried on unclean land.’ 00:07:56 That’s outside of Israel. 00:07:58 ‘That’s what I have to say. Checkmate.’ 00:08:02 It’s amazing. 00:08:04 Amos—really, when you think about this man 00:08:07 and how he just wanted to do Jehovah’s work (Jehovah’s will), 00:08:11 he was not intimidated and neither are we. 00:08:15 When it comes to speaking Jehovah’s word, we will not disobey Jehovah God. 00:08:19 Even in the lands where we have these modern-day “Amaziahs” 00:08:23 fomenting cruel persecution, 00:08:25 like Amos, we keep on proclaiming, 00:08:28 “This is what Jehovah says.” 00:08:32 Well, Jehovah God tried to help those Israelites. 00:08:35 He tried to help them change their ways. 00:08:38 He used Amos to preach to them. 00:08:40 And today, look at us; 00:08:43 look at Jehovah’s people earth wide trying to help people. 00:08:46 And the Devil hates this work. 00:08:48 That’s the point. Why? 00:08:50 Because it conquers him. 00:08:52 The faithful slave is successful. 00:08:54 Look at what the anointed are doing in fulfilling Matthew 24:14. 00:08:59 What is our role at Bethel? 00:09:01 Why are we talking about this to the Bethel family? 00:09:03 Because we are the support group 00:09:06 we are Kingdom Support Services. 00:09:08 In any war, in any war, 00:09:11 we have to have a supply line. 00:09:14 If that supply line is cut off from the front lines, 00:09:18 those front-lines people are in trouble. 00:09:20 And in any war, the idea is to cut off— 00:09:23 The enemy wants to cut off that supply line, 00:09:26 wants to sever the supply line. 00:09:28 It demoralizes the troops. 00:09:30 That’s our job. We are the supply line. 00:09:33 The Kingdom support role is vital as we serve at Bethel. 00:09:37 It’s a noble, honorable, work 00:09:40 to help the preaching work continue to move forward. 00:09:44 Now, as we look at chapter 4, 00:09:47 Jehovah is such a God of kindness and mercy. 00:09:51 In chapter 4, Jehovah repeatedly recounts 00:09:55 how he tried to help his people. 00:09:58 He sent Amos. 00:09:59 He tries to correct them and chastise them, 00:10:02 and he sends Amos back over and over again. 00:10:05 And there’s this reoccurring theme. 00:10:07 Five times He reminds them how He tried to help them 00:10:11 and five times: ‘You did not come back to me. 00:10:15 ‘You ten-tribe kingdom, you did not come back to me. 00:10:19 ‘I tried to help you. 00:10:20 ‘You did not come back to me. 00:10:21 ‘You did not come back to me. 00:10:23 ‘You did not come back to me. 00:10:25 ‘I’m trying to help. 00:10:27 ‘You didn’t come back to me. 00:10:28 ‘So there’s only one option; 00:10:30 you leave me one decision to make; it’s military confrontation.’ 00:10:34 And that’s the way it will be in our day. 00:10:37 There’s one option —military confrontation— 00:10:40 because people will not come back to Jehovah. 00:10:43 Then what will happen? 00:10:45 Chapter 4, verse 12: 00:10:48 “Get ready to meet your God.”
