stand still and see the salvation of Jehovah

foreign the Blacktown Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses warmly welcomes you all to our meeting today our two-part public talk and what's our meeting and to begin our meeting we have the song song 23. Jehovah begins his rule so if you can stand if you're able and we'll sing song 23 followed by our opening prayer we have a visiting speaker today from the Saint Mary's congregation so let's invite brother Mordecai masquera who will present the talk stand still and see the salvation of Jehovah foreign if you go into the city center today and randomly ask a few people what they know about the word Armageddon you hear a variety of surprising answers some might say the state of the origins the blues of New South Wales versus The Maroons of Queensland they will say game one was won by the Blues game two Was Won by The Maroons so game three to decide the final match to decide the winner is going to be an Armageddon of a match so for our friends on JW stream um state of the origins is the rugby match in Australia one of the biggest spots here if you talk to other people who are politically inclined they might say they are going to be some by-elections in my area where I live the ruling party and the opposition party and these by-elections are going to be in Armageddon of an election but did you know that even the presidents and prime ministers the kings of the Earth today they also know something about the word Armageddon for example on the 13th of October 2022 the religious website jw. org had a story entitled it was in the form of a question politicians one of Armageddon What does the Bible say does it ring a bell the story went on to say on the morning of Monday 10th October 2022 Russian missiles hit cities across Ukraine in response to a massive explosion two days earlier that damaged a key bridge linking Crimea in Russia these events come on the heels of warnings by politicians that we may be facing Armageddon the story went on to court United States President Joe Biden who said on the 6th of October we have not faced the prospects of Armageddon since President Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis I don't think there is any such thing as an ability to easily use a tactical weapon and not end up with Armageddon and then two days later the Ukraine president Volo de Maya zielinski said I agree that this is Armageddon it's a risk for the whole planet so from this we can see they the world knows what the word Armageddon that is there but is this correct if you ask a Jehovah's Witness or anyone who has studied the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses they will tell you some facts about Armageddon correct facts about Armageddon first they will talk about a bright future that is shortly ahead of us where righteousness is to dwell and the righteous people possess the Earth but before that happens Jehovah must remove the wicked and he will do that at the war of Armageddon so Armageddon is a war to end wickedness on the Earth it begins when the kings of the earth attack God's people at some point during the Great Tribulation and then it's a foregone conclusion that Jehovah will intervene and defeat All Those Who attack God's people at this wall of Armageddon so all those who oppose Jehovah's rulership will perish and this war of Armageddon but those who support Jehovah's rulership will be spared Will Survive into the Promised new world so the question for you and I how should we prepare for the coming War of Armageddon and most importantly will you need to fight at this war of Armageddon these two questions are very important because when there is a war you agree with me that some individuals take size and they are involved actively as active Fighters there are some who also flee out of the Battle Zone in order to stay alive but when we talk of the war of Armageddon it's going to be worldwide earth-wide so there's no fleeing from one country to another or from one area to another because that will will be worldwide that question still follows us those who support Jehovah's sovereignty are they expected to fight at this war of Armageddon the answer is no Christians on Earth will not need to fight at this war of Armageddon how do we know this Jesus followers do not engage in physical Warfare if you look at the monitors you see the picture there that teaches us this fact important facts and this was on the 8th of Jesus death when he was being arrested one of his Apostles took a sword and cut off the air of one of the people who had come to arrest Jesus what was Jesus reaction to this what did Jesus say in fact Jesus rebuked that Apostle and so he put back the sword where it belongs there was no need for them to fight and Jesus was arrested without any resistance so from this we can see that Jesus followers do not engage in any physical Warfare the same principle applies at this war of Armageddon we are not going to be involved in any physical Warfare only Jesus and his Heavenly Army will fight at this war of Armageddon but why can we be convinced that we do not need to fight this wolf Armageddon we are going to examine a certain past battle that is recorded in the Bible in the book of second Chronicles chapter 20 and if you may keep your Bibles open in that chapter we are going to discern what we will do at Armageddon from this recorded account in the book of second Chronicles chapter 20.

and the background to this King Jehoshaphat of Israel was surrounded by enemy Army and he had to fight and protect the Israelites but that was a large crowd that would come to fight against them did they physically fought these people or what exactly did he physical fight these people what exactly happened so if we turn our Bibles to Second Chronicles chapter 20 this one we see it says afterwards the moabites and the ammonites together with some of the ammonium came to wage war against Jehoshaphat so Jehoshaphat was told a large crowd has come against you from the region of the sea from Edom and there they are in Jesus on taima that is engidai a large crowd three enemy armies were going to fight against Jehoshaphat do you know one interesting fact here Jehoshaphat had one million 160 000 combat soldiers but the enemy armies was larger we don't know the number but it was larger and more powerful than the one million soldiers that Jehoshaphat had in such a situation naturally not naturally you become afraid and this is what Jehoshaphat did but there's something more important that Jehoshaphat did let us go to verse 3. and that Jehoshaphat became afraid and he resolved to search for Jehovah so he proclaimed a fast for all Judah the people of Judah then gathered together to inquire of Jehovah they came from all the cities of Judah to consult Jehovah then Jehoshaphat stood up in the congregation of Judah in Jerusalem in the house of Jehovah before the new Courtyard and he said o Jehovah the God of our forefathers are you not God in the heavens do you not have dominion over all the kingdoms of the Nations in your hand our power and might and no one can stand against you verse 10. now here are the men of Ammon Moab and the mountainous region of sea whom you did not allow to invite whom you did not allow Israel to invade when they came out of the land of Egypt they turned away from them and did not annihilate them now they are repaying Us by coming in to drive us out from your position that you gave us as an inheritance all our God will you not execute judgment on them for we are powerless before this large crowd that is coming against us and we do not know what we should do but our eyes are toward you did you see what Jehoshaphat did from what we just read he resolved to search for Jehovah in fact the Israelites all people from Judah and Jerusalem gathered together to inquire of Jehovah and Jehoshaphat prayed to God investigof we read will you not execute judgment on them because we are powerless before this large crowd imagine someone with a million more than a million soldiers saying we are powerless that must have been a large crowd of enemy armies indeed Jehovah does not ignore his servants he responded let's read this from verse 14.

then in the middle of the congregation the spirit of Jehovah Came Upon jaziah the son of Zechariah son of benaya son of Jaya son of matanaya the levite of the sons of asaph he said pay attention all Judah and your inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat here is what Jehovah says to you do not be afraid or be terrified because of this large crowd for the battle is not yours but God's tomorrow go down against them they will be coming up by the past of this and you will find them at the end of the valley before the Wilderness of jariah you will not need to fight this battle take your position stand still and see the salvation of Jehovah in your behalf Jehovah responded through a prophet jsio son of Zechariah and the instruction to King Jehoshaphat and all the Israelites do not be afraid do not be terrified because of this large army what you need to do was in verse 17 take your position stand still and see the salvation of Jehovah that was the specific instruction that they did receive on this particular instance there were some further instructions that they also received if we go to verse 20. they rose up early the next morning and went out to the Wilderness of tikawa as they went out Jehoshaphat stood up and said listen to me oh Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem put Faith in Jehovah your God so that you may be able to stand firm put Faith In His prophets and you will be successful after he consulted with the people he appointed men to sin to Jehovah and to offer praise in holy adornment as they went out ahead of the Armed men saying give thanks to Jehovah for his loyal love endures forever did you see what we just read there they are going into the battlefield we would expect to have the combat soldiers at the front but no the specific instruction was for the musicians to go at the France and then the combat soldiers were behind the musicians going into the battlefield that might have seemed rather than an unusual instruction but this is what exactly they did that was the instruction from Jehovah so the musicians were at the front and the combat soldiers behind so let's see now what happened in the battlefield from verse 22. that is now in the battlefield when they began joyfully singing praises Jehovah set an ambush against the men of Ammon Moab and the mountainous region of SIA who were invading Judah and they struck each other down and the ammonites and the moabites tend against the inhabitants of the mountainous region of CA to destroy and annihilate them and when they finished with the inhabitants of CA they helped to destroy one another but when Judah came to the Watchtower of the Wilderness and looked toward the crowd there they saw their carcasses falling to the ground there were no survivors and these people came to carry off the spoil from them and they found among them in abundance of goods clothing and desirable articles which they stripped off for themselves until they could carry no more it took three days to carry off the spoil for it was abundant and verse 27 then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat in their head returned to Jerusalem with rejoicing for Jehovah had made them Rejoice over their enemies Jehovah fought for Jehoshaphat and the Israelites the men were singing the musicians were singing in the battlefield and Jehovah set in Ambush against these men they started fighting against each other and did you see how many survivors when we read verse 24 it said there were no survivors the last man standing and the second last man standing killed each other zero survivors millions of carcasses fall into the ground King Jehoshaphat and the Israelites never used any sword Jehovah did the fighting for them the instruction that Jehovah gave that we read in verse 17 you will not need to fight this battle take your position stand still and see the salvation of Jehovah in your behalf Brothers this is what we are going to do at the wall of Armageddon we are not going to use physical Force we the brothers and sisters we are not going to use physical force on God's enemy we will take our position stand still and see the salvation of Jehovah but the question is how can we prepare for this war how do we take our positions do we take our positions only during the Great Tribulation and the Wolf Armageddon the answer is we take our positions right now going into that war into the Great Tribulation so at this time there is need to have strong trust in Jehovah and in his Representatives both before and during the war of Armageddon but how can we strengthen our trust in Jehovah just like Jehoshaphat and the Israelites did back then there are three ways that we are going to discuss that will help us strengthen our trusts and prepare for this coming war of Armageddon the first way to strengthen our trust and prepare for the coming of Armageddon look to Jehovah for direction in all not some but all aspects of your life when we read that Bible account we saw that Jehoshaphat looked to Jehovah when he was told that a large crowd has come to fight against you we read in verse 3 that Jehoshaphat resolved to search for Jehovah shortly ahead of us Brothers a large crowd will come to fight against God's people in the Great Tribulation in fact the Book of Ezekiel says the nations of the earth will be like clouds covering the land can you imagine the clouds in the sky and they are just dropped to the land that's the attack that God's people will soon face in the coming Great Tribulation but we do not need to be afraid when that happens Jehovah will protect us just as he did with Jehoshaphat and the Israelites but how do we show now that we are preparing for the coming attack on God's people for this war of Armageddon three areas make decisions based on God's will not on your own understanding or my own understanding in other words before I make a decision I have to ask myself what does Jehovah say about this but how do I know what Jehovah says about certain aspects it leads us to the second area studying God's word the Bible and applying his teachings it's not just Bible reading but it's reading and meditating how can we illustrate reading and meditating we can equate it to someone who is eating what happens when you are eating your favorite McDonald's you too and then you swallow or if you are eating healthy foods maybe you're still true and swallow but what happens if you are eating your healthy meal you chew and then you spit it out are you going to get the nutrients in your body no you will not so the same applies to studying God's words we can equate chewing to reading and meditation to swallowing when we spend time meditating on what would have read that would increase our trust in Jehovah and the third area is to pray to Jehovah for guidance there is a very interesting scripture in the book of First Peter let us turn together First Peter chapter 4 and verse 7.

and see what the Bible says about praying especially now in the last of the last days First Peter chapter 4 verse 7. it reads but the end of all things has drawn close therefore be sound in mind and be vigilant with a view to prayers be vigilant with a view to prayers if you look at the not therefore Vigilant being alert being awake and some translations say being sober with a view to prayers but to do not from this scripture why should we be sober with a view to prayers the first party in verse 7 says the end of all things has drawn to us the war of Armageddon has drawn clothes so from this scripture you agree with me Brothers there is a strong link between where we are in the Stream of time and praying to Jehovah these two go hand in hand the more we go deeper into these last days the more sober the more Vigilant we have to become when it comes to our prayers the second way to strengthen our trust in Jehovah is to remain United with fellow worshipers of Jehovah when we read that account in second chronicles 20 4 5 and 20. we saw that the people of Judah and Jerusalem gathered together to inquire of Jehovah they came from all cities to gather and in verse 5 Jehoshaphat stood up in the congregation of Judah in Jerusalem can you imagine that situation all the cities all the people coming together to worship Jehovah three areas that will help us to remain United with Jehovah's people today regularly attend congregation meetings it's very important Jehoshaphat when he when the people were gathered together did you know that Jehoshaphat acknowledged Jehovah's kingship in the middle of the congregation his power his mightiness and he revealed Jehovah's Works in behalf of his people so that's how important it is to attend Christian meetings in fact if you carefully examine the Bible attending meetings we are in fact taking our stations before Jehovah that's how important it is to come to the meetings to the Kingdom Hall what a privilege Brothers to stand before Jehovah together it's a unique privilege that we have the second area is to share in the Kingdom preaching work that is done by God's people today we can share as fully as we can and then the third area is to keep on the watch with this point we are going in mind we are going to read Luke chapter 21 verse 34 through 36 one to see what Jesus Christ said Luke chapter 21 from verse 34.

but pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become way down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life and suddenly that day be instantly upon you as his name for it will come upon all those dwelling on the face of the whole Earth keep awake then all the time making supplication that we may succeed in escaping all these things that must occur and in standing before the son of man three things Jesus mentioned overeating heavy drinking anxieties of life if we are overwhelmed or weighed down by these three things what did Jesus say that day will be instantly upon us as a snail in other words the end of this system of things but interestingly did you see what Jesus said in verse 36 keep awake making supplication supplication is a form of Prayer but see at the end of verse 36 why we keep awake and make supplication so that we may succeed in escaping all these things what are these things the end of this world so do you see this scripture that we just read now is the same as we read in First Peter 4 7. there is a strong link between the end of this system where we are in the Stream of times to prayers the Bible emphasizes over and over again the need for you for me to talk to our Heavenly Father prayer is very important if we are preparing for the coming end of this system of things the third area or the third way to prepare for the coming war of Armageddon is to trust and Obey direction from Jehovah's Representatives when we read that Bible accounts we saw that in second chronicles 2014 the spirit of Jehovah Came Upon Josiah in the middle of the congregation and in verse 20 Jehoshaphat said to the people put Faith in Jehovah your Gods put Faith In His prophets and you will be successful it's very important Jehovah used his prophet to deliver his message to the people the same will happen today Jehovah God is going to use his Representatives on Earth today the channel that Jehovah is using is through what Jesus said in Matthew 25 the faithful and discreet's life this slave class is the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses and Jesus has delegated some authority to them the slave in turn has appointed Elders in each and every congregation do we love our elders do we love the governing body because these are the brothers that Jehovah is going to use the elders will receive the instructions during the Great Tribulation so if I'm not talking to an elder or if I don't like the elders am I going to survive the end because this is the channel that Jehovah is going to use in fact the November 2013 Watchtower said the best thing you can do to prepare for the future attack by governments on God's people is to strengthen your faith in God and help your brothers to do the same when they attack the Nations you must be completely convinced that Jehovah will save us at that time the direction that you receive from Jehovah's organization may seem strange or unusual but all of us must be ready to obey any instructions that we may receive whether we agree with them or not because obeying these instructions will save our lives that's how important it is to be United as Jehovah's people beloved Brothers there is no doubt that this God's love Armageddon is approaching quickly how do we know this because the Bible in Revelation 12 9 and 12 shows that Satan was ousted from the heavens he is very angry because his time is limited shortly ahead of us the devil is going to use the Nations the governments the kings of the earth to attack God's people we have no reason to fear this coming war of Armageddon because this attack on God's people is an attack on Jehovah himself we will not need to fight at this war this picture is depicting what will happen do you see the brothers there surrounded by enemy armies which are very angry but if you look up you see Jesus coming into fight in our behalf meaning we will not need to fight in this battle so the time for us to say the coming end as we see on the picture the end of this world is imminent we say we are in the last days yes that's correct but to be more precise we are now in the final part of the last days if we are to compare these days with what happens in a theatrical drama we are now seeing the final act on the world stage before the end comes and when the Great Tribulation comes we will follow the words in second chronicles 20 17.