Truth Magazine

By Fred Holthouser

In establishing the fact of whether a person or an organization is a true prophet or a false one, we must go to the Word of God. That should be the standard that we go by. There are three things that one must consider. First, we must consider whether the thing prophesied is true. Deuteronomy 18:22 tells us that if a prophet speaks and the thing that he has spoken does not come to pass, then that prophet has not spoken what the Lord has said and is a false prophet. Everything that a true prophet says must come true just like he spoke it without change or else we are not to pay any attention to such a person. We had better not follow such a one or we will lose our souls in hell.

Secondly, that which a true prophet speaks must promote true worship. That is to say that it will cause one to want to do God’s will and to be a member of the true church that we can read about in the pages of God’s word. In John 4:24, we find that God is a spirit and those that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Thirdly, whatever is prophesied must be in harmony with the revealed will of God. It must be in accordance with what we can find in the pages of God’s word. From 1917 to 1928, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society changed its doctrines or what it prophesied no less than 148 times. This can be clearly and simply proven from their own books of that time period. Now we must remember the three points just mentioned. It takes only one false prophecy to make a person a false prophet. It is not necessary to miss as many as are on the record of the Witnesses.

As can be seen from God’s own word, a true prophet must meet and pass all of these requirements or else be labeled a false prophet. Obviously, a person is not speaking the words of Jehovah if he changes again and again what he has prophesied. A prophet who changes his message many times surely must be false. We should try to teach them the truth of God’s word so as to save their souls from hell if they will let us. We must not let them take us into the error of their ways so that we will be lost also.

Let us look at the claim of the Watchtower and Tract Society to being the visible and legal representatives of God here on earth. Does not that have a familiar sound since the Catholic Church makes the same claim for themselves as do the Witnesses? They are both wrong according to the word of God. This claim is one of assumption and cannot be backed up by any Scripture that I know of. Maybe someone else does know of one that they will share with us, but I do not think that they have found one either. I do know that in Matthew 7:21 Jesus says that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.

If this failure of the fulfillment of prophecies can cause one to be labeled a false prophet, then what has the record of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society done for them? Just look at some of their books and magazines to see how many things they have taught and the outcome of those things that were taught. Not one of the prophecies that they have ever made has come true on the date set for them. And to think that they have the gall to say that they are the visible and legal representatives of God here on earth! In every case they have failed to meet and pass any of the three points that a true prophet must meet and pass in order not to be called a false prophet by God’s word. There is only one conclusion that can be drawn. That conclusion is that, just like the Catholic Church, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society are false prophets. They are to be avoided as blind guides lest they lead us into a burning hell to which all false ‘prophets will go.

Most of this information I got first hand from over twenty years as a Watchtower slave and by making a study of their literature. Other information was obtained by talking to old time Witnesses and seeing the books, magazines, and other things that they had on the Society. I used to have a lot of their old publications myself, but when I got sick they disappeared from out of my house somehow. I still have a few of them left, enough to show what they used to teach that they have now changed. What they once taught as the truth is not the truth to be taught anymore (see Jude 3). They do not want me to get my hands on any of their literature because they know what I do with it. It is used to teach people how false the Witnesses are, and to show people from the Bible that the Witnesses are false teachers.

People React Differently To Truth

In 1975 I went to Waverly, Tennessee to conduct a gospel meeting on the errors of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and to give what help I could to a lady there that had been studying with the Witnesses. She was a member of the Lord’s church, but she got so angry that she stormed out of the building and never came back for the rest of the meeting. She still wanted to believe in the doctrine of the Witnesses that there is no burning hell for the wicked to go to after the judgment. I asked her if she believed in everlasting life in heaven, and of course she said that she did. So I pulled a half dollar out of my pocket and asked her to pick up that half dollar and just take the head side but leave me the tail side lying there. She told me that you know I cannot do that. I told her neither could she accept the doctrine of life in heaven without accepting torment in hell. Just like the heads and tails of a coin go together, so do the doctrines of life in heaven and torment in hell that will continue forever. She got angry because she could not have her cake and eat it too. The reason I put this in this article is to show you the effect that a false teacher can have even on a member of the church. We should not wonder at this since Peter said in 2 Peter 2:18 that there were false teachers at work in the days of the Apostles.

Not everyone reacts as that lady did. While holding a meeting in Tompkinsville, Kentucky, I taught the same truths and a man came to the meetings that had been studying with the Witnesses. He was about to join that false organization. But he attended our meeting four nights; on the fourth night he obeyed the gospel and was buried with his Lord in baptism and was raised to walk in newness of life, all previous sins blotted out. The same thing happened in Mason, Ohio, only this time it was a lady and she had been studying with the Witnesses for quite some time. But after hearing the lessons for a week, she continued to study. It must have been a few months later that she obeyed the gospel in obedience to what the Lord said for her to do and stopped studying with the Witnesses. So you can see the effect that God’s word has on honest hearts in spite of the false teachers of any and all false religious organizations.

I have had brethren in Christ tell me that I was wasting my time in presenting these types of lessons. If that is the case I pray that God keeps on letting me waste my time as long as it will save one person from joining these false teachers and false prophets. Then it will be time well spent. In addition to the two that have already been helped to leave these false teachers alone, there was another lady in Newton, North Carolina, that I hope I also helped. My desire is to see them all obey the gospel for the forgiveness of their sins as found in Acts 2:38, to the glory of the God of heaven and to the saving of their souls.

Since I have left the New World Society or the Jehovah’s Witnesses, they have branded me as an evil servant (using Matt. 24:48). According to them, I do not even come in for a resurrection if I should die before the Lord comes again. The only way I could get life is to be able to hide until the battle of Armageddon was over. (Speaking of false teachings and false prophets, I will leave the battle of Armageddon for a later article; it will take several pages to discuss all that they teach on this one subject, and none of it is true according to God’s word.) My “sin” is that I reject false prophets! Let us not fear what men call us when we stand with truth and against error.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 2, pp. 39-40
January 20, 1983

By Irven Lee

The mother has a special place of responsibility in the home. Aged women are to teach “the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discrete, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Tit. 2:4, 5). This one passage does a wonderful job of outlining the role of the mother in the home.

Let us think of that mature woman who still has a responsibility to her daughters even though they may also be homemakers. The training should have started early while the daughters were young, but the teaching may continue because there are many important lessons that need to be deeply implanted in these young women. One way the older women may teach the young is by their own example of chastity, modesty, and good judgment in clothing, and in behavior. If there were more mothers with strong convictions, there would be more daughters with strong characters.

Who will turn our immoral and unchaste generation back to purity and sobriety? It is very evident that comparatively few older women have been training the young women in the way they should go. Divorce, unfaithfulness to the marriage partner, drunkenness, and a complete lack of spirituality have come to many young women in America. Such people are in no position to be the mothers of the next generation. Many do not want children because they are so in love with money and with worldliness. Are there those who can get to these young women with the Bible to instill the principles their mothers should have taught them? It will not be easy. Most of the ungodly will continue to sow to the flesh and to reap of the same (Gal. 6:7, 8).

To “guide the house” as a “keeper at home” is a special assignment to young women (1 Tim. 5:14). Eunice and Lois must have done their work well at home because Timothy was given the “unfeigned faith” and knowledge of the Holy Scriptures that helped make him the great servant of the Lord that he was (2 Tim. 1:5; 3:14, 15; Phil. 2:19-23). Is there a more important and satisfying work than guiding and training such excellent people to be the salt of the earth? The work of a good mother is so important that nothing should hinder or turn her aside from this glorious task.

It may seem to some that young mothers will naturally love their children, but very many young children are at home by themselves in summer. Some mothers forsake their husbands and children to live with companions to whom they have no legal right. The Lord knows that young women need to be taught to love their children, and to have a proper discretion and soberness of mind to be guides for these children. Mothers and fathers are accountable to God for what they make of their homes. It would be impossible to over emphasize the importance of the role of the father and of the mother in the home. The failures that are made in this realm could hardly be more evident. Worthy and successful parents are blessed, and they deserve our congratulations.

Many children are now growing up in the homes where there is only one parent. In some cases they are with one parent a while and then with the other. It is next to impossible for a good man alone to give his children all they need in the way of guidance and training. If the mother still sleeps at home but is hardly with the child this is only one degree better than her being gone into another state. She who bears children should guide the house. Money cannot replace a mother’s love, example, and companionship. Are there not many women in the labor market in the very period of life when they are so much needed at home?

The word mother was once considered to be a word with very great significance. As more women began using vulgar and blasphemous language, drinking alcohol, forsaking the home in search of money and notoriety, and becoming immodest and immoral, the special respect for women in general was lost. There are still some of the very best mothers, and their children love and honor them. We should all thank God for these virtuous women because it is the influence of His word that causes them to be so worthy of respect.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 2, p. 38
January 20, 1983

By Hoyt Houchen

Question: Did you ever hear of the doctrine that Christ came “in his glory” to judge men of “all nations” (Matt. 25) when Jerusalem fell in A.D. 70? It is also said that this was “the resurrection. ” Also, that while our spirits will somehow live beyond the grave, Jesus will not come back to raise our bodies and destroy the earth because all of the passages on that subject have “already been fulfilled in A.D. 70. “Does not such teaching destroy the “one hope” of Ephesians 4? Please comment.

Reply: This doctrine is new to me. Paul was familiar with a doctrine in his day that was taught by Hymenaeus and Philetus. They said that “the resurrection is past already” (2 Tim. 2:17, 18) so at least the two doctrines share one thing in common: they both deny a future resurrection. The claim that Christ’s judgment in Matthew 25 took place at the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 is false for several reasons.

In the first place, the coming of Christ at the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (Matt. 24:30, 31) was figurative. This is clearly seen when we examine the context. The disciples had asked in verse 3 of the chapter, “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world (the consummation of the age)?” Jesus proceeded to give them signs whereby they would know when these things would occur – the destruction of the temple, the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the Jewish nation. Parallel passages are Mark 13 and Luke 21. That the coming of Christ and the signs following that tribulation (Matt. 24:17-31) were figurative can be easily understood when we consider the description after Babylon’s fall. “For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine …. Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place, in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger” (Isa. 13:10-13). Notice that this is referred to as the coming of Jehovah (vv. 6, 9). Jehovah came and visited His wrath. The language is figurative and is almost an exact parallel to the description given in Matthew 24:29-31. Jehovah came when Babylon was destroyed (B.C. 539), and Christ came when Jerusalem was destroyed (A.D. 70). The language employed in both instances was figurative, the fate of each being described by a coming of Jehovah and a coming of Christ.

The future coming of Christ is literal and is not to be confused with His visitation which took place in A.D. 70. We note some things that will occur when Jesus comes again.

Christ will raise the righteous on the last day (Jn. 6:44), the event described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” That this will be a bodily resurrection is seen in 1 Corinthians where Paul states that the body is sown in corruption but raised in incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality (vv. 42-54). There is no evidence from the Scriptures or history that the bodies of the saints were raised at the destruction of Jerusalem. This did not occur then, but will occur when Jesus comes again.

The wicked will be raised at the coming of Christ (Jn. 5:28, 29). The resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked will take place at the same time. Premillennialists would do well to observe that there will be no intervening period of even one day between the two classes, much less one thousand years. Both classes will hear His voice and will come forth from the tombs. This will take place at the second coming of Christ. It did not take place when Jerusalem fell. Those who believe that the resurrection took place when Jerusalem fell in A.D. 70 would also do well to observe. Jesus said that the resurrection would take place on the last day. Over nineteen hundred years have passed since Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. That event was not the last day.

The future coming of Christ is when He will come “in his glory” to judge men of “all nations” (Matt. 25:31, 32). This did not take place when Jerusalem fell in A.D. 70. Should it be argued that this would be the judgment of only the people living at that time, we need only to turn to the Scriptures. They teach that others will be present at this judgement. The men of Ninevah (B.C. 850) will be there (Matt. 12:41). Jesus said that the men of Ninevah would stand up with this generation (the one in the time of Jesus) and would condemn it. The queen of the south (B.C. 1000) would rise up with this generation (v. 42). Tyre and Sidon (B.C. 330) will be present at the judgment (Matt. 11:21, 22). Sodom (B.C. 1900) will be at the judgment scene (Matt. 11:24). The nations here mentioned, along with the generation at the time of Christ, will be at the judgment. Those nations listed in the foregoing passages did not make their appearance when Jerusalem was destroyed. Matthew 25:32 says that all the nations will appear at the judgment. Since all nations did not appear at the judgement when Jerusalem was destroyed, Matthew 25:31, 32 cannot refer to that time. It has to be in the future.

The heavens and the earth are to be destroyed when Jesus comes again. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10). The earth will be “burned up.” The Greek word for “burned up” is katakaestai (second future passive of the compound verb katakaio) which means “to burn up, consume with fire” (The Analytical Greek Lexicon, p. 215). This cannot be interpreted figuratively because the word “earth” (Gr. ge) simply means “the earth, soil, land” (Souter, Lexicon to the Greek N. T., p. 55). It is in contrast to heaven (see Arndt and Gingrich Greek Lexicon, p. 156). The catastrophe described in 2 Peter 3:12 did not take place when Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70.

When the Scriptures are examined it is obvious that all references to the resurrection and the coming of Christ were nit fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The events described in Matthew 24:27-30, with reference to the coming of the Son of man, etc., were figurative as has been shown; whereas, the events which will transpire at the future coming of Christ will be literal. The Bible clearly teaches that several things will take place when Jesus comes again that did not take place when Jerusalem fell to the Romans. The application of eschatological events to the past is contrary to the word of God and is, therefore, a false doctrine. Even if we grant that all the books of the New Testament were written before A.D. 70 (which is doubtful), the fact remains that the references which are made to a future resurrection and coming of Christ in no way tie in with the historical events of Matthew 24 and its parallel passages. Indeed this doctrine does destroy the Christian’s one hope of a future resurrection and the expectation that Jesus is coming again (Eph. 4:4). It is a serious denial of Bible teaching concerning the future resurrection and the advent of Christ. Those who espouse such teaching should seriously reconsider this position in light of what the word of God teaches on these matters. All of us would do well to heed the admonition: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 Jn. 4:1).

Addena

It has just come to my attention that the doctrine dealt with above emerged in the Ohio Valley early in the 1970’s and was chiefly developed by Max R. King of Warren, Ohio. The manual of this movement has been a volume entitled The Spirit of Prophecy by Max R. King. For a detailed and further refutation of this error, our readers are referred to a book, Studies in Biblical Eschatology by Terry Varner. The book is a paperback, contains five chapters and a bibliography and sells for $4.50. It can be obtained from Guardian of Truth Bookstore, Box 88, Fairmount, Indiana 46928.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 2, pp. 36-37
January 20, 1983

By Mike Willis

One of the characteristics of our ungodly age is its corrupt speech. Those who, unlike preachers, are forced to enter the secular work force of America are forced to live and work with people who take the name of the Lord in vain, curse man and God, and otherwise use filthy speech. One of the privileges which I enjoy as a preacher is being somewhat isolated from the temptations to use filthy speech. Inasmuch as so many around us use filthy speech, we need to be reminded of what the Scriptures teach regarding the use of one’s tongue. The psalmist said, “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile” (Psa. 34:14). Again he wrote, “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me” (Psa. 39:1).

Taking The Lord’s Name In Vain

One of the many sins which is practiced today with the tongue is taking the Lord’s name in vain. One of the Ten Commandments was this: “Thou shaft not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Ex. 20:7). Men show disrespect for the Lord’s holy name when they use it in a profane manner. They use His name to curse men. They use it as a form of exclamatory speech. They use it to express their anger. They use it in a light manner. We need to remember that “holy and reverend is his name” (Psa. 111:9). God will not hold men guiltless who so abuse His name today.

Corrupt Speech

Paul wrote, “Let no corrupt communications proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Eph. 4:29). The word corrupt, from sapros, means “rank, foul, putrid, rotten, worthless, disgusting.” It reminds us of the rotting which occurs in spoiled food. Some men’s mouths are garbage cans.

As Paul continued to describe sinful forms of speech, he condemned “filthiness,” “foolish talking,” and “jesting.” The different kinds of filthy speech condemned here are as follows: (1) Filthiness (aischrotes): shameful, filthy or obscene speech; (2) Foolish talking (morologia): this is the talk of fools, men who have no respect for God (Psa. 10:7 – “his mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity”); (3) Jesting (eutrapelia): coarse jesting. This last word implies “the dexterity of turning a discourse to wit or humor; and lastly deceptive speech, so formed that the speaker easily contrives to wriggle out of its meaning or engagements (Eadie)” (Fritz Rienecker, A Linguistic Key To the Greek New Testament, Vol. II, p. 190).

At one time or another most of us have been forced to be around someone who has the kind of speech described by Paul. In the course of a conversation, they will twist someone’s words around to make something filthy or dirty out of what was intended to have no such reference or meaning in the beginning. With them, every innocent phrase can be made into something dirty. The humorous stories which they tell for entertainment and amusement generally are filthy. Their jokes are vulgar and dirty. Their jokes are shameful and obscene speech.

Paul also mentioned that some things were so shameful that Christians should not talk about them. He said, “For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret” (Eph. 5:12). Our society does not consider anything too shameful to speak about. The television talk shows use topics related to the most intimate relationships between a man and woman as entertaining conversation to be aired into millions of homes. There is nothing so intimate but that one of the television talk hosts is willing to conduct a program on it. Homosexuals, prostitutes, and other sexual perverts are invited to be present on the program and talk in intimate detail regarding their sexual conduct. If there was ever a nation who had lost the ability to blush, America would have to be it. We are like Israel, whom Jeremiah described saying, “. . . they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush” (6:15).

Wrath and Anger

Man frequently vents his anger through his speech. Paul described this kind of sinful speech as follows, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice” (Eph. 4:31). One of the kinds of anger which Paul described is thumos, that violent form of anger which explodes and then subsides, forgetting what harm it has inflicted on others in its expression. Most of us have seen men of uncontrolled spirits whose anger burned like wild fire in sage brush, burning furiously and hotly, and then quickly subsiding. In their anger they were guilty of clamor (krauge), shouting.

Sometimes men persuade themselves that their anger is uncontrollable. They say, “When I get mad, I just can’t stop shouting.” They know better than that; this is simply an excuse to prevent taking responsibility for the abusive speech which they use on others. Such people can be in the middle of ranting and raving speech directed toward others – in the middle of the kind of anger which they say that they cannot control – when the phone rings or someone knocks on the door. What happens to this uncontrollable rage then? With the gentleness of a lamb and mildness of Casper the friendly ghost, they answer the phone with a polite “Hello.” Christians who are guilty of abusive speech of this nature need to repent of their sin. They need to realize that such sins separate men from God and cause them to go to Hell. They need to manifest, not simply sorrow for their sin and the pain which it has inflicted on others, but godly sorrow which worketh repentance (2 Cor. 7:10).

Tattlers and Busybodies

In 1 Timothy 5:13, Paul condemned another sin of the tongue. In advising the younger widows to marry, Paul commanded the church not to enroll them on their permanent roll for support lest these women become idle and guilty of sinful speech. He wrote, “But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith. And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not” (1 Tim. 5:11-13). With the invention of the modern telephone, it has become a lot easier for idle women to wander from house to house and speak things which they ought not to speak. Many churches constantly have trouble among their membership because of women who are tattlers and busybodies, telling things which they ought not to tell and nosing into other people’s business. Some women know the intimate affairs of many households in the local church and go about telling their closest friends the choicest tidbits which they have most recently gathered.

Being tattlers and busybodies is not a sin on which women hold franchises.

Being tattlers and busybodies is not a sin on which women hold franchises. My wife reminds me that preachers sometimes are tempted in this direction as well. Gossip and rumor mongering should not characterize men who are striving to be men of God. Preachers luncheons should not be sessions in which the latest rumors which circulate,, among the brethren are aired.

Conclusion

The kind of speech which should characterize Christians is that which is with grace; it is edifying, giving grace to those who hear it. The tongue can be used to offer praise to God in song and in prayer. It can be used to proclaim the story of the gospel of God’s grace. With a soft word, it can turn away wrath (Prov. 15:1). A good word can make those with a heavy heart glad (Prov. 12:25).

Why would one who is professing to be a Christian and who participates in the public service of God’s worship want to use his tongue for sinful purposes, such as taking the name of the Lord in vain, coarse jesting, clamour, gossip and backbiting? We need to join with David of old in obeying the command to “keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile” (Psa. 34:14). “I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me” (Psa. 39:1).

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 2, pp. 34-36
January 20, 1983