Truth Magazine

By Bob Walton

Some of the most simple, yet most profound words ever uttered were those by Jesus in the parables. In these short, simple lessons, Jesus often taught on man’s relationship to his material possessions. Thus we wish to study three of these parables that call attention to this important matter of my relationship to my material possessions.

First of all, we are taught that “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof” (Psa. 24:1); that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights . . . ” (James 1:17). Thus, we are all stewards of God; we are simply “in charge” of those things which really belong to God, but have been given to us (by His grace) to use. Of course this should always be the beginning place of our thoughts concerning our material possessions. And how good God has been to each of us! We all have so many things to enjoy; more than any nation on earth, past or present. It is because of the abundance of these material possessions that solemnity is needed in deciding how we are to use them.

Jesus, in his teachings gives four different illustrations of what we can do with our goods as stewards of God.

First of all, the Master Teacher illustrates in the story of the prodigal son the possibility of wasting our goods. The young man of whom Jesus spoke (Luke 15:11-24) “wasted his goods with riotous living” (v. 13). So it is possible to simply waste that which we have. Whether it be money or talent, so many of us use them on “the things of this life.” Oh no, we are not immoral people; we are not like the heathen who says, “Let us satisfy every desire.” We are good people, yet we use all our resources, time, and talents on “things” with no time nor resources left for the Lord. In so doing, we have our affections on “the things of this earth” (Col. 3:1-4); we waste our good on self.

A second failure as stewards can manifest itself in our hoarding our goods. “Oh no, I don’t waste my goods, they were too hard to come by,” one says. But unless we are careful, we then become as the rich farmer (Luke 12:15-21); we hoard our goods. Jesus never talked about the hypothetical nor the exceptional; he talked about the typical. And here is a very typical example of “many a man’s” relationship to his possessions. We cannot condemn the rich farmer’s honesty nor his success; we can only condemn his blindness and selfishness in relationship to his stewardship of his material possessions. He was a success in the eyes of men; he was a fool in God’s sight. He was foolish because he did not realize that “a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:15). And so it is when all that I have becomes “mine” and God is left out of my plans.

A third situation, somewhat like the one above, yet different in many respects, is the story of Jesus of the one talent man who hid his talent (Matt. 25:14-30). This man’s defense was, “I haven’t embezzled, I haven’t squandered nor wasted, I haven’t used for self; I haven’t done anything with it! His was a defensive excuse. But the import of this parable was to teach that what we have, we must use for the Lord. And the retribution for the man who hid his talent should show the futility of such action; “thou wicked and slothful servant” (Matt. 25:26) was the pronouncement of the Lord on this man. But worst of all, this unprofitable servant was cast into “outer darkness” (Matt. 25:30) for his neglect in using that which he had.

But there is still another thing (and a very, very important one) which we can do with the stewardship of our possessions; we can use them to the glory and honor of God. Such was the reckoning of the five and the two talent men (Matt. 25:14-30). “These talents were given us by our master to use; therefore we will use them” was their philosophy of life. And both men were commended for using what they had. By faithfully discharging their duty, their pronouncement was “well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter ye into the joy of thy lord” (Matt. 25:21-23).

From these brief stories told by the Master Teacher, let us first of all learn that the Lord is the giver; and He is indeed generous to every one of us today. And we need also to learn that with these manifold blessings comes opportunity and responsibility. And most of all, we need to always remember that our use, abuse, misuse, or disuse of our possessions will determine where we spend eternity.

Truth Magazine, XX:10, p. 9
March 4, 1976

By John McCort

The Mormons tell people that the Book of Mormon is the word of God just like the Bible. They leave the impression that the Book of Mormon is nothing more than an extension of the Bible and that both can and should be believed as being the word of God. (They actually feel the Book of Mormon to be superior to the Bible since they believe many precious and important parts of the Bible were supposedly deleted from the Bible by the Catholics.) The simple truth of the matter is that the Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible in many areas. Both books cannot be true. At least one of them is a fraud.

The Book of Mormon was supposedly written before the time of Christ. A statement, dating about 147 B. C., is found in the Book of Mormon, “And they were called the church of God, or the church of Christ, from that time forward” (Mosiah 18:17). In about 33 A. D. Jesus said, “Upon this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18). Jesus did not establish his church until the day of Pentecost, 33 A.D. How then can the Book of Mormon say that the church was established 147 B. C.? One of them is wrong.

The Book of Mormon states, “So long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land-for thus were all the true believers of Christ, who belonged to the church of God, called by those who did not belong to the church” (Alma 46:13, 14, p. 310, 73 B. C.). The Bible states, “And that the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (Acts 11:26). The statement made in the Book of Mormon predates the statement in Acts by 100 years. Both cannot be right.

With reference to the darkness at the crucifixion of Christ, the Bible says, “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour” (Matt. 27:45; Mk. 15:33). The Book of Mormon contains a completely contradictory account of the same event, “Three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel” (I Nephi 19:10, p. 42, 588-570 B. C.). Three days of darkness is quite a bit different from three hours of darkness.

The Bible states that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea. “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea … ” (Matt. 2:1). The Book of Mormon states that Jesus was born in Jerusalem. “And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers . . .” (Alma 7:10). The Mormons argue that Bethlehem was a mere suburb of Jerusalem and therefore does not contradict the Bible on this point. The Mormons fail to take into consideration several key points. Jerusalem was a walled city and thus Bethlehem would have had to be inside the walls of the city. When Jesus traveled by donkey from Jerusalem to Bethany it is said, “And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany” (Matt. 21:17). Bethany was only two and one half miles outside of Jerusalem. Bethlehem was seven miles outside of Jerusalem. If Bethany maintained a separate identity, how much more so of Bethlehem.

The Bible says, “And that repentance and remission of sins be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). The Book of Mormon states, “Repenting of your sins . . . willing to take upon you the name of Christ by baptism” (1 Nephi 31:13). “Yea blessed are they who shall … be baptized, for they shall … receive the remission of their sins … Behold baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling of the commandments unto the remission of sin.” Again, the Book of Mormon supposedly predates the New Testament. Not one thing was preached, commanded, or prayed for in the name of Christ prior to the day of Pentecost after Christ’s resurrection; nor was one saved by baptism in his name prior to that time. Repentance and remission of sin were preached first from Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, 33 A.D.

The doctrine of latter day revelation teaches that God continues to reveal new truths through modern day prophets. Thus, what those prophets teach are to be received as equal authority with the Book of Mormon. Brigham Young, the successor of Joseph Smith to the presidency of the Mormon Church, taught that Jesus was not begotten of the Holy Spirit. “When the virgin Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten him in his own likeness. He was not begotten by the Holy Spirit” (Brigham Young, “Journal of Discourses”, pp. 769-770). This contradicts what the Bible teaches on the matter. “Now the birth of Jesus was on this wise. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit . . . Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife: for that which has been conceived, is of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 1:19, 20).

There are many places where “inspired” Mormon literature contradicts itself. There are four , main documents which are considered by the Mormons as being inspired. The Book of Mormon, Doctrines and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price, and The Book of Abraham are all considered to be the word of God. Major, blatant contradictions between these documents would disprove the books as being inspired. For example, the Book of Mormon states, “Yea blessed are they who shall . . . be baptized, for they shall . . . receive the remission of their sin . . . Behold baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling of the commandments unto the remission of sin” (3 Nephi 12:2; Moroni 8:11). The Doctrines and Covenants state, “All who fumble themselves . . . and truly manifest that they have received the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into his church” (Doctrines and Covenants 20:37). In one instance baptism is unto the remission of sin. In another inspired (?) document it states that after a person has received the remission of sins they are baptized to get into the church. Both statements cannot be true.

The Doctrines and Covenants contradicts itself on the subject of the Lord’s Supper. In one place it states, “That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, nether meet in the sight of your father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him. And, behold, this should be wine, yea, pure wine of the grape of the vine, of your own make” (Doctrines and Covenants 89:5). Doctrines and Covenants also says, “For, behold, I say unto you, that it mattereth not what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory” (Doctrines and Covenants 27:2).

Brigham Young, the “inspired” successor to Josph Smith, contradicted the Book of Mormon on the birth of Christ. Brigham Young stated, “When the virgin Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten him in his own likeness. He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost” (Brigham Young, “Journal of Discourses”, pp. 769-770). The Book of Mormon teaches, “And behold he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God” (Alma 7:10, 11).

There are many other doctrines taught in the Book of Mormon which are completely contradictory to the Bible. Space will not permit a detailed expose of every Mormon contradiction. These examples should be sufficient proof to demonstrate the fraudulent nature of the Book of Mormon and other spurious Mormon literature.

Truth Magazine, XX:10, p. 7-8
March 4, 1976

By Denver Niemeier

We read in Rev. 3:20 the following, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me.” Jesus here pictured a door separating him from man, a door that has to be opened by man in order for Christ to come to that man. All blessings that God has provided for man through his grace are in Christ (Eph. 1:3). If a man desires those blessings, he will have to open the door that Christ is knocking upon. Through his word, God has given man the necessary instruction to open the door. God has placed on that door a combination lock on man’s side that will have to be worked in order for it to swing open.

A combination lock is one that has a dial on which are numbers or letters, and is designed to open when a prescribed series of numbers or letters is turned to on the dial. At that time, the tumblers will release and one will have access to whatever has been secured or fastened by that lock. For example, a lock of that type is used to secure the door of a vault or safe in which are stored one’s valuables. The manufacturer arranged the lock to open when the dial was turned to the following numbers: 5-1-8-3-9. That lock will not open until all of those numbers have been turned to in the right order. If a person sought to open that door by just using some of the numbers such as 5-1-8 and then stopped, he could not open the door. The same would be true if he used all of the numbers but used them in the wrong order.

Man is a sinner (Rom. 3:23). God has the power to forgive man of his sin and therefore has the right to set forth the requirements that man must meet in order to obtain that forgiveness; thus, the combination has been designed by God which man must work in order to open the door of our study.

In John 6:45 Jesus said, “Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” Just like number 5 is the first number in the combination illustrated above, so is learning of God’s will for man the first movement that must be made in working the combination of the lock God has placed on man’s side of the door. Every instruction man needs for his soul’s salvation has been provided by God through the scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16-17), and by studying and searching them man can thus listen to God.

Not only must man hear, but accepting in faith God’s will is required of man. This then is the second movement in God’s combination. We are told in Rom. 10:17 that faith comes by hearing God’s word. Thus, learning of God and Christ, and what they have provided for man and believing what the scriptures teach concerning them, the second movement is made (Heb. 11:6; John 8:24).

Please notice our combination of figures given above, 5-1-8-3-9. Suppose one turned the dial to 5 then 1 and endeavored to open that safe. Would it come open?

You know it would not because the entire combination had not been worked. The same is true if one stops at faith and tries to open the door of Revelation 3:20.

The third movement of God’s combination is repentance. The necessity of this is set forth many times in the scriptures (Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30; 2 Peter 3:9). Some mistakenly think that sorrow is repentance. Others think reformation is repentance. While godly sorrow is involved in repentance (2 Cor. 7:10), and John said there would be “fruits meet for repentance,” Jesus through the lesson given in Matt. 21:28-29 shows that a change of will is involved also. When one who has heard and believed the gospel of Christ, with godly sorrow determines to turn from the way he has been going, to follow God’s way and is willing to bow his will to God’s, he will then work the third movement of God’s combination.

Jesus said in Matthew 10:32, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” Paul wrote in Rom. 10:9-10 “that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” This we find the eunuch did in Acts 8:37. Thus when man does this, he then works the fourth movement in God’s combination. We note again that in our example combination of 5-1-8-3-9 that if the combination was worked through 3 the door would still not open. So it is with our door of Rev. 3:20 if we stop at confession.

Baptism is the fifth movement of God’s combination. The Bible shows there is a going down into water (Acts 8:38), a burial (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12), and a coming up out of the water (Acts 8:39), and a planting together in the likeness of his death and a likeness of his resurrection (Rom. 6:5). The reason for doing this according to Acts 2:38 is for the remission of sins, or to have “sins washed away” (Acts 22:16). Peter says, in 1 Pet. 3:21, that it saves us, as Jesus also taught in Mark 16:16. The Lord adds those thus saved to the church (Acts 2:47). Paul said in Gal. 3:27, it puts us in Christ where, as mentioned before, we have access to all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3). This fifth movement then will open the door and Christ “will come in and sup.”

A combination lock will only open when the right combination is worked in the right way. Have you worked God’s combination and opened the door for Christ? If not, remember “Now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

Truth Magazine, XX:10, p. 6-7
March 4, 1976

By Max A. Burgin

This report comes to you from Lismore in the extreme northeast of N.S.W. where we have been for six weeks. This is a very prosperous city of 25,000. in some of Australia’s most beautiful country midway between the ocean and the mountains, being twenty miles from each. The city proper is in a basin which floods almost every year. The record flood of 1974 saw almost 30 feet of water over the caravan park where we are at this very moment; and the business area was under six to eight feet. The “ordinary” floods are up to eight feet or less, but in my opinion are still “a complete wash-out” but those here “for life” accept it as another day.

The church here consists of 16 members and 5 children, including ourselves, and meets in the City Band Hall on Sunday mornings; all other services are in the Squires’ home. At the moment these are on Sunday and Tuesday evenings. Another class is also being arranged to cater for the development of the children and the young Christians. Plans are also under way to purchase a meeting place of their own, however there remain a few difficulties which make it impossible to determine the final outcome of these plans.

We are now beginning a regular teaching article in the local newspaper as well as advertising the meetings etc. I have made contact with several people I’ve known from past visits and set up studies with two, one of which continues. Many things are against the work here just now: two of the women have just had babies and live 25 miles out of town, another member lives about 30 miles out in another direction and twice have been held up by flooding. The majority of the members are young and / or very weak Christians. On top of this, the approaching holiday season makes for a very unstable time. For these reasons we will most likely stay longer than three months, or return at a later date.

Since my last report I have preached in two missions. The first was at Mackay Qld. at the close of our work there when Rolly McDowell and 1 shared the preaching. Prior to that effort we letter-boxed 3,000 invitations, advertised each day for two weeks on the radio, including a live interview, which resulted in nine visitors, three of whom returned at least once. Others were contacted who did not attend and studies continue with a total of five people. At Bundaberg I preached in a seven-day mission on our way from Mackay to Lismore; 19 people visited and 14 of them had not previously attended. Some returned several times but I am not sure of the number.

Last week I returned to Bundaberg for three days to be together with Rolly McDowell and Leslie Diestelkamp, prior to Leslie’s leaving the country. Profitable hours were spent discussing the work in many places and how best our time could be used in each.

We are happy to report an increase in support of $39.31 ($50 U.S.) which comes to us from Brother and Sister Howard McGuire, 8072 21st Street, Westminister, California 92683. This makes our support average $728.26 per month against a budget of %750. A few weeks ago we also received $50 U.S. from Brother and Sister Harris Dark which was much appreciated and we are thankful.

In spite of some minor health problems resulting in seven days in bed on my part, we thank the Lord continually for our well-being and pray always for you brethren who have so generously made the necessities and comforts of life available to us.

May you all be aware of God’s richest blessings strive together for the salvation of lost souls.

Truth Magazine, XX:10, p. 5-6
March 4, 1976