Truth Magazine

By Larry Ray Hafley

A proper presentation of the person and a correct declaration of the work of Christ will preclude numerous doctrinal errors. The sufficiency and superiority of Jesus in His character and mission were the antidote to first century heresy. The nature of neither Christ nor error has changed, therefore, the medicine used by the holy apostles and prophets will cure similar doctrinal ills and evils today.

Cases In Point

(1) When the Docetists of John’s day, in their hatred of the body as a prison house, denied the fleshly form of Jesus, John declared a Christ “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which our hands have handled” (1 Jn. 1:1). All who were disposed to despise such a fact were described as deceivers and antichrists. “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God” (1 Jn. 4:2). The human nature of Christ is sufficient to condemn present day cult claims and creeds as it was in John’s day.

(2) When the churches of Galatia were hindered regarding the works of the law as essential to righteousness, Paul presented a Christ who redeemed all men “from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). Rather than the law, righteousness comes through the faith, the gospel system, ‘of Jesus Christ. It is not the law of Moses but the faith of Jesus. This justification given in promises to Abraham is received by faith in Christ. To prevent a frustration of the grace of God in our day, the revelation of Jesus must yet be the declaration of studied minds and sincere mouths.

(3) Parallel wise, when certain Hebrew Christians were ready to make themselves a captain and return to the fleshpots of Judaism, the Hebrew author cited the five stage supremacy of Christ. One, his ‘eternal appointment to the heirship of all things in the moral and material universe. Two, the creation of the worlds by Him. Three, His continued might in upholding all things by the word of His power. Four, the redemptive work which He accomplished by Himself, the purging of our sins. Five, His subsequent exaltation and glorification as He sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high (Heb. 1:2-4). Over and above Abraham as founder, Moses as lawgiver, and Aaron as High Priest, Christ doth reign. These facts as to the person and work of Christ repudiate and invalidate doctrinal errors on all sides relative to the place and nature of the kingdom of God.

(4) When false teachers in Corinth denied a resurrection from the dead, Paul faced them with the resurrection of Christ. Again, it is the knowledge of Jesus that refutes the . ignorance of men. All the accomplishments of the gospel are downed if Christ be not raised, but appeal to that keystone truth is the cornerstone that crushes the stumbling stone of the Corinthian errorists.

(5) When the Colossian Christians were introduced and seduced to the worship of angels, Paul revealed the dominance and preeminence of Christ. As Ephesians shows the perfection of the church, so Colossians reveals the completeness of the Christ. There is no realm of insight, understanding, or knowledge where Christ does not present the ultimate glory. To the riddle of earthly death and the reality of heavenly life, Christ provides wisdom and completeness or perfection, so let no man spoil, corrupt, or beguile you from Him who is the head, even Christ.

Conclusion

Were every page of the New Testament to be filled with the vain repetition of “Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus,” it would not emphasize the Lord Jesus more fully than it does. There is a lesson to be gleaned. Learn of Him, live in Him, and in that wisdom and life, you may off-set and upset every form of falsity. The reason Christ’s person and work are not more frequently used to destroy every false way, every false deed and doctrine, is because His person and work are not as familiar in our hearts and lives as they ought to be. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.”

Truth Magazine XVIII: 4, p. 50
November 28, 1974

By Cecil Willis

(NOTE: From 1953-1957 I lived in Indianapolis, and preached upon radio stations WISH and WIBC, both of whom required that a manuscript be prepared. Thus in those four years, I wrote about 1600 pages of manuscripts, none of which has ever been published, except for about 250 mimeographed copies which were mailed out weekly as requested by radio listeners. As time necessitates, and as space permits, I intend to print a few of these radio lessons. Luther Blackmon says that “originality is the art of forgetting where you got it.” 1 am sure that I borrowed material from many sources. If 1 now could identify the sources, I would cite them. Occasionally I used someone else’s manuscript, with very little change. These 1 have sought to delete from the ones I intend to publish. However, I might let one slip through inadvertently. Thus, brother, if I used one of your radio sermon manuscripts, it would be appreciated if you would not sue me for plagiarism. Just write me, and an apology will be forthcoming. There are several quite long series on first principle type lessons. Having received much help from many sources, perhaps these lessons might be useful to some young preacher somewhere who is now and then pressed for a radio manuscript. If so, I feel quite sure that the brethren from whom 1 borrowed them will not mind if you also use them. I think I wrote all of the ones that I will print but if I should let one that I borrowed slip through, 1 ask your apology in advance.-Cecil Willis)

In this lesson, we are to study “The Church In Sacred History.”. By sacred history, we mean the Bible. The Biblical record of church history is the only infallible record we have. There can be no mistake in the record in the Bible, for this was written by the Spirit of the living God. He who in the beginning brought order out of chaos is speaking to us today in the Inspired Record. To reject His Record is to reject God. To question or doubt the wisdom revealed in the Bible is to question the wisdom of God.

The stream of Christianity has been corrupted by theological speculations for almost twenty centuries. We should never judge a fountain by the stream flowing from it, if the stream has gone through trashy places and has been defiled. So in studying Christianity one should never be content to drink of all the corruption that has been added through the years. We should all go back to the fountainhead and drink of its undefiled purity. Let us notice the church as it appears in sacred history.

Sprit-Guided

The church of the first century was a Spirit-guided institution. In determining the matter and form of the Gospel proclamation the apostles could have made no mistakes, for they spoke “as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Through the wisdom given them by the Holy Spirit, they were able to settle the differences between the Jew and Gentile, edify the church through spiritual gifts, interpret the Scriptures, direct the movements of the evangelists, and disclose the future. Their views on any one subject did not contradict their views on any other subject, for the Holy Spirit does not contradict Himself. The apostles went forth confirming the great salvation which Jesus began to speak in the great commission. God accompanied them with gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. Their words were confirmed by miraculous demonstrations. By the Holy Spirit which was given them in the baptismal power, they cast out demons, raised the dead, and did many other wonders to confirm their message. It should also be remembered that the miraculous presence and power of the Holy Spirit were peculiar to the Apostolic age. The only Divine testimony we have that such supernatural phenomena ever existed is in the New Testament. In later years facts and fables were so mixed in the tales about miraculous demonstrations that human wisdom must turn back to the inspired record to separate them. As nature began in a miracle, and now stands in the clear light of science, so did Christianity begin in these superhuman phenomena, and moves under the guidance of the Divine law. If anyone should claim miraculous power now, he must show his supernatural credentials. The modern claims to miraculous powers, if the Bible be true, originated with a diabolical instead of a Divine power.

Well Organized

Because the Holy Spirit guided the early church, it was a well organized church. Of greatest importance in this consideration was its organic simplicity. All Christians were kings and priests unto God. The work of the church was divided among the servants of Christ, but there was no ecclesiastical ladder of prominence to tempt an unholy ambition. The only New Testament prototype of modern ambitious ecclesiastics was Diotrephes, who loved to have the pre-eminence. Each local congregation of the Lord had its elders and deacons. There was no elder or bishop over many congregations, but many elders or bishops in each congregation. each congregation was independent. They were not formed together in an unholy alliance to usurp the authority of the Son of God. The wisdom of the Holy Spirit in such an arrangement is easily seen. If trouble arose in one congregation, it would in no way affect the order and peace of another congregation.

No Speculative Theology

Then it is easy to notice the absence of speculative theology in the first century preaching. These men were so busy preaching Christ and Him crucified that they had no time to write out a system of Divinity. They obeyed Paul’s admonition to Timothy to preach the word. They did not give themselves to foolish questions, and words that engendered strife. Paul, Peter, Silas, Philip, and John had one sermon-Christ and his kingdom. No reader of the New Testament is so dull or negligent as to fail to see that this is true. The oppositions of science (falsely so-called) gave these gospel preachers no worry at all. They condemned even the slightest tendency for Christians to be divided into different camps, wearing different human names. These men preached, indeed, the Gospel.

A United Church

Further it is easy to see that sacred history discloses a united church. “The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul.” Such marvelous unity brought immeasurable results. The world about the New Testament church was convinced that such religion was worthwhile. Even the untold persecutions which fell upon the Apostolic church failed to split the ‘ranks of Christians. Their allegiance to the Captain of their salvation is unsurpassed. There was no discrepancy between their faith and their practice. What they believed, they did and taught. We should try to follow them in this principle. When the world sees a great variance between what the church preaches and what its members practice, there must be many evil effects on the Lord’s cause. Let us not see a letdown of this doctrinal and moral purity in the practice of church members. In denominational churches, one not only sees a disparity between their doctrinal and moral practice, but one sees both a moral and a doctrinal letdown. Such a letdown can only produce evil. Too many sinners are using the lukewarm or immoral members of the church as an excuse for their not obeying the Gospel. The early church was one in faith and in practice.

Growth of the Church

For several years the Apostles remained in the city of Jerusalem preaching the Gospel there alone. After the persecution that arose upon the stoning of Stephen, the members of the church numbering thousands were all scattered abroad, except the Apostles. Where they went, they preached the word. Congregations were established in nearby and in distant cities. With the reception of the Gentiles into tie fold in Acts the tenth chapter, there began a concerted effort to carry the Gospel to earth’s remotest bounds. Paul and Barnabas, later ‘Silas and John Mark; were sent on evangelistic journeys. The church went forward from conquest to ‘conquest. Converts multiplied with amazing rapidity. The early church was evangelistic-minded. Three thousand, five thousand, a great company of the priests, and millions of others were reached by the close of the first century. “Country after country fell before it-Judea, Samaria, Phoenicia, Cyprus, Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece, the Roman Empire, Babylon, Arabia, and Ethiopia. Before the death of the last apostle, the whole world had heard the wonderful proclamation; and all this without armies, without steamships and railroads, without printing presses and libraries, without colleges and favoring Christian governments-all this in the midst of heathenism and against the bloodiest opposition” (Everest). The apostles and early preachers established churches and then revisited them either in person or in their epistles. Truly their line went “out through all the earth; and their words to the end of the world” (Psa. 19:4). They were uniform in their preaching on the first principles of the oracles of Christ. They all taught the same answer to the question: “What must I do to be saved?” Their teaching on the laws of induction into the kingdom was uniform. They all claimed to be members of the church of Jesus Christ upon the earth, and living in hope of eternal life beyond. “Could we but reproduce the church of the first century in spirit and power; with our millions of money an& millions of men, and with our peaceable access to almost all tribes and nations of the earth, how soon would all the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (Everest).

The picture of the New Testament church in sacred history closes with inspired warnings against a great falling away from the faith. According to the prophetic announcements, the departure would begin among the elders of the church. During the declining years of John, the last living apostle, the leaven of iniquity was already at work. Certain men such as Diotrephes were ambitiously seeking preeminence. John was making a last heroic stand against the oncoming forces of apostasy. The aged apostle’s remonstrations against the doctrines of the Nicolaitans, Gnostics, and Balaamites were barely heard in a world filled with the sounds of false prophets. This is the true picture of the church in sacred history.

Truth Magazine XVIII: 4, pp. 51-53
November 28, 1974

By Ronald D. Howes

The Liar and False Prophet Joseph Smith has variously been described as a “nut,” a `fanatic, ” a “hypocrite,” and almost every other abusive name that could be put on any one person. I think a better description would be genius. Joseph Smith Jr., as he liked to be called, the seer and revelator of the Latter Day Saints had humble beginnings among an eccentric family known for their severe rainbow chasing complex. Eccentricity, though, is often just misguided genius, which Joseph Smith apparently had.

It took brains to work up a system of religion that would be complex enough to have an aura of “divine mystery” about it, and yet simple enough in its basics to be digestible by the common people. Mormonism is perhaps the most colorful invention by man since Catholicism. It is replete with not one, but two distinct priesthood s, secret rituals, temple worship and strange and mysterious books, apparently sent from God for the deliverance of man. This is how the people of the world view Mormonism and in an age where people are sitting around like the Athenians (Acts 17:21) to “hear some new thing,” Mormonism fills the bill.

Sole credit for this system of religious-socialism however does not reside on Smith’s not-so-humble shoulders alone. A former “Campbell it e,” Sidney Rigdon, is probably responsible for the socialistic features of Mormonism and due credit needs to be given to the guiding light of organization provided by the great Brigham Young. But when it comes to imagination, no one holds a candle to Joseph Smith Jr., prophet, seer and revelator for the “Latter Day Saints.”

After stormy origins, and failures in New York and eventually Missouri and Illinois, resulting in the violent death of the prophet, Mormon leaders wisely decided to transplant the Saints to a new soil. After a mammoth exodus to Utah, the new religion was given a time to rest, lick its wounds, and through a system of polygamy produce new members of the faith in great quantities.

Unfortunately we can not spend all this article on Mormon History. There are several good books for the careful student of this subject to use Mormonism Exposed by G. B. Hancock, The Myth of Mormon Inspiration by William Brodie Crouch, Elbert A. Smith wrote Restoration and A Study in Prophecy). Also, there was a series of articles printed in American Heritage magazine in October and December of 1962. The Mormons themselves publish official histories of their organization. There is also a very interesting little piece in the Little Masonic Library, Vol. II, on the relationship between Mormonsim and Freemasonry, which you may be able to borrow from a Masonic friend.

This study will refer repeatedly to 3 different Mormon Publications, which are available at any Stake Center bookstore for 75c a copy, and are well worth the investment. The articles of Faith by Apostle James E. Talmadge, the D c& C or Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price (both contained in one volume) and the Book of Mormon. Buy the paperback editions and save yourself some money.

Talmadge And The Articles Of Faith

James Talmadge was one of the 12 apostles of the Mormon Church and his word is authoritative. He makes several statements about the Bible and the Book of Mormon which ought to be read and accepted at the start of every study with a young Mormon Elder or Latter Day Saint friend.

“. . .this book (the Book of Mormon) is entitled to the most thorough and impartial examination …. it claims, even demands the same; . . . The question of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon is therefore one in which the world is concerned. The Latter Day Saints base their belief in the authenticity of the book on the following proofs:

1. The general agreement of the B of M with the Bible in all related matters. (emphasis mine rdh)

2. The fulfillment of ancient prophecies accomplished by the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon.

3. The strict agreement and consistence of the Book of Mormon with itself.” (emphasis mine rdh)-(Talmadge, The Article of Faith, p. 273).

There are two other proofs alluded to, but these will suffice for this study. Others have dwelt on the other proofs, the testimony of archeology to the Book of Mormon, and the truth of it’s prophesies, which this author will not have space or opportunity to consider. They are important and should not be neglected by the serious student. Mormons base their belief in the authenticity of the Book of Mormon on these items listed by TALMADGE. It is our design to take the first and third of his propositions to task and show the utter failure of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith’s writings to measure up to even TALMADGE’s great expectations for them. First:

Does the Book of Mormon Agree with the Bible in all related matters????? The following list of references are to page and verse in the Book of Mormon.

17:19 – “he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them . . . . as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come.”

contradicts: Eph. 3:4-5, and 1 Pet. 1:10-11. The N.T. says that the mysteries of God could not have been known in times of old, and that are only known through the Revelation of Jesus Christ. In Ephesians, Paul says that these mysteries were not made known unto the sons of man in other generations. Joseph Smith disagrees. He says any time.

13:22 & 62:26 – both of these references contain the account of non-Levites, the descendants of Ephraim & Manasseh, offering Sacrifices to God–apparently with his support and approval.

contradicts: One of the basic principles of the Law of Moses – that only Levites could offer sacrifice. See Num. 16:1-35 for God’s attitude toward non-Levites offering Sacrifice. It does not exactly sound like general agreement.

169:17 – . . .And they were called to. . .the Church of Christ from that time forward and whosoever was baptized. . .was added to his church. Here is in existence and people were being added to it in 147 B.C.; the dates are given at bottom of the Page.

contradicts: Jesus must have been a little inaccurate when he said in Matt. 16:16-18 “I will build my church.” He was about 170 years too late; according to Joseph Smith, it had already been built.

212:10 – here according to the Book of Mormon, Christ is born at Jerusalem; Joe made a little slip, because Mary was in Bethlehem at the time.

310:15 – around 73 B.C. there were Christians in the New World. Why then does Luke say that the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch around 40 A.D. Someone is 123 years off base. Either Joe or Luke. How about that Talmadge?

394:20, 27 – according to this it was dark over the New World for three days. Why then does Matthew try and deceive us (27:45) by saying it was dark over the earth for 3 hours?

Suffice it to say that the point is well proven. The Book of Mormon and the Bible contradict each other time and again. According to Talmadge’s own proofs then, the Book of Mormon is not the authentic word of God.

Truth Magazine XVIII: 3, pp. 45-46
November 21, 1974