People will believe almost ANYTHING! Hitler proved it. You may not have believed Hitler's lies — but how do you know what you believe is the truth? What is the REAL SOURCE AND AUTHORITY of your beliefs? STUDY this article — check up on yourself, and come to KNOW that you KNOW the Truth!
DURING the battle for Kwajalein, in World War II, United States soldiers and marines were shocked to see Japanese soldiers and civilians alike committing mass suicide! By scores and hundreds they plunged over cliffs, exploded hand grenades in their stomachs, or discharged rifles into their own mouths, rather than permit themselves to be taken prisoner. Why such senseless suicide? They had been taught to believe a lie! They FIRMLY BELIEVED if captured, they would be subjected to horrible tortures beyond imagination, and worse still, "brainwashed" by the "foreign white devils" into rejecting their religion and even losing their hope of eternity! Did those who taught them KNOW they were teaching a lie? Certainly.
The Darkness of This World
People believe what they are taught! The human is not, of himself, a RATIONAL being! Rather, as a little baby, he openly and freely admits into his little mind any and everything that is taught to him! Let's look at a few world-wide examples and come to UNDERSTAND about our own minds. In India today, where the average life expectancy is 29 years of age, millions of cattle roam the village streets, munching contentedly on the shopkeepers vegetables, dropping offal in the streets, or lazily chewing their cud on the same streets with dozens of bloated, blue-black bodies of the dead and dying. Why? Why, because to the Indian, their cows are sacred! In the Western world of the "enlightenment" of Christianity, we wag our heads in incredulous disbelief and pity toward these ignorant millions! We know that millions of such hapless people are firmly believing in a lie. In tiny Laos, focal point of many a threatened international squabble, thousands of helpless little infants die yearly from malnutrition and starvation. Why? Because their mothers believe a lie. It is still commonly accepted belief among Laotian mothers that they should fast for the first 20 days after their infants are born. Because of this prolonged abstention from food, most of the mothers lose their milk. Nearby, munching grass contentedly, may be dozens of Laotian cattle. But to the Laotian, it is a sin to drink milk. Therefore, denied both their own mother's milk, and, through superstition and religion, unable to drink the milk of the cows — the Laotian babies continue to die.
Take A Look At History
If you were to pick up a history book written by a German, and another written by an Englishman, and still another written by an American concerning certain aspects of World War II, you would be shocked. History classes, as being taught in West German colleges and high schools vary widely from courses being taught in Britain and the United States. Mr. T. H. Tetens says one of the appalling facts is that there exists, today, in Germany, a whole new generation of youngsters who simply DO NOT BELIEVE the Nazis ever put to death a single Jew! Walking the streets of western German cities and villages today are hundreds of thousands of teenagers who firmly believe the Nazi concentration camps were a manufactured farce of American Zionists, and were never, in reality, operated by the Nazis in exterminating multiple millions of helpless Jews, and peoples of many other enslaved races. Yes, MILLIONS of people believe in outright lies! Can we get the point? There are huge bodies of peoples on this earth with whom you violently disagree! They may be political bodies, racial bodies, religious bodies. To YOU, some of their beliefs may be sheer insanity. Yet, you may never have looked into, carefully sifted, thoroughly analyzed, studied or researched into these beliefs to which you are so violently opposed. And, what is probably far more important, you may never have carefully studied, researched, and reviewed WHY you believe the things you do! Could YOU have believed any lies? Are you being honest with yourself?
It's A Lying World
Ever buy a used car? Ever play the shell game in a carnival? Ever hopefully expect a politician to fulfill all his promises? Have you ever been shocked at the inaccuracies of a newspaper story if it was written about something in which you were directly involved? Ever wondered about some of the claims made in advertising certain commodities? You are living in the day of the sophisticated lie! Almost every television show, every book, every motion picture, is literally filled with shadings of the truth, half-truths, veiled or partially concealed truths, exaggerations, or outright lies! Even most comedy series are made up from people concealing portions of the truth, telling outright lies or inventing untrue situations, and then trying to "keep up appearances" by some frantic contrivance which usually appears to be ridiculously funny to the viewer. You are living in a world of contradictions, assumptions, exaggerations, deletions, perversions, distortions, augmentations — a world of lies! Have you ever told a lie? Certainly. All human beings have. The story of our George Washington and the cherry tree may be widespread — but, like the statement young George is supposed to have made to his father, "I cannot tell a lie," the story itself is false! From infancy, we feed our children (unless we have been enlightened to God's TRUTH, and have learned to quit practicing things contrary to God's law) on lies. We begin by telling them fairy tales, fantasies, or outright lies about Santa Claus. The average young couple lies to its children about bodily processes, various adult situations, reasons why they should not touch a given object, or the horrible torture or dire punishment in the form of "the boogie man" which may appear if they get into mischief. Children begin learning about "the sand man," "the man-in-the-moon," and "jack-and-the-beanstalk." Their little minds are completely FILLED with an endless series of sugared and candied lies! They are introduced into a society of lies gently, "in baby talk" and child's language, but persistently, continuously. Children soon indulge in experimentation for themselves, trying to get behind the vast network of adult lies that have been told them. One of the first truths they usually discover is that, in some unknown fashion, little brother or little sister did NOT, after all, come from the stork, nor was he or she purchased from the "baby factory" at the hospital! Yes, YOU HAVE believed in lies! Think about it for a moment! What if you could not have relied on ANYTHING your parents had said to you? The very FIRST authority, the FIRST protection, the FIRST love, comfort, care, consideration — the FIRST WORLD every little child meets is that of its parents. From the FIRST, the hapless, helpless little infant is utterly DEPENDENT on its parents! Yes, THINK about it. You were a little baby once. You were utterly HELPLESS — utterly dependent upon your parents for your very survival. As a growing young boy or girl, you innocently and eagerly BELIEVED what your parents said to you! You BELIEVED a certain neighbor was "BAD" if your parents said so! And you FIRMLY BELIEVED Aunt Bessie went to HEAVEN — if YOUR PARENTS SAID SO! Remember? Sure you do! Probably, you were even told how she "heard the angels singing, as they came to take her home"! If your parents — who were your FIRST KNOWN AUTHORITY, had told you the moon were made of green swiss cheese, you would have FIRMLY BELIEVED IT! Recently, in the Congo, whole platoons of the Congolese "army" threw down their modern, automatic weapons — abandoned their heavily fortified, strategically located positions, and LITERALLY FLED before naked, painted, screaming savages! The reason? Because the Congolese FIRMLY BELIEVED these painted tribal warriors with their ancient bows and arrow, their spears and "poo-poo" guns (ancient, flintlock, muzzle-loading muskets), had been given IMMUNITY TO BULLETS by their tribal witch doctors! Would YOU have believed it? If you had been Congolese, you would! People believe what they have been taught! And they BELIEVE it — WHETHER IT IS TRUE OR NOT! But there is a WAY to find out what is the TRUTH — about everything!
There Is a Source of Truth!
Man speculates concerning certain physical phenomena. He then postulates, or supposes how it may be explained. In the various exact sciences, he is then able to experiment, in an attempt to PROVE whether his postulates and theories are true. If all the experiments are finally successful, and certain absolute FACTS are established, man is able to KNOW certain things through such experimentation. But the FOUNDATION of all knowledge cannot be discovered by EXPERIMENT! Do you know why infant humans so readily believe whatever they retaught? Because they were meant to be taught — but they were meant to be taught the TRUTH! Parents today believe they can NEGLECT to teach their children anything about religion, and wait until they are old enough "to decide for themselves." But God has ordained that parents who KNOW the TRUTH, and KNOW THAT THEY KNOW it, should TEACH that truth to their children! God told His people: "And these words, which I command you this day, [the words of the Ten Commandments] shall be in thine heart [Heb. 10:16] And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes" (Deut. 6:6-8). It's RIGHT to teach your children — to be POSITIVE about it — as long as you are teaching them the TRUTH! J. Edgar Hoover said, "A child who has been taught to respect the laws of God will have little difficulty respecting the laws of man." But it's WRONG to teach your children FAIRY tales, FANTASY, LIES, GUESSWORK, HAZY NOTIONS, PREJUDICES, RACIAL HATREDS, FALSE INFORMATION ABOUT SEX — OR ANYTHING that is FALSE! God condemns it as wickedness! If YOU had been taught GOD'S TRUTH, FROM INFANCY — YOU WOULD BELIEVE IT TODAY! But regardless as to what you HAVE been taught — irrespective of WHAT you may believe about ANY important subject — there is a way for you to PROVE whether or not you are believing the TRUTH — or LIES! There is a SOURCE of truth! It IS POSITIVE. It IS ABSOLUTE. It is absolutely UNSHAKEABLE! Think what a monumental catastrophe it would have been if you had been unable to depend upon your parents to tell you the truth about ANYTHING! What if they had said the stove was COOL, that knives didn't cut, and encouraged you to play with matches? What a diabolical thing to do to a child! You learned, and sometimes through burnt fingers and bitter experience, to DEPEND on what your parents said — especially if it was a warning of danger! What a CATASTROPHE it would be if you COULDN'T DEPEND ON GOD, AND ON HIS WORD! Jesus said, "Thy word is TRUTH!" (John 17:17) "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (II Tim. 3:16). Your Bible says, "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (II Pet. 1:21). David said, "All thy commandments are righteousness" (Ps. 119:172); "They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness" (Ps. 111:8). Everywhere in the Bible, God gives cross checks — balances — specially corroborative points, PROOFS of Him! With regard to His laws of tithing, God, said, "... prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Mal. 3:10). "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away!" said Christ (Mark 13:31). The Bible Is the ONE source of ABSOLUTE TRUTH! You can DEPEND on it. (If you have not yet read our booklet, "The Proof of the Bible," then please read your free copy immediately)
Willing to FORGIVE Christ?
But people today are WILLING TO FORGIVE CHRIST! Strange! It's supposed to be the other way around! The Bible tells us Christ must FORGIVE US — but many people are willing to OVERLOOK Christ's "mistakes" — His "errors," His "failures." Remember the letter in the May issue of The PLAIN TRUTH? The writer said, "In your April issue under 'personal' from the Editor, you state that Christ said 'no man had ascended up to heaven, except He that had come down to earth from heaven.' "I can't understand how that agrees with the passage in II Kings chapter 2, verse 11, wherein it states that Elijah did ascend up into heaven. "Can this be explained in a manner that I will be able to read your writings again with confidence?" B.E.S., Greensboro, North Carolina. I answered, "Let's go back and reword that a little, B.E. It's not OUR WRITINGS you're wondering about — but the BIBLE! You see, WE DIDN'T WRITE Christ's plain statement of John 3:13 — JOHN did, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. "So — it's not OUR WRITINGS you're wondering about reading with confidence, but the BIBLE! Briefly, however, there are THREE 'heavens' spoken of in the Bible! The first, our atmosphere, is where the birds fly, and clouds form. The second, outer space, is where the stars, galaxies and constellations orbit. The THIRD (II Cor. 12:2) is the place of God's THRONE, to which 'NO MAN HATH ASCENDED' except in VISION, as did John! Elijah was taken up into the AIR, not the Heaven of God's throne. David is NOT in heaven (Acts 2:34). You can read the Bible with CONFIDENCE, B.E.!" Do you see? This man was unwittingly CHARGING CHRIST WITH ERROR! He didn't really GRASP this was what he was doing — but he was doing it, nevertheless! You see, it was two separate PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE he was so nettled over — NOT something "WE STATED" in our writings. Today, vast armies of people believe in the IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL! Yet the BIBLE plainly denies this as a PAGAN teaching (please read our free article on the subject — and DON'T make up your mind in advance — CAREFULLY PROVE it to yourself)! Millions fondly hope they will "get to heaven" when Jesus plainly said this is IMPOSSIBLE! (Write for our free article, "What Is the Reward of the Saved," and the free booklet, "What Do You Mean... Salvation?"). Millions believe — because they have been TAUGHT — that God's LAWS are DONE AWAY, and that SUNDAY has long since replaced God's SABBATH as the day for Christian worship (read our free, booklet, "Which Day Is The Christian Sabbath?"). WHY do millions believe these, and various other ideas? It's what they have GROWN UP believing. They found OTHERS who believed it. It was diligently TAUGHT to them — NOT by comparing, searching, checking up in SCRIPTURE, to be sure — but taught constantly by lurid examples, by repetition, by suggestion, by preponderance of opinion. MILLIONS accept Christ. But they DENY He will come again. Yet, HE SAID HE WOULD! They call Christ a LIAR — yet still claim to "BELIEVE" on Him! Ever wonder why so many people "believe ON Jesus" but stolidly REFUSE to BELIEVE HIM — TO BELIEVE WHAT HE SAID?
PROVE All Things!
Paul said, "PROVE all things; hold fast that which is good" (II Thes. 5:21). "STUDY to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (II Tim. 2:15)."To the law and to the testimony," shouted Isaiah, "if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isa. 8:20). What about it? Have you sincerely, REALLY, wholly STUDIED to absolutely PROVE some of these biggest questions to your very future destiny? Have you carefully researched, carefully checked, thoroughly proved these most basic doctrinal questions in all your Bible? According to extensive surveys in American and British church-attending, professing Christendom, most have not. Many pastors cheerfully admit their own people simply do not KNOW, thoroughly, what their own church teaches! Others openly lament that America's "return to religion" is only skin deep! What about YOU? Can you "afford" to take such a thing as the day of your death — which is ominously, irrevocably, surely, unalterably, and positively approaching every single day you live — carelessly and lightly? Can you treat ETERNITY with impunity? This is not an old-fashioned "altar call!" This is not some type of "come on" to get you to "join" anything! It Is a straight-from-the-shoulder appeal for you to research into WHY you believe the things you do — and how you came to believe them! Admit it. You KNOW vast percentages of human beings on this earth firmly believe in out-and-out LIES! You KNOW you have believed in lies. Are you really and positively SURE you know the plain truth of God? Remember the stern admonition of the Apostle John, "He that saith, 'I know Him' and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the TRUTH is not in him!" (I John 2:4) "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you FREE" (John 8:32), said your Savior! God intends that every line, every punctuation mark, every word of the Bible is ultimately thoroughly understood by His people! But God has carefully guarded the secret things of His truth! He has placed a BARRIER before the door of His truth. He says, "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Eternal!" "A good understanding have they that DO His commandments!" said David. The very starting place is that most vital and important knowledge that God DOES EXIST, that He LIVES, that He is going to call each human being into a definite accounting for all his actions and thoughts, and that God stands back of His Word! God said, "For all those things hath mine handmade, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word" (Isa. 66:2). The man whose letter you have read certainly was not intentionally flaunting God's authority! Perhaps human beings do not do this type of thing intentionally, or with full knowledge of what a tremendous transgression it must be in God's sight! But they DO it, nevertheless! We have all done it. We have all taken God's Word too lightly — treated His precious TRUTH too carelessly! It's time you realized how truly EASY it has been for you to believe in a series of lies — and to sincerely and earnestly STRIVE to understand God's TRUTH! In this magazine, with its apt and well suited name, The PLAIN TRUTH, we do not pull punches. We let the chips fall where they may. We speak PLAINLY. It is entirely up to you what you then DO about the knowledge you receive. NEVER FORGET, Satan the Devil understands all the Bible essentials! He KNOWS Jesus is the Christ! "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble" (Jas. 2:19). Yes, even the demons BELIEVE, and tremble! They BELIEVE — but they will not OBEY! And so, even KNOWING the truth is not enough — but knowing it and OBEYING it is one of the beginning steps to salvation. Are you OBEYING the truths you learn through the pages of The PLAIN TRUTH, or hear over The WORLD TOMORROW program? Don't "kid yourself" any longer. Don't "deceive yourself" any further! "But be you DOERS of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (Jas. 1:22).
Copyright © 2024 Herbert W Armstrong Library