The Westerner And The Witnesses
by Charley Carle
The cowboy watched the stallion’s ears as he whistled softly the tune to, “Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now.”
Just then he saw someone approaching his neighbor’s property. He pulled slightly on the reins stopping his mount. Out of the shadows walked two people going door to door! One held a briefcase and the other was carrying a large purse. They met an elderly man in the driveway. One of the visitors said, “We are discussing world conditions door-to-door.” After some small talk he said, “By coming to you we are fulfilling Scripture.”
“Yes! Indeed you are,” the discerning old gentleman agreed. “In fact, Jesus told me you were coming. He said, ‘Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.’ (Matt. 7:15-16). Sonny, do you know what the fruit of a false prophet is? Why, it’s a false prophecy! Your organization not only claimed to be God’s prophet (Watchtower 4/1/1972, p.197) just like Ezekiel (Watchtower 3/15/1972, p.189), but has repeatedly lied about the future. The leadership blames Jehovah God by calling it new light from Him.”
At this the man recoiled, “The Society is just sort of a prophet.”
The old gentleman’s direct question tugged at his heart. “Would you show me a sort-of-a-prophet described in the Bible? Scripturally, those who give just one word of false prophecy are never to be followed a second> time.” (Deut. 18:18-22).
The visitor’s mouth snapped shut. He growled, “You’ve been reading old material to dig all that up! Why don’t you stick to our newest publications? You can’t progress toward a saved condition without the Society’s books!” (Watchtower 7/15/1960, p.439; 12/1/1981, p.27). The pair hurried back to their car looking very confident but down deep inside they faced an unnerving fact; Jesus spoke hard words and the warning applied to them. What scary verses!
The cowboy touched the big horse with his heels. As they passed the driveway the young man began to sing his beautiful song, “Come very soul by sin oppressed, there’s mercy with the Lord, and He will surely give you rest by trusting in His Word. Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now; He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now.”
Slamming her car door the lady with the purse complained, “That cowboy must be one of those born-againers!” As the sedan crept along the street she could hear the steady clopping rhythm of the trotting horse. Leaning from the window she smiled, “Excuse me! Wasn’t that a religious song you were singing? We are sharing how to have a right standing with Jehovah by ‘Working hard for the reward of eternal life.’ (Watchtower 4:15/1972 p.491). Do you know what you have to do to have this hope?”
Turning in the saddle the young man stopped his horse. He pushed back his wide-brimmed hat revealing a radiant smile. Compassionately, he gazed intently, then said gently, “Well Ma’am, many people are seeking the answer to that same question. All counterfeit religion teaches that you must ‘do’ something to have eternal life. In fact, you just called it a ‘reward’, which of course would have to be earned. My salvation from God was a ‘gift’ to be ‘received’ not earned. ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast’ (Eph. 2:8-9). ‘But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name’ (John 1:12). You see, the only safe thing for any of us to do is to side with the Apostle Paul. He answered this very same question in this way when the jailer asked what he needed to ‘do’ for eternal life, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’ (Acts 16:31). I’m sure glad he did not say ‘might be saved’ or ‘hope,’ ‘think,’ ‘wonder,’ or ‘worry about it.’ No, eternal life is a definite certainty given by trusting Jesus Christ! ‘These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God'” (1 John 5:13).
The lady was growing nervous and cut him off sharply, “We tell people about the Father!”
The cowboy seemed a bit amused as he replied, “Well now, I don’t see the Father even mentioned here. Do you?”
At this she lifted her nose high and howled in irritation, “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! All you people know to talk about is Jesus! Why not tell people about the Father? We are witnesses of Jehovah! Just read what it says here in Isaiah 43:10.”
“Oh lady,” he returned, “if you note the context you can see that this verse applies to the sons of Jacob or Israel! By the way, Jesus settled who we are to be witnesses about. He said we are to be witnesses of Him in Acts 1:8. Are you or the people at your Kingdom Hall known as ‘Jesus’ Witnesses’?”
Apparently, it was time to change the subject. “Well, at least we do not celebrate birthdays,” she replied. Suddenly the car lurched forward. As fumes filled the air the horse laid back his ears, shook his head and snorted. At last he smoke cleared. The young rider drew a deep breath and began to sing tenderly, “For Jesus shed His precious blood, rich blessings to bestow; plunge now into the crimson flood that washes white as snow. Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now; He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now.”
Nearing the next driveway the young rider watched with amusement. The man was stepping out of his car and gathering up his briefcase of materials. Standing cautiously several yards from the horse he glared in frustration. He said in an emphatic voice, “Young man, be reasonable! ‘You need to come to Jehovah’s organization for salvation!'” (Watchtower 11/15/1981, p.21).
“Hmm,” said the cowboy thoughtfully, “would you show me that in Scripture? Perhaps you could tell me what your organization might have been in the 1870’s or the early 1800’s. And remember that Jesus said, ‘I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!'” (Matt. 16:18).
“Well if our organization is not the ‘Truth,’ what is then? You see, Jesus said, ‘And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'” (John 8:32).
“Well sir, let’s check the context for an answer. Read John 8:36. Do you see what Jesus is saying? ‘If the son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.’ Jesus also said, ‘I am the truth’ in John 14:6. Where shall we go for truth? Jesus said ‘Come unto me’ in Matthew 11:28. I recommend reading the sermons throughout the Book of Acts, noting how the preaching work was always to point sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. According to Scripture the Truth is a Person, not an organization.”
The man countered, “You don’t think we know about all about Jesus? We know Jesus is our mediator!”
The Christian shook his head sadly, “For some reason, most of you people don’t know your headquarters’ position on this. They said in the Watchtower on April 1, 1979, page 31, ‘So in the strict Biblical sense Jesus is the ‘mediator’ only for the anointed Christians.’ They mean the 144,000, right? So you don’t have a mediator according to the Watchtower. Sir, you are surely in deep trouble!” The cowboy continued, “I reckon you have a choice to make. Wouldn’t you rather be Scriptural according to the Bible than to be reasonable according to books and magazines?”
The briefcase looked very heavy as the man hung his head. He responded weakly, “Well, I think it’ about time for you to exercise your horse. We are looking for sheep-like ones who have open minds.” The cowboy urged his proud stallion forward. The horse stepped along eagerly in the cool morning air. Glancing back, the young man saw the couple moving up the driveway. A flock of birds were singing cheerfully from the nearby high lines. How his heart thrilled to know his wonderful Savior! He looked to the heavens and lifted his voice in adoration, “Yes, Jesus is the Truth, the Way that leads you into rest; believe in Him without delay, and you are fully blest. Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now; He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now.”
Concluding the chorus he heard a car approaching. The dejected couple stepped out hesitantly. “Cowboy, why don’t you preach the gospel of the kingdom that will put a stop to all world problems?”
The saddle creaked as the young man leaned forward against the saddle horn, “Well, sir, the gospel that we preach is the gospel that ‘saves’. It is defined as the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:1-4). You preach a kingdom, sure enough, but we preach the KING! We are more impressed with the Creator than with the creation.” (Romans 1:25). Then he added thoughtfully, “Besides, what good is the kingdom to you as Watchtower followers? Jesus said, if you are not born again you cannot see or even enter into the kingdom! (John 3:3,5). It seems to me that you are wasting your time preaching about a kingdom that you will never enter!”
“Jesus was talking about ‘heaven’,” the lady offered. “Only the 144,000 go there. Our kingdom is about an earthly hope.”
“Well lady, would you please read those words of Jesus again. Do you see the word ‘heaven’ in those verses? A person cannot enter any kingdom of God without having the new birth.”
Speaking quietly she read verse three and stopped, “‘Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God'” (John 3:3). Well, never mind that! The Bible talks about a ‘paradise earth’ for those who don’t go to Heaven!”
“Folks, Scripture speaks of a new heaven and a new earth, but where have you read the words, ‘paradise earth’? Paul said the location of paradise is really up, ‘Caught up to the third heaven…he was caught up into paradise’ (2 Cor. 12:2,4). Heaven and paradise are synonymous now. You can live in that real paradise of heaven but only if you are born again.”
“Well, I’m afraid we have an appointment to keep. Come on, we’d better go. Oh, uh – by the way, what do you mean by being ‘born again’?”
The cowboy smiled. “Birth is a one-time experience. It happens quickly and it is irreversible. It means you become then a part of a family. Spiritually, real life starts for you in God’s eternal family when you are born again. You may be sincere, but confidence is misplaced in
manmade religion. Turn from your false hopes and sin in repentance. God shed His own blood to save you (Acts 20:28). Why not ask Jesus Christ to save you today?” (Romans 10:9-10,13.
The heavy-laden couple turned soberly and walked away toward another closed door. They listened longingly to the inviting words which seemed so distant to them, “Come then, and join this holy band, and on to glory go, to dwell in that celestial land, where joys immortal flow. Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now, He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now.”
The cowboy pulled his hat low as the stallion rounded the corner at a brisk canter and disappeared behind the trees. Far down the road they rested at an old log. The morning sun felt warm on his clothing. As he sat in meditation, the horse nudged his shoulder. Holding his Stetson the rider rested an arm on his knee. How his heart ached for the Watchtower slaves! Every faulty teaching of an unfaithful or indiscreet society is blown right into the theological ash-can by the truth, if only people knew where to look! He blinked as a few salty tears burned his eye then trickled down past an ear. Deeply moved, he prayed, “Dear Father, please help those precious people to discover Biblical truth and the real Jesus, the Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6) who is revealed as our LORD Jehovah (Isaiah 10:20-21). He is the Almighty God and the Alpha and Omega as one of their own Greek Bibles affirms (Emphatic Diaglott, p.872). I pray you will put their feet on that trail that will lead them right into the arms of Jesus!” As He looked up at a great cloud, a chill tingled down his back. “Lord, I really long to see that couple riding at my side on that great day when we come behind that great white horse of Jesus Christ, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS! Lord, I know you are the only one who can make them Your sheep. Save them from sin, Armageddon and the Lake of Fire. I pray in the name which is above every name, Jesus Christ! (Phil. 2:9). Amen. Whew! You are an awesome God!” The seed had been planted for those lost in a cult. None but the Lord could foresee a coming day when life would begin and the seed would spring forth and grow.
Friend, Scripture warns in 2 Corinthians 11:4 about those who come with spiritual poison who preach another Jesus, another spirit, or another gospel. The Jesus of the Watchtower is a little god or Michael the Archangel. The Watchtower spirit is an active force like a radio wave. The society’s gospel is the re-establishment of God’s kingdom with Christ’s second presence commencing in 1914. Under inspiration Paul wrote about those preaching another Gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4). The results are everlasting condemnation (Gal. 1:8-9)! WHAT A SPIRITUAL DISASTER FOR THOSE WHO MISTAKE WOLVES FOR NICE CHRISTIAN SHEEP! A boy lost an arm from a ravenous wolf. He could have lost his life! Jesus clearly warned about your well-being. If you will give the Watchtower strokes, your eternal life may be missed forever! “Beware of false prophets!” which include Joseph Smith, Ellen G. White, and the lunatic Charismatic fringe! Even if the false prophet has a miracle “put the evil away from the midst of thee” (Deut. 13:1-5).
An old Watchtower book called “Light” reads: “All of the Lord’s people looked forward to 1914 with joyful expectation. When that time came and passed there was much disappointment, chagrin and mourning, and the Lord’s people were greatly in reproach. They were ridiculed by the clergy and their allies in particular, and pointed to with scorn, because they had said so much about 1914, and what would come to pass, and their ‘prophecies’ had not been fulfilled.” (Light, Watchtower pub., 1930, p.194).
