Truth Magazine

By Mike Willis

We all suffer in life. No man is exempt from suffering, as is seen from the fact that all men die. Consequently, we ask, “What can we learn from suffering?” Here are some suggestions:

1. Obedience. The Lord Jesus learned obedience from the things which he suffered. “Who in the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. . . ” (Heb. 5:7-8). The submission of one’s will to the will of the Father is a difficult lesson to learn. Jesus learned submission from the cross. Paul also learned to submit to the Father’s will from the things he suffered. In 2 Corinthians 12:6-7, he was given a thorn in the flesh which he asked the Lord to remove three times. When the Lord refused to remove his thorn in the flesh, Paul resolved, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor. 12:9-10). If you are called to suffer, you can learn obedience.

2. Steadfastness. A person can also learn to be steadfast through the things which he suffers. James wrote, “Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience” (Jas. 1:2-3). Paul added, “We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Rom. 5:3-5). The word “patience” means “steadfastness, constancy, endurance … the characteristic of a man who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings” (Thayer, definition of hupomone, p. 644).

3. Dependence upon God. David wrote, “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word” (Psa. 119:67). The afflictions which come to us remind us of our own frailty. They remind us that we shall surely die. Frequently in the hour of sickness, a person resolves to serve the Lord. The oppressed turn to the Lord for the deliverance which no man can or will give: “the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless” (Psa. 10:14). Since our sufferings sometimes drive us to greater dependence upon God, we can be thankful that they come to us.

4. Prayer. Another lesson which we can learn from our sufferings is to pray. When all human help fails us, we turn to the Almighty God. David reflects this when he wrote, “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears” (Psa. 18:46). “In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me” (Psa. 86:7).

I have witnessed this impact of suffering on several occasions when men, who had no habit of praying, turned to God in prayer in the midst of their afflictions. A father waits in the hospital while his child is being treated for some illness; while his heart aches, he prays to God for his child. A man watches his world crumble around him – his family is torn apart by divorce, he loses his job, old age takes his parents – and turns in desperation to God. Indeed, afflictions drive us to God in prayer – prayers which express the very depths of our soul (not some cold, formalistic prayer). Learning to pray is one lesson which one can learn from suffering.

5. Suffering lasts but a short period of time. In the hour of grief and suffering, the days seem long and drawn out; days seem like weeks, weeks like months, and months like years. We think our suffering will last forever. Most suffering, however, is short-lived. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psa. 30:5).

I attended a funeral two or three years ago in which a gospel preacher lost his God-fearing wife. As he left the funeral home to drive to the grave side, the man had to be supported to walk. His grief was greater than he could bear alone. This same gospel preacher has since remarried and has found happiness anew. This is not to minimize the pain of his grief and loss or his love for his first wife; rather, it is to remind us that our afflictions and sufferings last for a relatively brief moment of time – a time which too shall pass. Even those who suffer throughout a lifetime need to remember that the brief span of a lifetime is a relatively short period of time in view of eternity.

So, in the midst of your sufferings, remember that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” William and Gloria Gaither expressed this thought like this:

Joy Comes In The Morning

If you’ve knelt beside the rubble of an aching, broken hew,

When the things you gave your life to fell apart;

You’re not the first to be acquainted with sorrow, grief or pain,

But the Master promised sunshine after rain.

To invest your seed of trust in God in mountains you can’t move,

You risk your life on things you cannot prove,

But to give the things you cannot prove for what you cannot lose

Is the way to find the joy God has for you.

Hold on my child, Joy comes in the morning.

Weeping only lasts for the night;

Hold on my child, Joy comes in the morning.

The darkest hour means dawn is just in sight.

6. Suffering reminds us of our frailty. When I visit the hospitals, I am reminded that this world is not our permanent home. “Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am” (Psa. 39:4). “For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth” (Psa. 102:3). The illnesses of the body remind us that one day we too shall die. They serve as reminders to us that we must be making preparation for eternity. Regardless of how far back in my mind that I hide death from today’s consideration, I cannot escape the fact that I shall die. Sufferings should serve as reminders of this fact.

7. Suffering tries our faith. The Devil charged that man only serves God because of what he gets from God (Job 1:9). God allowed Satan to tempt Job to test his faith in God. The psalmist stated that “the word of the Lord tried” Joseph (Psa. 105:19) during the time that he was an Egyptian slave and prisoner. Whether or not suffering has the design from God to test our faith we may never know; however, we do know that suffering does test our faith. When suffering comes, men ask, “Why does God allow me to suffer?” “Why did God take my child?” “Why me, Lord?” All of these questions are questions related to one’s faith in God. Will a man renounce his faith in God in the midst of his sufferings? The Devil will use any circumstances in your life to destroy your faithfulness to God. One of the circumstances he will use is suffering. “For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou brougbtest us out into a wealthy place” (Psa. 66:10-12). Those who have maintained their faith through suffering are like gold or silver refined by fire.

8. That God will be with us in trouble. We pray for the Lord to deliver us from trouble and many times he does. However, we need to recognize that God will be with us through the troubles of life. He will not leave us or forsake us at the difficult periods of our life. The psalmist said, “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him” (Psa. 91:15). “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all” (Psa. 34:19). “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5), said the Lord. One poet expressed it like this:

“When you walk through a storm,

Hold your head up high.

And don’t be afraid of the dawn.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart

For you never walk alone.”

Indeed, God will be with you through the storms of life.

9. To be sympathetic. Everyone states that the ability to be sympathetic is a virtue; yet it is a virtue learned at the school of suffering. The suffering saint learns to communicate a comfort to others which the one who has not suffered cannot give. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Cor. 1:34). Who can better minister to a wife at the death of her husband, than a widow who has experienced the same suffering? She can help the suffering saint through the problems which she faces. Recently I visited in the home of a young man who had lost his young wife three days after she gave birth to her second child. He told of the support which he received from talking to another Christian who had lost his wife through sharing their common experiences. The reassurance of knowing that what was happening to him in his grief was not uncommon helped him pass through the grief with hope and assurance that life would be better down the road.

As we experience the comfort which other sufferers can give to us, we should resolve to share our comfort with others who later experience similar griefs. A person should consciously look for others who are experiencing the troubles through which he has come and minister to their needs.

10. To build the pilgrim spirit. A pilgrim is someone in a land which is not his home. The sufferings of life should remind us that “here we are but straying pilgrims.” “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us. . . . For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal,” (2 Cor. 1:9-10; 4:618).

“For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself” (Phil. 3:20-21). The sufferings of life awaken the yearnings in the soul for our eternal home, creating a longing for that time when we shall go to be with the Lord forever. Being reminded that this world is not my home, I reassess the priorities of my life, putting greatest emphasis on those things which affect my soul.

11. To glorify God. The book 101 Hymn Stories relates the events in the life of the authors of various hymns from which the songs were written. Many of our modern songs of praise come from the sufferings of life. Such is the case with “What A Friend We Have In Jesus” as related by Willie W. White in What The Bible Says About Suffering (pp. 131-132):

Joseph Scriven was a graduate of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. At the age of 25 he migrated to Canada where he met a delightful and dedicated young Christian lady. At the time they were engaged to be married they knelt together in prayer. As their love continued to deepen, and their wedding day drew near, they resolved that throughout their married life they would take every problem to God in prayer.

On the day before the happy young couple were to be wed Joseph was handed a letter, bearing the tragic news that hi; beloved fiancee had drowned. The groom-to-be was stunned, then turned bitterly on God. It was not right! It was not fair! How cruel of God to “take her!” . . . and then Joseph remembered the resolution which they had made: take every problem to God in prayer.

The bereaved young man fell to his knees and for three hours he begged God for light and guidance and strength. And God answered, as He always does. Joseph Scriven was granted the grace of Christ, and he arose from his knees and penned the words which have brought solace and strength to myriads of aching hearts:

What a Friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry,

Everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged,

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our ev’ry weakness,

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge,

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer;

In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,

Thou will find a solace there.

What is demonstrated by this modern book is confirmed by the ancient book of songs known as Psalms. The sufferings of David at the hands of wicked men (Saul, Absalom, Ahitophel, etc.) were the backdrop from which the psalms were written. The lips of Paul and Silas offered praise to God after the two had been beaten by Roman soldiers and put in a Philippian jail (Acts 16:25). “Did song ever come out of the heart of deeper injustice and did it thereby ever have deeper meaning? They went higher and higher in their notes of praise until they struck such high notes that God had to bring in the earthquake for a bass” (E. Stanley Jones, Christ and Human Suffering, pp. 86-87).

12. To Be Humble. Suffering may make and keep us humble. Paul’s thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7) was given to him “lest (he) be exalted above measure.”

Conclusion

I am confident that there are many other lessons which one can learn from suffering. I hope that a consideration of these which have been fisted will cause us to accept our lot in life remembering the advice of Solomon: “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him” (Eccl. 7:14). God’s purposes are accomplished through suffering just as they are through prosperity. Let us learn from our sufferings. I close with the poem “Friendly Obstacles” (author unknown):

For every hill I’ve had to climb,

For every stone that bruised my feet,

For all the blood and sweat and grime,

For blinding storm and burning heat,

My heart sings but a grateful song —

These were the things that made me strong.

For all the heartaches and the tears,

For all the anguish and the pain,

For gloomy days and fruitless years,

And for the hopes that lived in vain,

I do give thanks; for now I know

These were the things that made me grow.

‘Tis not the softer things of life,

Which stimulates man’s will to strive,

But bleak adversity and strife

Do most to keep man’s will alive.

O’er rose-strewn paths the weaklings creep,

But brave hearts dare to climb the steep.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 17, pp. 514, 547-549
September 1, 1988

By Louis J. Sharp

The office, telephone rang. The caller was a concerned and grieving grandmother. She was stirred with emotion as she related to me that her grandson had been involved in an automobile accident. He had “totaled” a car his father had recently purchased for him. On the highway between Little Rock and Pine Bluff, he and a truck had collided. The young lad was unconscious, had a large gash on his head, but luckily, no broken bones. Presently, he is in a local hospital in stable condition, but under observation. The sad grandmother could scarcely hold back sobs of grief and anguish, she was so “choked up!” We offered our sympathy and help, but could really do little more than pray for the young man and his family.

On the plus side, this teenager had never been involved with drugs or alcohol. He is a fine young lad in most every way, except he is not a Christian!

After leaving the study and driving home, scarcely had I arrived until my wife called me to the telephone. One of our members was relaying a message to me. A fellow Christian, from Bossier City, Louisiana, had received news that her son, who is stationed at the Little Rock Air Force Base, had been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. There were no particulars about the accident, but he too, is in another local hospital in critical condition. The distraught mother was requesting our prayers.

This young man, evidently influenced by military life and the allurements of this world, was no longer attending the services of the church. His faithful mother had recently been here to talk with him and to encourage her son to be faithful as a Christian. Like so many others, he had not heeded her pleas.

Two accidents! One a teenager, the other a young man of twenty. How barely each escaped instant death. According to our understanding of God’s word, neither was prepared to meet his God! I do not know how or why these accidents happened, but it does seem an impossible task to get the young to understand the danger of speed! Also, for them to realize that they are driving machines that are indeed wonderful, but can be “killers.” And yes, they seem not to comprehend the brevity and uncertainty of life. These things may be true of old and young alike!

This day may have been a little unusual, but by no means exaggerated. These things here related come to those of us who preach, all too often. From our experiences in dealing with calamities and human suffering, such incidents may be multiplied a hundred-fold.

Youth, filled with life, vitality, hope, and expectation, may not consider that life’s thread can be snapped at anytime. Although we cite them the language of Job, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope” (Job 7:6), they ask, “Who was Job?” “What has a weaver’s shuttle got to do with my life?” or “What is a weaver’s shuttle?” They do not see the connection.

Young people, we want you to see that even though you are in good health, accidents do occur. Your life which is today so full and promising, can be cut off; yes, just like the thread in the weaver’s shuttle. Preparation is essential for all, young and old alike. Dedication and Christian living must continue if we are to avail ourselves of the promised blessing – life eternal with God!

Young people, older people, all people, please beware and prepare to meet your God (Amos 4:12)! This thought should be paramount with each of us. If we lose our souls, nothing else matters. Where will you be in eternity?

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 16, p. 495
August 18, 1988

By Forrest D. Moyer

II. Godliness Is Profitable In All Ways

1. Godliness is profitable physically. The wise man pointed out the need of keeping this teaching by saying, “For length of days and years of life, and peace they will add to you” (Prov. 3:2). Wisdom says, “For by me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you” (9:11). One way by which godliness helps to prolong life is that it keeps us from dissipating morals and habits. Drugs, alcohol and immorality work to destroy the physical body. Godliness regulates our behavior so that we do not engage in “sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousals, drinking parties and abominable idolatries . . . excess of dissipation” (1 Pet. 4:34). Godliness bids us to “flee fornication” and youthful lusts.” It teaches me that my body is “a temple of the Holy Spirit” and that I must “glorify God in my body” (1 Cor. 6:18-20). 1 must present my body “as a living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1). Thus, I will refrain from habits that are destructive to this body which belongs to God.

May I make an earnest plea to my brothers who use tobacco? It has been shown most emphatically that cigarette smoking is linked to lung cancer and heart disease. With every cigarette you are shortening your life by some fourteen minutes. Why do that which is taking precious minutes of service to God away from him? You will agree that suicide is sinful – it destroys God’s temple. But destroying the body by degrees is accomplishing the same thing over a period of time. If we can do something that will help us have longer time to serve him, let us do so. Remember, God does not demand anything of us in our serving him that will destroy our bodies. Godliness truly is profitable.

2. Godliness is profitable mentally. One of the outstanding benefits of Christ’s way is that it demands the use of the mind. He demands that we think, reason, understand, and believe. He teaches that our thought process controls our actions (Matt. 15:19-20). The reason so many are bound for Hell is that they “walk in the futility of their mind, being darkened in the understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of , their heart” (Eph. 4:17-18). Please observe the power of the mind in binding man in sin through this negative thinking. On the other hand the Christian is to program his thinking in a positive way: “. . . true . . . honorable . . . right . . . pure . . . lovely . . . good repute . . . let your mind dwell on these things” (Phil. 4:8). This is genuine “positive thinking” and it leads us to say with Paul, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (v. 13).

The proper use of our minds will lead us to search, to study his word, and to believe God. The Christian is one so “who by reason of use has his senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:14). For this reason “though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). The intellect is a vital part of our service to him because service demands faith, and faith is a function of the intellect. Our faith grows by our hearing God’s word, and this, too, is a function of the mind. Therefore, we can say most emphatically that godliness is profitable mentally.

3. Godliness is profitable emotionally. Each one of us from time to time must face circumstances that tax us emotionally. That such is a national problem is seen in the large number of counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists who are constantly busy with emotionally disturbed people. This is not to suggest that qualified counselors do not serve a vital and needed purpose – they do. However, Jesus Christ offers to us an emotionally stable form of life. Godliness offers that which is psychologically sound from every standpoint. It offers a faith to sustain us. Jesus said to the apostles, “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me” (Jn. 14:1). He can help eliminate the troubled heart that we all have from time to time. I have sometimes bogged down in the slough of despondency. I have been at that low point where one feels that the world is against him. I have felt the sorrow of severed relationships that once were precious. I have cried out in anxiety because of my own sins. But “thanks be to God for his wonderful gift!” I can be free from all these fiery darts of Satan. He lifts me up from the pit!

a. Jesus can eliminate the guilty conscience. He urges us to come with confidence to the throne of mercy that we may find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:14-16). He tells us that the blood of Jesus is constantly there for the Christian so that as he repents and confesses his sins, he will have a continuing relationship with the Father (1 John 1:7-9). How precious it is to know that every sin of our past lives has been hidden in the depth of the sea of God’s forgetfulness. We do not have to lie down on our pillow at night with the guilt of any sin upon us. We can take all our sins to him and he will abundantly pardon.

b. Godliness also helps to eliminate worry from our lives. We have, perhaps, all worried about where the rent or the next bag of groceries would come from. We have worried about our health. We have worried about our children, and quite often, about myriads of insignificant things. Paul wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7). As Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount, he said, “Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink? or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ (Matt. 6:31) Instead, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and I ‘do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (v. 34). Only by a deep, abiding faith in God can we develop this armor against worry. John wrote, “this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith” (1 John 5:4). Certainly we can say that godliness is profitable emotionally.

c. Above all, we can say that godliness is profitable spiritually. As we have seen, godliness is profitable because it gives to us a faith to sustain us and the forgiveness of all sins. Godliness gives to us a God to serve. Jesus said, “Man Should not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). When man’s stomach is filled with food, when his body is enraptured with pleasure, there is still a longing of soul that nothing physical can satisfy. As Paul expressed it in our opening text, godliness “holds promise for the present life.” It is promise of the abundant life of which Jesus spoke, “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” (John 10:10). You can live an abundant life! But, friend, that life is only in Jesus Christ.

III. Godliness Is Profitable At All Times

1. Godliness is profitable for the everyday living of this present life. “But godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Tim. 4:8). In writing to the Philippians, Paul spoke of three great attributes that every Christian ought to possess: joy, peace, and contentment. He tells us how to have all these traits. He tells us to “rejoice.” But he does not stop there. He tells us of the only relationship in which we can rejoice – “in the Lord.” There can be no genuine joy elsewhere. Nehemiah expressed it centuries ago when he said, “For the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). When we have the joy of the Lord in our lives, we are strong. Satan cannot rob us of our spirituality when it is guarded by joy. Just as a husband and wife who are truly happy with each other will not seek love elsewhere, even so one who knows the joy of Jesus will not seek the companionship of the devil.

He tells us how to have peace. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayers and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7). We pray with sincere faith in Jesus’ promises to us. Because we believe him, we believe that he will hear us. We believe that our sins are forgiven. We believe that he will never leave us nor forsake us so that we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid” (Heb. 13:5-6). In godliness we have “peace like a river.”

Paul tells us how to have contentment. He said, “For I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need” (Phil. 4:1112). What was the secret that Paul had learned? “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (v. 13). He had contentment through Jesus because he knew that “my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (v. 19). He knew that “if God be for us, who can be against us?”, and that ‘,all things work together for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8). Godliness brings joy, peace, and contentment into our lives. It is profitable for this present life.

2. Godliness is profitable for the life which is to come. It is only by godliness that I can be with God eternally. He has made it possible by his grace for me to have a right standing with him. I have the responsibility of maintaining that right standing by walking in the light and allowing the blood of Jesus to cleanse me of my sins. This “walking in the light” can be equated with godliness – the right attitude to God and to things divine. By God’s love and power, I can have eternal fellowship with him in Heaven. Peter describes our new dwelling place in 2 Peter 3:11-13. He shows that this present world is to be destroyed. Since it is to be destroyed, “what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God?” Please observe the demand for holy conduct and godliness on our part. By this kind of living in fellowship with him “according to his promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” Our new dwelling place beyond this earth is “an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:4-5). Therefore, godliness- will carry us through life and will help see us through the valley of the shadow of death. God will lead us safely through to the other side where we can hymn his praises forever while eternity rolls on and on.

After Paul had spoken of the need of godliness and that it is profitable in all ways, he said, “It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance” (1 Tim. 4:9). Let us rely on it; let us live by it. We will have a better life now and eternal life with Jesus in the new heavens and new earth. Our prayer is that the Father will grant us to live in all godliness before him all the days of our lives.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 16, pp. 491-492
August 18, 1988

By Paul Blake

“Blessed are the dead which the In the Lord … that they may rest from their labors.”

It is my privilege to be allowed to remember, on paper, a gospel preacher who strongly influenced me to stand for truth and right. May all who were moved to faithful service by the example and teaching of brother Barney, express thanks to the Father in their very next prayer for such men as him.

Glenn O. Winland was born February 9, 1906 to James A. and Dorothy J. Winlond at Reader, West Virginia. A lifelong affinity for forming was acquired during his childhood. At age five, his father died and after his mother married John B. Whiteman, they moved to his very steep, hillside farm on Chiselfinger Ridge. At 11, they moved to a more profitable truck form on the fertile Ohio River bottom area at Steelton. In April of 1923, Glenn, being only 17, began working at the Windsor Power Plant (Ohio Power Company), near Beach Bottom. It was here that Glenn Winland was to receive the nickname that stuck with him for the rest of his life. It seems his co-workers felt he and his work partner bore a resemblance to “Barney & Sporkplug,” popular comic strip characters of that day. Although the nicknames were given in jest, “Barney” accepted his with humor and continued to use it. To this day, many express genuine surprise upon learning that “Barney” wasn’t really his name.

Laboring long and hard seemed to characterize Barney. Upon early retirement in 1960, he hod completed 46 years of work at the power plant. Since he was large and physically very strong, this job had never satisfied his need to expel energy. For 3 years he operated a dairy form ,at Triodelphia, beginning in the spring of 19A5. Next was the purchase of a Sohio service station/grocery store in Pleasant Grove, Ohio which he and the family operated for 10 years. At Pleasant Grove, he almost single handedly built a beautiful little meeting house for saints to assemble in. Earlier, he had had a large role in the restoration of two buildings – making fine meeting houses for Christians. He was a fully licensed auctioneer, a coon hunter, and a golfer. An avid Scrabble player, he would shun any game that even bore a remote similarity to gambling. Barney often told me that honest Christians should studiously avoid any practice, even in private recreation, that was questionable.

On June 20, 1927, Barney was united in marriage with Vaughn Rice In Now Martinsville, WV. It was Vaughn who was most responsible for Barney coming to know the Lord. He had been raised in the Methodist Church and was actually quite rebellious when she would even suggest that he attend worship with her. With help from her sister and brother-inlaw, Ruth and Byron Hudson, Vaughn finally talked Barney into attending a gospel meeting at the Wheeling church with brother Fred E. Dennis preaching. He heard the truth taught and was baptized into Christ by brother Dennis on March 29, 1934 in this, his very first meeting to attend. To the marriage union of Barney and Vaughn were born 3 children: Connie Beck, Joe, and Lois Brown. Connie and Lois both presently live in the Dayton, OH area where Connie is a faithful member of the West Carrollton church. Joe, a retired public school music teacher, travels about in an Airstream trailer helping congregations to improve their singing and teaching them new hymns. He is presently worshiping with the Wellsburg church while attending to the disposition of Barney’s estate.

Vaughn died in 1971 after 44 years of marriage. Barney married Lina Ritchea at Paden City, WV on July 21, 1972 and was devoted to her until her passing in January, 1984. The lost three years of Lino’s life, Barney was strenuously involved in attending to her physical needs and after her death was very lonesome. Therefore, later that year, having always enjoyed being a family man, he began searching for someone with whom to spend the lost few years of his life. He placed great emphasis on godliness as one of the qualities he was looking for in a wife. On August 6, 1984, Barney married Velma Stobart of Pomeroy, OH, with whom he resided until he became too ill to stay at home. Barney was privileged to have his lost two wedding ceremonies performed by, and in the home of, Weldon Warnock, his long time friend and fellow servant in the Lord.

Of chief importance in the life of brother Winland was his desire to serve God and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. According to Barney’s journal, he had worked with and preached meetings at over seventy different congregations in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Iowa. His first preaching appointment was at the Eight Mile Ridge Church of Christ on March 11, 1939 and his last was at the Westside Church of Christ in Pomeroy, Ohio on September 14, 1986, encompassing 47 years. Barney didn’t keep a “scorecard” of the number of people he baptized and restored to the kingdom; he believed the Lord would reward him according to his work. What we do have, are fond memories of how brother Winland touched our lives with the truth and motivated us to better service.

Barney was a big man and had a strong voice. Hard of hearing, elderly brethren, after hearing him preach for the first time, would often soy, “that was the first sermon I’ve heard in years.” When churches first began to install PA systems in their meeting houses, many of them would just leave theirs turned off when Barney came to preach – since he really didn’t need it; this was easier than trying to adjust out the “feedback” squeal!

The Wellsburg church has been a large part of Barney’s life, having served as part of the eldership twice: 1940-45 & and 1973-79. He was also their full-time located preacher from 1966 to 1969. His early Bible education was at the feet of such men as: Fred E. Dennis, Tom W. and George Butterfield, H.W. Bankes, Joe A. Taylor, H.M. Phillips, Clod Wallace and C.D. Plum to name just a few.

When the Institutional issues began to affect the OhioValley, Barney wasn’t easily persuaded that the dissension being caused was really necessary. Both Connie and Joe had tried to talk to him about these matters, but he wasn’t a man easily swayed. In 1966, Connie and her late husband, Al Beck, got her Dad to attend a meeting in Pisgah, OH where he heard brother Cecil Willis preach on “Specific and Generic Authority.” He returned home with a determination to find the truth on the matter and stand for It. Out of his own pocket, Barney paid to have brother Connie Adams come to Wellsburg In the fall of 1967 to preach a wook-ond meeting on the digressions. Shortly after that, the Wellsburg church cancelled all future meetings with known liberal preachers and has been standing for sound doctrine to this day.

One ovent that stands out in the minds of Christians in this area took place at the closing service of a gospel meeting, in the spring of 1969. Frank Higginbotham, in his last sermon, made mention of some who were going up and down the valley causing divisions in the Lord’s church with their preaching and he felt this should stop. Barney stood up after the lesson and in a kind but firm way stated that it was the digressions and innovations of liberal, modernistic thinking preachers and brethren which were causing divisions not the preaching of sound doctrine. This example of courage stirred a number of Christians in this valley to declare themselves on the Lord’s side.

Though all know Barney to be a man of conviction, I know him also to be a caring man. My first opportunity to meet brother Winland was on the occasion of my Interview for the work at Wellsburg. While Barney and I sat in the building that afternoon discussing the work, he spoke of the wayward and willfully negligent and began to cry in sadness over some who had recently died without repentance and about others who he feared might also. Among the lost words I heard him speak when I lost visited him in the personal care home in Racine, OH was concern for his children. Sandwiched in between were all the times he took me to visit the spiritually sick, trying to plead for them to open their eyes to the terminal plight of their soul. First and last, I believe Barney labored In the kingdom because he sincerely loved the souls of those he taught.

On September 16, 1986, Barney suffered a stroke that began the decline of his health. There was no warning – he had just plowed a field at his wife’s farm and was working on a broken steering shaft on the tractor when the stroke hit. With help, he made his way back to the house and later walked Into the hospital where, that night, he suffered another, more severe stroke. An early program of rehabilitation had him started back to his old self, but two additional strokes, congestive heart failure, and a few bouts with pneumonia kept him from recovering. On Sunday, June 5, 1988, brother Barney breathed his last breathe and went to his long home.

His funeral was conducted by Weldon Warnock, assisted by Mike Grushon and me. His son Joe led the congregational singing, using “Praise the Lord,”‘Where the Roses Never Fads,” and “Heaven Will Surely Be Worth It All.” He was interred beside the grove of his first wife, Vaughn, at Holly Memorial Gardens In Pleasant Grove, Ohio.

Barney leaves behind beloved family members and door friends who will remember him and smile about his worm, boisterous sense of humor. After ooting large meals In homes of his brethren, he would invariably say, “I feel just as good after those few bites as if I had eaten a whole meal.” But the bit of humor I will remember was his insistence that his initials G.O. actually spelled “GO!” and that he always intended to do it!

The ranks of the laborers in the vineyard have been diminished by one – lot us determine to stop up into his place. G.O. “Barney” Winland’s example will speak to us down through the years. What will ours say to those we leave behind in death?

“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them” (Rev. 14:13).

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 16, pp. 502-503
August 18, 1988