Truth Magazine

By Mike Hughes

I have at times heard it said that something is good depending upon what it is compared with. I recently preached a funeral of a man that died at the age of 76 years old of health complications. This man had 19 and 16 great grandchildren.

I had been with the family since the onset of this man’s hospital stay; thus I became close to some of them. The night before the funeral I was helping some of the family chose music for the funeral. His grandchildren got together and said they wanted the “Grandpa Song.” I thought I had never heard of the Grandpa song so some of them started to explain it to me. I discovered the song they were referring to is “Grandpa tell me about the Good old days” by a country singing duo calling themselves the Judds. I wondered what place country music had at a funeral. One of the grandchildren is stationed in South Korea and so during the funeral after my portion of the service they played a tape tribute that he wrote to his grandpa. Right after this tribute the “Grandpa” song as they called it was played. As I set on the stage tears were brought to my eyes as I thought of my own grandpa who passed away in 1981.

The song has a line in it that says “grandpa tell me about the good old days when the line between right and wrong wasn’t so easy.” I thought of how significant that it is how much society has changed, how much it seems we have moved away from being a God-fearing nation. Probably in Grandpa’s day the line between right and wrong was none better. People weren’t apt to use the Bible to try to justify some form of sin they wanted to be engaged in. Grandpa could probably compare his day to his Grandpa’s day and say the same thing. I am but 36 years old and can see evidence of changes in my short life span.

There is another line in this song that I listened closely to; it goes “When promises were really something people kept not just something they would say and then forget.” I can remember my grandpa would speak of times when there were no contracts for everything but you would make a promise with your word and that would be the bond. Jesus says in Matthew 5:37 “But let your Yea be Yea and your Nay be Nay.” It does seem like we have gotten away from that.

There was another line that I heard in that song that I pondered on as I set staring at the casket of this grandpa. It goes: “Families really bowed their heads and prayed. Daddies really never go away. ” How many times today can you say that you have prayed with your families? Again Jesus says in Matthew 7:7-9 to ask, seek, and knock. How will we be able to have help in overcoming problems of society today without prayer?

As I notice various surveys today I find that there are more daddies and mothers going away today. If more mothers and daddies would follow the teachings there would be fewer “Daddies going away.” We live in a very selfish society, which I believe contributes to such a high divorce rate.

The second verse of this song started “Wonder back in the past, paint me a picture of long ago.” I wonder how many of the grandchildren whose grandpa is living have asked him to “paint me a picture of long ago.”

As grandpa’s what kind of picture would you paint of long ago? Sometimes this world does seem to have gone, crazy. We do call it progress and I truly don’t know.

Yes, it was unusual to hear a country song at a funeral service, but I do believe the words were appropriate to the occasion. As I sat listening to this song I was thinking how I wish I could see either one of my grandpa’s and ask them to “tell me about the good old days.”

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 9, p. 261
May 5, 1988

By Carl McMurray

Solomon said, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children” (Prov. 13:22, NASV). Some might argue that wealth is the point of his proverb and the inheritance of these children, but I would like to suggest that there is something else that is passed on in a family lineage. There is an inheritance that we give to our children and our grandchildren that is far more important and satisfying than wealth. There is an inheritance that may have an effect on following generations that money and such like can never equal. In an “I want. . . ” world, that is guided by “yuppies” and stock market figures, the Christian must give consideration to what we are really leaving to our children and our children’s children.

Our heavenly Father has always been concerned with the next generation of his children. Joshua 4:5-6 illustrates the planning of proper remembrances for Israel’s children so that they would have a visual remembrance of God’s care among them. The great Passover feast that God instituted for Israel was instituted with due concern for passing it on to the next generation (Exod. 12:26-27). Part of God’s lawgiving and promise as Israel approached Canaan included not only Israel taking God’s law to heart, but their children and grandchildren doing it also. He instructed them on how it was to be accomplished in Deuteronomy 6:2-9. Don’t forget how the Jews were rebuked by Nehemiah because they had neglected the above instructions of God and their own children’s teaching until their children could not even speak the language of Judah (Neh. 13:23-25). The other side of the coin is Abraham in Genesis 18:19, who is commended by God because he “will command his children after him.” It must be evident that God is certainly concerned about what we are leaving to our children.

Have you noticed that righteousness and wickedness often run in family lines. There are exceptions of course where children choose their own path and separate themselves from their lineage. But such seem to be the exceptions rather than the rule. Most children seem inclined to accept the inheritance that their parents leave them. In Genesis we are presented with two main family lines. They are represented by Cain and Abel. One is remembered for murdering his brother while the other is declared a “righteous man” in Hebrews 11:4. Obviously the literal lineage of Abel does not proceed far since he was murdered, but Genesis 4:25 tells us that Seth was given in place of Abel. Notice the difference in the two families from that time forward : The decendants of Cain distinguished themselves in a variety of ways. One built a city while another is looked to as the “father of those ‘who dwell in tents and have livestock.” Another is noted as the “father of all’those who play the lyre and pipe.” One is remembered for his forging and metal-work while another is even a murderer like Cain. The last thing we might note about this family is that it came to an end at the flood. In earthly pursuits this family seems to have excelled and passed this trait down through the family. There is no mention however of their relationship with Jehovah. We are left to infer that they contributed to the increasing wickedness in the world leading to its ultimate destruction by water in that day.

In the family of Seth however, we see a different picture. There are no notations of great deeds or accomplishments. This lineage however does produce a godly man who “walks with God” for 300 years before being “taken,” not seeing death. This family passed enough respect for Jehovah down through their generations that when the entire world became corrupt, one son of Seth is described as “blameless in his time,” one who “walked with God.” But, Enoch and Noah are not the only spiritually noteworthy individuals in this family line. It is the family of Seth that was chosen for the lineage of Christ. The children of this family seem to have had a good inheritance indeed left to them.

There is another striking parallel of this family practice that is even plainer than these already mentioned. In 2 Chronicles 22:1-5 we have the account of Ahaziah, king of Judah. Ahaziah is noted for his one year reign and his wickedness. The Scriptures explain that he was counseled to do evil by his mother and the house of Ahab. Ahab is dead at this time but when we remember that his wife Jezebel still lives and her daughter, Athaliah, is the mother who counsels Ahaziah, then the picture becomes clear. By Scripture, a man is declared to be wicked because he has been counseled that way by an evil mother and an ungodly grandmother. Is this not exactly the opposite of another notable man whose past is described in 2 Timothy 1:5. In that passage Timothy is declared to be possessed of a sincere faith, while the credit is given to a faithful mother and grandmother. With no stock market to invest in, there still seems to have been quite an inheritance that was left to these men.

It should be plain to us. We can and do leave an inheritance for our children and our children’s children. We can give them true faith to be a foundation for their lives and generations following will profit from the gift. Or we, by our actions, can counsel them to do evil. As the bumper sticker says, we may be “spending our children’s inheritance. ” Dedication and faithfulness or Sunday morning Christianity, which do your children see? When the stock market closes and the T-bills are matured, when the insurance is all cashed in, what are we really leaving to our children? The Scriptures point out that it can go either way. Will your grandchildren be walking in the light? Are you doing anything to make it as sure an investment as you are able? Just exactly what are you leaving your children?

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 9, p. 271
May 5, 1988

By Johnny Stringer

In a previous article, Scriptures were cited which conclusively prove that it is essential for us to be guided by God’s law. Those who believe that people can persist in violating the law of Christ in their worship and service to God are wrong.

It was also shown, however, that we do not depend just on law for our justification. We have more than law; we have grace by which we can be forgiven when we violate God’s law. Forgiveness, however, is conditional, and one of the conditions is repentance (Acts 2:38; 8:22). Hence, men cannot persist impenitently in violating God’s law and receive his gracious forgiveness.

Paul’s teaching in the book of Romans is often cited by those who teach that we are not amenable to law. Some of the statements most often invoked are found in Romans 3:19-4:8. Hence, we need to understand the real point of this passage.

First, we must understand the point Paul had been establishing in the context. He had begun in 1:18 to drive toward the conclusion that all men have sinned and therefore need the gospel. He showed that Gentiles had been guilty of sin, hence had not been justified by their manner of life; they needed the gospel. Then he showed that the Jews had failed to keep the law God had given them. Having failed to be justified by law, they needed the gospel.

After proving that the Jews had failed to be justified by the Law of Moses, Paul stated the conclusion in verse 20: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Why would no flesh be justified by the law? Simply because no flesh would perfectly obey the law. Inasmuch as all would violate the law, all would be condemned by it. The only way to be justified by law (law alone; no grace) would be to keep the law perfectly. Regarding the Law of Moses, Paul said that “doers of the law” would be justified (Rom. 2:13; 10:5); but no one “did” the law – not perfectly. All who did not continue in “all the things written in the book of the law” were cursed for their violations of the law, but no one continued in all the things of the law – not perfectly; hence, all were cursed by the law; none were justified by it (Gal. 3:10-12). Whenever one is described as keeping God’s law, the meaning is that his life was generally in accordance with the law; no one kept it perfectly except our Lord.

Paul’s point was that no one had kept God’s law perfectly so as to be justified by it. Men, therefore, needed another method of justification – a method other than perfect law-keeping. The experience of the Jew under the Law of Moses proved for all men for all time that man will not achieve justification by perfect law keeping. We need more than mere law; we need grace so that we can be forgiven when we violate God’s law.

In the text we are discussing, Paul’s statements regarding law must be understood in the light of the point under discussion in the context: Man had not kept God’s law perfectly so as to be justified by it; hence, men needed another method of justification. In this context, when Paul spoke of “the righteousness of God without the law” (3:21), he meant “the righteousness which we obtain by a means other than law. ” We do not become righteous simply by having a law and keeping it. We are indeed amenable to law, but we do not depend simply on law for justification. This would require keeping God’s law perfectly, and this is the thing Paul had been laboring to show that men had failed to achieve.

Similarly, in verse 28, when Paul said “that a man is justified by faith Without the deeds of the law,” He did not mean that we are not amenable to God’s law. Paul had been showing that we are justified by a method other than perfect law-keeping. Hence, “without the deeds of the law” means “without performing the deeds of the law perfectly.”

The point is, we stand righteous and justified before God not because we have lived in perfect obedience to divine law, but because we were forgiven of our sins through the blood of Christ when we submitted in faith to the Lord’s conditions. But we cannot stand righteous and justified before God if we persist in violations of divine law, for the conditions we must meet in order to be forgiven include repentance.

We will continue this study in or next article, particularly noting Paul’s usage of the word works in the passage we are considering.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 9, p. 264
May 5, 1988

By Jady W. Copeland

Sometimes in reading passages of Scripture we read over simple words with profound meanings that could teach us much if we stop to consider the implications of these simple words. In my case the word “together” was such a word. We may speak of being “together” in a place (Matt. 13:2). We may think of being “together” as regards agreement in thought or belief as Ananias and Sapphira “agreed together” to try the Spirit (Acts 5:9). It may take on the form of “relationship” as when God joins husband and wife “together” in the sacred relationship (Matt. 19:6). It may refer to sameness as to the element of “time,” as when two runners were “together” as they broke the tape in a race. Or the idea may involve sameness with reference to both place and time, as when we meet a friend for a cup of coffee; you have to be at the same place as well as at the same time. But the word “together” always takes on the idea of sameness. For a church to function, there has to be agreement to work, means by which they work as one and therefore work “together” as a unit.

Christians have accepted Christ as a common Savior. They are “together” in him. That is, having a proper relationship with Christ (they are saved), having a common Savior, having accepted a common faith (the gospel) and having agreed to work “together” with God, they therefore are “one” in Christ. This sameness began when they were “baptized into the death of Christ” (Rom. 6:3-6). We were baptized “into” Christ (entered into the right relationship with him), having put off the old man and put on the new. We entered the new life. So we were “united” with him in the likeness of his death, and therefore in the likeness of his resurrection. What a grand thought that he gave us the opportunity to be with him in a proper relationship that leads to being “together” with him in the resurrection. We were buried in baptism, raised to a new life and have the hope of the final resurrection because we have life in him. Thank God, we are free in him.

Having been raised to a new life, we are “together” with him and with fellow saints as we work in unity and “dwell together in unity” (Psa. 133:1). The early church demonstrated that unity in their actions as they sold their possessions and gave to all who had needs (Acts 4:32-35). They had mutual concern, love and a willingness to show such togetherness by their sacrifices. None lacked. Nothing in this life can be sweeter, more satisfying, pleasant and downright enjoyable than to see brethren dwelling together in a congregation with great love one for another, and willing to come to the aid of each other in time of need. And I think nothing can be more unpleasant than to see brethren bickering, fussing, gossiping and giving evidence of division, especially when that which divides is immaterial in nature. Paul’s illustration of the body in 1 Corinthians 12 so beautifully describes the “togetherness” of brethren under the one Head as they are “tempered” together. When one suffers, they all rejoice. All are important; none are unimportant. To me it seems a real shame, and an improper attitude when we make such a big “fuss” over a wealthy person and scarcely notice a poor person who has little of this world’s goods. I have seen wealthy or highly educated persons praised and pampered in a congregation and the poor and uneducated person overlooked almost entirely. Is not one soul as important to God as the other?

Then we as saints meet “together” for worship on the Lord’s day (Acts 20:7). This is important in that we remember the sacrifice for our sins. While there we usually engage in prayer, singing, study, etc. What a glorious blessing is received when we lift our voices in praise “together” in singing songs, hymns and spiritual songs! What a wonderful blessing the spiritual man receives when we fervently pray as one thoughtful brother leads us in thanksgiving, praise, petitions and adoration to God our Father! And what a disappointment when we leave the building to hear one criticize the good brother for making a grammatical mistake in the prayer. Is there a Christian who does not leave the place of worship with more fervor, more zeal and more love for God and brethren when he has engaged in such spiritual worship to the Father “together” with other saints?

Having been put together into one body (in Christ) we worship God in spirit and truth, but there is also work to be done, so we are “God’s fellow-workers” (laborers together with God, KJ). Under God and his”direction we work. In a “together” way, we pool Jur resources and talents (abilities) in the relationship which we call the “local congregation.” The early Christians put “together” their efforts and means to relieve the needy saints (Acts 4:32-35). They also put “together” their funds to support the preaching of the gospel (Phil. 4:15). But this is all under the direction of God and his will (1 Cor. 3:9). We belong to him, and we serve him as directed, and no “working together” is acceptable without his directions. Epaphroditus was Paul’s “fellow-worker” and the messenger of the Philippians to supply Paul’s needs (Phil. 2:25). Euodia and Syntyche were Paul’s helpers for they “labored with me in the gospel” (Phil. 4:3). During his life on earth Jesus taught that “we must work the works of him that sent me” (John 9:4), which is to say that there are assignments that God has made for us and it implies several things. First it says that we must “work his works” – we are not to supply our own works. But next it says that we must “do” something. “Work” is a verb and denotes action. I once saw a sign on a country store which read, “If you have nothing to do, don’t do it here.” That’s good advice for God’s people. If we think that God’s people were saved merely and only-to be finally glorified in heaven, we are mistaken. We have work to do as his saved people. There are others who need saving and we (like Timothy) must “continue in these things for in doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee” (1 Tim. 4:16).

Then after a faithful life of service we will be forever with the Lord (together). Paul says, “Then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). What a glorious thought to be “with God.” What a horrible thought to be eternally separated “from God” in the life to come. Eternal death is eternal separation from God. But it requires a “togetherness” with him (in the proper relationship) in this life in order that we may be with him in eternity.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 9, pp. 262-263
May 5, 1988