Truth Magazine

By Forrest D. Moyer

We sometimes speak of life amid the shadows. We refer to such things as sorrow and adversity, calamity and misfortune as shadows. Yet, we need to remember that the same God who made the sunshine also made the shadows. Yea, it is the brilliancy of the sunshine that produces the contrast of the shadows. Is there a value in shadows? Yes, verily, for who could appreciate the beauty of the sunrise were it not for the shadows of the night? To awake on a foggy morning with only the shadows of the misty clouds about us causes us to yearn for the crisp dawn with sun reflecting upon the western hills. Yes, shadows have their purpose.

And it is so with the shadows of pain, sorrow and adversity. The one who comes out of such shadows as these appreciates the light so much more than the one who has known only peace and prosperity. The pain of sorrow only intensifies the joy of contentment. The bitter cup of anguish makes the taste of comfort that much sweeter. We must learn to use the shadows to come to appreciate the sunshine.

When adversity comes, the end result of it will be determined by how we accept it and how we use it. We can lie down and wallow in the shadows of self-pity or we can move toward the sunshine. The choice is really ours. For as surely as there is a night, there also follows a sunrise. We can walk toward that sunrise and away from the night. Sunset may be coming, but the sunrise we’ll see!

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 5, p. 149
March 3, 1988

By Steve Wallace

It has been long contested whether or not a Christian can participate in carnal warfare in the service of his government. I could no doubt create controversy with some by stating my views on the subject here; however, such is not my purpose in writing. The facts are that many Christians are in the armed forces as well. Some have made it a point to assure themselves of non-combatant positions, while others would be found on the front lines in the event of a war. One can meet all kinds.

Are there other questions confronting a Christian who is either in the military or thinking about a career therein besides the “War Question”? Is the question of carnal warfare the only one to be answered relevant to service in the armed forces? In our discussion of this particular issue I fear that other issues, issues just as important, may have been passed by or overlooked. They are issues which go beyond the “War Question.”

1. Being apart of a New Testament church (Heb. 10:25; 1 Cor. 12:12-27). While many are fortunate enough to land jobs which seldom cause any disruption in their working and worshiping with a local church, there are perhaps just as many with whom it is quite the opposite. It starts in basic training where the recruit often is not allowed off post for the first few weeks – and there is seldom a church on post.

After basic training a person is sent wherever the military decides and this can often mean duty overseas. While there are liberal churches in many places overseas, the same cannot be said for sound churches. Most of the Christians in the military whom I have met have been assigned to a place where no sound church exists; they simply “attend” with the liberals during their time in that place. While good has occasionally come from a situation like this as a result of the brethren taking a stand for the truth, this usually is not the case. One cannot fulfill the commandment of Hebrews 10:25 by attending or otherwise being a part of a church involved in unscriptural practices.

If one is transferred into an area where there is a sound church or if that person is a real go-getter and gets a church started, this is not the end of the problem we’re discussing! The military often involves its personnel in temporary duties that can send an individual almost anywhere for varying lengths of time. Item: One brother can make it to services only 4 to 6 times a year because his work constantly takes him places where he can’t attend. Item: Another Christian is out up to six months a year for the same reason! More common is a 2 to 4 week exercise during which the Christian’s name is always in the announcements at services as being “in the field” or “TDY” (Temporary Duty).

Thinking about a career in the military? After considering the “War Question,” I hope that you’ll consider Hebrews 10:25 and other verses which relate to a Christian’s responsibility to the local church as well.

2. An Ungodly Atmosphere. I speak now especially in reference to single males about service in the Army (i.e., this particular branch of the military). Having worked in a factory for a number of years, I know that ungodliness is not unique to any one segment of our society. However, having visited Army barracks where the single enlisted men must live, I have to say that it would be hard to imagine a more ungodly atmosphere. From the filthy pictures on the walls to the sponsored drinking parties, the Christian is virtually immersed in ungodliness. I have known only two Christians who have survived living in the Army barracks spiritually. All the rest have fallen away. But don’t just take my word about the filth these brethren are subjected to: read the following article taken from a December 1987 issue of Stars & Stripes, the military’s magazine entitled: “GI Talks About Vulgar Language in the Military.”

I am an American serviceman. I would like to address the civilian reader who is irritated by vulgar language.

Before I joined the military I almost never used vulgar language. When I went to basic training, everybody was called every bad name you could think of.

The people who trained us used vulgar language every time they opened their mouths. Now I speak it all the time.

I have heard nothing but vulgar language since I’ve been in the military. I asked my father about that, “There has been vulgar language ever since I can remember.”

My father has been in the military over 20 years.

All I can say is ignore it. We will always speak vulgar language. The military can do something about it, but will not be able to enforce it.

You can try joining to understand our point of view.

Do you believe that it is your duty to “deny ungodliness and worldly lust” as a soldier in the Lord’s army (Tit. 2:11-12)? It will be a lot easier if you don’t join the U.S. Army!

I cannot close this article without saying something about the many fine brethren I’ve men in our country’s armed forces. There are many brethren whom I have learned to love deeply: brethren who have stood for the truth, who have resisted the ungodliness they have been confronted with, brethren who have established churches when they found none in their area, and brethren who have worked to build up churches. It is the danger that military life poses to the Christian that warrant the warning given herein.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 6, p. 165
March 17, 1988

By Larry Ray Hafley

There are a number of items in the Bible I would like to know more about. Are you curious too? Perhaps you have mused or dreamed of certain things in the Scriptures that are but briefly mentioned – just enough to whet your imagination. Can you think of a few examples?

I suppose most all of us would love to know more about Jesus’ early life. Before his thirtieth birthday, we only have the event when he was twelve (Lk. 2:42). Do you ever long for more such information? What was his life like as a child and as a young man?

Remember the dream Mrs. Pilate had? What happened to the woman at the well in John 4? What did the Ethiopian eunuch do with his new found faith? Did you ever wonder what happened to Joseph, the Lord’s earthly “father”?

Surely, the life of Moses was interesting. He was highly educated in Egyptian lore, “and he was a man of power in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22). We know a great deal about his life as the great Lawgiver, the Emancipator of Israel, but what is signified by his “power in words and deeds”?

At the death of Jesus, “the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many” (Matt. 27:52-54). Exactly who were these saints? What did they experience when they went into the city? What were the reactions to their appearances?

And what of the plot to kill Lazarus after the Lord raised him from the dead (Jn. 12:10)? Were any of the conspirators later converted (Acts 6:7)? Think of the intrigue we know nothing about. What became of the men who led Saul of Tarsus into Damascus after the Lord appeared to him? They were his associates. What did they think? What did they come to know and believe? How did Paul’s nephew learn of the secret plan to assassinate his uncle? Was his sister or nephew a Christian? If not, what was his immediate family’s reaction to Paul after his conversion?

“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Lk. 24:27). What would you give to know all that the Lord said on that occasion? And what was included in the “many other words” of Peter on Pentecost (Acts 2:40)? Would you like to have a record of Paul’s appeals to Felix? We have the skeleton of his sermon outline (righteousness, temperance and judgment to come), but what did he say?

On and on we could go. Concerning a multitude of these and related topics, we can observe:

(1) That God has revealed all we need to know (2 Tim. 3:16,17). We lack nothing necessary to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3).

(2) That the Bible is not written to satisfy a curious appetite (Jn. 21:25).

And what of the plot to kill Lazarus after the Lord raised him from the dead (Jn. 12:10)? Were any of the conspirators later converted (Acts 6:7)? Think of the intrigue we know nothing about. What became of the men who led Saul of Tarsus into Damascus after the Lord appeared to him? They were his associates. What did they think? What did they come to know and believe? How did Paul’s nephew learn of the secret plan to assassinate his uncle? Was his sister or nephew a Christian? If not, what was his immediate family’s reaction to Paul after his conversion?

(3) That our thirst for more information may be the reason God has left some things in obscurity. It may be his way to motivate us to mine the truth for the precious ore of faith and insight. “Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matt. 6:5).

(4) That a subtle sign of inspiration is seen in the things that are not revealed. Man writes to answers our quest for more knowledge. Holy men of God, though, spake as they were borne along by the Holy Spirit in order to effect the purposes of God. If the Bible had been a deliberate fraud, mere men could not failed but to have embellished mysteries with more detail.

(5) That the cloud of one passage may be clearly dissipated by the elements of light in another. The book of Matthew and Stephen and Paul’s discourses (Acts 7 & 13) may clarify the missing links of Luke 24:27.

(6) That the secret things belong unto God (Deut. 29:29).

(7) That it will be wonderful to go to heaven and obtain answers to our questions and solutions to the puzzles of our curious faith – or will it even matter then?

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 5, p. 147
March 3, 1988

By Garreth L. Clair

During the lifetime of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ upon this earth, no church was established. Although a great deal of information about the church of Christ is discussed during the lifetime of John and Jesus, the church did not become a reality until after the death of both. These facts indicate that the period of the gospels and the first chapter of the book of Acts were a period preparatory for the establishment of the church of Christ. To this concept we present the following lessons:

I. The work of John the Baptist (i.e., The baptizer). John’s work was to herald the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven (the church). “And in those days cometh John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:1,2).

A. John was the messenger to prepare the way before the Lord (Mal. 3:1).

B. He was Elijah who was to appear before the “great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Mal. 4:5).

C. John was the friend of the bridegroom whose work was to decrease while that of the bridegroom (Lord) was to increase (Jn. 3:29,30).

D. He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness (Isa. 40:3; Jn. 1:23). The kingdom (church of Christ) was to begin in Jerusalem and the law was to go forth from Zion (Isa. 2:2-4) but the work of John the Baptist and the message he preached started in the wilderness of Judea.

II. John was not in the Kingdom of Heaven (i.e., the church of Christ). Please observe the following facts in this connection:

A. Jesus said of John, “Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist, not withstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matt. 11:11). If John was as great as any before him, but the least in the kingdom was greater than he, it follows that John was not in the kingdom. Why was he not in the kingdom? Could any man be called great by our Savior if he lived in disobedience to God? If the kingdom was in existence at this time and John was not in it, he was living in disobedience to God by not being a part of it (Matt. 23:13).

B. John the Baptist was not in the kingdom for the same reason that Adam, Noah, Abraham, etc. were not in it; John lived and died before the kingdom of the Messiah was established and, therefore, had no opportunity to become a citizen in it.

C. John could do all God expected of him without entering the kingdom; but those of us living today live during the existence of the kingdom, we therefore have the responsibility to become a part of it (Col. 1:13,14).

III. John died before Jesus promised to build his church. We read in Matthew 14:1-12 about the events leading up to and the death of John the Baptist, but following in chronological order in Matthew 16:13-20 we read of Jesus’ promise to build his church sometime in the future.

There is no absolute way of determining how many months passed between these two events. But it is certain that John had been dead sometime before Jesus made his promise on the coast of Caesarea Philippi to build his church. Since John died before the church was established, his work could only be a preparatory nature. It was John’s work to prepare material out of which Jesus Christ would eventually build his church.

Church Not Built During Jesus’ Earthly Ministry

In the next phase of this lesson we want to examine the work of Christ during his approximately 33 years on this earth as a living human being. In this phase of the study we want to establish as fact that Jesus did not build a church during his earthly existence. In establishing this fact we direct your attention to the following set of biblical facts:

I. The personal ministry of Christ did not begin where the prophets predicted the kingdom would begin. Notice the following:

A. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River and did immediate work among the disciples of John (Jn. 1:35-51).

B. He left the vicinity of the Jordan on the third day and was attending a wedding in Cana of Galilee (Jn. 2:1ff).

C. After this we find him going through Galilee and finally coming to Nazareth where some sought to kill him (Lk. 4:14-30).

II. In the second place the work of Jesus during his personal ministry was not directed toward all nations as the prophets predicted regarding the nature of the coming kingdom:

A. Jesus addressed a woman of Canaan, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24).

B. Jesus teaching did not extend to any of the nations around about Israel, only to the Jews.

III. All the teaching by Jesus pointed to the establishment of kingdom (church) in the future:

A. As John the Baptist had been teaching, so did Jesus teach, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mk. 1:14,15).

B. Jesus lived under the law of Moses; he recognized the authority of the Mosiac law and taught men to obey it (Matt. 23:13). Even though he lived under and taught men to submit to the law of Moses he taught that a great law (i.e., kingdom, church, government) was soon to be established (Matt. 5-7).

C. In spite of all his teaching about the coming kingdom, Jesus did not tell his disciples everything about it as is evident from John 16:12,13.

In this final phase of the lesson let us now examine the work of the twelve apostles during Christ’s personal ministry. Observe the following facts about the apostles’ work:

I. The work of the apostles did not begin in Jerusalem during the personal ministry of Christ as the prophets predicted.

A. Jesus was in Galilee, not Jerusalem, when he called the twelve apostles and gave them their authority (Matt. 10:lff; Lk. 9:1-6).

B. The Old Testament prophets predicted that the kingdom would begin in Jerusalem and that the law of the kingdom would go out from that city. Consequently, the work of the Twelve at the time of Christ’s earthly life was not for the establishment of a kingdom (church) but was preparatory.

II. The Twelve were instructed by Christ during his earth ly ministry to preach to Jews only (Matt. 10:6).

A. The prophets said that the message of the coming kingdom would be for all nations when it was established in the last days of the Jewish dispensation (Isa. 2:2-4; Dan. 2:24-45; Mic. 4:1-5; etc.).

B. The limitations of the Twelve and their ministry during the lifetime of Christ is clearly established from the statement recorded in Matthew 10:5-7, as follows: “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

III. The apostles of Christ were given a limited commission, they were limited to specified territories in their work during the life of Christ; notice the following facts:

A. The prophets had said that when the kingdom arrived they should go into all nations (i.e., “all nations would flow into it”). Jesus limited the apostles (Matt. 10:5).

B. When Jesus later gave the commission that we refer to today as the great commission in Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15,16; Lk. 24:46-49. The apostles were then told to “go into all the world,” for then the time for the establishment of the predicted kingdom had come.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 6, pp. 168-169
March 17, 1988