Truth Magazine

By O. Fred Liggin, Jr.

“The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38.)

These words were spoken by Jesus Christ many years ago and are still very true today. The fields are “white unto harvest” but more laborers are needed. At present there are only five European evangelists here in Nyasaland. The reason more are needed is because Nyasaland has a land area of 36,000 square miles and a population of 3 million. Most of the roads are dirt and transportation is very difficult especially during the rainy season. The largest towns are Blantyre in the Southern Province and Lilongwe in the Central Province.

Here in the Northern Province land was given and a very nice “mission” station established in 1957. This station sits in the beautiful Henga Valley around a population of 33,000, in the Rumpi District. During the years 1957-1960 some __??__ persons obeyed the gospel. During 1961, 307 persons obeyed the gospel, 104 were restored, 6 new congregations established, four church buildings completed and 29,000 tracts printed. So far this year 8 have obeyed the gospel, 36 have been restored, 2 new congregations established and 8,000 tracts printed.

Brethren James Judd, Doyle Gilliam and Andrew Connelly and their families started this work. In November of 1960, brother Fred Liggin and family arrived here to replace the James Judds. The Leon Clymores came from Lusaka in October 1961, to assist in the work as brother Connelly returned home in November 1960. The Clymores will leave for home in October 1962, having completed four years in Africa.

The Lord has greatly blessed His work in this land. Many problems have been overcome and at present things are moving along nicely. The government has no restrictions on the preaching of the gospel and the distribution of tracts. We are free to travel to any village we desire and teach the people the word of God.

All of this is good, but, “How eager are the people here for the gospel?” One day I received a letter from a man wanting to know about Salvation. Before I could answer him he rode his bicycle 29 miles to the “mission” station to study. He was a Presbyterian elder, but upon hearing the truth accepted it. Now he is doing a splendid job in his village area. In December 1961, two young boys arrived at my house about 8:00 p. m. They had walked 60 miles to learn the truth. They are now teaching the gospel to their fellow men. One of these young men desires to go to school to better learn how to divide the word of truth. These are just two of the stories. We receive letters regularly from people wanting us to come and discuss the word with them. Yet we cannot go to all of the people because the workers are so few. We have only 5 African preachers on full support. These men are willing to travel from place to place carrying the gospel, but we lack the money to send them. Brethren, Nyasaland could be won for Christ but we need more help. Should you desire to help this work please send your contribution to me. My address is: O. F. Liggin, Jr., P. O. Rumpi, Nyasaland, Africa. We will also need a replacement here for Brother Clymore in October. If you are interested in this type of work please feel free to write to me and I will give you any helpful information you may want.

God bless all -of you in His own way. Please remember us and the work in your prayers.

Truth Magazine VI: 8, pp. 1
May 1962

By Bryan Vinson, Sr.

While reflecting on the magnitude of creation the Psalmist was constrained to exclaim, “When I consider the heavens the work of thy fingers, and the stars which thou has ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him?” This is not a display of incredulity, but of simple amazement as touching the concern, the interest and mindfulness of God toward man in connection with the fact of God’s greatness and grandeur as attested by the work of creation. There is, then, the acknowledged acceptance as a fact that God exercises a mindfulness of man in this language. Therefore, we should be interested in the truth here acknowledged and such reasons as we can discover for this interest by Jehovah in us, and the avenues of expression employed by him in evincing this concern.

We are initially informed of God’s interest by his expression of gratification in the creation of man, and as subsequently manifested by his association with man. There was a felicity of association with and communion experienced between God and the original man that continued unbroken and unmarred until the intrusion of a third party on the scene. The design of this intruder was to destroy this felicitous relationship, and he knew that only by a corrupting of man, thereby rendering him unfit for the divine association, could his ends be accomplished. Also, he knew that this corruption could only be effected by sin, and that sin is a development wrought in consequence of evil temptation. Hence, he tempted man, and through this temptation, so seductively and alluringly presented, man was deceived (that is, the woman). An immediate result was a consciousness of guilt experienced by the first pair as evidenced by their shame in being naked, and their hiding from God. Not only does sin render man unfit for God’s presence as viewed by God, but as also sensed by man himself. Sin separated man from God. As thus guilty before God, we are confronted with every conceivable solution of the matter by God. What is He to do with this creature that had afforded him such gratification and pleasure heretofore, but who now had become unfit and unworthy before his maker? While disavowing any intention to limit the intellectual resources of God, and therefore limit the alternative that occurred, or could occur to him, we, nevertheless, can conceive of but three possible eventualities in the determination of the solution. First, the annihilation of man; second, the abandonment of man, and, third, the redemption of man. We wish to consider each of these briefly in relation to this subject.

By annihilation is meant, of course, the simple idea of extinction thus a cessation of existence. There are religionists, professedly at least, who embrace the idea of destructionism, meaning thereby annihilation. The term destruction, however, does not mean annihilation when employed in regard to man. The idea of a punishment identified as an everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, assigning the meaning of annihilation to the term destruction makes nonsense. With the possibility of God annihilating matter we are not concerned; that he can annihilate spirit with us is, at least, questionable. Man when regarded as a creature made in the image of God is to be thus recognized as having a spirit that constitutes him as the off-spring of Jehovah. Is man, as thus identified capable of extinction? This we seriously doubt. But be it as it may, the very fact that God did not, assuming He could, annihilate man resolves the matter as touching this conceivable solution as one not employed by Him.

The second, that of abandonment, poses another situation as expressive of a possible attitude of God toward man. Had God, acting as offended Deity by the sin of Adam, determined to abandon man and thus leave him to his own resources how different would the fate of mankind be. True it is that the vast majority of our race is wholly unmindful of God, and thus act as though there is either no God, or, if there be one, that He exercises no interest in or influence over the lives and fortunes of mankind. This, then, is equal to a course of abandonment by God as it affects us, and renders man vain in his own conceits by attributing to himself a self-sufficiency beyond his own real powers of mind and body. But we know that God did not abandon man, and, therefore, we are interested in some reason or reasons for Him not abandoning us to our own resources and left us to wander through life aimlessly and destitute of His help and guidance, His providence and government. Certainly regarding man as wholly depraved we could find no logical reason for God’s continuing interest in and regard for man. Should the doctrine of total depravity be true then man is totally destitute of good, and there being no element of good discoverable in him by His Maker there would, understandably, have been an abandonment of man by God. Consequently, we are led to the observation that since God did not abandon man He, therefore, saw in him some good, and thus man is not totally depraved by virtue of his initial transgression, or any subsequent sin.

This leads us to the Divine Determination to redeem man, to affect his recovery from ruin and all the evil consequences of sin, and from the guilt of-sin. If man is to ever be worthy of divine association he must be recovered from the guilt of sin, and thus the purposed salvation from sin as wrought through the voluntary offering of Christ, with all that is involved in his sacrifice, is but the supreme manifestation of God’s mindfulness of man. God is mindful of man as pertains to his present existence and well being. Jesus taught that God takes cognizance of the falling sparrow, and provides for the clothing of the lily, and in view thereof he suggests that by reason of the superior worth of man, he much more cares for us. God’s care for us is displayed every moment in the workings of providence, general as it blesses all men, and special as touching his own.

But just as Jesus taught that we should not labor for the meat that perishes, and that a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things he possesses, even so should we learn therefrom that the material provisions with which God blesses us does not and cannot constitute all of his interest in us. Inasmuch as there is about us that which bread alone does not satisfy, we must accept the view that God has designed that which is related to our inner needs, the righteous interests of the spirit.

This, of Course, involves the mindfulness of God for man as it relates to salvation from sin. The apostle Paul, while viewing his past and present in contrast, and in recognizing the blessedness of salvation, he said that “by the grace of God I am what I am.” Salvation by grace is a fundamental doctrine of the gospel, and thus the gospel is the gospel of God’s grace. The idea of salvation by grace is that of being saved as an act of favor on the part of him who saves us; there is no merit attaching to us warranting or requiring this action by God. Consequently we conclude that the scheme of redemption, in its conception, development and execution all constitutes the supreme expression of God’s mindfulness of man.

From this consideration of the matter we are led to the conviction that a child of God, an heir of salvation, should unceasingly be filled with gratitude for the mindfulness of God for him as evidenced in the salvation thus enjoyed and the inheritance promised him as reserved in heaven. A Christian is the wealthiest of all people; he has the constant assurance that he walks always under the watchful eye and within the protective power of God as he walks by faith and in the light. The mindfulness of God for man is a continuing fact, and one of supreme significance and worth, which beside it all other blessings and joys fade into worthlessness.

Truth Magazine VI: 7, pp. 23-24
April 1962

By Luther Blackmon

Any reputable doctor will tell you that the only safe way to lose weight and control it is through diet. Control your appetite. But people like to eat. Especially fat people. So they take reducing pills, ride bicycles, go to health clubs that provide strenuous exercises, and they stuff themselves with fattening foods. If a man wants to waddle along through his short life looking like a bunch of bulldogs fighting in a cotton sack, that’s his business. But he should not kid himself that he really wants to lose weight until he is willing to control his eating. So much for the health lecture.

The head of the FBI, Mr. J. Edgar Hoover has told us over and over for years and years that the greatest deterrent to juvenile delinquency and crime is the influence of religion and religious life. Statistics show that the percentage of people in our penal institutions that have attended church regularly is very low. If my memory serves me right, less than five per cent. But the parents are not impressed it seems. Only fifty-one per cent of the people in the United States are even “church related” as they say. And, of course, only a small percent of that fifty-one per cent attend regularly. Take the churches of Christ for example. You can find about as many people who claim church membership who do not attend, as you can find that do. And our people would likely run a little higher than the general average. It is pretty safe to say that less than twenty-five per cent of young people in this country attend church with anything like regularity. The one thing that nearly everyone knows would exert the greatest influence for good in the lives of the young people and be most likely to keep them from crime, the parents refuse to give them.

They give them money to spend, provide country clubs, parks, dance halls, gymnasiums and just nearly everything that appeals to the flesh. And this to keep them out of trouble. But they will not do the one thing that has proven most effective. They will not take them to church, every Sunday.

There are likely many reasons for this. One is the utter spiritual bankruptcy of these parents. They don’t care about God. To worship him is bore some. So they have conjured up a vision of God as a sort of benign, over-indulgent, heavenly Grandfather who will let them do as they please. And it doesn’t please them to go to church and worship. Or maybe they think they will hear something at church that will make them uncomfortable, and they don’t want to be tormented before their time.

So, they play their poker and canasta, for a little money to make it interesting; they drink their cocktails or their beer; they lounge around all day on the Lord’s day in a bathing suit, or they cut the grass and wash the car, or they catch up on the sleep they lost at the party on Saturday night, while their children roam the neighborhood with the rest of the neglected children whose parents don’t care about their souls. And then they have the unmitigated egotism to assume that their children will never get into trouble because they have “raised them right.”

But more and more of their children are showing them year after year that they are wrong. Juvenile delinquency and crime are constantly on the increase. But let us not be too hard on the young people. They didn’t ask for the kind of parents they have.

Truth Magazine VI: 7, pp. 16
April 1962

By Foy W. Vinson

I suppose that the subject of baptism is the most highly controverted of all the themes mentioned in the New Testament. Often discussions on this theme are attended with great passion or emotion and from the seemingly endless and fruitless arguments arising therefrom it would appear, at least to the casual observer, that a solution is unobtainable. And yet the teaching of the New Testament on baptism is so simple and clear that it is much more a matter of accepting rather than understanding what is taught. Since there has been such a smokescreen of confusion raised over baptism, and since there have been many false statements made concerning what baptism will do or not do, it seems in order to “search the scriptures” to ascertain the truth. In this article we consider some things baptism won’t do, and in a later article we will discuss what it will do. Now however, let us notice some things according to the New Testament which baptism will not do.

First, baptism will not change one’s heart. There are those who believe and others who are misrepresented as believing that the act of baptism within itself possesses some mystical power capable of effecting a complete change in one’s convictions, affections and purposes. This is commonly referred to as “baptisimal regeneration.” But the Bible teaches no such thing. The heart of man must change before baptism, not at it! The heart of man is composed of (1) his intellect, which believes, reasons and thinks; (2) his emotions, which love, trust and desire; and (3) his will, which intends, purposes and obeys. But before a person can be scripturally baptized his intellect must undergo a change from unbelief to belief; his emotions must change from indifference to love and trust; and his will must cease to be rebellious or insubordinate and become submissive. These changes are all accomplished by faith and repentance. That is why Christ made faith a prerequisite of baptism. (Mk. 16:16.)

This is the reason the inspired apostle on Pentecost required repentance prior to baptism. (Acts 2:38.) So baptism does not change one’s heart. This must precede baptism.

Second, baptism won’t remove temptation. One is playing right into Satan’s hands who thinks that because he’s been baptized there is no danger of temptation. Remember, baptism takes care of the past, but it does’s guarantee the future. In fact the New Testament makes it clear that Christians will be tempted. Paul wrote the following to the brethren at Corinth: “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (I Cor. 10:12-13.) So Christians are tempted, though they are promised a way of escape. Furthermore, we find the following language addressed to baptized believers: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith–” (1 Pet. 5:8-9.) So baptism does not remove temptation.

Third, baptism will not guarantee a sinless life. This point is closely related to the former one. Since temptations occur even after one is baptized, it necessarily follows that the baptized are not immune to sin. In fact, the scriptures teach just the opposite. There was a false doctrine extant a few centuries after the establishment of the church to the effect that there was no forgiveness after baptism and hence many were discouraged from being baptized until the’ had reached an older age where they felt they could live sinlessly. If this doctrine were true, then all would be hopelessly doomed. The apostle John says to Christians, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 Jno. 1:8-10.) So baptism does not guarantee a sinless life.

Finally, baptism will not guarantee eternal life. Many professing Christians live as if they thought it did. If, however, we succumb to temptations and fall into sin after being baptized, and then fail to repent of such sins and confess them, but rather die in them, then we cannot go where our Lord is. (Acts 8:22-23; Jno. 8:21; 1 Jno. 1:9.) This is the reason Christians are warned to “let no man beguile you of your reward;” (Col. 2:18), and are told not to become “weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 6:9); and finally are admonished to “be faithful unto death” that they might receive the “crown of life.” (Rev. 2:10.) Hence we need to realize the limitations of baptism. These are some things it won’t do, and to trust in baptism to this extent will mean your eternal ruin.

Truth Magazine VI: 7, pp. 21-22
April 1962