Truth Magazine

By Hoyt H. Houchen

Question: Is it scriptural for a church to set aside part of its treasury for investments such as mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc.?

Reply: The matter of a church having a bank account, and whether or not the account draws interest, is incidental. This has been discussed.

The question as to whether or not it is scriptural for the church to seek out investments that will make money for the church is an entirely different matter. When a church undertakes to invest in real estate, mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc. to increase the treasury, it assumes a work which God has not authorized. The primary work of the church is to preach the gospel that souls will be saved.

The New Testament teaches that the local church is to preach the gospel (1 Tim. 3:14, 15), provide for the benevolent needs of the saints for whom it is responsible (Rom. 15:25,26; 1 Cor. 16:1-4; 2 Cor. 8,9, etc.) and to edify the saints by Bible teaching. Money to do this threefold work is to be raised by the individual members contributing their money upon the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:1-4; 2 Cor. 9:7). This is God’s plan for raising the necessary funds for the church to do its work. The church is not to raise its money by promotional schemes such as pie suppers and quilt sales. Neither is the church to raise its money by seeking out investments. These do not fit into the Lord’s plan.

The church is not in the entertainment business; nor does God authorize his church to provide recreational facilities such as ping pong tables, basketball and volleyball courts, youth camps, etc. These things do not constitute the work of the church. Neither does seeking out investments to enlarge its treasury constitute the work of the church.

Investments such as those named above may be made by individuals, but not by the Lord’s church. Again, it is a matter of recognizing the difference between what the individual may scripturally do and what the church may scripturally do (how it may spend its money). If this distinction is made and properly applied, confusion about the church and its work will be removed.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 4, p. 101
February 18, 1988

By Irven Lee

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful” (Col. 3:15). The Bible is a good book that points out many things that are good for man and pleasing to God. We should stop to consider all his advice and commands.

Gratitude expressed is obviously a good and pleasant thing. God loved the world and gave his Son that we might be saved. He gave us his word also. By all means, we should be thankful for these great gifts. The earth is the Lord’s, and from it we get food, fiber, wood, minerals, and fuel. Take time to express sincere thanks for the good earth. Should we not also consider the beautiful colors of the different seasons and the songs of the birds? They are not here by accident. Be ye thankful!

I have lived in the USA all of my life and during a time of amazing changes. The freedom to move about and to plan our own lives is a wonderful reason to be glad and to count our blessings that we are Americans. There are many dangers to our spiritual values, and we should have proper concern for ourselves and for our descendants, but we need not overlook the good. I am glad to have lived in America. The strife ridden world does not offer too many places where we might consider living.

My family includes my wife who has been a wonderful help to me. My two daughters and their husbands are faithful and active Christians, and their love is precious to me. My four grandchildren are young adults whose faith is strong in this skeptical world. My only grandson-in-law is the grandson of two whom I baptized in 1940. He is active in church work. Should I not give God thanks for them? The Bible influence is the power that has made their lives beautiful. Are you thankful enough for your family?

The family of God or the church is made up of excellent people, and in preaching in many places I have come to know this to be a fact. There are imperfections within the assemblies. The members are human and are tempted by the world. Let us face every sin among us with boldness, love, patience, and determination to make things better. As we help others improve, let each of us improve. One of the things that has contributed so much happiness to my life is the close association with my brethren. I have faced problems and heartaches in preaching, but there has been much satisfaction in association with the devout saints.

“I praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” (Psa. 139:14). You and I should know right well that the human body is wonderful. The digestive system, the nervous system, and the respiratory system to do their work each day. Each is wonderful beyond words. There are many glands to regulate blood chemistry and many other essential things. Our body temperature remains the same when we are well. Should we not all give thanks? We may take good health for granted until we lose it. Take some time now to give thanks and count your blessings.

We all realize that some do not have such health. We should “visit the sick.” This means more than that we go and sit with them and talk. We are to bear one another’s burdens and help as we can. With age we become weak and have many limitations. Old age is the time in life to look back over the decades to recall the great blessings, and it is also a time to recall things we said and did that were out of place. We all need mercy.

“We all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Sinful deeds are not pleasant to recall, but realizing that we have erred makes us look to God for help. His obedient servants are forgiven. Think of our own bodies, nature about us, and the evidence in the Bible and have strong faith. It then should be a natural thing to turn to the Lord in repentance and baptism. We should confess and praise his name again and again. There is no reason to be ashamed of him. He doeth all things well. We seldom hear the name of Jesus mentioned on television and in a typical conversation. Why?

We have not been across the river of death to the new world, but our Lord and his Spirit-guided apostles have told us enough to know that it is a wonderful place to be. Life there will be a gift of God just as this life is a gift from him.

“For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak not guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it” (1 Pet. 3:10). Being a servant of the Lord means much more than being baptized. We are raised to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4). Hope is an anchor to the soul. Let us give thanks for the one hope.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 4, pp. 97, 119
February 18, 1988

By Garreth L. Clair

This article attempts to establish in the mind of the reader a facet of the Lord’s church not generally appreciated. That the church of Christ is a glorious institution can be determined by the definition of the word “glorious”: “glorious, full of honor; illustrious; celebrated; magnificent; exalted; colloq., splendid, inspiring admiration. – adv. gloriously” (The Winston Simplified Dictionary, Advanced Edition).

From the above definition we may progress to the Scriptures for information that will establish the church of Christ as a glorious institution; please observe the following facts:

1. The glory of the church of Christ does not reside in great numbers. From examples found throughout the Scriptures God’s glory and the glory of his established institutions do not now, nor have they in the past, consisted in numbers, small or large. Note: 1 Samuel 14:6, “And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised. it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few” (KJV). From this passage, it is apparent that numbers are not the factor that makes the church of Christ a glorious institution.

2. The glory of the church of Christ is not determined by the size of its buildings or the price of the physical structures where the saints meet. Today as in past ages men attempt to serve God with their hands and the products of their hands, yet even in the days of the apostle Paul, he instructed the religious minded people that the products of man’s hands were without significance to God (Acts 17:24). Therefore, the glory of the church is not found in material buildings of any kind.

3. The glory of the church of Christ does not reside in its great wealth, real or imaginary. There are some people today who are of the persuasion that a church is not very dignified, acceptable, pleasing to God, etc. unless it is possessed of great amounts of wealth (i.e., the Mormon Church or the Roman Catholic Church). There are many people today who are just too sophisticated to attend or even get interested in religion if the church does not present itself as a wealthy, sophisticated institution. The fact is Jesus recognized that there would be such people in his giving of the parable of the tares (cf. Matt. 13:22). The gloriousness of the church is not in wealth as we may observe from these few facts.

4. The glorious nature of the church of Christ cannot be established by observing the great wisdom of its preachers or its members, nor by the complex theological concepts formulated in councils of its great theological leaders. No, the Scriptures adequately show us that the gloriousness of the church of Christ does not reside in the wisdom or sophistication of its members or of its teaching. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. . . . For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Cor. 1:18-21).

No my friends the glorious nature of the church does not consist in any of those things we have just discussed. Now we want to look at that which makes the church of Christ glorious (Rom. 16:16; Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:47; Col. 1:18). The glorious nature of the church consists in the following facets:

1. The church of Christ has a perfect Head.- Christ (Eph. 1:22-23).

2. The church of Christ has a perfect law (James 1:25).

3. The church of Christ has a single message taught at each congregation world-wide (1 Cor. 4:17; Jude 3).

4. The government of the church of Christ is from above (Col. 3:1-2):

A. Christ is its only head (Eph. 1:22,23; Col. 1:18).

B. A plurality of elders, shepherds, bishops, overseers oversee each congregation (Acts 14:23; 20:17-28; James 5:14; Phil. 1:1; Tit. 1:7; 3:2; 1 Tim. 3:1; 5:1,17,19; Tit. 1:5). Would you believe that some teach that there is no such office!

C. Each congregation has its own deacons who serve the congregation under the oversight of the elders (Acts 6:1-6; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:8-13).

The above order is the divine order for the proper function of each local congregation. In some cases much time may pass before this organization is in a local congregation, yet the Bible teaches that eventually each full grown congregation will be so organized.

5. The gloriousness of the church of Christ may be seen in its glorious origin (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:1-47).

6. Its glory also consists in the greatest mission ever assigned to any institution (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16).

7. The gloriousness of the church of Christ resides in the fact that it is based upon a seven point unity platform. Observe Ephesians 4:1-6:

A. “There is one body. ” From this fact we understand that to even suggest more than one is apostasy.

B. “One Spirit. ” The Holy Spirit that has given to every man the same set of facts to live by and go to heaven by (Jude 3).

C. “One Hope. ” The eternal abode of the righteous after a lifetime of faithfulness (Rev. 2: 10; 2 Tim. 4:6-8). All men have the same hope based upon the same standard.

D. “One Lord. ” Jesus Christ who is “Lord of Lords, and King of Kings”; indeed Christ is Lord of all the faithful (Acts 2:47).

E. “One Faith. ” “The faith once delivered for all time” (Jude 3). There is one faith that is seen by the fact that all independent/autonomous congregations teach and practice the same thing. That there may be those who wear the biblical name, yet do not follow the Scriptures on each point in no way changes the fact; it was the desire of the Lord that all Christians speak the same thing (John 17:20, 21). If they do not all speak the same thing does that fact negate the instruction of the Lord to his people? Not at all, they are still to be united on the one faith, the truth that has been revealed.

F. “One baptism. ” That baptism revealed in God’s word, is immersion (Rom. 6:14). Nothing is acceptable to God that is unauthorized in his book.

G. “One God. ” That is the God of the Bible not some false god such as Buddha, the sun, the moon, a cow; no, nothing but the God revealed in and through the Bible can keep all men acceptable to him and unified.

The church of Christ as designed by the Lord and brought into existence on Pentecost day (Acts 2) is surely the most glorious institution ever conceived or established in the history of mankind. We therefore suggest to you that the church of Christ in your community today is that institution. Please examine it by the Word of God to see if these things are so.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 3, pp. 70-71
February 4, 1988

By Edward O. Bragwell, Sr.

“. . . Righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds” – 2 Pet. 2:7,8 (NKJV).

Lot, the nephew of Abraham, is scripturally judged to have been a “righteous man.” That does not mean that he was a perfect man. He was subject to weakness and made mistakes. This is clear from observing both his pre-Sodom and post-Sodom days.

Lot’s Unwise Move

Lot made a grave mistake in judgment in choosing the well watered plain of Jordan as a place to raise his family (Gen. 13: 10). The plain was as wicked as it was prosperous. There was nothing inherently wrong in his choice. After all, Abraham had freely given him the choice. However, as time passed, it proved to have been a poor choice. His children grew up and married in that environment. Later, when he attempted to save them from destruction, his sons-in-law thought he was joking (Gen. 19:15). We are not told how many children Lot had in all, but only two daughters escaped destruction. Even after their escape the wicked influence of Sodom still surfaced in the two daughters (Gen. 19:30-38).

One needs all the help he can get in raising his children in righteousness. In the best of communities there are adverse influences. To escape all evil influences one would have to go out of the world. Yet, there are clearly communities where moral standards are much worse than others. There are communities where there are some opportunities to form friendships with morally upright people. There are others where there are little or no opportunities to associate with good people. One needs to understand that, wherever he lives, his children are going to seek companionships of their age group from among those available to them. The harder it is for them to find someone of high moral character the more likely it is that they will associate with those of low character. So, anyone with children to raise, should seriously consider the general moral character of a community before moving there.

It is this writer’s judgment that preachers with school-age children should consider this before moving into a place so isolated from other Christians that their children will have little or no association with young people who are taught the same high moral standards that they want their children to have. It is so easy to lose one’s children to the world in such an environment. Yet, one does not need to so shelter them from the “real world” in which they must function one day that they will not be able to cope. They must learn to be “children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation” (Phil. 2:15).

Lot’s Righteousness

Being surrounded by ungodliness does not mean that one has to just flow with the current. He can be righteous in the midst of unrighteousness. Lot maintained his righteousness while living in a city so wicked that it has a vile repulsive sin named after it. Too often, we excuse our sins and the sins of those we love by blaming outward circumstances. True, it is easier to live godly when surrounded by godly people. However, the real test of the genuineness of one’s faith comes when he must live godly when surrounded by ungodly people. Truly, Lot shined as a light “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.”

If asked, “What is the greatest weakness among brethren today?”, I would likely answer that it is our unwillingness to daily stand above the crowd in moral, ethical and spiritual conduct. It is so easy to justify compromises when we look at the world around us.

Lot’s Torment

The secret to Lot’s maintaining his own personal righteousness while surrounded by unrighteousness may have been that he never got to where ungodliness in others did not bother him. He was “oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked” (v. 7). He “tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds” (v. 8). When one gets to the point that another’s sin does not bother him, then, likely, it won’t be very long until he will be comfortable with his own sin. When we can hear and see lawlessness with passive indifference we have reached a danger point in our own efforts to remain pure. When we can hear vulgarity and profanity with hardly a raised eyebrow, it is time that we checked our own spiritual health. When we can observe the “works of the flesh” openly advocated and practiced in society without becoming disturbed, it is time to be concerned about our own relationship with God.

Lot’s Deliverance

Lot is held up to us as an “ample of how “the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment” (v. 9). One, such as Lot, living in the midst of a wicked society faces many temptations. There is a strong temptation to accept a false deliverance – ease the struggle by giving in to, or at least tolerating, sin.

One is tempted to partake of the pleasures of sin with his neighbors. He is tempted to relax and not be so “up tight” about the wickedness that he sees and hears. He is tempted to reach some sort of accommodation whereby he can be at total peace with the world. After all, he may rationalize, such things cannot be so bad or they would not be so socially acceptable to so many people.

One needs to understand that godly living is not freedom from temptations and trials. In fact, because such godly living is not the norm for the world at large it creates a conflict with the world. One must make up his mind to endure trials and resist temptations until the Lord delivers. God will, in his own time, deliver the godly. Some deliverance may come in this life, as in the case of Lot. Complete deliverance is sure to come in the life to come for those who remain faithful, godly, and disgusted with sin through it all.

Let’s not let the lessons of Lot be lost to us.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 3, pp. 83-84
February 4, 1988