Truth Magazine

By Hoyt H. Houchen

Question: What is the difference, if any, between envy and jealousy?

Reply: Envy is resentment or displeasure in the heart because of the good fortune or blessings enjoyed by another. It is listed as a sin in the New Testament, being associated with such sins as murder (Rom. 1:29). It is declared to be a “work of the flesh” and Paul adds, “that they who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:21). Envy is condemned in Titus 3:3 where Paul mentions it as characteristic of those in the world before they obeyed Christ. Envy was the reason Jesus Christ was delivered up to be crucified. Even Pilate himself recognized it as the reason (Matt. 27:18; Mk. 15: 10). So, we can see that envy is a very heinous sin.

The word “envy” is translated from the Greek word phthonos and is considered to be always evil, unless James 4:5 would be the exception. Some interpret the verse to mean “God’s intense love for man causes him to be ‘envious’ for man’s friendship” (Baker’s Dictionary of Christians Ethics, p. 213). But this interpretation is doubtful. The human spirit is probably meant here, rather than the Holy Spirit.

The word “jealousy” is from the Greek word zelos. Thayer defines the word from two different standpoints. First “zeal, ardor in embracing, pursuing, defending anything” and second, “an envious and contentious rivalry, jealousy” (Greek-English Lexicon, p. 271). So, unlike envy, jealousy may be used in good sense as well as in a bad sense.

On the positive side, God is a jealous God (Ex. 20:5; see also Ex. 34:14; 39:25; Zech. 1: 14; etc.). Elijah said: “I have been jealous for the Lora God of hosts” (1 Kgs. 19:10). When Jesus cleansed the temple, the disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for thy house shall eat me up” (Jn. 2:17), a quotation from David (Psa. 69:9). Paul wrote to the church at Corinth: “For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2). It is obvious that the word in this sense is good. It is related to “zeal.”

On the negative side, Webster defines the word “jealous” as “hostility toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage” (Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, p. 647). In this sense it is a selfish disposition which can easily turn itself into hatred. It was jealousy that caused the brothers of Joseph to sell him (Gen. 37:1 If); it was jealousy that prompted Saul to hunt David like an animal. When the women of Israel sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Sam. 18:7), Saul became jealous.

The Jews at Antioch were filled with jealousy when they saw the multitudes assembled to hear Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:45). Thus jealousy, in a bad sense, and envy are closely related. Both are listed as “works of the flesh” (Gal. 5:19-21).

“Envy” and “jealousy” are to be distinguished because they are not used interchangeably. They come from two different Greek words. Jealousy, in its proper use, can produce an admirable devotion to what is pure and holy. A husband’s jealousy for his wife, or vice versa, and Paul’s spiritual jealousy for his Corinthian brethren, as we have seen, are examples. Envy is always evil. We may also think of envy as being the more passive disposition and jealousy as the more antagonistic and aggressive. Cain’s hostility was prompted by jealousy which led him to slay his brother Abel (1 Jn. 3:13). Neither envy nor jealousy, in its evil sense, should occupy the heart of the Christian.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 23, p. 710
December 3, 1987

By H.E. Phillips

Introduction

One of the greatest problems facing the church today is that of absenteeism. There are church members present at the Sunday morning worship hour who are not present Sunday night, Wednesday night or for the Bible study period on Sunday morning. There must be some reason for this deficiency in attendance. This author believes it is because due emphasis has not been placed on the importance of attending all services of the church in order to be faithful to the Lord. In some cases encouragement is given to this fault by endorsement to those in the church who hold prominent positions. It makes no difference who is guilty, the sin is the same. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb. 10:25). This is connected to “wilful sinning” (v. 26).

The effect of absenteeism on the preaching of the gospel to the outside world is greater than most of us realize. We cannot expect to convert people to Christ when our lives speak against his religion. The empty seats on Sunday night and at the mid-week services speak loud against the power of God to save. It is the earnest hope of this writer that this little booklet will do much to call attention of the reader to the seriousness of being unfaithful in attendance to services of the church. “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).

Must I Attend Every Service of the Church?

Mysteries confuse us mightily! Of all mysteries, the behavior of men and women purchased by the blood of Christ is the greatest. If any people on earth should rejoice on the Lord’s day to attend public worship and service to God, the Lord’s people – Christians – should. Yet, apparently, they are the ones most indifferent. It is an open sin, as will be shown on the following pages, to neglect the opportunities and blessings afforded in all services of the church of our Lord.

Absenteeism is a term that well defines the conduct of many church members. Various excuses have been offered by those who are guilty of this sin; many not worth a mention, while others sound so “reasonable” as to require attention here.

Absenteeism falls into four well defined classes: (1) The physically handicapped. (2) The vacationers or visitors. (3) The business people. (4) The pleasure seekers. A few words on each of these should be sufficient.

1. The physically handicapped include those who are ill, feeble or stranded. Only those who are so ill that they are unable to carry on the other necessities of life, such as business, play, housework, etc., are released from the responsibility of worship to God. Many have a chronic illness which might be called “Sunday morningitis.” This illness comes on the patient about 9:30 a.m. on Sunday only, and lasts until about 12:00 noon. Then it reoccurs about 6:30 p.m. on the same day and lasts for about two hours. Again on Wednesday about 6:30 p.m. the same illness comes on the patient again, and lasts about two hours. At no other time does the patient suffer. This kind of illness does not excuse one from service to God. The illness that will keep one from work, play, etc. will hinder him from public worship to God, and only that kind of illness.

The feeble are those who have reached the age or have such weak bodies that they cannot go anywhere. If one is not too feeble to go to ball games, parties, visiting, etc., he is not too feeble to go to church. His duty is to be there, and he sins if he isn’t.

The stranded are those who are unable to attend church services for reasons they cannot help. Floods, earthquakes, fires, such weather that would keep one from work, school or play; imprisonment (for the cause of Christ, which is unlikely in this land and day), the care for one who is really ill: one who must depend upon you, and then arrangements should be made so that you could attend one service on the Lord’s day. These hindrances would keep one from one or more of the services of the church.

2. There are many who select the Lord’s day to go visiting or take short vacations. In some cases it may be the only time one could go visit relatives or friends, but to do so at the expense of public worship to God is certainly sinful. If you must go visiting on Sunday, be sure to attend worship. Christ does not mean much to the person who will go visiting and neglect his worship to God.

3. Business keeps many from public worship one or more times each week. The greed for money drives thousands to hell each week. Any man or woman who puts his business ahead of his duty to God is in a bad way. He is just too busy to go to heaven. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). This means just what it says. When one selects his business before his duty to God, he might as well mark this passage out of the Bible; he doesn’t really believe it. Some day you will die, then what will your business mean to you? It is a reflection upon the intelligence of men to excuse one from any service of the church by saying “He was just too busy to come.” Any business, as such, that interferes with public worship to God is too much business.

4. Pleasure seekers include the greater portion of absentees from the services of the church. Many do not have enough love, knowledge, faith and care, to attend to their duties as Christians, thus filling the atmosphere of the church with lukewarmness. Everything that appeals to the lusts of the flesh, or the comfort of the body, entices the pleasure seeker to absent himself from one or more of the worship services of the church. There is not a reasonable excuse under the sun that can be offered by this class of people for their sin. Condemnation hangs over their heads. The wages of sin will take its toll on this class of absenteeism.

Man has three separate obligations: (1) to himself; (2) to his fellow man; (3) to his God. Futile is his attempt to escape either of these three. We want to turn our attention now to an examination of each in order as given above. But first a few remarks.

Most people have the strange idea that it doesn’t make any different whether or not they attend any service of the church other than the service on Lord’s day morning. Many have offered excuses for this idea, varying in extremes, but when the facts are presented we see the utter fallacy of every one of them.

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thess. 5:21). In all religious matters the word of God is the standard for proving all things. Whatsoever can be proved by the word of God is good for all to do. What is not proved by the word of God is not a matter of faith, and sinful if practiced religiously (Rom. 14:23). We must hold fast to all that is proved good.

We do many things by habit. The forming of habits is good if the habits themselves are good, but to form habits that are at variance with the will of God is a dangerous thing.

Much of the failure to attend service Sunday night or Wednesday night is due to habits formed by church members. When we learn that any habit is wrong, we should immediately give it up. Some say: “I am out of the habit of going to church other than on Sunday morning. That is the reason I do not come.” But does that excuse you? Will that make it all right because you have formed a habit of not attending services? Certainly not! Would that be said about an immoral sin? Would you say a person is all right because he has formed the habit of stealing? Why no. If that is the only excuse you have to offer, never use it again. Be more consistent.

Christianity is a reasonable religion. Peter says: “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Pet. 3:15). Paul writes the Romans: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1). We, therefore, are obligated to show the reasons for attending all services of the church.

Again, Christianity is a religion of “do” and “do not.” It commands and forbids through divine principles set forth in the New Testament. The warnings are given to all who add or take from the Book. Inasmuch as Christianity is positive and negative, and inasmuch as God is no respecter of persons, we conclude that we are obligated alike to the same standard. If one Christian does right in attending all services, then it follows that it is right for all Christians to attend all services. But if it is wrong for-one member of the church to fail to attend all services of the church, it is wrong for all. The word, of God speaks to all alike. Another thought on this before we pass on. We will all be judged by the same standard on the judgment day. What one is required to do, all are required to do. This, of course, is gauged by the ability of the individual. We all have the same responsibility in service.

To Be Continued

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 22, pp. 686-687
November 19, 1987

By H.E. Phillips

Personal Reasons For Attending All Services

There are certain duties that I owe to myself in attending every service of the congregation where I regularly worship. We shall list some of them here.

1. God’s people are a called-out people from the world. They are called out for a purpose; that purpose being to serve God in spirit and truth. Having been called out of the affairs of this world, we have certain obligations to the institution into which we have been called. These obligations continue as long as we live on this earth. Could one continue in these obligations and be absent one or more times each week from the assembly? Could I claim to give my full support to that institution into which I have been called when I fail to attend the appointments? It is folly to make sure a claim, and yet a great many do.

Many young men have answered the call of the government to enter the armed forces. They are a called-out group; called from civilian life to military life. Do these called-out have any obligations to the forces into which they are called? We know they do. They are compelled to conform to every command alike. The church is called-out on the same principle. Every member is a soldier of the cross, each having the same duties as to attendance and worship.

2. Food is essential to our physical bodies. The same is true with our spiritual being. It must be fed the good things of the word of God that it might grow. I must digest all the spiritual food possible to grow properly (I Pet. 2:2). This food can be had at every service of the church. When I miss a service, I deprive myself of the spiritual food that is so vital to my spiritual growth.

Some say, “I can get that food at home by reading my Bible and praying and singing God’s praises.” That is true to a great extent. But how many do it? Where is the man who fails to attend Sunday evening service who will do that? If he has enough desire for the spiritual food to read his Bible and worship otherwise, he would have enough care to attend the Sunday evening service as well as all others. It is not a matter of what we are permitted to do in this respect, but what do we do? If a Christian really desires the spiritual food for his soul, he will attend every service of the church.

3. The Lord keeps a complete and perfect record of all my works. That record has my failures as well as my good works. When I appear before the judgment seat of the Lord, that record will face me. Could I claim to have been faithful over that which has been given me if I fail to attend the services of the church? Could I say: “Lord, I have kept the faith”? I am certain I could not.

If you were confronted with a record of your attendance for the past year, you may be astonished at the number of times you were absent from services. Yet a more accurate record will face you in the judgment. It behooves us then to take care that we keep the record as clean as possible for the judgment. Our excuses there will be of no avail. I ought to attend every service because God keeps a perfect record, and I will be judged according to all that I have done in the body, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10).

4. We ought to attend every service because we need a closer association with other Christians. How can we be of the same mind when there is no fellowship between us? The encouragement received at at mid-week service is worth more than the association of a thousand men and women of the world. How can we love each other as we are taught to do in the Bible unless we are together more?

The idea that the less we are together the more we love each other is not true. Paul taught that evil companionship will destroy good intentions. The opposite of that would be good companionship will build character and reputation. Those who are weak will grow stronger in the fellowship of strong characters. We ought to attend every service of the church because there will be found the best people on earth.

5. When I attend every service of the church it helps me to overcome temptations. Sin enters by yielding to temptation. To defy sin we must resist the temptations that come to us daily. These temptations are the weapons in the hands of the devil to destroy us. There are enough temptations that come to us without inventing more. By being absent from any service we expose ourselves to the temptations of the devil to add more sin to that which we are already committing. It is easier for us to neglect other duties to God.

A failure to attend any service when we are able to do so is yielding to a temptation of the devil. If we resist that temptation all others become weaker and weaker. Just remember, when you neglect to attend a service you are playing right into the hands of Satan himself.

6. Another personal reason for attending all of the services of the church is that I do not miss work, school or play unless I absolutely can not help it. Most men go to work six days every week. They do not think of missing even one day. Is a man’s daily work more important than the Lord’s work? Should I put the temporal things of life above the spiritual things that are eternal?

The average man puts in about 40 hours each week working. Few congregations have more than four services during the week, lasting about one hour each. It takes not more than 8 hours, counting the time going and coming, to attend every service scheduled in the average congregation. Is that too much time to give to our spiritual development? Consider this seriously. One can not be considered very faithful to the Lord who will put the material things above worship.

We have considered thus far only those things that are personal, or that involve our own person, for attending every service of the church. If there were no other reasons, these are sufficient. But let us turn to others.

Reasons For Attending All Services And My Obligations To Others

Not only are there personal reasons”Why I should attend all services of the church, but I owe certain obligations to my brethren and others that compel me to be faithful in attendance.

1. I have a duty to the congregation where I am a member. This duty respects others as well as the Lord. I owe to my fellow man the encouragement and help that I expect from him. There is a command of Christ found in his Sermon on the Mount that is affected when we fail in this duty. “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matt. 7:12). This is often called the “Golden Rule” of the Bible. How can I follow this instruction of my Lord when I shirk my duty to help my fellow man by failing to attend the scheduled services of the church? The answer is evident: it can not be done. We expect the preacher, the elders and deacons to be present at every service, and they should be – must be – but do not they expect each of us to be just as faithful in attendance? If each member followed the “Golden Rule” as Christ laid down, we would have no problem such as absenteeism.

Another thing. We have many duties to be done in these services. Certain obligations rest upon each member of the church, no matter how small he may be, and when one is absent from his duty the burden becomes heavier on someone else. When one so neglects his duty and places a greater burden on his brother, he is in direct disobedience to the rule Christ gave. As we want others to take their part of the obligations in the public worship, we ought to be sure that our duty is not neglected by our absence. This is a vital issue.

2. By every act of my life I am influencing someone to serve either God or the devil. No one lives without leaving some trace of his having been here. All Christians (some of them so called) are either glorifying God or disgracing him before others. Christ said in the same sermon mentioned above: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). By failure to attend every service when it is possible to do so, am I letting my light shine as to glorify God? Is it possible to glorify God with an influence that breeds neglect? I do not believe any would affirm this, yet they apparently think so, for they practice this very thing. We ought to attend every service of the church, and by so doing we glorify God before men in our conduct. Our influence is a mighty thing. It reaches where we can not go. Generations to follow may be influenced by the very things you do now. Your influence will reach great grand-children you may never see. What a terrible thought! Many may be lost because I was not faithful to my duty to God and my fellow man.

3. Would you tell your brother in Christ that he is pleasing to God when he has no interest in the mid-week service, or in Sunday evening service? Could you conscientiously encourage, a young Christian to stay away from the Sunday morning Bible study, the Sunday evening service, or the midweek service? Could you tell the weak church member that he doesn’t need such teaching and encouragement as is given in these services? You would answer these questions with a big “no.” Then if one would not say these things, why will he act them? One’s actions speak as loud as his words; sometimes louder. The life that one lives teaches as much as his tongue.

To the Romans Paul wrote: “Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?” (Rom. 2:21) Are you guilty of doing the very thing that you would tell others not to do? You could not claim to be faithful in your Christian duty and so do. Therefore, in order to teach others to do the right thing, I must attend every service of the church.

Every father and mother has a responsibility that is most important. The children must be taught the way of the Lord. Children untaught in Christianity are to be pitied above all others. Now could I as a faithful Christian father bring up my children to be in the Way of the Lord when I do not set the example before them? Could children really believe in Christianity when the parents care so little that they don’t attend the scheduled services of the church? These questions invoke serious thought on the part of every father and mother.

If there is one on earth in whom we ought to be interested it is our children. We brought them into the world, and it is our solemn duty to care for them in every way. The spiritual being of our children is by far the most important. Thousands of parents come to preachers, weeping that their children have grown up and now have no interest in the church. Some weep and grieve away their lives because their children are lost forever to the sin of the world. What is the matter? The right example was not set before them in earlier days.

Paul said, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right” (Eph. 6:1). Then in verse 4 he says: “And, ye, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Can this possibly be done without setting before them the right example? Absolutely not. I must attend every service of the church so that I can properly influence my children to obey the way of the Lord. These are obligations we owe to our children.

5. We also have a responsibility to the preachers, teachers, elders and deacons. We expect them to be present at every service, and would disown them if they didn’t. You would say: “A preacher, teacher, elder or deacon who will not attend all the services is not qualified for his position; he is not interested in the Lord’s work.” How many times has this been an objection to someone being appointed to the eldership or deaconship? It is certainly right to object in such cases, but where does the Scripture say that a preacher or elder must attend every service of the church, but others do not have to attend every service? Just what Bible principle would apply here? God requires exactly the same thing of you in attending all services of the church that he does of preachers, teachers, elders and deacons.

Then, too, you owe an obligation to preachers, teachers, elders and deacons to work with them to the building up of the church in your locality. Every work of the church is made to include you, and if you fail in this duty you impose upon these men. Even men of the world frown upon such conduct. If one does not intend to perform his work in the church, please tell me why he ever obeyed the gospel? The Lord did not add anyone to the church just as an ornament or special guest, but every one has a place and duty to perform. Certainly he can not expect to gain heaven while behaving himself in such a manner. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). We all contend that it is the will of God for preachers, teachers, elders and deacons to attend all services of the church, and if one must do the will of God to enter heaven, we conclude that each one of us must do just as we expect the elders, preachers, teachers and deacons to do in doing the will of God. We owe these men and the church our presence at every service.

6. We are in debt to our brethren and fellow man to do good at all times. For one to fail to do that which is good, when he knows what is good, is to rob others and God of the virtues he has. I believe without a doubt every reader will admit that all men ought to prove what is good and do it. The opposite of good is evil. All things are either good and right, or else wrong and evil. If it is wrong for you to attend every service of the church, it is wrong for all Christians to attend. But if it is right and good for others to attend, it is right and good for you and me to attend every service. James says it in this way: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (Jas. 4:17). Then if you know it is good to attend all services, and fail to do so unless health prevents, it is sin; and sin when it is finished brings death.

These are obligations we each owe to our brethren in the Lord, to our children and to others with whom we come in contact. No one can fail to attend every service of the church where he lives and be faithful in these requirements.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 23, pp. 707-709
December 3, 1987

By A.W. Goforth

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah as he was imprisoned after 23 years of preaching. God told him to write a book, which he did through his secretary Baruch (Jer. 36:1-6). Evil king Jehoiakim sent Jehudi to get the roll and read it. What he heard did not please him. As the scroll was being unrolled to read, the king with penknife in hand, would cut off each unrolled leaf and cast it into the fire (36:20-24).

There are thousands alive today who have the spirit of Jehoiakim. But notice, the book was replaced (36:27-32), and exists this day as the book of Jeremiah. But Jehoiakim has long since died. The point is: we can cut out, blue pencil or just refuse to believe any part of God’s Word, but long after we have passed, God’s Word will remain the same. Let us look at the modern day penknife:

1. Of the Infidel. Jehoiakim heard only three or four pages of the message and desired to hear no more. He never considered the truth of it. After three or four pages of Genesis, many wish to hear no more. They don’t want to hear “In the beginning. . . ” nor about the fall of man and the origin of sin. Therefore, they deny God and his Word and “refuse to have

God in their knowledge” (Rom. 1:28).

2. The penknife of modern theology and philosophy. This has been called the “Trojan Horse of the church” and rightfully so. It comes to us saying “You can believe the Bible and harmonize it with modern science in this way.” “You start with believing that God used evolution to carry out his will, you then believe that the Israelites fled in the shallow Red Sea marsh instead of dry ground in the deep Red Sea; then you compromise morals – but you must certainly believe in Jesus. . . its just that he really did no miracles, and oh, by the way, he was not born of a virgin, just a young woman, and certainly did not rise from the dead, they only thought he died and the coolness of the tomb revived him!” To think they say we should believe in a Christ who was a liar and imposter! I am reminded of the young preacher who began telling his congregation, “Jonah is not an inspired book, Mark 16:16ff is not in the better manuscripts, etc.” This same preacher was visiting an elderly and ill man of the congregation and asked if he would read the Bible for him. The preacher picked up the man’s Bible and realized that all it was the cover. The preacher, yet puzzled, began to ask when the old man said, “Son, each time you would say this is not inspired, I tore that page out, that is all you left me.” The apostle Paul said, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men” (Col. 2:8, NASB).

3. The penknife of Denominationalism. Unlike the above, they claim to believe the Bible. They just simply say the Bible doesn’t say what it means! A denominational once told me, “Yes Mark 16.16 says, ‘He that believeth and is baptized . .’ .’ but that isn’t what it means.” When I asked how she knew that, she replied because baptism isn’t commanded! Many modern versions have a footnote at the end of Mark 16:16 which states “The oldest and best manuscripts do not contain these verses.” Two questionable manuscripts (Vaticanus and Sinaiticus) hardly make up the oldest and best. It is worth notice that these same manuscripts also omit the entire of Revelation 22, yet this sugar stick of premillennialism has no such note! The penknife of denominationalism also cuts away at the one church (Eph. 4:14), the name (Acts 11:26; Rom. 16:16), singing (Eph. 5:19, and the list could and does go on to ad nauseam!

4. The penknife of some church members. We claim to believe that we must obey all the will of God, but though our beliefs may differ from the denominations, our practice is very much the same in many ways. We say we believe Mark 16:16 is a command to be followed, but we don’t seem to think the command of the verse before it is important . . . the command of teaching others. We cut away passages dealing with the importance of study by coming up with excuses. We cut away at Hebrews 10:25 by revising it to say, “Forsake not the assembly unless company has come in from out of town.” We set back and say, “We believe James 1:27 and Galatians 6: 10 are individual and not the work of the church.” Then we set back with our doctrinally correct mind while sitting on the stump of do nothing and whittle on the stick of do less.

Conclusion

You can do many things to God’s Word. You can cut, tear, disobey and rationalize, but this does not do away with his Word (Psa. 119:89). It is this Word that will judge us Qn. 12:48) and it will never pass away (Matt. 24:35). Destruction is the fate of those who have the spirit of Jehoiakim (2 Thess. 1:7-9; 2 Pet. 2:20; Rev. 22:18-19). Let God’s Word be true, and every man a liar!

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 22, p. 693
November 19, 1987