Truth Magazine

By Dennis E. Adams

It was just an ordinary summer day when I had taken my son to school. Since he would only be there for two hours, I thought I would wait at the school and study my sermon to be presented on Sunday. However, someone else had a different opinion of why I was sitting in the car.

A policeman, who had been encircling the area, stopped and started to question me why I was sitting there. He said it appeared as if I was waiting to entice some child and kidnap him. You can imagine how outraged I was.

But calmly I said, “I’m just sitting here studying my sermon for Sunday.”You can picture his face! With n”g more to say, he immediately fled the scene.

At first I was startled. Did I look like a criminal? Then whenever I regained my senses, the event reminded me of a verse in John 7:24. “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”According to the policeman, I became the victim of what appeared to be. However, he did investigate and check it out, and then made a “righteous judgment” about the matter.

Oh how I wish the so-called “religious” people today would be as careful with what appears to be the truth. Just because a man holds a Bible in his hand and presents a lesson, does not imply that what he preaches has to be the truth? The appearance of truth might be there but it doesn’t guarantee it.

Isn’t that why Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets who come (appear, D.A.) to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15). There has never been such a need as now for everyone to be like the Bereans, who “searched the scriptures daily to rind out whether these things were so” (NKJ).

With so many kidnappings of children today, policemen are more suspicious of any appearances of such. Also, with hundreds of false religions and appearances of truth today, man should be more investigative of what actually is truth? Or, have we lost sight of the value of our soul. Maybe, we need to reread Matthew 16:26.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 21, p. 648
November 5, 1987

By Weldon E. Warnock

Words fail me to sufficiently describe and adequately portray the full picture of Jesus on Calvary’s cross. The great need of’ the masses is to catch a glimpse of the old rugged cross. Tillit S. Teddlie wrote the beautiful words that t,-.)uch the hearts of all who sing:

Oh the depth and the riches of God’s saving grace

Flowing down from the cross for me!

There the debt for my sins by the Savior was paid

In His suffering on Calvary!

To the world, to those who perish, the cross is foolishness, but to those who are saved, it is the power ol”God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:18,24). With Paul we can sound forth, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14).

But wait! Jesus says there is a cross for you and a cross for me. “if all man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt. 16:24).

Yes, as depicted above, there are three pictures or portraits of the cross. There are (1) the historical cross, (2) the theological cross and (3) the metaphorical cross. Let us focus our attention upon each of them, respectively.

The Historical Cross

All four gospels mention the physical cross on which Jesus was executed (Matt. 27:32ff; Mk. 15:21ff; Lk. 23:26; Jn, 19:17ff) as well as other New Testament letters. Crucifixion was the most barbaric mode of execution known of man.

Roman citizens were excluded from crucifixion. It was reserved for the slaves, particularly those guilty of treason, sedition, assassination, robbery and piracy. It was practiced until Constantine the Great outlawed it as an insult to Christianity. Crucifixion was also familiar to the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Babylonians and others. It is said that Alexander the Great crucified 2000 Tyrians after the fall of Tyre.

There were different forms of crosses. One was shaped like our letter T. Another was like our letter X. The one on which Jesus was put to death was, evidently, the dagger-type, where the upright beam projected above the crosspiece. The fact that inscriptions were placed above his head indicate this.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia gives the following gruesome description of crucifixion:

The suffering of death by crucifixion was intense, esp, in hot climates. Severe local inflammation, coupled with an insignificant bleeding of the jagged wounds, produced traumatic fever, which was aggravated by the exposure to the heat of the sun, the strained position of the body and insufferable thirst. The wounds swelled about the rough nails and the torn and lacerated tendons and nerves cause excruciating agony. The arteries of the head and stomach were surcharged with blood and a terrific throbbing headache ensued. The mind was confused and filled with anxiety and dread foreboding. The victim of crucifixion literally died a thousand deaths . . . . The sufferings were so frightful that “even among the raging passions of war pity was sometimes excited” (Vol. 2, p. 761).

It is no wonder that Jesus prayed, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39).

The Theological Cross

The word “cross” is also used in a religious or theological sense. Paul wrote, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness” (1 Cor. 1:18; compare Gal. 5:11; 6:12,14; 1 Cor. 1:17). The cross to Paul was the gospel. By the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, God’s saving power is manifested. The cross symbolized all of this. Hence, by the cross the following was/is accomplished:

(1) Redemption. Paul wrote, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Gal. 3:13). The Greek word translated “redeemed” (exagorazo) in this text suggests the “price paid” for redemption. By the cross Jesus paid the price or debt for our sins. “Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”

Another word for redemption is lutroo. This word means “actual deliverance.” Paul uses the word both in Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14. Through the cross, or by Jesus’ shed blood, we are delivered from the spiritual bondage of sorrow and night into the freedom of gladness and light.

(2) Reconciliation. Man, alienated from God by sin, is brought back to God’s friend, yea, reconciled to God, by the cross. “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death” (Col. 1:21-22). Both Jew and Gentile are reconciled in one body by the cross (Eph. 2:16).

(3) Peace. Sin makes man an enemy of God. Friendship of this world is enmity with God (Jas. 4:4). There is estrangement, terror, fear and distance. But all of these disappear when we come to God by the way of the cross. We read, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:20). To have peace with God is to have a right relationship with him. This we have through Christ. who follows is to “deny himself, and take up his cross.”

(4) Purchase of the church. It was through the cross that the church was purchased. Paul told the Ephesian elders to “feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). The same apostle wrote Titus, “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity” (Tit. 2:14).

From heaven he came and sought her

To be His holy bride;

With his own blood he bought her,

And for her life he died.

(5) Abolishment of the law of Moses. At Calvary the Mosaical law was abolished. No man could be by that law (Acts 13:39; Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16). It was given to magnify sin and act as a tutor to the Jews until Jesus came (Gal. 3:24). In order to inaugurate a better system, Jesus abrogated the law of Moses and instituted the New Covenant. The handwriting of ordinances that was against the Jews and contrary to them was nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14).

(6) Access to heaven. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Heb. 10:19-20). Indeed, we must go home by the way of the cross, because, as the song says, “There’s no other way but this.”

The Metaphorical Cross

Finally, the word “cross” is used in a metaphorical or figurative sense. Listen to Jesus: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his us take up our cross cross daily, and follow me” (Lk. 9:23; cf. Matt. 16:24; Lk. 14:27). Jesus chose this figure, perhaps, because he was to be crucified.

Jesus bore his cross. No one else could bear it for him. Each disciple of Jesus must bear his own cross, and that day by day.

Must Jesus bear the cross alone.

And all the world go free?

No, there’s a cross for every one,

And there’s a cross for me.

Analyzing the passage in Luke, let us notice four things:

(1) The cross is voluntary. Jesus said, “if any man will come.” The Lord does not force us or coerce us, but we follow Jesus by our own volition. When the burdens become heavy and the way groweth weary, let us not fret and complain. We made the decision to follow. Rather, let us ask for strength to persevere.

(2) The cross made self-denial. As the text states he who follows is to “deny himself, and take up his cross.” This entails a disowning and complete denial of oneself . This is not just giving up some of the bad habits or outward practices, but it is a turning off altogether of self, i.e., sinful self. When Christ’s will becomes the disciple’s will, then he is ready for cross-bearing.

(3) The cross must be borne. A disciple must take up his cross and this is to be done daily. The responsibility of being a disciple of Jesus is a constant thing, regardless of the hardships that may be encountered. Cross-bearing is a readiness and willingness to bear and endure all things for Jesus’ sake.

(4) The cross is a test of discipleship. Jesus exhorts any would be disciple to follow him. This denotes faithfulness and fidelity. But prerequisites to following Jesus are cross-bearing and self-denial. In Luke 14:27 Jesus said that a man cannot be his disciple unless he bears his cross and comes after him.

Norval Geldenuys makes the following comments on Luke 9:23: “He who desires to become his disciple and servant will every day have to be willing to put his own interests and wishes into the background and to accept voluntarily and whole-heartedly – the sacrifice and suffering that will have to be endured in his service. The ‘cross’ is not the ordinary, human troubles and sorrows such as disappointments, disease, death, poverty and the like, but the things which have to be suffered, endured and lost in the service of Christ” (Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, p. 276).

In view of what Jesus did for us at Calvary, and all that we have received through the cross of Christ, let us take up our cross daily in his service.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 20, pp. 628-629
October 15, 1987

By Dick Blackford

Playboys are carefree and give the impression that they have total confidence that they have everything under control. But things are not as they seem. Should we all relax in the comfort that the “liberated” know what they are doing? Is ignorance really bliss or is it dangerous and destructive? Among the things most playboys don’t want to know are:

1. That VD is no longer epidemic, it is pandemic! That means it is out of control. Daily bad news is reported. In recent days the following information has emanated from the media. “Bacteria that causes gonorrhea are quickly developing resistance to another antibiotic, and the world may be running out of drugs to cure this common venereal disease” (Messenger-Inquirer, 7/30/87). “More than one in 10 Americans surveyed said they have personally known someone who has tested positive for A IDS virus, contracted AIDS, or died of the disease” (M&I, 7/30/87). “The chances of herpes sufferers contracting AIDS are triple the chances of those without herpes” (M&I, 7/30/87). These reports are from three different articles from the Associated Press.

Less than three decades ago only two such diseases were prominent. The number is now near 40. Solomon warned of the consequences that often follow fornication. “And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed” (Prov. 5:11). David evidently referred to a sexually transmitted disease. “There is no soundness in my flesh . . . neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. . . My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh” (Psa. 38:7-9).

Surgeon General C. Everett Koop has said: “When you have sex with someone, you must realize that, from the standpoint of disease, you are having sex with everyone that person has had sex with for the last 10 years, along with all the partners that those partners have had.”

2. That lust is the enemy of love. True love puts the welfare of others first. Lust puts selfish interests first and others last. The playboy who keeps score of sexual conquests is not doing anyone a favor when the rampage of VD with its crippling and killing abilities is considered. Through suave and shrewd means of persuasion he ruins one’s spiritual and moral standing before God. His high-mindedness harms himself and others. He is a loser. Young lady, “Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals” (1 Cor. 15:33). Don’t be tricked into thinking that lust is love. True love is a commitment. That commitment is called marriage.

3. That pornography encourages sex crimes. Playboys don’t want to know that forcible rape increased 57 percent during the ten year period of 1965-1975.

“The city of Austin, Texas instituted an intensive study of adult entertainment and its effects upon the community. The results indicate a substantial increase in crime, particularly sex-related crimes in the area where adult bookstore are located. Sex-related crimes in the areas where there are no bookstores range from 65 to 88 percent below the city crime average. In contrast, sex-related crimes in the areas where the adult bookstores are located are substantially higher than the city-wide average, ranging from 117 percent to 482 percent higher” (Pulse, 10/86).

With the increase of pornography has also come an increase in the stealing of children who are later used for porno purposes. Over 50,000 children are known to have been so used since 1983.

If what one reads does not influence his thinking then why is the advertising industry one of the largest industries in every nation? The answer is obvious. They know people are influenced by what they see. That’s why most successful businesses are the ones that advertise. It is not a matter of whether pornography influences. The question is, does it influence for good or evil? Does it motivate the exalting of women or the raping of women? Why does a brewery repeatedly spend millions of dollars for a one minute TV commercial during the Super Bowl? It has been proven that such encourages drinking. Playboys don’t want to admit the obvious. Nor do they want to admit that organized crime is the major investor and supplier of smut.

4. That pornography contributes to the decay and downfall of nations. The breakdown of the home through divorce was the number one reason for the downfall of the Roman Empire, according to Edward Gibbon, author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (in five volumes). Men are not encouraged to be more faithful husbands by viewing pornography. Porno entices one to experiment beyond the bounds of a lawful marriage and outside of marriage. A high percentage of homes break up because a third party becomes involved. Since the home is the very foundation of society, destroying it causes the nation to crumble – just as destroying the foundation of a building will cause it to fall.

Conclusion

Those who follow the Playboy philosophy live as though there is nothing but a physical realm, ignoring that there is a moral/spiritual realm. This philosophy treats women as things – as mere objects, not as people. Nothing is farther from the truth than the idea that women like to be exploited, used, and abused. And nothing is as clear a violation of the Golden Rule than the Playboy philosophy.

Fornication is a sin against God. Joseph said, “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9) It is a sin against self. “He who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18).

God has called us all to a higher and nobler purpose than the animal world. He has placed sex in the boundaries of marriage where it is lawful, right, good and wholesome. Therefore, “Flee fornication” (1 Cor. 6:18).

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 21, pp. 647-648
November 5, 1987

By Rodney Miller

“In living color” used to be the standard line for the films and television shows of the age when “Black and White” entertainment was dying out. Without a doubt “living color” does add a great deal to the reality of any event. So it is with our Bible study. We need to see the very things that the biblical writer saw. We need to feel the emotions that participants in the narratives felt. All in all, we need to perceive the Bible as real live history that happened to people just like us. In short, we need to “see it in living color.”

As we seek to discern the cross of our Lord we need, as maybe in no other event, to see it in “living color.” There were four major colors of the cross that vividly race across the screen and grab our attention.

Black

I. The first color at the cross was black because it was sin that nailed him there. Mark 15:33 tells us that darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. We sing the song, “My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin not in part, but the whole. Is nailed to this cross and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, oh my soul.”

Yes, sins of the night time, sins of the day time, sins of school, sins of work, sins of business and sins of pleasure, sins of eyes, hands, feet and ears. Sins that mountains can’t hide, that oceans can’t drown and that fire can’t burn. They are all nailed to his cross and we bear them no more. And because of all that sin there were charred marks around the cross of titanic struggle between good and evil. The earth quaked and the sound of grinding rocks was heard. The black darkness fell and the sun refused to show its face. This is the same sun that watched 780,000 died in the Crimean wars, that saw only 20,000 short of 800,000 die in our civil wars. The same sun that witnessed 32 million die in the wars of Gingus Kan. It watched 80 million die in the crusader war and over 180 million fall to the slashing sword of the Roman legion. That same sun observed 25 million die of the black plague in the 14th century and in London in one day saw 74,000 fall to the plaque. But that sun could not watch one single, lonely man die; it could not shine.

The blackness at the cross shows that God is deadly serious about my sin. Yes, he is serious about yours as well and about those lost in the erring religious world and about those dulled and numbed by pagan lust and pleasure but yet, the cross says that he is serious about my sin. It was my sin that platted that crown of thorns, that drove the spikes into his feet and that caused the spittle to dry on his face. As we hear his groaning in the seven statements from the cross we can know that God is serious about sin.

When Adam was expelled from the garden and the presence of God it was to tell me that God was serious about sin. The mark was emblazoned on Cain to show me that God would not tolerate sin. The voice of the prophets thundered God’s disapproval with sin. But none of it was enough! It was not until the Holy Spirit revealed in the inspired pages the blackness of sin by way of the cross that I can really see what I have done. As the owner of a dog who has killed one too many chickens rubs the dog’s face in the stench of the dead chicken so does the Spirit of God force me to see the blackness of my sin.

White

II. The second color was white because of the purity of the sacrifice. Nowhere do we see the purity of Jesus any plainer than that in the Hebrew letter. The Christian to whom the Hebrew writer is speaking has given every thing up for his Lord. But when they are called on to do it again they are in danger of shrinking back to destruction in their faith (Heb. 10:38,39). So to motivate them to hold fast the writer says, “Consider Jesus” (3:1). But what did they see when they focused in on Jesus?

Tempted in all points like we are yet without sin (4:15). They saw a High Priest “holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (7:26).

He was the most sensitive man to ever live. It is sin that hardens man so that he does not feel the pain of sin or does not see the vulgarness of sin. So he without sin was made sin on our behalf. One of the greatest miscarriages of human justice is when one who is innocent is charged and punished for the crime that he did not commit. Our Lord was totally innocent. When Satan called for the Lamb to bear my sin it was Jesus of Nazareth that stepped up and stood in my place. Every time I stand at the crossroads of temptation and choose lust, pride or materialism he stood at the same crossroads and chose righteousness. Every mistake of oversight that I commit he stood at the same opportunity and never forgot. He was perfect, not just good, or not just better but perfect. He is Lord simply because he deserves to be.

Red

III. The third color at the cross was red because of the blood that was shed. John 19:24 says, “There came forth blood and water.” Because of sin there had always been death and to symbolize death there has always been the shedding of blood. The Hebrew writer contrasts the Old Covenant with the New Covenant in the function of the priesthood. The Old Testament priest had to offer sacrifices daily because of sin. “And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices which can never take away sin.” Notice three expressions that speak of the daily repetition of the sacrifices: (1) “stands daily,” (2) “offering time after time,” (3) “the same sacrifices.” But not so with Jesus Christ. “He once for all” offered himself up to be the sacrifice (7:27).

It was been well said that when Jesus Christ entered the Holy Place not made with hands that there was a rustling of the pages of the Law by the collective sign of all the priests that daily stood to offer the sacrifices. When a priest served in his course in the temple he would slaughter well over 100 animals a day! He would labor all day long covered in blood. His skin would be stained with blood. His nostrils would be caked with dried blood. The stench of blood would not leave his nostrils or his skin. He would serve in blood up to his elbows because sin demanded death and death demanded blood.

When one tells us that baptism is not important or necessary for salvation they are missing one of the colors seen at the cross. When the heavy drops of the Savior’s blood fell like a boulder to the ground, they formed a puddle beneath the cross that was red. And when one is baptized into his death, he comes in contact with the blood. When the blood of Jesus was shed at the cross, the Hebrew writer then says “it is finished.” The debt has been paid and redemption is real. It is totaled. It is complete.

Gold

IV. Finally the fourth color was gold because it was lined with forgiveness. Romans 5:8 says, “For God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for our sins.” The one factor that motivated our Lord, “was the joy set before him, he endured the cross.” That joy is the love of sinners and the willingness to forgive. A story that illustrates this type of love is that of the skid row drunk. A bum who smelled bad and was vermin covered. But he lived to tell the story that when “I was on the wagon I was a very successful business man.” Of course his fellow drunks did not believe one word of his often repeated story. One day in frustration he saw a long shiny limousine drive by slowly and stop. When the chauffeur opened the back door for the occupant the fellow could not stand it any more. “See him,” he cried, “He was my partner in business.” “So, if that is the case then go over there and get a hand full of money,” they chided him. As he walked up to the limousine, he covered his mouth and simply asked the fellow to act like you know me. It did not take long for the limousine occupant to size up what was going on. He opened up his arms and spoke in a loud voice, “Well, where have you been? It is so good to see you.” He took him in the limousine and bought him a new suit and good meal and put money in his pocket and then took him back to the street corner.

Now isn’t that like our Lord? He has forgiven me, a skid row bum. The death of Jesus was the golden crown of love and forgiveness holding out a crucified and bloody body to the hands of deeply entrenched hatred. The death of God not only says that God loves us, but it plainly tells us that God longs for us to love him in return. He loves and forgives not because I am so wonderful. We all know that we are not. I know what I am and you know what you are. And with all our prayers, songs, and suppers we know we still have lust, arrogance, materialism, covetousness, jealousy and envy rooted in our hearts. So it is not our greatness that draws him to us. Rather it is his greatness in love and forgiveness that draws him to us.

Conclusion

Without question it was a multicolored day at the cross. The cross was black because of sin. (2) It was white because of his total perfection. (3) It was red for the blood he shed. (4) It was golden because of his love and forgiveness.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 20, pp. 635-636
October 15, 1987