Truth Magazine

By Andy Alexander

There are times when we need to be silent and other times when we need to speak out. Our Lord, the master teacher, knew exactly how to handle every situation. In John 19:9-10, Jesus stood silently before Pilate, knowing that silence would bring about his crucifixion and the salvation of those who chose to obey him.

When faced by religious error, Jesus always spoke out and condemned the false teaching and the false teacher.

Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit (Matt. 15:13-14).

Jesus’ love for the sinner prompted him to teach truth at all times, whether the sinner wanted to hear it or not. In Matthew 19:16-26, Jesus taught the rich young ruler the truth about what he needed to do in order to be pleasing to God. The young ruler could not bear to give up his riches for Jesus, but this did not stop Jesus or cause him to alter his teaching to fit the situation and make the ruler feel comfortable about his particular sin. Jesus’ love for the sinner would not allow him to ignore sin and false teaching.

Religious leaders of today will not debate their doctrine publicly or privately and their followers are just as apathetic as they are. The followers have little or no Bible knowledge; therefore, they are afraid to speak out, because they are not sure what they believe. The religious leaders know that if they speak out, their doctrine will be proved false when compared to the doctrine of Jesus. The false teachers in Matthew 22:46 were not “able to answer him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask him another question.” If their doctrine is shown to be false by controversy, they will then lose some followers who are interested in knowing the truth. More importantly, they will lose the money these followers were giving. The false teacher has everything to lose and nothing to gain by speaking out.

Our Lord was never silent when challenged on an issue. Chances are, your preacher is silent on any and every issue where his teaching contradicts the Word of God. He will not speak out for fear of the consequences and mistakenly calls this silence “love.” Is it “love” when we stand on the shore and watch someone drown without trying to save him? Is it then “love” when we see one lost in false teaching and stand silently by watching him sink into hell?

We can thank God that Jesus was not silent.

(The article by Andy Alexander entitled “Is Silence Golden?” is his first article for a religious journal and we are glad to have it published in the Guardian of Truth. Andy is thirty- three years old, is a faithful Christian, and is working toward the goal of giving his full time to the work of an evangelist. He is already a good Bible student and a competent speaker but plans to spend several more months in preparation before beginning full-time labors in the gospel. His father Charley is an elder here at West Columbia, and his brother Pete is also a faithful member in the church here. Andy’s convictions are firm and he is diligent about his duties on the job, in his family, and in the church here. It is a privilege to commend Andy to our readers. I believe he is typical of many young men who are preparing themselves as Bible class teachers, future elders, deacons, and evangelists. In a world of darkness, it is encouraging to see a good number of young married Christians who are striving to serve the Lord in every way possible from place to place. – Ron Halbrook, 654 Gray Street, West Columbia, Texas 77486.)

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 19, p. 587
October 1, 1987

By Stanton See

On a television program in May, 1987 the subject was discussed whether or not the large numbers of preachers who are falling away today is a fulfillment of 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and thus if we arc in the “last days” immediately preceding the second coming of Christ. Can we know if we are in the “last days” and if so, when did they start? Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (emphasis mine, SS) Paul gives Timothy a description of the characteristics of the people who would be living in the “last days.” But notice that Paul tells Timothy to “turn away” from people with these characteristics. It does not take a scholar or really a person with a lot of intelligence to understand that if Timothy had to turn away from these types of people that would characterize the “last days” he had to have been living in the “last days” at some point in his lifetime. Therefore, we know that we have been in the “last days” for at least nineteen hundred years and that it does not just describe the characteristics of the people who would be living immediately preceding the second coming of Christ.

Another passage that helps us to know when the “last days” started is found in Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. We read in Acts 2:16-17, “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. “‘ Again it does not take a scholar to recognize that when Peter, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, states that what had happened in verses 1-4 was in fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy of the “last days” that Acts 2 is the beginning of the “last days.” Since Acts 2 is the beginning of the Christian Age and the “last days,” we can see that the expression “the last days” is referring to the Christian age that began on the Day of Pentecost and will last until the end of the world, not just to the days immediately preceding the second coming of Christ.

Another passage that will help us to know when the last days started is found in Hebrews 1:1-2. “God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.” This passage emphasizes the fact that ever since Jesus sealed his gospel with his death (Heb. 9:16-17) we have been in the “last days.” Again this shows that we have been in the “last days” for over nineteen hundred years.

This helps us to understand what Paul means by the expression “in latter times” in 1 Timothy 4:1. Paul states that “in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” Paul is referring to the fact that at some point in the future, there will come a falling away which had already started during the lifetime of the apostles (2 Thess. 2:1-7). And as any casual student of church history knows, a failing away did take place after the apostles died in fulfillment of this passage.

The television program stated that the large number of preachers who are falling away could well be a fulfillment of 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and thus we could be in the “last days” immediately preceding the second coming of Christ. The fact that the conclusion was contrary to the plain teaching of the Scriptures emphasizes the need to be like the Bereans who “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 19, p. 591
October 1, 1987

By Dan Walters

Jesus said that “out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matt. 15:18). Our Lord is here teaching that one does not commit adultery merely because the opportunity presents itself, or because there is temptation, but because there is evil in the heart. The evil thought precedes the evil act. The problem of evil cannot be solved by a change of environment; only utopian idealists believe that it can. If a man is a thief, the answer is not to prevent him from handling money. Judas was a thief, and yet Christ continued to let him carry the money bag (John 12:6). If allowing someone else to act as treasurer would have changed the character of Judas, then Jesus would have certainly exercised that option. If a man has murder in his heart, the answer is not to forbid him all weapons. If a man is a habitual liar, the answer is not to prevent him from ever testifying in court.

All this should be self-evident, but several articles in the last year or two have emphasized avoidance of opportunity as the chief answer to the problem of preachers who commit adultery. Yes, it may sometimes be wise for a preacher to take his wife with him when visiting a single woman; that depends on the circumstances. But such a precaution should be somewhere near the bottom of the list of things to prevent the sin of fornication. One does not commit adultery without premeditation as one might accidentally violate the speed limit while going down hill and glancing away from the speedometer. The very nature of the act demands certain preparation and allows plenty of time for thought and for resisting temptation. If a man commits adultery, it is because he intends to commit adultery because he has allowed his heart to become filled with evil thoughts of adultery.

If a significant number of preachers have committed this sin in the recent past, it should stimulate us to inquire more deeply into the character of those we encourage and invite to preach in our churches. Perhaps a quick wit and a winning personality have governed our choice more than a strong character and a great faith. Preaching the gospel should be something a man is driven to do out of deep religious conviction. Have we been guilty of fostering the concept of preaching as an exciting and remunerative career for every young male Christian with the qualifications of a sewing machine salesman?

We have all known preachers in the past who have made a life work out of bringing reproach upon the church through the sin of adultery. One of the first preachers I have heard as a boy was of this kind. After each act of sin he would feign a nervous breakdown and thus escape responsibility. He preached all over the southwest, and if he is still alive, I doubt not that he is still up to his old tricks. Could this same man have found it so easy to obtain a place to preach if his sin had been that of bank robbery, or bootlegging, or murder?

Some brethren may think more lightly than they ought of the sin of adultery since it was committed by King David. Yes, David was, generally speaking, a good man, “a man after God’s own heart.” But consider the difference between David’s situation and ours. David lived in a spiritually dark period when God allowed, though he did not encourage, the practice of polygamy and of concubinage. David was an absolute monarch and knew that he could take just about any woman he desired into his harem. His loyalty was not pledged to any one woman to whom he was bound in a sacred one-to-one relationship. David lived and died long before the great teaching of the Holy Spirit that marriage typifies the relationship of Christ and the church.

To commit adultery today is not only to violate one specific command of God. It is also to break a sacred and public vow, to betray a marriage partner whom we should love as Christ loved the church and died for it, to deliberately debase a divine institution, and to desecrate our own body, the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is also to bring reproach upon the body of Christ and to trod underfoot the blood of the covenant. In spite of the teaching of some to the contrary, the Bible does teach that, though all sins condemn, there are some sins that are greater than others (John 19: 11). A child of God in the present dispensation who commits the sin of adultery must surely be committing one of the greater sins.

What is the answer to the problem of Christians who commit adultery? The answer must be to change the heart. When considering whether a church or an individual is “sound,” the emphasis must be shifted from the merely external to the internal as well. Moral character must be given the same weight today as it was given by our forefathers and as it was given by our Lord and his apostles. Our teaching, our exercise of discipline, and our choice of leadership must reflect a firm commitment to moral soundness.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 19, p. 590
October 1, 1987

By Edward O. Bragwell, Sr.

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Cor 4:7).

The Lord purposely put his gospel “treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” These “vessels” were apparently the apostles. However, there is a principle here for all who preach publicly or privately. The Lord wanted attention to go to the treasure (the gospel) rather than the vessel (the preacher). So, he deposited it in plain earthen pottery. Yet, we spend so much of our time polishing and shining the vessel that too much attention is drawn away from the treasure itself.

Did you ever buy a child an expensive toy only to have him set the toy aside and have a ball with a box? It may be that many of us are doing more playing with the box than we would like to admit.

Paul wrote, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God” (1 Cor. 2:1).

Faced with sagging interest, dwindling numbers and community rejection in many locales, brethren look for ways to turn things around. Just offering the bare “testimony of God” (the gospel) does not attract enough people. What are we to do? Elders, preachers, and other members wrestle with the problem. Shall we abandon the old gospel truth that we have believed and taught so long? Of course, not! That would be digression, even apostasy! If the meat is not appetizing, we just add spicy dressing to whet the appetite. If one will not buy the product in a plain wrapper, we will jazz up the packaging to grab attention.

So, before long brethren become more concerned with how their approach appeals to a certain age group, a certain educational level, or certain social class than they are in simply presenting the testimony of God and letting it have free course. Preachers are sought, not for being good Bible students, and their ability to share the fruits of their study, but their personal attraction to this or that age, social, economic or intellectual level. Preaching is measured more by its artistic value, entertainment rating and/or the appeal of its rhetorical style than by its biblical content. We can easily rationalize such catering to the fleshly side of man so long as we teach the truth. The problem is that we tend to draw more attention to the dressing and packaging than we do to the gospel itself. One should not detract from the gospel by wrapping it in a rude and crude package (presentation and personality). We have all seen this in some brotherhood “characters.” Neither should one want to wrap it in so pleasingly dynamic packaging that it overshadows the message itself.

Brethren would do well to carefully study Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians I and 2.

We must face the fact that the bare truth of the gospel plainly presented will turn many off. It is not what they are looking for. The Jews wanted a sign. The Greeks sought wisdom. Paul could have given them signs. He did at other times to confirm the word. He was no dummy. He was well-educated. If this would have gotten their attention, why not use it. After winning their attention, then he could have slipped the gospel in to them. He might have reached more of the noble and “better-class” (?) of people this way. Surely such would have been an asset to the church in its early stages.

Why not? It would have shifted attention and emphasis to the wrong place. It would have invited his hearers to place their faith in the wrong things. It would have taken glory away from the Lord (1:31).

The gospel is God’s power to save. It is a stand alone system. It does not need me to dress it up in excellency of speech or with enticing words of man’s wisdom. It doesn’t need the playing up of my dynamic personality (that one that I have been able to keep so effectively concealed) to run interference for it. In fact, Paul indicates that he made a determined effort to avoid dressing it up in any such garb. Such would probably have appealed to the immature (it still does), but the gospel unadorned by such has its own beauty and appeal “among those who are mature” (2:6).

If the Lord’s people will continue to present what the Bible teaches (and support men who will do so) to the world and to the church – unadorned by human wisdom and carnal appeal – souls will be saved. It will not appeal to every one in the community or in the church. It will save some of all classes of people. Their faith will stand in the power of God and not in the wisdom of men (2:5).

There is too much of “I am of Paul” and “I of Apollos” etc. without our encouraging it by using excellency of speech, dynamic personalities, or any other fleshly characteristic as the means of gaining, pacifying and holding members of the church.

Brethren often openly admit that they invite men for local work or gospel meetings because of their personal appeal to certain fleshly classes. He appeals to our young. He appeals to our elderly. He appeals to our singles. He appeals to our marrieds. He appeals to our educated. He appeals to our sports fans. He appeals to our affluent., He appeals to our sophisticated neighbors. On and on ad nauseam.

Brethren, the gospel simply presented convicts and appeals to the spiritually minded of all classes of humanity. It has its own power of persuasion by the sheer force of the truth of it. It has its own appeal to those who honestly consider it. We need to get back to using it as the drawing power. Study it, preach it, teach it, and point to it as the attraction rather than the personal and fleshly traits of brethren, We who preach would do well to project less of ourselves, seek to be less dynamic or dramatic, seek less to make a personal impression, study less rhetoric (developing excellency of speech) and spend more time with the Book, learning its contents and simply telling folks what it says so they can be saved and remain faithful to the Lord. We might even become less concerned with impressing folks with our oratory, rapport, wit and wisdom and more concerned that they clearly see the wisdom of God – the wisdom revealed in the Scriptures. If we could just preach so that people will exclaim, “What truth!” or “What a Savior!” rather than “What a preacher!” or “What a delivery!” then we will be coming closer to the kind of preaching that will get the job done that God wants done.

If we do this and leave the results to God, it will attract and keep all that God wants attracted and kept and “no flesh should glory in his presence” (1:29).

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 19, pp. 588-589
October 1, 1987