Truth Magazine

By Aude McKee

Two short parables that have to do with kingdom growth are found in Matthew 13:31-33. “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. Which is indeed the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Another parable spake he unto them. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”

Perhaps the Lord is suggesting that the kingdom (church) enjoys two kinds of growth – external and internal. The kingdom was (and is) produced by seed – the word of God (Luke 8:11; 1 Pet. 1:23). From a small beginning on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), the church grew until, in a few years, there were churches of Christ in every major city of the Roman Empire. We are reminded of the prophecy found in Daniel 2. The stone cut without hands, became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This was the kind of growth symbolized by the mustard seed – growth that could readily be seen.

Leaven produces growth of a different nature. Dough rises and may even overflow the container, but the leaven is working on the inside. As each citizen in the kingdom feeds on the milk and meat of the word, strength builds (1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:18). Both kinds of growth are essential. External growth means that souls are being saved, and internal growth means that the spiritual vitality necessary to Christian living is developing.

When local church growth is under consideration, there are other circumstances involved. There are some congregations that have grown rapidly in numbers, but with conversions few and far between. Because of their location in developing areas, they have been able to profit from the preaching and teaching of others. Then there are churches that have experienced unusual growth in size because of serious internal difficulties in other congregations. Also, over the years all of us have known of local churches that have determined to grow even at the expense of faithful churches of Christ. Sometimes this is referred to as “sheep stealing.” Another means of growing, some churches have learned, is to tolerate sin. A local church might acquire a reputation of being the place to go if you want to gamble, get involved in adulterous marriages, or drink a little. Then, some churches of Christ have embraced the social gospel in order to grow enough to attract attention. They have learned from our denominational neighbors that a lot of people like to have their sensual appetites satisfied. And so they build their kitchens and so-called fellowship halls, install recreational equipment, bus young people to amusement parks, build “family life centers, ” and on and on and on. Now, one of the latest fads to attract the attention of those caught up in the growth syndrome is to always to be positive. The statement, “Churches don’t grow on negative preaching” can be heard in some quarters.

We rejoice over every sinner that is led to the Lamb of God. There is no other way that God’s universal kingdom can grow in number. There is no other way that the “little stone” can become a “great mountain and fill the whole earth.” Likewise, we thank God for the growth “in grace and in knowledge” of God’s people. But at the same time, we need to be cautious of placing emphasis on numbers. It can lead to compromising the truth, stealing sheep, embracing false doctrine, involving the church in unauthorized activities, and failing to plainly and forcefully condemn sin.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 17, p. 524
September 3, 1987

By Luther Bolenbarker

The work of an elder entails much. Therefore, let me try to answer the question.

Elders Should:

Check to see that the truth is preached;

Counsel with those of us having spiritual problems;

Encourage new converts;

Decide the policy the church will follow;

Propose a financial budget;

Listen to my complaints;

Teach Bible classes;

Praise those who do good works;

Spend time with the children;

Pray effective, fervent prayers;

Worry when someone quits attending worship;

Visit the sick;

Try to help people who don’t want help;

Investigate sticky problems;

Cry with the broken-hearted;

Manage difficult-to-handle people;

Sit through long meetings;

Model Christianity;

Greet visitors;

Conduct home Bible studies;

Catch a lot of flack;

Hear the appeals of preachers;

Look for new areas of service;

Wonder why they feel lonely;

Go and see the elderly;

Don’t sleep well at night;

Be involved in their community;

Work for a living;

Try to restore the unfaithful;

Counsel young couples;

Read and study their Bible;

Face special temptations;

Know they will be judged severely;

Smile when their efforts pay off;

Go on to the next problem;

Train others to take their place;

and 101 other things.

What should we do for the elders? We should.

Love them. Pray for them. Back them in their work. Defend them when we hear them criticized and be thankful that God gave them to us.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 17, p. 521
September 3, 1987

By Luther W. Martin

Some two thousand years before Christ, the cities of the plain, including Zoar, Zeboiim, Adamah, Sodom and Gomorrah, were well populated and the land about them was fertile and productive. The Book of Genesis relates that these cities were “joined together in the vale (valley) of Siddim, which is the salt sea” (Gen. 14:3).

Due to the extreme immorality of the inhabitants of Sodom, God caused the city to be destroyed. This is recorded in the 19th chapter of Genesis. This region was at the southern end of the Dead Sea, which over the centuries has expanded and engulfed the remains of these cities. After heaven’s destruction of these towns, they were uninhabited, and even in New Testament times, were yet visible. Tacitus makes reference to them in his History, and Josephus also makes mention of them in his Wars.

Our Savior made reference to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Matthew 10:15. The evil, the depravity and the wickedness of Sodom became a “by-word” from ancient times to the present. The city of Sodom lent its name to the sin and depravity of homosexuals down to the present. Homosexuality is condemned in the New Testament, in the following passages: Romans 1:24-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 2 Peter 2:10 and Jude 7-8.

Sodomy In The U.S. and The World

San Francisco seems to have the dubious reputation of favoring homosexuals through the passage of “gay rights” legislation. Since that time, according to the New England Journal of Medicine, a noted and respected medical publication:

“Infectious hepatitus – A, increased 100 percent, Infectious hepatitus – B, increased 300 percent; Amoebic colon infection, increased, 2,500 percent; 70-80 percent of the 75,000 patients seen each year in V.D. clinics were homosexual males; and 20 percent of homosexual males carried rectal gonorrhea.”

Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

In the continent of Africa, many natives engaged in a religious, pagan ritual, wherein they inter-mingled the blood of a species of green monkey, with their own blood. This introduced what is termed a “retro-virus’ into the human bloodstream, which in turn, rendered the auto-immune system of the human useless. These individuals no longer possessed the ability to resist infection and disease in their bodies. It is now estimated that probably above 30 percent of sexually active Africans have the AIDS virus.

The African natives ultimately, many of them, migrated to the Island of Haiti, and this location became a veritable ‘Mecca’ for homosexuals from the Eastern Seaboard. These men brought the AIDS plague back to New York and Miami, primarily, but also to other East Coast cities. In turn, those men who were ‘bi-sexual’ contracted the virus from other males, and then passed it on to the females with whom they co-habited.

Today, it is estimated that there are 35,000 U.S. citizens who have contracted AIDS; at least fifty percent of these will be dead within two years. In addition, the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, now estimates that some one million and a half Americans are now carriers of the AIDS virus. They may not have developed the disease themselves, as yet, but they are carriers of the virus.

Enter The Drug Culture

It is further estimated that of the bisexuals and the homosexuals, some seventy percent are carriers of the AIDS virus; but also, 60 percent of the drug users also carry the virus. From Manhattan Island, New York, one in every fifty persons joining the military is reported to have AIDS. The national average is now one in six hundred and fifty, enlistee..

Sin Lies At The Door

The African Pagan ritual that started all this, was a sin! The practices of homosexuals are sinful! Promiscuity is a sin! Even the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, has announced that an effort must be made among the citizenry, to educate the public concerning sexual standards. Dr. Koop urged that everyone limit himself to only one sexual partner! The Bible has been teaching that same truth for centuries! But our society has become too sophisticated to pay attention to God’s Word!

Isn’t it a shame that the educators of our children continue to oppose teaching the Bible’s moral standards to America’s children?

In the Middle Ages, the black plague decimated the continent of Europe; cholera, typhoid, smallpox, T.B., and other epidemics ravaged the lands. Now, in this modem and enlightened 20th century, human-kind itself, has brought this plague upon itself. Our society is paying an extremely !1igh price for flouting or ignoring Bible teaching concerning immorality. One religious publication has asked: “Is AIDS God’s active judgment on brazen homosexuality? Or is the AIDS epidemic simply a natural event that has occurred because of sin already in the world? Or both?” (The Lutheran Witness, April, 1986)

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 17, p. 534
September 3, 1987

By Ron Halbrook

The gospel of Christ conquers sin in two important ways, First, through the precious blood of Christ our past sins are forgiven by God when we accept the gospel. We accept it by believing in Christ, repenting of our sins, confessing Jesus as God’s Son with the mouth, and being immersed in water (Mk. 16:16; Acts 2:38; Rom. 10:10). Second, the love of Christ constrains us to resist temptation, to fight sin in all forms, and to conquer it in our daily lives. “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Rom. 6:17). The gospel of God’s love is more powerful in changing lives for good in time and eternity than civil laws, prisons, secular education, social reforms, or human philosophies could ever be (Rom. 1: 16; 1 Cor. 6:9-11).

War Against Drugs

Our society is engaged in a war against “hard” drugs, but Time Magazine’s special reports on “America’s Crusade” points out a larger problem: “Coke and heroin cause much less overall harm, in statistical terms, than alcohol or tobacco” (15 Sept. 1986, pp. 60-73). When cocaine-related deaths tripled between 1981 and 1985, 563 died in 1985. But in 1980, there were 98,000 deaths related to alcohol and 300,000 from tobacco use. The demand for all kinds of drugs is created by the emptiness of materialism, the pressure of peer groups, and the lies of liberalism. The article concludes that the demand can be broken only if people can learn three vital lessons. After noting each one in italics, we want to observe how the gospel of Christ meets these needs and conquers sin.

1. How to Develop a Proper Sense of Self-Esteem. In other words, who am I? Material things, our friends, and evolutionary theories cannot supply the needed answer. Only the gospel can. We are made in God’s image, separated from him by our sins, and desperately needing fellowship with him through Jesus Christ.

2. How to Deal With the Strains, Pressures and Tensions of Life. In other words, who will help me in life? Ultimately, our help must come from God. We are utterly alone and hopeless without His strength, love, wisdom, and fellowship. God gives us all those spiritual blessings in Christ -through the word of truth of the gospel.

3. How to Resist Peer Pressure. In other words, who is my example, my guide, my God? Can “the group” determine our ultimate standards, daily conduct, and final destiny? Which “group” do I follow – social, business, family, neighbors, political, educational, recreational, etc.? In the final analysis, no person or group of people can take the place of the true and living God! He sent his divine Son to be my perfect example and sent his Spirit to reveal a perfect revelation of truth.

Will you accept and obey the gospel of Christ so that sin can be conquered in your life?

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 17, p. 521
September 3, 1987