Truth Magazine

By Larry Ray Hafley

Lyman Beecher said, “No great advance has been made science, politics or religion without controversy.”

Spurgeon, perhaps the best known Baptist preacher of all time, said:

Controversy for the truth against the errors of the age is, we feel more than ever convinced, the peculiar duty of the preacher in the present crisis. Our spirit is, we hope, one of genuine love to all the chosen of God, but the rule of modern charity that requires us to keep certain points in the background, we utterly abhor. It is treason to the Lord Jesus to be silent on any point where He has spoken, and where the honor of His gospel is concerned. It is of course the most easy to flesh and blood to deal in generalities, to denounce sectarianism, and claim to be of an ultra-catholic spirit; but though rough and rugged, it is required of the loyal servant of King Jesus to maintain all His crown rights and stand up for every word of His laws. Friends chide us and foes abhor us when we are very jealous for the Lord God of Israel, but what do these things matter if the Master approves? . . . Silence and temporizing will only protract or postpone a struggle which must come sooner or later; and he is wisest who, loving all truth, fears not to publish all, gainsay it who may (C.H. Spurgeon, preface to Volume II, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, as quoted by Wayne Camp).

In The Baptist Examiner (p. 7, September 7, 1963), J.C. Ryle said, “Controversy and religious strife no doubt are odious things; but there times when they are a positive necessity. Unity and peace are very delightful; but they are bought too dear if they are bought at the expense of truth. There is a vast amount of maundering, childish, weak talk nowadays in some quarters about unity and peace, which I cannot reconcile with the language of Paul. It is a pity, no doubt, that there should be so much controversy; but it is also a pity that human nature should be so bad as it is, and that the devil should be loose in the world. It was a pity that Arius taught error about Christ’s person; but it would have been a greater pity if Athanasius had not opposed him. It was a pity Tetzel went about preaching up the Pope’s indulgences; it would have been a far greater pity if Luther had not withstood him. Controversy, in fact, is one of the conditions under which truth in every age has to be defended, and maintained, and it is nonsense to ignore it.”

Well, if editor Willis or myself had said what is noted and quoted above, we may have lost our Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Even the title of this article was stolen from a Baptist Church bulletin! It is sad that a few brethren may shriek at the unloving militance of these Baptists. But the Baptist words above sound like some of the echoes of those crude “Campbellites” from an earlier generation.

Wayne Camp, a Baptist preacher, was chided by a liberal in the “restoration movement” for a debate that he was to have with me. My sweet-spirited brother said, “Wayne, why debate Hafley? Remember, you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” To which my friend Camp replied, “I’m not in the fly catching business.” Amen and amen.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 16, p. 481
August 20, 1987

By Ron Halbrook

True faith in God moves and acts upon the basis of love for God. True faith in God comes by hearing his Word, not by hearing the theories and philosophies of men (Rom. 10:17; Col. 2:8). A professed faith which refuses to obey God is not genuine faith – it cannot save – it is dead (Jas. 2:17-26). Obedient faith is the genuine expression and natural result of love for the Lord. Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments. . . Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (Jn. 14:15; 15:14).

Christ commissioned his Apostles to preach the gospel, including baptism, so that sinners might be saved by his precious blood (Matt. 26:28; Mk. 16:15-16; Acts 2:38). If we truly believe the gospel and love the Savior,- we must be baptized, but what is this true baptism which is taught in the Bible? Are we to be baptized in rose petals, sawdust, sand, or water? Faith which acts by love will accept what the Bible says without changing it. What is the action of true Bible baptism – immersion, sprinkling, or pouring? The following chart shows that only one action performed in one element can match the full Bible description and definition of baptism.

Bible Baptism:	Immersion?	Sprinkling?	Pouring?
Requires water (Acts 8:36)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Much water (Jn. 3:23)	Yes	No	No
Going unto the water (Acts 8:36)	Yes	No	No
Going down into the water (8:38)	Yes	No	No
Both the baptizer & the one to be baptized to go down into the water (8:38-39)	Yes	No	No
A burial (Rom. 6:4)	Yes	No	No
A resurrection (Col. 2:12)	Yes	No	No
Born of water (Jn. 3:5)	Yes	No	No
Body washed with water (Heb. 10:22)	Yes	No	No
Coming up out of water (Acts 8:39)	Yes	No	No

Do we believe and love God enough to do exactly what he commanded without changing it? God no more accepts sprinkling or pouring as the action of baptism than he accepts sawdust or sand as the element. We are ready to assist you if you never have been truly baptized for the remission of your sins.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 15, p. 463
August 6, 1987

By Irvin Himmel

It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory (Prov. 25:27).

Honey

A highly nutritious food, honey was often found in ancient times in trees, in holes in the ground, in crevices between rocks, and other places where wild bees might choose to build combs. Samson once slew a young lion, later to return and find bees and honey in the carcase. The honey in the carcase of the lion became the subject of a riddle: “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness” (Judg. 14:5-18).

Jonathan once found wild honey in a forest and his eyes brightened when he ate some of it (1 Sam. 14:25-30). Honey was among the food items brought to David and his men at Mahanaim in the days of Absalom’s rebellion (2 Sam. 17:27-29). Wild honey was a basic part of the diet of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:4).

But because honey is so rich and sweet, it cannot be eaten in large amounts. While it is recommended for food in Proverbs 24:13, there is a warning about eating too much of it in Proverbs 25:16. “Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.”

Some good things can be bad if indulged in to excess. Happy is the person who avoids overdoing. Just as too much honey can be nauseous, many things can be carried to harmful extremes. Know when to stop.

Just as it is not good to eat much honey, there is no glory in one’s searching out his own glory. The Amplified Bible gives Proverbs 25:27 as follows: “It is not good to eat much honey, so for men to seek glory, their own glory, causes suffering and is not glory.”

(1) Some people fish for praise. Sometimes the real object in one’s bragging on another is to solicit a return compliment. He baits the conversational hook with praise, hoping to catch compliments for the feeding of his ego. Sometimes one belittles himself to invite contradiction. He would be furious if someone else said about him what he says about himself. He fully expects to be corrected and told how wonderful he really is!

(2) Some engage in self-centered conversation. They seem to enjoy singing their own praises. But even if one is not praising himself, the habit of talking mainly about one’s own self can become offensive to others and appear as egotism.

(3) Preachers are sometimes glory-seekers. And I do not refer now to eternal glory! The example of Paul commends itself to every gospel preacher. “Nor of men sought we glory,” said the apostle (1 Thess. 2:6). Preachers seeking the praise of men are a sorry lot. “When Christ is to be exalted, the preacher must be willing to be unnoticed” (G. Barlow).

(4) Some allow the love of human glory to keep them from believing on Jesus. The Lord said to unbelieving Jews on one occasion: “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?” (John 5:43,44) As Adam Clarke sums it up, “The grand obstacle to the salvation of the scribes and Pharisees was their pride, vanity, and self-love. They lived on each other’s praise… This is the ruin of millions. They would be religious, if religion and worldly honor were connected.”

(5) Some allow the love of praise to keep them from confessing Christ. “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42, 43). The Pharisees knew what they were doing when they made it a rule that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Messiah would be excommunicated. Some of the chief rulers believed on him, but they dared not confess him. They did not wish to be kicked out of the synagogue because they were more concerned about the praise of men than the praise of God. What a tragedy!

The person who seeks his own glory is little deserving of honor. Self-praise stinks!

Self-praise is a poor recommendation. The individual who blows his own trumpet and seeks glory for himself is obnoxious. His attitude is the opposite of the spirit of humility taught by the Master.

There is no glory in one’s seeking his own glory, that is, one is not to be praised for seeking honor from others. True honor from the Lord comes to the lowly in spirit. “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matt. 23:12).

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 15, p. 456
August 6, 1987

By Robert F. Turner

When someone’s sinful conduct rebounded upon him, my dad would sometimes say, “He is stewing in his own juice.” Dad meant he was reaping what he had sown. This is a Bible concept, in both the good and bad sense. We do not really 46get away” with anything. Our deeds and thoughts are “naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:13). Since we are in God’s world, where the very character of God is manifested in his creation; and since we will be eventually judged by our Creator; we should know that our well-being, now and in eternity, depends upon our living according to his rules. Three times in the first chapter of the Roman letter Paul indicates “God gave up” the pagan world to the consequences of their own conduct. He allowed them to “stew in their own juice.” There is a practical principle here for all of us: we carry in ourselves the seed of harvest, both temporal and eternal.

We are often self-deceived: thinking possessions can make us happy; our cunningness can reap the benefits of true wisdom; the snares we set for others can give us freedom. This is to proceed without reckoning with God and his principles of righteousness. Greed only heaps up treasures that “moth and rust corrupt.” The cunning are caught by others more cunning, and are usually overcome by the strength of honorable wisdom. The book of Proverbs is literally filled with such admonitions. “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city . . . ” but the destruction of the poor (by which he gain ed his wealth) eventually becomes his poverty (Prov. 10:15). “The integrity of the upright shall guide them; but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them” (11:3). If evil-doers seem to prosper (as indeed they do) remember the advice of the Psalmist: “Fret not thyself. “Evil-doers shall be cut off” (Psa. 37:7-11).

The prophet Habakkuk affords an excellent example of the principle we are discussing. Habakkuk recognized the sins of his people and cried out to God to do something about them. God revealed he was sending the Chaldeans to overrun and punish Judah for her sins. Habakkuk objected, “Holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he?” (1:13) He was told “the righteous shall live by his faith” (f.n. “in his faithfulness,” 2:4). God has not forgotten his own.

But that is not all. The wicked Chaldeans, used by God to punish Judah, were still accountable for their deeds. The wine (of greed and pride) is treacherous. The very nations they had conquered would “take up a parable . . . a taunting proverb” against them (2:5f). There follows five “woes” promising them the fruit of their own wickedness. Habakkuk learned the true meaning of faith. He waited patiently for the punishment due Judah’s wickedness, and said, “Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (3:16f). He was now attuned to God’s judgments.

Reaping what we sow is also applicable in far less dramatic cases. Some girls use extreme makeup and tight clothing to throw themselves at the boys. They get a cheap date, cheap popularity, and eventually a cheap husband who likely holds marriage as a “cheap” arrangement. Later the divorced mother with children to support “stews in her own juice,” and just can’t figure out why it happened. I remember talking with a divorcee who told me each of her three husbands were alcoholics. I asked, “Where do you get. your husbands?” and was told she met them where she worked – in a bar. I do not say all divorces have such obvious cause-effect relations, but the general principle remains true: we sow the seed of our own harvest. The boy who is lazy, changes jobs-often, does sloppy work, and is a “clock watcher, ” finds it hard to understand why he finally runs out of jobs. The world does not treat him fairly; or does it?

Preachers try to “win debates” with trickery, character assassination, or unfair use of papers or pulpit – and are shunned or held at arms length by many brethren. Of course they can always say those brethren can not take “sound” teaching, but I wonder if they never take a look deep inside themselves. It is equally true that those who compromise truth and repeatedly excuse ungodly conduct may finally find themselves in the “liberal” camp. How did they get there? The “seed” produced their fruit. They may not feel the “stewing” now, but ultimate consequences are inevitable.

Retribution and judgment lie woven into the nature of creation, and are an integral part of God’s revealed will. We “program” our own destinies far more than we may realize, and we should not have to wait for the unchangeable final judgment to do something about it. Instead of blaming fate or “others” for our plight, we should take a hard look at our past, the seed of our present. In our yesterdays we were mixing the ingredients of today. We are storing up our eternal future by present lifestyles and response to God. That is one reason it is so hard to truly repent, to turn about, to “kill the old man.” But God’s goodness can have a great influence if we but give it consideration (Rom. 2:4f). We still have life, and with Christ that means hope. It is up to each of us to trust him, and begin sowing the seeds of an eternal inheritance.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 15, p. 455
August 6, 1987