Truth Magazine

By S. Leonard Tyler

I am alive. I must five. Life abounds on every hand bidding me to follow into the enormous perplexity of the future. For what purpose or goal are these beckoning hands directing me? Death is just as prevalent as birth, sorrow as joy, failure as success and falsehood as truth. Hopelessness and despondency which lead to despair and death are lurking in the way. However, ambition with determination and expectation to see good, peace and joy and success in life overshadows the ill advised as they succumb to moments of passion, pleasure, environmental situations and youthful explorations with pitfalls so deceitful and appealing. Men need to grasp a firm hold to higher plains, nobler thoughts and clearer visions to a committed life even in a society searching for an answer to, “What is good for a man to do all the days of his life?”

I am unable as Solomon did to take each hand and follow it until I have experimented and learned ’tis vain or worthy -but I have his answers and life’s history to read. I have not a God-given wisdom by which to test each path in which the hand points – but I can read his holy word and understand. I can not wait and observe other travelers and see their end – but I can look through the windows that both sacred and secular history open and observe the kind of life offered with the resulting consequences. The way of the transgressor is hard. There is peace and victory in the way of righteousness. “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. . . Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (Jas. 5:7,8,10).

One must search for an unbruised staff upon which to lean, a true standard by which to evaluate and a guiding light by which to travel life’s highway. The journey is on both land and sea. It is both rough and smooth. I need a motivating power, a compass and a stablizer to help move me in the right direction and keep me traveling the strait and narrow way (Matt. 7:13-14).

A purpose in life is an essential in right living, if one reaches a projection of righteousness. Knowledge is required by which to design one’s life and then it must be lived or practiced, patiently and courageously. Without God, the very thought of what lies ahead is frightening. But with God, “I will fear no evil.” With all the uncertain voices crying, “Lo here, lo there and lo everywhere in any and all directions,” “where shall I go but to the Lord.” I will “hold to God’s unchanging hand.” His voice is heard through His written word, the Bible. Read and think as you read, this beautiful expression of the Bible and its contents.

The Bible

“This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Herein Paradise is restored, heaven is opened, and hell is disclosed. Christ is its grand object, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened in judgment, and remembered forever. Its involves the greatest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its savored contents. It offers protection for infancy, happiness for childhood, inspiration for youth, strength for maturity, assurance for old age, comfort for death and salvation and riches and glory and reward for eternity. ” (Author Unknown)

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 13, pp. 395, 402
July 2, 1987

By Hoyt H. Houchen

Question: In Genesis 4.2-7, was Cain’s offering rejected because it way not authorized or because it was a mediocre offering, while Abel’s was his best? Did not God accept offerings of the fruit of the ground (Lev. 2, Deut. 26. 1-11)?

Reply: It is true that under the law of Moses, God accepted offerings of the fruit of the ground such as meal offerings (Lev. 2) and the first fruits of the ground (Deut. 26:1-11).

Cain’s offering (the fruit of the ground) was not offered by faith, thus it was unauthorized. It is evident that God had instructed Cain and Abel as to the kind of offering they were to make. We are told in Hebrews 11:4, “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.” We learn from Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Whatever is acceptable to God must be by faith; that is, it must be authorized by the word of God by command, example or necessary inference (implication). God’s word, then, should be the authority for all that we do. If a practice is not authorized by the Bible, it cannot be an item of faith. Since it is not an item of faith, it is therefore prohibited.

Mechanical instruments of music are not authorized in the worship of God. We are told to sing; therefore, vocal music is authorize4by the Scriptures (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; etc.). We are instructed as to the kind of music we are to use in worship, which is singing. The New Testament is silent upon the use of mechanical instruments of music in worship, thus they are unauthorized and prohibited. Furthermore, they were not introduced into worship until centuries after the New Testament was written.

Numerous examples can be given of practices which are not authorized by the Scriptures. The reason is: they are not by faith. Sprinkling and pouring instead of baptism (immersion) are not by faith because there is no command or mention of their practice in the New Testament. There is one baptism (Eph. 4:5); it is a burial in water (Acts 8:38,39; Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12) and it is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). God has taught us his will about the act of baptism, so when we submit to it we do so by faith (Rom. 10:17).

The only way that Abel could have offered his sacrifice by faith was to have done so according to God’s will (his instructions). This is the only way that we live by faith today. The offering of Abel was “more excellent” than Cain’s, not because it was of greater value materially, but because it was offered by faith. Cain did not follow God’s instructions; therefore, his offering was not by faith. Abel obeyed God; therefore, his offering was by faith. This is why Abel’s offering was acceptable to God and Cain’s was not.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 13, p. 397
July 2, 1987

By Larry Ray Hafley

By now everyone has heard about the neutered Bible. God is not to be referred to as our “Father.” He is now our heavenly Parent. Jesus is the “child of God,” not the Son of God. (So, we must, I suppose, be baptized in the name of the Parent, the Sibling and the Holy it.) It is high profanity. It was bound to happen. If God is nothing but a nebulous force or unexplained power, why call him a person? If God is simply and merely a word used to sum up what cannot be known, why refer to him by gender? If the Bible is only a collation and collection of the “superstitious fables of an ancient people,” why accept its gender designations?

Actually, gender arguments are not the issue. The issue is one of truth and faith. What has to be established is the existence and nature of Deity, the Godhead. Also, the nature of man has to be resolved. Is man a mass of quivering protoplasm – that, and nothing more? What must be seen is the veracity, integrity and authenticity of the Bible. If a personal God exists, has He revealed Himself to His creation? If so, is the Bible that means of revelation and communication? Was God “manifested in the flesh”? Is man lost in sin? Is he accountable to his Creator? Is Jesus his Savior? Settle these matters and the gender question will not be raised. Unbelief manufactures issues that are the symptoms, not the disease. Our response must be to treat the malady, not the reaction.

Still, I feel like taking the neuterers out in the street so I can hit them over the head with a person hole cover!

Oral Profanity

Truly, profane language is rampant. It taints and stains the conversation of our society. Mouths have become dirty as a drain. Unless you are a monk or a hermit, I do not need to elaborate. Verbal profanity comes from the heart’s depravity. “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things” (Matt. 12:34, 35). Purity of mind precedes purity of mouth. Therefore, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23).

Profanity reveals a lack of self-control. It is the essence of selfishness, the offspring of anger, the vile repudiation of decency. Profanity shows the leaven, the influence of the world upon us. Hence, we must teach and practice temperance and be aware of the danger of conformity to the world. Parents, are you setting a good example? Are you instructing your children in righteousness and true holiness? The consequences of your failure to do so are eternal.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 13, p. 404
July 2, 1987

By Daniel W. Petty

Robert Schuller was born in 1926 in northwestern Iowa, and belonged to the stock of Dutch immigrants who were attracted there in the late nineteenth century by the soil and by the opportunity to practice their Calvinistic faith without state interference. The Schuller family was part of the Reformed Church in America (Dutch Reformed), which holds to a staunchly orthodox interpretation of Calvinist theology, epitomized by the acronym T.U.L.I.P. total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints. The emphasis is strongly upon divine sovereignty and grace vs. human autonomy and efficacy.

Young Robert was nurtured on this doctrine, and in 1947, he graduated from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, a school affiliated with the RCA. Upon graduation from Hope, he entered Western Theological Seminary, just across the street, and also a theologically conservative RCA school. His B. D. thesis was a 285-page scriptural and topical index to Calvin’s Institutes.

In 1955, Schuller accepted the task of organizing a new church in Garden Grove, California. The Garden Grove Community Church began as Schuller started preaching from the tar-paper roof of a drive-in theater snack bar. The “drive-in church” concept was never dropped, even when modern buildings were later erected. The first “great glass cathedral,” complete with drive-in parking and equipped with hi-fi speakers, was finished in 1961. In 1980, the new $20 million Crystal Cathedral was completed, with an interior seating capacity of 3000, plus many more from cars parked outside.

The services of Schuller’s church are broadcast on the “Hour of Power,” a TV program with an audience of more than 500,000 viewers. The program began in 1970, and is part of the Robert Schuller Televangelism Association, Inc. Schuller is the only major TV evangelist within mainline Protestantism.

His TV work has been inspired by Bishop Fulton Sheen, while his message has been at least partly inspired by Norman Vincent Peale, who was Schuller’s guest speaker on more than one occasion. Schuller emphasizes “possibility thinking” and “self-esteem” – messages intended to reach the unchurched. In Self-Esteem: The New Reformation, the Fall of Man and original sin are interpreted as the loss of self-esteem and a consequent inferiority complex. Redemption is preached as the restoration of self-esteem.

For further reading on Robert Schuller, a good biography has been written: Dennis Voskuil, Mountains Into Goldmines: Robert Schuller and the Gospel of Success (Eerdmans, 1983).

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 12, p. 376
June 18, 1987