Truth Magazine

By Joyner Wiley Adams

I believe there are some valuable lessons to be learned in reviewing the life of a faithful child of God. On this premise 1, therefore justify the comments I shall make about the life of my earthly father, Joyner Wilson Adams. It is a eulogy, to be sure, but my purpose is for it to be more than a eulogy. I want it to serve as a form of instruction to those who read it. I trust it will accomplish this two-fold purpose.

He was born September 25, 1902 to David Bonnie and Mary Adeline (Allen) Adams in a remote rural section of eastern North Carolina known simply as Pike Road. He departed this life December 9, 1986 at his home in Chesterfield County, Virginia near Hopewell. He was 84 years old. Had he lived until December 23, he and his wife, Nollie, would have been married sixty-three years.

My daddy was the oldest of six children. Life was hard in those days. His mother died in child-birth when he was twelve years old. He dropped out of school to help his father make a living in the “log-woods.” The lumber company hired on the basis of a man and a team. So, he had to become a man out of necessity sooner than he should have.

With reference to social life he used to speak of candy parties, box suppers, and buggy rides. He spoke of “union meetings” on the church yard with dinner on the ground. Sometimes such occasions were more social than religious.

He met and courted Nollie Matilda Stotesberry who lived in the same community but over on the “Stotesberry Road.” When her widowed mother moved her family to Hopewell, Virginia (a textile town at that time) to make a living running a boarding house, it did not take my daddy long to decide to leave the farm and move up there, too. He got a job in the silk mill and their marriage took place December 23, 1923.

It is unique that the marriage took place in a class-room between “Sunday School” and “church.” The preacher was named John Tate of Richmond, VA. He was the Secretary of the Virginia Christian Missionary Society, an affiliate of the United Christian Missionary Society of Cincinnati. My folks were among the large group of “tar heels” who came to Hopewell for employment and they had rented a building and started a congregation of what we would today refer to as a conservative Christian church. It was in this building that the marriage ceremony took place. The first thing my parents did after they were married was to worship God. The ceremony was announced to the assembly at the close of the services.

To this union three children were born. Joyner Wiley, Connie Wilson (after his father and Connie Mack of baseball fame), and Glenda Mae. All were born at home attended by a local doctor and my grandmother who was the best mid-wife around.

Daddy moved us from Hopewell to Chesterfield County in the early days of the depression to share a 100-acre farm and house with Uncle Mac and Aunt Ida. It was called the “Vaughn” farm after its owners but is today the Bermuda Golf Course. This place was haven for many since all the food we could use and give away could be raised or grown. It stands out in my memory as a wonderful place.

So many things could be said but we must be selective. Overshadowing everything was the depression, hard times, yet strong family ties and always love. Unemployment colored the scene for a long time. Later on Daddy bought a piece of land closer to Hopewell and he and Mama worked and labored tirelessly to build a four-room house by cutting logs from the land and hauling them to the nearby sawmill to change into lumber. I learned about the crosscut saw but was never able to come close to my father in the use of an axe or saw.

With Mama’s help Daddy was able to pay for his place mostly by raising chickens. We used a brooder and bought several hundred day-old chicks from the hatchery each time we were ready for another batch. They knew how to work together and make it count. I am sure it is because they loved each other so very much. Real love can do great things.

Our home was always shared with others who needed help. There were days of religious unrest and increasing dissatisfaction with the Christian Church. Our family, along with several others, left the digressives in the summer of 1942. We started a true church patterned according to Bible authority. He served as an elder in the church in Hopewell and later in the Rivermont church across the river (Appomattox River).

He and Mama had some lonely days as their children married and moved away to preach the gospel. They took in many foster children over the next few years all of whom called them Grandma and Grandpa. Several of these often return for visits with them. Then there were trips to see all their children and grandchildren. Time took its toll and his health was on the decline. There were periods of hospitalization. He became bedfast for the last two years of his life. During all this he received the tender care of both his wife and his sister (called affectionately by the family, Buby). There were anxious days. Children and grandchildren were frustrated by distance in trying to help. Neighbors, friends and relations were wonderful and especially the church members. Then came that quiet moment with no struggle at all when he just went to sleep in Christ. We sorrow but not as those who have no hope.

The day of the funeral was cloudy but mercifully the rain held back. The funeral home chapel was overflowing with friends, neighbors, brethren. A group of singers under the leadership of Allen Malone, preacher for the West End Church in Richmond, sang Amazing Grace, How Beautiful Heaven Must Be, and Above the Bright Blue. It was beautiful and uplifting. The singers were from Rivermont and Richmond.

John Nosker, an elder from West End in Richmond and a long time family friend, delivered the principal address. Being acquainted with the family his comments were most appropriate ending with an appeal to the lost in the audience to consider the salvation of their souls through obedience to the gospel. Ronny Milliner, also a family friend and the preacher for the Rivermont church made some appreciated remarks relating to his association with the family. Later on at the grave side, Roy Diestelkamp a former preacher for Rivermont and a family friend made the final remarks closing with a prayer. He now preaches for a church in Ontario, Canada. The service contributed to a feeling of sweet sadness for all of us. It was wonderful.

Over 40 cars comprised the procession to the cemetery at Sunset Memorial Park in Chesterfield County. As we rode along memories and thoughts crowded into my mind. I am the first-born . . . I bear Daddy’s first name and middle initial, . . . My brother bears his middle name . . . The torch is passed to us who are left behind . . . We are a large family . . . Will the circle be unbroken by and by? . . . Seven of us preach . . . Will there be others? . . . What a strong heritage is ours and what a legacy to uphold. . . Not just for the family’s sake but for the Lord’s sake.

After the grave side services and most had returned to the cars, I stood quietly by as the dark blue casket was lowered into the vault, I just could not tear myself away. It is so hard to let go even when they are faithful to the Lord. That’s because we are human, I guess. As the lid was sealed and the grave filled in and the floral arrangements adorned the site, my youngest son stood at my side comforting me. The others, too, stood nearby. Then we left the earthly remains of Joyner Wilson Adams in quiet repose to await the resurrection morning. Farewell, sweet Daddy . . . for now!

– By Joyner Wiley Adams in fond memory.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 5, pp. 136-137
March 5, 1987

By Ronny Wade

The second affirmative article, which you have just read, is a masterpiece in subterfuge and circumlocution. Seldom will you see someone try so hard to evade clear responsibility and duty. In his first article our brother made two basic arguments, i.e. (1) the cup is the fruit of the vine; hence the container is not under consideration when the word cup is used in the Lord’s supper accounts; and (2) the container has no significance; therefore the number used is incidental. I spent the greater part of my first negative showing why both of these assumptions were false. I will leave it to the reader’s determination as to whether or not I “tried” to answer the arguments.

“The Real Issue”

It doesn’t surprise me at all that our brother is disturbed when I demand that he find an example, command, or necessary inference for his practice. Did you ever see a “liberal” that didn’t get upset when such demands were made? It’s all right for him, and those who agree with him, to demand specific authorization for the sponsoring church concept as Cogdill did of Woods (“There isn’t an example of any church in the New Testament raising its money by going out and begging other churches for it. You find that” – Cogdill- Woods Debate, p. 303, emp. mine R. W.) but if I do it, it “reflects a basic mistake” in my reasoning. Looks to me like what’s sauce for the goose ought at least to be applesauce for the gander. He’s already admitted that there is no New Testament example of a plurality of cups being used in the observance of the Lord’s supper. Now he admits that there is neither command nor necessary inference justifying their use. If this be the case, then how does he know the church of the first century used them as he claimed in the January 2, ’86 issue of Guardian of Truth? Did you notice how quiet he was on this? Wonder why?

Oh! but you misunderstand says, our brother, the proposition states may. Cups may be used. But wait a minute, what the proposition says is: “The scriptures teach a plurality of cups may be used.” What we want to know is how do the Scriptures teach a plurality may be used? We know by his own admission, that a plurality of cups is not taught by example, command, or necessary inference. If not in one of these three ways, then in what way do the Scriptures teach a plurality of cups? Well, says the affirmative, they are implied. But I ask, where? Where do the Scriptures imply the use of a plurality of cups in the Lord’s supper? I’ve never read a single account of that event, that implies a plurality of cups were used. What the affirmative really believes is that cups are taught implicitly (i.e. “capable of being understood from something else though unexpressed”). There you have it, my friend. Even though we have no example, no command, no necessary inference, we understand from something else (heaven only knows what it is) that cups may be used, even though it is unexpressed. Shades of logic! Wouldn’t the liberals love to have that kind of freedom in proving church support of non-saints? Such argumentation is unworthy of church of Christ people.

The Strawman

He says I falsely charge him with believing that the container is never under consideration when the cup is used in the Lord’s supper accounts. “I have never denied that a container is necessary to contain liquid.” “The negative is fighting a strawman.” Well, let’s see. Notice the two statements: (1) “The container is never under consideration when the word cup is used in the Lord’s supper accounts.” (2) “Container is necessary to contain liquid” (his belief). Are the statements the same? Of course not and it doesn’t take a Solomon to see the difference. If they are the same, as our brother implies, let him answer the following: in Matthew 26:27, “And he took the cup. . .,” does cup mean a container? I Corinthians 10: 16, “. . the cup of blessing . . . ” is cup a container here? If not in either of these passages, let him tell us in which Lord’s supper passage the word cup means a literal container. Then we’ll see who is fighting a straw man. Come on, brother, this is the issue, face it squarely, and let the readers know where you stand.

Ek – “Out Of”

In his agitated state he then proceeds to accuse me of “taking the liberty of changing the Lord’s statement” with reference to the Greek preposition ek. Well, I did no such thing. I merely gave the definition of ek which is “from” or “out of.” In every place where the Lord commands His disciples to drink of the cup, “of” is translated from ek. Thayer says under pino ek (drink of), “with a genitive of the vessel out of which one drinks, ek tou poterion i.e. drink out of the cup” (p. 510). That is exactly what Jesus commanded the disciples to do. And it is just wishful thinking on the affirmative’s part to claim otherwise. He wants me to try my hand on I Corinthians 9:7, Le. “of” the flock. “Of” is from ek, but Thayer says “with a genitive denoting the drink of which as a supply one drinks” (p. 5 10). There is a difference in drinking from a vessel that one hands another (which is what happened in Mt. 26:27) and drinking from the supply of milk given by a flock. Thayer says the genitives are different, let our brother deny it.

Parallels

In my first article I gave the following parallel: (1) “And he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, drink ye all of it. For this is my blood of the New Testament. . . . ” (2) He picked up the cup (container) and drank it (contents) and sighed gustily saying, “this is good coffee.” Notice (A) cup is literal in both sentences. (B) This and it both refer back to cup (literal) but the pronouns (this, it) refer by metonymy to the contents of the cup. (C) Cup is still literal and does not become the contents. (D) The fruit of the vine was not the cup. The coffee was not the cup.

Did our brother deny A or B and try to disprove either? No! He merely with one swipe of the hand said that because a metaphor is involved in the expression “this is my blood” there is no parallel. That fact however does not negate the parallel, and it won’t go away, even though he wishes it would. Why didn’t he notice the three points I made regarding these statements? No one denies that the fruit of the vine was the blood or that the coffee was good coffee. The question is: was the cup the coffee?, was the cup the fruit of the vine? That’s the question, let him face it.

Spiritual Significance

Now let’s look at what he had to say about my argument on the significance of the cup. First of all, he charges that I “ignore the fact that Jesus used highly metaphorical language” then opines that a man of my background should never make a mistake like that. Well, I regret to have to correct him again, but his accusation just isn’t true. Please notice my point #3, “Each embraces a metaphor which is a figure of comparison. . . . ” You’d think that at least he would read what I said before making statements that have no foundation and serve only to demonstrate his inability to deal with the issue at hand. Secondly, he says the argument might be impressive from a grammatical standpoint, but proves nothing about the significance of the vessel. Did he take up the argument point by point and show where it was false? No! He didn’t even attempt that. He knew better. He says I literalize everything, thus the argument is all wrong. Now that’s really answering an argument isn’t it? Let me encourage everyone to re-read that entire section. Note each point carefully, compare it with the Bible and see if it isn’t true. He does no better in his effort to explain the two statements (1) “This is my blood of the N.T.” and (2) “This cup is the N.T. in my blood,” claiming they are identical, only that the terms are reversed. This, however, cannot be for at least four reasons:

1. The first statement teaches that the fruit of the vine represents the blood, that ratified or sealed the New Covenant.

2. The second statement teaches that the cup is emblematic of the N.T. that the blood ratified.

3. The blood that sealed the N.T. was not the testament, they were two different things.

4. Since the blood and the New Testament were two different things, Jesus used two different things to represent them (fruit of vine represents the blood; cup represents the New Testament). Let him disprove it.

On And On He Goes

His next failure involves the so-called argument on Bible authority. 1 showed exactly why it wouldn’t work, his assertion to the contrary not withstanding. Every passage that teaches the obligation to drink the fruit of the vine teaches that we are to drink of (“out of”) the cup. When cups are used, the commands of both Paul and Jesus are disobeyed. He has no argument here at all.

In a feeble effort to find at least two cups the affirmative cites 1 Corinthians 10:16, but totally misapplies the passage. “We” refers to the congregation where Paul was – Ephesus. “We the assembled” (Alford, Greek New Testament). “We the many (believers assembled; so the Greek)” (Jamieson, Faucett, Brown). He finds no relief here.

What Does He Really Believe?

So far the affirmative has told us that the cup is the fruit of the vine, that the cup is the blood, that cup is a container, and to cap it all off he says, “in whatever sense that the ‘cup’ is the New Testament, it is not the ‘container,’ but the ‘contents.”‘ I wonder, the contents of what? Tell us brother, the cup is the contents of what? What does the man believe?

His Problem

Our brother is laboring under a terrible burden. He is trying to prove a man-made practice scriptural – a practice introduced into churches of Christ around 1913 by such men as C. E. Holt and G. C. Brewer. In his book Forty Years On The Firing Line, Brewer said, “I think I was the first preacher to advocate the use of individual communion cups and the first church in the state of Tennessee that adopted it was the church for which I was preaching, the Central church of Christ at Chattanboga, Tn.” So there you have it. There is his authority. No wonder the man has problems.

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 5, pp. 147-148
March 5, 1987

By Ron Halbrook

On behalf of Christ, we must press the demands of the gospel in the hearts of lost sinners. He came to seek and to save the lost. “Without shedding of blood is no remission” of sins. When men are pricked in the heart by the story of God’s love, mercy, and grace, they will admit the sinfulness of their own deeds and gladly receive God’s gift of salvation from sin (Heb. 9:22; Eph. 2:1-9). On the first Pentecost after Christ arose, men “were pricked in their heart” by the gospel. Desiring remission of their sins in the blood of Christ, they cried out, “What shall we do?” They were told to “repent and be baptized,” even as Jesus had said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Acts 2:38; Mk. 16:16).

False teachers, while making great professions on “grace” and “faith,” are shutting up the kingdom of Christ to lost sinners. Sinners are being told that God justified “by faith only.” The Bible says God freely justified by faith on man’s part, but shows that faith justified only when it moves or acts to obey the gospel (Rom. 5:1; 6:4,17). “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (Jas. 2:24). Salvation by grace through faith includes the necessity of water baptism. After Philip preached Jesus to the treasurer, “they went down both into the water . . . and, he baptized him” (Acts 8:26f). Paul told the jailer he would be saved if he would “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” so the man was saved by faith when he acted by faith “and was baptized” immediately (Acts 16:25ff).

Devotion to the man-made Protestant dogma of salvation by “faith only” led one Presbyterian preacher to charge, “to say water baptism is necessary to salvation is idolatry. ” If so, Jesus told His apostles to preach idolatry to the whole world (Jn. 3:5; Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:16). That makes Peter an idolater (Acts 2:38; 1 Pet. 3:21). Paul, too (Acts 22:16; Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:26-27). The Church of Christ preaches “the way which they call heresy” and idolatry, as Paul said (Acts 24:14). So, will some bold denominational preacher agree to stand before a large audience of “idolaters” and show us the truth of God from Scripture? We will affirm, “Water baptism is necessary to salvation,” and he can deny it. He can affirm, “To say water baptism is necessary to salvation is idolatry,” and we will deny it. Preachers in the major denominations of this city, county, and state do not have the courage or conviction to enter into a fair discussion of this subject before the public. What a disgrace!

The tactics of false teachers have not changed. The Pharisees and the Herodians differed among themselves but united to oppose what Christ taught (Matt. 22:15-16). The major denominations are divided over many matters such as sprinkling and church government, but they unite in opposing the doctrine of Christ on baptism. The truth puts false teachers to silence and they are not interested in debate (v. 46). Like Jesus, Paul engaged in public discussion of what he taught, but the idolaters of Acts 17 rejected debate and united in the loud repetition of their favorite manmade dogma: “Great is Diana! Great is Diana!” The divided tribes of denominationalism reject debate today and unite in the loud repetition of their favorite man-made dogma: “Faith only! Faith only! Baptism is not necessary!”

Let the reader decide. Who pleads for truth, for open study, and for public investigation? Is that the way of idolatry? Who uses the tactics of false teaching and idolatry by rejecting discussion and repeating traditional dogmas?

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 5, p. 131
March 5, 1987

By Johnny Stringer

“I find in him no fault at all” (John 18:38). So said Pilate, before whose judgment seat Jesus stood. Pilate had found Jesus not guilty; but according to the premillennial theory now most popular, Pilate was wrong in his judgment, and Jesus was guilty as charged.

The crime Jesus had been charged with was sedition. He had been accused of seeking to be a king in competition against Caesar (Lk. 23:1-3). If that had been His intention, Jesus would have been guilty of a grave violation of Roman law. But according to today’s most prevalent brand of premillennialism, that is exactly what Jesus had intended to do.

This theory says that Jesus came to establish an earthly, political kingdom – a Jewish kingdom that would overthrow Rome and rule the world – but that He failed because of the Jews’ rejection of Him. According to this theory, therefore, Jesus was guilty of sedition against Rome.

Pilate, however, did not judge Him to be guilty. Why not? Simply because Jesus explained to him the nature of His kingdom. He told Pilate that His kingdom is not of the world. If it were, His servants would have fought to establish it, for carnal righting is required to set up earthly kingdoms. Jesus proceeded to explain that His kingdom is based on truth. All who submit to His truth are citizens of His kingdom, as He rules in their hearts (John 18:36-38).

On an earlier occasion Jesus had explained the nature of His kingdom to some Jews who had asked about the coming of God’s kingdom. He had told them, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Lk. 17:21). The kingdom of Christ is a spiritual kingdom which exists as He rules in the hearts of men by His truth.

Pilate understood from Jesus’ explanation that Jesus’ aim was not to set up an earthly, political kingdom. His verdict: “I rind in him no fault.” If Pilate had determined that Jesus was seeking to establish a political kingdom, he would have declared Jesus to be guilty of sedition.

The point is clear: Jesus was charged with attempting to establish an earthly, political kingdom, and Pilate found Him not guilty. What a shame that an ungodly Roman governor was able to see what multitudes of premillennialists fail to see!

Guardian of Truth XXXI: 4, p. 117
February 19, 1987