Truth Magazine

By Daniel T. Owens

King Belshazzar knew of his father’s attitude and action toward God (5:20-22). Yet he did not humble his own heart and lifted himself against the Lord of heaven (vv. 22,23). He abused the Lord’s vessels and worshiped them instead of glorifying the living God (v. 23).

Therefore, the hand sent from God wrote the inscription on the wall “Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin ” (vv. 5,24). They were interpreted by Daniel as follows: “Numbered, weighed, divided.” Belshazzars’s kingdom (Babylon), as well as his own days, were numbered and coming to an end. He had been weighed and found wanting, deficient. His kingdom was to be divided, or separated, being given to the Medes and Persians (v. 31; Jer. 51:11,12).

In chapter 5 of Daniel there seems to be some lessons for us today. The handwriting is not “on the wall” but in the Book -The Word of God. We are numbered. We are continually being weighed (judged). We are and will be divided (separate -separated).

We Are Numbered

“The Lord knows those who are His” (2 Tim. 2:19; John 10: 14; 1 Cor. 8:3). We are and will be numbered according to our stand – our faithfulness or our faithlessness. If we are obedient Christians, we are numbered with God’s elect: with Noah, a preacher of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:5) who walked with God (Gen. 6:9); with Abraham, the friend of God (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; Jas. 2:23); with Moses, who refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter but rather chose to be with God’s people no matter what the consequences (Heb. 11;24, 25). We’ll be with David, although he too, like so many of us, did wrong and committed sin. Yet he repented and became a man after God’s own heart (Acts 7:46; 13:22). We’ll be with the great cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 12:1 and the 144,000 of Revelation 14:1-5. We are numbered with John, the immerser, Stephen, James, Peter, Paul, and the rest who “did not love their life even to death” (Rev. 12:11; Acts 21:13).

Just as those who are faithfully obedient are numbered with the righteous of all ages, so then also are the disobedient, unfaithful, digressive, and such numbered with the unrighteous. They are numbered with the iniquity of Cain – his unfit offering and his murderous guilt (Gen. 4:3,4,8); with Esau who sold his birthright (Gen. 25:31) in a time of physical temptation (Heb. 12:16,17); with Saul who forfeited his rule by acting foolishly against the commandments of God (1 Sam. 13:11-14; 15:11,26,35). They are numbered with Belshazzar who worshiped the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone (Dan. 5:23) and with the likes of Judas who sold his Lord (Matt. 26:14-16,47-49). Many are still selling the Lord today. They are counted with Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), Demetrius the silversmith (Acts 19:24-29), Ananias the high Priest, Tertullus, and the governor Felix (Acts 24:1,2,25) and King Agrippa (Acts 26:28). They are with Hymenaeus, and Alexander (1 Tim. 1:20), Philetus (2 Tim. 2:17), Demas (2 Tim. 4:10), Diotrephes (3 John 9,10), the Nicolaitans (Rev. 2:6,15), Jezebel (Rev. 2:20), the lukewarm of Laodicea (Rev. 3:16) and the others who “know not God” and “those who obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess. 1:8).

Those who are numbered with the righteous will inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:34). Those counted with the unrighteous shall inherit the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). “And if anyone’s name was not found written (numbered, recorded, counted, dto) in the Book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15).

We Are Weighed

We are constantly being weighed (judged). We are weighed by our actions (1 Sam. 2:3). We shall have to give an account of ourselves (Rom. 14:12) and answer for the deeds we have done, whether good or bad (Matt. 16:27; 2 Cor. 5: 10; Rom. 2:6; Rev. 12,13). We must be consistent in our words and deeds and expectations of others. We dare not fall into the temptation of hypocrisy, for we too are judged of others, as well as by God (Matt. 7:2; Mk. 4:24; Lk. 6:38; Rom. 2:1-3).

We are judged by our words (Matt. 12:36,37). Is everything you say Holy Spirit oriented, that is to say, “as the utterances of God” (1 Pet. 4:11; 1 Thess. 2:3-4; Acts 4:13-20; Eph. 6:19,20)? Can your fellow workers tell that you are a Christian by the language you use? Would you be proud to have your children repeat everything you say? Think on these things.

We shall be judged by our thoughts (Rom 2:15,16). Are you thinking like those of this world-of hatred, violence, vengeance, murder, immorality, etc., or are we letting our minds dwell on things that are honorable, right, pure, lovely, good repute, excellent, and worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8)?

We are weighed by our works (1 Pet. 1:17). How are you doing in the Lord’s vineyard? Those who abide in Christ bear much fruit (John 15:5,8). And it does not necessarily mean the numbers of conversions. There is something to be said about keeping the saved saved. Do you take hold of every possible opportunity to labor in the Lord’s vineyard, or are you one who shies or shirks away from responsibilities and “passes the buck”?

We shall be judged by the Word of God (John 12:48) which today is readily available to all. There is no excuse for lawlessness. We need to judge ourselves righteously and make sure we pass the test (2 Cor. 13:5). We need to constantly make corrections in our lives to keep it pure from sin. There is no automatic cleansing from/of sin. Repentance, after the knowledge of sin, is a must if we are to escape the fires of hell (Heb. 10:26,27).

Judgment begins first with the household of God (I Pet. 4:17). “So speak and so act, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty” (Jas. 2:12).

We Are Divided

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). To my way of thinking, there are at least two considerations in this matter. One is a division between the Christian and the alien sinner. The other is the division between the faithful Christian and the Christian that just barely gets by.

The first separation is easy to see. One is a faithful child of God. The other has no relationship with God other than being a part of His creation. In the second instance, it may be harder to see the difference, except in practice. The faithful Christian labors and lives for the Lord. You can tell him by the fruit he bears. On the other hand, the Christian that barely gets by is hard to distinguish from the alien sinner. In fact, there may be very little separation at all. He does little work, if any, and is tolerant of the same. His attendance is sporadic as well as is his stand for the truth. In short, there is very little separation or division from the world. There is more of a conformation than a transformation.

Nevertheless, be reassured, there is a division between the saints and the sinners. Some are more visible than others. Some have taken heed to 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. They have come out and separated themselves from the world. They are indeed a peculiar people (Tit. 2:14; 1 Pet. 2:9). Their dedicated separation from the sins of this world insure them a separation from the fires of hell. They are divided now and will be divided then (Matt. 25:34,41). “He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.” ” Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on . . . that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them” (Rev. 3:5; 14:13).

Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin. How do you stand.

Guardian of Truth XXX: 16, pp. 492-493
August 21, 1986

By Jr. Bronger

After the preacher for the Christian Church left my office, I thought, who is this guy? Is he for real? That was my first impression of Nelson Greene.

Here was a man 42 years old, telling me he could no longer accept the unscriptural innovations of that denomination. However, that was not all there was to Nelson Greene. He reached his conclusions through years of independent Bible study.

Nelson was a Catholic priest, a priest who was willing to question and eventually leave the Catholic Church, after which he gave only token observance to any religion. During that time he studied with the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Nelson spent some time with a United Methodist Church, but left when they approved into membership an avowed homosexual.

With that move Nelson decided to reject religion. He discarded his Bible and Catholic prayer book. Soon he realized that this was not the course that would bring him the contentment he sought.

Nelson found what he thought was the end of his search for the truth of God in Elizabeth City, NC (see statement to Goodlettsville Christian Church on opposite page). He, however, became entangled with the Christian Church.

When he moved to Nashville, he thought he was truly thrust into the midst of an abundance of God’s people. “All I could see were Christian Churches/Churches of Christ,” Nelson told me. “I felt,” he said, “they were all the same.” Soon the elders of the Christian Church where he preached told him that the Churches of Christ in Nashville were denominational and to avoid them, especially the “Antis.”

After awhile this honest heart could remain silent no longer (see statement to Lakeview Church of Christ on opposite page). He attended some assemblies of some institutional Churches of Christ. This gave him some determination to find out more about the church of Christ.

He drove to David Lipscomb College and requested more information about the churches of Christ. These people, upon learning Nelson was a preacher for the Christian Church, had Alan Cloyd to contact him. Cloyd heads the “Restoration Leadership Ministry.” This is a “ministry” supported by many institutional Churches to convert denominational preachers.

Cloyd was interested in Nelson renouncing the Christian Church for the Church of Christ which seems to me to be rank hypocrisy, as Cloyd is working with Christian Church preachers to promote unity between the Christian Churches and institutional Churches of Christ (One Body, Spring ’86, p. 34).

Nelson expressed to Cloyd and others that he could not see renouncing the bus ministry, fellowship halls, social gospel and various institutions of the Christian church to embrace the bus ministry, fellowship halls, social gospel and various institutions of the Churches of Christ. Nelson told these brethren the only thing he was renouncing was “the instrument and my support.”

Here was a man wanting to leave liberalism, with no place to go. How frustrating!

Within four weeks after my first encounter with Nelson, he was standing, by faith, with God’s people. During this time I spent many hours with Nelson in study, prayer and periods of encouragement. After a study in the Lakeview building on authority, Nelson remarked, “I can’t believe it; I spent four years in college and never heard of generic and specific authority.” I am not surprised.

Today Nelson is working with Joel Plunkett and the Broadmoor church of Christ in Nashville, for the summer. He has at least two classes each week with Aude McKee and Bob Bunting.

Having taken his stand with Christ and His church, Nelson desires to devote his life to preaching the gospel. He and his good wife, Sue, who has also taken her stand for truth (with a lot less fanfare than Nelson) can do a lot of good for the cause of Christ.

I no longer view Nelson as I did after my first meeting. Because I now see in him someone who was hungering and thirsting after righteousness and was filled (Matt. 5:6).

Reproduced on the opposite page are (1) his statement of resignation from the Christian Church and (2) his statement when he identified with the Lakeview congregation.

Guardian of Truth XXX: 15, p. 462
August 7, 1986

By W. Frank Walton

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him

should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16, NKJV).

The beauty and heart of the gospel is expressed by few words in this “golden text of the Bible.” It captures the reality of God’s concern for the plight of the human condition, man’s greatest need, the divine solution to his dilemma, and his ultimate destiny.

1. “For God” – The Greatest Being. The eternal, infinite nature of God transcends time and the human ind. As far back as our minds can travel, He had already existed forever – “In the beginning, God. . . ” Who is He? “I AM WHO I AM” (Ex. 3:14). The self-existent One inhabits eternity; His mere existence is self-fulfilling and purposeful by contemplation of His own infinite, perfect being. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, holy, righteous, majestic and His ways past finding out.

The vast expanse of a marvelously designed universe declares the signature of the Almighty (Psa. 19:1). “Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder, who can understand?” (Job 26:14, NASB) There’s no analogy to completely reveal God, for He is unique and incomparable (Isa. 40:12-28). The secret things belong to Him, but He has revealed Himself in Scripture for us to know Him. Thoughts of Him are so vast that we’re lost in their immensity and drown in their infinity.

2. “So Loved” – The Greatest Measure. Of all the absolute attributes of God, His holiness, majesty, justice, and might, they are but rays of glory shining from His eternal essence – “for God is love” (1 Jn. 4:8). He perfectly defines love. Love must have an object, and the three eternal Persons in the Godhead shared this love from all eternity. It is a rational act of will springing from the inherent nature of Deity, not from the worthiness of the object so loved. Love, then, is as boundless as the sea. It governs and explains the ultimate aim of God’s actions.

God’s motivation toward people is love. Man was created as an object of God’s infinite love, to share in it and to freely choose to love Him in return.

3. “The World” – The Greatest Need. Man was the crowning act of creation. Made in God’s spiritual likeness, his forever living spirit could have fellowship with the Creator. Man was made by God’s will for His glory, manifesting His greatness (Rev. 4:11; Isa. 43:7). God set eternity in man’s heart (Eccl. 3:11). That’s why even the irreligious in great trauma cry out, “O my God!” Only God can satisfy man’s deeper yearnings. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). For man to work right, God must be the beginning point of life’s calculations.

Yet the world is teeming with a race of lost rebels who have turned their backs on God. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23; cf. 3:10-18). The wonder of the gospel is that God loved unlovely, ungodly sinners. The ugly world is rotting with sin, which is spiritual insanity and the cancer of the soul. Being lost means man has lost his well-being and purpose of existing; he’s in the wrong place. Being separated from God, righteous condemnation and spiritual death results. Satan enslaves man with gnawing lusts, fleeting pleasure and a futile, sorrowful existence. Man’s desperate plight is a source of great concern and grief to God. “I was crushed by their adulterous hearts which have departed from Me. . . ” (Ezek. 6:9; cf. Rom. 10:21). Yet God still loves all without distinction or exception.

4. “That He Gave” – The Greatest Act. “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” He won’t passively watch His offspring rush toward destruction. Before the foundation of the world, God had a plan of action to win back erring humanity if it should go awry (Eph. 1:4-5; 1 Pet. 1:20). God didn’t see man as the enemy but more like the victim of the enemy. His soul was worth salvaging from the ravages of sin.

Significantly, it’s not just that He so loved, but that He so loved that He gave or acted to reverse the tragic ruin of mankind. His plan and purpose can never be frustrated or stopped (Isa. 55:11).

5. “His Only Begotten Son” – The Greatest Gift. “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him” (1 Jn. 4:9). No sacrifice was too great to appeal to mankind of His unfathomable love. To solve man’s greatest problem, God gave the priceless gift of His Son, the dearest and best He had, to win back erring man.

Such costly love meant Jesus left the privileged glory of heaven’s exaltation. In self-abasing humility, He entered this world as a tiny infant, wrapped in strips of rags and laid upon a feed trough (Lk. 2:7). The world didn’t have room for a pregnant woman, so she had to give birth to the Savior of the world in a barn!

He grew up out of obscurity to become the focal point of human redemption. As “the Way and the Truth and the Life” (Jn. 14:6), He alone answers life’s greatest questions and shows us the way to the greatest quality of life known to man. By His agonizing death we see His personal love for each individual, both great and small (Rom. 5:8). When my life was endangered by damnation, He took my place, died at the right time, and paid the awful debt of sin I owed. We can look to the awesome cross as the irrevocable demonstration of God’s unfailing love. Only Jesus’ sacrifice could reconcile us to God.

6. “That Whoever Believes on Him” – The Greatest Commitment. All must decide, “What then shall I do with Jesus?” (Mt. 27:22) Hear His ultimatum: “For if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (Jn. 8:24). We’re either for Him or against Him; there’s no middle ground, neutrality, compromise or suspended judgments (Mt. 12:30). We must accept the resurrected and reigning Christ for all that He is and trust Him as absolute Lord of our lives. He purchased me with His blood when I was the Devil’s slave. Since I’m His property, I can’t do as I please but as He directs in every facet of life by His authoritative rule (Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; Rom. 6:8-23).

Sadly, John 3:16 has been used to teach salvation by “faith only.” But notice this verse doesn’t specifically mention repentance, without which Jesus said I would perish (Lk. 13:3). Salvation never comes at the point of faith alone (Jas. 2:24). At the point of faith in Jesus, I’m not a child of God but only have the right to become one (Jn. 1:12). Significantly, “believes” (Gr. pisteuon) is a verb in the present tense. This shows continuous or linear action or a process presently taking place. Here are other examples of the present tense: he lives, breathes, sees, sleeps, thinks, walks, etc. So, we could substitute “walks by faith” or “lives by faith” for “believes” in John 3:16 and we’ll have the concept conveyed by the present tense.

Biblically, we can’t separate true faith and obedience (Rom. 1:5; Jn. 3:36, ASV). “Believes” stands for the total response of man to the conditions of grace. Baptism is a constituent element of saving faith (Col. 2:12), which is an act of faith to be washed in Christ’s blood (Acts 22:16; Rev. 1:5). Are you responding to Christ by “the obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:26)?

7. “Should Not Perish” – The Greatest Deliverance. “Perish” doesn’t mean annihilation, but it’s losing all that makes life worthwhile. It’s the final destiny of many of eternal ruin and utter failure, forever separated from God who is life and joy (Mt. 25:46). For us to appreciate the deliverance of God, we must know the full extent of the wrath of God.

This unfortunate fate is called the second death, which is likened to being thrown into a lake burning with fire and brimstone (Rev. 20:10,14). Its fire is unquenchable and the worm undying, which illustratively refers to the worms outside of Jerusalem in the valley of Hinnom’s garbage dump that continuously fed upon decaying refuse and carcasses (Mk. 9:48). Hell’s torment is prepared for the Devil and his angels. It’s not a place prepared for man, because heaven is prepared for him. But hell is the just sentence of God’s judicial wrath. It’s eternal punishment because there’s nothing man can do in all eternity to atone for his sins. In hell, there’s unending wailing and gnashing of teeth, with no rest, no comfort and no end. How tragic because it doesn’t have to be! God wants all to know the truth and be saved (1 Tim. 2:4).

8. “But have Everlasting Life” – The Greatest Hope. Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. It’s the bargain of eternity. We possess eternal life now as a guarantee of a future promise, because we seek and hope for it (Rom. 2:7; Tit. 1:2). More than endless existence, we’ll share in the very life of the Eternal One forever by a new quality and dimension of spiritual life.

This life can be a fully rich one (Jn. 10:10), but the one to come will be infinitely better. Let’s think more of heaven and less of earth, for heaven is our home. No amount of suffering, pain or disappointment can tarnish its surpassing glory (Rom. 8:18). Have you really claimed the rich truth of the golden text of John 3:16?

Guardian of Truth XXX: 15, pp. 459-460
August 7, 1986

By Lewis Willis

I saw an advertisement from TV Guide that an upcoming article will have as its subject, the influence of television on America’s children. I have not read the article so I have no idea what will be said. However, I frequently think of the influence television has on our children and I become alarmed because of it. I wonder sometimes if parents are as alert to the influence and danger of TV as they ought to be. If your home is typical, your children spend many hours each week in front of the set. What are they seeing there? How will it affect their thinking now and in the future? Will they be able to distinguish between right and wrong? Will they elect to believe the message of television, or the message that you’re presenting to them from the Bible? What is television’s influence on your child?

1. Money is one of the prominent messages of TV. It seems to matter very little how you get it – just get it! The glamorous life of those with money is extolled. The financial condition of all others is portrayed as undesirable. The message to our children is “get money.”

2. Sex is the beginning, middle and the end of everything on most programs our children watch. Almost every product advertised is presented with a sexual overtone. The beautiful, handsome, healthy, successful and popular use the product being advertised. The implication is you are a “nerd” if you don’t use the product. Additionally, fornication, adultery and homosexuality are not only depicted, but they are presented as an acceptable lifestyle. Those who would frown upon these forms of sin are out-of-step with reality.

3. Violence is the only way to get anything worthwhile done if you follow the thinking and action of television’s heroes and heroines. It would be virtually impossible for a youngster to watch a night of television without seeing murder, war, rape, car crashes and a brutal fist fight. And, these things are shown as commonplace.

4. Drugs, alcohol, smoking and profanity are standard fare on most programs. Our young men and women learn all kinds of wonderful things from television. If you’re going to be “in,” young people of the country are lead to believe that these things must be a part of their lives. When a three or four year old spouts off some of this filth, his parents find it “cute.” But when he or she spouts it at age 15, those same parents are “alarmed.” We’d better start thinking!

5. Religion is ridiculed on a consistent basis. True, the telecasts of religious organizations “invite” such ridicule. However, the role of TV’s producers seems to be to portray all religion in as ridiculous a light as possible. Almost every time a person is shown who has religious convictions, that person is represented as one so out of step with the times, or so fanatical that no one in his right mind would consider his lifestyle desirable. And, in TV plots, every preacher is shown as a “fool.” This is what your child is lead to believe.

6. Marriage, as God ordained it, is portrayed as “silly.” No one who is “with it” believes in one man one wife. Marriage is shown as that brief time of deception and fighting between divorces. Series stars change marriage partners more often than you change your dinner menu. The home is shown as a battleground, between husband and wife, or, parents and children. Until The Cosby Show, one would watch a lot of TV before seeing family life presented decently.

I clipped the following illustration on what TV is doing to our children:

I remember as a kid hearing gospel preachers warn of the destructive influence of movies and television. TV, in those days, was a novelty. So much of what they had to say was spoken about movies. Anyway, they talked about how movies would ultimately corrupt whole generations of people. And, the movies they talked about are the “golden oldies” which are such an exception in today’s TV fare. Those movies molded the thinking of people and prepared them to accept the filth and garbage presented today. If those old preachers could speak, they might be disposed to say, “I told you so.” I also remember how those preachers were laughed at and ridiculed when they preached those sermons about the evils of movies. It would be interesting to know what some of those “laughing” parents think today when they scan the columns of TV Guide, looking for decent programs to watch. Since I am seeking to say the same thing those old timers used to say, go ahead and laugh at this point – then, think again about the message of this article.

There is an awful lot about television which I do not understand. The entire process of telecasting something which I can receive in my home miles away is beyond me. One think I know, the “off” button is the greatest invention on a TV set. It needs to be used often!

Guardian of Truth XXX: 15, p. 461
August 7, 1986