Truth Magazine

By Weldon E. Warnock

Following several months of severe illness, brother George Flem of Englewood, Ohio passed away January 24, 1985 at the Veterans Hospital in Dayton, Ohio.

Brother Flem, who was a member of the Knollwood Church of Christ in Xenia, Ohio, preached for many congregations following his obedience to the gospel in 1953 at Albany, California. Within two weeks of his conversion, he was searching for small congregations where he could do some preaching and teaching. He later preached full-time for congregations in Portland, Oregon; Pasco, Washington; Lancaster, Brawby, and Vacaville in California; St. Peters, Missouri; and Englewood, Ohio.

During his third year at Englewood, he began to feel tired; he began teaching electronics, thinking a change of pace would perhaps make him feel better. Shortly thereafter, he had to begin drug therapy for Crohn’s Disease. He later suffered through two surgeries, then cancer of the kidney, kidney failure, strokes and Myotonic Dystrophy (a form of Muscular Dystrophy).

When visitors came to see him at the hospital, they were treated to his subtle wit and humor. He complained very little.

Brother Flem also was in the U.S. Navy for more than 20 years. At retirement from the Navy, he was Chief Electronics Technician and subsequently taught school for a while.

He is survived by his wife Benetta, daughter Peggy Alexander of Sacramento, California (whose husband Don is a gospel preacher); Kristine Copeland of Gambrills, Maryland; sons, George K. Flem, gospel preacher, Maple Heights, Ohio; Robert of Dayton, Ohio and Charles and William of Englewood, Ohio and several grandchildren.

Memorial services were conducted by brother Basil L. Copeland, Sr., at the Dayton National Cemetery. Brother Copeland spoke of the service, devotion and humility of brother Flem and read a poem the Flems had presented to the Copelands on their 25th wedding anniversary some years back.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 6, pp. 173, 180
March 21, 1985

By David L. Joy

(Editor’s Note: Brother Joy is certainly qualified to speak on the subject of adversity. Last fall, brother Joy suffered a heart disease which required a heart transplant and many weeks of confinement in the hospital. No doubt the material presented in this article was applied in his life during these adversities and is now written for our learning in this article.)

Adversity does invade the life of the Christian. The Christian is not immune to the normal crises which characterize life under the sun. However, adversity can be turned to advantage and teach profound lessons on life. The writer said, “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting; for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart” (Eccl. 7:2). One must learn the proper use of adversity. The Preacher said, “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him” (Eccl. 7:14). What lessons do the days of adversity teach?

Lessons From Adversity

The days of adversity teach “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). Death shows no respect of persons. “All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath” (Eccl. 9:2). This truth should not make one pessimistic concerning life. It should cause the individual to recognize the reality of death, and the necessity to consider the incorruptible part of man’s being.

Secondly, the days of adversity teach the need for the inward man to be “renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). It is an easy mistake of life to pursue certain interests to the exclusion of man’s spiritual needs. The Preacher said, “All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite (Heb., soul) is not filled” (Eccl. 6:7). Jesus said, “Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed” (Jn. 6:27). When one stands before the “Father of Spirits” in judgment, how one has prepared his soul for eternity is the thing that matters.

Thirdly, the days of adversity teach that one must work “while it is day” (Jn. 9:4). The night will come when man can no longer work. Today is the only day that the Christian has to labor in the Kingdom. Yesterday is gone. To dwell upon the past can create indifference and discontentment with the present (Eccl. 7: 10). The future is unknown. The Bible says, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Prov. 27: 1). Therefore, the Christian must use the opportunities of today to their best advantage.

Finally, the days of adversity teach the necessity of faith that will sustain through the hour of trial. Trials of life are essential to test the quality of one’s faith. Furthermore, the hour of trial is not the time that faith is developed. The faithful Christian will continually “perfect that which is lacking in your faith” (1 Thess. 3:10). When the dark days of adversity come, the mature Christian will have sufficient faith to endure the time of crisis.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 6, p. 173
March 21, 1985

By Daniel H. King

Recently there was a mixup by the technician at the local radio station and our broadcast was replaced by that from a Presbyterian church in town. The program consisted of an appeal for cooperative participation in a “campaign for Christ” which was to culminate in a week of evangelistic messages delivered by Leighton Ford. Although we thought this simple switching of tapes was inadvertent, still we felt compelled to discuss the subject on our next broadcast, since our listeners had been exposed to this appeal. Since it addresses itself to several things which we need to be constantly reminded of, we offer below a summary of our remarks.

Some will question why we bothered to reply to the gentleman’s thoughts, and may impugn our motives for so doing. These days it is not considered polite to be controversial. Let it be understood that it is not that we enjoy controversy. In fact, we consider it something to be avoided whenever and wherever possible. Personally, we feel a strong aversion to it. But sometimes it is not best to avoid it. No doubt Paul loved peace and hated a fight as much as anyone, but when forced to do so, he stood his ground, explaining that he did so, “that the truth of the gospel might continue with you” (Gal. 2:5). For truth to persist and thrive among the men of this generation, we must at times fight for it. It cannot fight for itself. And truth is of all things the most precious: “Buy the truth and sell it not” (Prov. 23:23). Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn. 8:32). The Bible declares the basis of judgment itself to be our spiritual heritage of revealed truth: “The judgment of God is according to truth” (Rom. 2:2).

We should therefore speak the truth in love, without regard for what people may think or how people may react (Eph. 4:15), and in spite of the fact that it may at times be controversial to speak it. It may even set us in the seemingly awkward predicament of reproving error held and preached by those who enjoy positions of prestige in the religious community. It is just such a predicament that we find ourselves today! But we consider that we are in the best of company. Jesus was just such a controversialist. His confrontations with the Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees and other “establishment” religionists of His time are well known from the gospel accounts. While He did not go about “spoiling for a fight,” as do some, still He was not a spiritual coward, as are others.

Importance of Unity

“How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” So wrote the Psalmist (122:1); and in so doing, he expressed the divine commitment to spiritual harmony. God despises the quarrelsome and factious attitude, as well as that man who makes it his characteristic trait of personality (Prov. 6:19; Tit. 3: 10). Nothing is more clearly taught in the Word of God.

I am impressed with the fact that our Savior included among His final supplications, just prior to His trial and death, a profoundly touching request for the unity of His followers. They had earlier struggled over who should be the greatest in His new kingdom, they had argued about who should sit at His right hand and His left in His throne of power. Therefore Jesus tenderly prayed, “That they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may believe that thou didst send me” (Jn. 17:21-22).

The New Testament doctrine of unity does not merely extend to this prayer of our Lord, it also takes the form of apostolic decree. Paul commanded it in 1 Corinthians 1:10: “Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; and that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” It was God’s intention that Christian people should dwell together in spiritual harmony and unity. It was also His purpose that they should work together toward common goals and purposes; “two are better than one,” and “a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Eccl. 4:9, 12).

But the unity in which God’s people are to live and work is one based upon the truth, its possession and its pursuit. As Christ said in John 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.” We are not to fellowship or work with error, as Paul counseled in Ephesians 5:11 “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them. ” Now this warning cannot apply to the social, academic, philosophical, economic, or to any other of the various types of mistaken notions men have fallen victim to. If it did, we would have to extricate ourselves from the world (Jn. 17:15; 1 Cor. 5: 10). It rather applies to religious error, to spiritual darkness. Simply put, it has in mind false doctrine. It is highly unlikely that we will be able to avoid coming into contact with many of the evils of this life, but in our endeavors in the spiritual realm we may choose our comrades-at-arms – and so must select them wisely!

The Problem With Crusades

The idea of people of all religious persuasions getting together is a marvelous one. We in the churches of Christ have been encouraging it and preaching it for some two hundred years now. But we have insisted that it be on the basis of truth and not of compromise. In other words, we cannot ignore our differences and put forward some champion as our spokesman unless he truly represents what we all stand for. And the problem is that we simply do not stand for the same things. We may have things in common, as we indeed do, but we also have many things about which we disagree. If these were things which we could view as simply matters of opinion and judgment, then we would be anxious to throw ourselves wholeheartedly into such a union of hearts and labors as a general “crusade” represents.

This is not what we have in the current instance, however. It is a “unity” that ignores major differences in faith, doctrine, and practice. Such disagreements are merely tucked away for a time. We consider this to be unity in compromise. The Lord could have had this with the Pharisees and Sadducees. Paul could have had it with the Judaizers. But neither did. The strength of their convictions precluded such a “fence mending” effort. We would feel ourselves traitors to their cause were we to do otherwise than take our stand with them.

Instead of unity in compromise, we in the churches of Christ have rather promoted unity in the one body of Christ, working together as Christians only, without the hindrance of denominational creeds, power structures and unscriptural practices and promotions. We have felt that this is the only true recipe for answering the prayer of our Lord: “that they all may be one as thou Father . . .”

Biblical Unity

We do not despair at the idea of unity, for we feel that the same Bible which demands it of God’s children also provides the essential planks of its platform. Paul has revealed to us the key for being able to work and preach together in the form of seven “ones”; these he gives at the beginning of the fourth chapter of Ephesians (vv. 1-6): “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love; giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.”

The Apostle begins by stressing that the maintenance of unity is an element of walking worthily of the calling wherewith we are called. Too, he emphasizes that its attainment is the product of several virtues of the Christian spirit: lowliness and meekness, longsuffering, forbearance and love. Indeed, the seashores of history are strewn with the twisted wreckage of these grand elements of unity. They have been lost to personal and ecclesiastical pride or shipwrecked on the shoals of religious ambition. They are the hapless victims of the party spirit.

This list of seven “ones” describes heaven’s ideal for the church. To think it unattainable or to satisfy ourselves with anything short of its attainment, would be to declare it a heavenly pipedream. We take it seriously. Paul says that there is:

1. One Body. the church is essentially one, not a hodgepodge of denominations, not a mysterious unity in diversity -but a real unity which is willing to sacrifice denominational titles and names in order to achieve oneness. Paul demanded that the Christians at Corinth put away their petty titles and party spirits, so as to make way for true unity: “Each one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized into the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1:10). Here we have denominationalism in embryo. When confronted with it Paul decried it. How would he view it today? Why would he see it any differently?

2. One Spirit. the one Holy Spirit of God, the third person of the Godhead. He is not to be so lightly identified as He is when connected with the mere human emotionalism of today. Neither is He an inner voice leading different individuals and groups off in every direction, but the Spirit of Truth who revealed the Word of God (Jn. 16:13) and remains at work through the word of Truth; “Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (Jas. 1:21). This is the heart and soul of His continuing work among the sons of men!

3. One hope of your calling. that is the blessed hope of heaven – not the premillennial hope or dispensational hope, not the hope of a paradise earth, but the hope of 1 Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” This is the one hope that we are to cherish in our breasts. In sum, it is the hope of heaven.

4. One Lord. Jesus Christ. The Bible says He has all authority in Matthew 18:18. He must not be seen as an emasculated being, devoid of authority, but as the crowned King and Head over the church (1 Tim. 6:15). This is the Christ of Scripture! Many religious groups have boards, presidents, popes, councils, synods, or presbyteries that sit in His seat. They contend that the King reigns vicariously through them. Bible-believing people cannot be satisfied with that. How can we have unity and work together until and unless Jesus Christ is again seated on His throne in the church and all who would own Him as Savior prostrate themselves at His feet? As the Scripture has said: “he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:22).

5. One faith: this faith is the creed of the church. It is the one thing we must all believe and adhere to and even contend earnestly for (Jude 3). It was once for all delivered to the saints – once and for all time and once for all people. You will please note that it is described in this place in the singular number. It is one. It is not many. God is not the author of the religious confusion that currently exists over faith; it is man. With his human doctrines and creeds he befuddles both himself and those who attempt to know the truth: “In vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9).

6. One baptism: here is a matter over which many religious people differ. But it is not one that can be neatly tucked away somewhere while we work as brethren and fellow laborers in the gospel of the Son of God. What does baptism accomplish? The Bible says it puts us “into Christ” (Gal. 3:27), that it assures us of “remission of sins” (Acts 2:38), and “washes away” our sins (Acts 22:16). We cannot agree that faith alone will save. The Word of God declares plainly that it does not (Jas. 2:24). In Bible times only adults were baptized. There is no evidence of sprinkling or pouring as a mode. People were always immersed or “buried” in baptism (Rom. 6:4). These issues must be dealt with and we must agree upon them or else we cannot work together. It is impossible for us even to consider each other as “brethren” unless we can be sure that this is what we are!

7. One God and Father of all. The final “one” of Paul’s list is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He it is who authored the plan of human redemption. He is the giver of every good and perfect gift, the One whom we praise and adore as the Father of our spirits. It is He that we ever hope to please. And it is He whose will we hope to do. This is why we cannot, even in the name of unity and love, lay aside the sword of His Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17), in order to embrace what we consider to be error. Jesus said we must love Him first and most of all; this is the greatest of all the commandments (Matt. 22:37). So, we dare not ignore what He commands, even if it costs us something which we prize as highly as we do fellowship and unity.

Conclusion

So, we say to all who are involved in the current effort: We love you and appreciate your desire to preach the gospel. We hope God will bless you in everything you do that is right and proper. But we cannot have fellowship with you in this effort, for, if the past is an accurate teacher, the whole counsel of God will not be preached in such a setting as this crusade.

Yet we could wish that the spirit of cooperativeness and love which attends to a time like this, would lead us all to lay aside our human doctrines and creeds and go by the Bible and the Bible alone. In this way, we might all be called Christians and Christians only, and so share the “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” that Paul commended in Ephesians four.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 6, pp. 174-175, 182
March 21, 1985

By Johnny Stringer

Marriage is to be permanent. Unless one puts away his mate for the cause of fornication, he is bound to his spouse for as long as they both live; consequently, if he contracts a second marriage while the first mate is still alive, the second marriage is adulterous (Rom. 7:2-3; 1 Cor. 7:39; Matt. 19:3-9; Lk. 16:18).

Forgiveness Conditioned On Repentance

Like all sins, adultery can be forgiven. Forgiveness for any sin, however, is conditional: there can be no forgiveness apart from repentance (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 8:22). This means that one cannot continue impenitently in any sin and be forgiven. A liar must quit his lying; a thief must quit his stealing; and an adulterer must quit committing adultery. One who is involved in an adulterous relationship must sever that relationship.

The important point to remember is that one who is divorced continues to be bound to his first spouse (Rom. 7:2-3). Since he is bound to his first spouse, he commits adultery every time he has intercourse with his second spouse. He must quit if he is to be forgiven. He cannot continue to sleep with one mate while he is bound by God’s law to another.

Even If It Preceded Baptism

Some think that since one is forgiven of his sins at baptism, he can continue living with whatever mate he has at the time of his baptism, even though the marriage is adulterous according to Jesus’ teaching. Baptism does not bring forgiveness, however, unless there is repentance (Acts 2:38). If the relationship is adulterous, one must quit it.

Furthermore, while the penitent believer is forgiven of all the sins that were committed before baptism, his baptism does not bring the forgiveness of sins committed after baptism. If, for example, one is a liar, he will be forgiven of all his past lies when he is baptized (if he is a penitent believer); but he cannot tell lies after his baptism and expect them to be forgiven because of his baptism. The same is true of adultery. God will forgive the penitent believer of all his past acts of adultery when he is baptized, but he cannot continue to commit adultery with the same person after his baptism and expect these continued acts of adultery to be forgiven because of his baptism.

Some seemingly believe that when one is baptized, the second marriage is somehow made legitimate. No, if it is wrong to sleep with a person before baptism, it is wrong to do the same thing afterwards. The reason the second marriage is adulterous is that the divorced person is still bound to the first spouse (Rom. 7:2-3). Baptism does not change that. One is still bound to the first spouse after baptism, just as much as he was before baptism. Baptism does not erase the first marriage. Since one continues to be bound to his first spouse, his relationship with the second spouse is still adulterous, and he must quit committing adultery, just as he must quit any other sin.

Sometimes men invoke 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 to prove that one is not to sever the marriage relationship he is in at the time he becomes a Christian. Paul does in these verses teach that the Christian is not to think his baptism warrants a renunciation of his earthly status and the legitimate relationships he sustains. It should not even have to be mentioned, however, that this passage has reference only to relationships which are legitimate. Paul had been discussing the marriage of believers and unbelievers, and he had shown such marriages to be legitimate. If this passage is not limited to legitimate relationships, but is to be pressed to mean that adulterous marriages are to be continued, then it must also be pressed to mean that one who becomes a Christian is not to sever a homosexual marriage if he sustains one at the time of his baptism!

A Difficult Duty

The extreme difficulty of ending an adulterous marriage cannot be denied. Whether one is willing to do so is a real test of his dedication and devotion to Christ. It demonstrates whether he really loves Christ above everyone and everything else (Lk. 14:26, 33). The one who is truly converted will stand the test and quit his adultery.

Sometimes one will say that he loves his mate too much to end his relationship with her. In the first place, he should not love his mate more than he does the Lord. In the second place, if he really loves his mate, he will not want to see her lost, and he will be willing to sacrifice his relationship with her for the sake of her soul. Does one really love his mate when he continues in a relationship with her which will damn her soul for eternity? You see, then, that whether one is willing to fulfill this duty is not only a test of his love for the Lord; it is also a test of his love for his mate! Love is sacrificial. To refuse to sacrifice his relationship with his mate for the sake of his mate’s soul is in fact an act of selfishness, not love.

Surely it is hard to give up the pleasure that the adulterous relationship brings. One must remember, however, that the brief period of pleasure that such a relationship may bring on earth is not worth an eternity of agony in Hell.

It is especially difficult to end an adulterous marriage when there are children involved. Parents in an adulterous marriage are concerned about the bad effect it will have on their children if they end their marriage. There is not denying that the action will have a bad effect on the children. The fact, however, that there will be a bad effect on the children whether the marriage is ended or not. Consider the bad effect it will have on the children to grow up and lean that their parents are living in adultery! Which will have the better effect on the children: learning that their parents had such little regard for the word of God that they openly defied it and lived without shame in an adulterous relationship, or seeing that their parents are so devoted to the God of Heaven that they were willing to make an extreme and agonizing sacrifice in order to please Him and reach Heaven? Indeed, the children will be hurt whichever course is taken; but we must never think that it will be better for the children if we do wrong than it will be if we do right.

It is an agonizing thing for me to teach this difficult duty. You could not pay me enough money to say what I have said in this article.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 6, pp. 170, 180
March 21, 1985