Truth Magazine

By Mike Willis

Those who watch the nightly news on the various network and cable channels probably tire of hearing depressing news. The news coverage concentrates on bad news-a murder in some quiet town, a war in some remote part of the earth, an earthquake, flood, or tornado, bad signs in the economy, etc. The list could be continued through several pages. We tire of hearing bad news.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is “good news.” The word “gospel” comes from a word which means “good news.” The announcement of the arrival of the long-expected Messiah, of His mission to free men from the guilt and punishment of sin, and of the eternal home which He has prepared for us in heaven is good news. It has not always been welcomed.

Luke records the occasion when Jesus announced the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-3 in Nazareth. One Sabbath day, Jesus attended synagogue services, took the scroll of Isaiah, and read:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he bath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he bath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord (Lk. 4:18-19).

He closed the scroll and said, “This day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Lk. 4:21). The Jews could not accept Jesus, whom they knew as the son of Joseph-an ordinary boy from their home town, as the long-awaited Messiah. Consequently, they led Jesus outside of Nazareth to kill Him by throwing Him off a cliff. He escaped them.

Despite the Jewish rejection of Jesus in Nazareth, we learn several things about the “good news” which characterizes the gospel. Let us consider these points.

The Good News Of The Gospel

1. The good news is announced to the poor. The gospel is available to every man, whether he be rich or poor. Those who might be economically rich, however, must be poor in spirit to receive its benefits. This refers to “an attitude of the soul toward God-the attitude that grows out of the profound realization of utter helplessness and beggary as far as any ability or possession of self are concerned. These wretched beggars bring absolutely nothing to God but their complete emptiness and need, and stoop in the dust for pure grace and mercy only” (R.C.H. Lenski, Interpretation of Luke, p. 250).

There is no good news to announce to those who are haughty and arrogant, who feel that they have need of nothing (cf. Rev. 3:17). The Lord has promised nothing to men of this disposition. But to those of a meek and contrite spirit, Jesus has good news to announce.

2. The Lord will heal the brokenhearted. The deliverance of the gospel is from sin; hence, all of the things which the gospel does for man relate to how sin has ravaged us. The gospel is an announcement of “healing” because sin might be compared to what a disease does to us. Sin has made us sick with a terminal illness. The Lord brings healing from the disease of sin. I need not face eternal death, the damnation of hell, because Jesus has brought healing.

The description of us as “brokenhearted” describes our inner disposition as a result of our sin. Many of us have sat at the hospital with those who have a relative with a terminal illness. They are brokenhearted because of the effect which the disease has wrought in the body of their friend and relative. You can imagine the reaction an announcement from the doctor would bring which told the one suffering from a terminal illness that a medicine had been found which could heal him immediately. Similarly, we who are brokenhearted over the effect of sin rejoice in the good news that Jesus can heal us from all our diseases of sin. By healing us from the disease of sin, Jesus also heals our broken heart. He brings us joy and happiness. This is the good news of the gospel.

3. The Lord preaches deliverance to the captives. The prophecy of Isaiah was written to those who faced Babylonian captivity. Deliverance from captivity could be understood easily by those who had been taken from their homes in Jerusalem into the foreign country of Babylon to serve as slaves. They desired deliverance.

The deliverance which the Messiah brought is deliverance from sin. However, we must understand that we have been servants of sin, in bondage to sin, and under the yoke of the Devil (cf. Jn. 8:34; Gal.3:22-23). Jesus releases us from the captivity of sin. He’ brings liberty and freedom to us. He announced, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn. 8:32). There is deliverance from sin in the gospel. This is the good news of the gospel.

4. There is recovering of sight to those that are blind. Those who are in sin are in darkness. Preaching the gospel to those in sin is to “open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light” (Acts 26:18).

Those of us who have relatively good eyesight can only imagine what the world is like to those who cannot see. They live in a world of night. Blindness is more difficult to accept by those who once could see than by those born blind. To announce to a blind man that you can enable him to see would be to announce good news.

Jesus brings good news to the spiritually blind. The eyes of their heart can be enlightened; those who have lived in darkness can come to the light. This is the good news of the gospel.

5. The gospel sets at liberty them that are bruised. Sin’s effect on us is to bruise us. Sin wrecks and makes wretched the lives of those who participate in it; its consequences are devastating. To set at liberty those that are bruised is to release them from the effects of sin.

Many have been bruised by automobile accidents. Their mangled bodies reflect the tragic effects of the accident. Were a doctor to come in announcing a means of releasing such a person from the suffering of his bruised and mangled condition, all would rejoice. Jesus has done that for us. Those who have been bruised by sin are set at liberty released from the eternal consequences of the sin which they have committed. They walk away from their spiritual tragedy released from all of the suffering which it generally causes. This is the good news of the gospel.

Conclusion

We who take the gospel into the world are “gospel preachers.” We have a message of good news to announce. There is light for those who are in darkness; there is release for those in captivity; there is healing to those who are sick; there is release from suffering for those who are bruised.

The world is still suffering from the tragic effects of sin. The gospel message is still good news which will be gladly received by those who are poor in spirit. Let us hasten to take this wonderful message to them.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 3, pp. 66, 85
February 7, 1985

By Bill Cavender

The Bible records six different trials that Jesus endured after He was seized in the Garden of Gethsemane. There were three Jewish trials: (1) Before Annas (Jn. 18:13,24); (2) Before Caiaphas, aided by a group of priests and the Sanhedrin (Mt. 26:57-68; Mk. 14:53-65; Jn. 18:14-28); (3) Before the Sanhedrin, near the dawn of day (Mt. 27:1-2; Mk. 15:1; Lk. 22:66-71). Then there was the first trial before Pilate (Mt. 27:1-2; Mk. 15:1; Lk. 23:1-7; Jn. 18:28-32). Pilate acquitted Jesus; the Jews made further charges against Him, so Pilate sent Jesus to Herod upon learning that Jesus was of Galilee (Mt. 27:11-14; Mk. 15:2-5; Lk. 23:3-7; Jn. 18:33-38). Before Herod, Jesus was mocked but not condemned as being guilty (Lk. 23:6-12). Before Pilate the second time, Jesus was sentenced to death at the instigation of the Jewish rulers, and was taken away to be crucified.

During the two trials before Pilate, Jesus was proclaimed to be innocent seven times by Pilate, in Pilate’s words and action. Consider these, please:

1. After his first conversation with Jesus, Pilate said, “I find no fault in this man” (Jn. 18:29-38; Lk. 23:4).

2. After Jesus returned to Pilate from Herod, Pilate said, “Behold, I, having examined him before, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: No, nor yet Herod . . .” (Lk. 23:6-15).

3. After offering to release a prisoner to the Jews, and offering to scourge Jesus and then release Him, Luke records, “And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him . . .” (Lk. 23:22).

4. When he washed his hands before the multitude, declaring the innocence of Jesus, Pilate said, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person” (Mt. 27:24).

5. After Jesus had been mocked, whipped, and the robe put on Him, Pilate said, “Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him” (Jn. 19:4).

6. When Pilate gave permission for His crucifixion, he said, “Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him” (Jn. 19:6).

7. After Pilate learned of Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God, he talked with Jesus for the last time. John records, “Upon this Pilate sought to release him…” (Jn. 19:7-12), thus declaring, in fact, the innocence of Jesus for the seventh time.

Yet this moral coward, whose name has lived in infamy for, lo, these many centuries, delivered up to a felon’s death the only truly innocent man who ever lived on earth, the only one who truly and legally deserved to live and not to die.

But what of those moral cowards, men claiming to follow Him and to believe His claims and words, what of them? What is the difference between Pilate, the Roman, and John Doe, the Christian, who crucifies the Son of God afresh and puts Him to an open shame by sin, ugliness, bitterness, hatred, arrogance, transgression and apostasy (Heb. 6:4-8; 10:26-31)? What of them?

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 3, p. 67
February 7, 1985

By C. Titus Edwards

Young People And Suicide

Teenage suicide has been getting a lot of attention lately. Last October CBS aired two television movies about the subject, and ABC presented “Surviving” in January, focusing on two teenagers who killed themselves and the impact it had on their parents. There is good reason for the increased attention. Suicide among young people has risen dramatically. The suicide rate among young people in the United States has tripled since 1955, with an estimated 5,000 youths between ages 15-24 committing suicide each year. In Clearlake, a suburb of Houston, Texas, there were six suicides in a two-and-a-half month period. One school district in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has had an “epidemic” of suicides. The suicide rate among young people is increasing 10 times faster than that of any other age group. More young men than women actually commit suicide, though more young women attempt to. Young men prefer using guns, while young women prefer pills. Suicides might even be higher than are being reported, for many suicides might be listed as “accidents.”

Teenage Magazine surveyed 1,022 13-19-year-olds to find out the reasons behind teenage depression that leads to suicide. School and environment ranked first with 76%; followed by girlfriend/boyfriend relations with 54%; family conflicts with 44%; friendships with 43%; and appearance with 40% responding that this caused their depression. (The percentages do not add up to 100% because most all cited more than one reason for their depression.) It seems that for many young people depression originates in the home, with 70% of teenage suicides coming from broken homes. Dr. Jeff Ezell says that “what these kids almost always suffer from is a lack of self-esteem.”

Let us understand that suicide is wrong. It is self-murder (Rom. 13:9). Life is to be respected since it is the gift of God (Gen. 2:7; 1:27). Suicide stems from a lack of self control, which we are to maintain (1 Cor. 9:27; 2 Pet. 1:6).

Young people, the answer to life’s problems is not suicide, but Christ! First of all, have a good attitude about yourself. You are somebody and are worth something. God loves you! Don’t put yourself down. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13). Second, learn to accept responsibility and thereby deal with the problems of life. Do not try to escape reality. Life has many negatives that must be dealt with. But remember, everybody faces them! It is how you handle them that is important. “For every man shall bear his own burden” (Gal. 6:5). Realize that every cloud has its silver lining. Look for the good, even in tragedies, for they are there. Like the song says, “Give her thorns and she’ll find roses; give her sand, and she’ll find seas; give her rain and she’ll find rainbows.” And why is that? Because she finds good in everything! Third, do not worry about things beyond your control (Mt. 6:31-34). It doesn’t do any good! Just learn to live with some things that may not be perfect-everybody has to! Love yourself even with your fat thighs or crooked teeth. Fourth, be cheerful and enjoy life (Eccl. 9:7-10; 1 Pet. 3:10-11). God wants us to. Fifth, never lose hope (Psa. 16:9). God is on your side and will help you. Salvation can be yours. Realize that things that happen in this life are not nearly as important as going to heaven to live with God in the hereafter.

Paul kept one man from committing suicide by teaching him of Jesus-the Philippian jailor (Acts 16:25-31). He turned his despair into joy. He gave him a reason for living and meaning to his life. We should all have the same things through Jesus Christ our Savior! Suicide is not the answer, but Jesus is!

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 3, pp. 77-78
February 7, 1985

By Jimmy Tuten

Sinful man has access to God. “For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Eph. 2:18). The very thought of an approach to Jehovah God conjures blessed influences of His presence. Much is implied: access to His love, His wisdom, His omnipotent capacity to satisfy the soul in its propensities with blessings that are almost indescribable, certainly indestructible and abiding. The very need of man as a sinner is reconciliation which is effected for evermore. This is the very message that the Apostle Paul relates to the Christians in Rome when he says, “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). Jews and Gentiles can be saved by grace through faith. They can come to the bosom of the eternal Father wherein is the origin of their salvation (Eph. 2:8).

Let’s look at Ephesians 2:18 a little closer and observe the following facts: the subject under consideration is our access to the Father. The predicate is that our access is effected through Christ by the Spirit. This suggests the following general outline which will be followed in this treatise: (1) The approach is to Jehovah God, (2) this access is through Christ, and (3) the one Spirit.

The Approach Is To God

It is not surprising that the text speaks of God as a Father who is loving, kind and gracious. The approach to God is through Christ, our High Priest “over the house of God” (Heb. 10:19-21). There were generally two functions of a High Priest: one was to offer a sacrifice for the people, the other was to take oversight of the house of God (tech. 3:6-7; Heb. 3:6). The church is the house of God on earth (1 Tim. 3:15). Christ “over the house of God” suggests headship, lordship and authority (Heb. 10:21; Eph. 1:18; Col. 1:22). In this context, our access is not to God who is a stern judge or to one wielding terrible power against us, but to God as a considerate Father. In his epistle to the Ephesians, Paul directs our attention to God as one who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3), who has made known to us His purpose to reconcile all things to Himself (Eph. 1:9), and who has made peace through the blood of His Son (Eph. 2:13-14). In this we see the perfect graciousness of the Father to whom we can come in full assurance of sonship. In approaching God, we have access to a loving Father who reaches out to us.

The Approach Is Through Christ

When our text speaks of having an approach to God “through him,” it is speaking of the shedding of Christ’s blood (Eph. 1:13) and the sacrifice of His flesh (Eph. 1:15). It was through the curse of the cross borne by Jesus that made an approach to the Father possible (Eph. 1:16). “The way of the cross leads home”; there is no other way! It is through Jesus. Since our “iniquities have separated between you and your God” (Isa. 59:2), we need a mediator so that we can enjoy an approach to God. There is no natural access. It had to be provided. Jesus is the Mediator that provides salvation. The theme of the book of Hebrews is that “we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way; and we have in the heavenly sanctuary a great High Priest over the house of God. We have access; and He who is the way is also the end of the way; He is even now our great Priest, interceding for us, and our all-sufficient Mediator, providing us with every needful help” (The Exposition of Hebrews, Arthur W. Pink, p. 583).

More specifically, Hebrews 10 shows that there is liberty or freedom to enter into the presence of God (v. 19), that a way for us has been prepared (v. 20), and that a Guide is provided to direct us (v. 21). Truly, “no one cometh unto the Father but by Him” (Jn. 14:6). What a contrast between the new and old covenants in this regard: the dwelling place of God was sealed against the Jews of the Old Testament. Even the Levites, though privileged as they were to minister before God, were barred from the holy of holies temple worship. But now access to God can be enjoyed as a freedom, we can enter His temple as worshipers, come to His throne as supplicants and sit at the table of the Lord as happy children. Indeed, the way to heaven has been opened, renewed and consecrated through the humanity of Jesus (Jn. 3:16). “We have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him” (Heb. 3:12).

The Approach Is By One Spirit

The expression, “access by one Spirit” opens up many avenues of thought. In this writing we want to zero in on the specific aspect of the Spirit’s role in making known the way of approach to God. Though the work of the Spirit does not end here (the very fact that the Christian can address God as “Father” proves that He is at work in God’s children, Rom. 8:15), our concern is with the role of the Spirit in leading people to become sons of God (Rom. 8:14).

From the very dawn of creation as recorded in Genesis right on through to the conversion and life of God’s children in New Testament times, the Spirit has functioned. He has been involved in the scheme of redemption. The Spirit worked in the establishment of the church. He revealed the plan of God for its work and worship, the conditions by which one becomes a member of it and the very blueprint for godly living. Specifically, He furnished the necessary information regarding our access to the Father. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14).

Modern day theologians tend to become very extravagant when dealing with the role of the Spirit in making one a child of God. The better-felt-than-told concept of conversion is alive and well within religious circles today. But the Spirit inspired Scriptures teach us that God enlightens, converts and strengthens Christians through the Word of God, not some inner consciousness (Eph. 6:17; Rom. 10:8-11). The Spirit’s function in the scheme of human redemption was to reveal the will of God to man. When that will is revealed (and it is now revealed in the Holy Scriptures) and men follow it, when they do exactly what it says, no more and no less, with the motive that the Spirit assigned to it, regardless of where they are or who they are, they are being led by the Spirit. I know this is so because the Bible teaches that we resist the Spirit when we resist the message spoken by Him through inspired men (Acts 7:51-53; Neh. 9:30; 2 Chron. 36:16). When one rejects the message of salvation given by inspired men, he quenches the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19). The Spirit is grieved when one rebels against God’s will (Eph. 4:30). Even so, the Spirit bears witness to the fact that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16-17). This witness is through His testimony just as the Apostles witnessed by what they said (Acts 1:8). The prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the New Testament was fulfilled by the Spirit who “is a witness to us” (Heb. 10:15). The words of the prophet are thus quoted and asserted as the witness of the Spirit (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 10:14-20). What John wrote to the seven churches of Asia was the witness of the Spirit, for he said, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Rev. 1:11; 2:7, 11, 17). This means that when we do what the New Testament tells us to do in order to become children of God, the Holy Spirit and our spirit testify together that we have met the conditions of salvation (Rom. 8:16-17). The Spirit led or instructed us through testimony (faith comes by hearing the Word of God, Rom. 10:17), we responded to this leading in obedience to the gospel and received the remission of sins coupled with the hope of everlasting life (Mk. 16:15-16). The congeniality needed for reconciliation is effected by Spirit-led obedience to the will of God (Rom. 6:17).

How Sinful Man Approaches God . . .

As an illustration of how man approaches God, note the first recorded instance of sinful man availing himself of the access in obedience to the gospel in Acts 2. Peter, one of the twelve who was moved by the Spirit to speak on the day of Pentecost, preached an empty tomb and a risen Savior (2:4, 14-36). His appeal, based on the evidence thus presented by the Spirit through his testimony was, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ” (2:36). The power of the gospel pricked the hearts of many of the hearers on that day and they asked, “What shall we do?” (2:37). Peter told them to “repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (2:38). Three thousand responded and were added to the Church (2:47). Having been baptized into the body of Christ, they became members of the family of God, which is the Church (1 Cor. 12:13; 1 Tim. 3:15). “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:26-27). The approach to God is a reality for all who obey the gospel. “For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Eph. 2:18).

Conclusion

Jesus is our Mediator. All mankind has the privilege of approaching God. But before that approach can be made, there must be a disposition of heart that will bring about the congeniality necessary to being joined to the Father. Obedience from the heart resulting in the washing away of the sins that separated us from Him in the first place expresses itself in belief and baptism (Rom. 6:1-6, 17). The relationship established with God is not a temporary or occasional one, but close, abiding and indestructible. The reconciliation is effected, nor for a day, but for evermore. As long as we keep ourselves in the love of God (Jude 21), nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:39). You, dear reader, can come boldly to the throne of grace in humble obedience. Only he who does the will of the Father will enter heaven (Mt. 7:21-23).

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 2, pp. 50, 58-59
January 17, 1985