Truth Magazine

By Daniel H. King

When Paul made his way back to the city of Jerusalem in Acts 9:26, he was entering into a new phase of his life. According to the parallel material found in Galatians 1:17ff, he had spent some time preaching the gospel in Arabia and Damascus, some three years to be specific. It was a different attitude toward him that he met within the city this time. He had left a hero three years before. He had gone off on a Holy Crusade to bring back heretics from Damascus, those troublesome schismatics who held to the messiahship of Jesus and split synagogues everywhere they traveled. But when he returned he was one of them. He was a Christian. Of all things, a Christian!

A lesser man would have avoided any association with this unpopular group, especially in the Jewish homeland and capital. But the Bible says that Paul “assayed to join himself to the disciples” (Acts 9:26). That is, he attempted to identify himself with them. He actually made an overt effort at having himself connected in the public mind with the church in Jerusalem. That took an enormous amount of courage.

But, allow me to point out that it takes courage for you to do the same thing today. The church was then “everywhere spoken against” (Acts 28:22). Similarly, though to a lesser degree in the USA, the church is attacked by lies and slanderous charges. She is ridiculed and reproached in the popular mind and in the media. But she has stood her ground because there are some who do indeed have the courage to do what Paul did back then.

What did he do? Let me break it down into its components, so you can see it plainly:

1. He associated himself with what the church believed and stood for. It was well known in the community that the Christians believed that Christ was the Son of God and that the Father had raised Him from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion. By far the largest element of the community did not share this faith. In fact, many were fully prepared, as Paul had been, to persecute and even kill those who so believed. For Paul to become identified with the church meant that all would know what he believed and where he stood on these issues. They could quite easily pigeon-hole him because of his commitment. He was guilty by association. Yet Paul did not hesitate to make it, because it was the commitment which every genuine Christian must make to stand with Christ. For, you see, to stand with Christ, you must stand with other Christians.

2. He threw his influence behind the church. By letting it be known that he was a disciple of Christ in this way, Paul intended to throw what weight he had behind the church. All of us possess some influence upon others. We influence the way they think and act. That precious influence can be used by us for good or ill. Paul threw his influence squarely on the side of good. He made it known that he was a child of God, a disciple of Christ, and a member of the church of Christ. He did that by “joining himself unto the disciples,” becoming a part of the church in Jerusalem.

3. He worked for the growth and benefit of the church. After having let it be known that he was to be identified with the saints, Paul did not sit down and wait for others to do the work that needed doing. He became personally and actively supportive of the church. “He was with them going in and out at Jerusalem” (Acts 9:28). Moreover, he “preached boldly in the name of the Lord” (v. 29). Paul wanted to see the church grow and increase.

4. He worshiped with faithful saints at Jerusalem. After he had sought out and found faithful brethren at Jerusalem, Paul was “with them” in every way. I cannot imagine that to mean that, when they met to worship God, Paul was intentionally absent from such services. Rather, I see it as his custom to assemble to worship with them as he did elsewhere (see Acts 11:26).

If you are not yet so fully committed to Christ and His Cause as was Paul, why not make it so? Associate yourself with faithful saints and let it be known that your heart is with them.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 23, p. 714
December 6, 1984

By Jimmy Tuten

Someone has said that there are three friendships which are advantageous and three that are injurious: friendship with the upright, friendship with the man of much observation and friendship with the man who is courteous. These are advantageous. However, friendship with the man of specious airs, or one who is insinuatingly soft, and friendship with the glib-tongued, these are injurious.

No hurt is greater than that hurt derived from deception and abuse of one thought to be a friend. A friend is someone to have in time of need and when adversity tries them. A bold foe may prove a curse, but a pretended friend is worse by far. There is an English proverb that says: “God save me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies.” The irony of this is that there is some merit to it as far as some friends are concerned. Friendship must not be taken too lightly. Also we should be cautious in choosing friends, and even more cautious in changing them. Of course, the best recipe for making friends is to be one yourself.

“I often find myself,” said Thackery Ritchie, “going back to Darwin’s saying about the duration of a man’s friendship being one of the best measures of his worth.” The reckless handling of friendship is a true mark of a foolish man who will never know what true friendship is. No friendship should begin that has no intent of being lasting in nature. No one is more dangerous than a friend who isn’t quite sure whether he’s for you or against you.

I am thankful for my friends. They have been a source of great strength in time of need and I am glad that I made them friends before I needed them. Experience teaches us that a real friend warms you by his presence, trusts you with his secrets and remembers you in his prayers. He is one who is there to care!

Why Some Friendships Fail

Friendship has a price tag on it and some are not willing to pay the fee. To be a true friend one must be willing to do so under trying circumstances as well as in the good times. “A friend loveth at all times,” said Solomon (Prov. 17:17). A friend is closer than a brother, as affectionate and trusty as one connected by the closest ties of relationship (Prov. 18:24). The Greeks had a saying that went like this: “the crisis tests a friend as fire the gold. ” What are some of the costs of friendship that some are not willing to pay?

(1) The Cost of Time. True friendship is a life-long experience. It is never temporary. This is why faith in friendship is so rare. Truly we have made the word “friend” common and robbed it of its depth of beauty. We need more friends who will joyfully sing with you when you are on the mountain top and silently walk beside you through the valley. But this takes time and some friendships cannot tolerate the wear and tear that constant use sometimes give it. One must be more deliberate in friendship knowing that it is not the promises of friendship that are lasting but the performance of it.

(2) The Cost of Need. It is cruel and harsh to be a pretended friend until the time of need. But need is a sure proof of friendship or often the proof of the shallowness thereof. Siracides said: “A friend cannot be known in prosperity; and an enemy cannot be hidden in adversity. In the prosperity of a man enemies will be grieved; but in his adversity even a friend will depart.” How demonstratable is this when one considers the lamentable cry of Job in his great misery: “All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me” (Job 19:19).

(3) The Cost of Abuse. Friendships are abused. For example, a good friend is one who can tell you all his problems, but doesn’t.

The problem is often the result of a failure to observe that all men have their frailties and all have feet of clay. If one looks for friends without imperfections, then he will have no friends. It is sad to see insult added to injury in the area of human imperfection. One’s failure to understand a particular problem is not necessarily an expression of a lack of appreciation. A friend is one who will allow the leverage of one’s imperfections to express itself, and love him at the same time. I think Thomas Jefferson said it well when he said, “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion or philosophy, as a cause for withdrawing from a friend.” One does not have to agree on all points to be a friend. Never injure a friend, not even in jest. Folks who are friends are usually people who have the same virtues, the same enemies, or the same faults.

(4) The Cost of No Profit Or Gain. Some will be friends if there is personal gain involved. “You pat my back and I’ll pat yours” seems to be the motive involved all too often. But a friend that must be bought is not worth what we pay for him. If we can buy such a person, someone else can too. Friendship is to be valued for what there is in it, not what can be gotten out of it. To seek friendship for personal gain is as futile as seeking the end of a rainbow for the bag of gold. Too many are looking upon friends as a mutual benefit association with periodical demands and threats of suspension for non-payment. This should not be. Let us think not of what friends can do for us, but what we can do for them.

Conclusion

How sad to see friendship thrown away in a world where friendship is so rare. In times like these we need the comfort of friends. Whatever the gain, it is never so much that we can afford to lose a friend. Wise is the man who fortifies his life with friendships. To have the joy of friendship one must share friendliness. Happiness was born a twin.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 22, pp. 692-693
November 15, 1984

By Weldon E. Warnock 

After reading for a period of time the pompous pronouncements and diverted and deviate declarations of Ensign, a paper published in Huntsville, Alabama, I feel compelled to say a few things in defense of the truth of the gospel. I entitle this article, “A Short Jab,” because it does not require a “haymaker” to K.O. the wisdom of men.

The writers in Ensign, by and large, rationalize, theorize, opinionize, liberalize and nearly every other kind of “ize,” but never scripturalize their audacious assertions. They sound like a broken record that plays one tune over and over. They want to fellowship every digressive renegade and spiritual derelict regardless of what he believes or practices, just as long as he affirms that Jesus is the Christ. They do make reservations for immorality (except adulterous marriages, per Olan Hick’s position), but doctrine has no bounds. It is not the what but the who that really matters, they tell us.

But my Bible, their Bi6le, and your Bible, teaches differently, and it does not take an Einstein to see it, either. Jesus and doctrine go hand in hand. None of us can have a covenant relationship with Jesus while at the same time walking after the doctrines and commandments of men. Those who do not believe this do not believe the Bible or they are grossly ignorant of this fact.

Read, study and scrutinize the following Scriptures and see how clear, plain and explicit the Word of God is about the importance of doctrine. I am quoting from the King James Version. I trust this version is not too outdated for the “intelligentsia” among us.

1. Those who do not abide in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (2 Jn. 9). God will not fellowship digressives, so why do the Ensign brethren want to fellowship them?

2. Doctrines of men make worship vain. “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9). Instrumental music is a commandment of men, and those who use it are worshiping in vain. You Ensign brethren ought to know this, but do you believe it? Proponents of instrumental music are blind leaders of the blind, yet you want to fellowship them. Jesus said, “Let them alone” (Matt. 15:14).

3. No other doctrine is to be taught. “As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine” (1 Tim. 1:3). There is only one doctrine. However, men teach other doctrines that are false and destructive. They desire to be teachers of the law, but they understand neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm (1 Tim. 6:7). Sounds like Paul had these ultraliberals in mind that are running to and fro, sowing doubt and discord among brethren.

4. We are saved through doctrine. “Take heed to thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Tim. 4:16). Ensign tells us it does not make any difference about the doctrine, just the moral behavior. Wonder why Paul did not know that when he wrote Timothy? Paul said it takes both – both moral conduct and doctrine.

5. We are to continue in the apostles’ doctrine. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine… ” (Acts 2:42). Ensign teaches us that we do not have to continue in the apostles’ doctrine – that any doctrine will do if you are sincere and honest about what you believe and practice. Of course, I would like for them to pick out the sincere from the insincere. I have never seen a false teacher or a brother in error who claimed to be anything else but sincere. I can only extend fellowship to a brother on the basis of what he does, not by what he thinks. God knows his heart. I can know only his manner of life.

6. False doctrine is to be avoided. “(Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men” (Col. 2:21-22). Paul said to “mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them” (Rom. 16:17). Ketcherside, Garrett and all of their persuasion fraternize every schism, party and heretical group in the country who claim to be the Lord’s church. Paul says, “mark and avoid them,” and Ensign says, “receive and fellowship them.” What an incongruity between these men and their pious platitudes and an inspired apostle.

Listen, Jesus said, “Any why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Lk. 6:46). This verse certainly sounds like Jesus cannot be our Lord unless we do what He says. Again, Jesus said, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (Jn. 12:48). Jesus and His words go together. Jesus cannot be divorced from what He said.

Jesus is our Lord, Savior, Priest, and King. We trust in Him, depend on Him, live in Him, and walk in Him. But all of these are contingent upon our abiding in the truth He spoke. “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (Jn. 8:31).

In conclusion, may I ask, plead and beg the writers of Ensign to please give us biblical arguments, Scripture, book, chapter and verse instead of a verbosity of – human wisdom, trite sayings, and denominational jargon. Then, and only then, will you be contributing something worthwhile that will help bring brethren together in unity of doctrine and practice.

Do not tell us that doctrine cannot be understood, either. Paul said, “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:15).

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 22, pp. 691, continued on page 678
November 15, 1984

By Quentin McCay

God’s gracious plan for the redemption of sinful man includes a common precious faith, provisions for life and godliness, exceeding great and precious promises, partaking of the divine nature, escape from the corruption that is in the world through lust, conditions upon which all may build their hope of immortality, blessings to all who give diligence to make their calling and election sure, and the importance of keeping these things always in remembrance. All of this is revealed to us by the inspired apostle Peter in 2 Peter 1:1-15.

Having escaped the “corruption that is in the world through lust,” one must add, or supply, those divine principles that create in the individual the divine nature.

It is not the purpose of this article to dwell on the meanings of these beautiful expressions which describe the fruitful life of the Christian (2 Pet. 1:4-7). It is enough to say that one must “give diligence” to add “these things” to one’s faith. To faith must be added virtue, or manliness and courage to do right in the midst of assaults of the tempter. To virtue must be added knowledge of that which is right, which directs the courage into proper channels. To knowledge must be added temperance, or self-control, which enables one to govern appetites. To temperance must be added patience, or endurance. One who controls his appetites will learn to patiently bear hardships. To patience must be added godliness or reverence, holy fear and respect for God. The thought of God controls the Christian’s whole being. Brotherly kindness must be added to godliness. From godliness flows love for God’s people. Peter says to godliness add brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness add love. Love is the adhesive that binds all of these beautiful traits of the Christian together into one fruitful being. These supplied to the faith of the Christian create in a person the divine nature and fit him for heaven. The Christian becomes more and more like Christ as he grows in these virtues. As the servant of Christ drinks more and more from the fountain of truth, he becomes more and more in the likeness of the Savior of men and is prepared for the eternal home.

Followers of Christ are urged to give “a diligence” to add “these things” to their faith (vv. 5, 10). The apostle promises four advantages that will attend those who diligently labor to possess these great truths and to abound in them. There is promised a fruitful life, eyes which will see the glories of God, guard against failing from God’s grace and that abundant entrance into God’s eternal kingdom. These are the blessings of diligence.

Not Barren But Fruitful

“For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 8). God demands a fruitful life (Jn. 15:1-8; Rom. 7:4; Phil. 1:11; Jas. 3:17). Have you ever wondered why your life is never able to touch another life for good? Do you ask, “Why can’t I be fruitful in leading people to Christ and encouraging them to live godly?” The answer to these questions is that virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and love are not abounding in your life. Unless “these things” are made a part of one’s life, something is lacking, and life will be barren. The life that begins in faith and abounds in these characteristics will shine more and more unto the perfect day. If one wants life to be worthy, helpful, beneficial and fruitful, one must give all diligence, and to faith in God supply these components of the divine nature. This fruitful life is a blessing that attends diligence.

Not Blind But Seeing

“But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins” (2 Pet. 1:9). The converse of this is that if one abounds in “these things,” he is not blind and can see afar off. He sees not only what is near. His vision grows wider and farther. He has insight into the glories of the celestial, which captivates the vision of the inward man. He sees the unseen (2 Cor. 4:18). He is mindful of his salvation from sin and the divine provisions for his redemption. He has a vision of his duty while here in the flesh, and his eyes being enlightened know, “what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18). But he that lacketh these things sees only what is near and has taken no heed to foster the light of the glorious gospel, within which kindles faith. Such a person sees only that which is near, and his eyes are blinded to heaven and its blessings. His awareness of present duties to God is blurred. Being able to see the unseen is a blessing obtained by those who “give all diligence to make their calling and election sure.”

Shall Never Fall

“If ye do these things, ye shall never fall” (2 Pet. 1:10). The warnings of God found on every page of the Bible, the examples of those who have fallen from God’s grace and the law of pardon provided for those who fall teach us clearly the possibility of stumbling, failing and falling so as to be lost eternally (1 Cor. 9:24-10:12; Gal. 5:1-5; Heb. 12:14-16). Constant diligence must be given to adding “these things” to faith and making them a part of life and living. Giving diligence to abound in them strengthens one against temptations and makes his calling and election sure. Such is a guard against apostasy. “Ye shall never fall” is God’s promise and is a great blessing. It gives hope to those who make their calling sure by being diligent in adding “these things” to faith.

“For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:11). The word “so” is an adverb of manner. In this manner, or by giving all diligence to add these traits to faith, one is prepared for heaven and will have richly supplied the entrance into the everlasting kingdom of God. The apostle exhorts believers to supply these virtues and promises that an entrance “shall be ministered” abundantly into the eternal kingdom. This will be richly supplied. What man bestows shall be returned to him manifold. In that eternal home, the faithful will gather to reap the rewards and share in the delights of immortality. In heaven the true believers will meet their God face to face, and with loved ones and friends live forever together. This is the ultimate blessing of giving all diligence in making our calling and election sure.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 22, pp. 686-687
November 15, 1984