Truth Magazine

By Raymond E. Harris

We Americans have a terrible time with the word “love.” The word is often used in the place of sex. It is confused with passion and TV writers seem to want to apply it to everything. Think about the TV commercials for a moment. Few words are used more. They always “just love” whatever their product is. Hence, we see people who “love” their new fangled baby disposable diapers, their shampoo, their new car or Mrs. “Puckers” new chocolate cake mix.

All this commercial misuse of the word “love” has formed a smoke screen that prevents the American public from understanding the deeper, richer meaning of love. Obviously, the word “love” can have several meanings, but we must never lose sight of its more meaningful usage.

When one is taught to “love” God, he is taught to reverence, respect, fear and obey Him! When husbands and wives are taught to love one another, they are taught to honor, prize, respect and cherish one another. When parents and children, and brothers and sisters love one another, there is to be the warm natural affection that can even be found in the animal kingdom. And in the Bible we learn that in the broadest sense the word “love” is defined by the “Golden Rule.” (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” [Matt. 7:12].)

Hence, when the word “love” is considered in the context of Bible usage it is a warm, wholesome, moral word that demands action.

Jesus said the first and great commandment was to “love God with all our heart, soul and mind” (Matt. 22:37). From Matthew 22:39, we learn that the second greatest commandment is to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” And, a more extensive examination of the Scriptures unfolds to us a yet clearer understanding of “love.” Please note:

a. In Romans 12:15, we learn that when we are filled with love we will “rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep.”

b. A heart filled with love is a heart of compassion and forgiveness (Col. 3:13).

c. Love motivates us to “Bear one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:1-2).

So, it was a most serious thing when Jesus commanded is followers to “love one another” (1 John 4:7,11).

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 18, p. 554
September 20, 1984

By Gil Holt

Could it be possible that in our effort not to be overly emotional in our service to God, and for fear of being accused of converting lost souls to Christ with an emotional appeal that we sometimes fail to appreciate how wonderful the blessings are that God has given us, or at least do not show property to the world how great and precious these things are?

One such blessing we have that I would like to mention is the peace that we have as children of God that passes all understanding. In Paul’s epistle to the Philippian brethren he said, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). This peace is defined as “the harmonized relationships between God and man, accomplished through the gospel” (Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W. E. Vine). Paul illustrates in the preceding passage that this peace is that which keeps our hearts and minds right with God through Christ Jesus.

Because of the great and precious promises th4t we have in Christ Jesus, we know that if we do the will of the Lord, we will be saved with God in Heaven. This gives us security. People are searching for security, but in all the wrong places. They look for it in money and in high paying jobs. But they seldom look where real and lasting security can be found.

The peace of God that passes all understanding is that which gave the apostle Paul the ability to say, with confidence, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). He is saying that to live at this point would further the cause of Christ, but to die was gain for him. He had confidence that inasmuch as he had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, he had nothing to fear. In fact, he had a certain desire to depart. “For I am in a strait betwixt the two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better” (Phil. 1:23).

I am reminded of the confidence of those Christians whom I have known in the past who realized the threat of death in their lives and the courage with which they faced it. It must certainly be due to that peace, which they had, that passes all understanding. I can remember being by the side of a dear friend who spoke with such certainty of walking those streets of gold and eating of the fruit of the tree of life and drinking of the waters of life. I will never forget my father, Gilbert Holt, the morning before he passed away as he was about to be taken to by-pass surgery. A preacher friend came in expressing his wishes that all would be all right. Dad’s reply was, “I believe that it will turn out all right, but if it doesn’t, that will be all right, too.” These words were saying in effect what the apostle Paul said to the young preacher Timothy, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:6-8). This type thing is brought about by that peace of God that passeth all understanding. Every Christian can view eternity with this same confidence if he is doing as the word of God directs.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 18, p. 558
September 20, 1984

By Don Willis

“I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” (Psalms 2:7). David had been established as the king of the united people of Judah and Israel after the death of King Saul. Some did not receive his Kingship, and thereby raged, and imagined vain things.

In melancholy, David composed this wonderful Messianic song. David would reason that all would be happy with his reign, seeing that God’s prophet, Samuel, had anointed him to be the next king. But the heathen did rage, and brought battle against David and God’s host. As predicted in the Psalm, David’s army was victorious.

In the midst of this wonderful Psalm, these two affirmations are made! While David was the shadow, the prophecy was concerning God’s Son, Jesus Christ. This Psalm is applied to Christ in Acts 4:25-26; Acts 13:33; and Hebrews 5:5.

Thou art my Son! What a wonderful affirmation of the Deity of Jesus Christ. Yet, He was made of a woman, made under the law (Gal. 4:4). He became man in order to die for sinful creatures (Heb. 2:14). Had Jesus come in the form of God or angels, He could not have died, for Deity is eternal. But, Jesus came in the form of mankind in order to sympathize with the feelings of mankind, and to suffer as does man. He came to die for our sins!

This day have I begotten thee. This passage is quoted relative to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (Acts 13:33) and concerning His being a priest (Heb. 5:5). Jesus could not be priest on earth, due to the ordination of the Levitical priesthood. Jesus’ priesthood was after the order of Melchizedec, which required a change of law (Heb. 7:12) in order for Him to reign, and He did not reign until after the resurrection.

This day refers to the resurrection of Jesus from the grave, and not to His birth of Mary. Begotten (from the Hebrew, yalidti) is used in the sense of manifesting, exhibiting, or declaring (consult Adam Clarke, Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 223).

Psalms 2 refers to the time when God declared Jesus to be His Son. In Romans 1:4, the Apostle Paul affirms, “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

Christ’s death proved that the atonement had been made for lost mankind. Christ’s resurrection proved that the atonement has been accepted by the God of Heaven. Therefore, the final chorus of Psalms 2 affirms, “Blessed are all they that put their trust in them. ” This is the assurance that will bear one through any of life’s difficulties with the greatest of confidence!

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 18, p. 559
September 20, 1984

By Irven Lee

“From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:66-69). The Christ had proven to honest hearts that He was of God by the miracles which He did (John 3:2). Peter and others could say, “We believe and are sure that thou art that Christ.” In John 6, He made some claims and statements that would separate those with honest hearts from those with closed eyes and stopped ears. Many turned back and followed Him no more. Our Lord was looking for quality rather than quantity. He was looking for worthy followers rather than nominal followers.

On other occasions He spoke only in parables. By explaining these later to those who wanted the truth, these parables became very useful ways of teaching the “mysteries of the kingdom” (Matt. 13; Mk. 4; Lk. 8). This method of teaching kept the message from those who would not learn.

“Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear” (Matt. 13:9-16).

It took much time and much teaching for the apostles to understand the nature of the kingdom (Matt. 16:21-23; 18:1-4; 20:20-28). Our Lord taught them diligently and did not disown them, because they listened without offense. They had ears and would listen. When they went out to bind upon earth the things that are bound in heaven, they were guided by the Holy Spirit. They spake as the Spirit gave them utterance (Lk. 23:49; Acts 1:6-8; 2:1-12; Gal. 1:11, 12; 2 Pet. 1:22).

People who loved not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness were not forced to accept the word. They could believe a lie if they preferred (2 Thess. 2:8-12). The god of this world blinds the minds of some, but he would flee if people would resist him (2 Cor. 4:3,4; 1 Pet. 5:6-9). The task of the church is not to try to please these who are ever learning and yet never come to a knowledge of the truth. These people are lovers of their own selves and of pleasures more than lovers of God (2 Tim. 3:1-13). If we please such people by our preaching, we are not servants of God (Gal. 1:10). We should preach the whole counsel of God and let those who will accept it (Acts 20:20,26,27). It is truth and only the truth that can make men free (John 8:30-32).

Usually the undesirable chaff is blown away by the preaching of sound doctrine (2 Tim. 4:1-5). For that reason, there should be able preaching and effective reproof before the whole lump is leavened with the leaven of malice and wickedness (1 Cor. 5:1-13). If bold preaching does not bring about the correction of error, there should be firm action by the church (1 Cor. 5; Rom 16:17,18; 2 Thess 3:615; Tit. 3: 10,11). The church should not allow the name of the Lord to be blasphemed because of the misconduct of unholy brethren (Rom. 2:24).

Indifference, worldliness, errors in doctrine, and bitterness are tools which the devil uses to defeat the good work the church is intended to accomplish. It is always a sad time for the church when a dominant element within the church is so conscious of numbers that it would have the church tolerate sin and compromise with error. In the long run, the church becomes much stronger when there is proper effort made to please God rather than the special effort to please men.

The church suffered very much from persecution in the days of the apostles. Such persecution would evidently do much to purge it of hypocrites. Some were led to say that the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the kingdom. The church grew rapidly in the period of much suffering. In the parable of the sower, Christ mentioned the word as being the seed of the kingdom (Lk. 8:11). In the explanation of the parable of the tares, He said the “good seed are the children of the kingdom” (Matt. 13:38). With these statements in mind, and with the understanding of what is meant, we might be able to go along with those who have said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the kingdom. The beauty of holiness is wonderful to behold when the church is like a city set on a hill.

A denominational church that is bold in its stand for high morals may become the largest group in its area. The social gospel groups with modernistic preachers have won the disgust of the young and of the very world they have sought to please. Some years ago before the digressive spirit hit the church, it was a fast growing group over the land. It is a foolish thing for brethren to copy decadent Protestantism which is killing Itself in its own liberalism. The Captain of our salvation would have His soldiers put on the whole armor and fight a good fight. The gospel does not become more powerful when it is watered down by human wisdom. Every Christian needs the whole armor to withstand the wicked on in our vulgar and corrupt world.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 18, pp. 556, 568
September 20, 1984