Truth Magazine

By Lewis Willis

When you stop to think about it, these words engender fear, if not abject terror! Can you imagine standing at the judgment and hearing a sentence of condemnation because we have left our first love? No, thanks! If such a charge can be waged against me, I prefer to hear it now.

“Balance” in our thinking is rather difficult to acquire. Most of us spend our time on one end or the other of every ,spectra. We are either totally positive or totally negative; up or down; high or low. Spiritually, we tend to be hot or cold. When our fervor for the Lord is at its height, we certainly do not want someone coming in and throwing cold water on the flame. Candidly, I don’t particularly like to throw water on flames. And, I definitely encourage a confident attitude in our relationship with God. However, if there is something I am overlooking in my duty to Him, and I still feel confident, that feeling of confidence is unfounded. Wisdom, then, demands that I give a balanced assessment of my obligation to Him and the manner in which I am discharging it.

When the Lord addressed the church at Ephesus, He observed many commendable attributes regarding it. They were working in patience, abhorred evil, tested their teachers for the truth, had borne hardships and they had not fainted in these good things. All this notwithstanding, He said He had something against them because, “Thou hast left thy first love” (Rev. 2:1-4).

This seems somewhat difficult to imagine. How could all of these good things be said of them, followed so quickly by a rebuke? There was, obviously, something rather seriously wrong at Ephesus. It is estimated that this church was more than forty years old at the time this was written. From its beginning, it had manifested a spirit of enthusiasm, activity and devotion to Christ and the gospel. And, there is no evidence that their activity had greatly diminished. However, an all-knowing Savior perceived a decay or deterioration in their love!

A wife may be very faithful to her husband, fulfilling all responsibilities pertaining to him, even though the 4dromance” is slipping out of the marriage – her love for him is fading. Unless she is mindful of this situation, and acts to remedy the problem, the relationship is in jeopardy. Similarly, a Christian may attend the worship, sing, give, study, visit, etc., even though his love for, and devotion to the Lord is waning. Unless he identifies the problem and remedies it, his relationship with the Lord is in jeopardy. “Going through the motions” may extend a marriage relationship, but it will not sustain our “marriage relationship” to Christ (Rom. 7:1-4).

What are the tell-tale signs? Perhaps going to worship because I “have to” instead of because I “want to.” Or, I would be more comfortable somewhere else. Or, serving God is not exciting anymore. Or, I get no real delight out of being a Christian -it is all duty, obligation, responsibility, etc. Such attitudes should alarm us! It is foolhardy to ignore them.

I don’t like the psychological expression, but that which is characterized above is an “attitude problem.” Far too many things are identified as attitude problems. However, a decaying love for Christ is an attitude problem. It will degenerate into a practice or procedural problem unless the attitude problem is dealt with. In other words, one who no longer enjoys worshipping God, is but a short step away from an abandonment of the worship of the church. He can give up in frustration; he can quit doing God’s will. Or, he can look for another solution to his attitude problem. And there is one!

Here it is: “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works. . . ” (Rev. 2:5). It is something like the approach we make in fulfilling our obligation to love our brethren. We begin by loving them because God said so. We soon discover there are many reasons for loving our brethren. In correcting a love problem toward the Lord, we begin by repenting because He said to. Now, remember, repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of one’s life. Therefore, when we repent, assess what we were, realize what we are and contemplate the reward of faithfulness in the future, our attention is refocused in the proper channel. The “first works” have meaning to us again and our attitude problem is solved! I was just thinkin’ . . . a bunch of us Christians should be alerted by these thoughts!

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 11, p. 331
June 7, 1984

By Donald Willis

Tuesday, my wife drug me to a Writer’s Seminar on Romance. Most knowledgeable persons understand that romance is not the interest of the pen of a preacher . . . though all people are interested in Romance! God made us that way, and there is nothing wrong with loving and being loved.

A New York City publishing house had sent its representative into the Houston market looking for new Journalists. There were six different categories in which one might write. One of these was Romance with an Inspirational thrust. They were especially desirous of having one write from this viewpoint.

A question was asked from the floor as to how far a writer might take the subject of sex. The company representative said that “. . . no Christian will engage in premarital sex nor after marriage will they talk openly concerning their sexual involvement.” This caused a stir among the audience, and some people got up and left (in their defense, may I add they had been seated for almost two hours).

I thought it interesting that a publishing company representative that is interested in Romantic Novels would conclude, “. . . no Christian will engage in premarital sex”! She must have been reading the same book that I read. What a wonderful testimony for Christ!

If “. . . no Christian would engage in premarital sex,” there would be no borrow of guilt emotion over the violation of the morals of Christ. There would be no teen-age pregnancy, there would be no abortion and the aftermath of inner fear of having murdered the child.

How protective of the emotions of His children God is in establishing the moral standard whereby, “. . . no Christian will engage in premarital sex. Let us all profit by this evaluation.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 11, p. 330
June 7, 1984

By Edward O. Bragwell. Sr.

“I hear that there are divisions among you and in part I believe it.” – 1 Corinthians 11:18

In our family discussions (your family has arguments, ours has discussions) someone may be heard to say, “Shh! The neighbors might hear us.”

This is a wise admonition, because the issues of our discussions are mostly trivial; in a few years they will not matter. Besides neighbors are so wrapped up in their own problems that they don’t need to be bothered with ours anyway.

I hear brethren express the same sentiment about problems among brethren. They are saying, in effect, “Shh! The neighbors might hear us.” My brother, that is a horse of a different color. First, our neighbors already know a lot more about “our problems” than many brethren do. Secondly, a people primarily interested in truth loses nothing by dealing openly and frankly with its own short-comings. The Kingdom of God is strong enough to survive and thrive without glossing over what every really informed person already knows – Christians sometimes argue, sin, and backslide. Christians suffer all the woes common to humanity and many other things as result of their faith. We have nothing to lose by the negative being right up front with the positive.

“Our neighbors” are sometimes wiser than many of “us” in this respect. In an article, in Pulpit Helps, a writer said it well:

“The positive ‘gospel’ is erroneous in two respects. The first of these is in its origin, or the cause which gave it rise. That origin is nothing less than pure sales psychology. You have a ‘product’ to sell. In order to sell it, you must be at pains to present nothing in your sales ‘pitch’ but what will contribute to the sale. Above all, you must not in any way antagonize the prospect, discourage him, or say anything that would militate against your objective, which is the sale that you seek. That is the fundamental idea and purpose back of “the positive approach.” It is the objective of selling, with its requirement to bend every effort and direct every consideration to that end. It is to be especially noted that the primary interest is not to present truth, but to achieve the pre-determined objective.

“. . . The simple fact of the matter is, in God’s kingdom, we are not in the ‘selling’ business. Oh, how the modern church needs to learn that basic reality! It is not our job to ‘sell’ Christ or the Gospel to this generation; hence, man’s sales psychology is wholly inapplicable to our assignment. The sooner we learn that, the quicker we can begin to-get back to the purity of apostolic religion and tactics. Our mission is to preach the Word of God (2 Tim. 4:2), including all the great mass of ‘negative’ doctrine in it, and earnestly call upon men to heed and obey it while time and opportunity are theirs. The Bible plainly says it is God’s prerogative to give “the increase” (1 Cor. 3:7). Let us not become so engrossed with the divine part of the enterprise – the increase – that we fatally water down or mutilate the message by deleting from it all that men in their self love and ambition, have designated as ‘negative.”‘ (“Are You Selling or Proclaiming the Gospel?” by Fred D. Blakely)

We would do well to give some thought to this bit of wisdom from one not a member of the church of Christ. Concerned, honest, and sincere Christians are heard to say that they are afraid for friends, neighbors or new converts to read many papers published by brethren – not because of any error taught, but because they deal openly with problems among brethren. Or that they are afraid to bring them to some of our classes because they would be exposed to 44our internal problems.” They want them to have only a “positive” image of “us.” It might cause them to not want to become “one of us.” We have been chided for dealing with problems among brethren, in this paper, since it goes to some outsiders. Should we just present “positive Christianity” to the world and keep our problems more behind the scenes. Sounds good! But, is it the approach that the Lord would have us take?

Think brethren! If one wants to keep reading material that tells of and deals with problems among brethren from falling into the “wrong hands,” then let him get the Bibles that he passes out bound up in selected sections – so that he can give only certain sections to strong brethren and withhold from outsiders and weak brethren sections that frankly deal with “brotherhood problems.”

Be careful with 1 Corinthians. It tells of a fornicating brother and the church’s negligence in dealing with him. It openly reveals that there were shameful law-suits against other brethren, jealousy and confusion over spiritual gifts, and revellings connected with the Lord’s Supper. What if a non-Christian or weak brother were to get hold of that would it not so discourage and disgust him that he would quit?

Keep Galatians in your briefcase and give it only to those whom you are sure are seasoned veterans of the cross. It lets the cat out of the bag that there are “false brethren.” It tells about Peter’s (a rather “big name” preacher in the church) playing the hypocrite – all laid out there for anyone to read.

One might consider blacking out certain other portions. Those parts that tell that one of Jesus’ hand-picked apostles betrayed Him, another shamefully denied Him on the night of His betrayal. Maybe the 15th chapter of Acts ought not to fall into the hands of anyone but the strongest of Christians. It tells of a big debate, involving some leading men of the brotherhood, over a doctrinal matter within the church! It also reports that two of our leading brethren got into such a heated exchange that they finally wound up going separate ways into Asia Minor. And, by all means, keep the book of Revelation away from such people. Besides it being so deep and hard to understand, it lays right out for all to see the awful conditions in some churches of Christ in Asia.

Maybe someone will put out a new revised version – kind of like the Reader’s Digest Condensed Bible – that will accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative, so that brethren who are so worried about “our image” will have one to hand out.

Of course, much I have said so far has been tongue-in-cheek, to make us think. We need to think. Are we not in some way professing ourselves too wise becoming fools? Are we professing ourselves to be wiser than the Apostles and the Holy Spirit in our tactics? Do we think they did not know that those writings – even those that put brethren in a bad light – would be for general distribution? I am afraid that we are fast developing and attitude among brethren that is more concerned with “enhancing our image” before the world and creating a more positive approach in order to attract and keep more folks to count as members than we are in really converting people to Christ. Converting people to Christ is more than creating in them a favorable opinion of brethren, it is teaching people the truth and urging them to obey it and stand for it at all cost. It is helping them understand that not all brethren are genuine and that many who profess Christ have human failings and sins, but they can and must be faithful in spite of that. It is helping them understand that their faith must stand in the Christ and not in human beings and their behavior, even if those human beings are brethren. It is helping them understand that, instead of Christianity solving all their problems in this life, that it may create some new ones for them (cf. Luke 9:57-62; 14:25-35). They need to be made aware of all of this, then they will be less likely to be thrown into a tail spin when they encounter such in the real world of being a Christian. Tell them that by obeying the gospel and serving Christ they will be able to cope with these problems and go to heaven when they die.

Christians are primarily interested in truth. They are not afraid of truth, even unpleasant truth. If we get so afraid that our neighbors will hear us that we suppress truth and open efforts to seek and proclaim it, even unpleasant truth about ourselves, then we will become just another sect interested only in putting its best foot forward and protecting its image and recruiting its members by a positive sales psychology, rather than being a people that believe that truth is strong enough to withstand close investigation and that true Christianity can afford to be open and frank before the whole world. With this approach the early church grew stronger in spirit and numbers and purified itself. I believe that truth still has that power if we will quit being so timid and apologetic about it.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 11, pp. 327-328
June 7, 1984

By Irven Lee

The world by its own wisdom does not find God or the proper level of behavior (Jer. 10:23). Carnality takes over when faith fails. When the gospel message went out in the first century of the church, most of the Jews stumbled at the message of a spiritual kingdom and the Greeks considered the idea of a crucified Savior to be foolishness. The atheists (humanists) who scoff at the Bible today count themselves wise as did the ancient Greeks, but God counts them foolish (1 Cor. 3:19). These who are wise in their own conceits would consider the work of gospel preachers to be worse than useless. They dedicate themselves to the effort to destroy the effectiveness of the work of men of faith.

There is a message that should be carefully delivered to every person in all the world. This enormous task is the work of preachers as God ordained it (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15,16; Luke 24:47). There is an urgency about getting the message delivered, and the preacher should grasp the seriousness of his business (2 Tim. 4:1-5). Paul used many expressions to remind the Ephesian elders of his attitude toward preaching: “what manner,” “humility of mind,” “many tears,” “temptations,” and of how he “kept back nothing that was profitable.” He could claim that he was pure from the blood of all men because he shunned not to declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:17-35). He did not preach for the money at Ephesus. In fact, he earned his own money and funds for the care of his helpers while he was there. He knew that his work of preaching was important.

Paul and Silas “suffered” and were “shamefully entreated” at Philippi, but they went right on to Thessalonica and were “bold” to speak the “gospel of God.” It was this bold presentation of the truth in such a way as to be well pleasing to God, rather than flattery and other men pleasing tactics, that they depended on to get the job done. They were allowed by God to be put in trust with the gospel so there was a feeling that they were debtors to others (1 Thess. 2:1-13).

Paul’s feeling of debt toward others included Greeks, Barbarians, the wise, and the unwise (Rom. 1: 14). “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16). The apostles were chosen ambassadors to bind on earth that which is bound in heaven (2 Cor. 5:17-20; Eph. 3:1-12; Rom. 1: 15-18). It was the fact that Paul realized that “the gospel is the power of God unto salvation” that caused him to be “ready to preach.” If a man sees that his neighbor’s house is on fire, it is but natural for him to think of rescuing those people if they are asleep inside.

Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to God, and faith comes by hearing the word of God (Heb. 11:6; Rom. 10: 17; Mark 16:16). It was not just one or two apostles who knew of the importance of this message. The early church must have been impressed by the magnitude of the assignment of the great commission. “Daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ” (Acts 5:42). Persecution scattered the Jerusalem church with its many members to the four winds, and “they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). The explanation of their zeal lies in the strength of their faith. They took the word in spite of any danger and proclaimed it unashamedly from the housetops. The Christ had taught the twelve to “fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” rather than to fear some one who could destroy only the body (Matt. 10:27,28).

It took amazing zeal to put the foundation under the work of Paul so that he could say “that from Jerusalem”, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (Rom. 15:19). After this Roman letter was written, he did very much more. While he was accomplishing so much, others were also working with zeal and in spite of persecution (Acts 4:3,20; 5:29). Within one generation the gospel “was preached to every creature which is under heaven” (Col. 1:23). That generation did not have modern means of travel, printing presses, radio, or television. Governmental officials among both Jews and Gentiles fought the preachers as did religious zealots among Jews and Gentiles. Let the preacher stand up today if he supposes that he has a faith equal to that of those first gospel preachers.

What is a preacher’s work? How should he conduct himself as he goes about preaching the gospel? How much money must he have in order to stay in the work? What methods seem to be most effective in our modern world? These questions have their place, but the answers have less and less importance if we come to have more and more faith in God and respect for the gospel as God’s power unto salvation.

The lazy, selfish preacher does not have enough faith to preach. The church might hardly miss him if he should quit preaching and “go to work” at some secular job. The men who would make merchandise of the souls of men and speak things which they ought not for filthy lucre’s sake are not God’s servants (Titus 1: 11; 2 Peter 2:3; Eph. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:3,4). The hobby riding sowers of discord are not assets but liabilities to the work (Acts 20:29-31; Matt. 7:15,16; Gal. 1:6-10; 1 John 2:19). The preachers who become fornicators, drunkards, and who conform to the evil world in other ways cause the world to blaspheme the holy name of God. When faith, hope, and love fill a life they lead one toward the mark for the prize of the high calling. Men with these precious foundation principles add virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, and brotherly kindness.

Faith, hope, and love can lead to the gentleness, holiness, self control, soundness of doctrine, zeal, and other traits of the good soldier (See 2 Tim. 2:24,25; 1 Thess. 1:1-13; 2 Tim. 2:14).

Some men on the “mission field” or with well established churches may be more like semi-retired executives than like gospel preachers of the age of the apostles. Knowledge of grammar, skill as a public speaker, psychology and ability to discuss things of common interest may be of some help to the man of God. Reverence, Bible knowledge, great faith, and love for God and man are of much more importance.

Some who are called preachers may be bored because they may not see much to do. If some brethren stop by and find the preacher reading they may think that they have found him not busy. There is a great need for young men and older men who are of very great faith to preach. The time may be fast approaching when opposition to the word increases to the point when only those of the greatest faith will preach. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Organization of Women (NOW) are no more eager for the pure gospel to be preached than the Sadducees were when Peter and John preached in Jerusalem. There is a growing number of able preachers. Let us hope and pray that they may be strong and of good courage.

There is a lot of time that goes into two sermons and two or three classes per week. There is the special preparation for each of these lessons, and there is a lot of general reading and constant efforts to grow in background knowledge. Some who do not know that preachers work might benefit by going with one for a week and observing how many questions are asked on many different subjects. One never knows what subjects will be brought up. We are to be ready always to give answer (1 Peter 3:15).

Being vigilant or watchful is an assigned task (1 Pet. 5:8). We should not be ignorant of Satan’s devices (2 Cor. 2:11). His subtlety is remarkable (2 Cor. 11:3). In our generation we can learn in advance of the wind of doctrine, the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive by reading religious journals among us. Good men deal with these problems in these journals. This reading awakens to coming dangers so there can be advance preparation. This takes time and effort.

The faithful men among early Christians taught publicly and from house to house. This is also true today (Acts 5:42; 20:20, 29-3 1). Some of the greatest accomplishments are in these private efforts. This takes time. Words of exhortation to the tempted and deceived are also needed. Men of great faith, hope, and love see these needs and enter into doors of opportunity. Much of the work of preaching and teaching is done by Christians who are not full-time preachers. Are you doing your part in the effort to scatter the seed?

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 11, pp. 328-329
June 7, 1984