Truth Magazine

By Raymond E. Harris

Brother Loren N. Raines, after an illness of about six months, passed from this life February 7, 1984. He preached the Gospel of Christ for over 65 years. And even though he became too weak to preach about a year ago, he continued to teach his Sunday morning Bible class until about the first of September, 1983. When his health finally failed, he weakened rather quickly. He was able to attend services only one Sunday after October 30, 1983. During the last three months of his life, he was plagued with pneumonia, a blood clot and heart trouble, which finally caused his demise.

Brother Raines was born July 1, 1895 near Sullivan, Indiana. He obeyed the gospel at fourteen and soon developed a keen interest in Bible study. When about twenty-two years old, he attended a twelve-week Bible Reading under Daniel Sommer and later attended a ten-week study under A.M. Morris. That same year he preached his first sermon in Pratt, Kansas. After spending sixteen months in the service, including a year in France, Raines returned to Indiana and spent the next six years teaching in public schools. During that time, most every Sunday found him filling the pulpit of various surrounding congregations.

Brother Raines married Opal Stivers of Sumner, Illinois on April 3, 1921. Their second son died in infancy. Their first child, Max, is a professor at Michigan State University.

Brother Raines did his first I ‘located’ I work at the Fourth and Lincoln Street Church in Bloomington, Indiana. While in that area, he earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Indiana University. In 1932 he moved to Bedford, Indiana and continued preaching there until 1951. During those nineteen years, the old 12th and X Street Church grew till the old building was totally inadequate. In 1950 the congregation moved into a new building at 12th and N Streets. During that nineteen years, brother Raines also worked as a teacher and principal of three Lawrence County High Schools. In 1951 he retired from teaching and moved to Salem, Indiana, where he preached for six years.

Brother Raines, in 1957, at age 62 launched into what might be called a third phase of his life’s work. This last third of his life, was beyond doubt the most fruitful time of his life. The struggle over institutionalism was raging. At a time in life when many are ready to lay down their sword, Loren moved to the 40th and Emerson congregation in Indianapolis. In swift succession, all the congregations on the east side of Indianapolis (except Emerson Avenue) fell to institutionalism. As conservative people in those churches learned that Raines was going to stand four square against all such innovations, they flocked to Emerson Avenue. And so, within a short time, the building was filled to near capacity. He preached eight years there and the work prospered.

Brother Raines at age 70 agreed to go on social security and to preach for a new congregation on the west side of Indianapolis. He continued to preach the next five years there and the High School Road Church prospered. At age 75 he determined to step aside as he felt the growing church needed a younger man. He supposed he would “retire” there. However, within a few months the “Macedonian Call” came again and he moved to preach for the church at Robinson, Illinois. For three years he did his work well there; but, his heart was back in Indiana. So, at age 78 he accepted an invitation to move back to Lawrence County and preach for the Oolitic, Indiana Church. There he labored another five years.

Brother Raines, now 83, thought it was surely time to “retire.” However, during the next year an opportunity came to start a new work in Bedford, Indiana. And so, on January 1, 1980, he became the first preacher for the Midtown church of Christ in Bedford. This was especially gratifying to him because the old church in Bedford that he had labored with back in the 1930s and 40s had long since gone institutional. With tears in his eyes, he related to me that it seemed almost a miracle that he had lived to see a faithful church back in Bedford and that he would have the privilege of being its first preacher.

Brother Raines was only able to continue “full time” work there for five months. However, until his death, he filled the pulpit from time to time, taught classes every Lord’s day and served as a Trustee. In his 88th year, just a few months before parting this life, brother Raines compiled a series of thirty-three Bible study lessons, covering the entire New Testament. The Church here will reap the benefit of these lessons for months to come. Between ages 80 and 86, he wrote two books. The first is entitled What Doth The Lord Require? and the other, a book of his own sermons entitled Partakers of The Benefit.

Brother Raines’ epitaph might well read, “He never found time to retire, he could never lay his sword by.” His life could be divided into three nearly equal parts of 30 years each. And, beyond question, the best was saved for last. Who would have ever supposed that at age 60, brother Raines was on the threshold of his life’s greatest work.

Even though the funeral was on a Friday morning (Feb. 10), the funeral chapel overflowed and several had to sit in side rooms to listen to speakers. Brethren from at least three or four states came to the funeral home. Brothers Dwayne Laws of Bowling Green, KY and Raymond Harris of Bedford, IN spoke at the funeral service; Delmar Winninger conducted the grave side service. Fellow preachers Gary Fiscus, Johnie Edwards, H. Robert Williams, Harold Comer and Olin Kern served as honorary pallbearers. The burial was in Bedford’s “Green Hill Cemetery.”

It seems altogether proper and fitting that in this cemetery, which contains over 10,000 graves; one can stand at brother Raines’ head stone and see the Midtown Church building. Even in death, it is as if he is stationed to watch over the flock, that was so dear to his heart! May his tribe ever increase!

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 8, pp. 242-243
April 19, 1984

By Raymond E. Harris

As we study this matter of deceit we find it is a problem that can spring from many sources. The Scriptures teach us to beware of false teachers who lie in wait to deceive. Likewise, the Scriptures warn that self-deception is one of mans greatest weaknesses.

And now, with this article we want to consider the deceitfulness of sin. In Hebrews 3:13, we are admonished to exhort one another “lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” In Galatians 6:7-8, Paul warns, “Be not deceived. God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.” And in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, he further warns, “Be not deceived. neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

Truly, sin is most deceptive! All sins are not alluring to all people. But everyone has his weakness. In the main, everyone sins because he wants to I Whether it be illicit sex, ill-gotten gain or whatever, people sin in what seems to be appealing to them. Some strength to overcome sin can come from the encouragement of others (Heb. 3:13). However, in the main, strength to overcome sin lies in a conscience educated by God’s word and a self-control nurtured by true fellowship with God (1 John 1:3-7). David said, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart. That I might not sin against thee” (Psa. 119:11).

Yes, sin is deceptive! Sin is soul-damning! And, the consequences of sin are eternal (Matt. 25:31-46).

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 8, p. 236
April 19, 1984

By J.W. McGarvey

Special Preparation For The Pulpit

On the subject of special preparation I must speak very briefly. As I could not cover the entire ground without giving a synopsis of some work on Homiletics, I will only attempt a few suggestions on points which need, I think, to be emphasized.

First of all, I ask, what is the purpose of a sermon? Its ‘structure, the material which enters into it, and the special study which precedes it, will all be determined by its purpose. It is feared that some sermons are prepared and delivered for the purpose of making a reputation. In all such the apostolic rule is reversed, and the preacher preaches himself, not the Lord Jesus. Other sermons have in view, as their chief aim, the improvement of the preacher as a public speaker. This also is a selfish end, and a prostitution of the noblest office ever committed by God to man. A better class of sermons are intended merely to impart instruction. These, while aimed in the right direction, fall short of the proper aim of a sermon. This aim, if we judge by all of the apostolic sermons, and by all that is said in the New Testament about preaching, is to bring about some change for the better in the life of the hearer. To this end instruction is but tributary, and for this reason it holds a subordinate place. No sermon is effective without instruction, nor is it effective without exhortation. We teach that we may have a basis for exhortation, and we exhort that we may move to a proper action. The last is the supreme purpose to which all else is to be carefully subordinated.

If this view is correct, then the very first step in the special preparation of a sermon, is to select the special change for the better at which it shall aim. This determined, the subject is determined, and often the passage of Scripture which contains the subject. Sometimes, it is true, a certain subject suggests a certain end to be attained by a sermon, and often a passage of Scripture on which the mind is dwelling suggests the subject of a sermon and its aim. But in these cases it is still the practical aim in view which settles the mind upon the choice of that particular passage and that particular subject.

When the special aim of the sermon has been fixed, and the subject or the particular Scripture passage to be employed has been selected, the next step is to study the selected passage until the author’s real thought is ascertained. This and this only should be presented as the teaching of the passage. To wrest the word of God for an evil purpose is one of the greatest of sins. To wrest it for a good purpose, though not so bad, is still a sin, and it is a sin quite common in the pulpit. It is to do evil that good may come. It is deceptive, because it has the appearance of doing what is not done, and it leaves on the minds of many hearers a permanent misconception of the passage which is misconstrued. If a text properly construed, whether it be your principal text, or others employed in the progress of the sermon, does not serve your purpose, find others that do, and if you can find none that do, then conclude either that your purpose is unscriptural, or that you are not yet sufficiently acquainted with the Bible to speak with that purpose in view.

It is also highly important that when the preacher has selected his subject, he makes himself thoroughly acquainted with it before speaking on it. Otherwise he is in danger of taking positions which fuller information would require him to modify or abandon. Multitudes of the blunders and errors which are constantly disfiguring pulpit efforts and which often make them sources of greater evil than good, result from neglecting this rule. The rule requires us to gather before us all the passages of Scripture which treat of the special subject in hand, to study every one with reference to the particular light which it throws upon the whole subject, and when we have made our selection to treat it in the light shed upon it by all the other passages. The careful observance of this rule will save the preacher from many a blunder and will prove to him a very fruitful source of rich and solid material out of which to construct subsequent sermons.

There are two parts of the sermon always requiring very careful attention, which are very commonly neglected. I mean the introduction and the conclusion. A good introduction, fixing the attention and winning the favor of an audience, gives the preacher a vantage ground at the outset and wins half the battle before the real struggle begins. It should never be left to the spur of the moment, but it should be carefully studied as, an outgrowth of the sermon; for though, like a preface to a book, it comes first to others it often comes last to yourself.

Good introductions are more common than good conclusions. How often we have heard sermons which moved on steadily and impressively until near the close, and then struggled as if sinking in the mire. We could see just how far the preacher had made careful preparation, and as soon as he passed that limit we could see that he began to flounder. Perhaps we have been that preacher (who of us has not?) and can remember how we beat about for a landing place and could not find it, – how we felt every moment that our sermon was being whittled down to the little end of nothing, though we struggled with might and main to give it a better ending. All this is the result of defective preparation. We stopped preparing before we got through and as a consequence we got through the sermon before we quit speaking. To avoid this disaster, which sometimes sends a man home, feeling as if he never had preached and never could, we must be careful to fix upon a conclusion and to prepare it thoroughly.

This should be done also for two other reasons. First, it is the beginning and the end of the sermon which are most distinctly remembered by the average hearer. When he has forgotten everything else that was said, he remembers these. Second, it gives greater power and case to the preacher himself all through the sermon. His conclusion, if a good one, contains in the concentrated form an earnest appeal, the practical aim of the entire discourse. Everything he says is aimed at it, and he approaches it at every step. He knows his landing place and he feels increasing strength as he advances toward it. It animates him from the beginning and it lifts him high when he reaches it. His hearers must be hard of heart if he does not lift them with him.

In all that I have said on the subject of special preparation, I refer to preparation for preaching, not for writing. If a man, after thus preparing to preach a sermon concludes to commit it to writing, either before or after delivering it, he does well, provided he does so not for the purpose of reading it to an audience, or of printing it, or of committing it to memory and reciting it. There is a great difference between preaching and reciting a memorized sermon. The former is a living thing, the latter is a machine. There is a still greater difference between preaching and reading a sermon. When the reading is real reading, as when one reads a book, it is a tame affair in the pulpit. When it is not real reading, but a kind of make believe in which the speaker half reads, half recites and tries to convince the audience by gesticulating and posturing, and hiding his manuscript, that he is preaching, the performance is a farce, and the people would laugh it out of countenance were it not for the solemn service with which it is connected.

System In Study

There are some preachers who read a great deal and do some studying, but never reach proportionate attainments because of a want of system. There are many others, who for the same reason never find time for much reading or study, and who consequently make but little growth. The only way to accomplish much in this bustling and distracting world, whatever be our line of work, is to work in a systematic way – to have a time for everything, and to do everything in its time.

Preachers who are moving about from church to church, and from house to house engaged in protracted meetings or missionary work, are apt to imagine that they have no time for study. But it is entirely practicable for them to spend some hours almost every day at a particular time of day in hard study, if they will. It requires only a little resolution and a polite apology to the friends who would otherwise expect your company, and who would perhaps be glad at times to be rid of entertaining you.

System in study requires much more than the mere appropriation of regular hours to study. It requires the steady prosecution of selected lines of study, and the proper distribution of our time between these. It is not well to give our whole time for any considerable period to one line of study; nor must we divide it between too many. The study of the Scriptures should occupy a fixed part of every day. If one devotes but a single hour every day to the study of the Scriptures historically, or by books, or topically, and shall compute how much this will amount to in a year, he will be astonished at the result. In the course of a lifetime it would make him intimately acquainted with every part of the Bible. And besides the study for mere knowledge, he should give another part of every. day to devotional study. Should a man take time to only commit to memory a single verse of a Psalm and meditate upon it every day, in the course of a year he would commit at least twenty Psalms, and he would have all of them in about seven years. I mention these small figures, not because a preacher should be content with them, but to show by the results of a little systematic study that more can be accomplished than those who lack system are apt to imagine.

As preaching is the preacher’s business, the special study of sermons should of course occupy just so much of his time as is necessary to the very best preaching of which he is capable. It cannot occupy all of his time, because the general lines of study which we have marked out are necessary for the accumulation of material on which to expend the special study of sermons; but the most pressing demand upon the preacher’s time, and the demand which must at all hazards be met, is that which is made by the preparation of sermons.

Give me a man of ordinary talents and earnest piety, who steadily and perseveringly through life pursues such a system of study as I have marked out, and I will show you a preacher who will always be sought after by churches that have him not; who will never leave a community except against its protest; who will count his converts by the thousands, if he lives long; who will count in still larger numbers the struggling souls whom he shall have helped on their heaven-ward way, and who will finally bring an abundance of sheaves into the eternal granary.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 8, pp. 234-235
April 19, 1984

By Larry Ray Hafley

The Bible does not state that Noah used hammers, saws and axes in the construction of the ark. However, such instruments were authorized by the command, “Make thee an ark” (Gen. 6:14). Without the instruction to build the ark, the tools would have been without justification.

The Bible does not mention church buildings per se. However, they are scriptural because of the authority to assemble (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:18; Heb. 10:25). Without the authority to assemble, church buildings would be without divine authority.

The Bible does not refer to song books. However, they are authorized by the command to sing (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). They are aids to carry out the divine direction to “sing and make melody in your heart.” Without the authority to sing, songbooks would be unscriptural.

The Bible does not talk about chalk boards or overhead projectors. However, they are approved by the authority to teach (Matt. 28:19,20). They assist in doing what New Testament churches did; namely, teach (Acts 11:22-26). Without the authority to teach, projectors and boards would be contrary to scripture.

The Bible does not say anything about collection baskets. However, they are authorized by the command to “lay by in store” (1 Cor. 16:2). Without the authority for a contribution, collection trays would be unauthorized.

The Bible does not mention plates on which to serve the bread of the Lord’s supper. However, they are authorized by the command to “take, eat” (1 Cor. 11:24). Were there no communion, the plates would not be scriptural.

The Bible does not specifically cite a baptistry, an artificial pool in which baptism is performed. However, the command to baptize authorizes a place to baptize. Without the right to baptize, a baptistry would be iniquitous, lawless (cf. Matt. 7:21-23).

The Bible does not directly mention pianos and organs. However, such mechanical instruments of music are authorized by the command to “play music.” Without the authority to play on material, mechanical instruments, pianos and organs would be unscriptural. Wait a minute! There is no New Testament authority to “play music!” Therefore, pianos and organs are not aids to do the work of God, They are unscriptural additions to the word of God.

The Bible does not list items necessary to play games bats, balls, courts, gyms, etc. However, they are justified by the command to “minister to the needs of the whole man,” to provide recreation “for our young people.” Without those duties, ping pong tables and recreation rooms would be unscriptural. Wait another minute! There is no New Testament authority for the church to promote and provide recreation and entertainment. Therefore, “family life centers” (gyms and game rooms) are not approved of God. They are unscriptural.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 8, p. 244
April 19, 1984