Truth Magazine

By Bob Dodson

As we continue the “Great-Test” Examination, when we stand before Christ in Judgment (2 Cor. 5: 10-11) this is the examination that we “must” have taken and passed by God’s mercy and grace (Tit. 3:3-8). Let us answer with our Bibles these “negative” questions that deserve our undivided attention. Again, let us remember that the “interrogator” is Jehovah, and He is “witness” to our every word and deed and thought (Prov. 15:3). Remember we must be truthful with God if we really care what our eternal destiny shall be . . .

Greatest Restraint

Are you buffeting your body daily in order to not become a cast-away (1 Cor. 9:27), and preserve it consecrated unto God (1 Cor. 6:13; 2 Cor. 7: 1)? Do you abstain from fleshly ‘lusts that “war” against your soul (1 Pet. 2:11)7 Are you daily laying aside the “old man” (Col. 3:5-9), and crucifying him with his affections and lusts (Gal. 5:24)? God mentions Christians whose eyes are full of adultery and who cannot cease from sin (2 Pet. 2:14), because they will not bridle their passions and evil desires (Jas. 1: 13-15). You can restrain yourself from every habit which “enslaves” you (2 Pet. 2:18-19), which harms your godly influence, or tears down your tabernacle of flesh (1 Thess. 5:23). The secret is allowing Christ to strengthen you to resist (Phil. 4:13; Jas. 4:4- 10). Are you saying Get behind me Satan and push, or “leave me alone” and let me adore my Savior?

Greatest Deception

Have you become a “stumbling block” unto your neighbors and friends and family (1 Cor. 8:9)? You have deceived yourself into thinking that “all is well with my soul” (Psa. 10:6-11), and many are following your pernicious pathways (2 Pet. 2:1-2) all the way to damnation (2 Pet. 2:9). Satan has blinders of prejudice (Jas. 2:9) over your eyes so that you do not “walk by faith” (2 Cor. 5:7) as you should. Walking in darkness you are vulnerable to every venomous bite of the Serpent (Gen. 31:1-6). You may be injecting this soul-poison into your brethren or acquaintances by your “indifference” and callous attitude about “spiritual matters” (Rev. 3:4-20). By teaching false doctrine we throw a rock of stumbling that can cause our friends and loved ones serious injury or death (Matt. 7:15-20; Acts 20:29-3 1). Often times we pat ourselves on the back and say “What a good boy am I,” while we stab our brethren with serpent-like tongues (Gal. 5:15; 1 Pet. 4:15). “Be not deceived” (Gal. 6:7)! Stop trying to mock God for you are only making a “fool” out of yourself (Matt. 7:24-27). Is it truly “well” with your soul, or would an examination by the great Physician point out that “drastic” surgery is necessary to remove diseased organs of the inner man (2 Cor. 7: 1; Rom. 7:22)? Are you deceiving yourself that “all” is well?

Greatest Mistake

To reject the gospel of Christ and turn your ear away from Him who speaks from heaven is absolute folly (Heb. 12:25). Living without God is tragic, but dying without Him is worse (Phil. 1:20-21). How many do you know who heard the gospel multiplied times and were granted golden moments to respond to the sweet invitation of Christ (Matt. 11:28-30), but procrastinated? This thief not only stole their time, but their soul (2 Cor. 6:2). Felix tremblingly made this “mistake” (Acts 24:24-29). Throughout eternity he shall have time to ponder about how he “shipwrecked” his opportunities to be saved (Acts 26:28), as well as will Agrippa. Are you making this mistake? Is it one that can never be erased “if you die in your sins” (John 8:21). Truly the cries of the lost for all eternity “I was wrong for waiting and now I am sorry” will fall upon the deaf ears of God (Rev. 14: 10-11; 21:8). Are you making the mistake of thinking that you will obey the gospel tomorrow (Jas. 4:15)?

Greatest Sorrow

Have you been born again through obedience to the gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:16-17; John 3:5), and have become en tangled again in the affairs of this life (2 Pet. 2:20-22)? Are you feasting upon the vomit of corruption (2 Pet. 1:4) from whence Christ has redeemed you? Have you once tasted of the “heavenly gift” (Rom. 6:23) and gone back into indulgence of the filth of Satan’s world (Heb. 6:4-6)? If so, you will experience the most terrible sorrow of all in eternity, for you will reflect on the fact that you once ate from the Father’s table as an honored Son (Gal. 4:6). Haunting you relentlessly throughout endless ages of torment will be the thought that “I was on my way to the glorious city of God” (Matt. 7:13-14), but the attractions of “Broadway” lured and enticed me away. The sorrow of the “ex” child of God will be overwhelming in contrast to those who never obeyed the gospel of Christ (Rom. 2:8-9). Like a demon this thought will vex his conscious awareness while he suffers horrible torture in a merciless hell inhabited by the Devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). It is my prayer that every wayward child of God comes back to the Father of forgiveness through repentance and prayer (2 Cor. 7: 10; Acts 8:22). Unspeakable horror awaits the child of God who dies in rebellion and disobedience (Rev. 22:15; Mark 9:43-48). Are you “fallen” from God presently?

Greatest Punishment

The nightmarish torment that awaits sinners defies description (Rev. 14: 10-11) for it is the wrath of ‘Almighty God poured out without mixture (full potency). Eternal fire that can never be quenched that burns so deeply that both body and soul are able to feel the searing bite of the flames (Matt. 10:28). The sinner will not just be tormented in flames, but will hear agonizing cries (Matt. 25:30) of others helplessly being devoured eternally by God’s anger. His nostrils will be filled with the “odor” of seared beings as they grapple with demons (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:15). Are you serving Satan for the reward he offers? If so then you have proven yourself the greatest failure. Your score is 0 (nothing). You have lost everything that is worth anything (Matt. 16:24-26)! Are you seeking to be successful in God’s eyes? If so, you can escape the “greatest punishment.”

Greatest Adversary

Satan the Devil is the worst adversary of man, but most people are befriending him while he is destroying them (Eph. 2:1-3). If you have not been honest with God and yourself while taking this test, Satan has deceived you, and you have become your own worst enemy. Lying to any question only compounds your sins before God, and cements your doom. This “examination” has been submitted to accomplish what Christ desired by the mouth of Paul (2 Tim. 2:2426). If after taking this test you see that you actually oppose yourself, please repent (Matt. 21:28-32) and become your own best friend and God’s ally.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 8, pp. 239-240
April 19, 1984

By Carol R. Lumplin

There is more misunderstanding about “baptism,” than perhaps any other New Testament subject. A great deal of this is due to the disregard for what the New Testament plainly teaches. Paul wrote, “there is one baptism,” (Eph. 4:5). Since there is one baptism, it would rule out (1) John’s baptism, which ended when Christ died upon the cross (Col. 2:14); (2) Holy Spirit baptism, which is found only in Acts 2 upon the apostles and in Acts 10 upon the household of Cornelius; (3) fire baptism, which is yet to come upon those who know not God and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 1:7-9). This one baptism is the one which Jesus commissioned His apostles to perform (Matt. 28:19).

The apostles were directed and controlled by the Holy Spirit in what they could teach and bind upon people in religion (Matt. 16:19; 18:18). The Holy Spirit directed the apostles in all truth (Jn. 16:13). Since they were directed in all truth, we are confined in our understanding of “baptism, ” to what they have given to us in the New Testament.

Paul said, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Col. 3:17). “In the name of the Lord Jesus” means by His authority. The Lord has spoken on the subject of “baptism.” The book has been finished; no additional word will be forth coming (cf. Heb. 9:16-17). Honest and concerned people will open “the will of the Lord,” and there determine the “all” about “baptism.”

Baptized by the authority of Jesus Christ into the name of Jesus Christ. Peter commanded the believing Jews to, “repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins . . . ” (Acts 2:38). Peter was binding God’s law (Matt. 16:19) upon the Jews, with all the authority of Jesus Christ supporting him. Philip taught the same fixed authority to men and women in Samaria, who were baptized (Acts 8:12). Other accounts of the authority of Jesus Christ are expressed in (1) the conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10:47-48) and in (2) the conversion of the Ephesians (Acts 19:1-5).

Baptized into the likeness of the death of Jesus Christ. “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For we have been planted together in the likeness of his death . . . ” (Rom. 6:4-5).

Baptized into Jesus Christ. “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” (Rom. 6:3).

Since, we have the authority of Jesus Christ to bind what soever the inspired apostles and writers have taught us in the New Testament, then are we not also bound by what our Lord said about baptism in His ,commission to the apostles? He said, “All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of ‘the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:18-19). The authority of Jesus Christ (in His name) instructed the apostles to baptize those taught into “the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” When a sinner is baptized “in the name of the Son,” to the exclusion of the Father and of the Holy Spirit, is he baptized according to the authority of Jesus Christ? He either is, or he is not.

I firmly believe those of us who baptize people; when baptizing, should use the language of Jesus Christ. If not, then why did the Holy Spirit direct the apostles to do this? Just some food for thought.

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

By Michael L. DuBose

Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? Wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land they know not? 0 earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah (Jer. 22:28-30).

The prophet Jeremiah said that none of Coniah’s descendants would ever prosper while sitting upon David’s throne in Jerusalem. Christ is a descendant of Coniah. In Matthew’s listing of the genealogy of Christ, Jechoniah, who was carried away into Babylonian captivity, and Coniah are the same man (see Mt. 1: 11, 12). Thus, according to Jeremiah’s prophecy, Christ of the seed of Coniah, could not reign upon David’s throne while upon the earth. This effectively destroys the premillennial doctrine of a literal thousand year reign of Christ on earth.

Usually, in order to try and circumvent the clear implications of these passages, premillennialists will argue that Matthew recorded Joseph’s lineage. Since Christ is not a fleshly descendant of Joseph, they contend that Jeremiah’s prophecy does not apply and they have done away with the contradiction between the word of God and their doctrine.

Luke, however, also records the genealogy of Christ, but on Mary’s side of the family. Notice a couple of names that are common to both records. In Matthew 1: 12-13 and Luke 3:27, the names Shealtiel and Zerubbabel appear. These are not four different men with the same names, but the same two men in both accounts. The families of Nathan and Solomon unite in Shealtiel. Thus, Christ is a descendant of Coniah on both sides of the family and according to Jeremiah, he could not rule upon an earthly throne.

Some see a contradiction in the fact that Shealtiel is called the son of Jechoniah in Matthew’s lineage and the son of Ned in Luke’s record. These discrepancies can be easily harmonized, however. In the listing of David’s descendants recorded in I Chronicles 3, Shealtiel is listed as the son of Jechoniah and Zerubbabel is listed as the son of Pedaiah (1 Chron. 3:16-19). It seems probable that Shealtiel was actually the grandson of Jechoniah either by his daughter and Neri, who was also a descendant of David through Nathan (see Lk. 3:27; 1 Chron. 3:5) or that Shealtiel was a great grandson of Jechoniah through Assir (1 Chron. 3:17) who died leaving a daughter but no sons. The inheritance was to pass to the daughter of a man who died having no sons (Num. 27:1-8), but the daughter was required to marry one who was of the same tribe as her father so that the inheritance would not be moved from tribe to tribe (Num. 36:8-12). In either case, Shealtiel would be the legitimate heir to the throne, but he never reigned because of the captivity.

If Shealtiel died, leaving no descendants, then his brother was obligated by the law to raise up seed to his name (Deut. 25:510). Thus, Pedaiah (the brother of Shealtiel and grandson of Jechoniah, 1 Chron. 3:18), took his brother’s widow and raised up Zerubbabel as seed to Shealtiel. Zerubbabel, then, would become the heir.

Whether one accept the above reasoning or not, Christ is still proven to be the descendant of Coniah by the Scriptures. He, therefore, can not reign on David’s throne while upon earth.

Nathan’s prophecy to David also shows that the Messiah would be a descendant of David through Solomon, thus through Coniah. In 2 Samuel 7:12-16, Nathan told David that his son would be allowed to build a house for the Lord and that this son would reign upon the throne of David his father forever. Solomon is the son under consideration in Nathan’s prophecy. He ascended to his father’s throne and he was allowed to build a house for God (1 Kings 5:5). But Solomon is not now reigning on David’s throne. Obviously, that part of the prophecy which speaks of David’s son reigning forever has reference to Christ. He was to reign upon David’s throne forever. But remember, we have established from Jeremiah’s prophecy, that Christ, who is a descendant of Coniah, can not rule on David’s throne while upon earth. Christ reign must be spiritual or heavenly, then.

This is exactly what Peter said in his sermon on the day of Pentecost. He told the audience gathered in Jerusalem, “Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ . . .” (Acts 2:30-31). The sitting on David’s throne was a reference to the resurrection of Christ and His ascension into heaven to sit at God’s right hand to rule over His church (Acts 2:32-36).

The premillennial doctrine of the thousand year earthly reign of Christ clearly contradicts these Bible passages and in these verses, there is a problem which the premillennialist can not answer.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 8, p. 243
April 19, 1984

By Don Givens

There is no more wonderful service than to impart saving truth, Lost sinners must know the truth and the truth can make them free. Our Savior commanded, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel” so that creatures could hear, believe, respond in repentance and baptism and be saved (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15,16).

It is clearly seen then, that the preaching of the word “publicly and from house to house” is of utmost importance (Acts 20:20). Every disciple of the Lord is to spread the glad tidings of salvation. Who is not thrilled to share such tremendous news? The gospel is “glad tidings” (Luke 2:10,11). As the angel said, it is truly “good tidings of great joy.”

The disciples who were driven out of Jerusalem waited for no instructions, no organized personal work program, or human clergy “ordinations,” but “went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). We desperately need the attitude of Paul when he proclaimed, “Woe is me, if I preach not the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16).

As one preaches and teaches the word, he must have a life consistent with the content of the gospel he proclaims. In other words, do not ruin what you say by how you live! Zealous, righteous, and blameless character must fortify the oral lessons of the teacher.

The evangelist Paul told the younger evangelist Timothy to “preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). It is the Word that is to be preached, not your opinions, not your surmissings, and not “the ways that seem right unto men” (Prov. 14:12). Carefully note that the apostle commands us to be longsuffering. Too many teachers are short-sufferers.

Preach the sufficiency and inspiration ‘ of the Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16,17). Cater not to the worldly wisdom of the crafty fools (1 Cor. 3:18-21).

With the rock of Truth hurled from the sling of faith, you can smite unbelief as it parades in modern society under the guise of “sophistication.” Swallow not the bait of the devil which says that only the ignoramus believes the Bible and only the weak-minded need the faith. Show the people that the nice, pretty baits of pleasure, power, and profit only hide the hooks of damnation, destruction, and doom.

Preach repentance from sin, rather than making apologies for it. Firmly declare, with love for souls, that the sinner must repent or perish in hell (2 Pet. 3:9; Rev. 21:8). Remember that men laugh at sin instead of turning from it. They toy with it instead of hating it. Although men may joke about hell, there will be no joking in hell. Teach men to hate sin as much as they hate the hell to which it leads. Even though some have eliminated hell from their doctrinal belief, it has not been eliminated from God’s Word.

Rebuke sin wherever and in whomever it is found, and start with yourself . Be courageous enough to identify sin as wickedness in all of its filthiness and putridness, even though it be found in your best friend as well as your worst enemy. In all these rebukes remember that “the Lord’s servant must not strive, but be gentle towards all, apt to teach, forbearing, in meekness correcting them that oppose themselves” (2 Tim. 2:24,25) and “in all things showing thyself an ensample of good works” (Tit. 2:7).

Be just as broad as the Scriptures. Be just as narrow as the Scriptures. Study the sermons of Peter, Paul, Stephen, but especially those of Jesus. Think not that you can have “better manners” than the apostles. Denounce riotous living; expose the grimy hog pens of sin; and as you do so offer the amazing grace of the Heavenly Father to the returning prodigal.

As you preach the Word remember that your greatest wage and your best pay is the approval of the Lord and the glory brought to God. No wage is so satisfying as the peace and joy you will have knowing that you are laboring together with God (1 Cor. 15:58).

Do not expect overwhelming gratitude from people you serve. Truly, you are serving the Lord. About ninety percent of the good you do in this life, you will not know about in this life! Therefore, do not teach the saving truth just when you can see “visible results.” Much good that you do will not be “visible” to you. Remember that the prophets of God have always been on the receiving end of more “mud” than “medals,” and more bricks than bouquets.

When humiliated by a seeming failure, the Lord will halve your burden by helping you bear your disappointment. When you are elated with success, God will double your joy by sharing it.

As many faithful preachers and teachers of the precious Word have said before: “Preach sin horrible, death inevitable, judgment certain, hell hot, eternity never ending, and heaven beautiful.”

Preach the saving truth! Spread the good news! Go, and may God be with thee.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 8, p. 230
April 19, 1984