Truth Magazine

By Wayne S. Walker

We face a number of crises in the world and in the church today. Some of these involve drug abuse, atheism, immorality, false religion. etc, But the one which I believe is causing the most problem in the Lord’s body is lethargy, carelessness, indifference, and negligence. And I believe the answer to the problem can be found in the story of Nehemiah. The people of Israel had been led by God out of Egyptian slavery into the promised land of Canaan. However, over a period of many years, they rebelled against God and were finally allowed by Him to be taken into captivity. When they repented, after seventy years they were allowed to return to Jerusalem. Not all of them went; many like Nehemiah stayed in the places where they were sent when taken captive. But even though Nehemiah was not among those who had gone back, he was still a part of God’s nation. What does Nehemiah’s example teach us?

I. He was concerned. Hanani and certain men of Judah came to Shushan in Persia where Nehemiah lived. Nehemiah asked them how things were in Jerusalem. He could have said, “They took that restoration business on themselves – let them worry about it. I’m the king”s cupbearer, I attend synagogue once a week. I’m a pretty good fellow. So I don’t need to get involved.” But he was concerned enough about the situation to ask. The report was that things were in a mess. Again, Nehemiah could have Said, “You knew there would be problems and hard times. So don’t come crying to me. I’ve got my own duties here in Shushan to worry about so don’t bother me.” But Nehemiah was concerned enough to weep.

Nehemiah could have been very complacent, but he was concerned. How many of us are truly concerned with the work of the Lord. We are commanded to preach everywhere (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16; Lk. 24:47). One example of this is Paul’s response to the Macedonian call (Acts 16:9-10). We cannot all go like this, but we should be concerned with those that do. And most of all, we need to be concerned about lost souls wherever they are (Matt. 9:36-38). “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26).

II. He was prayerful. When Nehemiah heard this report, a conflict arose in his mind. He didn’t know what to do. So he asked God about it. In his prayer, he recognized the sins of his people and sought wisdom and guidance in making his decision. What about us today? Do we pray when we have troubles and conflicts (Phil. 4:6-7; Heb. 4:15-16; Jas. 5:13)? “Oh, what peace we often forfeit; Oh, what needless pain we bear; All because we do not carry, Everything to God in prayer. ” Do we pray in humility, confessing our sins (Jas. 5:16; 1 Jn. 1:9)? “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1 Pet. 3:12). Do we ask God for wisdom and guidance (Jas. 1:5)? Solomon did in I Kings 3:9-14.

III. He was bold. Nehemiah needed something to do God’s will, he asked for it (with God’s help), and he received it. Another example of such boldness is Esther. Read the story in Esther 4-5. She knew the plight of her people. Mordecai convinced her that she needed to act. She did, and was instrumental in saving God’s chosen race. We also need to be bold. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus … Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water”. (Heb. 10: 19-22). Why can we be so bold? It is because God has promised to hear and answer our prayers (Matt. 7:7-11; 1 Jn. 5:24-25).

IV. He counted the cost. Nehemiah was so zealous to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem that he got up in the middle of the night, viewed the dilapidation of the city, and surveyed what needed to be done. We need to “count the cost” (Lk. 14:28-30). No man should attempt to become a Christian or do the work of Christ unless he first has some understanding of what is involved. Christianity involves many things. We must make a full-sacrifice (Matt. 16:24). We must not conform to the world (Rom. 12:1-2). We must observe strict obedience to Christ’s commands (Jn. 14:15). For those who really love the Lord, these things will make for a happy life. But if one does not want to do these things, he had better count the cost of being a Christian lest he involve himself in something he really does not want.

V. He was willing to work. Nehemiah had seen what needed to be done and he decided to do it. He said, “Come, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem.” In fact, he was so enthusiastic that he aroused the people and thus encouraged them to say, “Let us rise up and build.” Christianity is a working religion. Why should we work? First, we work to express our faith (Jas. 2:17-26). Next, we work to serve and please God (Eph. 2:8-10; Tit. 2:14). Then, we work to follow the example of Christ (Jn. 9:4). One who thus works can take great comfort in the promise of Paul, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).

VI. He trusted in God. Nehemiah did not allow the scorn and mocking of his enemies to discourage him. He know that God would prosper the work he was doing. David trusted in God throughout his life. He said, “The Lord is my shepherd” (Psa. 23). Jesus exhorted us to trust in God and not be anxious about the problems and cares of this life (Matt. 6:25-34). Yea, Christians need to put their trust in God. “For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe” (1 Tim. 4:10). As Christians, if we are truly concerned about the Lord’s cause, come before Him in prayer with boldness, count the cost of working for the Lord, and put our trust solely in Him, He promises to help, bless, and prosper us just as He did Nehemiah.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 4, p. 113-114
February 16, 1984

By Denny Diehl

For many years I was under the false impression that the main thrust of Matthew 28:19-20 was “Go.” I saw charts of the commandment to “Go,” but Jesus didn’t say how we were to “Go,” therefore, we could go by whatever means were available to us. Even though I agree with the conclusion, I believe that a disservice has happened in misdirecting our attention in that important direction of Jesus. “Go” is not the main idea but is only a participle, a subordinate to the main thought of the sentence, as the following original translation will show:

“Therefore, after you have gone, disciple all the nations, while you are baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and while you are teaching them to obey everything which I have commanded you . . .”

We notice that the main thrust is not going, baptizing or teaching, but, after having gone, and while baptizing and teaching, Jesus in all of this is saying make sure that you make disciples. Making disciples is the goal that we need to strive for ultimately.

The usual definition of a disciple is that he is a learner. It is usually used in a teacher-pupil relationship with the pupil, obviously, being the disciple, learning from the teacher. Jesus said, “A pupil is not above his teacher…” (Luke 6:40, NASB). The word translated “pupil” is mathetes, the word usually translated “disciple.” But for our relationship to Jesus, this understanding of disciple as one who is just a learner is shallow and inadequate. I have been a student for many years. I have learned many things from many teachers, but my relationship to those teachers is different than the one I am to have with Jesus. Therein lies the basic difference between being a disciple and a learner.

We notice in the rest of the verse of Luke 6:40 the true and full meaning of being a disciple of Jesus. “A pupil (disciple) is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.”

Our purpose then for being a disciple of Jesus is not just to learn things about Jesus or about the Bible, but our purpose is to use the things that we have learned to become like Christ. Notice other Scriptures that bear this thought:

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the imagine of His Son . . .” (Rom. 8:29 NASB); conformed to the likeness of His Son . . .” (NIV).

“But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image . . .” (2 Cor. 3:18).

“My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you” (Gal. 4:19).

When Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20 to make disciples as a number one priority, what did He mean? When we are baptizing and teaching, make sure that those two avenues are used to make the individual into the likeness of Christ. Baptism and teaching are of no usefulness unless Christ, through those mediums, is being formed in the individual.

When a person is being baptized, he is to understand the very important significance of what he is doing. He is not just “joining a church,” etc., but he is spiritually crucifying the old self with Christ to be raised up a new creature (cf. Rom. 6:4-6; Gal. 2:20).

When a person is being taught, he is to understand the significance of the purpose of those things being presented to him. They are to be used to change his being into the likeness of Christ.

How can we teach with discipleship in mind? Put the emphasis not on knowing but on doing. One teacher related to me how that she was teaching her class a Scripture which said ‘ “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone” and “if your enemy is hungry, feed him” (Rom. 12:17-20). She put the emphasis upon doing, not just learning. The next week the class came together, and she asked them how that passage of Scripture had changed them, if indeed it had. One little girl said that during the week her brother was being mean to her, teasing her, etc. The teacher asked what she had done about it. The girl replied that she had baked him a batch of cookies!

We are not just to know Scripture, but to allow it to change and form our lives. As James says, “But prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James.1:22).

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 4, p. 112
February 16, 1984

By Luther W. Martin

The Christians at Thessalonica, were quite concerned as to the time or imminence of the coming of Christ . . . . the “Day of the Lord”. The Apostle Paul assured them by writing:

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the failing away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that, is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders. . . . (2 Thess. 2:3-9)

Let us list the salient points in the above quotation:

(1) Coming of the “Day of the Lord,” the second coming of Christ.

(2) An apostasy, a “falling away” must precede Christ’s coming.

(3) The “man of sin” will be revealed, termed the “son of perdition.”

(a) He opposes all that is called “God” or that is worshiped.

(b) He exalts himself above all that is called “God” or that is worshiped.

(c) He sits as God, in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

(4) Paul had told the Thessalonian Christians this, while he was yet with them.

(5) Paul referred to that which restrained the manifestation of the “Man of Sin” until he would be “revealed in his own time.”

(6) This “Mystery of lawlessness” or “Mystery of iniquity” was already at work in Paul’s time.

(7) The “restrainer” is referred to as “He,” and ultimately the “Man of Sin” will be “taken out of the way.”

(8) The “lawless one” will be revealed.

(a) Whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth.

(b) The Lord will destroy with the brightness of His coming.

(9) The coming or appearing of the “lawless one” accords with the work of Satan, using power, signs and lying wonders.

Notes and Comments On The Above Salient Points

The time of Christ’s return in the clouds of the air, is known only by God, the Father. In almost every generation, men have wrongly speculated as to the date or time of Christ’s coming. (See Mark 13:32.)

The “falling away” has been many different things to many different people, depending upon who they were and where they were. In the early centuries after the establishment of the Lord’s church in Jerusalem (A.D. 33), there were some who opined that the “falling away” would be spear-headed by Judaism, that the leader would be Jewish and in some way would influence Jewish-Christians back into the Jewish religion. Others thought of Mohammed (570-632 A.D.), the founder of the Mohammedan Religion. He was an Arabian military and religious leader, his followers today are usually called “Moslems”.

In the 13th century, the Roman Catholic Church instituted the Inquisition, sometimes termed the “Holy Office,” and is now called the “Congregation of the Holy Office.” This “Inquisition” was a court or tribunal for the discovery, examination, and punishment of heretics. The Spanish Inquisition was probably the most severe of these tribunals, existing from 1237 A.D., until it was abolished in 1834. It became so vicious, that it was placed under state control in 1480. However, since the “State” was frequently dominated by the Catholic Church, it continued to be an instrument of terror and abuse. Many people were crippled and slain in the name of the “Holy Office.” Therefore, it was not unexpected that the Reformers thought of the “Man of Sin” as being the Papal Office. From the time of Martin Luther onward, those who were called “Protestants” defined the “falling away” from the New Testament church as being Catholicism, with the Roman Pope heading the apostasy.

Other Statements By The Apostle Paul

Luke recorded this passage, but was quoting Paul, as the Apostle was speaking to the bishops (elders) of the church of Ephesus:

Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, over which the Holy spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after themselves (Acts 20:28-30).

In this instance, the Apostle Paul was foretelling what was going to befall the-church at Ephesus, and possibly other congregations. There would be those from outside the church who would invade it and be as wolves in a flock of sheep. Then, also, there would be men from among the bishops or overseers, who would attempt to introduce false teachings and practices, and thus cause some disciples to “fall away.” This prophecy from an inspired apostle, came to pass, first in the Greek Church, and later in the Roman Catholic Church.

In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he also expresses a prophecy:

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. . . . men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth (1 Tim. 4:1, 3).

In this instance, those who have “fallen away” will have responded to those false teachers who forbid marriage, and teach abstinence from certain foods. This peculiar identifying characteristic is most common to Roman Catholicism.

Statements By The Apostle John

The elderly Apostle John was exiled to the island of Patmos, before he died. In his last years, by inspiration he penned some warnings to the faithful among the congregations:

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest that none of them were of us (1 John 2:18-19).

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and even now it is Already in the world (1 John 4:1-3).

For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist (2 John 7).

Statement by Jude, The Lord’s Brother

The brothers of Christ, are named by Matthew (13:55): James, Joses, Simon and Judas. It is thought that the Epistle of Jude was written by this brother of the Lord. In any event, it records:

Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 3-4).

Emperor Constantine of the Roman Empire

Concerning the decision of the Synod, of Arles (314 A.D.), Constantine called a decree of Arles “a heavenly judgment.” Then he added: “the judgment of the priests ought to be so received as though the Lord Himself sat and judged.” Some twenty years later, Constantine stated: “What seemed good to the-three hundred holy bishops (that is,-the members of the Nicene Synod) is no otherwise to be thought of than as the judgment of the only Son of God” (Underscoring mine, LWM).

Bishop Gregory of Rome Venus John The Faster-of Constantinople

The Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.) had offered the title of “Universal Bishop” to the Bishop of Rome, as an honor to the memory of the Apostle Peter, who was supposedly martyred at Rome. But according to Bishop Gregory I, none of the Roman bishops had utilized that title. Therefore, when Emperor Maurice tendered the title of “Universal Patriarch” to John the Faster of Constantinople, Bishop Pelagius If and his successor, Bishop Gregory I, protested against the assumption of such a title. Gregory wrote several letters, but his most out-spoken one was directed to the Emperor:

I pray your Imperial Piety, to observe ttiat there are some frivolous things that are inoffensive, but also some others that are very hurtful. When Antichrist shall come and call himself God, it will be in itself a perfectly frivolous thing, but a very pernicious one. If we only choose to consider the number of syllables in this word, we find but two, (De-us;) but if we conceive the weight of iniquity of this title, we shall rind it enormous. I say it without the least hesiiation, whoever calls himself the universal bishop, or desires this title, is, by his pride, The Precursor Of Antichrist, because he thus attempts to raise himself above the others. The error into which he falls springs from pride equal to that of Antichrist; for as that Wicked One wished to be regarded as exalted above other men, like a God, so likewise whoever would be called sole bishop exalteth himself above others.

In 1883 A.D., A Catholic Priest, W.J. Wiseman, wrote in 77te Pastor, a publication for Catholic Priests: “The saints never questioned curiously as to the fallibility or infallibility of the Holy See, in regard to Papal documents. It was eiiou$h for them to know that the Pope, whether Clement or Gregory, Pius or Leo, was in the place of Peter; that his hand held the tiller, and that, according to the promise, Christ is with the successor of the Fisherman, directing and assisting. The Encyclical of September (1882) may be a document outside the reach of infallibility, but it is the voice of our great captain, directing which way to head the bark of Peter, – the voice of Peter, – of the Lord Himself through his vice-gerent on earth. . .”

Conclusion

Wherefore, according to this relatively modern Catholic priest, the voice of the Pope is the voice of the Lord, Himself.

It appears to me that the Pope seats himself in what is claimed to be the temple of God, and that he asserts himself to be the voice of God, thus supposedly expressing the very thoughts of God. Such blasphemy! But, one would expect that of the Anti-Christ!

Guardian of Truth XXVIII; 4, pp. 109-111
February 16, 1984

By Earl E. Robertson

Since the garden of Eden there has been a constant conflict between truth and error, between God and the devil, between right and wrong. One would think the wonderful opportunities granted man-kind would have, through the intervening centuries, produced some kind of change in this matter. But not so! God, His word, His character, all remain diametrically opposed to Satan and his nefarious efforts, both in the moral and spiritual realms. Neither God nor Satan are here personally engaged in such conflict; rather, the emissaries of both are doing battle. True teachers of moral and spiritual truth are engaged in battle against error in these realms.

Let us illustrate this matter. James says, “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). Can any responsible man read this sentence and not comprehend it? Yet, in the face of this plain declaration of truth (or is the Bible true, preachers?), Article Nine of the Discipline (a book written by a number of religious guides) says, “We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.” The conflict in the garden of Eden was no sharper drawn than these two statements – one by the Holy Spirit and the other by man. Any one can see that James 2:24 and Article Nine do not agree! How can one, capable of reading with comprehension, so stultify conscience and potentiality with such an absurd, inconsistent position? A religious guide who thus accepts such a position in full rejection of the word of God is untrustworthy as a teacher! He could just as easily oppose any other and all other statements of God in like fashion.

The average man of the street knows that Jesus says, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,” and he knows this faith requires action ~ that is, obedience to God. This is why James says salvation is not by faith only -the preachers to the contrary, notwithstanding. Ask your preacher just why he preaches Article Nine rather than what God says through the writer James. See how forthright he will be with you.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 4, p. 109
February 16, 1984