Truth Magazine

By Dick Poplin

During the War Between the States, General Braxton Bragg’s Confederate Army won a decisive victory at Perryville, Kentucky, in October of 1862 over the Union forces, but instead of holding his ground or advancing against his adversary, Bragg chose to withdraw to Tennessee which, he seemed to think, could more easily be held. The end of the year found Bragg facing Union General Rosecrans at Murfreesboro, and the battle that followed again was counted as a victory for the South. But again Bragg retreated to make his stand on the line of Tullahoma, Wartrace and Shelbyville. In the spring when the Union army advanced to meet him, he withdrew toward Chattanooga, always, it seems, searching for a more advantageous place to make a stand.

This is not written as a history lesson on the War Between the States, but to point out that we, like Bragg, can have the means to stand our ground and instead of doing so make a “strategic withdrawal” to what we have been convinced is a more defensible position. Instead of standing firm for the truth we may allow ourselves to be maneuvered into making a retreat to a false position.

We are admonished to put on the whole armor of God in order to stand against the enemy of our souls (Eph. 6:11, 13), to watch, stand fast, act like men and be strong (1 Cor. 16:13; Phil. 4:1; 2 Thess. 2:15).

Let us think of the question asked in Luke 18:26, “Who then can be saved?” We might answer something like this: those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, have been baptized for the remission of sins and who follow the word of God in respect to life, work and worship.

That is a position we can stand on, ground which we can hold against the enemy. But some will say it is too narrow. They wish to include those who have been baptized for the remission of sins but use the instrument of music in the worship, support human organizations out of the church treasury, teach premillennialism, and such like. “Let us unite as baptized believers and all work together,” they would say.

Suppose, then, we retreat to the position that God accepts all who have been baptized for the remission of sins whatever their teaching, worship and practice in carrying on the work of the church. It will not be long before someone takes us to task again for our narrow views.

“There are godly people who believe in Jesus Christ who have not been baptized for the remission of sins. Some have been baptized because their sins are forgiven, some to get into a denomination, some have been sprinkled or poured, and some have had nothing they call baptism, but they are sincere people who believe in Christ. Do you say that they will be lost?” they ask.

So we retreat again and accept as saved all those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Then there will be those who are disturbed because we are taking the position that leaves sincere and pious Jews and Unitarians outside the realm of salvation. “Surely,” they will say, “all those who worship Jehovah God as we do, the one true God, will be accepted of Him even though they do not believe in Christ.” Remember all the furor a few years back about the statement that God would not hear the prayer of a Jew? The highest office holder in a large denomination had to take backwater on that statement.

Again we retreat to take in all those who worship the one true God, thinking that now we are in a position we can surely maintain.

But even among those who claim to be Christians, who say they believe in Jesus Christ, there are those who say “Ours is not the only religion.” There are religious people, they will argue, who do not know about Jehovah God, but they worship a god. Surely God will recognize in their misguided worship as reaching out to Him and will accept their sincere worship as well as ours.

We fall back to include the pious Shintoists, Buddhists, Moslems, Confusianists and all the rest. But to some we will still be too narrow. The life is what counts. If a person lives a good life, is honest, treats his neighbor right, he will be acceptable to God even though he might be an agnostic or atheist. God will accept them because of their morality, we often hear.

Surely, then, if we take in the atheists who follow the golden rule, no one will find we are too narrow. Then comes the Universalist who says all men will eventually be saved. “God is too good to send any of his children (all mankind) to eternal punishment.” We withdraw to the ultimate false position. Our backs are to the wall. We have now come to the position that all will be saved.

So we turn again to the Bible and not to what men say about what we believe. The New Testament is our standard of truth. We must test these positions by it.

Will All Men Be Saved?

Jesus said, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able” (Lk. 13:24). There is a wide and a narrow way (Matt. 7:13, 14). Many are those who go in at the wide gate and follow the broad way that leads to destruction, and few are those who find the narrow way which leads to life eternal. All men will not be saved. The judgment scene in Matt. 25:46 shows that some will be lost. Paul said the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9).

Will all moral men be saved? Cornelius was a good moral man. He had done many alms deeds and even prayed, but Peter was sent to tell him words whereby he and his house would be saved (Acts 11:14). Those who come to God must believe that He is (Heb. 11:6). The moral man who does not believe in God will not be saved.

Can one be saved by believing in and worshipping just any god? There is one God (Eph. 4:6; 1 Cor. 8:4; Deut. 6:4). And one must believe in the one God (Heb. 11:6).

Will those who believe in the one true God be saved? Jesus said, “If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (Jn. 8:24). Life is through His name (Jn. 20:30, 31). Again Jesus said, “I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture” (Jn. 10:9). There is salvation in no other name (Acts 4:12). One must believe in Christ to be saved.

Will those who only believe in Christ be saved? We are not justified by faith alone (Jas. 2:19, 24). Mark 16:16 puts both faith and baptism before salvation and Acts 2:38 puts both repentance and baptism before the remission of sins. In order to be saved one must put Christ on in baptism (Gal. 3:27), and be baptized into His death where the benefit of the blood shed for the remission of sins is found (Rom. 6:3).

Is it enough just to believe and be baptized? “Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father by him” (Col. 3:17). In the name of the Lord means that we must do all by His authority. We must have authority for whatever we do. If we are doing many things, as some have said, for which we have no authority, we ought to stop it.

Jesus said, “And why call me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Paul pointed out many things in his first letter to the church at Corinth which were to be corrected. Five of the seven churches of Asia were given strong warnings by the Lord (Rev. 2, 3). One was told to repent or she would have her candlestick removed. Another was told to repent or He would come quickly and fight against her with the sword of His mouth.

John said, “Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9).

There is no authority for mechanical instruments of music in the worship. We are commanded to sing (Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16). There is no authority for societies through which to do the work of the church, no organization above the local church, no authority for sponsoring churches or centralized elderships or “brotherhood” projects. There is no authority for churches to provide recreation and entertainment for their members.

We are not to retreat from the truth, but to stand. It is better never to retreat in the beginning. Lost ground is hard to recapture. When General John B. Hood took over the Army of Tennessee in Atlanta, after others had retreated that far, he tried to swing around and retake Nashville, but after disastrous battles at Franklin and Nashville he was forced to turn back. The war was already lost. Many think that if Bragg had seized the advantage he had in Kentucky history might have been different. Whether that would have been best for the nation is beside the point. The point is that we as Christians should not retreat from the truth or we may lose the war. It is hard to regain lost ground.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 10, pp. 305-306
May 19, 1983

By Larry Ray Hafley

One of the proofs of the Deity of Jesus is that He was the master of every circumstance. Regardless of the situation, fie was without limitation; He always acted without hesitation or equivocation. As certain also of our own poets have said, “Whether the wrath of the storm tossed sea, or demons or men or whatever it be, no storm can swallow (or swamp) the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and skies.”

All of us have areas of relative expertise. We know we are proficient in some fields and deficient in others. We recognize our limitations. However, Jesus never encountered a challenge that He could not challenge and, if need be, change. He was never puzzled or flustered as to what should be done or said. He never became irritated, exasperated, or frustrated because a problem was too difficult to deal with. Note some examples which show the perfect control that Jesus had at all times in all events.

In The Physical, Material Realm

When waves of the sea sought to overwhelm and overthrow the boat, Jesus calmly awoke, arose and rebuked them. “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” (Matt. 8:27). That exclamatory question has never been answered by scoffing, scorning skeptics. Jesus manifested His power over disease, death and distance. Time and space had no borders to hold Him in check. His authority overcame all obstacles and restraints. He was not bound by time, space or mass (Matt. 9:20; Jn. 2:6; 4:46; Mk. 6:37-44). Truly, He was “God manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16).

In The Intellectual Realm

No issue was too touchy, knotty, or controversial for Jesus to handle. The Pharisees sent their wiliest, sharpest debaters to entangle Him in His talk (Matt. 22:15). They carefully plotted and planned their trick questions. They asked questions and outlined situations for Jesus to unravel which had dual dilemmas of difficulty. Whatever Jesus replied, they would ensnare Him with another side of the response. Their preparation was intense, secure; their case was tight; their traps were hair-trigger, ready to slam shut! Thus, with fiendish glee and flattering tongue, they inquired, “What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?”

If Jesus says, “No, give no taxes to Caesar,” the Romans will arrest Him. If He says, “Pay your taxes,” the Jews will despise Him. Now, they have Him, or so they think. “But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things which are God’s. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way” (Matt. 22:18-22).

Next came the Saducees to try their hand. Jesus put them “to silence.” A lawyer of the Pharisees came forth. He wanted to know what the greatest commandment in the law was. If Jesus had specified any certain one, the lawyer would have merely mentioned another and showed that it was just as important. It is like asking, “What is the most important thing in an automobile?” If you say, the battery, someone will say that it will not do any good to have a battery if you do not have any gasoline. That is the kind of predicament Jesus would have been tangled and balled up in. But He did not fall for it. Then He turned on the Pharisees and asked them a question they could not answer. See McGarvey’s Commentary on Matthew 22:15-40. Jesus’ mastery over the wise and wily men was complete, “neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.” “Truly this was the Son of God.”

In The Prophetic Realm

Jesus spoke of His impending death as we would speak of something that occurred ten minutes ago. He knew the form or mode of death He must suffer. He knew where it would take place – in Jerusalem. He knew how long he would be entombed and interred – three days. He knew that His death would involve and include suffering and abuse. He knew who would mistreat Him – “elders and chief priests and scribes.” Jesus spoke confidently of the fall of the Jewish nation. He foretold their abandonment and abasement. He knew His cause would prosper when all signs spelled defeat. He spoke of the events of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2 with as much certainty as a gospel preacher of today. No man could guess, surmise, or know all these things, but Jesus knew them and spoke of them. “We know that thou art a teacher come from God.”

Conclusion

Numerous other facts could be cited to show that Jesus was unlimited in His mastery and majesty. Time and space “would fail me to tell of” Matthew 12:1-8; 22-30; 21:23-46, and of John 9. And many other things truly did Jesus as recorded in the New Testament, which are not written in this article, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through His name.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 10, pp. 304-305
May 19, 1983

By Ron Halbrook

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7).

Sacrificial, unselfish, cheerful giving – giving for the truth’s sake – is a vital part of the Christian’s life. Christ gave His all for us! When three thousand souls gladly received the gospel and were baptized on Pentecost, Jews from many nations were included. Whether local citizens or foreigners, none of these first Christians went without food and other necessities. The fellowship of regular giving was a part of the worship. The apostles oversaw this fund and administered it to the needy with the help of special servants chosen by the church (Acts 2:41-45; 4:32-37; 6:1-7).

Christians are glad to help any needy person at any time. Beyond that, it is a part of the New Testament pattern for the local church to maintain a treasury for the church’s work. Money is not provided by gala entertainments, solicitation of funds from the lost world, bargain sales, gambling ventures, business investments, or selling meals, trinkets, and candy. Paul sent word to churches he planned to visit, raising a collection for needy saints in Judea, saying, “Upon the first day of the week let everyone of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come” (1 Cor. 16:1-2). God’s plan for our giving is periodic or regular (upon the first day of the week), personal or individual (each one of you), provident or making provision for future needs by maintaining a fund (lay in store), and proportionate or according to each person’s ability (as he prospers).

The treasury of the New Testament church was used only for the revealed work of the church. That mission included the care of destitute saints, the edification and worship assemblies of the church, and the support of gospel preaching. The local church with its elders and deacons is the pillar and support of the great gospel revelation: “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1 Tim. 3:15-16). The treasury was not used for social functions, secular education, recreational programs, political movements, medical facilities, community improvement projects, or reform of economic systems.

Paul was amazed to see what sacrifices some Christians made to give for the Lord’s work, when they themselves were suffering affliction and privation. These Christians went “beyond their power,” pled for the privilege to give, and went far beyond Paul’s expectation because they had. so fully given “their own selves to the Lord” (2 Cor. 8:1-5). For those who have this spirit in giving, God will bless both their labors and their abilities to do increased labor. What we bring to God in our hands is a reflection of what we bring to God in our heart. God loves the giver whose heart is filled with a love for giving (2 Cor. 9:6-10). God measures our gifts by this spirit of love.

A millionaire who gives $100.00 per week without making the least sacrifice has no advantage before God over the poor man who gives $10.00 per week by sacrificing. Jesus said that the poor widow who gave two mites – “all the living that she had” gave far more in God’s sight than the wealthy people who gave larger sums from their surplus (Lk. 21:1-4). The chart entitled “Do We Give 10 Percent?” shows that a person making the poor salary of $5,000.00 in a year would give $10.00 per week to give 10%. The person making the large salary of $50,000.00 in a year and who gave $100.00 per week would. be giving the very same percentage! Does that mean both men give the same proportionally? Even though the percentage is the same, the man giving $10.00 probably has a much larger heart because his income is a starvation wage in this country today. Ten dollars per week might be taking food off of his table.

Do We Give 10 Percent?

How much would we give? It is commonly thought that the Jews under the Law of Moses gave the Lord 10%, but actually they gave a great deal more. In addition to the tithe of all their fruits and flocks, they were to give the first-fruits and the first-born. In addition to all of that, they brought offering in the form of certain foods and animals.to the altar. In addition, every seventh year they released all debts. In addition, they supported prophets (men like Elijah and Elisha) and cared for such destitute people as widows and orphans. What about today? The New Testament simply points us to the Christ who gave His all for us, and teaches us to bring in our hands whatever we find in our hearts.

All of us can think of reasons (excuses?) why we do not wish to dig deeper and give more now, coupled with good intentions to do much better – later. We had best open our hearts now. Delay hardens the heart. Our circumstances may be worse instead of better at a later date. After the destructive War Between the States (1861-65), Dr. W.H. Hopson and his wife Ella described brethren in Virginia:

We found the brethren bearing their reverses nobly, and giving more liberally in their adversity than they had done in their prosperity. I heard but one regret expressed by them throughout the State, and that was that they had not given more of their means to the cause of Christ before they were swept from them (Spring of 1866 as described in Ella Lord Hopson [ed.], Memoirs of Dr. Winthrop Hartly Hopson [Cincinnati: Standard Publishing Co., 18871, p. 165).

David Lipscomb scored Tennessee brethren in 1867, saying that the War alone did not account for the lack of support for faithful preachers. Complaining of “the desire to adorn the person with vain trinkets, garish ribbons, jewelry and glittering gewgaws, merely for vain show and to conform to a meretricious fashion,” he explained that in spite of widespread poverty,

. . . we venture the assertion that in Tennessee enough money has been spent for ribbons, lace, jewelry and frail, glittering glass trimmings, by Christian men and women, during the present year to sustain every preacher South of the Cumberland River in the constant, earnest proclamation of the gospel to anxious but dying sinners. Yet these preachers are actually now being driven from the field for lack of support (“Notes of Travel,” Gospel Advocate IX (25 July 1867): 583-87, see pp. 585-86).

He wondered how anyone could hope to meet God in peace after letting “souls for whom Jesus died, go down to hell for the sake of a little worldly display.”

The chart on the preceding page may help us to ponder “What We Bring In Our Hands” – and what we bring in our hearts. Are we giving sacrificially, unselfishly, and cheerfully for the truth’s sake?

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 10, pp. 302-304
May 19, 1983

By Ralph Walker

Saturday noon. You’re at the office desk. Hair is disheveled. So is desktop. Books are strewn around the room, open and discarded. Electric typewriter hums over a half-page outline that is forsaken. Forehead is bright red from contact with walls and palms of hands. You’re in trouble, man, real trouble. You only have twenty-two hours of life before you step into that pulpit and deliver. And what have you got? Nothing, zero, nil, a goose egg.

You’ve plumbed your resources and come up empty. The seed sermon file is old stuff you can’t bring to life. You don’t feel good about fishing in the sermon outline books. You’re coming down to the wire without a single good idea.

Welcome to the world of preaching. Hasn’t every pulpiteer gone through this misery at some time? Maybe not to that extreme (but how many wait for Saturday night inspiration?), but all of us reach blind alleys occasionally – weeks when you cannot come up with appropriate bread for the masses.

I don’t know that I eliminated the problem in 1982, but I halved it. And it was only a side benefit of a task I undertook. Read on brother for help is here!

Last December I began preparing the church for a new year with some goal setting. I proposed to have us read through the Bible in 1982. I offered three incentives for doing this. First we purchased and distributed to each member a small daily Bible reading ~ chart. These were distributed at the door the day I preached on the subject. The chart has the passages to read each day and a box to be checked off when it is completed.

Second a large chart was placed in the back of the auditorium and all readers were encouraged to sign their names to it. Each week they did their reading they were to check off on the chart and a red marker would highlight their progress. According to testimonies, this peer pressure works great. Few people care to see long, solid “read” lines for others while their own lines remain short.

Third was a task I took on alone. I determined to preach through the Bible as we read, covering in one sermon each week the material we had read. In doing this I hoped to clear up difficult passages, point out truths we can apply today and reinforce with repetition the Truths of the Word we had privately studied.

I mapped out my course through the Bible to coincide roughly with our reading. I am finished with the Old Testament and we are journeying toward Revelation. How has it been so far? Fantastic! I have pushed myself to limits I’ve never known. It has been a challenge, but I have joyfully grown by it.

Some sermons come easily, like Genesis 1-7. Others only come through much sweat, like Leviticus and Exodus 19-40. But let me share the benefits with you.

1. People will read through the Bible more readily if they know they will get help on Sunday to make smooth the rough way.

2. People love being in the know about the sermon before it is preached.

3. More people read through the Bible with this plan. I had little success in the past,) but at present we have 35 readers up to date or nearly so. This is compared to our usual Wednesday night attendance of 45-50.

4. I can plan ahead for my sermons. I already know on January what each week’s study must be. I can gather materials all year long, work on a lesson in advance (even months ahead of time if I want to), read a book in February and file away the material for a sermon in October. Of course this only applies to one sermon a week. I use the other time slot to deal with special topics, problems, issues, things that arise that need consideration. These I usually prepare week to week.

5. I’m forced to preach from texts I’ve never touched before. I am finding sermons in books that formerly remained closed to me. I am finally feeling the truth of the statement “the whole Bible is good for our learning.” I am not searching frantically for subjects, using sermon books, rehashing old sermons or borrowing from other preachers. I am opening the book, reading, digesting and presenting my study to others. The audience is prepared to receive it, having also read. I know where my sermons are headed and what goals are being achieved.

6. Attendance has been helped some by this program. Some members express regret that they have to be absent when certain books are to be covered. Others have mentioned they attended just to hear a sermon on a particular section (though they ought to be present every time regardless).

Have I sold you yet? I hope so. Let me add a few helps I learned by trial. I didn’t preach on a text taken from somewhere in the weeks reading. Rather I preached on the whole text, summarizing the entire weeks material. This does get difficult due to the time factor but that introduces another good benefit – discipline. Imagine covering the book of Isaiah in one sermon. You cannot linger anywhere very long.

I try to pick out and comment on certain passages that I find speaking to me and share them as we travel through our reading. Sometimes I read sections of Scripture without comment only to note their beauty. I try to find gems of truth we can treasure, that might have been overlooked. This is training for the reader to seek such truths in his private reading. You would be surprised at the places one finds great wisdom of God applicable to us today.

I could not preach on the Psalms and do justice to them. I could do little more than state the purpose of each in one sentence in trying to deal with Psalms 22-67 in one sermon. I also lumped the 6 weeks covering the gospel accounts in to 3 sermons on the life of Christ (using portions of all 4 gospels). I felt the repetition would have been detrimental for that length of time.

Finally, I did not preach the Scripture reading sermons all on Sunday morning or evening, but mixed them up. If you preach all the Bible reading sermons on Sunday night, those who don’t participate in reading daily may choose to absent themselves from those studies. By mixing them up this can’t happen.

I am already planning next year’s agenda of sermons. I won’t be covering the Bible again for a few years, but I am purposing my preaching for 1983.1 am spoiled now on the benefits and can’t see why I would go back to that horrible existence described in paragraph one. Why don’t you take some time now to do the same and save yourself the weekly agony of deciding what to preach on? Why not preach through the Bible in 1983? 1 know God will richly bless you too.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 10, pp. 301-302
May 19, 1983