Truth Magazine

By Eugene Crawley

Asa, who succeeded his father Abijah as king of Judah, was a good king for a number of years. His reign was one of prosperity, and the land was quiet ten years. The reason for this is, I believe, summed up in 2 Chron. 14:2, “And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.” The writer goes on to enumerate a number of things he did which were pleasing to God, including “and commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandments” (vs. 4). Thus, Asa was blessed greatly during his reign, and Judah with him, because of their faithfulness.

When told by Azariah, the prophet, “The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you,” Asa took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin (2 Chron. 15:2, 8). As a result of his faithfulness and God’s blessing, many in Israel, who had previously forsaken the Lord and His law, returned to faithfulness, “They fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord God was with him” (vs. 9).

However, like other kings who prospered greatly, Asa became proud and independent and in his last days forsook the Lord. He made a league with the king of Syria when Baasha, king of Israel came up against Judah. Instead of relying upon the Lord as before, Asa now indicated by his actions that he was self-sufficient and did not need the Lord. Upon such action, Hanani the seer came to Asa, and said, “Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars” (2 Chron. 16:9). This declaration of truth made Asa angry and he had the seer put into prison (vs. 10).

Such things, according to Paul in Romans 15:4, were written for our learning. We should therefore profit from such examples. We should be impressed with the fact that God blesses the faithful, but punishes the disobedient. Also, that He is no respecter of persons. In spite of the fact that Asa and others during the Old Testament period were faithful for awhile and then sinned, did not keep God from punishing them. Neither did it keep him from revealing the dark spots in their lives, thus proving that He renders according to one’s deeds.

There are a number of lessons that can be learned from this account of Asa. Let us note a few of them. The fact that a man is faithful and prospers for a number of years is no guarantee of continued faithfulness; nor is it assurance that God will overlook some-sin, or at short period of unfaithfulness. Judah did well to follow Asa during the time he did good and right in the eyes of the Lord, but they would have been foolish to continue following him when he forsook the Lord. It would have been foolishness for them to reason as some do today, “Well, he used to be faithful, and was a sound teacher, so I am going to continue following him.” To blindly follow one who has been right, accepting all that he teaches without proving it by the word of God, is indeed to act foolishly. Every teaching should be tried or tested by the divine standard, the inspired Scriptures and not by what anyone says or thinks is right.

Asa also acted foolishly by becoming angry at the seer. He simply delivered God’s message. But because it did not please Asa because it was a condemnation of his action, he had him imprisoned. But this did not change God’s judgment; it did not alter one word of what He had said. Some today could well take warning from this. To become angry with the teacher when he is simply delivering God’s message and render evil to him does not change in any way the word of God; for we shall face it in judgment (John 12:48; Rev. 20:10-12).

Another observation of value is that those who have forsaken the Lord and His law will come to those who are faithfully doing God’s will, as those of Israel did with Asa. The influence of faithfulness is great, and we should see to it that our lives are influences for that which is good and right. May God grant courage to all who contend earnestly for the faith, that they may ever be steadfast.

To forsake the Lord and His word, and rely upon one’s own wisdom and strength is to act foolishly. “Herein thou hast done foolishly” should never be said of any child of God, and when it is necessary it is to one’s disadvantage. Therefore live so that such can never truthfully be said of you!

Truth Magazine XXIV: 48, pp. 777-778
December 4, 1980

By Earl Robertson

It is often times alleged that our “customs and traditions divide us, and not the word of God” and that “means and methods” are the basis of our divided state. One preacher recently said on the radio that our personal “opinions and priorities make us intolerant: that we won’t have anything to do with anyone who disagrees with us.” There might be some local churches experiencing such, but such is not a brotherhood problem. The liberals have forced the division and now assert that it is nothing more than “opinions, means and methods” that causes it. We challenge them to tell us by name what these customs, traditions, opinions, means and methods are that have divided the churches of Christ. The ecumenical spirit assumed by some dialoguers has caused a fever in these men which renders them unable to know the difference between faith and opinion, methods and organization, sing and play.

This reminds me of what Larry Miles recently wrote in Word and Work, a premillennial journal of Louisville, concerning why R.H. Boll was not allowed to remain front page editor of the Advocate. Boll was teaching premillennialism. It is a false system. He wrote, “Rather than allow him the freedom to interpret the scriptures as the Lord has revealed to him, these brethren sought to make it a test of fellowship . . Today there is virtually no fellowship between the Anillennial and the pre-millennial brethren. The pre-mil brethren have always sought fellowship and have offered fellowship. We must not be willing to make opinions tests of fellowship” (April 1980, pg. 112). If premillennial views are no more than opinions, why do they hold and press them to the dividing of the body of Christ? If human institutionalism (church support of such) is nothing more than human opinion, why do these brethren press their opinions to the dividing of the church? They are the ones who have split the body of the Lord!

John wrote, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3; cf. Acts 4:20). This is the only basis for fellowship. Read what the apostles declared! They wrote what they saw and heard. They had fellowship with God on that basis, and so can we.

Truth Magazine XXIV: 48, p. 777
December 4, 1980

By Norman E. Fultz

In a recent Bible class as we were considering Acts 14:23 regarding elders in the early church, someone called attention to the fact that the passage also mentions prayer -and fasting and questioned why we do not fast today? Members of the class were assigned to see what they could find out about fasting with the results to be discussed the next week. Since this is a topic not frequently discussed, perhaps it will be of interest to readers of this journal.

The term “fasting” simply means to abstain from food or drink for a period of time longer than the normal time between meals. It may be for a relatively short interval (Judges 20:26) or for several days (Esther 4:15-16). It may be either a deliberate action on the part of the abstainee (Acts 13:2) or necessitated by a lack of food, therefore the result of the immediate circumstances (1 Cor. 4:11; 2 Cor. 6:5; Matt. 15:32). It may be either total abstinence or “abstaining from customary and choice foods” (Thayer on Matt. 11:18). The occasions prompting deliberate fasts were several, as we shall see a bit later. A fast might be either individual (2 Sam. 12:16) or a group affair (2 Chr. 20:3).

Origin Of Fasting

An interesting comment appears in Crudent’s Concordance: “Fasting has, in all ages, and among all nations, been much in use in times of mourning, sorrow, and afflictions . . . . There is no example of fasting, properly so called, to be seen before Moses; yet it is presumable that the patriarchs fasted, since we see that there were very great mournings among them, such as that of Abraham for Sarah, Gen. 23:2; and that of Jacob for his son Joseph, Gen. 37:34.”

The first instance of fasting enjoined on Israel was that of the day of atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month. It is called “afflicting the soul” (Lev. 16:29-30; 23:27-28; Isa. 58:3, 5). It was to be as strictly observed on that day as was the cessation from any work (Lev. 27:29-32). By the time of Jeremiah, it was referred to as “the fasting day” (Jer. 36:6) and later simply as “the fast” (Acts 27:9). Moses commanded no other fasts, though the practice of fasting became more widespread with the passing of time.

Expansion Of The Practice

Since no other fasts were enjoined by the law, we may only wonder how the practice became more widespread. Perhaps since the day of atonement was one of such solemnity and “affliction of the soul,” the practice easily became associated with other occasions of affliction, sorrow and mourning whether of an individual or of the Hebrew nation. It seems to have developed as a response on the part of those facing hardship, in deep penitence, seeking to avert national calamity, or deeply imploring God about other matters. We shall consider some illustrations of these.

Facing hardship. When Israel fled before the face of the few men of Ai, “Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads” (Josh. 7:6). Being upon his face before the Lord “until the eventide” is thought by some to infer that they fasted for at least part of the day in question. David fasted days while his child by Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, was ill (2 Sam. 12:15-23).

Deep penitence. Ezra fasted for some period of time when grieved for the great transgression of Israel in taking of foreign wives (Ezra 10:6). See also Neh. 9:1-2.

When Israel put away Baalim and Ashtoroth at the insistence of Samuel, they “fasted on that day and said there, We have sinned against the Lord” (1 Sam. 7:6). And in the days of Joel, through him, God pled “turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning . . .” (Joel 2:12).

In their civil conflict with Benjamin, after a heavy loss in battle and not knowing whether to further engage the effort, “the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until even. . .” (Judg. 20:26). And Saul of Tarsus, during his days of penitence, “neither did eat nor drink” for three days (Acts 9:9).

To avert a national calamity. When Judah was under attack by Moab, King Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast for the nation (2 Chr. 20:3-4). Much later, when Mordecai asked Esther to intercede for the Jews before the king of Persia, she countered by suggesting a three day fast by him and the Jews in Shushan the palace while she and her maidens also fasted before her going in unto the king uninvited to seek favor for the Jews (Esther 4:15-17). And to prevent the overthrow of Nineveh threatened by Jonah, “the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth . . . .” (Jon. 3:5). In his effort to call the nation to repentance and prevent the devastation of which he was warning, Joel called upon the people to “Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly” (Joel 1:14; 2:12, 15).

When deeply imploring God. Hannah, when she was imploring God for a son, “wept, and did not eat” (1 Sam. 1:7-18). Ezra, preparing to lead a group of captives from Babylon to Judea, “gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava” and “proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance . . . . So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us” (Ezra 8:15, 21, 23). And of Anna the prophetess it is said that she worshiped God with “fastings and with supplications” night and day (Lk. 2:37).

It is to be noted from all the above that though only one fast was actually commanded by Moses, the many instances of fasting apparently met with God’s approval. However, in the days of her apostasy, the Israelite nation was rebuked for hypocritical fasting (Isa. 58:3-4). They were externally “afflicting the soul,” but “in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours,” and “ye fast to make your voice heard on high,” Isaiah charged.

Jesus and Fasting

In reality, Jesus had very little to say about fasting. In Matt. 6:16-18, He warned against hypocritical fasting as Isaiah had done. In saying that it should not be done to be seen of men, He indicated that fasting was a private matter between the person and the Father. Once when questioned about why John’s disciples and the Pharisees fasted often but His own disciples did not fast, Jesus stated that a time would come in which they might well fast, “when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them.” He thus shows that fasting is associated with deep sorrow or remorse. But here again he did not suggest that fasting would become a regular ceremonial type of thing. The inference is that it is a private matter. Furthermore, in the parable of the old and new garments and wineskins, He shows that fasting (probably as a prescribed act or ritual such as that of the Pharisees) is a part of the old observances and not of the new which He enjoins (Matt. 9:14-17; Mk. 2:18-22; Lk. 5:33-39).

On one occasion when the disciples were unable to cast out a demon and asked why, Jesus replied, “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting” (Matt. 17:21; Mk. 9:29). However, this is a disputed text. The American Standard leaves the whole verse out in Matthew’s account, relegating it to a footnote and explains, “Many authorities, some ancient, insert verse 21.” In Mark 9:29, the passage says, “This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer.” And again the footnote adds, “Many ancient authorities add and fasting.”

As Mr. Cruden said, “It does not appear by our Savior’s own practice, or any command that He gave to His disciples, that He instituted any particular fasts, or enjoined any to be kept out of pure devotion.”

It is true that Jesus Himself in the wilderness “fasted forty days and nights”, but He did not enjoin such on His follower

Early Christians Fasted

Not all fasting was devotional. Fasting, simply “not eating” was sometimes the result of the circumstances, there simply being no food. This was the case when Jesus fed the five thousand and again when He fed the four thousand (Matt. 15:32-38; Mk. 8:1-9; 6:33-44). It was likely also the case in some, if not all, of Paul’s fasting (1 Cor. 4:11; 2 Cor. 6:5; Phil. 4:12), with the exception of the time between his seeing the light on the road to Damascus and the coming in unto him of Ananias when “he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink” (Acts 9:9) and when elders were appointed in Lystra, Iconium and Antioch and Pisidia (Acts 14:23). Whether he was among those who fasted on the fateful ship bound for Rome is a bit difficult to ascertain (Acts 27:21, 33).

The instances of fasting on the part of the early Christians was apparently devotional. However, there are only two undisputed instances of such fasting, to my knowledge. Of some at Antioch of Syria, whether the disciples generally or the “prophets and teachers” specifically, it is said “they fasted” (Acts 13:2, 3). And again as noted above, when elders were appointed on Paul’s first preaching tour it is said they “prayed with fasting” (Acts 14:23).

Paul’s statement in 1 Cor. 7:5 to husbands and wives regarding the conjugal rights of marriage not being withheld “except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer” most assuredly indicates something of a devotional air. But “fasting is not found in some of the older manuscripts in this passage; therefore, not in the ASV and other translations. In fact, of the many versions I checked, only the King James and the Phillips paraphrase had “fasting.” A footnote in The New Testament From 26 Translations said, “`Fasting’ is now recognized as not adequately supported by original manuscripts.”

The reference to Cornelius “fasting until this hour” (Acts 10:30) runs into the same difficulty, it being found in the King James, but not even in Phillips. The same footnote is affixed in the N. T. in 26 Translations as that on 1 Cor. 7:5.

After summarizing the references to fasting in the New Testament, Zondervan’s Pictorial Bible Dictionary says, “There are, therefore, in the New Testament only four indisputable references to voluntary fasting for religious purposes, two by our Lord in the Gospels, and two in the Acts of the apostles. Jesus does not disapprove of the practice, but says nothing to commend it. The apostolic church practiced it, but perhaps only . as a carry-over from Judaism, since most of the early disciples were Jews.”

Why don’t we fast? In view of what we have seen in this study, we conclude that while there is nothing inherently wrong in the practice and that while one may fast if he so desires, let it be a private matter. There is no basis upon which fasting as a devotional ceremony may be imposed on a congregation.

Truth Magazine XXIV: 48, pp. 775-776
December 4, 1980

By Ron Halbrook

Because of his onslaughts against the Modernism which denied the supernatural inspiration of Scripture, JAW. McGarvey (1829-1911) was often accused of lacking fervent love. He was scorned by those who felt his blows as being a harsh controversialist, a bigot, and a legalist. His column appearing weekly in the Christian Standard under the caption “Biblical Criticism” (1893-1911) was especially despised by some brethren. McGarvey had publicly opposed R.C. Cave of the Central Christian Church in St. Louis, Missouri, when he preached a modernistic sermon in late 1889; Cave eventually lost his pulpit and became a wandering star. He wrote “An Open Letter to Professor McGarvey” in 1980 complaining of his “heresy-hunting” as “immoral” and “impolitic” because “the spirit of Christ . . . is better than doctrinal soundness” (published in “Biblical Criticism” column, Christian Standard, 28 Nov. 1908, pp. 2038-39). Noting that some preachers did not allow the Standard in their home because of its controversial nature; McGarvey observed,

These preachers are too holy to be healthy. There are not many saloon-keepers who permit their children to read a’ prohibition paper. There are not many skeptics or half skeptics who love the Christian Standard – not many liquor-dealers, or horsemen la reference to gambling, RH], or bigoted sectarians . . . . Well, every man according to his own taste, until the Lord will come to take this own and to let the devil take his (“Too holy to be Healthy”‘ in “Biblical Criticism” column, C.S., 5 December 1908, p. 2087).

A brother named Jasper S. Hughes considered McGarvey’s work demagogy and wrote a sweet-spirited letter objecting to his “spiteful bigoted flings . . . you are an ass of the most pronounced kind and a coward of the meanest variety” (McGarvey Letters in Bosworth Memorial Library, Lexington [Kentucky] Theological Seminary).

The weak of heart and faith have often viewed controversy in a bad light, overlooking the example of Jesus Christ and His Apostles. The weak easily forget that fervor in controversy is part of a fervent love for Christ and exemplifies the love of Christ for truth. McGarvey’s book of Sermons contains many devotional thoughts of fervent love as-does his articleon “The-Prints of the Nails,” which appeared in J.A. Lord (ed.), On the Lord’s Day: A Manual for the Regular Observance of the New Testament Ordinances (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Co., 1904), Vol. 1, pp. 41-43. The full article follows.

The Prints of the Nails J. W. McGarvey

TEXT. – “The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my his brow. finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).

There is a very beautiful and touching hymn the chorus of which terminates with the words, “I shall know Him by the prints of the nails in his hands.” The author seems to have conceived that when she enters heaven she will see before her a great host of glorified beings, among whom she may not readily distinguish her Savior. The thought seemingly arose from John’s declaration that “we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” But she imagined that he bears in heaven, as he did when he appeared to doubting Thomas, the prints of the nails in his hands. The concepting, whether true to the reality or not, is a very touching one; for it supposes our exalted Redeemer to continue through all eternity wearing the mark of the keenest pain which He endured in the work of our redemption.

We are apt, in considering the crucifixion, to be shocked most severely at the thrusting of the Roman spear into the Savior’s heart, and the stream of mingled blood and water which gushed forth. But that cruel deed gave Him no pain. His life was already extinct. We shudder, too, at the driving of the iron spikes through His hands and His feet; and no living person can adequately conceive the torture inflicted when the tender nerves of these extremities were thus lacerated. But this pain, though excruciating beyond all expression, endured only for a few awful moments.

It was when the cross was erected and put in its place that His most extreme and enduring torture began. His whole weight was suspended on the two spikes which had been driven through His hands; and this continued for six dreadful hours. Well, then, does the hymn-writer select the prints of the nails in His hands as the badge of His supremest physical agony. If that badge shall be kept visible before us in heaven, how deep and constant will be the glow of gratitude in our hearts, and how constant and full the stream of praise that will flow from our lips!

I was present on a memorial occasion when the song referred to above was sung with a full heart by our sweetest singer of hymns at the bedside of a woman who had been bedridden for nearly eight years with inflammatory rheumatism, but who was wonderfully cheerful and thankful amid all her sufferings. While hearing the song, the tears rolled down her cheeks in streams; and at the conclusion, as soon as she could command her voice, she said: “We cut up, and make a great-to-do about our afflictions in this world; but what are all of our afflictions? They are only a bubble on the water to what our Savior passed through. What a pity it is that we shall have to know Him by the prints of the nails in his hands! But, thank God, he’ll not have on that crown of thorns. He will have a crown with stars in it.”

Yes, the prints of the nails in his hands will not be the only badge by which we shall know our Redeemer, no matter how many or how glorious the other great beings who shall make the heavens blaze with glory. We shall know him also by the starry crown upon his brow.

“The head that once was crowned with thorns,

Is crowned with glory now;

A royal diadem adorns the mighty victor’s brow.

He’s King of kings! Oh, hallelujah!

He’s Lord of lords! Oh, praise his name!

The Lamb of God, who brought salvation,

Endured the cross with all its shame. “

When we meet to remind one another of His dying love, and to show forth His death by the emblematic loaf and cup, let us never forget that, though we may be few and feeble, we are joining with a countless host to glorify Him whose name is above every name and whose suffering endured for us is the chief glory of heaven. We are not alone. We are but adding our feeble hearts and voices to the noblest and sweetest anthem ever sung in heaven. We are honoring Him who has made the solemn pledge, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

When Thomas saw the prints of the nails in the Lord’s hands and feet, though the sight dispelled His doubts, and led him to exclaim, “My Lord, and my Gods” he did not realize as we do now the significance of those wounds. It required the enlightening power of the Holy Spirit, which came upon him and his fellow apostles later, to enable them to realize the meaning of the words spoken at the last Supper, “This is my blood of the covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” He only knew that the Lord had died and risen again, and had thus proved himself to be divine. He knew not as yet that He was to ascend to the highest heavens, and that the highest seat in heaven was to be His. He did not know as yet that his own eternal salvation, his own final and everlasting reunion with his Lord and Master, had been made possible by the blood which flowed from those wounds. He was yet, therefore, to enter into a joy on earth of which he had never dreamed – the joy of loving and serving Him by whose death he had been redeemed, the joy of dying for Him at last.

All of this joy is ours, and it comes afresh into our lives with every returning day in which we meet around this table. If we have been deprived of this heavenly privilege in some days of the past, let us pray God that we shall never be again; and let us resolve that so far as in us lies we never shall be. The people who partake not of this heavenly feast except at long intervals, know not what they are losing out of life. While admitting that the disciples of the apostolic age, who are guided by inspiration, met every Lord’s Day to break the loaf, they have been persuaded by specious reasonings to fear the effect of thus obeying the Lord. While we pity them, we shall not reproach them, but we shall set them an example, and hope for the good time to come when all lovers of the Lord, the world over, will unite in this happy service. For this we have many reasons to hope; and if the final coming of the Lord shall occur on the Lord’s Day, and the living saints shall be caught up from the Lord’s table to meet Him in the air, how enviable their last hour on earth will be!

Truth Magazine XXIV: 48, pp. 773-774
December 4, 1980