Truth Magazine

By Eugene Crawley

Throughout the years the gospel of Jesus Christ in its purity and simplicity, as well as its completeness, has been attacked. Men have sought to destroy and set at nought “the power of God unto salvation”. This evidently was true in Paul’s day, for we find a statement of his in Phil. 1:17 to this effect, “. . . knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel.” So, it was evident to them that Paul had a fixed purpose, one carefully thought out and expressed, not only in word, but in action. This was manifested faithfully by Paul on a number of occasions by his defense of the word of God.

It was not his purpose to defend the religion of the Jews, in which he was so well instructed and in which he excelled, or the various positions handed down by tradition. His avowed determination was to defend the truth and he was “set” for it. In defending the truth, he defended the positions that the faithful are to hold.

Like Paul, we should “be set,” not for the defense of inherited positions, pet projects, or previously espoused doctrines, but for the defense of the gospel of Christ, for the truth that “frees from sin.” To do so involves learning God’s will (and how badly some need to do so) that we may know what we stand for and why, and that because it is authorized in the Divine Scriptures.

Indeed, our position should be, and must be, to defend the truth, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. When this is our position, we are at liberty to accept the truth as we learn it, and are not bound to try to defend and justify an unscriptural position in which we may find ourselves. When one takes a stand for a certain position, he is obligated to attempt to defend it, regardless of what the word of God teat es. One can very easily find himself in difficult circumstances by not being careful about what he accepts.

Truly there is a difference in defending the truth, and in defending a certain position or practice. To defend the truth is not only easier, but it is the honorable thing to do; so, may we determine to “earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered unto the saints” (Dude 3). By so doing we can save ourselves and them who hear us (1 Tim. 4:16). To do otherwise is to tread on dangerous ground which leads farther away from the Lord.

Truth Magazine XXIV: 30, p. 482
July 31, 1980

By Earl Robertson

What a question! In a world that has little or no regard for God or what He says this question is, to some, relatively unimportant; however, it is meaningful to Christians who have respect for the truth. The church in Corinth was painfully divided. Some there claimed to be of men while others said they were of Christ. To ascertain whether they belonged to man or the Lord Paul raised two questions: (1) Was man crucified for you? and (2) Were you baptized in the name of a man? The answers to these questions are obvious. Paul, Peter, or Apollos were not crucified for anyone and neither were any baptized in their names, therefore, no one belonged to any of them. Christ was crucified for all and those in Corinth had been baptized in the name of Christ, therefore, they were of Christ.

Christ is not divided. Why should the followers of the one Lord be divided? It is clear that Christ is united in will; there is unity in His intent. His will was to “do the will of him that sent him” into the world (John 4:34). Jesus never forgot, even momentarily, why He had come into this world! To do the will of His Father meant death for sin. He could not save others should He save Himself. He came for the expressed purpose of giving Himself a ransom (John 18:36, 37). Jesus successfully kept His objective (John 17:4).

Christ is not divided in His word. This perfect unity will not admit the creeds of men. Why cannot men see that the Lord will not accept service rendered on the authority of human creeds? Jesus said such service is vain (Matt. 15:9). Though, it is very plain, men continue to reject the word of the Lord and create their own creeds. The word of the Lord is adequate and perfect, meeting the needs of man. He will not allow any changes or substitutions in and for His word. Whenever man makes a change it necessarily makes a difference in results. His word is able to save (James 1:21) and develop (Acts 20:32), but man’s word in religion is divisive and renders service vain (Matt. 15:9).

Christ is not divided in body. There is one body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:20) and it is the church (Eph. 1:22, 23). The one body admits no additional bodies. The body of Christ was purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28) and is loved deeply by the Lord. Men, too, should love it and work for the unity of it upon a scriptural basis.

Truth Magazine XXIV: 30, p. 482
July 31, 1980

By Dennis C. Abernathy

That we face an alcohol problem in this country, no one can deny. The government reports that it is the number one drug problem. We also know that the government will not come up with the solution to the problem (really it is a part of the problem). Our government promotes and condemns alcohol at the same time. It glories in the tax money received from the sale of liquor and, at the same time, warns against its harm. Many of the leading officials (those in positions of making weighty decisions) are habitual drinkers, and some are alcoholics. There is little wonder that our governmental problems are piling up!

You wonder how our country, which is supposed to be a Christian nation, could have problems of this nature in epidemic form. Are people being taught the dangers of drinking? Are they being taught that it is a sinful thing? Not much. In fact, many of the religious leaders themselves drink and many of the religious bodies are involved in the liquor industry – and you guessed why – to get the almighty dollar! In Isaiah 24:2 we read, “And the people will be like the priest . . . .” My friend it is still so today. Many people drink today because they have been taught by word of mouth and by example that it is all right to drink.

The following comes from Gallup’s poll on churches and alcohol: “Gallup also found that ministers, priests and rabbis are not immune from alcohol problems themselves. The proportion of clergy who said liquor at one point or another was a cause of trouble in their immediate families was not far below the proportion of the public as a whole. The proportion of drinkers among clergy, according to Gallup, is slightly lower than for the population as a whole. While 7 in 10 of the general population admit to the use of alcohol on some occasion, only 1 in 2 of the clergy surveyed reported any use of alcoholic beverages.” So, my friend, there you have it! Now you know why many preachers and religious doctors will not preach against the sin of drinking alcoholic beverages.

But do not believe for a moment that the church of Christ is immune to this sin. There are untold Christians who social drink (many get drunk) and nothing is said, tot much preaching is done on the subject, and very little, if any, discipline is administered! Young people, who wear the name of Christ, go out on week-ends, drink beer and get high, then are up front waiting on the Lord’s table on Sunday mornings.

Brethren, we had better wake up. We had better teach the truth on the sinfulness of alcohol. Social drinkers or outright drunkards have no place in the church. They need to be admonished to repent of this sin, and if they do not, then the church needs to take action according to 1 Corinthians 5. Take your Bible and read Gal. 5:19-21 as well as 1 Peter 4:3 (especially those who try to justify social drinking). Think on these things.

Truth Magazine XXIV: 30, p. 482
July 31, 1980

By Brent Hunter

The brothers of Joseph were in a dilemma. They had sold their innocent brother into slavery, and now that the cruel deed was done, they had in some way cleverly to disguise their evil deed. Fearing their father’s wrath should he discover what they had done to his beloved son, they felt it necessary to distort the truth. They would feign concern over their brother’s welfare, and deceive their father into believing a lie. The inspired details of their plan can be found in the book of Genesis (chapter thirty seven).

In short, Joseph’s coat was taken and dipped in the blood of a he-goat so it would appear that he had been killed. The brothers then proceeded to ask Jacob (supposedly in all innocence), “This we have found; know not whether it is thy son’s coat or not (Gen. 37:32).” Jacob fell for their deception and concluded that “an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt (emphasis mine bh) torn in pieces.” How unfortunate, Jacob made the sometimes fatal mistake of making a decision before all the evidence was in. He accepted the story as a definite truth on the basis of flimsy evidence. Perhaps the reason why he accepted it so readily was because he was blinded by the love he had for his sons and did not want to question their sincerity. Whatever the reason, he accepted it as truth and emotionally reacted. Notice Gen. 37:34. “And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.” So great was his grief that all his sons and daughters could not comfort him for “he refused to be comforted and he said, For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning, and his father wept for him” (Gen. 37:35).

For years and years Jacob held remorse in his heart over his son and was apparently emotionally upset, not because Joseph was really dead, but because he thought he was dead. .Jacob had been deceived! He believed a lie and therefore reacted emotionally as if he had actually seen Joseph torn asunder with his own eyes. So established was this belief that when years later his sons tried to tell him that he was in fact alive and well in Egypt, “His heart fainted for he believed them not” (Gen. 45:26). How interesting – he heard a lie, believed it, and reacted emotionally and dramatically to it. Now Jacob hears the truth, but he refuses to believe it, and consequently, there is no emotional reaction! It was not until “he saw the wagons that Jos;;ph had brought to carry him” that “the spirit of Jacob their Father revived” (Gen. 45:27). Finally, Joseph gave up his previous false belief, accepted the truth, and reacted appropriately.

Paul said that “these things were written for our admonition” (1 Cor. 10:11) and “for our learning” (Rom. 15:4). What is the lesson? Our emotional reaction to a message has nothing to do with whether that message was true or false! How many people in the religious world when error is pointed out to them reason, “But it can’t be wrong (or false) because I felt so good when I asked the Lord into my heart, or when I began to speak in tongues, or when I sang in the choir, or played the piano,” or whatever. In doing personal work over the years I have heard them all. This example from the Old Testament demonstrates that emotions, no matter how sincere or pronounced, are not the standard by which one can determine the truth. Just as Jacob was sincere but deceived because he did not fully investigate before he came to a decision, such is the case with many people today. And, like the brothers of Joseph, denominational teachers appear to innocent listeners to be sincere bearers of truth, but in reality cleverly distort truth and sell their followers into the “slavery of sin.” False teachers today often feign concern for their listeners welfare, convincing them that they will please their Heavenly Father by following the doctrines of men. Sadly, they will displease God by following error and therefore suffer their Father’s wrath as a result. For, “Whosoever goeth onward and abideth no: in the teaching of Christ hath not God” (2 Jn. 9) nor His beloved Son.

Satan is “the Deceiver of the whole world” (Rev. 12:7) and “a liar from the beginning” (Jn. 8:44). And small wonder, what a better way to keep people from the Word than to isolate certain passages, twist them, (as Satan did in the second temptation of Jesus in Matt. 4:6), and in so doing convince the deceived that because they felt so good when they believed, or began to practice error, they must have been right to begin with! I believe that if one obeys, or is obeying the truth, he ought to feel good about it, but only after he is assured that he truly has obeyed God by fervently and objectively studying the scriptures remembering that “the sum of Thy word is truth” (Psa. 119:160).

Every child of God would do well to realize that where feelings are exalted ignorance will prevail! Jesus said, “What is truth?” (Mt. 18:38). The answer is given in the gospel of John, `Sanctify thyself in truth thy word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). The Bible teaches that the word is the standard by which we will be judged (Jn. 12:48). To claim our feelings or anything else as the standard is heresy.

The story of Jacob and Joseph demonstrates well the folly of emotionalism. Beware. He that standeth on his emotions – take heed lest he fall!

Truth Magazine XXIV: 29, p. 475
July 24, 1980