Truth Magazine

By John McCort

A group of liberal brethren operate a school in Indianapolis named “Indianapolis Christian Schools.” It is supposed to be operated by-individuals only and does not solicit church donations. Many of the liberal brethren defend the existence of the school on the basis that the school is not the work of the church and that the church is not involved in its operation. If that were truly the case I would have no objections (a least from a theoretical standpoint) to the operation of the school.

The problem is that the church is deeply involved in the operation of the school. Brethren have been deluded into thinking that the church is not involved when in reality it is. The very buildings in which the school meets are owned by the Westlake church of Christ and are located next to the Westlake church building. The school is charged no rent for the use of the facilities.

Recently the school began a fund raising drive to build new facilities. The project has been a multi-million dollar affair. To raise money for the school, pitch-in dinners have been held in the fellowship halls and basements of church buildings (Park Avenue Church of Christ in Indianapolis to be specific.) Tickets were sold to these dinners and the money was donated to the school. In the August 1979 issue of the Indianapolis Christian Schools Newsletters, several interesting things were said. “A get acquainted tea with the teachers, is the way Dr. Binford described the get together for students and new teachers at the Park Avenue church building on August 12, 2:30 P.M. `Since students are anxious to meet teachers and teachers need to start learning the students we decided to plan this fellowship time.”‘

It was also stated, “Students are being involved in so many ways. Besides resting up to hit the books again in September many of ICS young people are out recruiting. They are visiting churches on Sunday evening to share their experiences at ICS.” An appeal was made to brethren to remember to pray for the school in their public prayers at church services. In recent issues of the Newsletter financial contributions to the school were listed by congregation. Even though individuals were donating the money, the donations were listed by congregations. A competition of sorts was set up to see which congregation could come up with the most money for the school through individual donations.

Brethren, either schools are the work of the church or they are not. If they are the work of the church, then the church should be able to donate to them. If they are not the work of the church, then the church should not be involved in the work of the school in any fashion. They have done everything but put the school in the budget and, in a backdoor way, the school is in the budget of the Westlake church of Christ.

It has always been puzzling to me how some of our liberal brethren can support the Herald of Truth and orphan homes out of the church treasury-and yet oppose the school in the budget. They have long argued that there is no distinction between church action and individual action in benevolence, i.e. that what the individual can do the church can do. If there is no difference. between individual and church action, I fail to see then how it would be scriptural for individuals to support ICS but be sinful for the church to support it.

The ICS Newsletter quoted the passage, “To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” They quoted the passage in the context of supporting the school as a good work. Apparently they feel that individual Christians have the responsibility to support the school. If it is an individual responsibility, then it would become the churches responsibility also if there is no distinction between individual and church action.

I would like to call on all of our liberal brethren who still have some convictions left about the school in the budget to take a stand against these innovations. Speak up and be heard. I would to God they all could see where this institutional apostasy is leading. To be consistent, they are either going to accept the school in the church budget or oppose institutionalism all together. I wonder which direction most of them will go? I think I already know.

Truth Magazine XXIII: 41, p. 658
October 18, 1979

By Johnie Edwards

Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matt. 7:7-8).

There are a lot of things which can be found by seeking after. We can find these things to be helpful in our lives. Let’s take a look at some of these things:

(1) Man stands in the need of grace. The word grace means favor. As the apostle wrote the Hebrews, he said. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). As we approach the throne of God in prayer, grace can be found. So many fail to seek this blessing in prayer.

(2) Mercy can be found. Paul told Timothy, “The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well” (2 Tim. 1:18). Here Paul is expressing his concern for Onesiphorus. In expressing this concern Paul points up the fact that mercy can be found of the Lord. All of us stand in the need of the mercy of God.

(3) The need for pasture. 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). As the shepherd leads his sheep in for protection and out for pasture and water, so Christ promised these things for His people. The pasture of Christ is the bread and water of life. If we will seek after we can find and say as did David, “The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters” (Psa. 23:1-2).

(4) We must seek after life. “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matt. 10:39). The Lord had just said that those who failed to take up the cross and follow Him were not worthy of Him. He who tried to find life apart from the cross would lose his life or soul. Those who sacrifice the temporal life can find eternal life.

The fact that many do not enjoy the things of God is because they fail to seek after them in the Bible manner. Seek that you may find.

Truth Magazine XXIII: 40, p. 652
October 11, 1979

By S. Leonard Tyler

Did you know, when you drop a dime, quarter, or whatever in t..e Salvation Army’s “little red-pot” on the street that you are contributing to a religious denomination? Well, you are! It is a church just as much as the Methodist, Baptist, Mormon, or any other. The Merit Students Encyclopedia (Vol. 16, 317), states it thusly:

The Salvation Army, an international Protestant religious and charitable movement, organized and operated on a semi-military pattern. It is primarily evangelical in nature but also has a vast program of social services. The Salvation Army’s activities include preaching Christianity in sixty-nine countries throughout the world. Worship services have no set form, but singing and brass bands are utilized and have become commonly associated with the movement. Each corps hold weekly religious meetings for adults and young people, and a program of Christian education is provided for all age groups.

To impress the religious nature of The Salvation Army, we quote from the Oxford Dictionary of The Christian Church, Edited by F.L. Cross (p. 1210). It reads:

The religious teaching of the Salvation Army is largely in harmony with traditional evangelical belief, but rejects all Sacraments and stresses especially the moral side of Christianity. It enjoins complete self-denial on all its followers. The technique of producing conversions is aggressive and emotional and makes extensive use of public testimony and penance; its realistic methods of presenting religion to the peoples in which open-air meetings with brass bands and banners play an important part, differ greatly from those of other Christian bodies.

Her principle doctrine is “faith only” and “direct operation of the Holy Spirit upon the human heart in salvation.” However, people in general do not think of the Salvation Army as a religious denominational church. But it is from start to finish.

The Salvation Army is not just a social benevolent organization as the Red Cross. It is a religion and church in the fullest denominational sense. In fact, it is listed as being one of the fastest growing denominations in the world. Do you want to aid her religious growth and help her convert people to her denominational, erroneous and false doctrine and church? If you aid her in her work, you help her convert innocent people and build a stronger Army.

I am not opposed to the good work that is done. But when any group of people presumptuously, in disrespect to Christ’s teaching, bind themselves together and form a church in name, doctrine, faith, worship, organization, and work, one must cry out against it. God warned Moses a long time ago in plain and strong terms regarding any prophet speaking or doing any thing presumptuously., Listen to it:

But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously . . . the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandments, that soul shall utterly be, cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him (Num. 15:30-32; see also Num. 17:12; 18:20).

No wonder David prayed,

Keep back also thy servant from presumptuous sins . . . Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer (Ps. 19:13-14).

Today we must hear and follow Christ’s Word to be His (2 John 9; Matt. 7:21, 24-29).

The reason is simple and yet profound, “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt. 7:13-14). And, “Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up” (Matt. 15:13; see also verses 3-9).

We must not allow some good work to blind us nor to nullify the teaching of our Lord. Just because some group calling themselves a church does temporal good in helping needy people certainly does not commend them to God as being right scripturally and spiritually. God does not accept humanitarian service as spiritual salvation. We must never forget that the very purpose of Christ’s coming to earth and dying was to save the soul of man. The gospel is given for the same reason, to reveal Jesus and His way of salvation.

The gospel of Christ is given that man might be saved (John 20:30-31; James 1:21-25), just as Jesus came into the world to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Therefore, whatever state Paul found himself in while serving the Lord, he learned to be content (Phil. 4:11), and we should do the same (Heb. 13:5). It is not the material things that equates salvation, but faith which by love follows God’s directions (Gal. 5:6). “Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the’ fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22). Obedience is a manifestation of faith and love (Rom. 6:16-18).

It seems we are becoming so materially minded and subjectively related that we are unable to accept the reality of the soul of man. In this case, the soul is at stake and the teaching of Jesus regarding man’s salvation. If the false doctrine preached by the Salvation Army will effect salvation, we need not worry about the truth of any doctrine any more. But in reality that is all that counts for life eternal – Jesus and His teaching.

Community Chest Support of Salvation Army

The Community Chest should be non-religious, not religiously related. But it has become associated with and connected to churches by contributing to various programs of their benevolent work. “This ought not so to be.” But we wonder why The Salvation Army shares in the Community Chest, and is allowed to set up her booths on our streets to solicit funds for benevolent purposes? Other churches do benevolent work; why not grant them the same privilege? If it is right for one church (Salvation Army), is it not right for the other? If not, why not?

The response, “They care for our stragglers and benevolent cases.” Since when does the city government depend upon a church to do her work? The city has benevolent obligations and should expedite them and involve no church.

Some may ask, “Are you in favor of allowing all churches to set up booths on every street corner and `beg’ money?” My answer is a firm, “No.” No church, in my judgment, should establish their own teaching and program of work, join them inseparably together, then case the whole thing upon the public for support. It is my strong conviction that each church should handle her own affairs, plan her own work and depend upon her own members to support it.

Another thing. If any church solicits through the mail, radio, on the streets, or appeals to the public for support, she should be lawfully obligated to give an accounting to the public for the disposition of every dime collected.

Truth Magazine XXIII: 40, pp. 651-652
October 11, 1979

By Greg Litmer

One of the acts of worship that we are commanded to perform is partaking of the Lord’s Supper. The words of Jesus, “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me,” and, “This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:24, 25) emphasize the importance of this supper. Acts 20:7 instructs us as to how often and on what day of the week we are to partake. This action constitutes part of the doctrine of Jesus Christ (2 John 9).

Since this is such an important function of our lifes as Christians it is important that we perform it properly and leave no room for misunderstanding on the part of unbelievers. Many times in our worship services we have people attending who are not members of the Body of Christ. It is so very important that these people not be given the wrong impression by our actions and words concerning the Lord’s Supper.

The area I would like to give closest attention to is that of giving our thanks for the bread and fruit of the vine. Often the prayer is worded in this manner, “Father, we thank you for this bread; which is to us, by faith, the broken body of our Lord and Saviour Jesus.” Those of us who are Christians understand what that prayer means. To those who are not Christians, I am afraid that that is a simple statement of the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. The Catholics believe that the bread actually becomes the body of Jesus, by faith. The same is true of the fruit of the vine. They believe that it actually becomes the blood of Jesus. If we say, “Father, thank you for this fruit of the vine: which is to us, by faith, the blood of Jesus,” we are merely stating the Catholic position. As a former Catholic who was for a time an uninformed visitor to the services of the Lord’s church, I can say that this is the impression that is given by those statements.

To set forth the Catholic position, 1 would like to quote from the Modern Catechism (page 146). This book was printed in 1964 and bears the Imprimatur of Albert Cardinal Meyer, who was the Archbishop of Chicago. In answer to the question, “What food do we eat in Holy Communion?” the book says, “We eat the bread of life, Christ himself. At the Last Supper Jesus took bread and wine, blessed them, and gave them to his apostles. `This is my body,’ he said. `This is the chalice of my blood.’ Then he directed his apostles to observe this sacred ceremony in memory of him. When the priest repeats this ceremony today, bread and wine give way to the body and blood of the Lord. This change takes place at the consecration of the Mass.” All of this is truly a matter of faith.

The Bible does not teach this doctrine of transubstantiation and we should be careful not to imply that it does. The words of Jesus in Matt. 26:26-29, Mark 14: 22-25, Luke 22:19-20, and 1 Cor. 11:24-25 clearly show that the bread and fruit of the vine are remembrances of our crucified Savior, representative of His body and blood. The very fact that Jesus Himself was standing there saying those words shows that the bread and the fruit of the vine were not actually His body and blood. This was figurative language.

Another example of this type of language occurs in John 10:7-9. There we read, “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” Jesus was not an actual, physical door here anymore than the bread and fruit of the vine were His actual, physical body and blood. The Bible simply does not teach that they are His actual body and blood by faith or by anything else.

Let us take care, therefore, to always be clear in our prayers concerning the Lord’s Supper. Our visitors need to know what the Bible says as we go about fulfilling one of the commands of Jesus.

Truth Magazine XXIII: 40, p. 650
October 11, 1979