Truth Magazine

By Dennis L. Shaver

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word or righteousness; for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Heb. 5:12-14).

There is no doubt that every child of God should be able to teach the saving gospel to another. We know that after the first persecution of the Lord’s church that those who were scattered want everywhere proclaiming the life saving message of Christ. According to the writer of the book of Hebrews a teacher must know more than first principles. Every individual is aware that a teacher who has less knowledge than his student is inviting trouble. Such is the case with many of God’s children. We are trying to teach when we have not yet gotten over the hurdle of first principles. Yes brethren we need to know more than that old stand-by, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). After all, we learned that before we were even Christians.

I might suggest that in teaching the gospel to the lost it is first easier to try and reach those with whom you are acquainted. Talk with your relatives, friends, fellowworkers, etc. and show an interest in them personally. Take the time to invite them to public worship assemblies with you and your family. Go out of your way to talk with them daily about some aspect of the Lord. God has done so much for us, and we limit our teaching to nothing, or a repeat of Mark 16:16. Can you not speak of the wonderful physical creation which our God has given for our earthly existence? The Bible does! Are you not aware of the care of our Lord in our daily lives? The Bible is! Is it possible for you to talk about God’s command that we should obey those who have the rule over us? The Bible addresses itself to this matter! Do you know God’s will on current issues of the day: war, peace, homosexuality, taxes, racial discord, union and management disagreements, etc.? The Bible teaches on each of these areas! Perhaps if we knew more than Mark 16:16 we could speak to others daily on the will of God concerning their total lives.

Yes, we need to teach Mark 16:16 and baptism is necessary for entering into Christ and salvation. However this is not all the Bible teaches, nor is it always the place to begin a study of the Scriptures or a discussion of the Lord. Study your New Testaments and notice the times Paul, Peter, and other New Testament Christians taught. How many times did they begin with “He that believeth and is baptized”? If they did not, Why do we? We do because of our complete lack of knowledge about God and our indoctrination on the subject of baptism!

It is my opinion that we fail to convert many to the Lord because we try so hard to “Baptize” and do not spend any time trying to “convert”! Many has been the time I have seen Christians become discouraged because “so and so” would not be baptized. Consider this: if you had tried. to convert them to the Lord rather than “get’em baptized” they might this day be a child of God. There is no need to go “loaded” when you teach with every argument in the world that proves baptism is necessary and that it must be immersion. When you have taught Christ, if one believes he will not argue with you about baptism. And, if he does not believe; persuading him to be baptized with argumentation will not bring him to the Lord.

Brethren, many times we fail to bring the lost to the Lord because we began our teaching at the wrong point. It is not necessary to begin a religious discussion with the doctrine of baptism, because many are not yet ready to understand, much less act on this basic principle of Christianity. However, you can teach about God’s laws concerning homosexuality, adulterers, job relations, race relations, etc. and from this point convert them to the Lord. Yes, brethren, it is good, and it is necessary that we bring the gospel of our Lord to a lost world . . . but there is more to the gospel than the words of Mark 16:16, even if it is the only passage you have memorized.

Let us teach others, daily. But more importantly, let us begin at the proper point. You must live a life that reflects Christianity that others may desire to be a child of God. As Paul stated: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). To teach others this is our beginning point – my life!

Truth Magazine XXIII: 40, p. 642
October 11, 1979

By: Myrtle Webb Williams

As I look over my life,

From beginning to end,

The most important gift

I ever received came from God,

Who gave me Jesus.

He is my everlasting friend.

From what other source

Could I receive salvation,

Blessings and love,

An eternal home

In mansions above;

But from Jesus,

My everlasting friend.

He came teaching

The council, scribes, Pharisees,

Elders, Chief Priests and the Jews,

His disciples and the multitudes.

He healed the sick

To show he came from

His Father above,

Such power was

The badge of approval

That distinguished

Him as God’s only begotten Son,

In whom His Father

Was well pleased;

For He came to

Do the will of His Father,

And He is the Son

Of my one and only God.

He gave up His life.

Upon the cross

That I might have

Mine in the giving.

Holy is the Spirit

That spoke the word,

Food from the bread of life,

Drink from the living water

By which my soul is growing.

He arose on the first day of the week

And that is when we Christians meet

To sing and make melody in our hearts

Teaching and admonishing one another

In Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs,

Giving thanks to God,

Through Jesus, His Son,

Doing all in the name of the Lord Jesus.

In Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:19 we read

And follow the example, the word, the seed.

He is our Head.

Members of His Body are we;

The church, the bride,

Named for Her Spouse;

The Kingdom that come in 33 A.D.

He sits on the

Right hand of God.

Do you believe?

For your sins He died,

A sacrifice one for all.

Water He gave for your baptism

That you might be planted

Into the likeness of His death,

Where you are buried with Him

And meet the cleansing

Washing of His blood

As it flows over

And leaves you spotlessly clean.

Did you say, “Yes,

I believe that Jesus

Is the Son of God.

Before men,

I shall confess.”

And you have

Repented of your sins?

Why wait then,

Obey, arise and wash

Away your sins.

That is what Brother Saul did

In Acts 22:16.

Be baptized this very day.

The Lord will

Add you to HIS CHURCH.

On this you can depend,

He will for certain then

Be your everlasting friend.

Truth Magazine XXIII: 39, p. 636
October 4, 1979

By Jack H. Kirby

The works of the flesh are enumerated in Gal. 5:19-21. Mentioned in this list are such things as fornication, lasciviousness, drunkenness, revellings and such like, of which the apostle says, “they who practice such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.” In 1 Cor. 6:9, 10, Paul again lists a similar list of immoral sins which he also says will cause a person not to inherit the Kingdom of God. In this list, he includes the sin of covetousness, along with the others such as mentioned before, fornication, adultery, drunkards, extortioners, etc.

The word “covetous” is defined by Webster as “inordinately desirous of gain, especially of money, greediness.” This is especially descriptive of one of the most prevalent sins of our time – that of gambling. Many people ask, “What is wrong with gambling? Where does the Bible condemn it? Well the answer to the first is – it is sinful; and to the second – it is condemned here in 1 Cor. 6:10 under the sin of covetous, or covetousness.

Gambling is almost as old as the human race. It thrives on man’s inordinate desire to gain from his fellow man something for nothing. One cannot “win” without another “losing.” For every winner, there must be one or more losers. Often thousands of losers provide the very high stake for the lone winner. Jesus said, “Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness” (Lk. 12:15); gambling thrives on covetousness. Gambling also thrives on selfishness and ill-will – hoping that self wins and that ethers lose – and on obsession for unrighteousness main-non. It breeds hatred, contempt, lying and cheating, and it attracts the criminal racketeer.

Gambling is not simply taking a chance or a risk. Driving an automobile is not gambling; planting a crop is not gambling; investing in stock is not gambling. Gambling is along a chance at another’s expense; in gambling, each one engaging must hope he wins and that others lose. It is Defined: “1. To play a game for money or other stake. 2. To hazard; wager” (Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). One cannot engage in gambling and. at the same time believe end practice those things commanded :or a Christian to do in living the life he is to live.

Gambling is not only a violation of God’s will but nearly every state in the United States of America has legislated against it. Unfortunately, many law enforcement officials do not conscientiously enforce the statute; some gambling is openly winked at and tolerated. In June of 1957, an assistant attorney general of Texas stated in a public speech that bingo and raffles (even to raise money for church or charity) are “as illegal as tip books or slot machines.” Many people condemn “big” gambling and condone “private” gambling. Who’s doing it, the size of the stake, and the purpose involved do not make any gambling right.

Regrettably, many people who are good people and want to live exemplary lives become unwittingly and thoughtlessly involved in gambling. They would not even enter a gambling casino; they would not line up at the “place your bet” window at a horse racing track. But the punch board presented by “a friend,” flipping or matching coins, the door-to-door raffle for a turkey, a boat, a gun, or a car, the office football pool, the “friendly” wager on some political event or a game of sport, or the chain letter are all forms of gambling. The chain letter may seem more innocent because if the chain keeps going surely every one who “plays” will win. But such chains cannot keep going indefinitely. (Start with one and double the sum as is done with the chain letter; before you have doubled even thirty times, you will reach a sum equal to the entire population of the world.) In time, it plays out or runs out of customers and thousand or even millions find themselves on the losing end. Everyone who receives a sizeable “pot” receives it at someone’s expense; for everyone who gambled and won, there will be many who gambled and lost. A Christian should be anxious to rid himself of everything that will hurt his influence and jeopardize his soul’s salvation.

Crime is increasing in our nation. We are a criminal nation, no doubt about it. The figures, increasing daily, are a disgrace. Do you know what the biggest business is in the United States? General Motors? American Telephone? General Electric? No. It is organized gambling. Every year the American people pour forty-seven billion dollars into illegal channels of gambling. The FBI estimates the “take” by racketeers every year is twice the wholesale value of all automobiles produced in one year. Do not concentrate your indignation on the professional racketeers. For every vise lord, there are a thousand patronizers of vice; for every professional gambler, there are a thousand betters lustful for a quick buck.

A few years ago Life Magazine said the United States is the “gamblingist nation that ever existed.” Fifty million adults and many more minors are betting 30 billion dollars a year. The annual profit to bookmakers and others on the receiving end is six billion dollars, or more than the combined profit of U.S. Steel, General Motors, and 97 other largest manufacturing companies.

Many say they see no harm in gambling as it is only taking a chance, and all life is a chance. No, gambling is not just taking a chance – gambling is a wager placed on a chance. The outcome of the ball game is a chance; a wager placed on that chance is a gamble! Life in uncertain, and is in that sense a chance, but that within itself is not a gamble. A wager placed on the uncertainity of life is a gamble. Playing cards is not, within itself, a gamble; but a wager placed on the outcome of the game is gambling. Gambling is stealing from another by mutual consent.

There are three legitimate means of transferring money. (1) The Law of Labor – (physical or mental), where one actually earns, by time and energy expended, the money he receives. (2) The Law of Exchange – in which a commodity is exchanged for its value in money. (3) The Law of Love – in which something is given without any desire or expectation of receiving any return. Gambling comes under none of these laws. It is wrong because it denies the integrity of work, the law of labor. It takes food, clothes, and other necessities of life from the gambler’s family. It is stealing – just as dueling is murder. The dueler takes another’s life with his consent. The gambler takes another’s money with his consent.

Gambling is wrong because it violates the law of exchange – nothing is received in return for something given. Gambling is wrong because it is the opposite of the law of love. It is based on coveting the possession of others.

Sometimes Christians are found matching coins, placing small bets, buying chances on football charts, etc. Small time gambling is no less gambling than big time gambling. Most gamblers started their gambling on such a small time scale. Many fathers and mothers have taught their children to gamble in just such a way. Thus we condemn the big time gambling, but plant and water it in our own back yards.

But someone may say, “Why, the word `gambling’ is not even in the Bible.” This is true, and neither do the words “rape,” “manslaughter,” “larceny,” “suicide,” “embezzling,” “bootlegging,” “white slavery,” and “racketeering” occur in the Scripture, but the evils involved in all these, as in gambling, are clearly and repeatedly condemned. Gambling is evil because it is a scheme to get something without earning it. The Lord says we are to earn our living by the sweat of our face (Gen. 3:19). Jesus stressed that the laborer is worthy of his hire (Lk. 10:7). He said to the children of Israel, “Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain” (Ezek. 22:13). The Lord said further, “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Eph. 4:28). We are commanded to “provide things honest in the sight of all men” (Rom. 12:17). By what stretch of the imagination can a person feel that money or property acquired by gambling is honest gain? The Lord branded gambling as an evil when He forbade covetousness.

One of the greatest problems faced by law enforcement officers in their efforts to outlaw gambling has been the churches! Gambling in churches is defended on the basis that the money goes for a good purpose. But it is never right to do wrong that good may come from it. In the first century some reported that Paul taught this, but he said it is a slanderous report. The apostle further said that anyone who would teach, “Let us do evil, that good may come” will receive damnation and it will be just (Rom. 3:8). We trust you will consider these things and resolve to live your life more in harmony with God’s will.

Truth Magazine XXIII: 39, pp. 634-635
October 4, 1979

By Bruce James

It is in John 15:1-16 that we find the picture of Jesus as the Vine. John records Jesus’ words to be: “I am the true vine . . . I am the vine, ye are the branches” (vs. 1, 5). If there is any people that should recognize this figure it is the Jews in that this is a repeated Old Testament symbol of Israel (Ezek. 15:1-8; 19:10-14; Isa. 5:1-7; Jer. 2:21; Hos. 10:1-2; Psa. 80:8-13). It must be noted that in all of these references the picture of Israel as the vine is repeatedly used in connection with the degeneracy of Israel – the vine gone bad, planted pure but grown wild, never fulfilling the purposes of Him who planted it and cared for it. In contrast, Jesus’ claim is that He is the True Vine. And, it is His people who are united with Jesus who are the real Israel, the real people of God.

Let us also consider some possible reasons for Jesus’ use of this figure. This claim was made immediately after the institution of the Lord’s supper, of which the fruit of the vine has an important part. And, if it is as commonly thought, that Jesus spoke this on the way to Gethsemane, then they probably passed through a vineyard on the way. Also, do you remember Jesus speaking of the useless branches to be burned? Well, on the way to Gethsemane, He and His disciples would pass by the valley in which the refuse of Jerusalem was thrown to be burned (what we call the “city dump”). Vine wood and prunings, which were useless, were thrown there to be destroyed. The vine was symbol of Israel, like the Eagle is to the United States, as well. It was on Jewish coins as a national emblem. It was carved over main doors of the synagogues along with the paschal lamb or the pot of manna and Aaron’s rod. Above all, this symbol was in the temple at Jerusalem. Josephus said, “Under the crownwork was spread out a golden vine, with its branches hanging down from a great height, the largeness and the workmanship of which were an astonishing sight to the spectators ” (Antiquities of the Jews, 15, 11:3). So there were many possible reasons for Jesus to use this figure for his great claim.

This symbol is for our time as well. Therefore, we must make the proper application of the Vine and the branches. On the one hand it sets forth the nature of the individual’s contact with Christ (note that each branch is an individual, not a separate church). On the other hand, it shows our vital contact with brethren as we reach out to the lost. One of the perils of today is that a materialistic and secularized world demands so much of the Christian that he can become starved spiritually. The child of God must be renewed daily (Rom. 12:1-2) and without such renewal then the Christian life is put in reverse, that instead of becoming transformed, he becomes conformed to the world.

This is where we can see the importance of “abiding” in the “true vine.” We can see its importance in relationship of obedience (vs. 4, 7-8, 10), of love (vs. 9-10, 12-13), of joy (v. 11), and of friendship (vs. 13-16). We also see the need to abide in the True Vine in that: (1) one who abides will bear much fruit; (2) without abiding there can be no fruit; (3) abiding leads to God’s glory; and (4) if one does not abide he withers, he is bundled, and he is cast forth into the fire and burned. The thought of being “cast forth” is hideous in and of itself.

Jesus said, “I am the vine.” In that claim, He claims to be the chosen one of God in whom the new, the real and the true Israel finds life. Only in Jesus can we find the true life in fellowship with Him, as the branch draws its life from the Vine. And He warns us that separation from Him means uselessness and eternal death.

Truth Magazine XXIII: 39, pp. 633-634
October 4, 1979