Truth Magazine

By Robert E. Waldron

One time the Pharisees brought a woman who had been taken in adultery to Jesus and asked Him what to do about her. Should she be stoned as the law said? They were not really interested in the law, nor right and wrong, nor the woman. They were trying Jesus “that they may have whereof to accuse him” (Jn. 8:6). After a pause and further questioning Jesus said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (Jn. 8:7). The statement Jesus uttered on this occasion has often been violently and blatantly misapplied. His reply was strictly in keeping with the law which said, “At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shall put away the evil from the midst of thee” (Deut. 17:2-7).

The case Jesus dealt with was not simply one in which a woman had committed adultery. Jesus always dealt with the primary issue and then with the subordinate issues. Here the primary issue was the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and their incredibly intense hatred of Jesus. There were actually three issues involved in the episode: the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the demands of the Law of Moses, and the fate of the woman. When Jesus said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her,” He convicted the Pharisees of their sin of hypocrisy, because not even they had the audacity and gall to step forward and say, “Well, I’m perfect. I’ll cast the first stone.” They particularly knew that in this matter they were not innocent. One by one, beginning from the eldest, the people began to walk away. When Jesus said, “Woman, where are they? Did no man condemn thee?” He satisfied the requirement of the law because, with no witnesses, the woman could not be stoned. Then Jesus dealt with the woman and her sin by saying, “Neither do I condemn thee: go thy way; from henceforth sin no more.”

Men and women who are stubborn of heart and who desire to walk in their wicked ways very often use this statement of Jesus to reply to any who would attempt to rebuke them or to condemn their ways. Thus the drunkard, the adulterer, the liar, the homosexual, the child abuser, and a host of others will defend themselves by saying, “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.” Jesus’ words in Mt. 7:1 are similarly used. “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Let us bring the question into clear focus. Since all of us are imperfect and do sin, does any one of us have the right in God’s sight to condemn the actions of another or to rebuke another for wrongdoing?

It was the same Jesus that said, “And if thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established. And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church: and if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican” (Mt. 18:15-17). It was Jesus who so severely condemned the Pharisees (Mt. 23). It was Jesus’ forerunner, John the Baptist, who condemned the adultery of Herod Antipas and Herodias (Mt. 14:1-4). When Jesus uttered the above condemnations He had the same awareness of man’s weak nature that He did when He said, “Let him that is without sin cast the first stone.” Therefore, when Jesus said this He did not mean that it is wrong ever to rebuke anyone for sin.

The writings of the apostles make the issues in this dispute very clear. Someone will usually say, “I like Jesus, but I think His apostles missed it.” It would be humorous, if it were not so deplorable, that these people do not realize that the only impression we have of Jesus is that which His apostles have left us. Matthew and John were apostles. Mark was a personal disciple of Jesus, though not an apostle. Luke was, seemingly, a later convert. Only through these men’s testimony do we have any record of Jesus’ deeds and words. The apostles who testified about Jesus, such as John, were unaware of any discrepancy between Jesus’ teaching and theirs. When people talk about liking what Jesus said but not His apostles, they are speaking from ignorance and prejudice rather than facts. Please consider the facts.

Jesus told His apostles to go out and teach or preach. He said, ‘Teach all nations.” He then said, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:20). He said, “Preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk. 16:15). Earlier Jesus told His apostles, “But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you” (Jn. 14:26). The apostles went out and did as Jesus commanded. What they taught was what Jesus said to teach. If the Spirit did not guide the writers of Acts through Revelation, then He did not guide Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. One may reject Jesus and His apostles, but one cannot accept Christ and reject His apostles. The apostles were inspired by the Spirit and they spake the truth.

No apostle stressed the need for love, forbearance and forgiveness more than Paul, but it was also Paul who said to the Corinthian brethren, “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Cor. 5:13). Consider the implication of Paul’s statement, “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (1 Cor. 5:6). In the context, the lump would be the church at Corinth. The church at Corinth was, however, composed of imperfect people. Yet there was one among the rest who was a danger. His example would be a leaven of bad influence. Therefore he had to be purged out. There is a difference between sinning occasionally through human weakness, repenting, calling upon God for forgiveness and, on the other hand, wallowing in sin. Also it seems that there are some sins which are more flagrant than others. In addition the nature of some sins is such that they have a more pernicious influence on others. Through all facts and all arguments one thing stands out clearly. Paul told a church of imperfect people to put away a wicked man from among themselves.

The brethren at Thessalonica were told to withdraw themselves from every brother that walked disorderly (2 Th. 3:6). To walk disorderly means to walk out of step with others who are marching. The passage clearly implies that there are those who, though not perfect, nevertheless do walk in order. Then there are those who walk “disorderly”. Those imperfect people who are walking orderly are commanded to withdraw from anyone who walks disorderly. Paul told the saints at Ephesus to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them” (Eph. 5:11). He told Timothy, “Preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. . .” (2 Tim. 4:2, 3). One wonders if Paul imagined that those who would not endure sound doctrine would wrest statements of Jesus to attempt to silence the rebukes and reproof that His word says must be given.

Condemned is hypocritical judging. It is not required that one have a perfect record before he has the right to reprove and rebuke. The commands we have studied were given to flesh and blood people who were imperfect. Yet they were clearly told to condemn, to reprove and rebuke. If one condemns another when he himself is not even trying to do right or when he is doing something much worse than the one whom he is condemning, he is guilty of the judging the Lord condemned. When we must rebuke or reprove, let us look to ourselves, lest we also be tempted (Gal. 6:1). Let us beware of Satan’s influence when we ourselves are rebuked, lest we give him an opportunity to close our eyes to the truth by causing us to resent the reproof.

Truth Magazine XXII: 26, pp. 425-426
June 29, 1978

By Edmund H. Lopes

My name is Edmund H. Lopes better known as number 15286 by the state of Illinois. I am incarcerated in a state prison for two serious crimes. I have been incarcerated since 1970 and I come up to the parole board sometime in 1980 or early 1981. I became a member of the body of Christ in May of 1976 when Al Diestelkamp baptized me in our prison hospital whirlpool. How difficult it is for a man to have his soul salvation here in these man-made hells throughout our so-called free country.

We have what I term state-bought ministers. In other words the men we have as so-called ministers of God in here draw their paychecks from the state (except the Catholic minister who is paid by his archdiocese). These ministers who are paid by the state are dictated to by the state as to what they can teach and preach. It is a standing rule that ministers hired by the state are told to comfort the men but don’t get involved with them personally. Is that hypocrisy?

The chaplains do conduct a worship service of sorts. That is, they get up in the pulpit and give a short sermon on something that will not upset the men too much. Such as, “God loves you and if you accept Him as your Savior you are saved, period.” Yes, that’s right; “Once saved always saved” is taught in here. Oh, then there is baptism. The chaplains wonder why all this fuss over baptism. After all, baptism is only an outward sign of an inward expression. It does not mean that much. It only means we are showing we are trying to follow an example of what Christ did. It is surely not essential for our salvation. We are accused of being “cultists” because of our belief that baptism is essential for salvation.

My brethren, I make light of the subject so I won’t burst out crying in grief, because this is what is preached and taught in here. I know the truth of having been baptized for my soul salvation. I was pointed out the truths of it in God’s Word by Brother Dennis and others of the church of Christ. I tried for 2 months to get immersed for the remission of my sins. I was told by a minister who worked for the state (a very dynamic personality he was too) that he knew sprinkling for baptism was wrong according to God’s Word but we didn’t have the facilities to immerse people so sprinkling was all we could do and God would overlook this little thing. I wonder why God didn’t overlook the sin of the king in the Old Testament who went in and burned incense to God? Surely the man meant right. He said he did. But yet God said that was against His commandment and only the priests and Aaron were supposed to do that and so God destroyed the king. Oh well, maybe we have a changeable God and He is just willing to let man have his whims whenever he feels like it. Oh, you don’t think God is changeable? Well, now I read where God has a certain station in life concerning women. That is that they should be mothers and wives and not teachers of men. But our ministers here believe its all right to have women preach out of the pulpit. Even homosexuality is just something we should put up with and not make the afflicted one see his shame.

My dear brethren, I could go on and on about the falseness of this place but I tried to show you the devil’s work that goes on in this place. What do we do about it? Is it our concern? I’m afraid brethren these are questions you must seek to answer within yourselves.

It took me two months after I was totally convicted of my need for baptism to finally get immersed for the remission of my sins. During that period, or any period before that, had this vessel of human clay died, I would have gone to hell. My brothers and sisters, that very thought terrifies me when I think of how close I had come to hell’s doors had not God been merciful enough to extend the time to me. I pleaded. I begged to be baptized. I asked every official in here from the wardens to ministers to state officials and to the Head Chaplain in Springfield. I was given one excuse after another. “We are looking into it.” “God knows you mean well but He is teaching you patience.” “We don’t have the facilities.” I even went over to our prison hospital and asked if it would be alright to use their whirlpool to get baptized and the hospital officials said, “Why certainly: anytime you want to use it you can.” I told the administrators of this and how some Jehovah’s Witnesses had been immersed in the hospital whirlpool. Well the chaplain didn’t think that it was appropriate for a man to get baptized in a whirlpool or bath tub. “After all, what would God think?” I know what God was thinking for He desired that I obey His commandments and one of them was “repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins.”

But anyway, these officials knew I wasn’t going to keep my mouth shut about this. The administrators here figured I was undermining the church work here and I was becoming a problem and so they knew they better get me out of population. Now since being here and having Christ in my life I never showed disrespect to any man or woman. So the officials here gave me what is called a bogus disciplinary ticket accusing me of something I did not do. But they decided if they put me in segregation and let me stay there awhile then this issue would blow over and that would be the end to all this baptism nonsense and seeking the Truth of Jesus. Well, they didn’t count on Jesus.

Our wonderful brethren here heard about my plight. The matter became bigger than the administrators here could handle. After five days in segregation I was brought out and interviewed by another hearing of officials. The security warden, who is now the head warden, was there along with a senior captain and the head of clinical services. The security warden called everyone of his staff who had anything to do with my being placed in “seg.” He questioned them all thoroughly and when he couldn’t find any justification for the ticket he asked me to leave the room and then he verbally thrashed out the major who had written the ticket. After having found no fault in me the warden dismissed all charges against me and restored my privileges. After the meeting was over I asked for a copy of my ticket but the senior captain quickly reached over and tore up both copies of the ticket stating, “there was no ticket issued.”

There are many other things to be told but the issue now is a lawsuit in the federal courts against the state of Illinois. We are trying to get a separation of the church and state based on the First Ammendment to the Constitution. I have not been able to partake of the Lord’s Supper since coming into the body of Christ. To have a Bible study I must sit in the visiting room with Dennis or another minister of the church of Christ. My brethren, please do not misunderstand me. I do not appeal for myself only. There are others in here who would love to hear and learn the truths of the Gospel. “But how shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed` and how shall they believe on Him whom they have heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” We need God’s truths to be brought into these prisons. We have many rich harvest fields here and the fruits are ready for picking but we lose them because we neglect them and they are rotting and spoiling. My brethren, we are going to be held accountable for these things.

I beseech you, my brethren, if you can help us please do all you can in Christ’s Name and for His glory. I will be eternally grateful. I know the sinful past I have. I also know “whosoever is in Christ is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things become new.” Yes, I know the mercy God has extended to me. I only wish to try and help extend that godly love to others. “For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office; So we being many are one body in Christ and everyone members one of another.”

Truth Magazine XXII: 26, pp. 424-425
June 29, 1978

By Dennis Lynd

On March 1, 1975, I began working with the congregation that meets in Pontiac, Illinois. The congregation here is small with a Sunday morning attendance of about 45 people. There is little to distinguish Pontiac as a community with the exception that it is the county-seat of Livingston County and the location of one of the state’s maximum security prisons.

On November 7, 1975, I entered the prison for the first time with the hopes of taking the gospel of Christ to some of the inmates. On that occasion I met a number of residents who were interested in spiritual matters. There was one inmate that I would particularly like to bring to your attention. Edmund Lopes No. 15286 was the head of the board-of-deacons for the Pontiac Bible Church in the Correctional Center at the time I entered the prison. Edmund had a great amount of influence and respect among the other inmates having worked with them for a number of years in spiritual matters.

Through the close of 1975 and the first two months of 1976, Edmund and I corresponded and I would visit with a group of men on the first of every month. Towards the end of March, Edmund and I had our first personal visit. On that occasion Edmund inquired concerning the Scriptural teaching on baptism. Prior to this time the Chaplain had substituted sprinkling for immersion. After studying the Scriptures together, Edmund realized the necessity of immersion for the remission of sins and expressed a desire to be baptized into Christ.

Leaving our visit, Edmund joined a discussion that was under way between the board-of-deacons and Chaplain Reynolds. They were discussing the legitimacy of sprinkling for baptism. Armed with passages of Scripture, Edmund showed the error of the course they had previously pursued and asked to be allowed to be immersed. Edmund and I were both told that the prison did not have the facilities for baptism even though we both knew that on at least two occasions the Jehovah’s Witnesses had been allowed to use the whirlpool in the prison hospital for this very purpose.

After the board-of-deacons decision to no longer use sprinkling for baptism, the Chaplain did it at least once more. As a result of his action, Edmund and four other members of the six-man board-of-deacons left the Protestant Chaplain’s program.

On April 1, amid religious confusion and departures from the Protestant Chaplain’s Program, Edmund was removed from the regular prison population and placed in segregation which is the closest thing our prisons have to solitary confinement. Edmund’s ticket, his appearance before the prison court-line, and his placement in segregation were all done in a most irregular manner. I visited Edmund on April 1 and he requested that I get an outside lawyer to look into the matter.

On April 2, I went to the prison accompanied by a local lawyer. Prison officials would not allow the lawyer to enter the prison to look into the matter.

Finally, after an investigation was held by the state’s Administrator of Chaplaincy Services, Robert Horn, Edmund was allowed to be immersed on May 7, 1976. Five days later, amid great fanfare and publicity, a baptistry was brought into the prison and Chaplain Reynolds immersed 15 inmates and the newspapers raved that “the institution at Pontiac has been a forerunner in recognizing the religious freedoms of prisoners” (Bloomington Pantagraph, 5/13/76). At that time the spokesman for the Department of Corrections admitted that there had been a “flood” of requests for the religious rite and that there “has been a swelling of fundamental Christianity inside prison walls recently-fundamentalism which holds that a person is not properly baptized unless he has been totally immersed in water” (Ibid.).

Over the past two years Edmund and I have tried to work through channels to arrange a Bible class and worship service within the prison here. All of our efforts have been to no avail. Finally, last November, Edmund filed suit against Governor Thompson and the Department of Corrections on the grounds that he was being denied the freedom to exercise his religion.

In January, 1978, I made a trip to Houston, Texas to discuss with Brother Roy Cogdill the merit of the case. Brother Cogdill saw merit in the case and suggested that we contact Brother Elliott Ozment to help us with the case. Brother Ozment is presently on the Tennessee State Legislature and his law firm has agreed to represent us in court. Brother Ozment will be challenging the chaplain system on the basis that it is a union of church and state that violates the Constitution of the United States. The Attorney General of Illinois is representing the defendants and it is probable that the case will go to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Crawford Ozment law firm expect that their commitment will involve $15,000 worth of time. This they are donating. We are presently trying to raise $5,000 to cover the out-of-pocket expense (travel, motels, meals, etc.). This money needs to be raised before these men become our attorneys-of-record. Because of the pressure from the state’s lawyers, there is a need for these men to become our attorney’s-of-record sometime in May, 1978.

We would encourage you to consider helping us in this good work. We are seeking the support of individuals and not churches. Thank you for your consideration. If you are able to help in this matter, make checks payable to Lopes-Lynd Fund and mail them to Allen Roth, 802 N. Mill, Pontiac, IL 61764.

Truth Magazine XXII: 26, p. 423
June 29, 1978

By Ron Halbrook

What do you do with bulletins, gospel papers, memeographed lessons, and other printed teaching materials after reading them? After one use, often such material is thrown out or laid aside. Why not put such materials to good use? We are on this earth to do all the good we can, by whatever means is at our disposal. After we benefit from using teaching materials that come into our hands, we should give thought to sharing that benefit with others. This is one way to plant the seed of truth along the way in life. Freely we have received good from the word in print, and freely we should extend that good to others.

Our family and friends could learn from these lessons in print. Brethren in foreign lands, such as in Africa and in the Philippines, are begging for such material. Eyewitness accounts have come of such printed teaching material being passed from hand to hand, village to village, and town to town until it literally falls to pieces! As a song says, why so thoughtless do we linger while the fleeting days go by? Too often we neglect the simple things we can do, and excuse ourselves by talking about things we cannot do.

Young preachers like myself can benefit from lessons taught in the past, if someone would be so thoughtful as to offer them to us. We do not “inherit” an understanding of past battles, losses, victories, failures, and successes-and older saints are sometimes heard lamenting our lack of perspective about such things. The printed page helps younger men to learn from the struggles of past yeas, but that printed page in the possession of older brethren is often buried in boxes, stored in trunks, or stashed up in attics where no one can use them. Ultimately, they will be thrown out or burned up in “spring cleaning,” perhaps by someone else who has no interest in such things.

For instance, the Bible Banner published in the 1940’s can give insights and perspectives to many of us who were only born in that decade, or since then. Older brethren who took and saved those papers may not think to offer them to younger men now, and in many cases have even forgotten having them stuck back somewhere. When I mentioned this to an older brother a couple of years ago, he said, “You know, now that you mention it, I think I have some of those out back in the chicken coop.” Sure enough, he did. And, he was glad for me to have them, droppings and all! I was glad to get them, droppings or no droppings! I am still searching for most of the Bible Banners and would be glad to hear from some reader. But this article is not intended to simply increase my files. If some older reader has a stack stuck under the bed or in the garage (where they are doing no one but the rats any good), why not offer them to some younger man who will be thrilled and benefitted from something only going to waste now.

Quite a few older readers have back issues of papers printed in the last 25 years, but most young men born within that time cannot obtain those issues. Good lessons can still be learned from old copies of the Gospel Guardian (I am still searching for volumes 4 and 5), Searching the Scriptures (anyone have volume V, numbers 2 and 3; VII, 6 through 12; VIII, 1 through 11; IX, 6 ?), and Truth Magazine (wish I could find volumes I, II, IV, V, VI, VII, IX, 8; XI, 12). Many brethren have these papers stacked or boxed up for years back, and do not know what to do with them. Upon asking, a number of times I have been taken by some brother to the dusty attic of an old garage to look through magazines that ultimately will end up in the trash. While you have the chance to put these into the hands of someone who will use them, why not do so? Mention what you have not only to younger preachers but also to any younger men who are active in the Lord’s work. Not everyone will be interested, but those who are will not be able to thank you enough!

While on the subject of sharing the printed page, many of you can also do someone good by sending Truth Magazine to them. By sending just one subscription, you will bless someone 50 times a year. Better yet, send 50 blessings a year to ten different homes for only $5.00 per month, or to 20 homes for $10.00 per month. People in foreign lands who do not have the money we have, often write in asking for Truth Magazine but having no way to pay for it. Why not pay for a foreign subscription? In the meantime, do not forget to look in the attic or garage, maybe even under the bed!

Truth Magazine XXII: 26, p. 422
June 29, 1978