Truth Magazine

By Cecil Willis

We have been studying the nature of the Godhead. That is, does the Godhead consist of one person, Jesus, or is it comprised of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Already we have studied a good number of Scriptures on the subject. And were it not for the interest there seems to be on the subject, both from those in the church of the Lord, and from those in denominational organizations, we might have pursued the subject no farther. But as we have promised to further investigate the subject, we want to continue to study the Scriptures on this point this week.

It is sometimes stated that Rev. 1:8 proves there is but one person in the Godhead. The passage reads, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Remember that the apostle John writes this statement by divine inspiration. One cannot read the first seven verses of this chapter and get any inkling that there is but one person in the Godhead. John did not contradict himself. Notice “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw” (Rev. 1:1,2). Where did Jesus get his message? This passage says God gave it to him. This message was signified to his servant John the apostle, by his angel. The word “angel” in the original language simply means messenger. We find in John 14, and also chapter 16 that the Holy Spirit would bring to the apostle’s remembrance all Jesus had spoken and would guide them into all truth. So in these first two verses of Rev. 1 we have God mentioned, Jesus mentioned, and the Holy Spirit inferred. Now John would not, in the next five verses, after having mentioned these three, have asserted that they were nonentities. He did not contradict himself. The eternal nature of God is asserted in this passage, He was, is, and is to come. And I know but few people that would question the eternal nature of God.

In Matt. 1:23 when Jesus was called, “Immanuel” (God with us), the statement means that Deity had been clothed upon with human flesh. This passage does not assert that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one person. These people who labor to prove the proposition that there is one person in the Godhead, read a passage, then forget what the passage says, and merely assert their doctrine. When someone suggests that you read a certain passage to find that God and Jesus are one person, do not be afraid to look it up. Read it. If it says they are one person, send me a card telling me where it is found. I would like to read it too. Until someone does this, I will continue to teach that it is not to be found in God’s word.

In Eph. 4:1-6 we find seven things listed by Paul of which, he says there can be but one. These passages not only declare that there can be but one of each of these, but that there must be at least one, but no more. We shall cite only verses 3 through 6: “giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” And then Paul set form a platform for Christian unity. He says, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.” There is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. These are the direct words of Paul spoken by divine guidance. We occasionally hear people laud themselves with the fact that they preach the “one Lord, one faith, and one baptism” as though this were all this passage declared. One is not preaching the whole of the gospel if he is not preaching all this passage teaches.

Paul specifically says there is one God, one Lord, one Spirit. Our denominational friends want to tell us that Paul really misunderstood the divine teaching, and that there was not one God, one Lord and one Spirit, but that Jesus was all three. He is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. “It Paul here distinguished the one body, one hope, the one faith, and the one baptism, of necessity he must distinguish between the one Spirit, the one Lord, and the one God. To say that the Spirit, the Lord and the one God are all one and the same person is as ridiculous as to say that the one hope, the one faith. and the one baptism are all the same act. If to hope, to believe and to be baptized are different acts, then the Spirit, the Lord and the one God are different persons. It is foolish to amalgamate the three persons in the Godhead, and at the same time, in the very same verse, uphold the distinction of the four unities mentioned” (Clevenger, Debate Notes). If one preaches the one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, he ought also to preach the one Lord, one God, and one Spirit, and quit trying to make them all one person.

In Acts 7 we read a powerful sermon. It was so cutting it cost the preacher his life. Not only was this sermon powerful and cutting to those Jews to whom it was addressed, but it equally as powerful and destructive of the doctrine we have just been studying. Stephen was the preacher. He had accused the Jews of being “stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears.” Of course the Jews deeply resented this rabid accusation. Luke’s account in the book of Acts reads, “Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the -right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:54-56). The Scripture says that Stephen saw God, and Jesus standing or. the right hand of God. The theory we are discussing says this could not be so. Stephen must have seen an hallucination. He surely must have only thought he saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God. Now the theory that there is but one person in the Godhead is not plausible unless it can be explained how a person can sit on the right hand of himself. If Jesus is God, and Jesus is Jesus, then when Jesus sat on the right hand of God, He was sitting on the right hand of Himself. If there is just one person in heaven, then Stephen must have only seen Jesus sitting on His own right hand, and thought he saw Jesus sitting on the right hand o# God. Frankly, men would do well to alter their theories to conform with the Scripture, rather than perverting the Scripture to fit their theories. Most of us have seen a good many things in life, but I will venture a guess that none of you have even seen a person sitting on his own right hand. This passage teaches the same truth that so many others we have already cited to you in this series of studies declare. God and Jesus are not one person.

It seems almost futile, and purposeless to go on reciting Scripture after Scripture that plainly teach that Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God are different beings. But if one is not gained by unegivocal statements of Scripture thus far studied, perhaps the weight of many bearing upon his mind will overpower his preconceived notions.

Hence another Scripture. Jno. 14:16,17, and Jno. 16:7,8 declare the same promise of Jesus. The first passage says, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth.” The second, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I go, I will send him unto you. And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” “Jesus here promises the disciples that He would pray the Father to send the Spirit after his departure. If the Father is the Spirit and the Spirit the Father, and Jesus is the Father and the Father is Jesus, and if Jesus is the Spirit and the Spirit is Jesus, if all are one person, we have quite a predicament. Really the passage is saying: I am going to leave the earth and go to heaven where the Father and the Spirit are: I am going to pray to the Father that he will send the Holy Spirit to you disciples here on earth. Now if there is just one person in the Godhead, here is the way the passage would read. If every time the word Father, Son or Holy Spirit is used, we may substitute the word Jesus, the passage would read something like this: “And I will pray to myself, and I myself shall give you myself, that I myself may abide with you forever. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, I will not come unto you, but if I depart I will send myself unto you, and when I come, I will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (Taken in substance from Clevenger’s Debate Notes). Any doctrine that makes such sheer nonsense of the Holy Word of God must be rejected by thinking people. The Bible says what it means and means what it says.

Again we might think of the approximately fifteen times the Bible says that Jesus prayed to the Father. Was He merely praying to Himself, and in so doing, giving the impression to those about Him that there was someone up in heaven who would hear and answer the prayer? Certainly not. He was praying to the Father.

In closing this lesson, we would like to cite just one more passage that not only teaches there is more than one in the Godhead but expresses our desire for each and every person who may read this article. Jesus told His disciples to “Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:19,20). Jesus desired that each person become a follower of Him submitting to baptism for the remission of sins. Won’t you become baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?

Truth Magazine, XX:25, p. 3-5
June 17, 1976

By Keith Sharp

We have a saying, “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; cry, and you cry alone.” Yet, here, in a striking paradox, the Master declared that those who are truly happy are those who mourn. Which mourners are comforted? How shall they be comforted?

Mourn

The term which is here translated “mourn”

. . . is the strongest word for mourning in the Greek language. It is the word which is used for mourning for the dead, for the passionate lament for one who was loved. In the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament, it is the word which is used of Jacob’s grief when he believed that Joseph, his son, was dead (Genesis 37:34). It is defined as the kind of grief which takes such a hold on a man that It cannot be hid. It is not only the sorrow which brings an ache to the heart; It is the sorrow which brings the unrestrainable tears to the eyes.”l

Thus, in Luke’s record of this beatitude, Jesus observed, “Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh” (Lk. 6:21b).

Did Christ teach us to go around with a scowl on our face and tears in our eyes? A thousand times, “NO!” The kingdom of God brings consummate joy (Rom. 14:17). Christians are to be joyous in heart (Phil. 4:4-8). Over what, then, were the mourners to mourn? Paul bore solemn witness to the Roman Christians: “. . . I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:2-3). He sorrowed intensely over the lost condition of his own people, fleshly Israel. Simeon, as all other godly and devout Jews, was “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Lk. 2:25). He mourned over the down-trodden and sin-cursed condition of his nation. The primary mourning to which the Lord referred is sorrow for the sinful and sin-cursed state of the world.

However, this mourning is also for one’s own sins. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation . . .” (2 Cor. 7:8-11). James warned sinners: “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness” (Jas. 4:9).

Comforted

How are such mourners to be comforted? “Comforted” is used “. . . of the consolation (comfort) given not in words but by the experience of a happier lot. . . .”2 ‘Thus, this comfort is that received in the realization of the forgiveness of sins.

Zechariah prophesied that the inhabitants of Jerusalem would “. . . look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son. . . .” and promised “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness” (Zech. 12:10-13:1). On the first Pentecost after the Lord’s triumph over the grave, the very day upon which the kingdom of Heaven was established, Peter boldly accused the Jews there assembled of having crucified the Lord of glory (Acts 2:22-24). Many were made intensely sorrowful (v. 37) and repented at his preaching (vv. 38-41). They were comforted in the remission of their sins (v. 38).

Many hardened souls can feel no compassion for the sin-blighted world. To them, either sin is humorous, or they simply do not care. But to those who are truly moved to deep, painful sorrow by the condition of the lost, soothing comfort is abundant in that Jesus “is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). The multitudes have no remorse or feeling of guilt over their lawless lives. But for those whose pierced consciences cause them to agonize in godly sorrow, abundance of forgiveness in Christ can ease the stricken conscience (Isa. 40:1-5; 51:11; 2 Thess. 2:16-17; Heb. 6:18).

Isaiah looked for that blessed time when the Christ would “bind up the broken hearted” and “comfort all that mourn” (Isa. 61:1-2). The tender, pitiful plea of the Meek and Lowly is “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30).

The second beatitude is a declaration of` the consolation available in the kingdom of Heaven to those who, having mourned over their own guilt and that of the people of the world, can rejoice in the forgiveness of sins and resultant righteousness offered both to themselves and to the world through Christ our Redeemer.

FOOTNOTES

1. William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, (Philadelphia, 1956), 1, p. 88.

2. Joseph Henry Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, (Chicago, 1886), p. 483.

By Dennis C. Abernathy

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve, through, his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted front the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3). The New American Standard Version has “the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” The apostle Paul’s fear here was that as the serpent led Eve into sin by his crafty wickedness, so these false teachers were corrupting the, church at Corinth from that simplicity of doctrine and purity of life which they owed to the Christ, who was their espoused husband. In this article we want to focus our attention to the simplicity of the teachings of Christ or on the Gospel.

Now the idea that many of the world have is that we simply cannot understand the Bible. We know this not to be so because Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit, says that we can. “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit” (Eph. 3:2-5). Paul said the mystery was made known unto him and he wrote it down and we can read it, and when we read it we can understand it. We can know just what Paul knew. Isn’t that simple. The problem with most is that they do not take the time to read what Paul wrote, therefore they do not (not cannot) understand the Bible. I further know that the Bible is understandable because Psalms 119:130 says, “The entrance of the words giveth light: it giveth understanding unto the simple.”

Reasons Why the Gospel Must Be Simple

The Gospel must be simple because it is to be preached to every creature. “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk. 16:15). “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations . . .” (Matt. 2&:19). Certainly if the gospel is to be preached to every creature it must be simple. If the gospel is not simple, and cannot be understood, then it would do no good to preach it.

Another reason why the gospel must be simple is to believe it. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mk. 16:16). It plainly says those that “believe not” shall be damned. Would it be right and fair to damn a man for what he cannot understand? Dear reader, the Lord has given us His Word, we are instructed to believe it, and if we do not we will be damned. You may be confident that you can believe (that is, if you want to, and will).

Evidence that Shows the Gospel to be Simple

The evidence we have chosen to use concerns itself with the church and baptism. What is said about the church is simple. The lord himself said…… That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). Christ said, “I will build my church.” I ask, whose church is this? Is it Luther’s, Wesley’s, John’s, or any other man’s? You say, “No!” You are absolutely correct. Why do you say “No”? Because Christ said “I will build my church.” It is His! He purchased it with His own blood (Acts 211:28), and it wears His name (Rom. 16:16).

We learn further that there is only one church –which is His body. “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body,- the fullness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23). “And he is the head of the body, the church. . . “(Col 1:18).”There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling” (Eph. 4:4). 1 ask you, can you possibly get many out of one? The body is the church and there is one body, therefore, there must of necessity be just one church. That does away with the idea of “the church of your choice” and settles once and for all that it is the church of Christ’s choice.

Next we learn that we are baptized into that one body. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body. . . ” (1 Cor. 12:13). How do we get into the one body? We are baptized into it. Isn’t that simple? The body is the church and we are baptized into the body, therefore, we enter into the church through baptism. Dear reader do you know of another passage in all of God’s Book that tells you another way to enter into the one body? I know of none, but if you do please tell me.

What is said about baptism is simple. We find that it is a burial in water. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3-4). “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses” (Col. 2:12-13). Isn’t that simple? If it is a burial it cannot be a sprinkling or pouring. What do you do when you bury some one in the ground? What do you do when you bury someone in the watery grave of baptism?

Further we learn that baptism is for believing penitents, not babies. Infant baptism is without scriptural authority. The subject for baptism is to believe. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved . . . ” (Mk. 16:16). The subject for baptism is to repent of his sins. “Then Peter said unto them, repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. . . ” (Acts 2:38). I ask you, can an infant believe? Is he capable of doing that? Can an infant repent of his sins? Does he have any sins to repent off? The answers are very simple and when you answer these questions you will find the proper subjects for baptism and they will not be infants.

Last of all, baptism is to save. “He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved'(Mk. 16:16). “And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptised, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us. . . ” (1 Pet. 3:21).

The gospel of Christ is simple. One does not have to be a college graduate to understand how to go to heaven. In our preaching of the gospel, let us always remember to keep it simple, and easy to be understood. If we fail in this we have failed altogether because if people cannot understand they cannot obey and if they do not obey they are lost (2 Thess. 1:7-9).

Truth Magazine, XX:24, p. 10-11
June 10, 1976

By Roy E. Cogdill

We have sought to separate unity from the “Ecumenical Movement” which some have confused as a “movement” in the direction of unity and God. Of course, Christianity is not connected with any “movement” of any kind. A “movement” toward union without unity-compromise without conviction-policy without principle-is subversive to truth, contrary to the will of Christ and displeasing to God. The “unity of the Spirit” is essential to truth and righteousness and is the only unity that pleases God and is worth the time and effort that it requires to talk and write about it.

Unity among the people of God upon the basis of divine truth is primarily a congregational matter and not a universal problem. When a local church is a “church of Christ” it measures up to the divine standard closely enough to enjoy that identity and is therefore built by the same pattern as every other such local church on earth.

There is, however, no connecting tie of federation between these churches of Christ (Rom. 16:16) as they exist in their various localities. They are rather completely independent bodies subject to the same authority, with the same faith and message engaging in the same pattern of worship and identical in organization and mission. They each have their own members, elders or bishops and deacons, place of assembly, program of work, resources or treasury, and exercise their own discipline and control their own fellowship. They are subject only to the authority of Christ.

In the New Testament there is nothing that teaches that these “churches of Christ” should or did pool their resources into a combined or “brotherhood treasury.” They did not jointly undertake any work. They concurrently labored independently of one another to preach the gospel in the same place and even support the same preacher. (2 Cor. 11:7-9), but they did not combine their work under a single eldership or some humanly devised organization nor did they combine their resources. You can search the scriptures in vain for such combinations as are common today among professed churches of Christ, viz., Herald of Truth, sponsored church co-operation, etc. We have seen and heard brethren try to establish the scripturalness of such joint enterprises in vain but we have never heard any scripture produced teaching it either in precept, example, or by necessary inference. They have no scripture for such combinations. They can only appeal to “the liberty to act in God’s silence” and plain sophistry. There is no divine authority for any organization in the work of the church but the local church (Phil. 1:1). Neither is there any divine authority for a local church functioning as a brotherhood agency. This is a perversion of the function of God’s organization.

History teaches that when these independent congregations of God’s people began to merge, federate, form inter-congregational ties apostasy was already under way. This led to the crowning of a universal bishop over all the churches and that is Roman Catholicism. Inter-congregational federation either in organization, function, or of resources will lead in, the same direction again. The flagrant violations of this fundamental principle of truth and church identity today among the churches has lead and is leading to the disruption of the peace of many congregations and the creation of dissension and strife. Not only have the people of God been divided but families have been separated and bitterness has been created and all because the false assumption that “we do not have to have divine authority” for all we do in the church of the Lord. The New Testament teaches that when anyone brings into any church of Christ anything as a matter of expediency or personal liberty that causes others in that congregation to offend their consciences or separate themselves therefrom, they have condemned themselves by “destroying the temple of God” (1 Cor. 3:16-17). Such an attitude is plain carnality (1 Cor. 3:1-3).

Unity is enjoined upon the congregation by Paul and he invoked the authority of Christ to impress the obligation it carries. “Now I beseech you, brethren, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (I Cor. 1:10).

More than a. hundred years ago when brethren introduced the missionary society organization into evangelism of the church and instrumental music into the worship, they did not plead scriptural authority for these innovations at the beginning. They brought them in as matters of expedience and human judgment and preference. They took the attitude that those who could not conscientiously worship and work with them in use of these “expediencies” were “anti,” narrow minded, non-progressive, making laws where God had riot rude them, etc. Today liberal brethren who are bringing into the congregations their human expediencies and disrupting the peace and harmony of God’s people are once again taking the same attitude and hurling the same epithets against those of their brethren who oppose theist. They are saying now even as they did then, “We have the liberty of practicing such things and you do not have the right to oppose them, therefore, you can either go along in violation of your conscience or get out.” This is the reason many brethren are leaving the place of worship where they have been for years, helped to pay for the property and facilities for carrying on their work, and seeking some other place of worship where they will not have to sacrifice their convictions for the sake of peace. Even though they do it with a grieved heart, this is all that they can do and still please God. Those who force them to do it, however, are marching toward complete apostasy and eternal condemnation as sure as the Bible is the Word of God.

Truth Magazine, XX:24, p. 9-10
June 10, 1976