Truth Magazine

By Kenneth Sils

The book of Romans in the New Testament is one of the most informative books in the Bible. Paul told them that he was ready to preach the gospel of Christ to them for it was the power of God to salvation for all people, whether they be Jew or Greek, slave or free, and male or female. This theme resonates throughout the book as Paul encourages all of them to see themselves as the people of God, united in the body of Christ, saved by the grace of God through obedient faith. Towards the end of the letter, Paul lists a series of salutations. The object of our study today is the expression found in Romans 16:16 when he told the Romans, “. . . The churches of Christ salute you.” Allow me to make three important observations concerning the term “churches of Christ” that is found in this passage.

The first observation from this God-given name is the section “of Christ.” When one says church “of Christ,” one is showing who the owner is of that which is called the church. Jesus Christ is the owner and possessor of the church. In Matthew 16, Jesus asked his disciples whom they thought he was. The answer Simon gave was correct. He said in Matthew 16:16, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In response to his confession of faith, Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “… on this rock, I will build my church.” The church belongs to Jesus and Jesus alone. The headship of the church was never left to Peter, Paul, or any other man on this earth. In Colossians 1:18, we learn that Jesus “is the head of the body, the church.” The church of the Bible is truly the church “of Christ.”

A second observation from the inspired phrase, “the churches of Christ salute you” points out the truth that the word “church” could never refer to any arrangement of man-made buildings. It’s impossible for a stone or brick building to salute anything! In the New Testament, the word church means “called out” or “those who are called out.” Acts 5:11 states, “So great fear came upon all the church.”

Only people have the ability to fear and those who were the “called out” of Christ expressed in unison reverential fear due to the awesome power they witnessed through the hands of the apostles. No physical building (cathedral, synagogue, sanctuary, meeting house) was ever referred to as “the church” in the New Testament. To do such today shows a gross ignorance of God’s way taught in Holy Scripture.

A third observation we should learn from the God-breathed phrase, “the churches of Christ salute you” refers to God’s use of the plural for the word “church.” The term “churches” simply meant “the called out” in reference to a variety of locations around the world. This is a phrase of common sense. Paul was currently instructing the “church of Christ” which was meeting in the city of Rome. There were the “called out” in Jerusalem, Ephesus, Antioch and the list could go on and on. Consider the seven “churches” of Asia which had letters sent to each one in the book of Revelation. It is vital to understand that the only distinction between these churches is in respect to their location. They were not denominations with differing doctrines, organizations, and allegiances. Their doctrine was the same for all as Paul commanded as he was sending Timothy to them in 1 Corinthians 4:17, “… who will remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach everywhere in every church.” The same doctrine that Timothy must preach to Corinth would be preached before every church of Christ he spoke to, regardless of their location.

The Caroline Street Church of Christ proposes to be a group just like you read about in the New Testament. We give our total allegiance to Christ and his inspired message just as the churches of Christ did in the fust century. Our mission is to teach the gospel of Christ for the salvation of your soul. If your interested in being a part of a church who loves the Lord and his inspired message, let’s study together. 1827 Caroline St., South Bend, Indiana 46613

Guardian of Truth XLI: 18 p. 20
September 18, 1997

By Steve Willis

The Victoria Child Sexual Abuse Society (VCSAS) issued a warning which prompted the entire article. VCSAS Director Peggy Mahony said, “With a small group of children, the behaviors are becoming more severe and more hurtful. It ranges from four- to six-year olds using coercion on younger children to have oral sex, to 11-year olds, raping seven-year olds.”

She says sexually abusing children fall into two groups:

The first group may have been `over-sexually stimulated’ by watching their parents have sex or peeking at their pornographic videos, or sometimes merely by the increasingly overt sexuality of commonplace TV fare like soap operas. `Even some of the daytime programming is stimulating for kids,’ Ms. Mahoney cautions. Children who subsequently act out the behaviors they have seen often have not been otherwise molested, which hitherto has been regarded as the chief predisposing factor for sexually abusive youth.

“The second group of young abusers  usually boys  are predatory and tend to commit much more serious assaults, like rape, on other children. Even in this group, only about 60% have been molested. However, Ms. Mahoney says, `the vast majority come from violent homes.”

The article continues: “That some agencies report an increase in child-perpetrated sexual abuse does not surprise family advocates. Like other indices of social breakdown, the phenomenon reflects an underlying moral decline, they argue. `It’s a consequence of the lack of mores and taboos,’ comments Laurie Greschke, the western vice-president of REAL Women of Canada. ‘It goes hand in hand with the availability of pornography and the strength and deviancy of it. You can now get more than thirty kinds of pornography magazines at any corner store.’

“The increased sexualization of young people and the unconcern of many parents, reflects society’s diminished respect for the sanctity of life, adds Mrs. Greschke. ‘Children are not viewed as special and precious gifts, so it doesn’t matter what we do them,’ she says. The modem evolutionary conception of existence, which posits that human beings are not created by God but rather developed without purpose, breeds such attitudes. `People are of no value and can be treated that way. There’s been a weakening of basic moral values.”‘

Further, mentioning a book some may be interested in finding:

“Maggie Gallagher, an American social commentator and author of the book, The Enemies of Ems, assigns much of the blame to family breakdown. While she says there is a shortage of `solid research’ specifically targeted at child sexual abusers, `there is considerable evidence that children who are not growing up with both biological parents are at greater risk of being abused.’ Ms. Gallagher reports that one Canadian study found that a child’s chances of being sexually abused were 40 times as great when a parent was absent. `There may be many different causes,’ she allows, `but it’s certainly plausible that the number of children not living with their parents are at much higher risk, both of being abused and of abusing others’ (Alberta Report, 23, article by Tom McFeely).

Guardian of Truth XLI: 18 p. 19
September 18, 1997

By Steve Rudd

“Daddy, if the teenage Satan worshipers or the Goths or Druids were to pick a leader, they would choose you .. . they like you!” said Talitha Rudd.

“It’s Your Festival”  June 28-July 1 Greetings! The fair was four days from noon to 11 P.M. each night. Here are some of the highlights!

In total, we had an estimated 1500 take the eight question Bible quiz. We enrolled six children from four different families into the VBS. Got about five good leads for Bible study.

Stories

“Daddy, if the teenage Satan worshipers or the Goths or Druids were to pick a leader, they would choose you .. . they like you!” said Talitha Rudd.

We had several good talks with these teenagers who have bad taste in clothing and makeup. They tend to wear all black with chains and “African type” face painting, and bright dyed hair sometimes with many one-foot high spikes. They are quite scary to look at. However, I have observed that these rebellious teens are actually quite open to talk about God. They usually come into the booth in small groups.

Can I Come Dressed in Black?

I invited one group of Goths to church and the 16-year old girl asked if she could come as she was dressed. I said, “As long as you have nothing vulgar, swear words, etc. on the clothing and not topless, and if you felt you could not learn about God dressed any other way, come as you are! God is concerned about the inside more then the outside.”

Beware of God!

Another incident where a teen Goth girl had on a T-shirt that said on the front, “Beware of God.” I commented that I liked that shirt because if you do evil, God will get you …so yes, beware of God. He is alive and watching you always.

“I Believe in the Devil!”

Another time, a Druid came up to my wife, Loreen, and said in a slow, deep scary voice, “I believe in the Devil.” My wife quipped back with a smile, “So do I.” The young boy of 17 looked stunned and didn’t know what to say.

We Love Pain and Suffering!

Yet another time a very rough group of four self-proclaimed Satan worshipers came to the booth, two 16-yearold couples. They started telling me how Satan is good to them, how he purifies them, and praising the devil for various things he has done for them. I replied that the Devil wants nothing but bad, pain, and suffering for them and that they were mistaken. They replied that pain was good. At this point three of them pulled off their arm stockings and showed me multiple scars on the inside of their lower arm. They told me that pain was good, that they liked pain and suffering etc. I looked at them and said, “So I guess you don’t like sex!” They replied, “Well that’s different.” I went on to say that the very friendship, kinship, and love they showed to each other within their own group the Devil would love to destroy, that the Devil wanted them to be fighting, alone and afraid, even dead. This group I have seen down town before and they will remember me next time we talk.

Confused 13-Year-Old Goth-lesbian

A 13-year old girl dressed as a Goth, came into the booth with three of her friends. She asked me what I thought of lesbianism. She said that she knew that it was genetic and she wasn’t sure if she was lesbian. She was loud, open, and highly vocal. I told her that homosexuality was acquired by learning, not genetics, and that you choose to be lesbian. She said, “Do you really think that I would choose to be homo and thereby reap heaps of ridicule and persecution?” I replied, “Have you not considered that by the way you dress in all black with chains that you have chosen to heap ridicule and persecution? As you can see, our choices in these matter are what counts.” She agreed that she suffered every day from people mocking her about her Goth dress style. After I told her that I really didn’t think she was lesbian, my kids took over and together a group of about four discussed all kinds of things for about 45 minutes.

“Of Flag and Flyer Burning”

One evening a group of about five Goths came into the booth. We, as usual, handed each of them a flyer about our building location etc. A tall “Goth” of about 18, stepped just outside our booth onto the grass and set the 8.5 x 11 page on fire. It created quite a bit of light and attention. He dropped it to the ground, and with a lot watching started stomping on it to put it out. (These kids love attracting attention.) My two children, Daniel (14) and Talitha (13), looked on in frightful horror wondering what was going to happen next. He walked out into the park about 20 feet away to join another group of Goths. I waited about 30 seconds then walked out to the group. I spoke with him for about five minutes. Gave him another copy of the same flyer he burned, and he walked away intently reading the flyer. My kids had kept a close eye on their daddy, for fear as to what might happen. When I walked back to the booth, they both pounced on me in amazement pleading and begging in absolute amazement, wanting to know what I had said to change this burner in to a reader! I told them that it was not anything I had said, but just that I had shown them I care for them. As I handed him the flyer, I showed him my phone number and told him he could call me day or night and I would drive down and see him. It was at this point that my daughter Talitha commented spontaneously, “Daddy, if the teenage Satan worshipers or the Goths or Druids were to pick a leader, they would choose you .. . they like you!”

Jehovah’s Witnesses Well Trained

by the Organization

I can almost always pick out the Jehovah’s Witnesses when they come to the booth. Being highly superstitious and quite pompous, they come into the booth and look atthe questions from a slight distance but will not actually push the buttons to see if the answer is correct (for fear of demon possession or something). Three Jehovah’s Witness ladies came into the booth and after peering at the first two questions with a smug “checking out the competition” grin, I asked them what church they attended. When they said Jehovah’s Witnesses the one woman said, “I think I recognize you.” I answered, yes it was probably when I knocked on your door to see if you were interested in learning about Jesus. A discussion began about how Jehovah’s Witnesses are organization bound, hold the Watchtower to be inspired and really don’t follow the Bible. I told her that most Jehovah’s Witnesses were former Catholics because there was little to change except where world headquarters re-sides (Brooklyn from Rome) and the adoption of Arianism. As I talked to her she clutched my flyer in her hand at waist level. Without batting an eye or moving, she slowly and loudly ripped my flyer that I had placed in her hand in two. It was done almost as an unconscious reflex. I paused, then remarked, “The organization sure has you well trained to rip up apostate materials.” She was quite embarrassed and after I offered to restore the flyer, she took a second one then walked away. I am sure that she was going to use it to further demonstrate this ritual of disposing of apostate materials further to her two understudies.

Prove to Me There Is a God!

Daniel, my 14-year-old son, engaged in a 2 1/2 hour Bible study on the grass ten feet in front of the booth. The two other boys were about 15 and 16 years old. They were attacking the Bible and God and wanted Daniel to prove God and the Bible. I could see that at times, they were whipping him good, but I remarked to Loreen that Daniel will learn more about the Bible in these two hours than five years of my sermons! In the end, Daniel felt that he prevailed.

The Blind Can See, The Deaf Can Hear!

Daniel and Talitha spent about two hours teaching the Bible to a French man who couldn’t speak English. They took them through each question then answered several of his questions. They also spent about ten minutes taking three deaf-mutes through the booth and answering question with sign language. The school they attended in K-5 taught signing to all the kids.

“The Not in the Devil’s Tale”

There were two questions that opened up a lot of discussions:

Ephesians 3:4 says “When you read you can understand.”

This means that: You must have a priest or a pastor explain the Bible to you.

You must have the Holy Spirit to know God’s will. Reading the Bible daily is a good way to learn the Bible.

Which of the following is a quote from the Bible?

“You see that a man is saved by faith only.”

“Baptism now saves you.”

“Pray the sinners prayer and thou shalt be saved.”

We were able to emphasize that the Bible can be under-stood by simply reading it with the Ephesians 3:4 passage. Calvinists and Pentecostals alike always got it wrong! The quote from the Bible question was superb. We would say: “James 2:24 actually says not by faith only.” We removed “not,” so it is wrong. Baptism now saves you is a direct quote of 1 Peter 3:21 and the concept of “praying the sinners prayer” isn’t even found in the Bible but is a man-made doctrine. We would ask, “Did you know that of all the con-version examples in the Bible, not one of them was ever told to pray …. If the person defended the “Billy Graham” gospel, we would point out that the official creed of their church did the same thing that the devil did in the garden  added the word “not.” (We called this the not in the devil’s Tale = you shall surely not die.) Baptists re-move the word “not” in James 2:24 and add it in 1 Peter 3:21. If the person seemed inclined, we would offer them our “discover it yourself’ baptism study.

Lights Out!

Each night we had to literally ask people to leave be-cause he had to shut down for the night and turn the lights out and get home to bed by about midnight. The fields were white for harvest!

We have three more fairs this summer! Our next one will focus on “Who is Jesus?” Bible Quiz. We need help especially on VBS week. A fair, July 18-20 and VBS on July 22-24.

Guardian of Truth XLI: 18 p. 14-16
September 18, 1997

By Ron Halbrook

From the time of the Garden of Eden until now, a great battle has been raging between God and Satan for the souls of men. God has his people, Satan has his people, and there is no middle ground (Matt. 12:30). Each of us is in this battle on one side or the other. God calls on us to take a stand for truth and right, and to fight to the end.

Ephesians 6:10-18 describes this spiritual warfare and teaches us we must arm ourselves with the word of God to win the victory. “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore …” If we take our stand for God’s truth and stand with that truth in the battle, we will finally stand in victory. 2 Timothy 4:1-8 is a stirring call from an old soldier of the cross about to lay down his life as he urges a younger preacher to faithfully proclaim God’s word. Paul said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” Let us consider some steps and stages in that great warfare for the hearts, minds, and souls of people.

1. We Must Obey the Gospel. When we obey the gospel of Christ, God removes us from Satan’s army and enrolls us in his own. We must know that we are lost in our sins and that God gave his Son as the perfect sacrifice for sin. This genuine faith in Christ includes repentance and water baptism, i.e., a spiritual birth resulting from the power of the gospel as revealed by the Spirit of God (John 3:3-5, 16). When we come to God by faith, repentance, and baptism, the blood of Christ washes away our sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16). Thus we pass from spiritual darkness to light, from death to life.

2. We Must Rise to Walk in Newness of Life. To be “baptized into Jesus Christ” is no mere ritual but means to be “buried with him by baptism” into his death. We are saved by his blood when baptized; then, just as he arose, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom.6:3-4, 21-23). The rest of our lives are spent serving God and truth, not Satan and sin.

Sprinkling is not Bible baptism because the burial is missing. Imagine burying a dead man by sprinkling a little dust on him! Denominationalism teaches that men are saved and then baptized, but that means a man is already alive unto God when buried in the water. To bury a live man is to kill him. That cannot be the picture of Bible baptism!

3. We Must Draw Close to God Each Day. The battle for souls puts us in a spiritual relationship with God or Satan. Each day we fill our hearts with God’s will or Satan’s will by listening to God’s word or to the sinful world. Satan’s servants delight “in the counsel of the ungodly, . . . in the way of sinners, (and). . . in the seat of the scornful.” God’s servant delights “in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Ps. 1:1-2). We pay daily homage to God by prayer and worship, or to Satan by worldly, sinful, ungodly talk. David said, “I will call upon God… . Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” (Ps. 55:16-17).

4. We Must Take God’s Word as the Final Authority. God told Noah exactly how to build the ark. Noah respected God’s word as final: “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he” (Gen. 6:22). God gave Moses “the pattern of the tabernacle” and told him to make all things according to that pattern (Exod. 25:8-9). When Naaman accepted God’s instruction “and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God,” his leprosy was healed (2 Kings 5).

We today must respect God’s word as the final authority. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Pet. 4:11). We must speak where the Bible speaks, be silent where it is silent, call Bible things by Bible names, and do Bible things in Bible ways. God’s Word is the only authority, not preachers, friends, or the majority.

5. We Must Be Members of the Church of Christ. Jesus promised, “I will build my church,” only one church, his own (Matt. 16:18). All who obey the gospel are added to it by God himself (Acts 2:47). “Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body” (Eph. 5:23). If Christ is to be our head and Savior, we must obey the gospel and be added to his spiritual body, the church. He teaches his people to meet in each community to worship him and to spread the gospel. These local assemblies are called “churches of Christ” because they belong to him (Rom. 16:16). Each follower of Christ wears his name and no other: “The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” (Acts 11:27).

The church of Christ is not a modem denomination but is the church we read about in the Bible. This church is scriptural in origin, name, doctrine, and practice, but denominational bodies are not. Christ did not authorize such names as Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Jehovah’s Witness, or Mormon. He authorized singing in worship but not instrumental music (Eph. 5:19). Women are not to exercise “authority over the man” in the church by preaching, by leading prayers and songs, or in any other way (1 Tim. 2:12). Such things occur in churches made by men, not in Christ’s true church.

6. We Must Resist Every Step of Apostasy. Apostasy means departure from the truth, which God warned would come when “grevious wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (1 Tim. 4:1; Acts 20:28-29). Many steps of apostasy taken after the apostles died ultimately produced Roman Catholicism with its many false doctrines and practices. The Protestant Reformation repudiated many of these errors but retained others.

Those who restored the original gospel and church of Christ have suffered new cycles of apostasy. God’s people often have fallen back into the errors out of which we have come, like “the dog … turned to his own vomit again” (2 Pet. 2:22). Brethren have perverted the worship with instrumental music, entertaining quartets, and chorus performances. Some have accepted premillennial error. Others have embraced church support of human institutions (missionary societies, colleges, camps, child care agencies, retirement centers, etc.). Some churches now sponsor social meals, build kitchens, and organize ball teams. We must be reminded the church is not a social welfare institution or a recreational club (1 Cor. 11:34; 1 Tim. 5:16). Dangerous trends now developing include divorce-remarriage error, the influence of sectarian and liberal concepts, loose ideas on grace and unity, the positive-mental-attitude philosophy (avoid controversy, de-bate, calling names), misusing Romans 14 to promote unity-in-doctrinal-diversity, and the demand for softer preaching in general.

7. We Must Keep Unspotted from the World. “Pure religion” requires each Christian to “keep himself unspotted from the world. . . . Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (Jas. 1:27; 4:4). Souls will be lost when worldliness enters the hearts and lives of Christians. This danger comes when we are more interested in material than spiritual things. Worldliness comes through sexual immorality, social drinking, profanity, dancing, gambling (yes, including the lottery), and immodest dress (shorts, short skirts, swim suits, tank and tube tops, tight clothes, etc. in mixed company).

8. We Must Love God and Our Fellowman. All God teaches us hinges on loving God first and then “thy neighbor as thyself’ (Matt. 22:37-40). Love for God involves obeying his commands no matter what the cost. Love for our neighbor means seeking his true welfare. “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor” (Rom. 13:9-10). By teaching people the gospel in its purity and simplicity, we show the greatest love that can be shown. That is why Christ commanded, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark. 16:16; 1 Tim. 4:1).

Guardian of Truth XLI: 18 p. 12-13
September 18, 1997