Truth Magazine

By Andy Alexander

Scriptural Elders and Deacons, H.E. Phillips, $15.95.

Scriptural Elders and Deacons by brother H. E. Phillips is an excellent work on an important and controversial Bible subject. It is equally valuable today as an aid to studying the eldership as it was when first written. There has been and always will be a great need for qualified elders in the Lord’s church.

This book is a valuable tool for all Christians, but especially younger preachers will find it to be of great help as they grapple with the problems associated with the eldership. Many questions and problems that relate to the eldership in a local congregation are confusing and perplexing to a young man trying to do the work of an evangelist. Brother Phillips has examined this subject from many different aspects and given sound answers to many questions that arise concerning it. The experience of brother Phillips, his sound biblical reasoning, and concern for the Lord’s church have all gone into this book and can be a great help to a young preacher as he faces questions and problems surrounding the eldership. It will also be a beneficial tool for sermon preparation and class instruction.

The intent of brother Phillips in writing the book can be gleaned from the title itself, Scriptural Elders And Deacons. His goal in his own words is: (1) To present the New Testament truth on the organization of the church of Christ with equal force as we would teach on any other phase of the church. (2) To teach that which will help develop a strong church spiritually. Large numbers are not always a sign of spiritual strength (Matt. 7:13-14). (3) To speak in the fear of God and the judgment, with-out partiality toward anyone. I wish to follow the charge Paul gave to Timothy in preaching the “things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses” (2 Tim. 2:2), to “observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality” (1 Tim. 5:21). In this connection Paul gave instructions for the qualifications and appointment of elders and deacons in the church.

I believe that brother Phillips fulfilled his stated purpose. He deals with the necessity of being organized in a scriptural manner, dangers surrounding the eldership, false ideas concerning the eldership, the qualifications of elders and deacons, and many questions that repeatedly arise among brethren concerning the eldership.

This book is an excellent resource work for sermon material on the subject of elders and deacons. Brother Phillips also goes into detail on the congregation’s responsibility in the selection of elders and deacons and their relationship to them. He even devotes a chapter to the wives of elders and deacons entitled “Concerning Wives of Officers of the Church.”

I have preached several lessons on this subject in the few years that I have preached and this book has been a great help to me in organizing my lessons. The chapters are writ-ten in outline form with Roman numerals denoting the major points and each heading and sub-heading numbered for easy reference. This makes it especially easy for looking up in-formation on specific points or questions.

Some of the more trying questions that brother Phillips addresses in this book concern:

 Must an elder have a plurality of children to meet the qualification of having faithful children?

 Can a man continue to serve as an elder after his wife dies?

 Does the wife of an elder have to be a Christian?

 Can a woman serve as a deaconess?

 Is it right to pay an elder for his services?

 Is a man qualified for the eldership whose daughter at-tends dances?

 Must a congregation appoint qualified men to serve or can a substitute be made for the eldership (business meeting, evangelistic oversight, etc.)?

 Is “blameless” the only qualification?

 Must an elder be married?

One may not agree with every conclusion that brother Phillips reaches in answer to these and other questions he addresses, but most will appreciate the effort he has put forth in attempting to answer them. Some preachers and Bible class teachers steer far away from controversial subjects and are afraid to let their views be known for fear that some may be offended or their job may be in jeopardy, but brother Phillips is not guilty of such cowardice as he discusses the eldership.

Brother Phillips analyzes the answers of various men and scholars to many of the questions surrounding the eldership and then gives his reasoned response to the same questions. The serious Bible student will appreciate the time and effort spent by brother Phillips to provide such a thorough treatise on this very important subject.

There are many problems facing the Lord’s church to-day and elders and deacons faithfully fulfilling their responsibilities will help solve these problems. I can recommend this book to every preacher of the gospel. There are other books on this subject, but of all the ones that I am aware of, brother Phillips book excels them all.

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 23, p. 10-11
December 5, 1996

By Irvin Himmel

Jesus had a fleshly mother and brothers and sisters. Joseph was Mary’s husband and Jesus’ foster father. Those who were acquainted with the family said of Jesus, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?” (Matt. 13:55).

On one occasion it was reported to Jesus, “Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?” Perhaps the subsequent action and remark of Jesus startled some who were present. He stretched forth his hand to-ward his disciples, and said, “Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matt. 12:46-50).

There is a relationship that is far more important than physical ties. Jesus was emphasizing that precious spiritual connection. Mary is not to be worshiped, even though she was the earthly mother of Jesus. His brothers and sisters were not automatically in favor with God because they were in the same physical family. To be in the same spiritual family with Jesus is what really matters.

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 22, p. 15
November 21, 1996

By Randy Blackaby

Can a Man “See” God?

In Exodus 24:9-12 it is recorded that Moses and 73 others “saw the God of Israel” near Mt. Sinai. It is stated in Exodus 33:11 that the Lord spoke to Moses “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

But in that same chapter (33:20-23) it says God told Moses, “You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me, and live.”

The New Testament provides similar contrasting statements. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount he said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). But in John 1:18 it clearly states, “No one has seen God at any time.”

So, do the Scriptures contradict themselves? Can a mortal man “see” God or not?

The Bible’s historical records clearly show that men and women have seen representations of God. Hagar was approached by an angel (Gen. 16:7ff) and the handmaiden of Sarah understood that she had seen God (v. 13).

Jacob wrestled with a “man” (Gen. 32:24) but called the place of that wrestling “Peniel” because, he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

Moses and the 70 elders of Israel saw something they knew as God (Exod. 24:9-12). Moses saw God in the form of or speaking from a burning bush (Exod. 3). God led the children of Israel through the wilderness by manifesting himself as a cloud by day and a fire by night. At Mt. Sinai his presence was revealed by thunderings, lightning and a dark cloud. Isaiah said he saw the Lord on a throne when he had a vision (Isa. 6:1, 5). Ezekiel had a similar experience (Ezek. 1:26-28).

What did these people really see? The Apostle Paul de-scribed God as “eternal, immortal and invisible” (1 Tim. 1:17).

Our interpretive options are two. We can conclude the Scriptures conflict or we can look more closely at what it means to “see” a person, such as God. And, since the first option is untenable in light of the inspiration of Scripture, we must look to the second for our answer.

Physical vision allows us to do several things. By it we can observe the characteristics of someone, recognize that person again in the future, and, we can acquire knowledge about that person, his essence, attributes, nature, etc.

Figuratively, we can do the same. We can “see” God however he decides to “reveal” himself to the mind’s eye.

How, then, does God reveal himself to us today. He-brews 1:1-3 contrasts how God revealed himself in times past to his present means  through Jesus. In John 14:7-9, Philip is standing in the presence of Jesus and says he wants to see the Father. Jesus tells him he has  because he has seen Jesus. In Colossians 1:15 Jesus is described as the visible image of the invisible God.

We are taken a step further in our understanding in 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 where not only is Jesus declared to be the “image of God” but the gospel is described as the light which reveals Jesus  and thus God  to us.

Since Jesus is not here in the flesh any longer, we see God through Jesus with the eye of faith. We place trust and confidence in the Word that reveals or lets us “see” God. Jesus told Thomas, “because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). John then goes ahead in the next two verses to explain that he had written his record of Jesus so that men might believe and have life.

In Exodus 33:11 Moses is said to have seen God “face to face.” Since the same chapter says he didn’t physically see God’s face, we must infer that “face to face” refers to the close communion, familiarity or friendship relation that Moses enjoyed with God.

As we today obey the gospel and maintain fellowship with God through obedience, we develop such a “face to face” relationship. James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” As we learn of God’s nature through the word and let him dwell in us, we “see” God in the fullest sense (1 John 4:12-16).

The process of seeing God is progressive  we can draw nearer and nearer. In 1 John 3:2 it says, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

So long as we are in the flesh, we see God by faith. We see him in the things he has created and by what he has revealed in his Word. But the day is coming when we shall see him like he is and be like him.

In that day we won’t have physical bodies (1 Cor. 15) so our “seeing” of God still won’t be with physical eyes but it will be with vision not limited by the weaknesses of the flesh. Our faith shall become sight.

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 22, p. 14-15
November 21, 1996

By H. Osby Weaver

While preaching in Hawaii during the war years, one of our members invited a fellow-worker to our services and received a tongue lashing for his efforts, a part of which was that all churches were frauds and were interested in nothing more than to get your money. Later, after thinking more about it, he decided to attend on his own and see for himself.

The lesson of the hour was about what one would expect to hear at any of our services. At the conclusion, the man came around and told me that he was interested in what he had heard and would like to talk to me about it further. This we did until about midnight at which point he said, “You know, I believe that, and I want to be baptized one of these days.” My response was “Why not now?” He informed me that he worked on the night shift at Pearl Harbor and would not have time to catch the bus and get to work on time. I told him that I would take him to work in my car. He said, “Well, no need to get in a hurry about it. I’ll have plenty of time, and I will do it one of these days.” I asked, “Do you mean that you want to serve the devil a while longer?”

He replied, “No, that is not my attitude at all.” I then asked him that if he never had another opportunity to obey the Lord, what would he say to him in the day of judgment? He dropped his head momentarily in sober reflection, then looking me in the eye, he said, “I just don’t know what I would say, let’s do it now!” I took him down into the water and baptized him for the remission of his sins shortly after midnight.

The following Thursday, he became violently ill on the job, was rushed to the hospital where emergency surgery was performed, and it was learned that even though he had no pain before, he was eaten up with cancer. He died in less than thirty days.

He was never permitted to attend but one gospel service in all of his life. If he had left me that night without obeying the Lord, he would have died lost. I have always been grateful that “knowing the terror of the Lord” that I persuaded him to obey.

Now let me tell you about another gentleman with whom I talked about obeying the Lord. He was my barber when I live in a north central Texas town. In talking to him about his need to become a Christian while he cut my hair, he responded with, “My wife, you know, is a member of the church of Christ.” I knew that and told him that he ought to be. He chuckled a little and informed me that he planned to be sometime in the future. I told him that he was not getting any younger. He readily agreed to that, but said he had a little living to do yet and felt that he had plenty of time yet. My reply was, “Time may be running out on you.” He said, “Oh, I don’t think it will.” I didn’t either at that time, but was merely calling his attention to the possibility.

I left town for several days and upon my return I went to the barber shop. The barber was not there, and I noticed that his name had been removed form the minor. Thinking that he perhaps had gone to work in another shop in town, I asked, “Where is my barber?” The others said, “He is dead.” While standing at his chair, he had a massive heart attack and died on the way to the hospital.

Time ran out on him sooner than either he or I thought it would. He departed this life knowing what he should do to obey the Lord and knowing that he really ought to do it. But he didn’t!

Now which of the two had you rather be? Each rational being holds his destiny within his own hands. These two were alike in that they both lived, and they both died, and at one point, they were alike in that neither had obeyed the gospel of Christ. There, however, the likeness ends. Which had you rather be?

You may say, “I don’t believe that I will become like either of them.” You just did!

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 22, p. 13
November 21, 1996