Truth Magazine

By Lewis Willis

I sat there for almost an hour. I have no recollection of ever having done what I did before. No, not sitting down for an hour, but making the observations which I wish to share with you. Hopefully, there will be something good for the soul in these reflections.

I arrived to speak in a meeting in Shelbyville, Tennessee on Monday, October 16. We had traveled about 60 miles southeast of Nashville. The town is the Tennessee Walking Horse capital of the world. Each year a gathering called “Celebration” brings about 100,000 people to see the selection of the new World Champion walking horse.

But, Shelbyville is a small town of about 15,000 people. I thought how deprived these people were to live in such a small place. I saw no Red Lobster, Olive Garden, or Chi Chi’s restaurants anywhere. But I still was not where I would stay for the week. We drove five or six miles out of town to the country home of brother and sister McCarty with whom I would spend the week. They are fine people, but I was not sure how I would handle a week in the country!

I’m not trying to be snobbish about this. I was born and raised in the country. Certainly, as far out in the country, if not further than I would stay this week. However, since 1956, I have either lived in small towns or large metropolitan areas like Dallas, St. Louis, and Louisville, Kentucky. I’m used to the city, and I like all the things available to us in the city. It is for that reason that I found my thoughts affecting me so strikingly, so surprisingly, when I sat down on the McCarty’s patio that Friday afternoon. A few moments of solitude was just what I needed!

I would describe the countryside as “rolling hills,” not big hills, but certainly not flat. The McCarty home is about 75 yards from the country road, on a small hillside. It is a very lovely home. Extending on up the hillside for about another 50 yards is their backyard. Just beyond their fence stands a grove of hardwood trees. I sat there on the patio for about an hour looking toward that grove of trees. I was surprised at what I saw and heard.

I saw too many mockingbirds to count. I had seen them before be-cause they are the state bird of my home state, Texas. I saw several blue jays and sparrows. Also, several cardinals. I watched as a woodpecker, with a blazing red head, perched near the roofline on the garage, pecking away at what I guess must have been ants. At the same time, I heard another woodpecker, apparently from the grove of trees, pounding away with that distinctive sound woodpeckers make. I became aware of what I was observing when two crows came flying into one of the trees, cawing loudly.

The longer I sat there the more that little world came alive. The sun was doing what the sun is supposed to do; it was ruling the day (Gen. 1:16-18). Its beams lit up the still green lawn and trees. A gentle breeze was blowing, and I was surprised to hear a limb fall to the ground. I’ve seen a lot of fallen limbs in my life; I just can’t remember when I last heard one.

I heard a rooster crow from the home next door, but next door was about 300 or 400 yards away. I also heard the dog barking from down there, and it must have been about something funny because I heard his owner’s rather loud laughter. I could not see it, but I heard a large jet some-where in the distance. The quiet was only occasionally interrupted by the sound of cars passing in front of the house.

There was something therapeutic about this. It was so comforting and fascinating. Still, I was surprised at how it affected me. You see, in the city, we have birds, trees, sun-light and dogs. But we also have noise  always cars, trucks, airplanes and such. Sirens from police and fire emergency vehicles sound loudly and frequently, but we city folks tend to tune them out. We sit in our homes where the air conditioners filter out the fumes and smog, but they also filter out the singing of the birds and our view of the trees swaying gently in the breeze. We can drive in minutes to the nearest supermarket and purchase about anything we want. We’re not like those poor country folks who have to drive six or ten miles to a small country grocer who may or may not have what they want. But, on one level, I’m not sure that they have missed that much.

After dinner, I returned to that patio to call Joyce and learn how her day had gone. As we talked, I looked up to the grove of trees and there stood a deer not many feet away. The image is still sealed in my mind.

I thought of the song that we like to sing which begins with this verse:

When we behold the wonders of creation,

The flow’rs that bloom, the raindrops as they fall;

The spacious skies and life’s perpetuation,

We cannot doubt that God controlled it all.

Lord, I believe, yes, I believe,

I cannot doubt or be deceived;

The eye that sees each sparrow fall,

His unseen hand is in it all.

A. W. Dicus

The music of that song in my mind was the perfect accompaniment to the scenes which I saw and heard. Like a movie scene, it seems etched in my mind days later. I’m reminded of the observations of David. He said, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God’ (Psa. 90:2). He also wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork” (Psa. 19:1). Sometimes the most profound of truths convey themselves to us in the simplest of ways  a quiet, serene, pure and beautiful scene from the patio of a country home.

Make no mistake about it; I like the city. I like spaghetti dinners and large supermarkets. I like the freeways and noise. But it was refreshing to the soul to behold the wonders of creation. I am either growing insightful, or very old!

Guardian of Truth XL: 12 p. 
June 20, 1996

 

Did you ever get home from services quick,

And call the brethren who are sick?

And ask them if there’s anything you can do;

Maybe even say, “I love you”?

Did you ever teach a young one’s class,

The joys of it are unsurpassed!

To sing and teach them all to pray,

And watch them grow into faithful saints some day.

Did you ever take on the small task,

To bake the Lord’s bread for to pass?

And fill the cups with grape goes fast;

For our Lord it shouldn’t be a hard task.

Did you ever open your home doors wide,

To let friends and brethren oft’ inside?

This is a great blessing to do our share;

To show God and our brethren we care.

Did you ever clean the meeting place so;

‘Tis our Heavenly Father’s house, you know.

We clean our husband’s home it’s true,

Does God deserve the same care too?

Did you ever miss the women’s Bible class;

And let the weeks slip on past?

Oh, how will we become better wives and mothers,

When we won’t make time to study God’s word with others?

Did you every pray along, and sing to be heard;

And even hear the preacher teach God’s word?

These things all daughters of God can do,

And teach them to your children, too!

Kathleen M. Berendt

Guardian of Truth XL: 12 p. 4

By Donald P. Ames

In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus referred to his followers as “the salt of the earth” and as “the light of the world.” Some-one wisely commented, “As salt, it is our duty to make the world thirsty for Christ.” Certainly that fits the context, as Jesus also said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they might see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

Peter said, “Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear” (1 Pet. 3:1-2). Certainly we know the word is necessary (Rom. 10:17, 1:16), yet Peter here says that even if they can’t reach them with the word, their actions may be the influencing factor to lead them to the truth.

He also said, “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Pet. 2:11-12). Again, it is our actions that will make them re-consider their charges, and ultimately lead to their obedience (that they might glorify, not fear, God in the day of visitation). Realizing the importance of what people look at, Jesus prayed the night before he was crucified, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe You sent Me” (John 17:20-21).

And he also said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). This love for one another, when seen by the world hungry for such love, motivates them to seek to learn more of that love, as John again says in 1 John 4:19: “We love Him because He first loved us.” “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (4:11). Can you not see the drawing power of such love being manifested to the world? Paul said, “You are our epistle, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ” (2 Cor. 3:2-3).

Is your life such as to have a wholesome effect on other Christians (i.e., to edify and build them up)? “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another . . .” (Heb. 10:24-25). Again Paul said, “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all” (1 Thess. 5:14-15). Will it draw others to Christ, by how you live as a Christian? Will it cause them to glorify God for such godly examples of what Christianity is all about? Or, is it only fit to be cast out and “trampled underfoot by men” (Matt. 5:13)? Again, Peter says, “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again en-tangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2 Pet. 2:20-22). Jesus said, “Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” (Matt. 18:7).

Let us truly try to live in such a way that we might make others thirsty for Christ!

Guardian of Truth XL: 11 p. 11
June 6, 1996

By Ron Halbrook

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” which separates us from God (Rom. 3:23). Our only hope for reconciliation to God is through “the precious blood of Christ” who died as the perfect sacrifice for sin (1 Pet. 1:18-19). Until we turn to Christ, we remain “dead in trespasses and sins,” destined to face God’s wrath in eternal torment (Eph. 2:1-3). The man who thinks he can draw closer to God while living in sin deceives himself.

Spiritual growth begins with a spiritual rebirth. Sinners are “born again” and purify their souls “in obeying the truth” (1 Pet. 1:22-23). This happens when they believe in Christ, repent of their sins, confess the deity of Christ, and submit to immersion in water. Since we reach the atoning blood of Christ when we are baptized, the Bible says that “baptism doth also now save us” (1 Pet. 3:21). At that moment, we become new creatures in Christ and begin to grow spiritually “as newborn babes” (1 Pet. 2:2).

Spiritual growth is an ongoing process. Those who “grow in the grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” are “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 3:18; 1:4). Such growth is a struggle requiring dedication and sacrifice  “giving all diligence.” Faith in Christ is the foundation for growth in the character traits listed below (2 Pet. 1:5-7).

Virtue is moral courage, the determination to do what is right at all costs. Knowledge is the true knowledge of God and his will which we learn from his word and incorporate into our lives. Temperance is self-control, self-discipline, and self-sacrifice, bringing our will into submission to God’s will. Patience is endurance, staying power, sticking-with it. Godliness is an active reverence toward God, a life of reverential obedience to him in all things. Brotherly kindness is the genuine, warm concern, courtesy, and consideration shared in a family  in this case, the family of God. Charity is an active love which seeks the welfare and good of others, rather than being wholly absorbed with self.

We must learn to live “as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance” and we must “abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (1 Pet. 1:14; 2:11). As partakers of the holiness of God, God’s people do not participate in such things as sexual immorality, profanity, pornography, gambling, alcohol, dishonesty, malice, spousal abuse, immodest dress, dancing, and lying.

Spiritual growth requires resisting false doctrine. God often warned of “false prophets” and “false teachers” who promise greater “liberty” but lead men into bondage to sin (2 Pet. 2). Many souls are misled by evolution and modern-ism which deny the Bible account of creation and other Bible miracles. Moral relativism denies the moral absolutes of Scripture, making every man a law unto himself. Multitudes are deceived by the liberal philosophy that allows men to replace Bible teaching with their own theories on feminism, homosexuals, and unscriptural divorce and remarriage. Denominationalism deludes men with human doctrines and practices (names like Methodist and Mormon, sprinkling for baptism, instrumental music in worship, etc.).

Those who grow in Christ will receive “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet. 1:4).

Guardian of Truth XL: 11 p. 5
June 6, 1996