Truth Magazine

By John White

(Reproduced from Good News published by Timberland Dr. Church of Christ)

As I reread the account of Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness, I was impressed again with how fiercely God responded to grumbling. Paul too, warns Christians to learn a lesson from the wrath that fell on Israelites who grumbled: “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer” (1 Cor. 10:10). Why such strong condemnation?

Grumbling denies God’s ability to provide. Pressed against the shore of the Red Sea with the Egyptians closing in, many Israelites grumbled against Moses. Forgetting what they had witnessed of God’s power against Pharaoh, they lost their courage and lashed out at the most convenient target.

Grumbling may be an attempt to intimidate. In Exodus 16, the Israelites grumbled, pressing Moses to return them to Egypt rather than proceed into the wilderness.

Grumblers debilitate God’s leaders. In Number 11, the Israelites pushed Moses to the point that he wanted God to take his life. Many church members view grumbling as normal church behavior. There is a need to point out the harm grumbling may inflict upon individuals and upon the church.

Complaining replaces prayer. Prayer, not grumbling, is the way God intends to change things.

Grumblers earn a bad reputation. In a church that values community, agitators will find themselves ostracized.

Grumbling seduces people away from Jesus’ model for handling conflict. An issue that could be put to rest quickly through one-on-one conversation (as Jesus taught in Matt. 18:15-17) can be kept alive indefinitely by grumblers.

Grumbling weakens a congregation’s confidence in its leaders. While grumbling too often comes naturally to us, it is unhealthy to believe negative, unfounded reports about others  to presume guilt rather than innocence. Healthy churches, like emotionally healthy individuals, will assume the best rather than the worst.

Guardian of Truth XL: 2 p. 9
January 18, 1996

By Robert F Turner

Freedom … The word is almost sacred to the American people, and over the world today it stirs great hope and aspirations. Our Declaration of Independence calls it an “inalienable” right and a truth “self evident.” What is the source of this freedom, and what does it mean to us?

Free agency, the right to choose, is a gift from God. He elevated man above the beasts of the field: making man in his image (Gen. 1:26), sharing with man the power of choice. Man need not be slave to instinct or norm. He may rise above self, pursue ideals, seek truth, and embrace it.

But with power there is responsibility. The ability to choose the right exposes us to the danger of choosing the wrong. The same justice that re-wards the righteous, must also condemn the wicked. Freedom, then, cannot be free. Even in the moral realm it imposes obligations, and there are none more bound than those who foolishly demand unbridled liberty and become slaves of their own folly.

In free government a man can vote as he chooses, but he may not vote correctly. He may, by neglect or party politics, fail the responsibilities of this truth and encourage corruption.

In business, free enterprise allows a man to invest as he sees fit. But this is no guarantee of profit. He may invest unwisely, and “loose his shirt,”  the price paid for untrammeled opportunity.

A study of freedom in every facet of life will emphasize the obligations of those who enjoy it. Conversely, man’s history shows that freedom is lost when its obligations are ignored.

Freedom in religion is widely ac-claimed, but it is as widely misunderstood. The constitution guarantees religious freedom, but cannot make whatever one chooses to believe acceptable with God. At best, man can only endorse the freedom God originally granted  a right inherent in the nature of man. Legislative, judicial, and executive authority in divine matters must be left to God.

The need to serve God according to his law is not diminished by free will. That need is, in fact, intensified. We are the more accountable before God for the way we exercise our free agency.

In the very early times the “priest-hood” of all believers (1 Pet. 2:5, 9) was dominated by a rising clergy system. Each one’s obligation to “prove all things” (1 Thess. 5:21) gave way to party loyalties and the word of the clergy. Soon the scriptural standard (Acts 17:11) was replaced by the usurped “authority of the church,” and history repeated itself. When the obligations of true liberty are slighted, liberty itself is lost.

Individual liberty was not wrested from the church. It was lost by default. “Churchanity” dulls individual will and stifles initiative. In religion, as in business and government, the socialized slave is tranquilized by his lot and loses his taste for the rigorous life of true freedom.

Dear Reader, how much of your own religion have you proven by God’s word? Perhaps you were baptized (?) by sprinkling, but have you ever read New Testament authority for that? You may be a member of some denomination, but does the word of God authorize its name, doctrine, and practice? Do you accept a thing as right or wrong simply because the preacher so declares it? Do such questions irritate you? We hope not! They are asked to help you see how easily one may forfeit individual freedoms in favor of unproven traditions. Truth has nothing to fear from honest investigation, but freedom can be lost without it.

Fundamentally, religion is a choice of masters: God or self. Liberty under God is not the same as becoming your own God. Recognition of the Supreme Being should make us aware that man can no longer direct his own steps (Jer. 10:23). Jesus warned, “No man can serve two masters” (Matt. 6:24). Joshua said, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve . . .”, then he added that a decision for God imposed obligations (Josh. 24:15, 19-23).

Most pitiful of all are the willfully blind. Thinking they serve God, these allow the winds of the day to make their decisions. They stumble in the darkness of self-service, yet know not they are blind (Rev. 3:17). Freedom is not for the fearful, the crowd pleaser, or the lover of ease in Zion. It must be grasped with resoluteness, and retained with sacrifice  eyes wide open.

Freedom under God involves individual responsibility toward God: to know his will (John 17:17), and be freed from sin (John 8:32-36). Truth severs the shackles of sectarianism and gives assurance that we walk in his light. But we are warned that if we fail to properly exercise our freedom  in religion, as in government and business  we shall be bound by sin and finally perish.

Guardian of Truth XL: 2 p. 1
January 18, 1996

By Johnie Edwards

While reading an article in the December 1995 issue of Look Magazine, the article quoted HaKeem Olajuwon as saying that he considers the game of basketball, “an act of worship.” Olajuwon is a Muslim with Allah as his god. Evidently there are a lot of people who think every-thing they do is worship from changing the baby to playing golf. Let’s notice some things the Bible teaches about worship and then we can see whether or not every-thing we do is worship.

God Is The Object of Worship

The Bible teaches, that when we worship, God is to be the object of that worship. Jesus told Satan when he tried to get Jesus to worship him, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matt. 4:10). We cannot worship Satan but worship is to be directed to God. Men cannot be the object of our worship. As Peter entered the house of Cornelius, “Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshiped him” (Acts 10:25). Now, notice what Peter did and said, “But Peter took him up, saying, `Stand up: I myself also am a man’ (Acts 10:26). Peter would not allow Cornelius to worship him. Men are not to be worshiped.

Well, what about worshiping angels? John’s encounter with this angel worship will give us the right answer. “And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things” (Rev. 22:8). John, what did the angel say to you? “Then saith he unto me, `See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God’ (Rev. 22:9). How could one be directing the praise and adoration of his heart unto God while bouncing a basketball? Doesn’t make sense does it?

Worship Must Be In Spirit and In Truth

The conversation of Jesus with the woman at the well indicates that worship is to be in spirit and in truth. Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John. 4:24). Worship demands some purpose on the part of the one worshiping God. How could exercising be worship, when I am thinking about loosing weight or getting in shape and not directing such to God. God is not nearly as interested in my bodily exercise as he is with my godliness. Didn’t Paul say, “For bodily exercise profiteth little. . .” (1 Tim. 4:8)?

To worship God in spirit, one must keep his mind on what he is doing toward God. It would be hard to do this while changing the baby! Worship is to be in truth. This means according to God Word. “Thy word is truth” (John. 17:17). Do you think it is worship when one is exercising?

Worship Is Spiritual

Since worship is to be “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), worship is of a spiritual nature, not physical. Playing basketball, exercising, washing dishes, doing the laundry, changing the baby, fishing and the like are of a physical nature and have nothing to do with worshiping God. Did you ever read in the Word of God where any of these things were ever connected with the worship of God? I never did. We can read what the early Christians did when they worshiped God. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). It is here recorded that the Lord’s people engaged in teaching, giving, the Lord’s supper, and prayer. They ate the Lord’s supper and gave of their means on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2) along with the other acts of worship. It is also said that they engaged in “singing and making melody” in their hearts to the Lord (Eph. 5:19). It is with purpose of heart that one engages in these acts of worship. I do not just accidentally worship God. Some think if one happens to listen to someone singing on the radio, that he is worshiping God. Not so. The Bible nowhere teaches that everything one does is worship.

Guardian of Truth XL: 2 p. 5
January 18, 1996

By Mike Willis

The passing of 1995 has claimed the lives of several faithful servants of Christ. We mourn their passing and honor their memory. Among those who have gone to their reward this past year the following immediately come to one’s mind: Paul Keller, Leslie Diestelkamp, and Jody Copeland.

I have had limited contact with each of these men but have highly esteemed them for their work’s sake. They were conscientious men who lived the gospel they preached and sacrificed to serve their Lord. We think of them just as John wrote, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them” (Rev. 14:13). While we miss them and their contribution to the Lord’s work, we are confident that they are among the blessed dead because they died in Christ. We pay our tribute to them for a well run race and a hard fought battle. These men endured the battle over institutionalism without being embittered and continued to serve as builders in the Lord’s service. We commend their good example.

A greater question hangs over us, “Who will rise up to take their place?”

We are confident that the providence of the Lord will continue to watch over his people. Every time there has been a need for a great leader, he has raised up the man for the job. He raised up Moses to deliver his people from Egyptian bondage, Joshua to lead them in the conquest of Canaan, fifteen judges to deliver his people from encroaching enemies, the kings, and the prophets.

In the church, he raised up twelve men to serve as apostles through whom the word of God was revealed. We admire the faith of Peter, John, Paul, and the others. We read in our New Testaments of outstanding men of faith in addition, such as Barnabas, Timothy, Epaphroditus, Luke, and many others.

As we leave the pages of inspiration and turn to our memories of men who have served in our country, we think of several spiritual leaders: Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Barton W. Stone, Jacob Creath, Benjamin Franklin, David Lipscomb, J.W. McGarvey, T.W. Brents, and many other early leaders. As we weathered the storm of institutionalism, we admired the contributions of men such as Roy E. Cogdill, Luther Blackmon, Franklin T. Puckett, and others who have gone on to their reward. We think of several who still living who have made an outstanding contributions: H.E. Phillips, Cecil Willis, Connie W. Adams, James Cope, and many others whose names I have not mentioned, although their contribution are not insignificant. We have witnessed in our lives how God has raised up men for the occasion needed who are willing and able to do his service.

We have complete confidence that the Lord will raise up leaders for his people today, just as he has in past times. Mordecai expressed such confidence when he exhorted Esther to step forward and do her part to deliver the Lord’s people from Persian destruction. He said, “Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esth. 4:13-14). Just as God raised up leaders in the past, so will he today. The more relevant question is this, “Am I willing to make myself available to his service?”

Here are some things that a person needs to do to make himself available:

1. Prepare himself. The preparation that needs to be made begins with absolute conversion to Christ. There can-not be any recesses of one’s heart in which he holds onto some pet sins that he conceals from others. Rather, he must cleanse his heart of every defilement of sin. Without complete and genuine repentance, there can be no true service.

There are skills to be learned. A person must study to know the will of God, be able to speak in order to pro-claim, grow in wisdom to use his knowledge most efficiently, and such like things. We need men who are willing to make the sacrifices of their time, money, and lives to prepare themselves to the Lord’s work.

2. Make oneself available. Isaiah manifested that spirit. The Lord asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then Isaiah said, “Here am I; send me” (Isa. 6:8). There are sacrifices that must be made and things that must be endured as a soldier in the Lord’s service. We need men who are willing to make those sacrifices.

3. Accept whatever job he gives you. Where one is called to serve may not be the place he wishes to be. One may think that his place in the Lord’s kingdom is to preach for a congregation of 300-400 people, to teach in a college Bible class, or to publish some great book. He may feel disappointed to begin his work preaching to 20 people in an isolated corner of the world. Accept wherever the Lord sends you and do the best work you can possibly do for him at that place.

I have only moved to one church that was larger than 100 people when I got there. The largest congregation I have ever worked with was less than 200. I know of other men who have worked in harder places than I have ever had and I have truly admired their dedication, zeal, and perseverance. I honor them because I know the difficulty of working in small places. I also know the thrill of seeing small congregations grow into larger ones through the blessings of God.

Remember the words of Jesus as he told of the lord blessing his five talent servant in the Parable of the Talents, “His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matt. 25:21).

4. Depend on the Lord. The Lord’s servant will need to rely upon his Lord. There are days when the battle’s victory cannot be seen, when hope seems futile. David said, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed” (Psa. 37:3). “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psa. 27:13). Trusting and relying on the Lord, the servant of God will persevere in his work. Even when he is suffering, as Paul was in the Roman prison, he could say, “Rejoice in the Lord and again I say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:4).

Conclusion

There are many other things that one could say about pre-paring to do the Lord’s service. The question is that asked by E.E. Hewitt in the song, “Who Will Follow Jesus?”

Who will follow Jesus, Standing for the right, Holding up His banner In the thickest fight? Listening for His orders, Ready to obey,

Who will follow Jesus, Serving Him today?

Who will follow Jesus? Who will make reply,

“I am on the Lord’s side; Master, here am I?”

I cannot fill the shoes of any one of these men who have departed. But I can put on my own shoes and make them available to my Lord. There is a place to serve in the kingdom, a place left empty by those who have gone be-fore us. Are you ready to step forward to make yourself available to his service?

Guardian of Truth XL: 2 p. 2
January 18, 1996