Truth Magazine

By Johnie Edwards

There is a great demand that gospel sermons be based on the concept expressed in the words of the apostle Paul, “For What Saith the Scripture?” (Rom. 4:3; Gal. 4:30) If folks are going to know and understand the truth, preachers just must get back to making their appeal to the Scriptures, in their preaching! I sometimes attend a gospel meeting and not hear over one or two pas-sages of Scripture mentioned in the entire sermon. No wonder we are having problems on a number of Bible doctrines, with so many being untaught. In the Preaching Training Program of the Ellettsville (Indiana) church of Christ, Johnie Paul Edwards and I try to impress our young men with these admonitions: Speak As the Oracles of God.

Every gospel preacher must learn to prepare every sermon with the admonition of the apostle Peter in the back of his mind, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Pet. 4:11). Just what does this mean? This means that when a preacher preaches, he must teach only that which is taught in the Scriptures. No more and no less! If the Bible teaches it, then teach it; but if not, leave it off.

Speak What’s Seen and Heard The attitude expressed by the early men of God is surely worth remembering as preachers preach and teach. When the apostles were “commanded . . . not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus, Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:18-20). Have you ever thought what it would do if every preacher only preached what he reads in the Word of God?

Obey God Rather Than Men

When the high priest charged the apostles “that they should not teach in his name . . . Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men” (Accts 5:28-29). There are just too many preachers who try to be men-pleasers rather than God-pleasers. Paul wrote the Galatians, “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). When a preacher stands in the pulpit to preach, he ought not to have a friend in the audience! The word must be preached and let the chips fall where they may.

Boldly

There is a great demand for boldness when it comes to gospel preaching. The preaching of the apostle Paul was characterized by boldness. It is said about Paul soon after his conversion, “And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 9:29). Preachers must not be afraid to preach it just like it is. Yet, at the same time, our preaching must be done in the spirit of “love” (Eph. 4:15).

Smite and Stamp

Young preachers, as well as the older ones, need to be taught to put some life into their preaching. God charged Ezekiel, “Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot” (Ezek. 6:11). There is nothing that moves an audience to respond to the teachings of the Bible more than enthusiastic book, chapter, and verse preaching.

Conclusion

I have always been interested in assisting young men who want to preach. Dale Wilson, Gary Fiscus, Mel Myers, Tony Mauck, Carl Lungstrum, John Henry are all preachers who I have worked with over the years, and there are more.

Johnie Paul Edwards and I have talked about a four week summer training program for those who might like to come and stay here for four weeks and study five days a week, all day long! They would be afforded opportunities to preach in a gospel meeting, write bulletin articles, write newspaper articles, do radio preaching and learn some good skills for effective gospel preaching. We would be happy to hear from those who might be interested in such a program.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 8, p. 1
April 21, 1994

By Johnie P. Edwards

Paul, speaking by inspiration, charged Timothy, an evangelist, to “preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:2). The Scriptures furnish us with all the information needed concerning a preacher’s work, his qualifications, and how to do the work of preaching the Word. Let’s notice some things the Scriptures say about preaching the Word.

Have Love, A Pure Heart, And Unfeigned Faith

The Scriptures say, “Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned” (1 Tim. 1:5). The work of preaching the word requires men who have love from a pure heart and who have a sincere faith. Preachers who don’t love the Lord, His Word, the brethren as they should, and who don’t have a sincere faith, violate the teaching of the Scriptures and do more harm than good.

War A Good Warfare

Those who preach are charged to “war a good warfare” (1 Tim. 1:18). We must war the good warfare for Christ! Paul said, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses” (1 Tim. 6:12). Paul was anxious that Timothy should be faithful to his position and his responsibilities. If you are going to preach, “war a good warfare” and “fight a good fight.” Don’t just go about it half way!

Behave Thyself

It would seem that some have never learned to behave themselves properly in the Lord’s church. “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God . . .” (1 Tim. 3:15). This behavior has to do with one’s conduct in the church. Behavior is an every-hour sermon, and reveals what a man is. One of the first responsibilities that every gospel preacher has is to take heed to yourself! Paul said, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Tim. 4:16). The Scriptures tell us all how to “behave” ourselves and it behooves us to do what it says!

Be Without Prejudice And Partiality

“I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality” (1 Tim. 5:21).God is no respecter of persons and neither should gospel preachers be. James said, “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons” (Jas. 2:1) and “if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin” (Jas. 2:9). It is vitally important, as preachers of the word, that we do the Lord’s work without prejudice and partiality.

Keep Thyself Pure

We would all do well to heed Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 5:22, “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure” (1 Tim. 5:22). The emphasis in this text should be put upon the word “thy-self.” One can only keep himself pure, and keep himself pure he must! One keeps himself pure by not sharing in the sins of others. While others may be guilty of immorality and all sorts of unrighteousness, preaching the word demands that we keep ourselves pure!

Flee The Love Of Money

The Scriptures tell those who preach the Word, as well as all Christians, to flee the love of money and learn to be content. “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, 0 man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (1 Tim. 6:6-11). One’s love for money will only entangle him with the affairs of this life (2 Tim. 2:3-4) and will cause him to lose sight of his real work of preaching the Word. Many a good preacher has fallen because he did not flee!

Be Not Ashamed Of The Gospel

Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16). We must, instead of being ashamed of the “testimony of the Lord” (2 Tim. 1:8), show that its hopes and promises are our most precious treasure. Those who preach the Word must never be ashamed of that which they preach! It is God’s power to save!

Study

Paul commanded, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). There certainly is no substitute for Bible study. Paul told Timothy, “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:13). Diligence must be given, by those who preach the Word, to rightly divide the word of truth. Time must be given to study God’s Word. I’m afraid that far too many are spending their time studying the wrong source. The Scriptures tell us to study the Word!

Don’t Strive

“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient” (2 Tim. 2:24). While some seem to love “a good fight,” the Scriptures tell those who preach not to strive. We must never engage in bitter strife! Yet, we must “contend for the faith” at the same time (Jude 3). For this reason, we must avoid foolish and unlearned questions (2 Tim. 2:23). These are things that are not taught by God and only breed strife and division.

Preach The Word

The work of an evangelist, in three words is, “preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:2). Paul said, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” When Paul told Timothy what to preach, he specified the Word. The Word and only the Word is to be preached! Nothing more and nothing less will do! Paul told Titus, an evangelist, “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine” (Tit. 2:1). The sound doctrine that Titus was to preach, stood in contrast to the false teaching of the misleading teachers of their day. Sound doctrine is doctrine that is true; true to God’s Word. We need preachers who will preach the Scriptures, the Faith, the Truth! Preach it urgently and persistently. Preaching is not a seasonal or convenience activity! “Preach it when they like it and don’t like it!”

Exhort and Rebuke With All Authority

“These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority ” (Tit. 2:15). The exhortations and reproofs of all preachers must be characterized by authority. Otherwise, the preaching may be lightly regarded. He must speak with the authority which comes from a knowledge of God’s Word. The Word must be preached without compromise and without keeping anything back. A reminder of the kind of preaching that God told Ezekiel to do may be in order here, “Thus Faith the Lord God; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say . . .” (Ezek. 6:11). Perhaps, only God knows just how desperately we need this kind of preaching today.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 8, p. 6-7
April 21, 1994

By James F. Miller

The Christian life is a struggle. It’s not so much a struggle against the physical world but rather against principalities and powers of a spiritual nature. Somewhere along the line people got the idea that being a Christian was a life of ease but nothing could be farther from the truth. The Bible is filled with examples that contradict this popular idea and a close look at the scriptures will make the point clear.

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in the sixth chapter he tells the Ephesians to put on the whole armor of God that they may stand against the wiles of the devil. Paul goes on to explain what they were going to fight against and then again he tells them in verse 13 to take up the whole armor of God, that they may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Paul’s description here clearly shows that the Christian’s life is not going to be one of ease. In the following verses he goes on to teach that we have the tools with which to fight. We have truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and above all the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. This being said we can now get to the point of this lesson.

Time after time I have heard brothers and sisters in Christ say that they don’t want to keep hearing about this denomination or that and what this one teaches or what that one teaches. Some may even say, “What do I care what’s being taught by others? I have the gospel so I’m safe.” Others say, “Well, it’s not my job, that’s what the preacher is for.” Brethren, we need to remember Luke 9:62. But Jesus said to him, “No one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. If we are going to take our marching orders in Mark 16:15,16 seriously we must be willing to take a stand for God’s word.

With the attitude that I have seen on the part of most Christians, it’s no wonder that the church isn’t growing. Until each one of us comes to the conclusion that it is not only the preachers’ responsibility to see that the gospel is spread throughout our community, the church isn’t going to grow. Look around you. Those who would teach false doctrine are going from house to house. What are we doing? Peter knew the danger of such false teachers and warned us about them (2 Pet. 2).

Brothers and sisters, it’s time we put on the whole armor of God and return to the battle. Let us give up our excuses  “I’m too busy,” “No one listens,” “I’m too old” etc. Let our cry be, “If God is with us, who can stand against us?” I implore each one who reads this to stop and ask himself, where would I be if someone hadn’t shown me the gospel? Then take time to thank God that that person was willing to teach you; then you go give the good news that Christ gave his life for us to someone else.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 7, p. 4
April 7, 1994

By Everett Sturgeon

Easter has become the one time of the year for many people to attend church services, honestly believing that they are commemorating the resurrection of Christ. But as important as Easter has become to most Americans, it was for many years rejected by American Protestants who believed that to follow the church calendar and keep certain days was to follow and bow to the dictates of the Pope.

Each year, national magazines and publications of every type carry overly emotional and overly exaggerated articles and, for the most part, false theories about the word Easter and the resurrection of Jesus, planting the sinful, evil, ugly seeds of paganism and the doctrines of Catholicism into the unlearned and hungry minds of men and women. In many cases, it has become evident that the very elect, individuals and even congregations, have turned to be like the world about us, to practice paganism and keep days and festivals unknown to the Lord’s New Testament teachings.

Because of tradition, most people of the day believe that Easter has always been observed from apostolic times and is by authority of the scriptures. Long before the Lord’s resurrection, there were many great pagan festivals during the spring season. It is surprising how many of the ancient rites have found their way into the Christian observance.

We are not to pollute the worship of God with the traditions of men, the words of men, nor the days of men. Let us hear the apostle Paul as he reproves the Christians of Galatia along these very same lines: “. . . when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain” (Gal. 4:8-11).

Let us note some other reproofs:

A. “Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people” (Acts 12:1-4). This is the only place in the English translation of the Bible that the word Easter is (inaccurately) recorded. This same

Greek word is used in Matthew 26:2; Mark 14:1; Luke 2:41 and 22:1; John 2:13,23, and other places, and in every instance is translated passover. Today, if we were to celebrate the Easter of Acts 12:4, it would not be the Easter of today but the Jewish Passover! Herod put forth his hands to afflict certain of the church. It is absurd to think that he wanted to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

B. Of this translation (Acts 12:4), Albert Barnes, noted Presbyterian commentator, says, “There never was a more absurd or unhappy translation than this. The original is simply `after the Passover.’ The word Easter now denotes the festival observed by many Christians in honour of the resurrection of the Saviour. But the original has no reference to that, nor is there the slightest evidence that any such festival was observed at the time when this book was written. The translation is not only unhappy, as it does not convey at all the meaning of the original, but because it may contribute to foster an opinion that such a festival was observed in the time of the apostles.”

C. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament says, “The word translated `passover’ and the one used in Acts 12:4 is `pascha’ meaning `a passing over.’ It is used with reference to the paschal feast, the feast of passover.”

D. The Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th Ed. (Vol. II, p. 859), says, “There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament or in the writings of the apostolic fathers. The sanctity of special times was an idea absent from the minds of the first Christians.” In apostolic times, the Christians commemorated their Lord’s resurrection every Sunday by meeting on that day for worship. When Paul refers to Christ as “our passover” (1 Cor. 5:7), his language is metaphorical and cannot be regarded as containing any allusion to a church function (A Dictionary of Religion and Ethics, p. 140).

Acceptance of the scriptures as inspired of God demands rejection of the uninspired words of men. To entertain the popular opinion that the Bible does not contain all that God would have us know on this or any other Bible subject is to reject it as incomplete (Jas. 1:25) and the ultimate end is that we will be found adding to it or taking from it, condemning ourselves forever (Rev. 22:18-19).

When I see men, often known sinners, dress themselves in robes to portray the Son of God, I am sickened to disgust and am reminded “to remember the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who would walk after their own ungodly lusts” (Jude 17-18). Paul said, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ” (Col. 2:16-17).

In closing, let us earnestly and fearfully take heed to the word of God through Jeremiah: “Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Jer. 6:16). Easter began too late, and is without the authority of God.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 7, p. 6-7
April 7, 1994