Truth Magazine

By Phillip Mullins

I can see it now, immediately following Jesus’ conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount, he has everyone gird up their loins, lace up their cross trainers, and start stretching. After they are warmed up, he leads them in a 20 minute workout to tone up the flab. Does that sound ridiculous?

A prominent denominational church which meets down the street from me is offering just that. According to their sign, on Saturday mornings the church is con-ducting an aerobics class. Does that sound ridiculous? It should.

Ephesians 1:22-23 describes the church as the body of Christ. Jesus is the head and we are to carry out his work for him. Jesus’ mission was to seek and to save the lost. He began that work while on earth and as he was leaving this earth he commanded his followers to do the same, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20).

When you read about the church in the book of Acts, you see that they were busy carrying out the work of spreading the gospel, building up the saints, and relieving the needs of the saints (Acts 2, 4, 11).

The church of the New Testament did not offer classes on fishnet mending, pottery, or cooking. They did not build public hospitals, open soup kitchens, or homes for the aged. The mission of the church in the Bible was to save souls and care for those among the believers who were in physical need. Modern day churches which do not have a similar mission and work have completely missed the mark of what Christ’s church is all about. Life is too short, eternity is too long, and souls are too precious to waste time, resources, and energy serving the fleshly needs of all in the community.

If you are associated with a church that resembles a fitness center or the Red Cross more than it does the church of the New Testament, then you need to do some serious soul searching. Are you really part of the church that belongs to Christ?

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 18, p. 6
September 16, 1993

By Leona Rochelle

I am a housewife, mother of four children, grandmother of five. I am middle-aged, frankly so, slightly overweight and only moderately attractive. I hold no college degrees; I would be lost in the fast-moving world of business. But I am not neurotic, I am not frustrated, and I do not take tranquilizers!

Often when I finish reading an article telling what’s wrong with the average housewife, I’m downright disgusted and I’m surprised that I’ve ever had the sense to come in out of the rain. According to the writers of these articles I should be mired down in self-pity, constantly running to men of medicine for pills that do not help, seeking a cure for ills that do not exist.

How can I be happy when I have none of the things I’m told are necessary for me to lead a full life, to know myself and to become a whole per-son? I feel that I have a duty to be happy, an obligation to myself as well as to those around me. An optimistic attitude of mind is essential to my well being. Power, peace and healing are the natural products of a happy disposition, and a single spiritual idea can give poise and confidence.

Happiness does not in any measure depend on material possessions. I’ve never owned a Renoir, but I’ve walked with my children to the top of a high hill to look down on the breath-taking scene below and the splendor of a winter sunset. I’ve never been to the opera, but I’ve listened to the songs of birds, the chirping of the crickets in clover and the sighing of the wind in the pines. I’ve never been applauded by the masses, but I’ve shared with God the wonderful miracle of creation and I’ve had the thrill of hearing a tiny lisping voice whispering “you are the bestest muvver (orgyandmuvver) in the whole world.”

Does it really matter that I did not go to high school? My formal schooling was abruptly halted when I was 12 years old, but I have the ability to greet each dawn with a smile and with eagerness for the opportunities the day contains. I have the intelligence to approach my work, even the doing of tiresome and monotonous chores, with willing hands, and an open mind; and I can face the night with gladness, with a tiredness of body that woos me to sleep, happy in the knowledge that I have spent wisely this God-given day.

Life has not been easy for me. I’ve weathered several major illnesses, among them cancer and two heart attacks. I’ve held a sick baby in my arms all night, not just one night, but many, expecting every breath to be her last. I’ve walked the floors for hours while my husband lay under the surgeon’s knife, hoping and praying that something could be done before his lifeblood all drained away. I’ve stood helplessly by and watched my home and all my earthly possessions burn.

I am only 17 years older than my oldest child, and I never read Dr. Spock. So what? She could not have grown into a finer person had I been 30 and held a dozen degrees. Oh, yes, she and the three younger ones often wore clothes to school that were made of feed sacks, but no one knew. I learned early to use my hands and my little girls’ dresses were the envy of their classmates. The fact that their clothes were homemade did not keep any of them from being among the top 10 percent of their respective classes, scholastically.

Often it seemed to me that I was spending years just continued from previous page washing and ironing. But the clothes line was an inspiration; little girl dresses became rainbows and little boy trousers were wind-filled balloons, and I’ve had many poems published that I composed while hanging the wash on the line. The money received from the sale of these poems was often used to buy insulin .. .

So what if I don’t have a college degree? Once I was told that the greatest university in the world was not enclosed by four walls, but by an inquiring mind, a loving heart, a willingness, an eagerness to learn and a deep faith in God. To these I would add a good dictionary and access to a public library.

I do not feel that I am indispensable. Certainly my part in the great drama of life is small, like a pebble carelessly tossed into a whirling pool, for a moment only the rhythm is disturbed. When I am dead the snow will still fall in the winter, trees will still bud and put out new life in the springtime, autumn will follow summer and the leaves will drift noiselessly down as they have for unnumbered centuries; but I have not lived in vain.

For a little time my children will grieve for me, but I would not have their grief to last too long. I would have them think of me as walking the hills of Heaven, greeting old friends and making new ones, looking for my share of gold, not in shining pavements but in blossoming daffodils or goldenrod, happy to be in the presence of my God.

The landscapes I paint give pleasure tome and mine, but I know I’ll leave behind no great masterpiece of art, no deathless prose, no soul-stirring poem. But I will leave behind children and grandchildren with a deep and sincere faith in God and an appreciation of all his handiwork. 1 know that often when they see a lovely sunset, or stark bare tree branches etched against a winter sky, or the heart-stopping beauty of wild plum trees in bloom, or wild geese flying over, or smell the pungent odor of burning leaves, or freshly turned loam, they will pause and say: “Mother loved this so.” And for a moment I’ll live again.

God in his infinite wisdom, knowing my capabilities and my limitations, chose me for this station and this time. He has granted me leisure to sit and look at the wonders of the robin and the sparrow as they labor to build their nest; I’ve observed their loving care as they fed their babies and taught them to fly. Ive watched a fern uncurl, a flower unfold, a tiny seed pushing its way up through the moist earth, and in all of these things I’ve caught a glimpse of the unseen Hand of God.

I’m just a housewife, but if I had my life to live over and could choose any position in the world, I would choose no other way! (Reprinted from the church bulletin of the Church of Christ in Chipley Florida.

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 18, p. 7-8
September 16, 1993

 

By Clinton D. Hamilton

The question for this column is a broad one dealing with the subject of forgiveness, especially in relation to the idea of forgiveness in the Old Testament system. Whole theories that actually contradict what the Scriptures teach are built on misinterpretation of the concept of forgiveness. Some of these theories would, if true, make the sacrificial death of Christ unnecessary. This is because the theory is that the sacrifices under the Law of Moses actually re-moved sins. When the Old Testament speaks of forgiveness, one needs to understand these statements in relation to what is taught about the sacrifice for forgiveness; this sacrifice is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Question: Discuss the subject of the forgiveness of sins in the Old Testament with the 10th chapter of Hebrews where it states that there is no forgiveness under the Old Testament.

Response: It would be helpful to enter into a study of the words used in both testaments for. forgiveness. There three terms in the Old Testament that convey the idea of forgiveness: kapar, to cover; nasa, to bear or take away; salah, to pardon. The following terms occur in the New Testament: apoluo, to put away or send away; aphiemi, to send forth, send away (from apo, from, and hiemi, to send); charizomai, to bestow a favor such as forgiveness. It is easy from the sense and meaning of each of these words to understand basically what is embodied in the idea of forgiveness.

The Law of Moses had a show of good things to come, and not the very image of things (Heb. 10:1). Accordingly, the law can never with those sacrifices which the Israelites offered year by year continually make the corners thereunto perfect (Heb. 10:2). Had those sacrifices been effective in the removing of sins, they would have ceased to be offered; furthermore, had they been purged of their sins, there would have been no consciousness of sins (Heb. 10:2). However, they were made conscious of their sins every year at the time of the atonement.

Every year, at the atonement sacrifice, there was a remembrance of sins (Heb. 10:3). Sometimes, it is said that their sins were “rolled forward” every year. There is nothing in this passage that even hints at, much less states, this. When the sacrifice of atonement was made annually, it reminded them that sins had not been removed. The reason that their sins were not removed is that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sins (Heb. 10:4). The repeated offering of a sacrifice for sin demonstrated that it was not effective in the removing of sin because if it were effective, there would have been only one offering made. Jesus was offered once (Heb. 10:10). The writer of Hebrews affirms that where there is remission of sins there is no more offering for sins (10:18).

Someone might be ready at this point to inquire about how people before Christ are to be saved. By his own blood. Christ entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12). Under the Old Testament, the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sanctified to the purifying of the flesh (Heb. 9:13). The blood of Christ which he offered will cleanse the conscience from dead works (Heb. 9:14). Accordingly, “… for this cause he is the mediator of the new covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:15).

Those persons under the first covenant or testament who walked by faith in observing what God had commanded in connection with the first covenant’s typical system would on the basis of their faith in observing God’s will, have their sins actually remitted by the blood of Christ. The life of the flesh is in the blood is what God told Israel (Lev. 17:11). God stated, “and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement by reason of the life” (Lev. 17:11). This blood did not remove sins as we have already learned but it foreshadowed the blood that would atone for sins, the blood of Christ. The typical significance of the system under the first covenant is not one of mean value. It abundantly and clearly pointed to the vicarious sacrifice of Christ and his cleansing blood. It was only prospective of, and foreshadowing, the new covenant system in which only one sacrifice was made for sins once.

When the sacrifice of Christ occurred, it is stated of him, “Whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:25-26). It is clear from these statements that it is on the basis of the sacrifice of Christ in the shedding of his blood that sins are removed. God declared in the new covenant why he was just in passing over sins done aforetime in the forbearance of God. Whether one may under-stand every aspect of this declaration is not an issue with a person of faith.

Paul also dealt with both the Gentile world and the Jews in these words: “For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law; and as many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law; for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified” (Rom. 2:12-13). Parenthetically, he proceeded to explain this in verses 14 and 15. Then he commented that this will be the case “in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ” (Rom. 2:16). Additionally, Paul dealt with the same issue about the Gentiles in Acts 17:30-31.

Looking at the word of God as a total message, it is not hard to understand that sins under the first covenant when spoken of as being forgiven are only thus typically by a blood sacrifice foreshadowing the blood that would actually remove sins. Seen in this light, one should not have difficulty understanding the idea of forgiveness under the first covenant.

I believe that one must look at the implication of saying that sins were actually removed through the blood of bulls and goats. If this statement is true, then there was no need for Christ to die. It also follows as a consequence that the sacrifice made by Christ is not the one made for sins once.

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 18, p. 5-6
September 16, 1993

By Connie W. Adams

K Mart, Pornography and Southern Baptists

K Mart, which owns Waldenbooks, is the largest producer of pornography in the country. Efforts have been made, to no avail, to get this retail giant out of the pornography business. The Pension Board of the United Methodist Church a few weeks ago voted to sell all of its stock in K Mart as a protest. Now the Southern Baptist Annuity Board has voted to sell all of their 221,000 shares of K Mart stock for the same reason. Well, shame on K Mart for aiding and abetting the sleaze business. Anything to make a buck! But I am curious as to why the United Methodist Church and the Southern Baptist Church are investors in such a private business enterprise. According to the New Testament, the only authority for gathering funds with which to do the work of the church of the Lord, is by free-will contributions of members made on the first day of the week (2 Cor. 9:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-3). The only scriptural use for these funds is to preach the gospel (Phil. 4:15-16; 2 Cor. 11:8; 1 Tim. 3;15), and to relieve needy saints (1 Tim. 5:16; Acts 4:34-35). Churches which are engaged in business while being sheltered from taxes create unfair competition in the business world. The Southern Baptists are in a battle over biblical inerrant in what they teach about church finances. If so, why did they own 221,200 shares of K Mart?

Allan and Anita Turner To Kenya

Allan and Anita Turner of Louisville, Kentucky, moved to Kenya in east Africa the second week of July. Allan has made two preaching trips there, along with Paul Ayres. The last trip resulted in 45 obeying the gospel. There are now ten congregations meeting in Kenya. Eight of the 45 converted on this last trip were denominational preachers. The Turners plan to live in Nyeri (96 miles north of Nairobi). They will be supported by the Taylorsville Road church in Louisville, though there are some special needs beyond that. We salute them for their work of faith and pray God’s blessings upon them in this worthy effort.

Homosexual Deputy

Adding to the list of homosexuals in the government, HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala has announced the appointment of news reporter Victor F. Zonana, 39, of New York City, as deputy assistant secretary for public affairs/media for the Department of Health and Human Services. He will be the principle public affairs liaison with the White House Press Office and will work directly with the assistant secretary for public affairs in an agency with 250 programs and the federal government’s largest budget.

Oh yes, he is winner of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation media award, and a co-founder of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (Reported in HHS News, May 13, 1993). Well, I guess this one is definitely out of the closet. Here is another pervert with access to the White House. And we are paying continued on next page his salary! How long will God bless America?

Buddy E. Payne, Jr. to Romania

In September, Buddy and Marilyn Payne and their 13-year-old son, will be going to Bucharest, Romania to spend at least two years in preaching and teaching the gospel. He has preached for the Temple Terrace congregation in Temple Terrace, Florida for several years and has both taught and served as an administrator at Florida College. He currently serves as Dean of the college. It was my pleasure recently to speak in a lecture program with him and also with Jerry Fite, of Pasadena, Texas, at Vivion Road in Kansas City, Missouri. Brother Payne is a very talented man with vast knowledge and the skills to convey it convincingly to an audience. The work in Romania has shown much promise. Brother Payne has done some short-term work there and sees the need for a longer commitment. Our prayers go with him and his family.

Marlboro Man Dead at 51 – Cancer

After smoking a pack and a half a day for 25 years, the handsome cowboy who made commercials for Marlboro cigarettes is dead at 51 of cancer. Late in his life he tried to warn people of the dangers of smoking and even pleaded with the tobacco company to limit its advertising, appearing before stockholders to sound his warnings. One smoker said he had read so much about the dangers of smoking that he had decided to give up reading! How many lives have been cut short from this foul habit! We serve God in our bodies and we ought to take good care of them. Read Romans 6:12-13.

Views of Future Preachers

In the spring of 1992 a survey was taken by Steve Miller, a student at Ohio Valley College. The survey concerned beliefs of Bible majors at that school. Some of the answers were startling to say the least. Question 2 was: Do you believe that a person can become a Christian without becoming a member of the church of Christ? 50% said Yes, 40% said No and 10% said they did not know. Question 3 was: Do you believe that there are Christians scattered among the various denominations? 63% said Yes, 37% said No. Question 7 was: Do you believe that the use of instrumental music in worship is sinful and that one will be lost for using them? 40% said Yes, 40% said No and 20% said they did not know. Question 9 was: Do you believe it is permissible to participate in any kind of joint religious activity with denominations? 53% said Yes, 30% said No and 17% did not know.

Question 11 was: Do you believe a person who has been divorced (but not because of their mate’s fornication) can remain in a second marriage and meet God’s approval? 23% said Yeas and 13% said they did not know. Question 16 was: Do you believe that the New Testament teaches that Christians are to partake of the Lord’s supper every first day of the week and to do otherwise would be sinful? 10% said No and 13% said they did not know. Question 17 was: Do you believe that clapping in worship (with songs or after the sermon) is wrong? 53% said No and 10% said they and not know. Question 18 was: Do you believe that the New Testament alone is sufficient for our authority’? 27% said No and 7% said they did not know.

Folks, the difference between us and some of the institutional churches and preachers becomes more pronounced all the time. In fairness, the same set of questions was put to the students at the Memphis School of Preaching with a much more conservative response. At any rate, you can see what some of these young liberals are going to be preaching (or not preaching).

A Holy Wow

Rubel Shelly, who has become too liberal for some of the institutional folks, has co-authored a book with Randy Harris, described by Shelly as “a bright young theologian at David Lipscomb College.” It is entitled The Second Incarnation, a Theology for the 21st Century Church. It makes about the same appeal as Shelly’s new journal, Wineskins. The purpose of that journal and this new book is to restructure the church in our time. Two quotes will explain what they mean by “the second incarnation.” In the church Christ is “enfleshed again” (55). “He seeks to be incarnate perpetually through the church that dares to wear His name” (240).

One thing which these men think needs drastic change is worship. “Tired forms won’t work with an exuberant message.” With a distinction drawn between gospel and doctrine, Shelly argues that “The old wine is religious legalism and the old wine skins are religious traditions and doctrines” which we “must be willing to scrap to make the message relevant to a new age.” He is ready to fellowship any who holds to “core” beliefs while differing on various doctrinal matters. Where have we heard this before?

He said, “To believe that you hear the Truth, whereas they must change (rest of the religious world – CWA) is an arrogant attitude.” He belittles the idea of using Scripture to prove what you believe. He is down on any idea of a New Testament pattern. He decries “pattern theology” and says “the extreme right (antis) have been more consistent” than the rest of this. “But we regard them as eccentrics,” he said. The restraints of pattern theology are “pointless encumbrances.”

This book is big on spontaneous worship. They decry a “tired, uninspiring event called worship.” This is “boring and irrelevant” (114). They tell us that we must somehow rid ourselves of worship that is “dull and boring to ourselves and unattractive to non-Christians.” Instead we must have a “raucous celebration” with “spontaneity” (139). He says we need “unavoidable worship” with “shouts,” “dances” (119), “jubilation … with applause and cheering” (140), “a narcotic trip into another world” (125) They tell us that worship must “become an encounter experience, that you have had an encounter with God, a holy WOW.”

That is what charismatics have tried to make of worship all along. They have made it into a religious hurray. Emotion becomes everything. This all overlooks one fundamental of acceptable worship. Worship is intended to please God. The only way finite man can know what an infinite God will accept is from his word. He told us what he wants. Granted, he should put our whole hearts into it. Granted we ought not to coldly go through the motions. When we scripturally do that which God authorized in his word, it is anything but dull and boring. Dull and boring to whom? If it is dull and boring to offer up worship which God ordained, then the fault lies with us and not with what we are doing. “Whatever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Col. 3:17). The Father seeks men to worship him “in spirit and in truth” (Jn. 4:24).

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 18, p. 3-5
September 16, 1993