Truth Magazine

By Lewis Willis

It was surprised to read in the current issue of The Christian Chronicle that the Herald of Truth radio and television program has just celebrated its 40th anniversary.

The first broadcast was over ABC radio on February 10, 1952. Two years later the first TV broadcast was aired. A letter recently arrived at the office doing the thing that this program does best  trying to raise money for another effort! This time, they are seeking to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for an April 24th broadcast on national Russian television when “the Russian people will be marking their first major Easter celebration” since the overthrow of Communism. I am almost afraid to even wonder what that program might say on “Easter.”

It occurs to me that most of you do not even know what Herald of Truth is. Let me explain. In 1952, the elders of the Highland Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas established themselves as a “sponsoring church” and “sponsoring eldership” for the purpose of raising funds for churches across the nation with which they would present a national broadcast “for the Churches of Christ.” The reasoning was, that no single congregation could afford such an effort, so they would, under the supervision of the Highland elders, pool the resources of many congregations to get the job done. The Highland elders would eventually find themselves supervising the spending of funds from over 2,000 congregations across America. This enterprise was to become a part of the “centerpiece” that would produce a major division in Churches of Christ.

The division was not caused by the preaching of the gospel over radio or television, as some charged. It was caused by the violation of the Scriptures involved in the development of a “sponsoring church/eldership.” When the Lord established the church, each congregation was independent or autonomous, with each congregation answerable to Christ, its head (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18). Each congregation was under the oversight of its own elders. Note what the Scriptures say: “And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed” (Acts 14:23); “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee” (Tit. 1:5). These passages obviously teach that each church is to have its own elders, overseers, who lead it in the accomplishment of the mission that God has assigned to it: to evangelize the world, meet its benevolent obligation and edify itself (Eph. 4:11-12).

Furthermore, other passages specifically limit the oversight of those elders to that congregation, and to it alone. Note: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28); “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind” (1 Pet. 5:2).

No man, or group of men, can change this fundamental organizational character of the Lord’s church. To do so is sin! It is just as wrong to change its organization, as it is to change its worship or the plan of salvation. The elders of the Highland church committed this sin and they are responsible for all of the damage that was done to the cause of Christ by the division they produced. Today, they boast of 40 years of work. More accurately, they should note that 40 years ago they divided the blood-bought body of our Lord. Instead of being an occasion of rejoicing, their 40th anniversary is an anniversary to shame and disgrace. Just remember one thing: we cannot sin in an effort to do good. This is what they did, and they were wrong in doing it. Unless we understand this truth, we are bound to repeat their sin in the future.

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 1, p. 25
January 7, 1993

By H. E. Phillips

“For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). There is no way that man can know the true and living God and his will by worldly wisdom. Many of those who sit in the chair of worldly wisdom, and pursue higher education as the number one priority, generally reject the revelation of God. Some of these show contempt for those who have a simple faith in the integrity and completeness of the Bible as verbally inspired by God.

All truth is in the mind of God. Truth is what God knows about anything and everything. We search for real truth when we search for that which is in the mind of God. How can I know what is in the mind of God? I cannot do so by comparing what I think with what I imagine God thinks. God is not a man (Num. 23:19). Gods thoughts and ways are not those of man. As the heavens are above the earth, so are Gods ways above mans ways and Gods thoughts above mans thoughts (Isa. 55:8,9).

The things revealed by God, bound and loosed on earth, must first be bound and loosed in heaven (Matt.16:19). That word that is first bound in heaven is also settled forever in heaven; no changes can be made in it (Psa. 119:89). The truth was sent down from heaven by the Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 1:12). Jesus said all revelation from heaven is from the Father himself (Jn. 12:49,50; 16:13). The Father has spoken only through his

Son in this dispensation (Heb. 1:1,2). Christ spoke to the apostles by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 17:6,14,26; 1 Cor. 2:16; Acts 1:1-3). And the Holy Spirit spoke only what he heard from Christ (Jn. 14:26; 16:13,14), and he gave the words to the apostles to ex-press the mind of God (Acts 2:4; 1 Cor. 2:1-13; Eph. 3:3,9). The apostles wrote these words which we call the New Testament. Any tampering with these words will affect truth as it came from the mind of God. That is the nature of the revelation of God and the inspiration by which it was given to us.

Revelation and Inspiration

Henry Thayer defines revelation: “an uncovering; prop. a laying bare, making naked . . . a disclosure of truth, instruction, concerning divine things before unknown  esp. those relating to Christian salvation  given to the soul by God himself, or by the ascended Christ, esp. through the operation of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:10).”

In reference to the Bible, revelation and inspiration are so related that any definition of these words must consider both together. Only God can “uncover” what is in his mind. He did so through Christ by the Holy Spirit unto the apostles. The method by which this revelation is made is called “inspiration” or “the breathed of God” (2 Tim. 3:16,17). “Revelation” is what is made known from the mind of God, and “Inspiration” is how God revealed it: by His words. The inspired apostle Paul said of the mystery received by the Spirit of God: “Which things also we speak,”  that is the revelation; “not in the words which mans wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy

Ghost teacheth”  that is how the things are revealed: by inspiration (1 Cor. 2:13). It takes both to make the infallible Book.

Inspiration essentially includes revelation. As God “breathed” the eternal purpose which was in his own mind, words were essential to convey his mind to another. “Inspiration” does not tell the whole story. It takes inspiration and revelation to make Gods mind known.

2 Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is given by inspiration. All scripture is given; that is the revelation. By inspiration; that explains how it is given. This does not say that all Scripture came by revelation, which is totally different.

If God had revealed his mind by implanting the thought in the twelve apostles, and left them to express it in their own words, can you imagine the anarchy that would follow? Imagine these twelve men writing about the trial, crucifix-ion, burial and resurrection of Christ in just a few sentences as it now appears in the New Testament. They would have written many volumes, full of errors from personal prejudices and opinions. There would be errors in explaining some teaching of Christ. There would be errors of omission, errors in exaggeration, errors in imprecise language, bias because of national customs and prejudices, errors in prophecy, and errors in scientific and historical information. Their writings would be just like the creeds and doctrines of men.

The revelation of the mind of God that is given by verbal inspiration is accurate, unchangeable and complete. That is what the Bible claims to be.

The Function of Inspiration

Is not a part of the function of inspiration to create fact material. The Holy Spirit did not create the facts, but only revealed them (Jn. 14:26; 16:13). Inspiration does not make a fact more true, but only enables the writer or speaker to state accurately the facts and truth already existing in the mind of God. Whether they wrote of the past, present or future, they always wrote with perfect assurance that the truth and all the truth was revealed to them.

The fact that words are given by inspiration and words separate the doctrine of Christ from the doctrine of men, it is absolutely essential that we respect every word that is uttered by the Holy Spirit. That is inspiration; that is verbal inspiration. That is why the accuracy of translations in any language is vital. Any “paraphrase” translation is a human product and not the word of God.

In this age only the words “breathed out” by God, through Christ, by the Holy Spirit, to the apostles, written that we may understand the mystery, constitute the infallible word of God. All other “revelations” are false and fraud. Only upon divine revelation do we have “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 2, p. 1
January 21, 1993

By Mike Willis

Nearly every congregation among us is troubled by hit-and-miss attendance at worship. Some churches have as few as 50% of their Sun-day morning attendance back for their evening services and mid-week Bible studies. In some of the larger congregations, enough members do not return to Sunday evening services to constitute a pretty good local congregation (in excess of 100 people). Because this problem is wide-spread, brethren need to examine what the Bible says about attendance at the worship services.

The Lord Established the Local Church

Brethren need to remember that the local church exists because the God of heaven planned it and the Lord Jesus built it (Eph. 3:10; Matt. 16:18). The Lord planned both the universal church (all of the saved of the world — Eph. 5:23,25) and the local church. He gave the divine pattern for its organization (1 Tim. 3:1-15), worship, work, terms of membership and such like things. The local church is a product of the mind of God.

The Lord established the local church for the good of man. God recognized that Christians need one another and, therefore, commanded that they work together in the local church. There they meet for corporate worship (1 Cor. 11:20), exercise corporate discipline (1 Cor. 5:4; Matt. 18:15-17), and work together to do the Lord’s work on earth. In the functioning of the local church, members support one another. They suffer with those who are suffering and rejoice with those who are rejoicing (1 Cor. 12:26), provoke one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:24), and otherwise edify one another (1 Thess. 5:11).

A local congregation comes into existence when several Christians (1) agree to work together, (2) submit to common oversight, and (3) have a common treasury. Each of these is scriptural. There must be agreement to work together (Acts 9:26-28), submission to common oversight (Heb. 13:17), and a common treasury (1 Cor. 16:1-2; Phil. 4:15-16).

Those who habitually miss worship services undermine every one of the basic elements necessary for the local church to exist. (1) They undermine the agreement to work together. When members agree to work together but do not show up to do what they agreed to do together, their agreement is meaningless. (2) They undermine common oversight. When the church decides, either by the leadership of the elders or by a men’s business meeting, that a certain program of work will be done, each member has a responsibility to support it. This is the essence of agreement to have common oversight. When members refuse to attend and support what those who oversee decide, they undermine the principle of common oversight. (3) They under-mine the common treasury. When members do not attend, they usually do not give, limiting the work that can be done through the treasury.

The fundamental principles which create a local church are under-mined by those who habitually and erratically attend worship services. The net result is that these kinds of conduct will destroy the local church. If every member was just like the member who habitually misses evening services or who erratically attends, would there be an evening service, mid-week Bible class, or Sunday morning Bible study? If every member was just like the member who habitually misses and erratically attends, would the building be cleaned, the Lord’s supper prepared, and the yard mowed? The answers to these questions demonstrate how hit-and-miss worship attendance under-mines the local church.

You will also observe that what is said in this section applies to all of the services decided upon by the local church, not merely the Sunday morning assembly. There are some who insist that they have an obligation to the Sunday morning assembly but not to the other weekly worship services and gospel meetings. This is not true! The attitudes displayed by missing the worship will eventually destroy the local church.

Each of us would react with anger to anyone who tried to destroy the Lord’s church. The local church could be at-tacked by persecution and all of its members killed. We would cry to heaven in protest, and properly so. However, the same thing can be accomplished — the destruction of the local church — by neglect and indifference. Unfortunately, some cry to high heaven only when the preacher says something about the spiritual laziness and neglect that are destroying the local church. If we truly love the church for which Christ died, we will do all we can to cause it to grow, not destroy it by neglect and indifference. The wise man observed, “He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster” (Prov. 18:9).

The wise man observed the effects of laziness. He said, “I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction” (Prov. 24:30-32). Wonder what the wise man would see if he went by a local church full of spiritual sluggards? Would he see a parking lot half full on Sunday night, a group that had to beg people to teach their children classes, and a handful of people doing 95 percent of the work? If that is what he would see, I suggest that he could visit most local churches and see the evidences of spiritual laziness and neglect!

Missing The Worship Assemblies Is A Sin

There are several reasons to reach the conclusion that missing the worship assemblies is a sin. Consider the following:

1. The Lord commanded that Christians not forsake the assembling of the saints. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb. 10:24-25). Do you see any word in this verse which limits its application to Sunday morning worship services? Those who miss the worship assemblies violate these plain statements of Scripture: (a) to observe the Lord’s supper (1 Cor. 11:23-25); (b) to give of their means (1 Cor. 16:1-2); (c) to assemble with the saints (Heb. 10:25).

Those who habitually miss worship assemblies generally have the wrong attitude toward the service of the Lord. Paul commanded that Christians abound in the work of the Lord; he said, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58). None of those whom I have witnessed habitually missing worship services and attending erratically try to “abound” in the work of the Lord. They generally want to get by with the least they can do.

Those who miss worship assemblies and claim that they can sing, pray, and read their Bibles at home generally do not.

Those who miss worship assemblies do virtually nothing to build up the local church. They never bring visitors to worship with them (since they are not there), teach a Bible class, participate in public worship, or otherwise promote the growth of the local church.

Those who miss worship assemblies and attend erratically are a discouragement to others. Our assemblies are to provoke one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:25). We should be edified from our assemblies. When I come to worship and witness nearly half the congregation absent, I for one am discouraged. I frankly get discouraged because the singing does not sound as good, absence from the Bible classes says to me “I don’t care how much preparation you have made to teach this lesson or about the people who are there.”

For these reasons, I unequivocally state: Those who willfully miss the worship services of the local church are guilty of sin!

Pitiful Excuses

Sometimes Christians offer such pitiful excuses for not attending worship. Here are some I have heard.

“I have a headache!” Would the same headache keep the person home from work, away from the shopping center, or movie theater?

“The children need to get to bed early for school. “Would the same excuse keep them from going to the basketball game on Tuesday night, play practice on Thursday night, or shopping?

“I got home from work so tired. ” To see how refreshed a person can come home from work, watch his change of conduct when one suggests going shopping, to a ball game, or out to eat. Others work long hours every day but somehow are never too tired to attend worship. Why the difference?

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 2, p. 2
January 21, 1993

By Andy Alexander

David’s sin with Bathsheba supplies us with many valuable lessons. The temptations created by indecent dress or improper exposure of the body, the downward spiral of one who sins and tries to hide it, the consequences of sin, and the internal pain of the sinner who has a tender conscious toward God are some of these lessons (2 Sam. 11-18; Psa. 32:1-5; 51). However, there are two lessons from 2 Samuel 12 that we want to consider in this article.

First, let’s notice God’s method for convincing the sinner of his sin. God sent the prophet Nathan to David for the purpose of convicting David of his sin.

Nathan related the story of the poor man with one little ewe lamb that was stolen by a rich man who had many flocks and herds (2 Sam. 12:1-4). When Nathan finished the story, “David’s anger burned greatly against the man” (2 Sam. 12:5). David’s anger was justified because the rich man had wronged the poor man and ought to be punished for such an evil and insensitive deed.

After David had made the proper judgment toward the rich man who had done such a hideous deed, God said to David through Nathan, “You are the man!” (2 Sam. 12:7)

This story taught the exact principle that God wanted David to learn. Actually, David already understood the principle that God was impressing upon his mind, but he had not made the proper application of that principle in his own personal life.

How did God convict the sinner of his sin? He sent a messenger (Nathan) to tell him directly that he was guilty of sin. God was straight forward in trying to turn his wayward child back in the right direction.

When King Saul violated the commandment of God by not destroying all the Amalekites and all their possessions, God sent Samuel to deliver his message to Saul (1 Sam. 15:11). Saul’s sin brought a great amount of grief to Samuel, but he delivered the message just as God gave it to him. This message, like the one to David, was direct and to the point (1 Sam. 15:16-23). Saul tried to blame others for his disobedience, but this did not justify him before God (1 Sam. 15:20).

Peter was speaking to the Jews on the day of Pentecost and trying to convict them of their sins. He spoke as the Holy Spirit gave him utterance and told them directly that they had taken Jesus and by wicked hands nailed him to the cross (Acts 2:4,23). Again, we see God’s method was direct and to the point when it came to convicting men of their sins.

When Peter and John were in Samaria for the purpose of imparting spiritual gifts to the new converts, a man by the name of Simon tried to buy the same power the apostles had (Acts 8:19). He sinned in so doing and was quickly and directly rebuked for his sinful actions and urged to repent (Acts 8:20-23). God knows the best way to reach those who are in sin and he has left a pattern for us to follow of being direct and to the point.

The case of Stephen is one which again was direct and to the point. He lost his life because of the hardness of the hearts of his hearers (Acts 7:51-60). This does not prove the method to be wrong. It proves that all of those we approach may not respond as they should to God’s message. Other examples could be cited, but these are enough to show that God’s method of reaching the sinner is direct and to the point. There is an urgency in convicting men of their sins.

They are some today who resent being told they have sinned. They deny their sin, blame others for their sin, or seek to justify their ungodly actions in some way or another. There were other fornicators in David’s day, but that did make his actions any less sinful. Bathsheba was a party to the sin, but that did not alter David’s responsibility to keep himself pure. David was king of a great country, but he still must give account to God. David repented and confessed his sin to God and God forgave him (2 Sam. 12:13).

Let us deliver God’s message in a clear and forceful manner. Let us teach principles of righteousness in terms that can be clearly and easily understood, and let us make application so that those who are guilty will be convinced of their sins.

There is a second lesson that we can glean from 2 Samuel 12. We, who hear God’s message, must make application in our own personal lives. Knowledge without obedience is foolishness (Matt. 7:24-27). The righteous principles taught in God’s word are valuable; however, they are only valuable to those who use them.

Compare this to medicine prescribed by a doctor for a physical ailment. It is good to know that penicillin will cure malaria, but if one has malaria and penicillin is available but not taken, the knowledge is of no real value.

Likewise, it is valuable to know that belief, repentance, and baptism put an alien sinner into the kingdom of God. But, if we are alien sinners and we do not obey these simple conditions given by God, then eternal damnation is our destiny. The knowledge is of no real valuable to us unless we use it.

Society may be rotten, the preacher may be a hypocrite, one of the elders may not meet “my” standards for serving, or some member may be a backbiter, but none of these “excuses” makes my disobedience any better. If I am guilty of sin, then my sin will keep me out of heaven. No one else’s sin can change my impure state into a pure one.

Each of us must make application of God’s word in his own personal life and make corrections wherever and whenever necessary. Some may have a tendency to discard what the preacher says because he is just a man. But if the message he delivers is from God’s word as it should be, then the listener had better take heed. Apply the lesson!

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 1, p. 24
January 7, 1993