Truth Magazine

By Randy Sexton

In Ezra 7:10 we find an interesting comment given concerning Ezra. It is said that he “had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.”

Ezra was instrumental in bringing a remnant back from Babylonian captivity to the city of Jerusalem and carrying out a series of religious reforms in about 458 B.C. (Zondervan’s Pictorial Dictionary 273).

What did Ezra do to prepare his heart? Wouldn’t it be great if we had Ezra’s biography so we could read how he prepared his heart! I like biographies for this reason – they give us a glimpse into other folk’s lives as to what has made them successful. We don’t have Ezra’s biography but I think we do have enough said in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that we may surmise how he may have done it.

You may have noticed that in titling this article I used the impersonal pronoun “a” instead of “my.” I did this to emphasize the fact that we may not only prepare our own heart but we may also help another prepare his heart to seek the Law of the Lord.

Preparing a Heart

One doesn’t just wake up one day and decide to start serving the Lord. He has to prepare his heart. The young are instructed: “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth” (Eccl. 12:1). Parents are instructed “bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Timothy was reminded: “the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice” (2 Tim. 1:5). All of these refer to a conditioning or preparation for serving the Lord.

But how does one, who did not have the benefit of being raised by Christian parents, prepare his heart? First, he recognizes his heart to be as “soil” that needs to be prepared for the planting of the seed. This is the lesson taught by the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:3-9,18-23. If the soil has not been properly prepared. . .

1. The seed lies on top of the ground and is eaten up by the birds (Satan).

2. The roots fail to grow deep and the sun (persecution) scorches and causes him to wither and die.

3. The thorns and the weeds (cares of the world) choke the life out of him.

Secondly, he prepares himself by not involving himself in materialism and immorality. These influences, so rampant in our society, can suck one under their power and cause one to “wax worse and worse,” just as the apostle Paul warned the young evangelist Timothy they would in “the last days” when “perilous times” (NKJV marginal reading “times of stress”) would come (2 Tim. 3:13)! He also describes some who “did not receive the love of the truth . . . but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess. 2:10,12). It is amazing to me that some folks do not know what immorality is! In their estimation there is no way to have an enjoyable time without engaging in drinking, dancing and the general type of carousing that goes on in night clubs and bars. They don’t see the danger of engaging in these types of activities despite the abundant warnings of Scripture.

A third method for preparing his heart is to develop a “delight in the Law of the Lord” by meditating on it day and night (Psa. 1:2). Solomon advises his son in the words of Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Yes, dear friend, how you prepare your heart will determine how you approach everything else in your life!

A final thought as to how to prepare your heart involves recognizing that within each of us there is a “warring” between the spiritual and the physical. Paul describes this conflict in Romans 7:22-23, 8:5-9 and advises that we cannot please God unless we live according to the spirit and not according to the flesh. How much attention have you given to the needs of your spiritual man in comparison with the attention you have given the physical?

By our influence among those with whom we associate, we can help another to begin to prepare his heart to seek the Lord. Willard Conchin, in his workbook for young people entitled I Can Do It (p. 93), cites a survey that asked “Why did you choose the particular church which you now worship with?” The results were:

9% because of the architectural beauty of the building.

18% because of the convenience to their home.

3% because of the ministers of the church.

22% because there were people in the church whom they respected.

34% because neighbors or friends invited them to that church.

He concludes, “Combine the last two answers and you have the major reasons why people choose a church. Your life and your personal invitation are the vital ingredients to the growth of a church.”

When we refuse to join in with the rest of the office in telling the off color jokes, when we don’t engage in the back stabbing that characterizes office politics, when we show an interest in the souls of those with whom we work and associate our influence we pave the way for us to help another prepare his heart.

To Seek the Law of the Lord

The margin of the NKJV says “to study” the law of the Lord. We certainly are familiar with what Paul told Timothy in regard to this, “Study to show yourself approved of God” (2 Tim. 2:15). And we realize that it involves more than what we generally think of in the “school sense” of studying. It suggests the idea of being “diligent” in this seeking process.

The approved action is described variously as “asking,” “seeking,” and “knocking” (Matt. 7:7-8). Even our faith is based on a recognition that we will be rewarded when we seek him diligently (Heb. 11:6).

Solomon describes this seeking process in Proverbs 2:1-9. Notice all of the action verbs: “incline,” “apply”‘ ” cry out,” “lift up your voice,” “seek” and “search.” And isn’t it a rewarding promise we are made, “Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” He promises us if we seek his Law diligently and with an honest heart we will find it!

To Do It

We must be willing “to do” the will of God or the knowledge of it will not do us any good! Jesus told the Jews who marveled at his teaching, “If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.”

Jesus describes the scene at the Judgment when he will have to condemn some who had knowledge but didn’t use it property (Matt. 7:21-27).

Knowing without doing is likened, by James, to one who looks into a mirror and goes on his way without making the needed corrections (Jas. 1:22-25).

After teaching his disciples to be servants, by washing their feet, Jesus said, “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them” (Jn. 13:17).

To Teach It!

Ezra was involved in teaching “statutes and ordinances in Israel.” He was a “skilled scribe in the law of Moses” (7:6) and “expert in the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel” (7:11). He was given the charge by Artaxerxes to “set magistrates and judges who may judge all the people who are in the region beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach those who do not know them” (7:25). Ezra’s teaching efforts are further described in Nehemiah 8:1-8:

. . and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel … and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law . . . . And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people . . . So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.

Are we acceptable if we are not teaching? The people to whom the words of Hebrews 5:12-14 were written were not! Let us not break the chain of 2 Timothy 2:2! Do we not want to share with others what the gospel has done for us?

But, beloved, if we are to teach effectively we must prepare to do so. The contents of what we teach must come from the law revealed by God (Eph. 3:3-5). And before I can teach it, I must show that I am living it!

Conclusion

Won’t you prepare your heart and then help prepare the hearts of others by causing them to deal fairly and honestly with the word of God. Won’t you seek the law of the Lord, knowing what it says by studying it diligently. Be determined to be a doer and not a hearer only! Won’t you determine to teach it, to share what it has done for you, at every opportunity that you have? Your reward will be well worth the effort!

Guardian of Truth XXXVI: 22, pp. 693-695
November 19, 1992

By Vestal Chaffin

Someone has said that the sweetest words in all the English language is: Mother, Home and Heaven. The word of God gives us some instruction in relation to all three of these, and we would be interested in all that God has revealed concerning them. But I would like for us to focus our attention particularly upon these things that pertain to the home.

The home is the oldest divine institution in the world. It is older than the church; it is older than the state! God ordained the home when he created Adam and Eve, and joined them together as husband and wife, in the garden of Eden (Gen. 2:22-24). Even in the process of bringing this divine institition into existence, God laid down some principles by which it is to be regulated. Notice: “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Gen. 2:18). It was not good for the man to be alone in the beginning, and that principle is still true today. Therefore God sanctioned the marriage relationship through his word in this dispensation when he said, “Marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled; but whore mongers and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4). Also in Genesis 2:18, God said that he created woman to be a “help meet” for man. That is, she was to be a “help suitable” for man. This clearly implies that God gave the husband the responsibility to provide for, and to support his family, while the wife “helps” him by keeping the home. “I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully” (1 Tim. 5:14). Paul instructed the aged women to “teach the young women. . . to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Tit. 2:3-5).

These principles are basic, both for the welfare and happiness of the home, for the church, and for society in general. Whenever these basic principles are ignored the home suffers and a substantial contribution is made toward a down-fall of our society. One of the definitions of home, according to the dictionary is: “the members of a family together, considered as a unit society.” Ignoring these principles is a fundamental cause of the condition that exists in our society today. When mothers leave home and children to go out and get a job to make more money (when such is not really necessary), they are violating God’s law for the home. The basic factor in producing juvenile delinquency, law-breaking, looting, drunkenness, unwed motherhood, and many other problems, is not economic or biological. The main factor that produces these things is parental neglect. Parents have a responsibility to train, discipline, and control their children, even after they reach their teenage years. Where this is lacking, children grow up without respect for their parents, and for law and order. The principle of “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:7), is true in the home life as it is in other phases of life. The Lord has said, “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame” (Prov. 29:15). How true this is!

Not only has the mother’s leaving the sacred precinct of the home to seek more financial independence contributed to the moral break-down of society, but it has substantially contributed to the lack of spirituality and respect for the church, on the part of their children. When the mother works outside of the home there is but little or no time for spiritual devotion, reading and studying the Bible, praying with the children, and helping them get their Bible class lessons. Women may be par excellent in their chosen occupation outside of the home; but the greatest work that any woman can ever do in this world, is to become a wife and a mother. This is the work God assigned to her. Her greatest ambition should be to tutor and train her children and to prepare their soul for eternity. This is the greatest work that any woman does!

Much is being said these days about reforming home. The wise man Solomon said, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov. 14:34). There can be no great reforms in society without reforming the homes of this nation. And this never can be accomplished until people recognize and respect God’s law for the home. God’s law for the home requires the husband to be the head of the family. This means that he is the head of his wife, and she is to be in subjection to him in all things, “as it is fit in the Lord” (Col. 3:18). Wives should be careful to respect and obey their husbands, for they cannot obey the Lord without obeying their husband. For the Lord teaches, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord” (Eph. 5:22). And again, “Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything” (Eph. 5:24). The reason why the wife must be in subjection to her husband is given by inspiration. “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and he is the savior of the body” (Eph. 5:23). Disrespect for God’s instructions here has resulted in many divorces and broken homes, with innocent children having to suffer the consequences. No home can be what God would have it be, when his instructions are not carried out.

The husbands have corresponding responsibility to their wives. Listen: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Eph. 5:25). This emphasizes the depth of the love and respect, the husband is to have for his wife. Christ loved the church so much he “gave himself for it.” Even so, must the husband love his wife. Loving his wife even as himself, he will furnish his wife with the necessities, comforts, and maintenance of the home, so far as is in his power. The wife in turn will receive these things from her husband in gratitude of heart, and use them in the proper way. The husband must have the most tender regard, and unselfish love, “giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered” (1 Pet. 3:7). This implies that the husband and wife are to pray together as they make their home what God would have it be.

With such love and tender regard existing between husband and wife, and both striving together to accomplish God’s purpose in their lives, there can be no alienation, no separation! With such love how easy it is for them to live together harmoniously, and her to be in subjection to him as her head! Yes, it is the duty of the wife to respect and honor her husband as her head; but it is also the duty of the husband to be worthy of her honor and respect.

Guardian of Truth XXXVI: 22, pp. 681-682
November 19, 1992

By Clinton D. Hamilton

This column deals with a question about the Lord’s supper. In the words of the querist, the issues are set forth below:

Question: “In communion, breaking bread, Matthew 26:26 states that Jesus took bread, blessed it and brake it. Mark gives (14:22) the same account. Luke 22:19, ‘And he took bread, gave thanks and brake it.’ In I Corinthians 11:23,24 – ‘took bread and when he given thanks, he broke it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you; This do in remembrance of me.’

“Four times this is stated in order:

1. He took bread

2. Gave thanks

3. Broke it

“When one is waiting on the Lord’s table is it sound doctrine to give thanks before (breaking the bread) into separate plates for distributing, or divide the bread (dividing the bread), give thanks, and break to eat the Lord’s supper they pass to each individual?”

Response: Of fundamental importance in the partaking of the Lord’s supper is the disposition of one’s mind. Observance of the supper is a proclamation of the Lord’s death until he come (1 Cor. 11:26). But it is also an observance in remembrance of Christ (Lk. 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24-25). Bread and fruit of the vine are the elements of the supper. What is being done is a communion of the body and the blood of the Lord (1 Cor. 10:16). When one partakes of the bread and fruit of the vine, one shares in the benefits of the body and the blood of the Lord.

Central to the observance of the supper is the worthiness of the manner in which it is done. Because one who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, “if he discern not the body” (1 Cor. 11:29). Unworthily is from anaxios which signifies that one’s manner does not accord with the symbolic significance of what is being done. Discern is from diakrino, to separate, discriminate. One must discriminate what is being done: a remembrance of the body and the blood of the Lord. It is not merely eating food. There is a symbolic significance to what is being done related to the body of the Lord. This discrimination or discernment is essential to receiving benefit from the observance, and not damnation.

Ritualistic form has led many to overlook the inner significance Of what is being done. This is not to say that form has no significance. However, one must not become so enmeshed in form or ritual that one overloooks what is in the heart and what is being discriminated in the observance of the Lord’s supper.

In all four accounts of the institution of the Lord’s supper, it is stated that Jesus took bread, gave thanks, brake it, and told them to eat it (Matt. 26:26; Mk. 14:22; Lk. 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:23-24). These passages tell us what he did. Paul told the Corinthians that he delivered to them what he received of the Lord and setting forth what he had received he gave the order: took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said take, eat. Certainly, one cannot be wrong in following exactly this order. There one should leave it and do likewise without any fear of being wrong.

Having said all in the preceding two paragraphs, one should proceed to read all Paul had to say about what is essential to proper observance of the Lord’s supper in 1 Corinthians 11:20-33. (1) The supper is in remembrance of the Lord. (2) It is a proclamation of his death until he come. (3) There must be a discernment of the body of the Lord in one’s observance. (4) It must be observed as a unified body, not in small segregated groups. (5) It is not a common meal which should be eaten at home.

Guardian of Truth XXXVI: 22, p. 677
November 19, 1992

By Louis J. Sharp

On an unusual August morning in Little Rock, partly cloudy and cool, I turned into the local barber shop for a hair-cut. Luckily, the barber was not busy, and jovially said: “Come in reverend!” Being in a cheerful frame of mind myself, I replied: “I’m not ‘reverend,’ but I will come in.” Of course, I quoted Psalms 111:9, “He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.”

This is an ongoing struggle with people outside the body of Christ, i.e., to give reverence to God rather than men. I feel confident that most of them intend no disrespect for God, but rather appeal to the “pride of life” in seeking the favor of men. Due to their ignorance of God’s word, mistakenly they “reverence” men.

Soon after the barber shop episode on this same morning, after arriving at my study, the telephone rang. On the other end of the line came a voice that I recognized. It was the voice of a lady who had called on several occasions just to air her views on various and sundry topics. Usually, I would quietly lay the receiver down and let her talk until she ran out of steam. On this morning, she asked: “Is the reverend there?” Still feeling good and somewhat mischievous, I responded: “We don’t have any reverends here. ” Unabashedly, she came back: “Isn’t this a church?” To which I replied: “This is the church of Christ.” Rather disgruntled, she said: “I don’t want the church of Christ.” Pleasantly, I stated: “You have the wrong number.” And then hung up the receiver. (Thus far, she hasn’t called back.)

These are not unusual incidents in the life of a gospel preacher. All of us can relate similar experiences. During his public ministry, our Lord dealt with this kind of problem in Matthew 23. Speaking of the religious leaders among the Jews who greatly loved the praise of men, he said:

. . . The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on man’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make board their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven (vv. 2-9).

In this passage, our Lord condemns an attitude or feeling of superiority on the part of his servants. Unless we achieve the place of an humble servant, we will be unsuccessful as followers of Christ. Jesus Christ thundered the necessity of humility, both in teaching and example. “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:4). “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matt. 23:12).

Those desirous of preeminence universally are condemned! Diotrephes is an excellent example. “I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church” (3 Jn. 9-10). In our time, perhaps we have not been militant enough in challenging this egotistical spirit of pride and self-esteem. Lord, help us to be humble!

Guardian of Truth XXXVI: 22, p. 682
November 19, 1992