Truth Magazine

By Randy Harshbarger

The title of this article suggests that there is power in the preaching of God’s word, the gospel, or as Paul says in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation.” The Apostle was duty bound to preach only the gospel, for it is the only message that can accomplish what God wants accomplished, namely, the salvation of the souls of men. When something other than the gospel is preached, men are converted to someone or something other than the Lord. Paul understood the responsibility placed upon him to preach only God’s word (1 Cor. 9:16) and, with dauntless resolve, preached only the preaching of God’s son (1 Cor. 1:21; 2:2).

This article does not purport to tell anyone how to preach. We recognize the various backgrounds, temperaments and abilities of men (as was true, at least in part, of the apostles). It is, though, without reservation the message that must be preached, the gospel, that we must focus on. Yes, preach the truth in love, but preach the truth! Preachers today must have that single-minded purpose Paul, Peter, Stephen and the Lord had! It is our business to preach the word, and preach Christ. We must exalt the name of the Lord, keeping the story of the cross always before the hearts of men. If the simple story of the cross does not stir men’s hearts, then they will not be properly moved (Lk. 8:13,14). Depending upon our own eloquence, or playing upon the sympathies of men with something other than the gospel, is to lead people away from the Lord, not to him. It is truth that makes us free from sin, and only truth (Jn. 8:32). Paul recognized that to preach something other than, or in addition to, the gospel, was to be unfaithful to the Lord, and would result in the condemnation of souls (Gal. 1:10,11).

The carnal appeals of Satan, sin and compromise are many and always attract the worldly minded (Acts 17:21). Yet, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2 Cor. 10:4,5). To teach and reason from Scripture will turn men from Satan to God. Funny stories or jokes that have no other purpose than to entertain are out of place in true gospel preaching. The experiences of men, while important to them, do not establish the basis of fellowship with the Lord. And, our own experiences cannot establish a right relationship with the Lord, but will lead to a completely subjective, better-felt-than-told salvation. When an appeal to something other than the gospel is made, we weaken our efforts to reach lost men.

It has been said (with validity) that the social gospel and institutionalism, represent a loss of confidence in the power of God’s word. There seem to be some trends discernible today pointing in the direction of a loss of confidence in the power of the gospel. In the beginning stages, trends are hard to discern. Sometimes the changes in thinking, preaching, writing, etc., are almost imperceptible. Yet, some signs are more easily observed. Of course, none would, openly admit to a rejection of the gospel and its power, at least not now. But, what about ten or twenty years from now? Apostasy does not happen over night, but remember the new generations to come and what happened to Israel (confer Judges 2), Some things are being said and taught that represent a drift away from the message God commands that we teach and preach.

Most will agree that the power of the gospel can be seen in the specific application of truth. The people on Pentecost got the point, were duly convicted of sin, and understood that they needed to do something. Stephen was rather pointed in his message, saying, “Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your Fathers did, so do ye” (Acts 7:51). Jesus told the Sadducees that they were wrong (Matt. 22:29). He did not try to deal with the negative in a positive way. He simply said: “You are wrong!” Did he love them? Certainly, and it was evidenced in the fact that he said what needed to be said, when it needed saying. We can all take a lesson from that! Paul dealt with Peter’s vacillation face to face (Gal. 2:11). No doubt today, Paul would be charged with having an image problem. How could Peter reach his potential with all the negative publicity? When Paul stood before Felix, he preached “righteousness and self-control and the judgment to come” (Acts 24:25). Paul was not concerned about Felix feeling good about himself. He did want Felix to be at peace with God, and preached the only message that would achieve that. No doubt, Paul would have flunked out of any Dale Carnegie course.

Was Jesus using slurs when he said to the scribes and Pharisees: “Woe unto you . . . hypocrites . . . blind guides . . . inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matt. 23)? Too negative? Some today would say yes! Why is it, though, that some complain and criticize in such a negative way, against anything negative (Rom. 2:1)? We cannot blindside people with the truth. To preach the truth and condemn error is not to engage in personal attacks. Yes, strive for balance. A steady diet of all negative is out of balance, just as much as all positive is. The gospel has both. Those who call for non-doctrinal sermons and shorter sermons and less Scripture need to study 2 Timothy 4:1-5. One of the problems with the Positive Mental Attitude philosophy is that, carried to its ultimate end, all preaching directed to such things as immodesty, dancing, social drinking, disregard for God’s marriage laws, etc., will eventually be eliminated.

The life of the Christian is compared to many things, one of them being a war that continues throughout life. Some opt for a peaceful co-existence with the world, but the attitude of the world is such that fellowship with the Lord and the things of the world cannot be (1 Jn. 2:15-17; Jas. 4:4). The world, evil, Satan and sin, all seek to overcome us (1 Jn. 5:19; Rom. 12:21). Error seeks to trap us, but only truth will make us free (1 Jn. 4:1,2; Jn. 8:32).

Men who are lost in darkness need the eyes of their hearts enlightened by the word of God (Eph. 1:18). Only the gospel can turn men to the Lord (Acts 26:18). To be delivered from sin and Satan’s kingdom is possible because God in his love sent his Son to die for all (Col. 1:13,14). We must be good soldiers and fight the good fight of the faith (2 Tim. 2:3,4; 4:6-8; 1 Tim. 5:12). This warfare must be the concern of all, and every child of God must be on duty. Our weapons are not carnal (2 Cor. 10:4,5); our armor the Lord provides (Eph. 6:10-20).

Our commitment must be to the Lord and to his truth. When we contend earnestly, let it be for truth (Jude 3). Loving the souls of men, we hate the sin that condemns. But let us remember the message the apostles preached: “And for this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when ye received from us the word of the message, even the word of God,.ye accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe” (1 Thess. 2:13).

Many of the old pioneers preached a sermon variously titled, but often called “The Adaptation of the Bible to Man” (confer The Gospel Preacher.- A Book of Twenty Sermons, by Benjamin Franklin). These lessons help us understand that God’s word fits perfectly and applies in every way to man as he is. No, we do not need a new gospel for a new age, nor do we need to help the Lord in trying to improve his word. It would do any Christian good to hear such sermons again today. When a gospel preacher laughs at and ridicules brother Roy Cogdi4l’s New Testament Church, charging it is out of date and would not fit modern audiences, brethren we are doing more than just drifting!

May we have great faith in the Lord and in the power of his Word. Let us “buy the truth, and sell it not” (Prov. 23:23). Let us plead for a “thus saith the Lord” and be content to speak only the things that “befit the sound doctrine.” Let us be content with and continue to tell the old, old story of Jesus, and his love (Reproduced from With A It Boldness, March 1991).

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 24, pp. 739-740
December 19, 1991

By W.R. Jones

Serving as an elder of the church is a rather awesome responsibility if a man takes it seriously. If he doesn’t take it seriously, then he shouldn’t be one in the first place. Thus, in admonishing Christians to obey the elders the Hebrew writer states, “for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account” (Heb. 13:17). Watching for souls, and this generally includes quite a number who really don’t want to be watched for in the first place, is no little task. The burden is made lighter by remembering what an honor it is before God to serve in this capacity. To be a good elder there are several things which are absolutely necessary. In selecting elders many Christians look no further than family requirements. If a man has some lovely children who are obedient, they consider the prospect well qualified. Others are well satisfied if the prospect has proven himself to be a good business man. Christians with such attitudes are spiritually ignorant and have limited vision.

An Elder Must Desire the Work!

This is not an “office seeking” attitude, but a free and genuine desire and willingness to “use and be used” in God’s work. “This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work” (1 Tim. 3:1). He is not to desire the office for prestige, power or prominence, but to serve the Lord in all humility. Elders who are offering a reluctant sacrifice need to change their attitude. There is no way to find happiness in half-hearted service. An elder’s wife needs to understand the nature of the work and encourage her husband in every possible way. I have known of elders who not only carried the burden of the office, which is enough within itself, but carried an additional home burden because their wives resented their work for the Lord. What a shame!

An Elder Must Desire to Lead!

As shepherds, elders must lead God’s people. Lead them into the “riches of his grace.” Lead them into “purity” and “unity.” Lead them into “spiritual productivity.” Therefore, elders ought to be thinking out ahead of the people. I have known many elders who only did what they were compelled to do by pressure applied by the members. This is not leading! I have known elders who were like a hound dog I once knew. He would run just in front of the horses who were pulling the wagon. It looked like he was leading, but when he came to a fork in the road he ran over to the side and waited to see which way the team was going, and then he took up his fake lead position again. That is just not leading! True leadership demands thought, time, patience, prayer and courage. There is no way to truly lead without these things in an elder’s life.

An Elder Must Be Willing To Rebuke the Wayward!

There is no easy way to do this. In the work of overseeing, this is the most difficult task I encountered while serving as an elder. It is not all that difficult as an evangelist to stand behind the pulpit and rebuke the people for their sins, but “face to face” it is not so easy. But, it must be done! Elders must be sensitive enough to detect a straying sheep quickly, and loving enough to act without delay that a soul may not be lost. Elders often excuse themselves with a “wait and see” attitude. Of course, they must be patient, but most of the time “wait and see” is simply a “cop-out from duty.” Overseers must be willing to take the lead in discipline, both instructive and corrective. This can’t be accomplished by the “faint hearted.”

An Elder Must Understand the Value of Teamwork!

God authorized “elders” (plural). When you have a number of men who are leading “together,” it demands teamwork. Those involved may not have exactly the same talents and temperaments, but they all can and must contribute their part. A failure to do this will result in one or more taking too much lead and that it not good. An elder should not be simply an “objector, ” but a “contributor. ” You cannot have good teamwork without good communication and that means overseers need to keep their heads together.

I don’t believe there is anyway to do this without talking. They may not always agree one-hundred percent, but if they truly love the Lord and his church then something good will always come from their talking. Sometimes elders become too busy to communicate except briefly “on the run,” and this doesn’t give time for much thought. When elders become too busy to properly oversee they have become too busy!

There isn’t anything the church of the Lord needs more than godly elders. We badly need men who are willing to prepare for this great work. But, alas, there are many who are not willing to study, grow, work, and prepare for this great effort. We will never just “accidentally” have good overseers. Young men should start preparing and then be ready when the time comes. Instead of this, the time comes and then we scramble to get someone acceptable enough to get in. This is a poor way to run God’s business. Then in some places we have the “extra critical” members who make it impossible for the very best of men to serve God in this capacity. These people may mean well, but they do harm to the progress of the kingdom. In conclusion, let us remember, there is nothing that will stablize and strengthen the Lord’s church more than godly elders. May their tribe increase.

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 24, p. 751
December 19, 1991

By Paul K. Williams

In about 1958 when I was 27 years old the church I was preaching for split. The main doctrinal issue involved (as with most church messes there were plenty of personal issues as well) was the subject of church discipline. A few months after the split a respected older preacher was scheduled to preach a meeting for the church where I had been preaching. In the hope that he could succeed in teaching the truth where I had failed, I wrote to him and asked him to preach on the subject of church discipline. I told him that if he would preach what he had written on the subject that I thought his influence could help the situation very much. His reply to me was, “I have been preaching more years than you have been living. I don’t need you to tell me what to preach.”

I then and there resolved that when I became old I would never pull rank because of age! Now that I am old, I am more resolved than ever. Age helps to bring wisdom, but wisdom is not confined to the old. Meeting an argument by saying, “I am older than you, therefore I know better” is nearly the same as saying, “You have the better argument, but I am not going to admit it.” If I have wisdom, I should be able to demonstrate that wisdom by calm, reasoned, scriptural argument.

These thoughts were triggered by the good article, “Thinking Too Highly of Men” by Robert Wayne LaCoste (GOT, July 18, 1991). His point was that we should not think so highly of older men that we take what they say uncritically. My point is that we older men must not think so highly of ourselves that we will not receive the criticism of younger men. Such sinful pride can take us to hell just as surely as any other sin.

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 24, p. 741
December 19, 1991

By Jerry Parks

The explosion of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines is over and done and no longer a subject of newspaper headlines. All that remains for us is the enjoyment and fascination of the beautiful harvest sunsets that have been enhanced by the volcanic dust that is still floating in the atmosphere. The temptation for most of us now is to view the situation with an “out of sight, out of mind” kind of disregard.

Because of my involvement with the Filipino people over the past years, and knowing the potential for misery from such a catastrophe, I felt compelled to make an unscheduled trip to Manila and make my way to the Mt. Pinatubo area to see first hand how bad the situation really is and gather as much information as possible to supply to brethren here in the U.S. who might be inclined to assist Filipino brethren in need.

Accompanying me on the trip from Manila to Mt. Pinatubo was my good friend and trusted fellow laborer, Ben Cruz. Ben is well acquainted with the brethren in that area and was most useful at helping me make contacts with brethren there. We used Ben’s trusty old jeep as our source of transportation and it served us well through the whole trip. Brother Fred Agulto is a good driver as well as an excellent mechanic. Brother Edmundo Cipriano was outstanding as a scribe. He recorded all information as we interviewed people and viewed the disaster first hand. Brother Emilio Alverez and Gary Aron-rin were also indispensable as photographer and caring for our equipment. I am deeply indebted to these fine gospel preachers for our safe return to Manila.

Our trip was unannounced and none of the brethren in the area had any indication that we were coming. We wanted it that way so there would be no temptation to gather crowds or exaggerate the needs. As soon as we arrived in the immediate area of the volcano, we could see that there was no need to exaggerate the situation. The misery and devastation was very real, almost unbelievable.

Fortunately, the worst of the damage was confined to three provinces; Zambales, Pampanga, and Tarlac. People in other districts experienced discomforts from the volcanic dust, but nothing like those brethren in the provinces just mentioned. We spent most of our time in the worst affected areas. Traveling was very difficult not only because of the volcanic ash flow called “Lahar” which destroyed roads and bridges, but also because at the time we were traveling, northern Luzon was experiencing a severe typhoon with winds up to 250 KPH. So in addition to the normal difficulties of traveling in that region, the wind and the rain blowing through the open jeep made it nearly impossible. But we managed to protect ourselves and the equipment and slowly made our way from village to village.

The brethren were surprised to see us and deeply touched that we seemed to care about their situation. They were eager to tell us their stories of that frightening day when the sun refused to shine because of the raining of volcanic ash and the ground trembling under their feet as the earthquakes repeatedly caused more and more damage to their little houses. They described running out of their houses just seconds before the roof, under the weight of the heavy volcanic ash, collapsed, and leaving their property and possessions in ruins.

I learned a great deal not only from the people, but by seeing first hand the natural results of a volcanic explosion in a populated area. I witnessed what happens when it rains and the rivers that are filled with “Lahar” will not accept the rain water. The water that normally is channeled by the rivers, flows out of control flooding streets, houses, and crop land. Often, all you can see is the roof top or a remnant of a house standing in total ruin. I stood on one hilltop with a sister in Christ named Angelita. She pointed to the fragments of the one wall of her house and explained with tears in her eyes that there was a street below the raging river of water, mud, and volcanic ash that we were viewing. The sea of water and mud behind the crumbling concrete wall used to be a beautiful rice field with a river off in the distance to irrigate the crops. Now the house is gone and the source of income is gone. She is left alone with three children who were obviously not feeling well. Angelita is living in a cardboard shanty in an area the government has provided called “Tent City.” Her husband had to travel to the Manila Bay area to look for work on a fishing boat. She invited us into the little smoke filled shanty house and offered us rice to eat. I gave her what little money I had with me and said that I would tell others in the U.S. about her sad situation. That seemed to be a great comfort to her, at least it was a ray of hope that might help her to continue her struggle for survival.

The sad story of sister Angelita was common and we heard it again and again as we traveled from place to place. Help is needed to buy medicine, rebuild houses, replant crops and to repay the loan sharks that these brethren have had to turn to for help.

Before the trip, I was unable to give any first hand information. But now I can supply names, addresses and damage assessment information and pictures of brethren who are desperately in need of your help. It seems that the terrible calamities in the Philippines are unending. Even as I was making my way to the Manila airport to return home, another typhoon was raging through the Visayan Islands 350 miles south of Manila. The early reports of death and destruction are shocking. I do not understand why so many calamities are befalling these people, but I do know that the suffering is real and the needs are real. All I know to do is what I have done. Hopefully this information that I have gathered will help to generate a desire on your part to want to provide some much needed help. I pray that we will not become weary in well doing. Even if you have helped before, will you not extend a helping hand again? Feel free to contact me day or night to provide you with the information that I have obtained. My home phone is (618) 3773842. My office phone is (618) 259-7532.

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 24, pp. 753-754
December 19, 1991