Truth Magazine

By Mike Willis

The unity of local churches must be preserved. One reputable preacher among our liberal brethren is reported to have said that very few churches exist 25 years without having at least one major conflict resulting in a division. Whether that is absolutely true or not, my limited experience confirms that it is near enough to be being true to be of concern to each of us.

The problem is not new; divisions also occurred in first century churches. Most of us are aware of the divisions in the church at Corinth; we may not be as aware of the threat of division in the church at Philippi. In the four short chapters of that book, Paul exhorted that the church preserve its unity in four different places (1:27; 2:2; 3:15; 4:2). The problem in Philippi, like that in most church divisions today, was not doctrinal. Division was threatened by brethren who were unspiritual, if not carnal. Such is more likely the case among us today. A study of these four Scriptures may help us ward off division in the local church.

Philippians 1:27

Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.

This passage exhorts Christians to stand fast in a common element (one spirit – not the Holy Spirit, but the human spirit) to maintain the unity of Christians. The oneness of the spirit is “the perfect accord of their minds in conviction, volition, and feeling” which “presents the appearance of one spirit which the various persons have in common” (H.A.W. Meyer 42). This spirit existed in the church at Jerusalem, for Luke records, “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul” (Acts 4:32). They “continued daily with one accord” (Acts 2:46). This bonding of brethren is necessary for the preservation of the unity of the local church.

Some churches lack oneness of spirit because they have strong-willed brethren pushing to get their own way. Where this occurs, there may exist three or four parties within the local church, each vying with the other for control of the church. (Do a word study of the works of the flesh, “strife, seditions, heresies,” in Galatians 5:20 to learn the progressive development of division in a local church.) The congregation may continue meeting together for a time, but there is no meshing of the gears together, no oneness of spirit; instead, there is strife, factions, and division.

Philippians 2:1

If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, or one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

The motives for unity in the local church are our consolation in Christ, the comfort of our love one to another, our fellowship of the Spirit and our bowels (of compassion) and mercies toward one another. As we think of these precious blessings available to us in the local church, we should work to attain and maintain the unity of the local congregation. The psalmist described the blessedness of unity as follows:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments.

As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore (Psa. 133).

The blessedness of this unity should cause us to “give diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). Therefore, we should be likeminded, which is further defined as having the same love toward one another and being of one accord to each other. This is destroyed by strife and vainglory. Strife (from eritheian) means “a desire to put one’s self forward, a partisan and factious spirit which does not disdain low arts; partisanship, factiousness” (Thayer 249). The word was “used of those who electioneer for office, courting popular applause by trickey and low arts.”

Perhaps you have seen this spirit at work in the local church. A man who is bent on having his own way begins politicking among the brethren to line up a coterie of followers who might look toward him as their leader. When he has enough power to push his way over the objections of others, such a man will make his move to seize control of the church.

The word vainglory (from kenodoxian) means “glorying without reason, conceited, vain-glorious, eager for empty glory.” There is a spirit which sometimes manifests itself among brethren in which a man desires to exalt himself. He would rather be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big pond. Arrogance and conceit destroy the unity of the local church. Where arrogant, conceited brethren are, the peace of the church is threatened. Sometimes vainglorious men seize control of the church and dominate it with their high-handed rule, lording it over the flock (1 Pet. 5:3). Humble men can take only so much of this kind of rule before they rise up in rebellion against the arrogant. The cause of such church troubles is not the humble men who rise in rebellion but the arrogant, conceited brethren who trample under foot the consciences, wishes and desires of others.

As a preventive to division caused by arrogant brethren, Paul instructed brethren to manifest “lowliness of mind” and to “esteem others better than themselves.” Where brethren imitate the humility of Jesus, the sacrificing of his best interests in order to secure the best interests of others, division will not occur (Phil. 2:4-5). The humble mind cannot co-exist with the selfishness which has its own bests interests foremost in its mind.

Every brother should “esteem other better than themselves.” Contrast this with that spirit of strife which is bent on having its own way at all costs. Every man should look out for what is best for others, rather than promoting his own selfish interests. Where this spirit of cooperation exists, unity and peace will prevail.

Philippians 3:16

Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

Paul exhorts the Christians not to deviate from the revelation which they already have received, but to continue walking according to divine revelation. This might be illustrated as follows:

C

A ———————————————————B ——————————————————– D

E

The person who is walking the line from A to B should continue the line from B to D, not deviating to C or E. To do so would be to change one’s direction, to head in a different way.

We need to “mind the same thing.” So long as Christians resolve to abide in the doctrine of Christ, there will be unity. Those who depart from the doctrine of Christ trouble churches (Gal. 1:7) and cause division.

Philippians 4:2

I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.

Paul referred to two sisters in the church at Philippi who were having conflict. He exhorted them to “be of the same mind” because their differences were troubling the church. Sometimes the unity of the local church is destroyed by women who have conflict one with another. Perhaps one did not invite the other to her Tupperware or Home Interiors party; maybe one gossipped about the other; perhaps one was caustic in her speech and hurt the other sister’s feelings. We will never know what the circumstance was which created the dissension. We only know that it was damaging the unity of a good church.

When two or more sisters “lock horns” in a local church, it still destroys and damages the unity of the local church. Sometimes the tension is noticed by all and transmitted to others (“if you are her friend, you are not my friend”). For the sake of the peace of the local church, let every brother and sister “be of the same mind in the Lord.”

Conclusion

The unity of the local church is precious. We must not allow carnal men to destroy local churches by their political self-assertion. God-fearing brethren, in a spirit of true humility, must stop the spread of strife and vainglory before it destroys the local church.

Let us resolve to grow spiritually. Let us be Christ-like. This is the best preventive to discord and division. Let us receive the rebuke of spiritual men, making correction wherein we are out of step with God’s word. Because of the consolation which we have in Christ, the comfort of love, the fellowship of the Spirit, and the bowels of compassion and mercies, let us have the same love one toward another, show true humility, and esteem others better than ourselves.

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 8, pp. 258, 277
May 2, 1991

By John A. Smith

Pre-marital Sexual Abstinence Offers True Freedom!

The wisdom of pre-marital sexual abstinence can be seen in the world around us. In it we find a powerful confirmation of the wisdom of God’s law. God’s prohibition was not issued to be mean or deprive the unmarried of pleasure. It was given to make life better and full of pleasant satisfaction.

Pre-marital sexual abstinence offers true freedom from many things which are not in the young person’s best interest.

1. Freedom from unwanted, unplanned pregnancies.

a. 90% of girls who are sexually active without the use of some form of contraception will become pregnant within 1 year. (I do not mean by this to endorse the use of birth control as an alternative to chastity.)

b. 85% of teenage boys who father a child will eventually abandon mother and child.

c. Pregnant and parenting teens are less likely to obtain a high school degree or its equivalent.

d. Babies born to teenage mothers are 2 1/2 times more likely to die in the first year of life than those born to women in their twenties.

Clearly God knew what he was talking about! David had to struggle with just such a consequence (2 Sam. 11-12). When he had an affair with Bathsheba, he had no intention for a long term relationship. Sexual activity had become addictive. The momentary pleasure of this “one night stand” brought a life time of grief (2 Sam. 12:10-14).

But not everyone who is sexually active outside of marriage will get pregnant. If you avoid this physical consequence is it OK? Think again!

2. Freedom from sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS.

a. 12 million new cases of STD are reported annually in the U.S. Many of them won’t kill you, but you won’t kill them either. They will be with you for life. A STD caught before marriage could present a serious health threat to one’s spouse.

b. If current rates continue one in four Americans between the ages of 15 and 55 will eventually acquire a STD.

c. Since the “sexual revolution” the number of known STDs has risen from 5 to more than 27.

d. If global predictions are correct there may be as many as 50 to 100 million AIDS infected persons in the world (Dr. Otis Bowen, Secretary of Health and Human Services).

e. Dr. C. Everett Koop observed that nothing was more frightening to him than the “specter of AIDS in the future of public health.”

f. Symptoms may be dormant for 7 years or more. Many people who are infected and carriers do not know that they have the disease.

g. AIDS infection is not limited to the homosexual population. It is spreading most rapidly among heterosexuals.

“Good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard” (Prov. 13:15). “The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them” (Prov. 11:3). “He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, but he who is careless of his ways will die” (Prov. 19:16). Clearly, God knew what he was talking about.

But not everyone who is sexually active outside of marriage will get a STD or AIDS. If this consequence is avoided, is it OK? Think again.

3. Free from the pressure to marry before you are ready.

a. Sexual relations create a bond between the partners that, when mistaken for genuine love, fools the young couple into believing that the relationship is deeper than it really is.

b. Builds a relationship on an emotional bond which can easily be faulty.

4. Freedom from the guilt, self-doubt, disappointment, worry and ruined reputation often associated with premarital sexual activity.

a. Guilt is one consequence of pre-marital sexual activity which may last longer than any other.

b. Casual sex without deep-rooted committed love proves to be damaging to one’s self-image.

c. No pill or device can guard your mind against the terror of self -accusation.

After his affair with Bathsheba, David had a terrifying experience with the guilt. He became physically and emotionally sick. Describing his condition, David said, “There is no soundness in my flesh because of your anger, nor is there any health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me . . . I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are full of inflammation, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart” (Psa. 38:1-8).

These few consequences only begin to address the issue. Imagine sitting across the dinner table and having to tell your parents that you are pregnant, or having to tell your girl friend’s father that she’s pregnant and you’re the father. Shattered dreams and innocence lost never to be regained are not the consequences which get publicity, but are consequences that often linger long into adulthood.

Pre-marital sexual abstinence offers the young person the opportunity to experience the better things in life.

1. Freedom to be in control of your own life.

2. Freedom to experience fuller communication in dating relationships.

3. Freedom to develop greater respect for yourself.

4. Freedom to have greater trust in marriage.

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 9, pp. 266-267
May 2, 1991

By Steve Wolfgang

Footnote: Peggy Noonan, What I Saw At the Revolution: A Political Life in the Reagan Era (New York: Random House/Ballantine Books, 1990, 1991), pp. 23-24.

Peggy Noonan is a former newswriter for Dan Rather on CBS Radio News who in 1984 became a speech writer for Ronald Reagan and, later, George Bush. She wrote some of the more memorable speeches delivered by Presidents Reagan and Bush, including the Reagan speech at Pointe du Hoc in Normandy in 1984, the January 1986 speech following the space shuttle “Challenger” disaster, as well as George Bush’s nomination acceptance and Inaugural addresses.

Although not a “religious” book, it contains some enlightening passages about issues where politics and religion frequently intersect, and provides some insight into the often anti-religious bias of our public news media. I offer several of these passages for your consideration, and hope you will profit from them as I did.

CBS, like all the networks, all media, was shaped in part by a certain political spirit.

My peers at the network, the writers and producers in their late twenties and thirties, thought of themselves as modern people trying to be fair.

There are conservatives over here and wild lefties over there – and us, the sane people, in the middle. If you made up a list of political questions – should we raise taxes to narrow the deficit; should abortion be banned; should a morning prayer be allowed in the schools; should arms control be our first foreign-policy priority? most of them would vote yes, no, no, yes.

And they would see these not as liberal positions but as decent, intelligent positions. They also thought their views were utterly in line with those of the majority of Americans. In a way that’s what’s at the heart of our modern political disputes, a disagreement over where the mainstream is and what “normal” is, politically and culturally. I think a lot of the young people at the networks didn’t really know what normal was in America, and I hold this view because after working six years in broadcasting and three in New York, I no longer knew what normal was.

A small example. Once I wrote a radio script in which I led into a story by saying, “This Sunday morning you’ll probably be home reading the papers or out at brunch with friends, but Joe Smith will be. . . ” A middle-aged editor listened as he walked by the studio and approached me afterward. “Peggy, a small point but maybe not so insignificant: This Sunday morning most Americans will be at church.”

He was, of course, correct. But I forgot. I wasn’t at church on Sunday mornings, I was in a restaurant on Columbus Avenue eating mushroom omelets and reading the Arts and Leisure section of The New York Times.

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 9, p. 267
May 2, 1991

By W.R. Jones

As the Women’s Movement grows in the world about us it is having its effect on some ladies in the church. I was recently confronted with this question by a Christian who worships with a congregation where sisters attending business meetings is a fairly common practice. I am told they attend and speak out concerning their views. The first thing this practice tells me is that sisters who attend and so exercise themselves do not properly understand their role in the kingdom or they have no respect for God’s &vine arrangement. The second thing this practice tells me is that brethren who allow it are either poorly informed of women’s role in the New Testament or they have lost their courage to speak against such conduct. In either case it is an indicator of spiritual decline.

On the basis of what I see and hear, I fear some ladies in the church think the Women’s Movement as seen in the world has liberated them from the role assigned by our Lord in the New Testament. We must Dot judge the church by the standards of the world. I freely admit that faithful sisters in the congregation have a right to know what the church is trying to accomplish. I would readily listen to and respect their sound counsel. But this can be effectively accomplished without women pushing themselves into a “leadership” position in church decisions.

I do not question the “value” of faithful women in Christ Jesus. Dorcas assisted the needy (Acts 9:36). Priscilla and her husband taught a young preacher in the right way (Acts 18:18). Phebe and Mary were commended for their assistance to Paul in the gospel (Rom. 16:1,6).

Women were waiting in prayer following the ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:14). In Philippians 4:3 Paul said, “Help those women who labored with me in the gospel.” As a young preacher I kept preaching appointments where there would have been no congregation, except for the faithful sisters. I have won battles for truth on some occasions only because faithful women backed me. Godly women have done much to encourage, mold and shape me, for a half-century of effective preaching, Don’t try to tell me they are not valuable. But the truth remains, the Lord did not put them in places of leadership. Men and women are equal in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28), but they are not equal in their role assignments. Women were not assigned leadership responsibilities in kingdom matters.

What Can a Woman Do in the Worship?

She can do anything a man can do – except take the lead. She can sing, pray, commune, contribute and study – anything but take the lead. Women’s rights to equality in worship is not to be questioned. But dominion over and teaching men publicly is forbidden. Why is this so? 1. God so commanded (1 Cor. 14:23-35). 2. Adam was first created, then Eve (1 Tim. 2:13). There was no woman among the apostles, the seventy, elders, deacons, preachers and evangelists in the New Testament. But, women must not feel badly about this. They have been vindicated by the Lord. The word “mother” has elevated her above all in another role (v. 15).

Yet, a sister may ask, “Is there nothing else for me? Can I do nothing but quietly sit in the assembly and praise God?” If this were all, it would still be an honor, but God has not limited your duties to simply that.

Woman and Her Work in the Church Daily

Women are commanded to teach. But, what about 1 Timothy 2:12? Of course, she is not to usurp authority. She is not to push her way into the lead. Older women are to teach the younger. They are to teach the younger women to be good wives (Tit. 2:3-5). They are permitted to teach privately (Acts 18:26). Sisters can teach classes of children or other women. They can teach their neighbors. Many individuals, male and female, have been converted by women. Women would do the church a great service if they would teach our young ladies to be proper wives for elders, deacons and preachers. You can’t believe how many elders, deacons and especially preachers I have known whose labor was greatly hindered by a wife whose heart and conduct was not in his work. Sisters, you can visit the sick and shut-ins at home or in the hospital, help the needy, and like Dorcas, you could even make a garment.

Female Christians, ask yourselves these questions. 1. Am I an asset or a liability in the church? 2. Am I a help or a hindrance to the work? 3. Do I add strength and character to the church? 4. Is my daily life an influence for good? 5. Am I daily growing in grace and knowledge? 6. Have I led anyone to Christ? Am I even trying? 7. By my attendance and interest am I giving encouragement to the young converts and the unsaved?

Let me proudly say, “God bless our righteous women!”

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 9, p. 265
May 2, 1991