Truth Magazine

By Frank Jamerson

If Hosea and Gomer were members of the congregation where. you worship, could Hosea preach? Could Gomer teach a Bible class?

The message of the book of Hosea is one that needs to be taught and practiced today. Hosea did not just teach his message of mercy, he lived itl He could preach with a broken heart about the broken-hearted God, because of his own experiences, but many today would not listen to him because he was divorced from his wife! Many brethren would not listen because “all the guilt is not on one side” or “no one is completely innocent in a divorce.” But, was Hosea a better preacher because of his experiences or a worse one?

What about his wife? Would you allow a reformed prostitute to teach your children? Granted that she would have to show “fruit” of repentance, but granting that she has done that, would you forgive her?

Let’s look at the story in Hosea again. God told Hosea to “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed a great harlotry by departing from the Lord” (Hos. 1:2). Hosea’s relationship to his wife and children were used to help him understand the relationships between God and his people. The meaning of the children’s names indicated the spiritual condition of Israel. The first boy was named “Jezreel” (God will scatter), the little girl was named “Lo-Ruhamah” (not loved, or no mercy) and imagine the bitterness of his soul as Hosea named his next boy “Lo-Ammi” (“not my people,” or “illegitimate”)! After doubting the parentage of his own children, Hosea’s wife left him to live with her “lovers.” Even after those heart-breaking experiences, God told Hosea, “Go again, love a women like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans” (Hos. 3:1). He bought her back for the price of wounded slave, and after a period of “proving” he accepted her back as his wife. Remember, she represents God’s people and Hosea represents the forgiving God. Hosea saw God’s willingness to forgive and his own willingness to forgive the wife helped him to understand God’s!

Many today catalog sins. They are willing to “forgive” some sins, but not others. Maybe we will forgive “white lies,” but harlotry? Paul said about the Corinthians, “Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you (is that “all” of you, or just “some” of you?) were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9-11). How many of those who were “washed, sanctified and justified” in Corinth would you use as preachers, elders, or Bible class teachers? How many of them would you “forgive”?

Brethren, “the way of the transgressor is hard” enough without us making it harder by unforgiveness! Paul told the Corinthians to “forgive and comfort” the fornicator who had repented “lest such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow” (2 Cor. 2:7). If two years later, the Corinthians would not call upon him for prayer, allow him to teach a class or preach a sermon, have they forgiven him? When we continue to treat the person as a sinner while protesting that we have forgiven, we need to remember the words of the Lord: “for if ye forgive not men their trespasses. . .” (Matt. 6:15; 18:35).

Finally, to those who have experienced the unforgiveness of brethren, do not be angry with God, for he is not its source. Be angry with Satan and refuse to serve him!

Guardian of Truth XXXIII: 13, p. 402
July 6, 1989

By Frank Jamerson

When Micah, for the nation of Judah, asked what God really wanted from them, God’s reply was: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic. 6:8). This is simple enough that the youngest Christian can understand, and yet profound enough that the most mature Christian can never run past it. It is for every man of every age and it fits where we live daily.

Amos, the backwoods prophet, said: “But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream , (Amos 5:24). Micah said God “requires justice.” Justice is fair-mindedness in action. It is the outward expression of honesty and sincerity. It is the very opposite of what the rich in Judah were doing to the poor (Mic. 2:1,2), the rulers were doing to their subjects (3:1-4), and the prophets and priests were doing to those who trusted them (3:5,11,12).

Justice

God still requires that his people be “just” in their dealings with their fellow man. We should be just, or fair, in play. Who likes to play with a cheater? But how many will justify cheating by saying, “It’s just a game”? Yes, it is just a game, but if a person will cheat in “just a game,” what would he do if there were really some advantage to be gained? Someone said that few sharper tests of character exist than “a golfer who faces his ball in the rough and nobody is looking but God! “We need to “think on things that are just” (Phil. 4:8), even in our play.

Jesus said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Matt. 7:1,2). Yes, we must judge, for Jesus immediately said, “Do not cast your pearls before swine” (v. 6), and on another occasion said, “Judge righteous judgment” (Jn. 7:24). We cannot live in the world without making judgments, but we certainly could live better with more justice in judgment! We so often jump to conclusions without knowing the facts, and then excuse our harsh judgments as though no harm was done. An impatient passenger complained about a crying baby and grumbled, “Why don’t they get that baby to its mother?” not knowing that the mother was a corpse in the baggage compartment! A man shot his dog because his daughter was lost and, the dog came home with blood all over him. Later the girl was found with a dead panther nearby, but the unfair judgment had already been made and could not be undone! How often do we “murder” our brethren because we judged unjustly?

Mercy

God requires us to “love mercy.” Mercy is kindness in action. W.E. Vine says: “Mercy assumes need on the part of him who receives it, and resources adequate to meet the need on the part of him who shows it.” Jesus told a story about a man we all call “good,” and the only thing we know about him is that he “showed mercy” (Lk. 10:37). He told another story about a man who “lifted up his eyes being in torment,” and the only thing we know about him is that he was rich but showed no mercy (Lk. 16:19). In the judgment parables, in Matthew 25, those on the left hand were not what we would classify as “vile sinners,” but rather were people who had showed no mercy. It has been said, “If heaven were opened to the unmerciful, they would turn it into hell.”

God is “rich in mercy” (Eph. 2:4), and commands us to have the same spirit. “But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance (matt. 9:13). “But if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matt. 12:7). “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” (Matt. 23-23).

Mercy does not mean that we do not rebuke error and condemn unrighteousness, but it does mean that we must have the right spirit. We must not only be merciful; we must “love mercy.”

Humility

Finally, we must “walk humbly with our God.” Humility literally means “low-lying. ” It refers to a spirit free from pride, arrogance, self-righteousness and stubbornness. God wants us to have a submissive spirit. “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5). To the Philippians, Paul wrote, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself” (Phil. 2:3). Then he gave the example of Jesus who “humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (v. 8).

It is only as we humbly walk with God that we can do justice and love kindness, and it is only as we do justice and love kindness that we can truly walk humbly with God!

No, God does not require thousands of rams offered in sacrifice, ten thousand rivers of oil, nor the offering of our firstborn for the salvation of our souls, but he does require that we “do justly, love mercy and walk humbly” with him.

Guardian of Truth XXXIII: 14, p. 421
July 20, 1989

By Mark Legendre

A few days before Father’s Day in June of 1988, I purchased a card for my Father. I had first intended to bring this card to him the day before Father’s Day on Saturday. But something came up and I didn’t get to bring it by that day. So I thought to myself that after services Sunday morning, my family and I would drive over to his house and spend some time with him on his special day. It would be a drive of about thirty minutes. But I talked myself out of doing this also by saying that I needed my afternoon nap so that I would be fresh to preach that night. So I decided that I would call my Father that night after services and wish him a Happy Father’s Day and then I would go over to his house tomorrow and give him his card at that time. But again for whatever reason I failed to make it by that day also.

As the days passed I had intended on several occasions to stop by his house to visit with him and Mom. But, after it had only been about two weeks since I had seen them. I had stopped by to show them the new car that I had recently purchased. And even though the car was two years old, my Mom and Dad were really proud for me to have that new automobile. And we had a good visit while I was there. But again this was about two weeks before Father’s Day. And so Father’s Day came and went and I had not taken the time to even call my Father and wish him a Happy Father’s Day. But then again Dad was never much for occasions like that so I thought that it probably didn’t mean that much to him that I had not stopped by or called.

By now it was closing in on the end of June and even though I had gone into town where my parents lived on a couple of occasions to pay some bills or to stop at the shopping mall, I never found the time to get by to see my Mom and Dad and to give Daddy his much overdue Father’s Day card. I felt bad about so much time having passed, but I joked with myself that when I finally give my Father his Father’s Day card, that I would tell him that I intentionally waited to give him his card late so that it would be the only one he was getting at the time and would therefore be more special. (Ha Ha!)

The 4th of July was now approaching and this would be the opportunity to finally give my Dad his Father’s Day card. But my wife was off that day and we spent the day together with our daughter doing various things. Needless to say, I did not get by to see my parents again. The 4th of July fell on a Monday and my wife and I decided that the following weekend we would go to see her parents since it had been nearly two months since we had visited with them. (They lived about two hours away.) I was going to pick her up Friday evening from her job and we would drive straight to her parents house from there. And since she worked in Beaumont where my parents lived, I made up my mind that this time for sure I would stop by and see Mom and Dad as I came to pick up my wife. And then I would give him his much-much overdue Father’s Day card.

The 4th of July came and went. The Wednesday after the 4th of July I had to. run into Beaumont to pay a bill. I thought to myself that I would go ahead and stop by today to visit my parents instead of waiting until Friday. But I talked myself out of that by saying that I had to get back to my office and finish my preparation for Wednesday night Bible Class. And I also reasoned that I was going to stop by that Friday anyway and that would be soon enough. The next day was Thursday and I was as “busy as a bee” at my office with various things when the telephone rang. It was about 4:30 that afternoon. The phone call was from my sister-in-law who informed me that my Father had just had a “heart attack” and had been rushed to St. Elisabeth’s Hospital. She told me that I needed to get there as quickly as I could. Early the next morning around 2:30 a.m., the nurse came and informed us that our Father had passed away. They had done all that they could to keep him alive and we were able to go and see him the previous evening in the Intensive Care Unit, though he was unconscious and unable to respond in any way. We all took turns that evening saying to Daddy how much we loved him, although we are not sure, nor will we ever know, just how much he might have been able to hear.

The funeral was to be the following Monday afternoon. What a tragedy that this would be the first time any of my family had ever heard me speak. You see, my Father was a member of the Catholic Church and so were most of my brothers and sisters. I was fortunate in that the Catholic priest allowed me to speak at my Father’s funeral and I was able to express on behalf of my family just how wonderful a Father we had had. God gave me the strength to make it through that very difficult day.

You might be wondering what happened to the Father’s Day card that I had purchased six weeks earlier. I placed it inside my Father’s coffin the last time that I saw him before he was buried.

Happy Father’s Day Daddy! I love you very much. To everyone who might eventually read this article please remember the Scripture in Proverbs 27:1 which says, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” It rings more loudly in my ears than ever before.

Guardian of Truth XXXIII: 13, p. 401
July 6, 1989

By Sterling Collier

Many of the ungodly practices committed in our society are committed in our society are being fueled by the redefinition of terms. A great number of people adhere to the belief that if one can change the meaning of the word or action and make it acceptable, then this can also bring a change in the consequences resulting from that action. Recent history has brought us the less offensive word “gay” for the sin of homosexuality. Abortion is called “pro-choice.” Other sins are being labeled as “substance abuse” or “chemical dependency. ” Deception in many forms is being honored as “patriotism. ” An attractive mask is being put on the ugly face of sin. As Christians, we must be careful, because the distance we travel in these new directions is proportional to our willingness to be deceived by them. As parents, we cannot allow our children to be educated solely in these definitions used by society. However it is explained, sin is sin and we will not escape the consequences. Just because the name is changed does not make a person innocent.

“Whosoever cominitteth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (1 Jn. 3:4). As the Holy Spirit reveals to the inspired writer, sin is a transgression of the commandments of God. It is not a light matter in the eyes of God to commit acts of lawlessness. This is made evident by two facts. One, Paul writes in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.” And secondly, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). Sin, which brings spiritual death, must be removed by the blood of God’s Son.

In spite of God’s revelation concerning sin, many people, including Christians, tend to make some transgression as insignificant. With some, there is the occasional “white lie,” or the unlawful act committed as a matter of convenience. There is the gossip that everyone passes on or the sin that is socially acceptable. People have arrived at a point of sophistication that sin is no longer sin or at least it is not as bad as it used to be. More people are beginning to judge that some acts will condemn you but other sins will not do spiritual damage.

Sin is still an act of lawlessness and one sin separates us from God. Whether it is the He or adultery, murder or whatever, that sin will cost a person his soul if not repented of. If you can name one sin that will not separate us from God, then others will find many more that will not. This is why sin exacts a heavy price.

Spiritually

Isaiah announced to the children of Israel the consequences of sin, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isa. 59:2). Sin brings upon a soul the greatest tragedy of life, no fellowship with God. All other trials that occur in one’s lifetime are truly small when compared to spiritual death. When we sin, we sever our communion with God. We are set adrift with nothing to anchor the soul or give lasting hope in this life.

Paul describes the spiritual state that sin brought to the Ephesians before their obedience to Christ. “That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). There can be no worse spiritual condition than for one to be without God. A soul in this state is easy prey for Satan. By sin, man willingly puts himself at the disposal of Satan to be used by him for wickedness. Even though the sin may be attractive to the world, in the sight of God it is an abomination and brings spiritual death. One pays a heavy price for sin.

Physically

Sin not only carries with it a spiritual toll but also can cause physical damage as well. This is not true of all sins, but some. The sin that David committed with Bathsheba changed the rest of his life. Although his sin was forgiven, as we are told in 2 Samuel 12:13, he bore the consequences of that sin. The child died, the sword never departed from his house; Absalom, one from his own house, rose up against him. All this was a result of his transgression. As it happened to David, it can to us. Physical damage can be brought to the individual who uses alcohol, tobacco or drugs. It can bring a change for the worse and alter his direction in life. Many a young person has allowed pain and destruction to enter his life due to sexual immorality. Far too many promising young families have been broken apart because of sin. Adultery has altered the course of the lives of elders, deacons and preachers. It affects entire congregations. Sin is a very demanding taskmaster. When a person falls under its influence, he shackles himself to death. Freedom from those chains comes only by the power of God.

Mentally and Emotionally

There is still another part of life where the burden of sin is keenly felt by us all. This is in the mind and emotions. Through our repentance and the mercy of God, we can have forgiveness of our wrongs. God has promised to remember them against us no more. But as frail humans, often we cannot forget the iniquities we commit and they are constant reminders of our weaknesses. We tend to remember those transgressions done under the pressure of temptation or those sins of selfishness as we have given occasions of stumbling to others and shamed the name of our Lord.

In Mark 14:72, we are told that as Peter thought on what had happened, he wept. Matthew adds the word “bitterly.” What was Peter thinking about? His denial of Christ. Jesus warned him of what he would do and Peter affirmed that it would never happened. Sin not only brings death, to the heart it should also bring sorrow.

Often as our thoughts dwell on our sins and the anguish they have produced, we wish we could just totally forget them. But let us thank God that we can still be touched by wrongdoing. The alternative is spiritually devastating. Paul speaks of some who had “their own conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Tim. 4:2). In contrasting the new man which is created according to God in righteousness and true holiness, Paul describes the old man of sin as “being past feeling” (Eph. 4:17-24). There is extreme danger when the conscience cannot be touched by any transgression of the law of God.

The Price for Redemption

It took the death of Jesus Christ to free man from the slavery of sin and Satan. Therefore sin cannot be considered a trivial matter. In Romans 5:6-11, Paul speaks of the love of God and of Christ’s death for the ungodly and sinner. He tells us that man is justified by the blood of Christ and explains the reconciliation to God made possible through that death. To redeem man, God gave the very best heaven had to offer.

In man’s willingness to redefine sin, he exalts himself, cheapens the sacrifice offered for sin and questions the wisdom of God. Whatever we treat in a trivial manner, we fail to take seriously. When we do that with sin, we are being deceived by our adversary. We would think soberly before we purchased a product that had an expensive price tag. The price tag on sin is death. The redemptive price to remove sin is the blood of Christ. Sin separates us from God. Its side effects are often physical, mental and emotional. It exacts a heavy price.

Guardian of Truth XXXIII: 14, pp. 417, 439
July 20, 1989