Truth Magazine

By David Townsley

Men usually think of Christ as a peacemaker and a comforter to the soul, which is certainly true, but we have not fully seen Christ if we fail to see him as a Disturber of Men as well. He says in Matthew 10:34-36: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother4n-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. “

1. Christ preached a disturbing message: He disturbed the complacent, self-satisfied religious leaders among the Jews when he:

(1) Rebuked them for their teaching and practice of the traditions and commandments of men (Matt. 15:1-3; 16:6,12).

(2) Rebuked them for their prejudiced hearts (Matt. 13: 15).

(3) Rebuked them for their religious inconsistency (Matt. 23:1-4).

(4) Rebuked them for their exalted pride (Matt. 23:5-12).

(5) Pronounced a “woe’ upon them for taking “away the key of knowledge” (Lk. 11:52; Matt. 23:13).

(6) Pronounced a “woe” upon them for their religious pretense (Matt. 23:14,27-28).

(7) Pronounced a “woe” upon them for making proselytes to their opinions (Matt. 23:15).

(8) Pronounced a “woe” upon them for their having undone “the weightier matters of the law” (Matt. 23:23-24).

(9) Pronounced a “woe” upon them for their making “clean the outside of the cup and platter, but within they am full of extortion and excess” (Matt. 23:25-26).

2. When Jesus preached his disturbing message, openly rebuking and denouncing their sins, these leaders reacted in an ugly and violent manner.

(1) They called him names – a Samaritan (Jn. 9:48).

(2) They said he had a demon (Jn. 8:48).

(3) They claimed he performed miracles by the power of the devil (Matt. 12:22-24).

(4) They challenged his authority (Matt. 21:23-27).

(5) They took up stones and cast at him (Jn. 8:59).

(6) They accused him of blasphemy (Jn. 10:33).

(7) They sought to kill him (Jn. 7:1).

(8) They finally had him crucified (Matt. 26:3-4; 27:1-2,24-26,34-35).

3. Christ not only preached a disturbing message, he asked disturbing questions.

(1) “And if ye salute your brethren only, what do Ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so?”

(2) “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” (Matt. 7:3)

(3) “Whom do you say that I the Son of man am?” (Matt. 16:13)

(4) “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26)

(5) “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Lk. 6:46)

4. Christ not only preached a disturbing message and asked disturbing questions, he set disturbing standards.

A. His standard for the home.

1. His marriage law: He taught that it was God’s will from the beginning for one man to be married to one woman – a one flesh relationship that God has joined together and that man is not to put asunder (Matt. 19:4-6; Gen. 2:24). He intended for this to be a permanent relationship.

a. He taught that there is one reason for divorce and remarriage – fornication (Matt. 19:3-12 – only the innocent party has a right to divorce the guilty party for this reason and remarry).

2. A husband is: to be head of the wife (Eph. 5:23), to love his wife as his own body (Eph. 5:25,28-29), to provide for his family (1 Tim. 5:8), and to bring up his children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4).

3. A wife is: to love her husband, to love her children, to be a keeper at home and obedient to her own husband (Tit. 2:3-5).

4. Children are: to obey and honor their parents (Eph. 6:1-2; Col. 3:20).

B. His standard for his disciples.

1. Christ and his church must come first with them (Matt. 6:33).

2. Christ must come before the family (Matt. 10:34-37).

3. They must love one another (Jn. 13:34-35).

4. They must correct their sins against one another (Matt. 5:23-24; 18:15-17).

C. His standard for worship: Worship is to be in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:24). Worship that is not in spirit and in truth is vain worship (Matt. 5:9).

You can see from this short study that Christ is a disturber of men when they are in their sins. He came to seek and to save the lost (Lk. 19: 10). Men have to be disturbed about their sins before they will do anything about them, so Christ deliberately preached a disturbing message that he might turn them from their sins that they might be saved and serve him. Christ wants gospel preachers today to preach this same message so that people will be disturbed about their sins and turn from them to serve him (2 Tim. 4:2).

One of the sad things in the church today is that members no longer want to hear the disturbing message of Christ they “will not endure sound doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:3). They want to hear “fables” (2 Tim. 4:4) or a “felt-need gospel” that builds up their ego and deals with inter-personal relationships. They want a religion of entertainment and/or a positive message which soothes them in their sins. They want the preacher to preach “Peace, peace, when there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14)! The lust in the pew for such a message has given us preachers in the pulpit who will preach the kind of message they crave (2 Tim. 4:3) and many of God’s people “love to have it so” (Jer. 5:31)!

Brother preacher, is your preaching patterned after the preaching of Christ, the “Disturber of Men”? Or is your preaching simply the kind that satisfies the lust in the pew (2 Tim. 4:3-4)? Preaching that is patterned after the “Disturber of Men” will save men from hell! Preaching that satisfies the lusts of men will damn the preacher and those who hear him! Brother, could Christ preach where you worship?

Guardian of Truth XXXIII: 9, pp. 266-267
May 4, 1989

By Ron Halbrook

“Why not? Shouldn’t religion change with the times?”

Most people are shocked to learn that Jesus Christ did not give the world a religion of change! He alone is “the way, the truth, and the life.” He gave all men the one right way to the one true God – through one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” The unchanging Christ warned against “false prophets” who bring “divers and strange doctrines” (Jn. 14:6; Eph. 4:4-6; Heb. 13:8; Matt. 7:15).

To understand the issue of a woman bishop, we must first understand the church Jesus built with the shedding of his blood. When sinners believe Christ And are baptized into him, he saves them by his blood and adds them to his church (Matt. 16: IS; Acts 2:4.7; 20:28). He organized his people into local churches to do his work, and gave them a plan for each congregation to develop its own overseers or bishops – also called elders, pastors, and presbyters (Acts 14:23; 20:17,28). Also, he provided for evangelists or preachers to proclaim his word, but the preacher does not have the authority to oversee a local church like bishops or pastors do (Eph. 4:11).

The Lord ordained men to lead as bishops and to preach as evangelists. He did “not allow a woman to teach” or in any other way to “exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet” (1 Tim. 2:12, NAS). The work of bishops and of preachers involves the authority to lead the mixed assembly, which is not the woman’s role. To qualify for “the office of a bishop,” a person must be “the husband of one wife” and have children (1 Tim. 3:1-7). A godly woman can be the wife of a bishop and a great asset to the church, but the church of Christ has no female bishops.

There was no separated priesthood for clergy in the church Jesus built. Both mew and women were priests, a synonym for Christian or one who worships God (1 Pet. 2:5). A priest did not mean a preacher or a public leader. The modern idea of a formal or clerical “priesthood” distinct from other Christians was never authorized by Christ.

The Episcopal Church is a denomination with a national organization. A “bishop” presides over many local churches in a region called a diocese. Their preachers are a distinct clergy called “priests.” This denomination voted to allow female priests in 1976. Barbara Harris has now been “elected” as a bishop by the Boston diocese and the election ratified by a vote of the “standing committees” of the nation’s 118 dioceses. Mid-January 1989 marks the final step, confirmation by a majority of the Church’s 118 diocean bishops. Sounds like a political campaign, doesn’t it? She will be officially “consecrated” as a “suffragan (assistant) bishop,” something else not found in the Bible (Time, 26 Dec. 1988, p. 81; Houston Chronicle, 5 Jan. 1989, p. 7-A).

Harris is a divorced feminist and a social activist who wants practicing homosexuals to be priests and bishops. And why not? If God’s Word means nothing when it limits bishops to service in a local church, and dioceses can be organized; if the Bible’s limit of public leadership in the church to men means nothing, and women can be preachers and bishops; if the New Testament limit of the office of a bishop to married men means nothing, and bachelors, maidens, and divorcees can be bishops; then why should God’s prohibition against sexual perversion mean anything?

By such logic, those who practice the sin of polygamy can be Christians, those who desert their mates to enter adulterous marriages can be preachers, and homosexual perverts can be bishops. Unreasonable men hinder the truth when they lose respect for God’s Word and for the urgency of repentance, leaving sinners in polygamy, adultery, and homosexuality while promising them eternal life with God. “Be not deceived … .. they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21).

Women bishops – what difference does it make? There is no logical stopping place when we begin to compromise the authority, truthfulness, and steadfastness of God’s Word. Denominationalism, modernism, and liberalism breed the spirit of compromise. We must “ask for the old paths” of divine revelation in all things, “where is the good way, and walk therein,” if we would find true rest for our souls (Jer. 6:16). To serve God and save our souls, we must esteem all the precepts of God “concerning all things to be right” and “hate every false way” (Psa. 119:128).

Guardian of Truth XXXIII: 9, p. 265
May 4, 1989

By Warren E. Berkley

As a young man, I cherished visions of being a preacher. I didn’t think it would ever happen, but there were times when I would envision myself as a preacher. From my father’s library, I often opened the Harris Dark book of sermons, God Hath Spoken. I would lay on my bed and read through his sermons, against the background of my imagination, picturing myself in the pulpit delivering those words. (When I preached my first sermon, at the Valley Station church of Christ in Louisville, in 1969, Harris Dark “prepared” that twenty minute talk!)

In those days, my concepts of preaching were juvenile and shallow. I had no idea of the inner motives, the soberness of mind and sheer labor involved in the work. Twenty years have made a difference. And, as I concern myself with the need for good men to enter preaching, I’m influenced by a different and hopefully deeper set of values. We need men, but what kind do we need?

We need men who are constrained by love. “For, the love of Christ constrains us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died” (2 Cor. 5:14). Since the immediate context has the statement, “One died for all, ” the subjective genitive interpretation seems to be sustained, that Paul is talking about Christ’s love for man (both for the lost, and the particular love for his people). There is the need for men to preach who are influenced by the love which Christ has shown in dying for all men. Men who not only admire that sacrificial love and preach it, but are motivated by it. The redeeming love of Christ for the lost, and the unchanging love of the Savior for his disciples should so influence the gospel preacher, that he is “constrained” (bound or influenced by this love; see same word sunecho in Lk. 12:50). This love of Christ becomes the reason for zeal and extraordinary effort. I speak not of an occasional gush of emotion; but a steady effort and labor that rests on belief in and appreciation for the crucified Christ.

We need men who are vindicated by their sincerity. Regardless of the accusations of scoffers, and the judgments of unkind unbelievers and self-seeking trouble makers, we need men who are vindicated before God by their sincerity. Men who, under pressure, can pass the deepest penetration of divine examination (Heb. 4:12; 1 Thess. 2:3). Men with clearness and purity of motive who refuse to preach one way, and live the opposite. We need men who serve “with a pure conscience,” and whose exhortation does not come “from deceit or uncleanness, nor… in guile” (2 Tim. 1:3; 1 Thess. 2:3).

We need men who are filled with determination. Such determination as was exhibited by Paul, reflected in his words to the Colossians: “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to his working which works in me mightily” (Col. 1:28,29). This determination results from a firm decision, and is carried out through strong character, study, prayer and work!

We need men who are graced with purity. Any person (Christian, non-Christian, preacher, non-preacher) can carelessly stumble into situations where it is exceedingly difficult to calculate the consequences of one’s actions. Concerned adults warn teenagers about dates spent in the back seats of automobiles, or unchaperoned evenings, dances, etc. These warnings are based on the wise premise, that one can get himself into situations where the impact of temptations and passion makes it exceedingly difficult (though still possible) to calculate consequences. In like manner, older preachers frequently advise the novice to guard against becoming too familiar with the sisters, or with female non-members he may visit.

A few years ago, editors and writing brethren began in earnest sounding warnings about the “epidemic” of fornicating preachers. Connie Adams said: “The cause of Christ has suffered severe damage in the last few years through this very thing. There seems to be a virtual epidemic of this malady. The scenario is all too familiar. A good brother who is happily married, sets out to ‘counsel’ with a sister who is having marital problems. He lets his guard down, violates his own rule to have either his wife present on such occasions or else one of the elders, or an older sister, so as to ‘provide things honest’ in the sight of God and man, and the rest all too frequently becomes history. He feels sorry for her and in trying to help, imposes confidences from his own life. Additional ‘counseling’ sessions are required and before long compassion merges into infatuation which is reciprocated, and there it goes!” (Connie Adams, Searching the Scriptures, Vol. XXII, Nov. 1982, No. 11)

We need men who recognize the wisdom of discretion in these matters. Men who are ready to provide “honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men” (2 Cor. 8:21). Paul advised Timothy to treat “the younger” women “as sisters, with all purity” (1 Tim. 5:2).

We need men who have ability! The apostle told Timothy: “The things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). The preacher or teacher of the Word (whether part or full-time) functions as a communicator, with the obligation to communicate what the Bible says. This requires some ability! Ability will surely be relative when measured between individuals; personal styles and methods will vary. But there is a basic ability to communicate that is essential to the task: ability to study; ability to think objectively, ability to organize, stay on course and explain things to people; ability to persuade (2 Cor. 5:11); ability to be gentle (1 Thess. 2:7); ability to be bold (Eph. 6:19); ability to speak so as to be understood (1 Cor. 14:19), etc. We need men who are willing to develop and maintain these abilities, and use these abilities while placing the emphasis on the message itself, which is God’s power to save (1 Cor. 2:1-5; Rom. 1:16,17). (Some men spend several years in preaching, without having developed most of these abilities. Robert Benchley said, “It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous!”)

We need men who, in their preaching and teaching, are limited to the Word! The issue need not be complicated! The preacher’s job is to “preach the Word” (2 Tim. 4:2). His age, good reputation, educational background, number of meetings held, style, methods, charm, eloquence, knowledge and debating skill – these things are all secondary to the basic question: Is he preaching the Word? The gospel preacher is to preach all the Word, and is limited to the Word. Richard Whately said, “Preach, not because you have to say something, but because you have something to say” (Apothegms). I would add to that: say what the Bible says!

Guardian of Truth XXXIII: 9, p. 268, 271
May 4, 1989

By H. Leo Boles

Nothing is taught more clearly and emphatically in the New Testament than that Christians, disciples of Christ, should be united. Jesus, before he established his church, prayed that his disciples should be one. “And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one” (Jn. 17:22,23). The Holy Spirit through Paul exhorted Christians to “be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10). Again Paul wrote by the Holy Spirit to the church at Philippi “that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (1 Pet. 3:8). Scriptural quotations could be multiplied which emphasize the fact that God’s people should be united. Not only do the Scriptures clearly teach that the disciples of Christ should be united, but division among the people of God is condemned. The church at Corinth was instructed to speak the same thing: “And that there be no divisions among you.” The New Testament is clear in condemning division as it is in emphasizing that God’s people should be united.

One of the vital questions of our day is that of bringing together all of the professed followers of Jesus. The question is frequently asked: “How shall the followers of Christ, now ranged under different banners, be rallied and united under one standard, when party names shall be known no more?” The desire of many is that the distinctions which are represented by party names pass away and the reproach -of division be removed. Many earnest and honest hearts are pondering the difficult solution of uniting the believers in the Lord. They feel keenly that such divisions as now exist are condemned by the New Testament. At the same time they see no satisfactory conclusion of the present divided condition; they know that no power can force people to unite; they know that the union must be wholehearted on the part of everyone. The heads of the denominational bodies know that they cannot compel the members of the different denominations to disband and merge into one large body of believers. No one denomination today will claim to be infallible; no denomination will claim to have all the truth, and each denomination will admit that the other denominations have some truth. It is an impossible task to unite the present denominations. A uniting of all the denominations into one large denomination is not the unity for which Christ prayed and which the New Testament teaches.

The union of believers in Christ cannot be had by the different denominations “agreeing to disagree”; there is no such thing as uniting these different religious bodies by getting them to ignore the differences that separate them into different bodies; neither will they be brought together into one body by agreeing to differ with each other, and yet maintain their distinct organizations. It is impossible to form a confederation of the denominations and have so many “wheels within a wheel.” Any theory of unity that assumes and makes provision for the perpetuation of denominationalism is doomed to failure. Many fatal objections can be urged against it, and no wise leader among them is bold enough to urge such a thing. The efforts that have been made toward union on such grounds have resulted in still more confusion, and as a result we have “confusion more confounded.” As a result of such efforts, denominations have multiplied and subdivisions have been the result of the different methods and theories urged for the union of religious people. Some have concluded that it is impossible for believers in Christ to be united. God requires all of his children to be of the same mind. If all cannot be of the same mind and be united, then God requires an impossibility of believers in Christ; if he does not require an impossibility, then all can be united in Christ. Hence, the dilemma: either God requires an impossibility of believers, or believers are condemned for not being of the same mind, united in Christ.

The Bible nowhere intimates that the perpetuity of denominations shall continue. They did not exist in the early days of Christianity; neither were they provided for in the New Testament; their origin, organization, and perpetuation are condemned in the New Testament. There is not a single intimation that God endorses them or that the Holy Spirit guides their different activities. If Paul censured the dissensions and party feelings in the church at Corinth, how much more reprehensible must be the ripened fruit of such schisms in religion today? They are antagonistic to, and destructive of, the spirit of unity. There is nothing in the New Testament that can be fairly construed to give any justification of denominationalism. Such divisions among the followers of Christ were not only unknown in apostolic times, but are by explicit apostolic teachings condemned for all time. And since denominations had their origin since the days of the apostles, they must certainly pass away before “we all attain unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” (Eph. 4:13).

Some who have advocated denominationalism have ceased to do so and are now excusing it by saying that there was a time for denominations, but now the time has come for them to cease and all come together in one great body and form one new gigantic denomination. Such a claim betrays ignorance of Bible teaching. There is as much authority for two hundred denominations as there is for one; there is absolutely no authority for the existence of any of them. If denominations are to remain, union is impossible. There is no reason that can justify such organizations from New Testament teaching. Those who may be set for the defense of denominationalism must understand that they are opposed to New Testament teaching. No one can be right with God and in harmony with its truth and at the same time justify division among the believers in Christ. A denomination has not the authority of Jesus Christ for its existence; hence, it has no mission divinely guided, neither has it any work that is ordained of God. Moreover, he has not promised to bless anyone for loyalty to or service in any denomination. If they are perpetuated, it must be by the will of man and in opposition to the will of God.

The sin of division is great, The stench of it reaches to high heaven; the guilt of it descends into the depth of hell. It is the gigantic sin of the ages; it stands stubbornly in the way of the kingdom of God on earth. Denominationalism is the “man of sin,” which “opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God” (2 Thess. 2:3,4). The sin of denominationalism stalks abroad in the land, perverts the gospel, divides believers in Christ, and fosters opposition and antagonism; it is the mother of religious prejudice, which destroys a vision of the truth; it enters into the sanctity of the home and separates husband and wife, children and parents, friends and companions; it robs worshipers of the blessings of God, turns the praise of God to the praise of men; it honors men and fosters the party spirit and jealousy among its devotees; it often destroys faith in the Bible and has made infidels innumerable. May God speed the day when this sin shall be swept from the earth! (Reprinted from Gospel Advocate, LXXXIV, 35 [27 August 1942): 820-21).

Guardian of Truth XXXIII: 9, p. 264, 269
May 4, 1989