Truth Magazine

By Bill Jackson

The December 1, 1988 issue of Guardian of Truth, brother Larry Hafley ran an article that had appeared in our bulletin, The Southwesterner, entitled Hobbyism Has Its Snares “Built-In. ” He made extensive comments about our article, proving the old adage, “The hit dog yelps!” We will now make reply to his nn] e . – L series of numbered points.

(1) Who caused the present liberalism? Brother Hafley mentions myself and other faithful men, now fighting liberalism, as originating the basis of liberalism: Loving the little kittens and puppies, but hating the now grown-up cats and dogs. But note his logic (?): brethren taking a bite of food in a church building results in a Family Life Center, and ladies meeting in a classroom to give a gift to a bride-elect has led to the craze for a gymnasium! Convoluted logic (?), indeed! Hafley conveniently overlooks the fact that liberalism is rampant among his own fellowship, and more, on the very last page carrying his remarks is found an article identifying some false prophets among their ranks, one of them being among their champions and chief debaters in the 50s and 60s! And he wishes to pretend that those opposing his “anti-cooperation” views are causing the liberalism of our time!

(2) A straight line between two circles proves anything! This was the first tactic I saw in these brethren, back in the mid-50’s in California. Two circles connected with a straight line proved the orphan home parallel to the missionary society! And, brother Hafley’s article proves they have not changed, and still cannot see that the church is commissioned by the Lord as its own missionary instrumentality, but that when it comes to child-care, and if the church had an orphan, when the church thus received such a child it would still have to provide for it a home! The church is not a home! To try and escape the charge of originating doctrine for God, brother Hafley labors to have me say that no one in history ever thought of uttering any warnings in this area until recent times. I merely pointed out that in the remembrance of many yet living, they recall these issues developing in our times, and they know that “saints-only” benevolence was not even a part of the doctrine at the time! These brethren received this “revelation” in these latter-times!

It is noticed that these men howl over the “anti-cooperation” label, yet virtually all of their arguments rest in that area, except as they adapt to their own advantage within their fellowship. It comes with poor grace to take offense at the label, when they have charged the rest of us as being “liberal” and “apostate” when we refused to abide by their manmade rules!

(3) The manufactured patterns. In his charts (remember the connected circles?), he has the Antioch brethren (Acts 11:27-30) sending to Jerusalem elders, Bethany elders, Joppa elders, etc., and also shows by chart that Jerusalem elders could not have received and then turned to pass a portion on to the Joppa elders. Yet the fact is that his pattern is not set forth in the word, and he cannot prove it! But it is only significant to him because he and his brethren have already fashioned a pattern regarding traveling money. The “anti” rule is: A dollar cannot be received by an eldership and in turn be passed to another eldership! Hafley invents the Bethany, Joppa and Lydda situation, as he and his brethren also invent the “traveling dollar” doctrine! But that has been at the heart of our difference. Rather than have each congregation to set its own policies in these areas, brother Hafley and his brethren set them for all the saints. No, brother Hafley, I cannot join you in this. As I would not be a liberal, neither would I be an “anti”! I’d lose my soul in either course!

(4) 1 Corinthians 16:1,2 double talk. Smarting over 1 Corinthians 16:1,2 being, very clearly, a benevolence passage, and having invented the “anti” rule that what is said in regard to benevolence monies cannot be true when it comes to evangelistic monies, these men came up with the brilliant (?) deduction that 1 Corinthians 16:1,2 is not the basis for evangelistic support! His view on 1 Corinthians 16:1,2 is such that, apparently, if any benevolence is in view for any of those funds, there must be a second contribution then for evangelism and other needs! But, let them talk! They labor to show that the 1 Corinthians 16:1,2 contribution is the only one allowed by the Word (and that is true), and that churches may engage in evangelism and other appropriate works. Back they come to 1 Corinthians 16:1,2 for their basis, which they believe could not have had other purposes in mind, and it all amounts to double-talk. It still has every legitimate church expenditure based on 1 Corinthians 16:1,2’s authorization, which was cited for benevolence! Again, these men have been busy manufacturing patterns for the rest of us!

(5) Some of “brother Jackson’s brethren. ” Brother Hafley ran through a list of what “brother Jackson’s brethren” have believed. May I assure him that what some brethren believe or practice is not the standard of right! Strange that he would thus attempt to use this, when (as I cited) his co-writer lists three of “his brethren” by name and identifies them as false prophets spreading blasphemy! If you won’t buy all “your brethren” are selling, brother Hafley, why try to bind upon me what some of “my brethren” are saying and doing? Again, the Scriptures, are the standard, not the brethren!

(5) The final appeal. Brother Halfley points to some liberal works that now none of us will support, stating that we “fathered, fostered and fought for” them. To this good day these brethren have been unable to see that in the debates in the past, we fought for, not a particular work, but for the cooperation involved! I am perfectly willing to see the death of any work that will not stand for the truth of God, and will rejoice in its demise! But can these men not see that faithful brethren now cannot support the Herald of Truth, for example, not because of the type cooperation it involved, but because of the content of the message!

We will indeed grant the good intention in his final appeal, delivered as though we had left home base! Brother Hafley, I am where I have always been, from the 1940s on. You brethren left the body of the faithful, simply because one segment of the saints were becoming liberal, split thousands of churches, with the divisions apparent in hundreds of communities across the land. Let the liberals proceed in their liberalism, but let’s you and I know that manufactured patterns, rules on food and buildings, rules on weddings and funerals, and a dozen side issues that have come from your “anti-ism” are the things keeping us apart. When you brethren will again let congregations handle their finances and let elders conduct the business in the congregations, without your patterns being forced upon them, we can get somewhere in forming a unity whereupon we can stand and mount a powerful attack against the liberalism that is real!

Guardian of Truth XXXIII: 4, pp. 112, 120
February 16, 1989

By Mike Willis

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they, are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or rigs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matt. 7:15-23).

In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he warned men of the danger of false prophets. In the Pulpit Commentary, W.F. Adeney observed, “It is not enough for Christ to spread his own wholesome teaching; he must warn against the dangerous influence of bad teachers” (p. 297). We will do well to listen to his advice about these false prophets and do what we can to avoid them and their influence.

The Danger of False Prophets

Obviously there is no conflict in Jesus’ statement in vv. 15-23 and 7:1 where he said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Whatever judgment is there condemned does not prohibit the kind of judging necessary to determine whether or not a man is a false teacher.

1. False prophets exist. Some people seem to think that all of the false prophets in the world perished in the first century. They did not. There are plenty of men who are false prophets and false teachers today whose doctrines will lead men to damnation.

2. The danger false teachers pose to the soul. Why do false teachers pose a threat to man’s soul? I confess that I do not know, if what some of my brethren have written is correct. They have taught that, so long as a Christian is good, honest, and sincere, his sins do not separate him from God. If a false teacher leads a good, honest, and sincere man into sin, according to these brethren’s doctrine, his sins would not be separate him from the grace of God and lead him to damnation. Hence, the false teacher would only pose a threat to the soul of a dishonest, insincere, and wicked man, who is already lost.

That is not what Jesus taught, however. He warned of “blind guides” of “blind men,” telling us that both would fall into the pit of damnation. He said, “They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matt. 15:14). Hence, Jesus warned that false teachers (even good, honest, and sincere unintentional false teachers) lead men into the pits of hell. P.C. Barker warned, “Let intention be what it may, if the fruit is bad, the prophet is a false prophet” (Pulpit Commentary: Matthew, p. 306). He continued to warn,

He wears the clothing of the sheep, and did not don it for the conscious purpose of deceiving; but he is deceived himself, and in nothing would be more individually surprised and mortified, if that could be brought home to him – than which nothing is more certain – that he is doing the odious work of the ravening wolf. Who can count the number of these deceived and deceivers, and the number of grievous wounds and rendings of limbs which these have made in the body of Christ in this one current half-century. We are entitled to say it, we are compelled to bewail it – “because of their fruits.” And in the seething multitude of those who name the Name of Christ now, one warning, one merciful, gracious caution, needs to be uttered aloud and to be listened to, “Beware of false prophets” (Ibid.).

The false teachers discussed by Jesus in this text apparently were good, honest, and sincere. They called Jesus “Lord” (Matt. 7:21), prophesied, cast out devils, and did many wonderful works in Jesus’ name (Matt. 7:22). The text indicates that these false teachers expected to enter heaven. However, their iniquities (Greek: anomid, lawlessness) caused Jesus to reject them. A false teacher can be the blind guide of the blind (Matt. 15:14); the term is not reserved to describe dishonest and insincere men.

3. The appearance of false teachers. One may be tempted to think that a false teacher is going to walk in the doors of a church building and announce, “I am a false teacher. I am here to lead men to hell. I want to announce my intentions beforehand so that I will be honorable.” That is not the manner in which false teachers operate.

False teachers appear in sheep’s clothing. Hence, they will transform themselves into apostles of light (2 Cor. 11: 1315). They will look like good, righteous men. In our day, false teachers appear so sweet spirited (until one challenges what they teach); they are too spiritually-minded to engage in debates and discussions so that their teachings may be examined openly. They preach only positive lessons (unless they are knifing in the back those “keepers of the orthodoxy” and “guardians” of the party). They are as cunning as a snake, and just as venomous.

4. The test of false teachers. Jesus told us how to test false teachers – by their fruit. This implies that the following are not criteria for testing whether. or not a man is a false teacher:

Tests of a Teacher Are Not

1 . Appearance

2. Personality

3. Reputation

4. Claims

5. Miracles

6. Professions (Lord, Lord)

None of the things mentioned here is legitimate means of determining whether or not a man is a false teacher. Rather, Jesus stated that the test of whether or not a man is a false teacher is his fruit. Writing in the Pulpit Commentary, P.C. Beware of False Barker spoke concerning the fruit which men must judge about false teachers:

The “fruits” of “false prophets,” of false teachers, who invest themselves with the abused title of “religious,” are both those fruits which appear in their own manner of life, and those which appear in their work, their ill work, among and in others. The false prophet often denounces himself in the utter incoherence of his doctrines, and in the inconsistency and impurity of his life. But whereas he is also a “ravening wolf,” on the highest authority, it is because of the dissensions, divisions, malice, and schism that his path is strewed with; and because of the falseness of his creed -erring now by defect, now by invention and addition, and now by contradiction of the Word and the Spirit (p. 305).

Here are some fruit which need to be judged:

a. He will claim to receive revelation from God. Prophets are men who receive divine revelations from God; false prophets claim to receive revelations which they never received from God. They will say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?” How many times have you heard tele-evangelists claim to have received revelations from God? When men begin claiming to receive messages from God, especially in an age when revelation has ceased (1 Cor. 13:8-10; Jude 3; 2 Pet. 1:34), you can detect that he is a false prophet.

b. He will preach a “wide gate. ” Jesus had just stated, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt. 7:13,14). When men begin preaching a “wide gate,” they are false prophets.

A “wide gate” is a gate which makes entrance into the kingdom of heaven easier and/or other than Jesus revealed. Jesus said that the entrance into the kingdom is a “strait gate.” When men preach manners of entering the kingdom which Jesus did not reveal, they are false teachers. The conditions for entrance in the kingdom of heaven are revealed by Jesus (hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized); when men start teaching that men are saved who have never complied with these conditions, they are false teachers.

c. He will preach a broad way. The false teacher will teach a “broad way.” The “broad way” implies that a man can live any manner he so chooses and still be approved of God. When men start releasing men from obligation to any of God’s law, they are false teachers. False teachers which preach a broad way include men who release men from responsibility to respect human life (abortion), sober-mindedness (allow social drinking), marriage (allowing divorce and remarriage for any reason), modest dress, and any other law which God has laid upon men.

d. He may lead an immoral life. He may be full of covetousness, preaching what he preaches as a means of obtaining financial gain (cf. 2 Pet. 2). Some have perceived godliness as a means of gain (1 Tim. 6:5-6), having become teachers who tickle the ears of those who pay them. Some have become involved with “silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts” (1 Tim. 6:6). This fruit exposes them as false teachers.

e. He will leave a path of destruction in the churches with which he labors. Paul wrote of the Judaizers in Galatia who “trouble you” (1:7). False teachers will have that impact. They will raise questions which undermine faith, leading disciples away from the truth. When they are opposed by those who stand fast for the gospel, schism, dissension, and division will result. Hence, false teachers will leave a trail of churches torn apart by their false teaching. This is a “fruit” which men can judge.

A word of caution needs to be added. A false teacher might not manifest all of these attributes (for example, he might teach a strait gate and a broad way, he may not be immoral, etc.). However, these are some fruit which men can test in judging whether or not a man is a false teacher.

It Is Your Soul

A person should never be intimidated from testing whether or not what a person is teaching is from God. The Lord himself charged, “Beware of false prophets.” Consequently, men should “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 Jn. 4:1). God-fearing men will search the Scriptures daily to see if the things taught are so (Acts 17:11), regardless of how respected the man is who is teaching them.

Remember, I am responsible for my soul. If I allow some false teacher to deceive me, he will lead me into eternal damnation. Therefore, I am not going to trust my soul to some other’s imprimatur that what another is teaching is pleasing to God, regardless of how well intentioned he might be. Rather, I am going to exercise my God-given right to test every teacher to see if what he teaches is from heaven or from men (Mat. 21:25). Frankly, I do not care whether he likes being so examined or not. There is too much at stake for me to irresponsibly accept what he is teaching without testing whether or not it is from God.

Remember the words of Jesus, “Beware of false prophets.”

Guardian of Truth XXXIII: 5, pp. 130, 149-150
March 2, 1989

By Steve Wolfgang

Kelly Ellis departed this life on Friday morning, December 2, 1988, at the age of 75. Kelly had cancer surgery in late August, and, despite a brief post-operative return home, developed complication’s and was hospitalized from September until his .death. Funeral services was conducted in Danville on Sunday, December 4, by Earl Robertson and this writer, with interment in the Buffalo Springs cemetery at Stanford, KY, next to his beloved Claudia, who preceded him in death by one year and two weeks.

Kelly is survived by his two daughters, Sue (Mrs. Richard H. Cooper, of Stanford, KY), and Betsy (Mrs. Mike Meadows, of Cleveland, Ohio), and by five grandchildren. Other survivors include a sister, Lee Hafley, and a brother Robert.

I doubt I shall see anyone like Kelly Ellis again on this earth. Though small in physical stature, he was truly a great man – partly because he did not realize how great he was. Totally unpretentious, he was knowledgeable about a multitude of things, ranging from mathematics to the Scriptures to antiques to poetry and many things in between. But Kelly was not only knowledgeable in some arcane sense; he possessed a rare, insightful ability to communicate that knowledge to others. I have said on many occasions that if anyone today had the “gift of teaching,” it was surely Kelly Ellis.

Perhaps his greatest quality, however, was not in what he knew or could teach to others, but in his willingness to “spend and be spent” for the kingdom of God (2 Cor. 12:15). When the Danville church suggested in 1976 that he take early retirement from the public school system in order to teach in their special classes for young men aspiring to preach, Kelly consented without batting an eye – even though it meant foregoing several of the best-paying years a teacher might expect. His agreeing so readily was simply an extension of the commitment he had expressed for more than two decades prior to that. During that time, he had repeatedly done essentially full-time local work for various churches for part-time pay, while spending his “vacation” time holding meetings all over Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. Meanwhile, he taught school for a living.

In this, he was following the example set by his own father, Charles Ellis. Kelly was born on September 3, 1913, near Gravel Switch, Kentucky – “down on the Fork,” as he would say. ~Those of you who don’t know where that is ought to visit there during the second weekend of October any year.) Kelly’s father, a, farmer, often would take time from his occupation to tend to his vocation – preaching. Often, young Kelly would see his father take a train on Friday or Saturday and return the following Monday, sometimes barely making enough to pay his fare.

Partly at his father’s urging, Kelly left the Fork to pursue his college education at Western Kentucky State Teacher’s college at Bowling Green. Kelly paid his own way partly with funds earned teaching in one-room rural schools after he finished his second year. Shortly before graduation from Western, he married Claudia Leber on August 13, 1940. With the exception of one year in Annapolis, Maryland during World War II, Kelly and Claudia lived in their native Boyle County all their lives. Although Kelly left teaching for a few years in the early 1950s to serve as bookkeeper for the Ford dealership in Danville, he returned to teaching in the late 1950s as the furor over “Sputnik” and the “missile gap” focused attention on the need for qualified teachers. Awarded several NDEA grants and local scholarships for excellence in teaching, Kelly continued his education at the University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky and then at Eastern Kentucky University, from which he earned a master’s degree in guidance counseling in 1962. Kelly served as guidance counselor at Boyle County High School in Danville until his retirement in 1976.

Kelly struggled with health problems most of his life. A serious abdominal infection contracted while he was teaching in Maryland during World War II – before antibiotics and “wonder drugs” – held him near death for several days. Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in the early 1950s resulted in the loss of part of his stomach. In 1973 he suffered two heart attacks, with another in 1985 and bypass surgery in 1986. It was a measure of the man that he never complained about his physical maladies, even when he was in pain. If you were not around him very much, you would never know any of the above. Kelly was not a complainer, whether his health was failing him or even when, on occasion, brethren treated him shabbily.

In fact, those of us who knew him will remember just the opposite: his deeply-ingrained sense of humor, indicated by that twinkle in his eye and the sly grin which appeared as he told one of his many “stories” – about Kentucky basketball, his weight, a former student’s misdemeanors, the perils of golfing, or, always among his best, some “preacher story.” I shall miss Kelly’s stories about as much as anything – but I hope to hear him tell other, better, stories someday.

During the late 1940, Kelly had begun to preach on a sporadic basis, as the need arose. As more congregations heard him, he began to be widely used in meeting work, and also preached regularly for the churches in Harrodsburg and Danville, strengthening them measurably.

But Kelly himself would tell you his strength was his ability as a teacher. During the fifteen years in which the Danville church has helped young men in their attempts to preach, probably 75 students have studied with him in an intensive curriculum of Bible study which he helped design and execute. Of those men, perhaps three-fourths are now preaching in more than a dozen states, Canada, South America, and West Germany; one student, Efrain Perez, is moving to Spain early in 1989. (For a fuller explanation of the Danville “Special Classes,” see Guardian of Truth, January 21, 1988, pp. 48-49.) I wrote then, and will repeat it now: “This program would not have begun or continued to exist without the services and commitment of Kelly Ellis.”

But Kelly could not only hold his own in the pulpit or the classroom; he was as talented a writer as there is among the brethren. I wish he had written more. He did produce one full-length adult Bible class workbook, God’s Perfect Plan, which is not only an able exposition of the scheme of redemption, but also exposes many false doctrines which have been substituted for the divine plan. Adult Bible classes would do well to utilize this workbook for classroom study. Young preachers, not yet fully grounded in fundamentals of the faith, should read it.

Another sample of Kelly’s expositional writing, which I read at his funeral, is found in his comments on the familiar passages in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 2 Thessalonians 1:7. “Paul was simply seeking to comfort the troubled hearts of the saints by assuring them that their loved ones would not be left in their graves, forsaken and forgotten. . . . No greater comfort can be given, and no greater hope can be entertained than that hope which faith in these promises is able to sustain in the heart of the faithful child of God” (Kelly Ellis, “Thessalonica: Trouble and Rest,” in Centers of Faith and Faltering: Florida College Annual Lectures, 1977, pp. 129-130).

Again, “Nowhere in the New Testament does the hope of the Christian shine more brightly than in these words, ‘and to you who are troubled, rest. . .’ Their patient endurance of affliction would not go unrewarded. . . . The ‘rest’ here mentioned is that which awaits the faithful Christian, not in this life, but in the world to come. It is rest and release from all of the temptations, trials, and difficulties of this present world. It is that rest which remains for the people of God . . . it was the promise of this rest that brought comfort and encouragement to the troubled saints at Thessalonica, and this same promise has inspired all Christians in every generation to”a life of faithful service and dedication to Christ and His church.” Truly, Kelly Ellis had “served his own generation by the will of God,” and then, like David and others, “fell asleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption” (Acts 13:36).

But, also like others, “he being dead yet speaks” (Heb. 11:4) because of what he did and what he left behind – in the influence of his children and of his own writing. Kelly was also a poet; several of his works, published in various journals, had been read and recommended by Jesse Stuart, whom Kelly so admired. Several of Kelly’s poems serve fittingly not only as the conclusion to this article, but as an epitaph to his, own life as well, and I am glad to share them with you.

Knobland Farmer

This land is mine; I paid for all of it,

With axe and plow and hoe I made it mine,

This old log house, this shade tree where I sit

And count the stars and while away the time.

I cut the timber from these rugged hills

Where oak and beech and highland poplars wave

To sun and stars and cotton clouds and rills

That carry waters to their ocean grave.

I grubbed the stumps and briars from rocky clay

And raised my crops, tobacco, corn and wheat,

From daylight to the close of Summer day

To feed livestock and earn the bread I eat.

I’ve worked and skimped and saved to have a place

To lay my head when evening time should come,

I’ve paid dues -I’ve run the honest race,

Contented now, I face the setting sun.

For I can sit out here among my hills

And touch the wind and see the twilight sky,

And listen to the frogs and whippoorwills

And be content and unafraid to die.

Testament

When destiny has fitted me for dust,

And winds of time have blown my life away,

And all my words and deeds are held in trust

And judged of you, the keepers of the day,

Lay me in native earth where I belong,

Where I have lived and loved the fleeting days,

And let there be no weeping and no song

For one who loves the earth in all her ways.

Raise then no monument of polished stone,

Let wild wind-flowers mark my resting place.

The winds will speak in leafy monotone

Strange epitaphs that time cannot erase.

Let wild fern drip her morning dews above me,

Let wild birds sing a dirge in woodland mood,

The silent stars will keep their watch above me

The while I sleep in death’s still solitude.

Guardian of Truth XXXIII: 4, pp. 110-111
February 16, 1989

By Tony Ripley

Do you remember some years back when your dad took you to town to run some errands? “Oh, yeah! You could use a haircut,” he replied. Remember walking down the sidewalk? You could see that candy stripe pole for two blocks or more. And upon your arrival, you found an old tattered sign hanging by a string on a glass door, “Gone Fishin’.” Mixed emotions I guess. I don’t have to get a haircut, but I don’t get a sucker either!

There are many erring souls today who have become disinterested and have fallen away from the fold. Too many have hung out their sign, “Gone Fishin’.” I wish they really knew how much their absence hurts their brothers and sisters in Christ and how it really affects their friends and family. I wish they would notice all the tears shed on their behalf because of negligence of their spiritual duties.

I often hear excuses of “why I can’t attend.” I suppose that the oldest phrase of all time is, “There are hypocrites in that church.” Sadly enough, this is sometimes true, but the most important fact is always overlooked. The church of our Lord is perfect. He shed his blood for it, established it, and there is no greater founder than Jesus himself. On the other hand, the body of Christ is filled with imperfect people. The one pointing his finger at the hypocrites would do well to examine “self.” There are two sides to a hypocrite. One may be in the assembly and the other is out, pointing his finger. There are so many different excuses used by those who have fallen away. But by looking into the “perfect law of liberty” (Jas. 1:25), one may examine “self” and put away all excuses.

Take time to read 1 Thessalonians 5:11-14. Gathering with the saints is for edification, instruction, building up. How can we build each other up if we are too tied up in the world’s activities to be responsible enough to care for our spiritual needs? The clue is to set our minds on heaven. Just think! Every pain will be gone, every problem relieved, every burden lifted. How wonderful to stand around the throne singing praises to God with all the saints of old. What a glorious life! It’s a wonderful gift now that we can meet with the saints on the Lord’s day, Wednesday Bible study, gospel meetings, or any other gathering of God’s people. Notice, “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way or righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (2 Pet. 2:20-21).

There are those who would never miss a Jaycee’s meeting, P.T.A., children’s activities, etc. Some would neglect their duty for a mere T.V. program. And of course there are those ever popular friends of the world who would just as soon miss services and do anything but attend. So many times we hear statements such as, “I’ve been busy lately” and that “Oldy but Good,” “Nowhere in the Bible does it say that I have to attend every service.” These replies I suppose are to finalize the conversation. But when honesty exposes itself and the truth is known, all statements such as these are simply glass houses to hide in. Of course it would not be fitting to proceed without mentioning something about those brethren that have withdrawn themselves from the Lord’s church all together. I guess the author of the Hebrew letter pretty well “hit the nail on the head” when he expressed his thoughts about those rejecting God. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day aproaching” (Heb. 10:25).

I realize that there are many more phrases in which we might explore such as, “I don’t fit in” or “I’m way out of my league,” just to name a few. But brethren, our task in life is not to live up to our neighbor’s expectations nor is it to stand on top the mountain tops as some do today. There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “He who stands on a pedestal, has nowhere to step but off.” We as Christians must humble ourselves individually, meet with the saints to build each other up, and share with each other the joy of hope for a glorious eternal home. It’s much easier if we do our job and let God do his.

The simple truth is that those which are erring are loved very dearly by all. The “Gone Fishin'” sign hurts so many people. Why not set it aside and hang another in its place? “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15).

Guardian of Truth XXXIII: 4, p. 106
February 16, 1989