Truth Magazine

By Sam Csonka

In the record of 1 Kings 17:8-16, we read of a woman who was commanded to make a cake for the servant of God, and then afterward for herself and her son. We then see the outcome of her obedience to God and the subsequent blessings that were afforded her. In providing for the “man of God” whom the Lord sent there, she was in essence ‘making a cake for the Lord.’ As a result of her faith in God, she made a cake for the Lord, first.

What does it mean to “make a cake for the Lord, first”? It means to put God and his business before our own. In Haggai 1:2-11, the prophet came for the express purpose of delivering a message from God concerning the people’s neglect of his house. In verses 6-9, the Lord says, “You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,’ says the Lord. ‘You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.’” These people were admonished to “make a cake for the Lord, first.”

I believe that there is a great deal that we can learn from this passage. First, let me begin with a question. Do we believe in God’s providence? Could God have actually blown away (v. 9) their income and sustenance? Well, of course! But, can God still do the same today? If the Lord tells us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33), does he really mean that? Is he actually capable of doing that? If we are thinking to ourselves “No,” then we either have a dead faith or we serve a dead God! Which one is it? If your God is not dead, then are you concerned about his message?

Second, What is God’s house today? It is not a literal temple, but it is his church (1 Tim. 3:15). Now, since we are called upon to do our part (Eph. 4:16) in the upkeep and maintenance of the Lord’s house (supporting the Lord’s work), will God be well pleased if we fail to do it? Notice the disposition that God had towards his people in Haggai 1:2-11. In these passages, we find that Israel was offering to the Lord their leftovers — the sick, lame, and blind. God told them that he would rather someone shut the doors to his house (v. 10) than they go on offering their profanities. How about today? When we bring our contribution to the Lord’s house and offer our sacrifices on the altar of giving, do we offer God our leftovers? 

Do we give him second best, or worse? Is this not evil (v. 8) in God’s sight? Should God accept this from us (v. 10) and be pleased? One area in which I see Christians not “making a cake for the Lord, first” is in their giving to the Lord’s work. With all of the need that has arisen lately amongst us, especially in the Philippines, God’s children should be able to rise up right along with that need, as the saints did in Jerusalem (Acts 4). We are blessed with the means to abundantly satisfy that need. But, I see even another area in which we have become very lax — in supporting gospel preachers.

1 Corinthians 9:14 says, “Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.” Somehow I get the feeling that when brethren read this verse they see it as meaning that preachers should merely eke out their existence from the gospel. I can’t count the number of preachers that I have known or seen lately who are begging for support. 

And there are many others, who because of their own pride (self-esteem, not arrogance) live from day to day with close to nothing. I have either personally known, or known of, some brethren who have said in business meetings, or even to the preacher’s face, that he ought to be able to make it on whatever they (the brethren) determined — despite what that preacher had calculated for his budget. Does God give the brethren the inherent right to stipulate that the preachers will be the poorest of all the church? Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Well, I know some preachers who make a lot more than I do.” Does that mean a few? One out of a hundred, or a thousand? Let’s get real, brethren, and stop being stingy. “If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things?” (1 Cor. 9:11).

I wonder if we realize just how many preachers have to do without health insurance for their wife and kids; how many have to drive a junky-clunker around town. Should a preacher be ashamed to invite someone over to the house for a Bible study, for fear that his visitor might wonder why all of the furniture looks like it came from the neighborhood garage sale or flea market? Should the preacher have to dress his kids in clothes that came from the local Goodwill store? Should the “men of God” have to go around, like Elijah, begging bread from those whom the Lord has made rich in the blessings of this life?

God may have had a part in your current welfare so that you might be able to liberally support his messengers! Think about it. Are you willing to let God work through you; or will you deny him that blessed privilege? 1 Timothy 6:17-19 says, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” I realize that being “rich” is a relative term. But, have we become spoiled with our abundance? Has our comfort level increased at the expense of others who have little? I feel that in many cases we have rationalized away the fact that we do indeed have well beyond what others do; and that we can do without much of what we have just lying around.

Let us truly be storing up for ourselves for the time to come; not in a heap, like the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21), only to have it stripped away. Share with your brethren in the work of preaching, like the Philippians did with Paul (Phil. 4:14-19), that God may smile upon you and supply all your spiritual needs. “But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Heb. 13:16). “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Heb. 6:10).

Do we believe that God still blesses today? He could do it back then, can he do it now? “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,’ Says the Lord of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it’” (Mal. 3:10). Surely blessing will come to those who trust in their God. So, let us follow the apostle-recorded example of the churches of Macedonia who “first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God” (2 Cor. 8:5). 

“Make a cake for the Lord, first.” Support a gospel preacher. Help lighten his burden. Take the load of worrying about financial problems off his mind, so that he can concentrate on the things of the Kingdom. And, heap up for yourselves treasures in Heaven (Matt. 6:20-21), where they need to be.

109 Stanley Church Rd., Logansport, Louisiana 71049 slcsonka@worldnetla.net

By Irvin Himmel

When Paul stood on the stairs of the castle following his arrest in Jerusalem, he addressed the people in the Hebrew tongue (Acts 21:40). Daniel and his friends were taught the tongue of the Chaldeans (Dan. 1:4). Moses forewarned that the Israelites’ failure to hearken to God would result in a nation’s being brought against them from the end of the earth, “a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand” (Deut. 28:49). A “tongue” is a language.

As Jesus was sending forth the apostles to preach the gospel to every creature, He promised that signs would accompany the believers. One of these signs was: “they shall speak with new tongues” (Mark 16:17). Any language which one has never spoken would be for him a “new tongue.”

On the first Pentecost following the resurrection of Christ, the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, “and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4). This speaking in tongues was miraculous. The apostles were empowered by the Spirit to speak in tongues “other” than what they ordinarily spoke: they had not studied the languages which they began using.

These tongues were “new” in that the apostles had not spoken them previously. However, they were not new to those who heard. The multitudes were amazed “because that every man heard them speak in his own language.” They asked, “Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” (Acts 2:6-8).

The “new tongues” promised by Jesus were “other languages.” This supernatural gift was a “sign” to the unbelievers that the apostles of Christ were indeed men of God. They were not using unintelligible gibberish or mere ecstatic utterance. Such a miracle had never been witnessed previously. The effect was to draw the attention of the hearers to the marvelous truths being declared by Peter and the other apostles.

Supernatural tongue-speaking was a gift that could be imparted through the laying on of the hands of an apostle. This is illustrated in Acts 19:6. After certain people at Ephesus had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, “and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”

Paul discussed tongue-speaking, along with other miraculous endowments, in 1 Corinthians 12 through 14. One having this gift might be moved by the Spirit to speak in a tongue foreign to all who were present. In that case an interpreter would be needed, hence some had the miraculous gift of interpretation of tongues. In the absence of an interpreter, the one empowered to speak in a tongue (foreign or unknown to those present) was to keep silent (1 Cor. 14:27, 28).

The purpose of tongue-speaking was clearly expressed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 14-22.

Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not . . .
Miraculous tongue-speaking on Pentecost confirmed to unbelievers that the apostles were inspired or moved by the Spirit of God. Tongues were a sign that the Holy Spirit was being poured out. They were useful in gaining the attention of unbelievers and in producing conviction. In a similar way, when the Spirit “fell” on Cornelius and his house (Acts 11:15), they spoke in tongues and prophesied (Acts 10:44-46). This was a direct outpouring of the Spirit, not an impartation through apostolic hands. Nevertheless, it gave witness that God put no difference between Jews and Gentiles (Acts 15:7-9).

A “sign” is a token, mark, indication, attestation, or verification of something. The signs mentioned by Jesus in Mark 16:17-18 were for the confirmation of the gospel. So the apostles “went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following” (Mark 16:20).

Miraculous tongue-speaking signified to the world (unbelievers or outsiders) that the gospel message was from God, not man. Matthew Poole sums it up in these words in his comments on 1 Corinthians 14:22: Tongues are “for the confirmation of the truth of the doctrine of the gospel; signifying that the doctrine which was so delivered in every nation’s language, must be from heaven, from whence the first ministers must have their power to speak . . .”

Supernatural tongues, like other special gifts to confirm the word, were “done away” when the perfect revelation of God’s will came (1 Cor. 13:8-10). R. L. Whiteside wrote the following in 1941:

The apostles did not know the full will of God right at the beginning of their inspiration. Revelation was made only as they needed it — some one day and some another. To one was revealed a part and to another a part. All of that ceased when the full revelation was completed. We have the results of their inspiration. Since the perfect will of God has been revealed, there would now be nothing for an inspired man to reveal. That which is perfect has come; hence, that which was in part has been done away (Annual Lesson Commentary, 279).

Prophecies, tongues, and miraculous knowledge belong to the apostolic age. They served their divine purpose and have ceased.

2820 Hunterwood Dr., S.E., Decatur, Alabama 35603-5638

By Carl A. Allen

For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men” (Tit. 2:11). In times past, God’s law was extended to a “nation” and not to “all men”; but now, we find all have an equal opportunity to salvation. The Gospel is God’s power to salvation (Rom. 1:16) and is extended to all the world (Matt. 28:19-20). John described this salvation as being to “whosoever will” (Rev. 22:17). If, this was the only passage read from the word of God, one might conclude all men would be saved — universal salvation! When, though, I observe the principle of “again it is written” (Matt. 4:7), I learn universal salvation is not the answer.

“For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it” (Matt. 7:14). Now, I know that all men will not be saved and that there will be only a few to enter the gates of heaven. This was so in the days of Noah, Lot, and the destruction of Jerusalem. We here, are not talking of a physical salvation, though, we are thinking of a spiritual salvation — entrance into heaven. Jesus says that only few will be saved! We are anxious to ask the question: “Why?” The answer rings in our ears, loud and clear.

“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 who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). Our salvation is conditioned upon doing the “will of God,” and if we do not conform to the will of God we shall most assuredly be lost. The reason for doing the will of the Father is — we shall be judged by the word of God (John 12:48). Thus, we must know the word of God and obey it to be permitted entrance into the joys of heaven (Rom. 6:17-18).

We now have passed from the “grace of God” being extended to “all” men, to the limitation that only a “few” will be saved. The reason for only a few being saved is; there will be few who will “do” the will of the Father.

1115 E. Houston Ave., Crockett, Texas 75835

By Paul K. Williams

The Custom

When three men came to Abraham he said, “Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree” (Gen. 18:4). When two angels came in the form of men to Lot he said, “Please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet” (Gen.19:2). When David proposed to Abigail to take her as his wife she replied, “Behold, your maidservant is a maid to wash the feet of my lord’s servants” (1 Sam. 25:41). When David tried to entice Uriah to go to his house he said, “Go down to your house and wash your feet” (2 Sam. 11:8). When Jesus rebuked Simon, the Pharisee, he said, “I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet” (Luke 7:44).

From these Scriptures we can see that for centuries it was customary to welcome guests by washing their feet or by giving them water for their feet.

The Command

In John 13 Jesus and his twelve apostles assembled in an upper room to eat the Passover meal. There was no servant to wash the feet of the guests, and no apostle was willing to be a servant and wash the feet of the others. So Jesus “rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a  towel, He girded himself about. Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.” Then He said, “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:4-5, 14).

New Testament or Old Testament?

When Jesus gave the command, the Old Testament had only one day of life left. The next day Jesus was crucified and the law of Moses was “nailed to the cross” (Col. 2:14). Therefore, Jesus was giving something which his disciples would carry out while living under the New Testament. The command to wash one another’s feet was a New Testament command.

What Does It Mean?

Jesus commanded that his disciples wash feet. It was not to be done as an act of worship but as an act of hospitality and service. This is what it always was. It is what it continues to be. The widow who was put on the list is one “having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work” (1 Tim. 5:10).

Customs change, but the principle stays the same. Since today we wear shoes and socks and ride in cars, it is not usually necessary for us to wash feet when we arrive somewhere. But the principle of making a guest comfortable even to performing the work of a servant for him, still applies. Jesus intends for his disciples to be servants of one another, and in hospitality to do everything to ensure that our guests feel welcome and comfortable.

P.O. Box 324, Eshowe, 3815 South Africa  paulw@netactive.co.za