Truth Magazine

By Leslie Diestelkamp

Paul wrote, “The woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth” (Rom. 7:2). Of course the same obligation is bound upon the husband. This has always been God’s will for the human race in spite of exceptions granted by Moses and the one exception given by Jesus (Mt. 19:8, 9). It is one man for one woman and one woman for one man if we are to truly please God. And since this is true it certainly is wise for both men and women to enter into marriage advisedly. Long before the wedding each one must:

1. Be absolutely sure that both have a scriptural right to marry. The only real way to eliminate the curse of divorce and re-marriage that blights the nation and the church is to prevent it! Indeed, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” So, regardless of her failure as a housekeeper, her insolence and arrogance, her unlovable and unlovely characteristics, she cannot be “put away” scripturally except it be for fornication. And only for the same reason can the husband be put away, regardless of his laziness and unconcern, his hateful and mean ways, or his disappointing characteristics. That is, in each case neither party can scripturally qualify for re-marriage unless the companion is guilty of fornication.

2. Be fully determined to keep your companion. Trial marriage will not do. To enter the marriage bond with reservations is almost sure to produce failure. Each must realize that the relationship and companionship will not always be perfect. Trials may come in the form of poverty or even in the form of wealth. There may be problems with the children or with the in-laws; there may prove to be vital incompatibilities that must be rectified and overcome. But patience and perseverance will win out, not because they were perfectly mated or totally suited to each other at the beginning, but because they were both determined to have a good marriage.

3. Be prepared, each of you, to give your heart, your body and your life to your companion. Remember that Paul wrote, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife. . . ” (Eph. 5:31). This does not mean you should forget your parents or that you may neglect them, but it does mean that you now recognize a greater responsibility to your marriage companion than to any other person in the world. Too many marriages have failed because one partner failed to cut the apron strings of father and mother. Make your association with your companion the highlight of every day, the release from every tension, the healing for your hurts, and the joy of your heart and the source of true peace of mind. Reciprocate every tender caress, cherish every gentle word, extend every kindness and excuse every weakness.

If you are a Christian, you will need the companionship of one who is of like precious faith. Together you can supplement the strength of each other. If you live a life of love and peace together, Satan’s darts will be quite impotent against you. It cannot be very wrong to say that families that pray together stay together! If you are both Christians it will help you to live together happily and it will enable you to die without that terrifying horror of eternal separation.

But do not develop a false security. Success is not guaranteed just because you marry a Christian. Being Christians does not automatically make the two of you totally compatible. Each human will must bend a little, many personal traits must be modified and true love must battle courageously against envy, jealousy, selfishness, self -will and pride. Total Christ-likeness would certainly make for certain success, but none of us are perfectly Christ-like! Even the best of men and women, the most faithful to the Lord, may have personal characteristics that make them somewhat unlovable. Yes, our mutual faithfulness to God is essential, but that alone does not assure joyful togetherness. But when both are Christians and both are faithful to each other, then wise and dedicated devotion to each other will guarantee lasting success and continuing happiness.

Truth Magazine XXII: 5, p. 82
February 2, 1978

By Johnie Edwards

Influence is an agency serving to affect, modify or sway in some way. All of us have influence either for good or for bad. It behooves each of us to check to see which one we are having on others.

We Should Be Salt

Jesus said, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men” (Matt. 5:13). Salt is that which makes our food pleasant to eat and preserves it. Farmers well know the use of salt in preserving meat. Here Jesus is speaking of individuals who were salt. That is, they are to be instruments by which the world is influenced from moral corruption. If salt becomes saltless or loses its saltiness, then it has no more value. It is good for nothing. If we lose our influence we are then good for nothing.

We Must Be Light

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 5:1416). As the sun makes objects visible, God’s people, by their influence, show to the world the requirements of our God. As a city set on a hill cannot be hid, the actions of Christians are visible to the world. God’s people must be seen to have the proper influence. As a lighted candle benefits others, so God’s children must let their light shine as they live faithful lives in the presence of others. The purpose of this light shining is to cause men to glorify God. Paul told the Philippians, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15).

Christians Are Leaven

Leaven or yeast will pervade a mass of dough, spreading throughout the entire amount, causing it to rise. The Lord uses the figure of leaven to teach us about our influence. Hosea refers to it in this language: “They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened” (Hos. 7:4). Paul wrote the Corinthians, “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened” (1 Cor. 5:7). Here, Paul is after the Corinthians because they were glorying in the sin of fornication which had been committed by one of their members. This was having its influence. As leaven influences the whole mass of dough in which it finds itself, so does sin have its influence in the lives of those around us. When such is the case, there must be a purging so we can be a new lump.

A Christian Is An Epistle

Paul wrote the Corinthians, “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men” (2 Cor. 3:2). Paul taught and converted the Corinthians as we can read in Acts 18:8. They became an epistle. An epistle was a letter. These Christians were known and read of all men. This is influence. When people read us, what do they read? What kind of influence are we having on others? This influence helped others see the kind of person that Paul was. Our lies must be an open book.

Let all of us work on our influence for good.

Truth Magazine XXII: 4, pp. 77-78
January 26, 1978

By Earl E. Robertson

James wrote, “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lust that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:1-3).

This seems so strange and ironical that followers of the Prince of Peace need such divine reprimand. People, supposedly having peace that “passeth all understanding” (Phil. 4:7), rather, are condemned for having “wars and fightings” among themselves. The Lord knew that total commitment to him no longer existed among these people. The pleasures of the body had now taken over the things of the spirit. The philosopher Plato wrote, “Wars and factions, and fightings have no other source than the body and its lusts. For it is for the getting of wealth that all our wars arise, and we are compelled to get wealth because of our body, to whose service we are slaves.”

There is no question as to the origin of the wars experienced among God’s children: “even of your lust that war in your members.” Within the body one finds the source. Moses knew something of the “pleasures” of sin (Heb. 11:25). Rather than engaging one’s own body in the pleasures of its own will, the Bible teaches the need for perfecting holiness by the sanctification of flesh and spirit (2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Cor. 6:20).

The same wars condemned in James 4 are also condemned in 1 Peter 2:11 and Titus 3:3. The lusts or pleasures that war in our members do not necessarily mean sensual pleasures but that which is sweet and leads to sinful strife (such as ambition, love of money, power, prestige). All Christians must, therefore, be on constant guard. Many churches have been destroyed through this very process. Churches with great ability often become a hiss and by-word with all influence for good gone simply because some brother or sister (working behind the scenes) sought the pleasure of preeminence. It was, with them, a power struggle. Perhaps they got the power but the congregation was (after the wars within) lost! What price for power! The good name the congregation once enjoyed is now gone; the wonderful character and influence the church once had is now destroyed. It has now become an empty hull.

No congregation can engage and tolerate internal fleshly pleasures and continue to be identified with the Lord. Let none be so naive as to think this cannot happen to the church you worship with. Such can happen and often times does. History continues to repeat itself. Preventive measures begin with each Christian. “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Cor. 9:27).

Truth Magazine XXII: 4, p. 77
January 26, 1978

By George Welsh Tyler

The relative ineffectiveness of so much of our church life is due to the lackadaisical way in which we go about it. It lacks breathlessness and the sense of the great events impending. If Christians were as certain that everlasting punishment awaits those who do not accept the Christ and that everlasting life awaits those who serve Him loyally, we would see a different sort of Christian living these days. Christians would not only endure discomfort more patiently, they would invite it. Through three years of intense suffering I never hear my beloved wife express a word of impatience — she reads her Bible every day and often mentioned her trust in God. I write these few words to encourage Christians to prayerfully bear their infirmities like patient Job. True Christians would put up with unpleasant people.

Certainly it is high time that we get our church work where we can enlist the larger part of the so-called “nominal Christians”‘ in the kind of effort that goes beyond mere inclination. The Bible speaks of only two kinds of Christians faithful and unfaithful. There is no such things as “nominal Christians.” We need Christians who, though inconvenienced, serve in the church work. We need Christians who not only will be at worship or do personal work “if they have time,” but will, first of all, make time for such service, who will designate a good share of their time for the service of the Lord and provide for that first and cancel all other engagements if they interfere with the work that is to be done for the Lord.\

Another phase of the matter is the relationship with people. There seems to be a general disposition to participate in the church work only if one likes the people in the congregation; or to associate oneself only with the people in the congregation whom they find compatible. Christian people need to have a sense of responsibility for all and especially for the ones who may not have the culture and social abilities that command a natural attraction and affection. They ought to seek out those who are incompatible.

Above all, we Christian workers need a sense of personal responsibility. We need an end to the disposition to cast responsibility entirely upon the preacher and the Bible school teachers. We need to recognize ourselves as vital members of the body of Christ. Every individual Christian needs to be made to feel the importance of his presence at the Lord’s Table and in the church activity, without having to be coaxed along by the preacher or the elders. Certainly we must to away with the thought that we should go into the Bible class or especially into a church worship only to be entertained by the teacher or bask in his delivery. That is about the most contemptible development of recent years. I have known of congregations having the communion service after the opening song so that those who did not like him or his style of sermon delivery would not have to sit through his “uninteresting sermon.” In other instances “so as to get home in time to watch the ball game on the TV.” They had to have recreation of some kind because we had to work hard all week and of course the Lord does not object to our taking a few hours off.”

Among all the idiomatic expressions of our language, there is none that surpasses in depth of meaning the expression, “put ourselves out.” Whatever may have been its origin, it has the distinctly Christian concept underlying it and comes very close to the teaching of the Lord with reference to denying oneself and bearing his cross. Jesus said, “He that doth not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:38). To “put himself out” is to suppress one’s natural inclinations, one’s selfish disposition, and to do a thing from a sense of responsibility and duty, even if it is distasteful and unpleasant. We consider the act entirely upon its merits and go through putting our own inclinations and tastes out of the question.

Christian work will never go ahead unless the Christians do “put themselves out.” They need to rise to the dignity of the work, make time for it and shove to one side attractive things, social activities and even business. They need to suppress their own personal feelings, to put themselves out in the fellowship with people whom they are not naturally inclined to fellowship. Until Christians do this they will never be able to make anybody believe that they are very serious about their message.

We who are eager to make the world give attention to the plea for Christian unity upon the New Testament basis only and to long for the return to old-fashioned evangelism of the first century are especially under obligation to rise above our own inclinations, sacrifice time and social relationships to prove that we have an intensity within us that matches our profession of zeal for the cause of Christ. We cannot win the battle unless we are willing to make some sacrifices and “put ourselves out.” Few Christians are ever as wide awake as they should be. Paul wrote for such to: “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee” (Eph. 5:14).

Truth Magazine XXII: 4, p. 76
January 26, 1978