Truth Magazine

By Leslie Diestelkamp

A broken circle is not a circle at all and a broken home is only a poor substitute for what it could have been, and is not at all what God intended it to be. Yet the divorce rate is climbing so rapidly that it is almost vain for me to give statistics for they will be obsolete before this material is published. I can remember when a divorced person was a disgraced person, but now divorce is often a joke, an advertisement of permissiveness, a very common experience for multitudes and an expected end of about half the marriages in our land.

For the first one hundred seventy-five years of our nation’s history, state laws made divorce difficult. Restrictions imposed by most states forbade “quickie divorces” and, consequently, prevented some. In the last two or three decades laws have been liberalized and restrictions have been removed until divorce is now very easy to secure. Almost any “cause” is sufficient now and “no fault” divorce is being advocated (that is, nothing more would be specified than that the parties each agree to the divorce).

Undoubtedly the prevailing divorce rate has contributed to at least the following evils in our society:

1. Promiscuousness is all too common among married people. Fidelity is considered old-fashioned. Husbands and wives hardly frown upon the immoral escapades of their companions.

2. Marriage itself seems to be about to become outdated. People live together without a wedding vow and satisfy their fleshly passions in a relationship that proposes little more permanency than that of the animals of the field and the forest.

3. Children are frequently treated like pawns on a chess board. They become the objects of barter and trade, their “parents” are determined by litigation and law-suit. The parental love that should have bound the real parents together has been pushed aside in favor of unbridled lust. The secure home life that should have brought the children to real emotional maturity has been replaced by fear and frustration. The treatment of children is often comparable to that of the fat cattle in the feed-lot-they are provided with food and shelter if they will help themselves to it, but there is no guiding hand to lead them, no motivation to direct them.

Historically, when divorce has prevailed, the home has become degraded and morality has been abandoned, the nation has crumbled. We can not expect God’s blessings upon us if we disregard His moral principles and if we allow the foundation of our society to crumble. But for the sake of a small remnant God may indeed bless the nation. It is the obligation of Christians to provide that remnant! Regardless of what the world may do, God’s people must maintain fidelity to the moral principles of the Word. Preachers must teach the truth on marriage and divorce, and that without compromise. Elders must feed the faltering flock of God the spiritual food that will sustain the homes and maintain the sanctity of marriage. Parents must teach the children, even from infancy, and persistently through adolescence and youth, the necessity of fidelity to the marriage bond until death brings a separation.

Cracks Inside The Circle

But, bad as it is, divorce is not the only thing that is wrong with the homes of America. Many, many family circles are broken circles even while husbands and wives live under the same roof. They may remain legally married for economic reasons or for the sake of the children, but they become almost totally estranged emotionally and the bond that made them partners is worn thread-bare, so much so that it barely keeps the marriage from falling apart.

Happy indeed is the couple whose responses to each other are automatic, natural, and involuntary. Sad is the circumstance when such responses must be made reluctantly, with reservation. The spontaneous partnership in marital associations-in every happiness and every heartache, in every success and every failure-strengthens the marriage bond and assures trust and tranquility. Conversely, the grudging, indifferent responses of many spouses produce anxiety and frustration.

It may be quite safe to say that the family that prays together, stays together, but we definitely cannot say that the family that stays together, prays together. In other words, people may live under the same roof but be miles apart as far as their hearts are concerned. This circumstance makes for instability and insecurity. on the part of all concerned ones. To use accommodative language, we may say that the outside of the family circle is sometimes unbroken, but the inside of that circle is splintered and torn. The purpose of this series of chapters is to try to mend some circles, prevent some from being torn and contribute in any way possible to greater total togetherness of husbands and wives, of parents and children. To that end let us press on to specific matters in other chapters. Next: “Together Forever.”

Truth Magazine XXII: 4, p. 66
January 26, 1978

By Bruce James

Jesus alludes to himself as the Door in John 10:1-9. The idea of the door is used in conjunction with the shepherd and his work. The larger house in Palestine had a courtyard surrounded by a high wall; in the country places that courtyard served as a fold for the sheep at night. The courtyard had only one door and, at that door, the gate-keeper was in constant watch. Any honest man on any honest errand would seek admission through the door and would be admitted immediately. The one who had an evil purpose would avoid the door and try to get in by climbing over the wall. The one who really cared went through the door; the man who was out to hunt the flock sought some other entrance. So Jesus said, “I am the door.”

Another picture is a fold on the mountainside which was a simple ring of grass surrounded by a stone dyke or a hedge of thorns. This kind of fold had no door at all. It simply had an opening, and across the opening the shepherd lay at night, so that he was literally the door and so that no sheep could get out and no foes could get in except over the shepherd’s body. Jesus is the way His flock enters into safety and whereby they are protected from danger.

So then the picture of Jesus as the door tells us certain things about Him. (1) It is Jesus alone who gives us the way to the Father and family of God, exercising faith in His son and obedience to His Son’s will, we have the privilege of becoming His adopted sons. Jesus is the only door to His house, the Church (1 Tim. 3:15). (2) It is Jesus alone that gives us the privilege and blessings that are found only in His body, the Church (Eph. 1:3-23). When attached to the Head, then all is ours — the word, the promises, the precious commands. (3) Finally, Jesus is the only Door to eternal glory. Many guess and grope; others receive only part of the truth; but Jesus can lead us directly into the presence of God.

He is the door. to the knowledge of God; He is the door to security and peace; He is the door to the life which is real life. The Psalmist said, “The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever more” (Psa. 121:8).

Truth Magazine XXII: 3, pp. 61-62
January 19, 1978

By George Welsh Tyle

Many times while ringing doorbells, doing personal work, the above question has been asked of me. The answer has usually been, “The church you read about in the New Testament has no central organization. nor authority on the face of the earth. The church’s headquarters are in heaven.” The apostle Paul says our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20 A.S.V).Those who are in Christ’s church are in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 16:18,19). Jesus said “And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock (Peter’s confession of Christ-GWT) I will build my church: and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Please note that Jesus is speaking in the future tense in the above quotation. The kingdom, His church, was not established then. It came into existence on the day of Pentecost in A.D.33. Since the Lord’s kingdom is not of this world naturally, the capital city and central office are in heaven. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). He also said; “All. authority hath been given me in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18). Matthew uses the designation “kingdom of heaven” about thirty times. The headquarters of the kingdom is in heaven and there Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords sits on His throne at the right hand of God (Col. 3:1). God raised Christ from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the, heavenly places, far above all rule and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and he has put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:29-23). The apostle Paul wrote, “He is the head of the body, the church” (Col. 1:18). His church has no pope or any other visible head, here on earth.

Men often express surprise that the churches of Christ have no organization other than the elders and deacons within each congregation. Though there are thousands upon thousands of people in the United States in this fellowship called Christians only, yet the only head that holds them together is their common faith and allegiance to Christ and His gospel. There is no official publishing house, seminary nor legislative office en the face of the earth. Individual congregations only work together voluntarily, just as they did in the first century. All of the members are bound together in one body “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12). Paul wrote, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all” (Eph. 4:4,5,6). Each congregation is independent of all others.

Churches of Christ are organized after the examples and commands of the New Testament. The church at Philippi had bishops or elders (overseers) and deacons (Phil. 1:1). Titus was told to appoint elders in every city on the island of Crete. There was a plurality of elders in each congregation. In 1 Pet. 5:3, he tells the elders to make “yourselves ensamples of the flock.” They were to be leaders by word and example. In the fourth verse of this same chapter he calls Christ “the chief Shepherd.” The elders have no authority whatever to make any changes in God’s plans or Word given for the church operation and government. Popes, archbishops, cardinals and other ecclesiastical officials were left out of the picture. Churches of Christ have no official conventions, conferences, associations, senates or synods provided for it in the New Testament church. God’s ways work perfectly and it is not within man’s power to attempt to make improvements in them.

Remember, the headquarters of the church of Christ is in heaven and not on earth. No man can tamper with, revise, add to, take away from, or annul any part of God’s plans, ways or Word and keep from going to hell. The Apostle John wrote in Rev. 22:19, “God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city.”

Truth Magazine XXII: 3, p. 61
January 19, 1978

By Carol R. Lumpkin

Can people really perform miracles and healings today as were performed in the first century of the church? Either they can or they cannot. The only way to determine whether miracles and healings are possible today is turn our attention to what the scriptures teach.

A miracle is something above the laws of nature which could not happen in the ordinary course and operations of nature. For example, the law of nature could not have brought Adam and Eve into this world full-grown. It is not a miracle for the oak tree to produce the acorn, nor for the acorn to produce the oak tree, but it was a miracle to produce the first oak tree without the acorn. Every species of life-animal, insect, and vegetable began by a miracle. A miracle is above the finite mind and ability of man. For example, it is not possible for man to raise the dead, give sight to the blind, or speech to the dumb. Jesus performed a miracle when he fed the 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. A miracle is above the human concept, law and regulation; it is Divine.

Is it possible to perform miracles and healings as they were performed in the first century? Christ and the apostles performed miracles, such as taking up deadly serpents without harm, raising the dead, and healing the sick. “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them, they shall, lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mk. 16:17-18). When Jesus sent the twelve apostles on the limited commission He gave them a similar charge (Matt. 10:8).

The designs and purposes of miracles and healings were two-fold: (1) to confirm the truth. “And they (apostles) went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following” (Mk. 16:20). (2) To make men believe that Jesus was the son of God. “For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward: How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him: God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will” (Heb. 2:2-4). This is further stressed as John wrote, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (Jn. 20:30-31).

Miracles performed by the apostles were to serve notice to the world that the message of salvation which they spoke was from heaven, and that they were sent from God. From Mark 2:1-12, we read that Jesus healed the person with the palsy “that ye might know the Son of God hath power on earth to forgive sins.” Nicodemus was led to Jesus because of the miracles Jesus performed (Jn. 3:2).

The apostles were the only individuals in the Jerusalem church who could work and perform miracles until they imparted this power to others. “And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles” (Acts 2:43). “And by the’`..4ands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people” (Acts 5:12). The seven men who were selected to minister to the Grecian widows received certain spiritual gifts by the laying on of the apostles hands (Acts 6:6). Stephen, one of the seven, received such power. “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people” (Acts 6:8). Philip, another of the seven, also received miraculous gifts. “And the people in one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did” (Acts 8:6). Even though Philip could perform these Works, he could not impart this power to others because he was not an apostle. Later we see, Philip preaching to the people of Samaria concerning the kingdom of prod, and the name of Jesus Christ, and men and worm were baptized (Acts 8:12). Peter and John, apostles, came down from Jerusalem to lay hands on certain of the Samartians that they might receive spiritual gifts (Acts 8:15-16). Since the apostles have been dead fit about 1900 years, there can be no spiritual gifts today.

Miracles .have ceased. “Charity never failrth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail: whether there be tongues, they shall cease: whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away (1 Cor. 13:8-10). Spiritual gifts were to continue to, be used until the completed will of God was revealed. Those spiritual gifts have served their purpose and no person has a single one of them today.

Pretenders fail and will continue to fail. No one knows any better than they that they are deceivers and do not have any more power than the next person. Healing campaigns today serve to deceive people and to rob them of their money. Not once was money asked for when spiritual gifts where in force. A gospel preacher, while preaching in a meeting in Cotton Valley, Louisiana, had a conversation with a supposed healer who said, “He had been baptized in the baptism of the Holy Spirit like the apostles were.” He claimed to be able to speak in tongues and heal the sick. He was asked if he could raise the dead. He replied, we have raised some near about dead. The days of miracles and healings have passed. We are living subject to the “perfect law of liberty” (Jas. 1:25).

The apostles were the only individuals who had the power to lay hands on others to impart spiritual gifts. The apostles have been gone from this earth for hundreds of years. Spiritual gifts were useful and served their purpose for the early church until the full, complete law of Christ was revealed; after which they passed away. There is no person who can perform a single miracle on earth today, those who claim that they can are’ deceivers and false teachers.

Truth Magazine XXII: 3, pp. 60-61
January 19, 1978