Truth Magazine

By Ron Halbrook

For The Truth’s Sake, each one of us should render to God that “faith which worketh by love” (Gal. 5:6), “without benefit of clergy.” God knows nothing of a “clergy” and “laity” among His people; therefore, they should abolish all such distinctions among themselves. Forsaking all religious titles of honor, elevation, and reverence, Christians should recognize the words of Christ: “one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.” He added, “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matt. 23:10-12).

Much work done by churches today is unauthorized by Christ; whether elevated or unelevated. Christ said nothing of the “Youth Minister” or “Recreational Director.” The church’s mission is spiritual, not social, political, economic, or recreational (1 Tim. 3:15). But even the work he does authorize-elders, deacons, preachers, teachers-offers no positions of reverence, honor, or prestige. The only “position” involved is the work, office, or position of a servant among brethren. One may be set aside for a given work for which he is best suited, but rather than being elevated to receive special honors he is only humbled to render service to others! God intended “that no flesh should glory in his presence,” but men “have sought out many inventions” of rebellion heaping to themselves honor, glory, and reverence which belongs to God alone (1 Cor. 1:29; Eccl. 7:29).

Apostles and prophets were inspired by God’s Spirit in the first century to reveal His will, yet they glorified “God that giveth the increase” rather than themselves (1 Cor. 3:7). Elders are overseers (bishops) or pastors (those who tend the flock), but not “as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock” (Acts 20:17-28; 1 Pet. 5:2-3). This is not a seat of authority over great regions, but only a service limited to “the flock of God which is among you.” Some are quick to exalt the evangelist or preacher as the “Reverend” Somebody, and to expect special powers, blessings, and access to God through him. But he does “the work of an evangelist” only when he serves others in this way: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke., exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:1-5).

Denominations have long depended on their clergies; now, shamefully, some apostate churches of Christ are developing theirs, too. Preachers are being called “Reverend,” “Pastor,” and “Doctor,” rather than simply “brethren.” Professional clergymen are needed to run the social, recreational, economic, and political projects unauthorized in Scripture. Churches are hiring men trained in psychology, counseling, administration, business management, social work, and “youth” work. God’s people must resist the clergy system both without and within, while laboring as servants together in the work of the gospel.

Truth Magazine XXI: 33, p. 518
August 25, 1977

By Donald P. Ames

A recent quip in Grit stated, “Size is not everything. The elephant is endangered, but the ant is doing fine.” As I pondered that statement, I could not help but think of my liberal brethren who are always seeking to have the “biggest and mostest.” Some are wanting to create the largest TV program possible to impress the people with the existence and power of the church. Others are striving for the largest Sunday School among churches of Christ. Others prize themselves on the size of their physical structures, and particularly how it compares with other denominations in the same town. And others, so it seems, are busy seeking to conduct the largest “begging” campaign. Still others are seeking to report the largest bus ministry, and others the largest circulation.

The sad part of each account, however, is that with size usually also comes a falling away from the truth and emphasis on things the Lord knew nothing about. “Reward motivation” begins to replace the gospel as the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16). “Extended grace” begins to replace obedience to the truth (Tit. 2:11-14). “Holy Spirit emotionalism” begins to replace indoctrination (Matt. 28:19-20), and apostasy and compromise begin replacing a desire to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3; Jas. 3:17).

While we should be interested in the salvation of souls, let us not become “size” conscious, but rather “soul conscious.” New Testament Christians did not boast of their size and budget, but rather their dedication to the Lord (2 Cor. 8:1-5). They were not interested in being the largest around, but in “participation in the gospel” (Phil. 1:5). Even the Lord had to cull out the chaff when the followers began to grow, that the true believers might become stronger (John 6). And, while it serves as no excuse for doing nothing, let us also remember that the “majority” will be those who are lost (Matt. 7:13). (This follows because the majority had rather serve Satan than sacrifice for the cause of Christ.) Instead of striving for the “biggest and mostest,” let us rather strive to educate and indoctrinate a world lost in sin with the gospel of salvation (Eph.1:13) – following the wisdom of God, and not the schemes and rewards of men. The results will then be men with a respect for truth above all else – and a desire to save others!

Truth Magazine XXI: 33, p. 517
August 25, 1977

By Mike Willis

Years ago, Ezekiel lamented, “But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come now, and hear what the message is which comes forth from the Lord.’ And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as My people, but they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. And behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not practice them” (33:30-32). How frequently I have felt just like Ezekiel!

I have witnessed men and women in the audience to whom I would preach a lesson come out and shake my hand, telling me what a fine lesson I had presented, but who never did anything to live what I had just taught them. People come to worship expecting to hear a polished speaker. When the speaker is finished, they frequently go their way for another week having no intention whatsoever to step forward in obedience to the gospel which has been preached. Perhaps, we need to be reminded of what Jesus said about obedience; he said,

“Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will ®f My Father, who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name east out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I wilt declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, yon who practice lawlessness.’

“Therefore every one who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not call; for it had been founded upon the rock. And every one who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the hoods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was Its fall” (Mt. 7:21-27).

I would like to look at these verses rather carefully in this week’s editorial.

Things Which Cannot Substitute For Obedience

If there is one lesson which is forcefully taught in this saying of Jesus, it is that nothing can substitute for obedience to His words. In this passage, there are several things specifically mentioned which show that they cannot substitute for obedience. Consider these things which cannot substitute for obedience:

1. Profession of faith. Everyone of the men under consideration in this verse called Jesus, “Lord, Lord.” These men were not atheists or infidels; they were men who professed faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, that profession of faith was insufficient to save them from their sins and to grant them an entrance into that everlasting kingdom prepared by God. There are any number of people in this world today who make a profession of faith in Jesus, just as these people did, who shall not be saved simply because they have not obeyed the Lord; profession of faith will not substitute for obedience!

2. Zeal. Just as profession of faith will not substitute for obedience, neither will zeal substitute for it. The men under consideration in these verses were men who, apparently, were zealous in what they were doing. Look at all of the good works they did for the Lord; they prophesied in His name, cast out demons, and performed many miracles in His name. They were, indeed, zealous people. Frequently, however, zeal outruns faith; men begin to act without authority. When this happens, they become guilty of lawlessness, just as these had done. Zeal did not negate the fact that these men had simply not obeyed the commandments of the Lord.

3. Religion. The fact that men are religious does not substitute for obedience to the Lord Jesus. The men in these verses were quite religious; yet, they were condemned to hell despite the fact that they were religious. Men need to be reminded of the fact that Jesus did not come to make men religious; men were religious years before Jesus came to this earth. Jesus came to make men right religiously. The mere fact that a person is religious is insufficient to save him. As a matter of fact, if we studied the cases of conversion in the book of Acts, the large majority of those who were converted to the Lord were religious before they were converted. We simply must accept the fact that false religion is just as damning as no religion. Religion will not substitute for obedience!

The Will of the Father

The only thing which was sufficient to save a man was obedience to the will of the Father (v. 21). But, how does one know the will of the Father? There are some who would have us to believe that we find out the will of the Father through a better-felt-than-told experience; others tell us that one is doing the will of the Father when he is obeying his conscience. Some among us are saying that we can never be sure what the will of the Father really is (in such areas as instrumental music in worship, institutionalism, the sponsoring church, etc.). Jesus, however, did not leave us in doubt as to what the will of the Father is.

If you will notice what these verses say, you will see that Jesus associated the will of the Father with the words which He spoke. In v. 21, He said that the man who would be saved is the man “who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.” Then, in v. 24, as He illustrated the truth which He was teaching, He said, “Therefore every one who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them . . . .” The will of the Father, therefore, is revealed to us through the words of Jesus and those whom He commissioned to reveal it.

We do not learn the will of the Lord through some mystical witness of the Spirit; we learn it through the revealed words of Jesus Christ as recorded for us in the Bible. We do not have to wonder what is right and wrong; we can always be assured that we are doing what pleases God when we are doing what His word says.

Lessons From The Two Builders

After Jesus had made His statement about the necessity of obedience, He illustrated it by the example of two builders. From the age of a small child, I have known and sung the song of the two builders which was taken from this illustration. Yet, there are several powerful lessons in this illustration which we need to remember.

1. Each of us is building a building. Sometimes, I think, men hear these words and decide to be neither the wise nor the foolish builder. That will not work for the simple reason that all of us are building our buildings each day of our lives. The lives which we live are the buildings which are discussed in this passage. Our day to day lives determine whether we are a wise builder. or a foolish builder. We have no choice of whether we will be a builder or not; we can only choose to be a wise builder or a foolish builder.

2. Each person’s building shall be tested. This illustration certainly teaches us that each person’s building will be tested. The same rains, floods, and wind beat upon each house to test it. Sometimes we are tested in this life to see what kind of building we have been erecting. I have seen men who spent all of their lives accumulating their fortune and then want to exchange it all for an opportunity to rear their children again. They built their houses on sand. I have seen mothers who left their children with the babysitter in order to have some of the luxuries of this life, cry rivers of tears as they witnessed their children doing things which were sinful. The crises of this life sometime expose the fact that the life which we are living is resting on sinking sand.

Despite the fact that some of us are tested in this life, all of us will be tested on the day of judgment. Paul wrote, “For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). These verses depict men standing before Jesus Christ to be judged. Hence, all of us shall be tested to see whether or not we have been obedient to our Lord Jesus Christ.

3. The difference in men will be their obedience or disobedience to the will of God. The wise man and the foolish man endured the same winds, rains and flood; one had built a house which endured the storm and the other had not. The difference was that one had built his house on the sand and the other had built on the rock. The sand on which so many are building today include such attitudes toward life as the accumulation of this world’s goods and hedonism (satisfaction of the desires if the flesh). Those who build on the sand shall not endure. The rock, on the other hand, is obedience to the will of God. The man who obeys the will of God has built his life upon a solid rock, a rock which shall be firm support in the times of trial and testing.

Conclusion

This week, I saw television reports of flooding in Eastern Kentucky and in West Virginia. Among the things which were shown in the news cast was a house which was washed away by the fast-flowing waters of a high river. Is this what lies ahead for the house which you are building? When your building is tested by the Lord will it endure? It will only if you obey the Lord. There is no substitute for obedience!

Truth Magazine XXI: 33, pp. 515-517
August 25, 1977

By Luther Blackmon

The claim is made by the Catholic Church that they have given the Bible to the world. From an issue of Our Sunday Visitor, a Roman Catholic paper, we quote the following:

“The Protestants cannot be sure that the Bible contains the word of God, pure and unadulterated, while we Catholics can. You depend upon us for the Bible you possess. The New Testament writings were not gathered and declared to be infallible until the 4th century. Moreover these witnesses were all Catholics, and they accepted the scriptures as divinely inspired because their church declared them to be so. How then can the Protestants hold as an infallible truth that writings known as the Sacred Scriptures are inspired, when for their reliability you have the Catholic Church’s word alone.”

The unwavering loyalty of the Catholic people to their Church, and their faith in her infallibility, blinds them to her faults and blunders. They are nurtured from childhood, on the idea that the Catholic Church is infallible; that she alone teaches the truth and that they must not read or listen to anything that teaches differently. It never occurs to the average Catholic to challenge or even investigate the boastful claims of this institution. If they could be persuaded to investigate, they would not be Catholics, and that is why their Church has forbidden her members to read what she is pleased to call “heretical” writings. That means anything written by Protestants or other which have not been through the Catholic screen.

In the above quotation from Our Sunday Visitor, there are two statements that are misleading and untrue. Consider for instance the declaration that the books of the New Testament were “gathered and declared to be infallible” by the Catholic Church in the fourth century. In her anxiety to turn people away from the authority of the “church” they have made a very obvious blunder. When Catholics, Protestants, or Christians say that a book of the New Testament is inspired, they mean that when it was written (being written), the Holy Spirit guided the writer. Now if the books of the New Testament were inspired when they were in the process of being written, how could a council some hundreds of years later “declare” and “decree” that they are inspired? (The Catholic church says that they were declared to be inspired at the Council of Hippo in 390 A.D.) That is the same thing as if some council had met in 390 A.D. and declared that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. If He was born of a virgin, no decree of a council years later could make it any truer: and if He was not born of a virgin, all the councils on earth declaring and decreeing could not make it so.

Be it remembered that printing with movable type was not invented until the fifteenth century. Prior to that time the Bible, as well as all other books were written in manuscript form by hand. We do not have any of the original manuscripts, but we do have authentic copies. One of the oldest of the manuscripts is the Codex Sinaiticus, which dates back to the middle of the fourth century, or about 350 A.D. It contains all the Bible except for small portions of the Old Testament, and it has never been in Catholic hands. This manuscript was made years before the Council of Hippo convened-the council which Catholics declare “gathered and declared to be infallible” all the books of the New Testament.

Consider some of the versions of the Bible. A manuscript is a copy of the Bible made in the same language; a version is the translation of the Bible from one language to another. The Bible has been translated into almost every known language. Homer’s Illiad was translated into 20 languages; Shakespeare’s plays into 33; Pilgrims’ Progress into 111. But the complete Bible has been translated into 136 languages and portions of it into well over one thousand languages and dialects.

Let this fact be placed alongside the Catholic claim that the Council of Hippo in 390. A.D. “gathered” the books of the New Testament and declared them to be infallible.

Note: The Syriac Version was translated from the original language into six dialects of the Syriac in the second century-a full two hundred years before the Catholics claim that they gathered the books together. How could the books have been gathered together for the first time in 390 A.D. when tile Syriac Version had already been in circulation for more than 200 years?

The Old Latin Version was translated from the Greek into Latin at the close of the second century. The Coptic Version was translated from the Greek into the Egyptian at the close of the second century. These and many other translations of the Bible, as we have it today, were made and in wide circulation centuries before the Catholic Church says she gathered the books.

Do not be misled by the advertising of the Knights of Columbus. The world is in no sense dependent on Catholicism for her Bible. The Bible was in existence, widely circulated, and recognized as the inspired word of God for many centuries before the Catholic Church even existed.

Truth Magazine XXI: 33, p. 514
August 25, 1977