Truth Magazine

By Joe Neil Clayton

After King Saul’s illicit sacrifice, Samuel solemnly told him, “But now your kingdom shall not continue: Jehovah has sought him a man after his own heart, and Jehovah has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept that which Jehovah commanded you.” (1 Sam. 13:14). In the New Testament, it is said that when God had removed Saul, “He raised up David to be their king: to whom also he bare witness and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who shall do all my will” (Acts 13:22). God counts a man to be moulded after His own heart, therefore, when that man shows that his will runs parallel with God’s.

When we examine the life of David, we discover several ways in which David submitted to the will of God. He was a man who was “ahead of his time” in morality: and spirituality. Even though sin marred the perfection of his life, he still stands out as a prime example of faithfulness to the will of God. Good kings after him were extolled for their similarity to David (2 Chron. 17:3-4), and bad kings were exposed in contrast to him (1 Kings 15:3). Thus, his obedience set a standard by which to judge his heirs.

In at least three different ways, David serves as an, excellent example to us. First, he had confidence in the promises and the’ care of God. In the Law of Moses, God promised his obedient people “rains in their season” and “bread to the full.” There would be “peace in the land,. . . and none shall make you afraid.” Again, “You shall chase your enemies… five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand.” (Lev. 26:3-8), David had no doubt but that this applied to him personally, for when he prepared himself to confront the giant Goliath, he could trustfully say, “Jehovah that delivered me out of the paw of the lion,. . will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine!” The giant boasted of personal single-combat victory over David. But, David boldly replied, “I will smite you, and take your head… and I will give the dead bodies of the Host of the Philistines this day unto the birds of the heavens” (1 Sam. 17:36-37, 45-47). Such confidence: was not born of ignorance of God’s power.

In a second instance, David showed a godly heart by counting no one his enemy among his brethren. He knew the Law said, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart:… You shall not take vengeance against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev. 19:17-18). Consequently, when King Saul malignantly hunted him down, uttering murderous threats, David did not fall into the temptation to return this hate. Instead, he professed his righteous and merciful attitude toward his enemy, because he was of the children of Israel, and God’s anointed. (1 Sam. 24:1-19).

David’s adherence to the Law, in the third example, sees him fulfilling his vows. The Law of God was clear. “When you shall vow a vow unto Jehovah your God, you shall not be slack: to pay it. . .” (Dent. 23:21-23). When David was a fugitive, Jonathan,’ the heir-apparent to the throne of Saul, would not interpret the set-backs of David in the obvious light. He steadfastly professed the belief that David was destined to displace the rule of Saul, and occupy the throne. Therefore, he made David promise to show kindness to his descendants. David vowed to honor Jonathan’s request.

Years of hiding, exile and civil war followed. Yet, when peace at last came to the nation, one of David’s first actions was to seek out Mephibosheth, the crippled son of Jonathan, the sole survivor of that famous father, and restore him to the honor that his vow required. (1 Sam. 20:13-17, 2 Sam. 9:1-8). We should observe that God never deviates from his promises, and he expects his servants to have the same attitude.

Children of God who serve under the New Testament are likewise to look to the character of God for a pattern of their own. They are to “put on the new man, that after God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth” (Eph. 4′:22-24). By the way, they are also “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” (Eph. 2:10). Peter urged them, “…like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is written, You shall be holy; for I am’ holy.” (1 Pet. 1:13-15). In a similar fashion, Christ teaches them, “Be, merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36); Dozens of such references could be cited, but these should be sufficient to make us realize that God, would have all Christians to be “filled unto all the fullness of God.” (Eph. 3:14-1-9).

God still seeks men who are fashioned “after his own heart, who will do all of his will.” Therefore greater blessings in reserve for such men today than were given to King David. Who will seize, them and husband them till eternity? Then, use God as a pattern, and fashion yourselves in his character!

Truth Magazine, XVIII:42, p. 8
August 29, 1974

By Larry Ray Hafley

In Bible discussion involving the place of baptism with respect to forgiveness of sins, sectarian preachers, especially Baptists, often ask, “If baptism is for the remission of sins, must a Christian be baptized every time he sins?” Often Protestant preachers project this query to provoke and promote prejudice. It is an attempt to ridicule the truth. Of course, a ludicrous baptismal scene is painted in the minds of people. Every saint sins, therefore, baptism must be repeated daily by every Christian. That is absurd, thus, baptism for the remission of sins is equally absurd. That is the idea the. false teacher hopes to arouse.

There is no “if” about baptism being “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). There is the responsibility to show the plan -of forgiveness for the Christian (Acts 8:12-24; 1 Jn. 1:9). This must be done for the benefit of the honest hearted hearer. It must not be overlooked when dealing with facetious men.

But the “baptism again and again” idea proves to be a boomerang. The Baptist reasons that if you believe baptism is for remission of sins, then you must be baptized every time you need to be forgiven. The Baptist, however, says one is baptized “because of” the remission of sins. So we may ask him, “Since you say baptism is ‘because of the remission of sins, must every saved person who sins and is forgiven be baptized ‘because of that forgiveness?” It is fair then to paint the same baptismal scene for the Baptists. The Baptist preacher pictured all the members of the church of Christ being baptized every time they sin, so we will just picture all the Baptists being baptized every time they are forgiven of sins. If baptism for the remission of sins was excluded because it was made to appear ridiculous, then Baptist baptism is also excluded for the very same reason. It is a poor rule that will not work both ways.

Truth Magazine, XVIII:42, p. 7
August 29, 1974

By Jeffery Kingry

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, there was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him, .saying. Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for awhile: but afterwards he said within himself, though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me: I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you he will avenge them speedily, nevertheless when the son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth “(Luke 18:18).

This is a parable that offers us some dazzling conclusions. Jesus is telling us that our prayers determine God’s response to our needs-not just the little everyday needs, but the way in which the world touches our lives. God is doing nothing less than offering those who pray a part in His government of the world. God gives a certain power through prayer to the child of God over the events of nations and rulers (1 Tim. 2:1-3). We know that the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah hung upon ten righteous souls and one praying man (Gen. 18:20ff). We recall the account of Moses lifting his arms in prayer during the battle against Amalek and how the course of the struggle varied according as he held his arms high or let them drop in weariness (Ex. 17:11ff).

We Can Pray

But, these events do not mean much to us in this world of superpowers. We look to history and see the vast array of political, economic, and social power that was behind those men who made history. We may inform ourselves as to the relative size of the armies of the East, the strength of their nuclear weapons, or their gross national product, and say in meekness these are the real factors of power in the making of history. The great doers are the ones who change history, not the prayers. Obviously, we think, it is the action of the doers who direct the game of power.

And then, scripture tells us that God invests the prayers with a share in the future of nations and peoples. God informs us that we may pray for peace (Jer. 29:7; 1 Jno. 5:14, 15), for favorable weather (Jas. 5:17, 18), and for liberation from tyranny (Jer. 18:6-10; Dan. 2:20, 21). And if this assertion that prayer is a power in the world is to be taken seriously (and it must, if we walk by faith), then this is a message that should cause us to wake up and tremble.

But, beyond this, something even greater is implied in the parable. In the parable, the praying Christian is presented in the figure of a completely helpless widow – one entirely at the mercy of her adversary. A widow is a woman who has lost the protection and intercession of a man, and therefore is often victimized. Most people are pitiless and cold enough to be moved only by someone who has power behind him. A widow is often a negligible quantity, a non entity that can be overlooked or brushed aside.

Are we to believe then that this church, which is represented by a defenseless widow, which folds its hands in defenseless supplication, by its intercession before the throne of God, actually shares in the divine ordering of conflict and peace, of curse and blessing? Is not this simply too much to believe? And yet, nothing less than this we are assured and promised.

Nations have found that might in bombs, armor; and armies have never ultimately brought about the end they sought. Are not all the armies and armories of the world nothing more than pieces on a board controlled by Another? Has a single one of all the doers ever actually carried out a program in which he realized his own will? In the End, was not all that he did always deflected from its original course, taken out of his control and swept away by mysterious waves? Was he not himself only a part of a plan drawn up by Another? What did Cyrus or Nebuchadnezzar, what did Hitler and Stalin really know about their role in the drama which Another had written, the last act of which will end before the throne of God at the coming of Jesus Christ? The church of Christ is in truth a defenseless widow, and when she engages in politics and strategy it will never succeed – this is nothing more than a feeble arrow launched at a tank.

How To Pray

The widow rests in the heart of God, and God has promised her that His ear will not be deaf to her pleadings. The one who has influence upon the heart of God rules the world. The poor widow is truly a world power. There is a good reason, then, to consider how she prayed. The first thing that strikes us is the intensity with which she presents her petition. In her distress she knows that only one man can help her. This one man needs only to say a single word and her troubles are over. This is precisely what our Lord is saying to us: If you take seriously the fact that God reigns, that He holds your personal destiny in His hands as well as peace and war among nations, if you take seriously that everything depends on this one thing and this One Man, then you too would keep dinning your prayers in the ears of God with the same persistence, intensity, and importunity.

Some may think the “dinning of our prayers in the ears of God” infers some basic disrespect. If this is our idea, then we think on a human level, and take ourselves too seriously. With God, we are not a nuisance, but a joy. When we keep “pestering” Him we do not show lack of respect but faith and trust in His promises. If we did not have Jesus, and could not see what God and the Son were willing to give for us, then it might be presumptive. But God is interested in us, and God rejoices when we implore and importune because then He knows that we understand His will, and are no longer “pious” and superior, but dare to come to Him as helpless children.

It is sheer hypocrisy for us to say, “I will not come to God with my petty affairs-I will not pray for what I want or need. My Father knows what I need (Is He not omniscient?) Let His will be done.” God takes no pleasure in this kind of super-piety and patronizing resignation. The one who says “Thy will be done” before he opens his mouth in reality has no trust in God at all. He is actually saying in his heart, “Fate still runs its course. Dear old God has retired to His sphere and has no intention of intervening on my account.” The pious people who merely say, “Thy will be done” are not taking seriously the fact that God has given His children the right to speak on anything that concerns them. Why pray at all if God is not moved to grant our requests? In order to offer a serious, worthy petition I have to know what I need. Our prayers often may be merely foolish talk, but we do communicate with God. Our prayers may make all kinds of false diagnoses of our needs, false estimates, and false interpretations of the real situation. But have we fathers and mothers who take offense because their children ask for something that is not best for them? Children quickly become, reconciled to our refusal and hold no grudge against us because they know we mean well by them.

So, after we have spoken frankly and openly in our prayer we should draw the clear line at the end and say, “Your will be done. You will do what is right and good – choose what is good in my foolish prayer. You know above all what I really need, and I want your will to be first in my life.”

Heaven Is For The Desperate

Secondly, we see the intensity with which the widow pleads with the judge – she kept “coming to him.” The judge was a man who did not respond immediately. He was not a man who gave away his justice easily.

It seems to be said here that God remains silent in order that men may not submit in fatalistic resignation, and content ourselves with the cheap snap judgment that says “whatever happens must happen” (cf. Psa. 22). Is not God encouraging us to remain in constant contact with him? God loves those who take the Kingdom by force.(Matt. 11:12). Barclay quotes the commentator Denney as saying “The Kingdom of God is not for the well meaning, but for the desperate. No one drifts into the Kingdom. Salvation only opens its doors to those who are prepared to make as great an effort to get into it as men do when they storm a city.”

When we are all too sure of a person whom we love, our passion begins to cool. Even in love the cheap certainties in which there is no doubt or concern, are dangerous. May not God therefore often wait and remain silent to make me seek him more passionately and persistently? Was not this the case with the importunate widow and the Canaanite woman as well (Mk. 7:24-30)?

Will He Find Faith At His Return?

Finally we must consider the last essential feature in the Lord’s parable. The whole parable is directed to the day of judgment. Will God find any spiritually awake at His coming? The rich fool when he heard “This night your soul is required of you” was suddenly aware that he had dreamed his life away. Here was a man that never missed a trick, took into account even the smallest details, and yet he dreamed away the fact that everything depends on this one night, when he must appear before God. And now the Lord says to us: The man who prays (not the man who works only, but the man who prays) is the man who is awake to what is real, and has a realistic sense of the proportions of life. The man who prays knows that there is only one thing that really counts and that is getting straight with God.

We understand, then, why Jesus’ parable concludes with the question of whether there will be those who pray on earth when He comes from heaven. One thing is sure: Our prayers are heard above. But are there petitioners here below. That is the problem, not whether our prayers are heard, but are there those who pray? Men continually ask, “Where is the God who hears my cry?” Which of the two is the right question?

When He comes again will the lamps of the virgins be extinguished? Will the trumpets of judgment speak only to ignorant and wondering ears because God has been consigned to nothingness by the silence and sleep of men? Will He find your lamp of prayer burning bright in the darkness? Will He see there is one who has been waiting for Him and has not fallen asleep, or is out of oil, running about going nowhere?

Truth Magazine, XVIII:42, p. 6-7
August 29, 1974

By Cecil Willis

Since its beginning in 1969, 1 have been a member of the Westside church in Marion, Indiana. Prior to that, I worked with the Southside congregation in Marion, where Tom Wheeler now preaches. Part of the time at Westside, I have served as preacher for the congregation, but on a part-time basis, due to my meeting work and the work done on Truth Magazine. Brother Steve Wolfgang, now of Franklin, Tennessee, worked two years with the Westside church shortly after it began, and during that time it enjoyed excellent growth. Brother Norman Midgette now preaches for the Westside congregation.

A few weeks ago, during one of the class discussions, the thought was raised, “I wonder what the contribution of this congregation would be if every wage-earner contributed just 10% of his earnings each week.” Someone else took up the thought, and within a few weeks, someone suggested, “Why don’t we all just deposit in a question box at the rear of the auditorium a small slip of paper on which we list only our income for last year?” The contribution at Westside is not bad. For instance, last month (June) our attendance at the Sunday morning service averaged 154 and our contributions averaged $785.31 per week.

Westside congregation would have to be called an “average” congregation. We do not have any big business men in the congregation, nor do we have any one wage earner whose income is so fantastic that it would off-set and disrupt any average we might take. Most of our members are people who moved up from the South, and who have an hourly job in one of the plants here. Some of the larger employers here are General Motors, RCA, Anaconda, St. Regis Paper Company, General Tire and Rubber Company, Foster-Forbes Glass Company, and Dana Corporation. Though we have what I consider good employment opportunities for a community of 40,000 people, yet the employment opportunities are somewhat typical of others in surrounding cities, like Kokomo, Indianapolis, South Bend, Columbus, Fort Wayne, Gary, Hammond, Evansville, etc. I see nothing that would make the income of the Marion members unusual.

After, it was decided that we were going to do such a survey, we emphasized that it was being done strictly on a voluntary basis, and that no importance was being attached to whether a particular member participated in this survey or did not do so. Furthermore, we insisted that the figures be turned in without any kind of identification upon them. In order that we might have some standard measurement guide, we asked that the value of fringe benefits be not included in the figure cited. Incidentally, an accountant told me recently that the company-paid fringe benefits of the six largest corporations in America average a little over $300 per month per employee. I am sure nearly every employee would dispute that figure, but when one figures in the cost of company-paid retirement programs, along with what some would call standard fringe benefits, I suspect that the figure given is correct. But fringe benefits vary widely from company to company. Some companies have a “matching dollar” stock purchase program, whereby an employee might put in one dollar, and the company would give him another dollar with which to purchase company stock. On the other hand, some employees get virtually no fringe benefits at all. So we asked that these be omitted from the figure submitted.

Furthermore, we asked that part-time employees not enter their income into the composite figure. We asked that students who worked only a part of the year not participate. We asked also that if both husband and wife had full-time jobs that two figures be deposited, instead of lumping them together. In the cases of those who had business-related expenses which were income tax deductible, these expense amounts also were to be excluded from the figure cited. In other words, we wanted either one’s “Adjusted Gross Income” tax figure, or one’s W-2 tax form figure. A goodly number of our members did not participate in this survey (not quite half of our employed people reported), and no criticism whatever was made of them for not doing so. We were very emphatic in stating that this was voluntarily being done just to see what we might all learn about ourselves, as a congregation.

Now here are the results: 8 of our wage-earners earn $15,000 or more per year; 5 of our members earn less than $10,000 per year; and the other 5 earn between $10,000 and $15,000 per year. You can tell thereby that only 18 full-time employees reported their income. However, what we learned from this little survey was quite revealing to me. One thing I learned is that I am going to have to treat some of my brethren with a good deal more respect than I have in the past, for I did not know that we had anyone in the congregation who earned as much as several of these brethren reported. Unfortunately, I do not know which ones of the brethren have these higher incomes, and furthermore, it would be sinful if I treated them any differently than I did the lowest paid member of the congregation.

But the most interesting figure of all to me was that the average income of those who participated in this survey was over $14,000 per year! The Internal Revenue Service states that the fact that a preacher’s housing is provided for him tax-free, or that a housing allowance is excludable from income, makes him equal with other employees who do not pay income tax on their fringe benefits. Of the 18 people who reported their income, our preacher (Norman Midgette) was Number 12 on the list. We all know his income, because it is posted every month on the bulletin board for everyone to see! How many other members would be willing to have their income posted on the bulletin board for everyone else to see? Some might even consider that to be an intrusion upon their privacy.

As long as I have been preaching (and that is now a little over 25 years), I have been told that preachers should not make more than the average member makes! I have never particularly objected to that statement. However, some preachers work hard enough that they ought to be paid more than the average member makes, and some other preachers are so lazy and indifferent toward their work that they should be paid a good deal less than the average member makes, if indeed they are going to be paid at all!

But let us, for the time being, just accept the generality that “A preacher should not make any more than the average member makes.” Does it therefore follow that the preacher ought to make as much as the average member makes? If that be the case, I am sure that Brother Norman Midgette will be delighted to learn, when he reads this issue of Truth Magazine, that the Westside congregation is going to give him a $3800 raise this year! If we are going to use this “average member” as the criterion by which to decide how much we are going to pay a preacher, then let us smoke out this “average member” and see how much he is making.

Income and expenses vary greatly from one part of the country to another. But I would like to see 25 or 30 churches across the nation do a similar survey just to see what the average member does make. Preachers all over the land might get substantial raises! Let me hasten to add, however, that within the past months brethren in many places have awakened to the fact that they have not even been giving their preacher a cost of living raise, and that preachers’ wages have increased substantially during the past six or eight months. It would appear that brethren who negotiate into their labor contracts annual or semi-annual raises, and cost of living increases in pay, would be thoughtful enough to remember that preachers have to live in the same economy, and that they should receive increases in pay, commensurate with those being received by other members.

Brethren in this country sometime remark that brethren in some of the foreign countries must think that every American is rich. Well, he is! Compared with most of the rest of the world, the American who lives in the worst ghetto of this country, or that exists solely on welfare, is well-off. But most of them do not know it. Some are on welfare because they are too lazy to work, and think society owes them a living. Paul said of these, “if any will not work, neither let him eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). The application of that scriptural principle would lessen considerably the number who are riding on the welfare rolls of America.

When Brother Cogdill and I visited among the Philippine brethren in 1970, we met brethren from about 50 congregations. We did not meet a single brother anywhere who owned any kind of an automobile. We did meet two brethren who had what would be called in this country old “Junker” trucks, but no brother whom we met even had an old “Junker” automobile. On the other hand, we had a major crisis at my house this past week. A week ago Sunday night, I wrecked an automobile. We have been in a terrible bind all week. My son had to have an automobile to get back and forth to do his selling work; my daughters had to have an automobile to get to Berne, Indiana (an 80 mile round-trip), where they work in the printing plant; and my wife had to have an automobile in order to get to town and back to do some Summer work she is doing for the Board of Education. That left poor old Brother Willis stranded! We poor Americans are in bad shape, aren’t we? Here is one family that was severely handicapped because we only had three operable automobiles this past week. Brethren all over this nation like to cry around and feel sorry for themselves and say, ABut we are all poor people.@ The truth of the matter is that every faithful brother is rich in faith, and should be rich in good works, and nearly every single one of us is rich in this world’s goods, when compared to the remainder of the world.

In the event that you are going to dispute the figures that characterize the Westside church in Marion, and are going to say, “That may be true in Marion, but it is not true here,” let me suggest first that you do your survey before registering your complaint and protest. I sincerely would like to see similar surveys made by churches in Tampa, Florida; Atlanta Georgia; Birmingham Alabama; Nashville, Tennessee; Little Rock, Arkansas; Louisville, Kentucky; Annandale or Glen Burnie Maryland; Akron Ohio; Cincinnati, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; St. Louis, Missouri; Kansas City, Missouri; Denver, Colorado; San Diego, California;

Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Phoenix, Arizona; Tucson, Arizona; Houston, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles, California; San Francisco, California, and on and on we could go. Get your members to participate in a survey similar to what we did here in Marion, Indiana, and then if you are willing to do so, it would be interesting to have the report of your survey collated with other such surveys, and a broader report carried later in Truth Magazine. Let’s see if we can find out what this proverbial “average member” of the church does make. And the preachers across the country will probably encourage such a survey, for we have all been hearing for so long that “The preacher should not make more than the average member makes.” Preachers may all be going to receive significant pay increases, or we may find that our Marion figures are much out of line with those compiled from a cross-section of brethren across the Nation. If our pay here is very much higher than it is in other similar cities, knowing brethren as I think I do, I hereby predict that Marion, Indiana is going to have rapid and tremendous influx of population from the East, South, West, and North. In fact, we might soon be able to say that “Marion, Indiana is the fastest growing city in America!” Or else we might find that this proverbial “average member” was not as “average”and as Apoor” as we have all been led to believe that he is. If you brethren elsewhere decide to do such a survey, and are willing to share the results of your reports with other brethren, we would be glad to hear from you.

Truth Magazine, XVIII:42, p. 3-5
August 29, 1974