Truth Magazine

By O. C. Birdwell

Apparently the widely read and generally accepted book, The Mission and Medium of the Holy Spirit, by Foy E. Wallace, Jr., has caused the acceptance on the part of many of the idea that Cornelius was not baptized with the Holy Spirit. While it is true that what happened at the house of Cornelius is not called a baptism of the Holy Spirit, Peter’s statements classify it with the happenings of Pentecost. To this writer, there seems to be no good reason to deny the baptism of the Holy Spirit of Cornelius.

There are two instances recorded where the Holy Spirit came as a direct outpouring from the Father apart from the intervention of man in any way. They are on Pentecost and at the house of Cornelius. At Pentecost it is said, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). God had said through Joel, “I will pour forth of my Spirit ” (2:17), and Peter goes on to affirm that Jesus, at the right hand of God, “hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear” (2:3.3). This was the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise, “Ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5). The word “baptize,” according to W. E. Vine, is used here metaphorically for what happened in the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.

It is interesting to note the similarity of the statements about what happened at Pentecost and at the house of Cornelius. God said through flesh” (2:17). Peter said, “Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit he hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear” (2:33). Compare this language to that of Luke and Peter as they describe what happened at the conversion of Cornelius. “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all of them that heard the word. And they of the circumcision that believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 10:44,45). Peter says of the event, “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit. If then God gave unto them the like gift as he did also unto us, when we believed on the Lord Jesus, who was 1, that I could withstand God?” (11:15-17). Peter, further describing the conversion of the Gentiles, said, “And God, who knoweth the heart, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us; . . .” (Acts 15:8).

If language means anything, Peter understood that the coming of the Spirit on Cornelius was like the outpouring on Pentecost. He said on them also was the gift poured out; that the Holy Spirit fell on them as on us; and God gave them the Holy Spirit as he did unto us. It would take quite a bit of human reasoning to cause one to misunderstand these statements.

It may be that confusing the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the power manifested by those receiving such baptism has caused many to deny the baptism of Cornelius. It is apparently assumed that if Cornelius received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as did the apostles, he would have had the same power, as did they. This is merely an assumption. The only power, however, that we can determine the apostles had those others did not have been the ability to impart, by the laying on of hands, spiritual gifts to others. The apostles were Christ’s ambassadors and seemingly had this power for that reason, and not necessarily because they had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Much of this confusion may have come from the practice of preaching on “Measures of the Spirit.” According to this sermon, there is the Spirit without measure, the baptismal measure, the measure by the laying on of the apostles hands, and the ordinary measure. just where in this scheme does the “measure” received by Cornelius fit in? The truth seems to be that the apostles and Cornelius (both Jew and Gentile) received the Holy Spirit by a direct our pouring or baptism from God apart from any act or involvement of man. It came on Pentecost with sound and sight. People were thus gathered together and heard the apostles speak in tongues. It came on the house of Cornelius as a demonstration to the Jews of the acceptability of the Gentiles. They also were heard speaking in tongues. This outpouring was not to save anyone.

The Spirit also was given to disciples by the laying on of the apostles’ hands (Acts 8: 14-17). Through this the recipients had the same power to heal, reveal the truth, and speak in other languages, as did the apostles. However, they were not apostles and did not have the power to impart the gift to others. Apart from this there was the “gift of the Holy Spirit” which was promised to all those who repent and are baptized (Acts 2:38). This gift is the same as the “seasons of refreshing” spoken of in Acts 3:19.

What Cornelius received was not the gift promised to those who repent and are baptized. He had not been baptized. Neither did he receive the Holy Spirit by the laying of the apostles’ hands. The Spirit was “poured out” directly from the Father. This is what happened on Pentecost and is described, according to Vine, metaphorically, by the word “baptize.”

In conclusion, please give consideration to the following comment by the noted gospel preacher and scholar, J. W. McGarvey, as lie wrote about the coming of the Holy Spirit on Cornelius.

“The considerations which caused the amazement were, first, that the Holy Spirit was I poured out’ upon them directly from God, as it had never been before on any but the apostles; and second, that this unusual gift was bestowed on Gentiles. . . . The fact that this gift of the Spirit was manifested by the miracle of speaking in tongues distinguishes it from that gift of the Spirit promised to all who repent and are baptized (2:38); and the fact that it came directly from heaven, without the imposition of apostolic hands, distinguishes it from such gifts as that bestowed on the Samaritans, and that afterward bestowed on prominent members of many churches. We have no event with which to classify it except the gift bestowed on the apostles on Pentecost; and thus it is actually classified by Peter farther on (11:15,16). He says: ‘As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell Mi them even as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized in water, but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’ In these words he identifies it as a baptism in the Holy Spirit; and these two are the only events that are thus designated in the New Testament. The one was the divine expression of the admission of the first Jews into the new Messianic kingdom, and the other, that of the first Gentiles.” (Commentary on Acts. p. 213, 214). This should be enough on the subject.

TRUTH MAGAZINE XVII: 43, pp.10-12
September 6, 1973

By Keith Sharp

Modernism has invaded the church of Christ. Recently Mission Magazine named an article entitled “The 301 Cubit Ark,” an article that blasphemously poked fun at the authority of the New Testament pattern, “article of the year.” Writers in Mission Messenger, the libertarian voice of W. Carl Ketcherside, announce they are “free from law.” These attacks are perpetrated tinder a smoke screen of pseudo-scholarship. Our self-proclaimed intellectuals could well heed a timely axiom spoken by H. C. Leupold to such modernists in Protestant denominationalism: “True scholars glorify revealed truth; they do not belittle it.” (Exposition of Genesis. 1, 157) Or, as Solomon, the greatest scholar who ever lived, explained: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding.” (Proverbs 9: 10)

TRUTH MAGAZINE XVII: 43, p. 6
September 6, 1973

By Cecil Willis

As long as we have been publishing Truth Magazine, we have promised our readers that as finances and facilities permitted, we would do our best to present to you a first-class religious journal as to contents, make-up, materials, and appearance. We thus are contemplating some changes in the paper beginning November 1, 1973. We think Truth Magazine has been as good a publication at least in appearance as any put out by the brethren. The former publishers established a very attractive format, and we have maintained it throughout the following years. Our readers will have to judge as to the quality of the contents of the paper.

With the August issues, it has been my pleasure or responsibility to edit Truth Magazine for eleven years. All the time I have edited it, I have had to do so with the press of several other duties attending me. Presently I preach for the Westside congregation in Marion, Indiana, and also hold a rather full schedule of gospel meetings. Thus it has always been difficult for me to give the editing of the paper the time that such a responsibility really deserves. Ideally, it would be a full-time job to edit a sixteen page weekly paper. But it has never been within our financial capability for me to devote full-time to the paper, nor does it appear that I will be able to do so any time in the near future.

For several years, we have felt the need to publish more. material. I hear that some religious journals actually have a shortage of articles suitable for publication, but that has never been a problem in recent years for Truth Magazine. When I assumed responsibility for publishing the paper in 1962, there was not even one article on hand with which to prepare the next issue. But since then, there has never been a shortage of quality material for publication.

Presently I have on hand about one thousand pages of manuscripts that I have had every intention to publish. These are articles that in my opinion are worthy of publication. Like every other publisher, we have a file that for all intents and purposes might just as well be labeled the proverbial “File13.” Into go those articles that in the arbitrary opinion of the editor are not suited for publication.

But through the years, an ever bulging file of articles, which we have, bad every intention to print has accumulated. We thought we solved this problem when we turned the paper into a weekly four years ago. Becoming a weekly enabled us to publish between two and three times as much material as we could publish as a monthly. But already the press to publish even more material is being felt.

It is impossible to know the feelings of our readers completely. A few complain that they now cannot find time to read everything in the paper. Yet an average issue of Truth Magazine can be read by an average reader in about thirty minutes. Furthermore, I imagine that every reader is selective in what he reads. Personally, I receive about thirty-five religious subscription journals, and perhaps two hundred church bulletins, along with a few publications from the secular press, and of course, the daily newspaper. It is imperative that I be selective in my reading. But if I did not receive a variety of papers, I would never know when the articles appear that I select to read, and certainly would not want to miss these articles. A reader that takes only one or two subscription magazines should not have to read selectively. But even if you do, the wider the selection the better.

So we have decided to enlarge the page-size with the November 1, 1973 issue. By going to standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch page, we will be able to publish 44% more copy. I have had some series of articles on hand, which I have intended to print, for as long as four years. With the potentiality of publishing nearly 50% more articles, I have the hope to get some of this good material in print. If our writers respond as they have heretofore, they will simply increase the supply of material, and we will still have to be selective in the articles, which we publish. But you will get nearly 50% more reading material.

Since becoming a weekly journal four years ago, our paper has been printed most of the time on a 35 X 45 sheet-fed offset press. We have used a glossy, coated paper. Most recently, it has been taking a pressman one full day to print Truth Magazine. We now are going to a web-fed rotary press. This newer and much faster type of press rims off of a thousand pound roll of paper. The sheet-fed presses were capable of running only about 6,000 impressions an hour. The webfed press can run up to 17,000 impressions an hour. By cutting the press time considerably, we can to some degree hold down the increase in cost for the 44% increase in contents.

However, the change in presses is going to necessitate a change in paper stock. The coated, glossy sheet that we have been using dries too slowly to be used ‘ on the web-fed press, or we would continue using it. In order to use the paper we presently use, it would be necessary to install an oven through which the paper would run in order to dry the ink quicker. Otherwise, the glossy sheet would result in considerable offsetting onto the next copy. An oven would cost thirty to forty thousand dollars, and presently we are the only printing customers that would need it. Hence, its addition is not now economically feasible.

We will use the highest quality paper stock the rapid drying ink will permit us to use, without producing a smeared copy. In other words, we still intend to produce the highest quality paper we can insofar as materials are concerned. We will continue to try to improve the content of the paper, and will try to select the best material submitted to us f or publication.

The enlargement of the paper is going to necessitate an increase in our subscription price. Single subscriptions will be, after January 1, 1974, 87.50 per year. However, if you should want to purchase your subscription five years at a time, the price will be $30.00, or still at the rate of $6.00 per year. We will have to make some change in our group subscription price. Subscriptions in groups of 10 or more will be $6.00 per year. Ten subscriptions can be purchased on the $5.00 per month basis. With many people getting raises in pay, perhaps we can begin to talk in terms of 20 subscriptions for $ 10. 00 per month, rather than 10 for $5.00 per month.

In addition to getting 44% more copy in an issue, we now will have access to color on all sixteen pages, rather than only on eight pages as has been true until now. We also think we will get a better and more consistent printing job on the web-fed press (better registration, for you printers) than on the sheet-fed presses. We will continue to use a photograph on the cover, and otherwise maintain the same basic make-up of the paper. We are, however, going to change the type face we are using. We have been using 10 point Bodoni, and will be switching to 10 point English. The new typeface is a little lighter than Bodoni, and appears to be larger. We think you will like it better. It is the same font as is used in Pitching for the Master, in case you are familiar with that free paper edited and written by Lindy McDaniel, but also published by the Cogdill Foundation.

We have never tried to keep any secrets about the publication of Truth Magazine. I have never understood why brethren were so secretive about how many copies of a paper they were printing. We have been running an average o about 4500 copies in recent months. A few months ago we had a printing cost increase of about $50.00 per week, which was not passed on to our subscribers. This amounted to a $2500 a year printing increase to us. The above-mentioned changes will increase our printing costs additionally a little more than $50.00 per week. Thus, we have had over $100.00 per week in printing costs increase since our subscription prices have been raised. With these changes, our printing prices will have increased over $5000.00 per year since we raised our prices. Though no exact computation has been made, I doubt that Truth Magazine is now paying even its own printing bill. Our printing bill alone for the paper will now run about $550 to $600 per week. That’s $27,500 to $30,000 per year, depending on how many copies we run.

So in addition to a subscription increase, we need to have an increase in our number of subscribers. We are increasing our subscription price 20%, which is the same percentage as our printing costs increase. But we are going to give you 44% more copy for this 20% increase in price, and hopefully, we will give you a more consistent top quality printing job. Some of the sixteen page monthly journals printed by brethren are selling for $5.00 per year. If we were going to charge proportionately, our subscription price would be about $20.00 per year. Other weeklies comparable in size to the proposed new Truth Magazine are comparably priced.

And while I am speaking of the unpleasant subject of price increases, I might as well lay before you the details concerning a necessary increase in the price of our bound volumes. We have been selling our bound volumes for $7.50 each. Each issue of the paper has been costing us ten cents. In a bound volume, you get fifty issues, which cost us $5.00 to print. It then costs us about $3.00 to have the volume bound. So you can see immediately how we have been coming out on bound volumes. Thus our bound volumes must also be increased in price. The Gospel Guardian recently has had to increase the price of their bound volumes to $10.00. Though this sounds very high, it is a realistic price, and will be our bound volume price hereafter.

We only bind two hundred copies each year. Everyone who purchases one of the bound volumes has a rare book from the beginning. Bound volume prices increase rapidly. Recently I heard of a Bound Volume I of Truth Magazine selling for $50.00. 1 personally have paid $20.00 for several of the early bound volumes, and still will do so. I think it is safe to say that you will never lose any money on bound volumes you purchase. They might even be a good investment! Our supply of bound volumes does not last long. For instance, we now can only supply Volumes XIV, XV, XVI, and as soon as we can get it to the bindery and back, Volume XVII. Our supply of the first three volumes listed is low. If you want one, you had better not wait long to order it. Young preachers who come to recognize the value of these bound volumes soon buy up all the extra copies available. So if you want one of the bound volumes, I recommend that you order soon. Perhaps you would like to have your name added to our permanent order file for bound volumes, and each new bound volume automatically will be sent to you when ready. We also have an automatic renewal plan whereby we automatically renew your subscription when it expires, and bill you for the renewal. By authorizing this automatic renewal plan, you can be assured that you will not miss any issues of Truth Magazine.

We hope you concur that enlargement of the paper is an improvement in it. We are sorry about the necessary price increase, but such are the bitter financial facts of life. There are some important and helpful things to be said in forthcoming issues of Truth Magazine, and we hope you stay around with us to read them. My main regret in increasing the size of the paper is the reflection upon it increasing my Truth Magazine work-load by 447o also. Now that is just what I have been needing! But we hope to bring you not only more, but better, reading material fifty weeks of each year . . . for some years to come, the good Lord permitting.

 

TRUTH MAGAZINE XVII: 43, pp. 3-6
September 6, 1973

By Luther Blackmon

On my desk is a picture of the church house at Bald Prairie, Texas where I suppose I “went to church” the first time. In my mother’s arms of course. I have heard her say that she had to take each one of us children outside just once. If you had known my mother you could understand the significance of that statement much better. Slip had not read Dr. Spock’s book and had the old-fashioned idea that children should obey their parents, especially when they were where they would disturb other people. But even if she had not felt that way about it, there was another fellow who had to be taken into consideration, Uncle Josh Raines, one of the elders. There was rarely ever any giggling or passing notes at Bald Prairie, during the life of Uncle Josh. He had a keen eye and he kept it on the audience a good part of the time. If he saw some of the youngsters talking or passing notes during the worship, he went back and took his seat with them. The silence then would be almost deafening. Uncle Josh, as he was commonly known by his friends, has passed on to his eternal reward, but the memory of him, for many years to come, will be with the people who knew him.

The cemetery where most of our folk are buried is just across the dirt road from the church building. When I am back there on a visit, (or to preach the funeral of a friend who has passed on, I usually go over into the cemetery where my loved ones lie. One day I was looking at the headstones and came to the one at the head of the grave of “Uncle Josh.” The lady who was with me, also an old friend, remarked, … They didn’t put on his headstone what he always said lie wanted there.” “What was that, I asked’!” “Always On Time. ” We both smiled at that because we both remembered that if there were only Uncle Josh and his wife, Aunt Lizzie, there when the time came to start, he started the singing. He was rough on what he considered to be wrong or less spiritual than it should be, but the world and especially the churches, could use a lot more like Uncle Josh.

TRUTH MAGAZINE XVII: 43, p. 2
September 6, 1973