Truth Magazine

By Alexander Campbell

It is one of the distinguishing characteristics of our pleadings for reformation, that our press has always been open to our enemies. From the 4th day of July, 1823, till now, I have conducted a printing press which has issued a volume every year, and a number every month, without a single failure; and, sir, those volumes are filled with communications from our enemies, to speak in sectarian style, as from our friends. I believe, sir, mine is the only press in this nation that has systematically and undeviatingly given both sides on every question, and opened its pages to all sorts of opponents  Romanists, Protestants, infidel or sectarian, provided only he paid a decent regard to the laws of grammar and politeness.

I believe, sir, I may go farther and say, that my periodical was the first and the only religious periodical in the world which has pursued that course. They were, in those days, all pledged to some creed or party  all one sided. I have been shut out of all their pages. They dared not to admit my essays. They feared to let their readers hear from me on those subjects which they were inculcating. To those very persons that shut us out, we have tendered them page for page, line for line, word for word in our volumes. Some of them have accepted, some of them have declined.

We have then, sir, nothing secret, nothing clandestine. We have called for investigation, for documents, arguments, and evidence. On our pages all parties have been heard and responded to, so that our constant readers are the most intelligent persons in the religious world. They know both sides.

What, may I ask, is the augury of this? Does it omen the fear of light, or the love of darkness? Indicates it the fear of man, or the consciousness of truth and its eternal strength? Is this the way that conscious error or weakness intrude themselves upon the public ear? No, sir. No, fellow-citizens, you know it is not.

You cannot, with all your various and multifarious modes of thinking, imagine a course more creditable, more just, more candid, more honorable before heaven and earth than the course I have pursued, for the last twenty years, in con-ducting this great discussion of principles. We impute to no man, to no party, principles that they disavow. We fearlessly open and avow our own. We say to every man  hear, examine, judge, and decide for yourself.

Every distinguishing principle of this reformation has passed through an ordeal of the most fiery discrimination. And sir, as soon will the arm of mortal arrest the rising sun, or stop the planets in their course, as any mind stay the progress of truths that have been so clearly spoken by prophets and apostles, and that have passed through such a burning furnace unscathed and unimpaired. (Excerpt from speech by Alexander Campbell in his Debate on Human Creeds with N.L. Rice, contained in Campbell-Rice Debate [Lexington, KY: A.T. Skillman & Son, 1844], pp. 759-912, see p. 887.)

Guardian of Truth XL: 9 p. 21
May 2, 1996

 

By Jim McDonald

On January 2, 1996 R.J. Stevens and I met in the San Francisco International Airport to fly together for a preaching trip in the Philippine Islands. R.J. had flown from the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport while I had flown from Houston Intercontinental. We were to be joined in Manila by Ken Mans of Camino, California and Jerral Kay of Bentonville, Arkansas later that week. Flight from San Francisco via Seoul Korea took approximately 16 hours of flying time. We arrived in Manila Wednesday about 8:30 P.M.

Preparation For This Trip

Many months had been spent preparing for the trip: individuals who would go, places for preaching, scheduling itineraries and preparing material to either send ahead or carry with us. Through the permission of Maurice Barnett, 300 of his two volume sets on the doctrines and errors of Jehovah’s Witnesses had been copied and mailed via “M” Bag. Copying this material had taken long weeks and thanks are due many people: first to brother Barnett for his per-mission to reproduce this material for benefit of Filipino preachers; second to Dan and Karen Eddins (faithful Christians at the Loop 287 Church of Christ, Lufkin, Texas) who opened their print shop and allowed me permission to come and go as I pleased yet accepted no financial reimbursement for my extensive use of their equipment; to the Fourth and Groesbeck church in Lufkin, Texas who paid for printing this material and to David and Perry Weaks who bound the material into books. Several weeks were spent so that special postal bags, called “M” Bags, of the material might be sent ahead to different regions to wait for distribution upon our arrival there. By early October the final bags of this material were on their way to seven or eight different locations. And, with the single exception of Davao City, Mindanao, all of the bags did arrive.

Once “M” Bags of the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ material had been shipped, attention was shifted toward writing and printing four different tracts to be given to brethren. Some areas were troubled by the “one-cup issue” so a tract was prepared for that. A tract on “The New Birth” was written and the English copy was translated into Tagalog and Cebuano. Then two other tracts dealing with the “two covenants” and “Five Questions About the Church” were written and printed. When we completed our work more than 8500 different tracts had been printed for use of the brethren. Brethren in both the Loop 287 church in Lufkin, Texas and the Austin Street church in Marshall, Texas had spent much time assembling these tracts together for me.

In addition to the foregoing material, books, concordances, dictionaries and other study helps were purchased for the brethren’s use.

Preaching In Manila

Manila is the heart of the Philippines. Estimates of the greater Manila population range from 9-11 million. As one surveys this teeming mass of humanity, he wonders whether any even “near accurate” counting could ever be made of its people. There are many congregations in the metro area, but none would likely have attendance of more than 100. Some, in the more distant stretches of the city, have a small building but none (to my knowledge) of the congregations in the heart of the city owns their building. This is a hindrance to the work but due to the poverty of the members and the high price of both land and buildings, it is not likely to be altered any time soon, although the Santa Mesa church will soon meet in a second floor of a building that will be-long to them. Even so, the structure is very small and will be able to accommodate little more than 40-50 folks.

When we arrived wearily in Manila on January 3 and had gone through customs, both R.J. and I struggled with our many boxes and pieces of luggage. However, once we were outside the terminal all this passed into the hands of the 25-30 waiting brethren. We spent the night in the home of Ben and Delores Cruz and the following morning began a two day seminar for Manila area preachers. R.J. had pre-pared material for teaching music and song directing to the many Filipino preachers who attended the various seminars he helped with. For the brethren in all the places we went, this was one of the highlights of this trip. Two, three, and some times four hours a day were spent by R.J. as he helped Filipinos learn more about pitching and directing songs. and, immediate improvement was apparent! Filipinos will be blessed for years by the short visit R.J. was able to make to their nation in January 1996.

In addition to R.J.’s music instructions, I spoke to the upward of 70 brethren who attended on a variety of subjects: the inspiration of the Scriptures, the Old and New Testament, the New Testament Church, and exhortative lessons to preachers and brethren for unity, moral purity, and zeal in promoting the gospel of Christ.

Our seminar with the brethren ended on Friday. Saturday and Sunday were spent in preaching to Manila area congregations. Saturday R.J. and I preached at the Cubao congregation where Roman “Roger” Wanasen preaches. Because “mutual-edification” preachers from the States have made overtures to many Filipino preachers and have been received by brother Wanasen, I spoke on the errors of these brethren informing Filipino brethren of their peculiar views on evangelists, elders, and mutual-edification. These brethren are the remnants of the “no located preacher” positions of the late Carl Ketcherside and are making extensive effort to gain a foothold among faithful brethren. The modern preachers of this movement deny that they share all the views of brother Ketcherside that he defended in debate with various brethren (G.K. Wallace, et. al.), but they never identified any area of difference they had with Ketcherside’s early views and (so far as we could determine from reading their material) they parrot the same “old errors” of yesteryear: “evangelistic oversight,” preachers being “sent” by elders, “no-located” evangelists where there are elders, and contention for “mutual-edification” (every male member taking his turn at teaching, etc.). These doctrines wrought much havoc among brethren in the 1940s and ‘S0s and are a potential threat to the Philippine work. Any preacher going there needs to be aware of the danger and be prepared to warn brethren there what a viper they are receiving into their breasts when they receive these preachers. Brother Wanasen avers he does not believe their doctrines but he receives these men and aids them to make contact with many other unsuspecting Filipino brethren.

Sunday, January 7, R.J. spoke to brethren at Kapitbahayan and I spoke to the Pasay church and to brethren at the Leper Colony. There we met for the first time M.C. (Mario) Paderugao who preaches for these brethren and whose own health has greatly deteriorated. Brethren there indicated that brother Paderguao is in the last stages of this horrible disease. Relief was given to these brethren, supplied by American churches and brethren.

One of the greatest needs in the Manila area is funds to preach on the radio. Because of higher costs in the metropolitan area, radio time will be more expensive, but even so time should be available for $200 a month. With a population of 9-15 million, there is tremendous potential for good that a radio program in Metro-Manila could do. And Ben Cruz is an effective, convincing preacher to do such a work.

Ilocos Norte And Sur

Ken Mans and Jerral Kay arrived on Thursday and Fri-day (January 4, 5) respectively. Ken visited in the Angeles City area, joined by Jerral on Saturday. Both returned to Manila on Saturday night and spoke with the Cubao congregation where R.J. and I had preached the day before. On Monday, January 8 these two brethren left Manila to spend a week in the Cagayan region, working with Rody Gumpad and brethren in that region. R.J. and I left Manila the same morning for the Ilocos region where we spent the next five days. The four of us would rendezvous in Resurreccion, Pangisinan for a seminar there a week later.

Air flight from Manila to Laoag, Ilocos Norte took about 45 minutes, a radical contrast to the 8-10 hours required to make the same trip by bus. About 30 Ilocos preachers were on hand at the airport to greet us. Four days of hectic activities were spent here as R.J. and I visited and preached in different churches, conducting also a seminar for area preachers. About 65 preachers attended the seminar with attendance ranging upward to 100. During the total six weeks we were in the islands, about 420 preachers attended the eleven or twelve seminars we held on six different is-lands.

Basically, R.J. and I spoke to preachers as brethren and Jerral conducted lectureships for congregations (in two in-stances) in central regions where brethren from many congregations converged together. Over 700 people attended their Sinait (Ilocos Sur) lectureship.

When we disembarked the plane in Laoag City, we were in one of the most active and growing areas of all the Philippines so far as brethren are concerned. Two other regions have enthusiasm and growth similar to what these brethren experience: the Cagayan valley region of Northeast Luzon and the Pagadian City region of Mindanao. In the two provinces of Ilocos (Norte and Sur) there are over 100 churches and 2,000-3,000 Christians. Materno Sibayan, Sr. has been in this region for over 20 years and he (along with Vic Domingo) have been pioneers in this work of northwest Luzon.

There are many other preachers here and a host of able, younger ones. The key to the work in the region is the `joint efforts” these brethren conduct. Five or six preachers go into a new region where there are no Christians and at-tempt to set up studies in the villages. From this develops in due time another congregation. A couple of years ago I accompanied a team of these brethren as they were making initial efforts into a fishing village on the South China Sea. First, they met resistance, particularly from one of the matriarchs of the village. “Auntie” (as she was called by the folks there) was a Catholic and she discouraged the residents from hearing the preachers. Because so many of these were her children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, etc., she was an effective deterrent to the gospel. But, soon “Auntie” began to listen and to encourage those she had once discouraged. Baptisms began to result, but not “Auntie”!

On our May 1995 trip to the village and after “Auntie” had once more turned down the gospel invitation, Egdon Sabio (one of the most able of the preachers of the area, a dear friend of mine, and a “favorite” with “Auntie”) asked her, “Auntie, do you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God?” Her answer was quick and perceptive. “I am not going to answer that question, for I know what you will do. You will carry me out into the South China Sea and baptize me.” This January when R.J. went to the same fishing village and preached, “Auntie” heard the gospel again. This time she was willing to confess, “I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God,” and was subsequently baptized. Her obedience will open the way for many more in her family to follow her example. Another congregation scarcely two years old now meets in “Auntie’s” village. One of the preachers of the group preaches for it every Sunday and the brethren will move on to other areas to plant another congregation.

Being with brother Sibayan is always a joyful experience. He is the preacher and one of the elders of the Laoag City congregation, as well as preacher for the congregation in Sinait. This congregation is in the process of building a building and our seminar was held in the open space of what will ultimately be a block building. The roof is completed, giving protection from the rain and sun. One of the greatest needs of this area is for either a congregation or some brethren to provide funds for a radio program that might be aired from Laoag City for the whole region. Is there not some congregation who would provide $100-$150a month so that the message could be magnified throughout this region?

It was in the Bocos region that we began to baptize people and here our four day stint was concluded. Fifty-nine souls had confessed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and been baptized into him.

Umangan, Resurreccion, Pangasinan

R.J. and I had agreed with Ken and Jerral that we would meet for one seminar together at Resurreccion in Pangasinan. This is the home of Roger Wanasen and his father Hilario preaches for the congregation here. We desired to hold a preacher seminar here so that we might deal extensively with the errors of the “mutual-edification” brethren in the region that had received them. Brother Hilario was agree-able that we should come and accordingly made plans for the seminar. Many preachers from the region converged in this rural congregation and three days were spent dealing both with the errors of these brethren and other instructive teaching. R.J. continued his instructions in music; Ken, Jerral, and I spoke on a variety of matters.

Roger Salviejo had come to Sinait to get R.J. and myself on Friday, January 12. The seminar was scheduled to begin on Monday the 15th. Roger works with a number of congregations in this region and on the day of our arrival received notice of the loss of his support, quite a blow to him. He is totally without support and we believe he is a good man. Any congregation or individual able to support him would be appreciated. In the days “in-between” our arrival and the seminar R.J. visited with some of the area churches with Bert Enastacion while I visited and preached for congregations in the company of Roger Salviejo. One of these visited was a congregation that just a year ago was Pentecostal. Its preacher, Oliver Resurrecion, had been baptized when Ron Halbrook and I had preached in the Cagayan Valley region in May 1995. When Oliver returned home, he began to preach to his people, baptizing many of them and during this visit another five or six were baptized. Bibles and song books were given to this new congregation. On the Sunday prior to our Resurreccion seminar I preached in the home congregation of Donnie Arcega where about 90 adults were in attendance and 19 were baptized in a swimming pool. Donnie is a fine young man, struggling hard to maintain two or three congregations, burdened down with many responsibilities and greatly under-supported. He receives only $100 each month and needs another $100-$150 to even begin to make “ends meet.” Is there some individual interested in helping this sound young man in his work?

The seminar at Resurreccion was attended by about 90 preachers. The final result of it is yet to be determined, but brethren have material and knowledge of the doctrine of the “no-located preacher” brethren and can make their own decisions. (More to come.)

Guardian of Truth XL: 9 p. 18-20
May 2, 1996

By Ferrell Jenkins

Days five, six and seven of our Eastern Turkey adventure were spent driving in order to reach Mount Ararat. Without the prospect of reaching the area associated with Noah and the ark, we might not have spent so much time driving. This does not mean, however, that the area was not interesting. It just means that Turkey is a big country and we would be entering a mountainous area.

The Tigris-Euphrates Basin

We drove east from Sanliurfa through the Mesopotamian plain between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The plain of Harran was to the south, but to the north we could see mountains. A few miles further the terrain changed to rolling hills. All day we passed a number of tells (huvuk is the Turkish term; mounds burying the ruins of cities) indicating that the area was well populated in ancient times. In many instances the modern village is built on or adjacent to the tell. Most villages have a sheepfold made from branches, stones, mud bricks, or dung cakes. Fences for livestock are unknown in Turkey, making the job of a shepherd or herdsman important. Some of the villages in the area had a rock fence around the orchard and/or garden to keep the animals out. The green, likely irrigated, orchard was a beautiful contrast to the dry fields which surrounded them. I have seen similar gardens in the Sinai peninsula.

About 30 miles south of Viransehir, inside Syria, is Tel Halaf. The ruin is situated on the Habur River and is the site of ancient Gozan, the place where the Assyrians settled some of the exiled Israelites in 722 B.C. (2 Kings 17:6).

There is considerable evidence of past volcanic eruption throughout this region. In these areas the soil was much darker and in some villages the houses were made of the basalt stones. The temperature in the Tigris-Euphrates basin was in the low 90s, while in the mountains to the north at Erzurum it was in the mid-70s.

We continued on highway E90 past Kiziltepe for about 15 miles when we turned northwest toward Mardin. At this point we were about a mile from the Syrian border; we could see the fence separating the two countries. We were about 75 miles from the border of Iraq and less than 150 miles from Mosul, the site of ancient Nineveh. This was Assyrian territory in the ninth to seventh centuries B.C.

The Syrian Orthodox Monastery

Mardin is positioned high above the Tigris-Euphrates basin and along the northern edge of the Fertile Crescent. We stopped at the Syrian Orthodox monastery. Only two monks and a few children and workers live in the monastery. Much to our surprise, we met a monk who spoke excellent English and showed us the property.

The earliest part of the building had originally been dedicated to the sun god. A fifth century portion had served as a medical school. In the church, which dated to the fifth century A.D., we were shown an old Syriac Bible. The oldest Syriac manuscripts date to the fifth century A.D., but are kept at an-other place where the bishop lives. We saw two baptismal fonts where the Syrian Orthodox immerse infants. From the roof of the building we saw the caves in the mountain above the monastery where monks have lived in the past. We also had a magnificent view, looking toward Syria, of the plain below.

Christians of the third and fourth centuries conducted heated discussions concerning the nature of Jesus. The Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451, stated that Christ had both a human and a divine nature. Many of those associated with the Syrian Orthodox church held that Jesus had only a di-vine nature, a view called Monophysitism.

The Tigris River: Was Eden Near?

We continued from Mardin to Diyarbakir which has a – position high above the Tigris flood plain. This city has seen the passing of successive kingdoms  Hurrians, Urartians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Seleucids, Romans, et al. Not many towns can make such a claim. From a walled portion of the city we looked down on the Tigris river; the Turkish name is Dicle.

From the morning at Sanliurfa to the evening at Diyarbakir we saw a great difference in culture. Here, the city seems more like a typical American city  more activity, more life, the people seem much more active; their clothing is more western style. This city is the center of Kurdish activity and the police/military presence was much more evident. The road from Diyarbakir to Van is the northern boundary of the Kurdish rebels. Altogether on our trip we were stopped by the military about 30 times. Each time we showed our pass-ports, explained where we had been, where we were going and why we were there. We were always treated courteously and never sensed any danger. We did make it a point to do all of our driving during daylight hours. Along Lake Van the guns on several tanks were manned and pointed toward the mountains from which rebels might come.

The Tigris river is mentioned only twice in the Bible. The Bible says a river flowed out of Eden and then divided into four rivers. One of these rivers, the Tigris, is said to flow east of Assyria (Gen. 2:14). Could Eden have been situated in this region, rather than in southern Mesopotamia, we wondered. The only other reference to the Tigris is in Daniel 10:4. Daniel saw a vision on the banks of the river in the days of Cyrus the Persian king.

Van: Center of the Urartian Kingdom

and the Mountains of Ararat

On day six, after making pictures of the Tigris, we headed for Van. Passing rolling hills of beautiful fields of grain we began to see high, snow-capped mountains to the north. We crossed several small tributaries to the Tigris, saw many tells and some settlements of tent dwellers. In some areas the scenery was magnificent.

Lake Van is a large inland body of water of about 1400 square miles at an elevation of 5737 feet. The lake is fed by a number of rivers and is highly alkaline. It is said that folks sometimes wash their clothes in the lake. We drove along the south side of the lake where the elevation reaches 7324 feet at one point.

In Assyrian records this area was called Urartu. In the Bible it is called Ararat. The English term Ararat is a transliteration of the Hebrew term. The four references where the term appears are Genesis 8:4, 2 Kings 19:37, Isaiah 37:38, and Jeremiah 51:27. The King James version uses the term Armenia in 2 Kings 19:37 and Isaiah 37:38 be-cause that is what the territory was later called. The Septuagint uses Armenia only in Isaiah 37:38.

The ark of Noah is said to have “rested upon the mountains of Ararat” (Gen. 8:4). Note that it does not say “Mount Ararat” but the “mountains of Ararat.” The assassins of Sennacherib, after killing the king of Assyria at Nineveh in 681 B.C., escaped into “the land of Ararat” (2 Kings 19:37; Isa. 37:38). Jeremiah called upon the kingdom of Ararat to fight against Babylon (Jer. 51:27).

Paul Zimansky, in a recent article on Rusa II, the seventh century B.C. king of Urartu, describes the extent of the territory: “The kingdom that Rusa controlled in the second quarter of the seventh century BCE stretched across the mountainous terrain of eastern Anatolia approximately eight hundred miles from east to west and five hundred from north to south” (“An Urartian Ozymandias,” Biblical Archaeologist, June, 1995, 94). Dr. Oktay Belli says the name Urartu is not an ethnic term but a geographical one meaning “mountainous terrain” (The Capital of Urartu: Van, 20). Prior to the Urartians, this region was the home of the Hurrians.

At Van we stayed in a fairly new hotel called Hotel Urartu. The lobby was decorated with scenes reminiscent of the kingdom of Urartu. The people in Van were of a darker complexion than we had noted in other parts of Turkey and the dress was more typical of mountain attire.

On the seventh day we visited the museum. On display were many inscriptions in the cuneiform language which the Urartians borrowed from the Assyrians. There were several pieces of gold jewelry and works of bronze on exhibit. After having a leaky tire repaired, we drove around the castle or rock of Van.

Tushpa, the ancient city of the Urartians, was built on this rock, which provides a commanding view over the lake, and at the base of the rock. At the beginning of the 20th century the city of Van was built over the ancient ruins, but was destroyed by the Russians in 1916. The area now is nothing more than a grassy knoll. On the side of the rock and at the top there are inscriptions, the tombs of eighth and ninth century B.C. Urartian kings, and ruins of a temple. A short distance from Van is another site called Toprakkale which marks the Urartian fortress of Rusahinili.

We know that the Assyrians were a threat to the kingdoms of Israel and Judah for about two hundred years. It is impressive to know that they also maintained an active engagement with the kingdom of Urartu closer to home. One more part to the adventure.

This great Rock of Van” overlooks Lake Van in the ancient land of Uratu (Ararat). The Urartian king Rusa II ruled this area in the 7th century B.C. Ruins with cuneiform inscriptions can be seen near the top to the left of center. The minaret on the right is from an Ottoman mosque.

Guardian of Truth XL: 9 p. 16-17
May 2, 1996

By H.E. Phillips

Crime in all forms has been on the increase for more than twenty-five years. We will never solve the problem with legislation and police force. We can and should sup-press criminals by enforcing law and order, but the general picture will not be changed until we change the hearts of people. Jesus said, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man” (Matt. 15:18-20). He also said to lay up treasure in heaven and not upon earth, “for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:21). “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he . . .” (Prov. 23:7). “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directed his steps” (Prov. 16:9).

The increase in murders, rapes, riots, thefts, and destruction of property is because the hearts of the people involved are set upon this sort of life. Why? Because of the influences and impressions made upon their hearts by evil goals and influences. Most of them have never been shown the good way of the Lord. They know little or nothing of God’s word. Today nearly everything is framed in a setting of sex, usually leaving the impression of favoring illicit sex relations. Nudity, profane and vulgar language are seen and heard in nearly all areas of entertainment. Drunkenness, dope addiction, and wild hippie-type parties are shown through nearly all news media in a mildly approved setting, or at the best with indifference. Men and women in powerful and influential positions in government, education, entertainment, and even religion are caught cheating, stealing, lying, adultery, drunkenness, rioting, and even murder, and the average man just smiles and says, “Everybody does it; it could happen to anyone.”

A dark, pessimistic picture, you say? Yes, but it true. It is a very real problem in society today and no one can deny it. It is axiomatic that every effect has a cause. Until we know where the problem originates and begin to do some-thing about it, things will grow worse.

Since man’s conduct originates in his heart, it is obvious that his heart must be changed in order to really change his conduct. “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil, for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45). Why do young men and women accept the lowest standards of morality and become criminals and heathen who act like wild animals? It is because of what they see, hear and read. Certain publishers are making millions on pornography, novels on sex orgies and crime. Movie producers are seducing millions of young people by actually showing nudity and adultery on the screen. Television is almost entirely sex oriented; comedy, drama, and personality shows are built around illicit sex and sin, and are shown in the most able favorable light.

The entertainment industry has decided that one of the greatest causes of violence in America is the impression left upon the young and old by television programs that show violence. They realize that what people see and hear they think and do. Why cannot they realize that immorality, broken marriages, unwed mothers, venereal diseases, dope addiction, and nudity are the results of the same impressions made upon the hearts of people?

Satan works through lust of the heart and those who follow their lusts are lost to God. “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves” (Rom. 1:24). They are “alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Eph. 4:18). Persistent sin hardens the heart so that it is impenitent toward God (Rom. 2:5). The continual sin of Israel is pictured in these words: “By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Matt. 13:14, 15).

The function of the heart is divided into three parts, not considering the conscience. The intellect is that part which thinks (Matt. 9:4), reasons (Mark 2:8), understands (Matt. 13:15), and believes (Rom. 10:9, 10). This function depends entirely upon evidence received through the senses. The strongest impressions are made through sight and hearing.

The process of thinking and reasoning acts upon the emotion. Desire is created by the thought process stimulated by impressions made upon the intellect. Love and hate, sorrow and rejoicing, are emotional actions of the heart that grow out of reasoning upon something seen or heard. The heart may be “pricked” by what one hears and believes. Those on Pentecost who heard Peter tell of Christ were “pricked in their heart” and this resulted in their cry: “What shall we do?” The emotion of “love” for sin results in “hate” for righteousness; the “love” for truth and righteousness will result in “hate” for every evil way. Whatever the emotional state of the heart, it is produced by hearing, seeing, understanding, reasoning, and believing.

The will is a function of the heart that normally grows out of our emotional state. One may “resist” (Matt. 28:27) because of his feelings (emotion) about a certain thing. Sin is a matter of will. Because of the pleasure and joy of sinful practices, many will not see, hear, and understand, lest they change their minds (will) and obey the truth (Matt. 15:17-19). The heart intends  plans, purposes  the conduct of life and the words of mouth (Heb. 4:12; 2 Cor. 9:7; Acts 11:23).

What one deliberately does, good or bad, he does by his own will. His will to do or not do a certain thing is the direct result of his “feelings” (emotion) regarding the matter. His love, desire and rejoicing will lead him to will to do that thing. His hate, condemnation and sorrow will lead him to will to oppose the thing. His “feelings” are created by the function of his intellectual powers which are brought into operation by what one sees, hears and reads.

The real cause of sin is the impression made upon the heart by the “god of this world” who blinds the minds of them which believe not (2 Cor. 4:4), “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). Sin is pictured as a beautiful life of “freedom” and “happiness” that can never be realized by following the word of God. The heart of the person who accepts this will act in accord with his acceptance of right and wrong. The only way to change his life is to change his heart. The only power in this world to change the heart from sin is the living word of God; not a part of it, not a perverted version, but all of it and nothing more.

The good and honest heart seeks for truth. When he finds it he will accept it and enjoy a life never before realized. The heart is purified by faith (Acts 15:9), by obeying the truth (1 Pet. 1:22), by fleeing youthful lusts and following righteousness (2 Tim. 2:22).

Do you really believe a normal young man or woman can sincerely abhor the emphasis on sinful sex indulgence, despise the nudity and vulgarity so common today, the unlawful rioting and rebellion of many today, and the immoral conduct of people in high places? Well, they can! Thou-sands do. The reason is that they have been taught what is good and right. They have received this into the “good and honest heart” and out of love for good, and the desire to serve God, they “flee also youthful lusts” and “follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22).

If you are one who considers this person who follows the will of God “a square” you are right! He is just as square as the word of God. He is just square enough to make this world a little better because he has passed this way. He is just square enough to save some soul from eternal hell. He is just square enough to reject this philosophy of life that is “80 round, 80 firm, so fully packed” with sin and iniquity!

My brother and friend, the best contribution you can make to society today to make this a better world in which to live, and to make life healthier and happier, and to save millions from an untimely death and hell is to feed the hearts of as many as possible with the word of God. Give your children something to read besides filthy magazines. Provide your-self with reading material that will make you think in clean and right channels. Offer your relatives, friends and neighbors something to read that will expose the filthy trash upon which their hearts are fed through most avenues of communication, and give them something righteous to think about.

Guardian of Truth XL: 9 p. 14-15
May 2, 1996