Truth Magazine

By Richie Thetford

I believe that all of us have asked at one time or an-other “what is love?” After all the definitions, stories, and other sources are used to tell what love is, it can be summed up as “a strong attachment or an affection for someone or something.” Let’s take a moment to consider and think about love.

God Shows Us Love

Our heavenly Father showed us the greatest example of love when he sent his only Son to this earth. John writes: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus walked among men while teaching what one must do to be saved (Mark 16:15-16). He then took all the sins of man to the cross with him where he suffered and died and arose again so that we might have forgiveness of sin. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). God certainly showed us what love is, in that out of a strong affection for man, he sent his Son to save man.

The Love We Show

There are many individuals around us that show their affection to Jesus by the way they live. But often times we are too busy to notice the love exemplified by those individuals even though they are in our “own backyard.” We have not stopped to “smell the roses” as we travel down life’s highway. Look around, what do we see? Do we notice those in our congregation that are letting their light shine for Christ as evidenced by their love? If so, based on their strong affection to serve him, in what ways do we see Jesus living in them? There certainly is love out there among us, we just have to look for it. One of our sisters in Christ, Ellen Kyle, stopped long enough to see what love is as she penned this beautiful poem.

My Own Back Yard

I was sitting and wondering what is love,

The kind described by God above,

How will I know it, how will I see,

God please show this love to me.

I was wondering, hoping for an answer to my prayer,

Then suddenly I understood, it was everywhere.

I saw it in a couple who had a loved one slip away,

And came to worship that very same day.

I saw it in a woman struggling with ill health,

And never once showed she felt sorry for herself.

I saw it in a couple so elderly and frail,

Who always are so friendly and attend without fail.

I saw it in a man who gives his time to teach,

Because the lost he loves and wants so much to reach.

I saw it in a preacher who’s not afraid to cry,

And say how much he loves us and for heaven we must try.

I saw it in his wife, who tries God’s ways to live,

I saw her daily walk and that she has so much to give.

I saw it in a woman that who through unfailing love,

Has done so very much to help me know God above.

I saw it in the families who teach their children right,

And have not given up the struggle no matter how hard the fight.

I saw it in the teens who gave in to their peers,

And came and repented, their eyes filled with tears.

I saw it in the ones who always come alone,

When their spouses chose to just stay home.

I saw it in friends that have done so much for me,

They are always there to encourage and to uplift me.

Lord help me to remember when my search for love seems hard,

I only need to look in my own backyard.

Ellen Kyle

When we are doing our part for Jesus Christ then our light (love) will shine brightly. Jesus said: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt 5:16). It is through our love that we encourage and uplift one an-other. In this troubled world, we often only need to turn and look in our own backyard for an example of the affection that others are showing toward Christ, realizing that God gave them the greatest gift of all, and as a result, they are showing their love in return. Let us always strive to “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” (Heb.10:24).

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 20, p. 5
October 17, 1996

By Harry R. Osborne

While in Lithuania last spring, I saw living conditions unheard of in this country. We had classes in homes that would have been condemned even in the slum areas of our inner cities. Many people had little to eat and only one or two outfits of clothes. They accepted it as a normal fact of life, but it made me think about how materialistic American culture is today.

Our society seems obsessed with wealth and material possessions. Whether young or old, that pattern is clear to detect in the people of our time. Among some young people, peers are judged on the basis of what label is found on their shirt and jeans. Among some adults, the basis of such judgments are too often made on one’s perceived wealth and status.

Television has done much to reinforce this inflated importance of money and possessions. Commercials bombard us with the message that we can be “in” or respected if we just had the right car, fine jewelry, a more expensive house, and the list goes on. There is even a program exalting the extravagance of the wealthy, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”

Is our life to be used in pursuit of material wealth? Is the amassing of things the priority in life? Jesus said,

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt. 6:19-20).

While Jesus was here upon the earth, he talked with two different men on separate occasions about the peril of riches. They show the pull of materialism from two very distinct directions. Though the events took place almost two thou-sand years ago, the truths presented are as relevant today as they were then.

The first man experienced the pull of materialism as one who was trying to acquire wealth. He was not yet rich, but was seeking to gain through an inheritance. He came to Jesus saying, “Teacher, tell my brother to di-vide the inheritance with me.” To this Jesus replied, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” (Luke 2:14).

Jesus knew this man’s problem. The man had his priori-ties in the wrong place  on the material things rather than the eternal things. Jesus said, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15). He went on to relate the following parable:

The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, “What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?” So he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry”‘ (Luke 12:16-19).

God, however, looked at these things in a different way. Jesus declared God’s view saying, “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:20-21).

Christ wants us to understand where the true treasure may be found. It is not to be found upon this earth, but in the eternal realm. The true treasure cannot be locked up in a bank or sheltered in an investment, but is found in service to God.

The second man experienced the pull of materialism as one who was already rich and desired to maintain that wealth. He even had some interest in spiritual things. He came to Jesus asking, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). His problem was not a total lack of desire for heavenly things, but misplaced priorities.

Jesus, understanding the man’s problem, instructed him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Luke 18:22).

The Bible then records, “But when he heard this, he be-came very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, `How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God’ (Luke 18:23-25).

Why is it so difficult for the wealthy to enter God’s kingdom? Because it demands that they place the things of God as their first priority rather than themselves or their material possessions. The apostle Paul gave the following charge in this regard:

Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life (1 Tim. 6:17-19).

In this age of affluence, all of us need to examine our-selves to see how materialism is pulling on us. Let us be thankful for that which we have, but let us make sure that our true treasure is measured in spiritual terms. This will be accomplished only as we honestly and objectively examine ourselves by the standard of our Lord as revealed in his truth.

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 19, p. 14-15
October 3, 1996

By Norman Midgette

Robert Burns once wrote, “Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.” What he did not reveal was the cause. All the cruelty this world inflicts on itself is brought about by the fiery zeal and deceitful mind of Satan. Many today are like the deceived Jews of old. Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father it is your will to do” (John 8:44). Hope for the Christian is found in the fact that “greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). This, however, does not protect from trial and persecution; it only invites it.

The resurrection of Christ set the stage for the greatest war of the ages. God said, “And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man child. . . . And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, that keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus” (Rev. 12:13, 17). As long as the earth stands, this is the foundation for enduring persecution of the church. As long as this dragon roams the earth, he will breath fires of pain on the church and with his claws try to rake it into the ground.

If he cannot do it with twisted words, he will do it with the sharpened sword. He will use intelligent hypocrites in high places or the ignorant masses led around by wolves in sheep’s clothing. He will persecute with the pen and sneer of the humanist, or with the sword, censorship, and jail of the communists. Among our closest friends, in today’s social climate, he has blurred their thinking of what is moral and has them calling that which is right, wrong and that which is bad, good. Our predominate fear is usually of persecution from without, but the greater destruction and carnage against the church in recent generations has been masterminded by Satan from within. Simply reflect on the present institutionalism, liberalism, social gospel programs, and church reorganization through sponsoring elderships and sponsoring churches.

We never know how, where, nor when Satan will attack again so we must build the walls of Zion with the sword of offense in one hand and hold high the shield of defense with the other. He is a relentless enemy, using at times the peace of compromise and in other ages the weapons of death.

However, the promises from the revelation of God and 2000 years of human experience have proven that physical persecution will not destroy the church but is actually a factor helping it grow (Acts 8:4). Since this is the case, does Satan defeat his own cause by persecuting us? Is this a sign of weakness on his part? Seneca, an outstanding Roman Senator and early tutor of Nero, once said, “All cruelty springs from weakness.” Satan has lost and he knows it. The resurrection of Christ proves it. Since Satan has no power to turn a committed mind from God he can only re-sort to the devices of a loser  deception, deceit, and death. With these he has been evilly successful.

Our eyes need to be open always to the fact that Satan will use every evil person, law, organization, or government to defeat us. But, he will fail and we will grow, even in persecution, if we remain faithful. He may win a few battles, but we will win the war.

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 19, p. 12
October 3, 1996

By Connie W. Adams

The Corinthian church had many faults to overcome, not the least of which was the tendency to exalt human wisdom above divine simplicity. The simple gospel was foolishness unto the Greeks (1 Cor. 1:23). Apparently, some in the church in Corinth sought a synthesis between the gospel and Greek philosophy. In that number were some who were “puffed up” with human wisdom and who looked with disdain upon Paul and the other apostles. In a passage filled with irony, Paul checks this notion. He said:

For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, be ye are strong; ye are honorable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; and labor, working with our hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and the off-scouring of all things unto this day (1 Cor. 4:9-13).

As gladiators sent into the arena to be slain and devoured by wild beasts as a spectacle to those in the stands, even so, the apostles were looked upon as a curiosity to the world and their debasement provided amusement for the worldly wise. They were counted as filth washed from the body, unworthy of the slightest respect. Paul and his companions suffered such indignity for the sake of the Corinthians and others they taught in order to enhance their spiritual state. It was through the labor of such a despised one that they had received the gospel. “For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” (4:15).

The world still considers those who live by the principles of the gospel to be “fools.” Let some high ranking official state a religious conviction and watch the secular press go into orbit. A recent instance of this was found in a speech made on April 9, 1996 by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia before the Mississippi College School of Law. He said, “Devout Christians are destined to be regarded as fools in modern society … We are fools for Christ’s sake . . .We must pray for courage to endure the scorn of the sophisticated world . . . Surely those who adhere to all or most of these traditional Christian beliefs are to be regarded as simple-minded.” Some of his remarks were draped in sarcasm aimed directly at those worldly sophisticates who deprecate the principles and values which believers in Christ hold dear.

That was enough to start a firestorm. Richard Cohen of the Washington Post wrote: “I think this Supreme Court justice is a cheap shot artist.” He characterized Scalia’s remarks as “foolishness,” said they were “jarring” and suggested that the judge was not suited to sit in on any case involving the separation of church and state. Jamin B. Raskin, professor of constitutional law at American University in Washington, D.C. said Scalia “stepped over the line of what is proper . . . we expect Supreme Court justices to be the most secular of our public servants.”

You would think that expressions of faith were new to this justice of the court or to other leaders in our nation. Not so. The first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court was John Jay who was also governor of New York at one time. In 1816 he said, “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers” (Johnston, The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Vol. 4, p. 393). As late as 1952, justice William O. Douglas wrote: “We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being” (Case of Zorach vs. Clauson). One of the more liberal judges we have ever had was chief justice Earl Warren. Yet, in a speech in 1954 which was reported in Time magazine, he said:

I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the Savior have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses … whether we look to the first Charter of Virginia . . . or to the Charter of New England . . . or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay . . . or to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut . . . the same objective is present … a Christian land governed by Christian principles. I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it: freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of powers to the people . . . I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country (“Breakfast in Washington,” Time, February 14, 1954, p. 49).

We could multiply quotes from George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan all of whom made public their views concerning the need for adherence to the principles of the Bible and a conviction that there is a divine Providence that guides the destiny of nations. Are we to write them all off as “fools”?

The most despised and scorned people in our land today, the most maligned and misrepresented are those who stand up for Bible principles whether in matters of morals or doctrine. Movies and television shows habitually depict religious figures who represent any aspect of so-called Christianity as hypocritical, wimps, or simpletons. Academia is notorious for heaping scorn upon Bible believers. The press has an obvious bias against Bible believers. They are unable to completely disguise their disdain. Watch for buzz words or phrases which are dead give-ways. “Fire and brimstone fundamentalists” or “Biblical literalists” or “rightwing radical fundamentalists.”

Even in conflicts among brethren which involve a liberal vs. conservative stance, those who insist on adherence to what the Bible teaches are described as “legalists,” “antis,” “theological backwaters.” In the nineteenth century conflict over instrumental music and missionary societies, David Lipscomb was caricatured as an old woman trying to sweep back the ocean with a broom. He was “non-progressive.” It is not popular to be a faithful Christian. Even among those who profess to follow the Lord, scorn is heaped upon those who are outspoken about what all of us used to consider plain, everyday godly character. Preach on modesty and make it plain enough to be clearly understood and you will soon learn what I mean. Speak on women’s role in either the church or the home and be prepared to either take it on the chin or duck! Preach forceful and clear sermons on fundamental truths that draw a line between denominational error and the will of God and then brace yourself. Warn of dangers and trends among us and then be prepared.

Well, brethren, with Paul, if the world, or the brethren, think us “beside ourselves” or consider us “a spectacle” fit only for sport and destruction, then we will just have to be “fools for Christ’s sake.” Are you willing to pay the price?

(Thanks to the June, 1996 issue of Focus On The Family newsletter by James Dobson for quotes and documentation from justices and presidents.)

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 19, p. 3-4
October 3, 1996