Truth Magazine

By Bill Reeves

The beginning of the gospel in Spanish in our Southwest (Texas) and Mexico dates from the 1930s. In the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas an Anglo-American brother converted a laborer, Rosendo Cantú, who then began to preach in Spanish, making converts. About 1939 brother John Wolfe was instrumental in getting brother Pedro Rivas of Mexico to begin preaching in Mexico. Congregations began to be established in the northern half of Mexico and on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border. Brothers Harris Goodwin, Wayne Partain, and I first went into Mexico to preach in 1945, cooperating with brother Rivas and with another brother, Francisco Avila. In 1949 brother Partain and I began preaching in Spanish in South Texas, on both sides of the border with Mexico.

Converts from south Texas, following the harvests northward as the crops matured, were instrumental in converting Hispanics in the interior of our country. Some of these migrant workers remained in the interior and north to raise their families in their localities, and thus Spanish-speaking churches were established. (About 1970 I conducted a wedding in Spanish, of all places, in Ohio, and held a gospel meeting in Spanish in Chicago!)

By 1950 there were beginnings and churches also in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Miami, and Tampa, as well as along the West Coast, in the Los Angeles area. After World War II was concluded, many dedicated Anglo-American brethren began to take the gospel into foreign lands, including Spanish-speaking nations. By the middle and the second half of the 50s, the institutional-centralization issue crystallized, and now there were “liberal” and “anti” churches among the Hispanics. By invitation of brethren in Latin-America, brothers Wayne Partain, Joe Soto, Ruben Amador, and I began to enter and preach in Central America and in the Caribbean, and many churches came out of liberalism.

Royce Chandler and Wayne Partain first went to Colombia, South America in August 1977, then Wayne and his wife, Faye, were there the first part of 1978 to help start the church in Bogotá. Since then several of us have made trips into the country (Royce more than anyone else). At the present time, our preaching brethren (especially Néstor Bermudez, Jaime Restrepo, and Carlos Mantilla) are in great danger since the FARC (main guerrilla group) has marked “evangelical” preachers for extermination (35 were killed last year).
In about 1980 a brother in Chiapas (southern-most state of Mexico, bordering Guatemala) saw a tract in Spanish that I had written on the “issues”and requested that someone come teach them the truth. From that event the truth spread into the Yucatan Peninsula and into Central America. Gospel meetings  are constantly being conducted throughout Latin-America and Spain by a number of preachers, such as Valente Rodríguez, Mark Reeves, and others.

Brother Efraín Pérez was instrumental in establishing congregations in Chile and in Spain. Brother Carlos Capelli, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, came out of institutionalism and has established congregations and preached in several South American countries and elsewhere. Brother Gardner Hall and brother Tom Holley worked in Argentina, and now for years Gardner has worked in the New York City area. From New Jersey brother Jerry Falk went into Spain and has been there for years now, preaching principally in Barcelona and Seville. In a city near Seville, Dos Hermanas, some brethren wrote brother Partain, after seeing some of our writings in Spanish, and so we went to visit them, and there is now a strong congregation in that city.

Time and space fail me to mention all the able, devout, gospel preachers in Latin-America, whose work I know personally and commend. A few are: Vicente Ramírez, Pedro Molina, and Francisco Rodríguez in Mexico; Nino Estévez and Greg Roark in Venezuela; Santiago Soto and Fernando Castaño in Costa Rica; Eliseo Mirón in El Salvador; Moisés Abarca, Emilio Acevedo, Juan Canelo, Ralph Michell, and others, in Chile. There are conservative congregations throughout Mexico, and in all of the Central American countries, and in nearly all of those of South America.

Brother Partain and I presently have full-length (verse-by-verse) commentaries in Spanish on every book of the New Testament (except Mark and Luke), and also on Leviticus and Daniel. Twenty-five years ago I translated brother Homer Hailey’s syllabus on the Minor Prophets. Wayne has several volumes in Spanish on Sermons And Articles. I have over 5000 questions and answers covering the New Testament books, chapter by chapter, as also debates’ notes, and over 500 Queries & Answers on Bible subjects. Brother Gardner Hall publishes a fine paper, Creced, which has been instrumental in opening many doors in such places as Cuba. Mark Reeves has done works in Spanish on Proverbs and Nehemiah.

Brother Gardner Hall’s publication, Creced, and the literature that brother Partain and I have prepared, currently are opening many doors of opportunity in Cuba, as brethren there learn of the errors of centralization and institutionalism. Brother Ruben Amador is making several trips per year into Cuba to follow up on contacts.

Brethren are urged to stay in close touch with the evangelists that they support, asking them questions about certain issues, because some of those in the Spanish field do not have convictions. Brethren either need to visit them or have them come to visit the churches in the States, so that they can know them well. This is necessary for an avoidance of fellowship with men who are not worthy of the support they receive. (In some cases, brethren should investigate even the men who recommend preachers for support.)

Hispanics have migrated into many, many countries. I have preached in Spanish, of all places, in Geneva, Switzerland and in Montreal, Canada. Who would have thought it? While preaching in two different cities in Alaska, I met Hispanic brethren I had known in Texas and Mexico. We mail Spanish literature even to Australia. Now, throughout the United States, in places where until recently Hispanics and Spanish were relatively unknown, there are growing Hispanic populations! What a wonderful opportunity to preach the gospel to these people who have ties and roots throughout Spanish-speaking countries. In every opportunity that presents itself to me to conduct gospel meetings in English, I encourage young men to learn Spanish in high school, with the view in mind of giving themselves to preaching in Spanish. Parents and preachers: help me stimulate a desire in these young people to study Spanish (making straight A’s!) that they might capacitate themselves to be instrumental in reaching the growing Hispanic population in our country. Requests are multiplying recently for help in reaching such Hispanics. (As I write, I have just received an e-mail with such a request.) Here is a “foreign” field in which to preach without one’s leaving his own country! As the apostle Paul desired to preach in Spain (Rom. 15:28), let many of us desire to preach in Spanish!
    
blaitch@apex.net

By Robert W. Nichols

Could you conceive of a day when there are only four preachers working full time in all 50 of the United States? Japan with one half the population of the United States and only two faithful gospel preachers is now in that position. With an official population of 126,549,976 crowded into an area smaller than California and only 0.7% of them professing Christianity, Japan is truly “white already unto harvest.” 

Francis Xavier, the famous Jesuit priest, provided the first image the Japanese had of Christianity. He arrived on August 15, 1549. His initial success was followed by persecution, banishment, religious wars, torture, imprisonment, and finally closure of the country for two and a half centuries. Hundreds were crucified and over 30,000 were killed at one time for holding to this corrupted form of Christianity. 

After a show of force by Commodore Perry, Japan opened its doors to the West in 1853. Protestant evangelistic efforts began in 1859 and have continued since then with individual converts remaining less than 1% of the population. Currently the average Protestant congregation numbers 17 and has less than one baptism per year.

On Tuesday, April 12, 1892, brother J.M. McCaleb of Hickman County, Tennessee, arrived in Yokohama to spend more than 40 years in Japan. Since that time more than a hundred families and single people have come to Japan to tell the story of Jesus, but few remained very long. Unfortunately, of these, only five preachers — Robert P. Nichols, W.C. Hinton, Charles Gentry, Robert W. Nichols, and Randy Reese — have not been involved in institutionalism or the sponsoring church arrangement. Now only two preachers, Robert P. Nichols and Robert W. Nichols are working with six churches in Japan.

What has been the major impediment to the spread of New Testament Christianity in Japan? It’s tempting to assume that because of their industry and technology, the Japanese are pretty much secularized. That’s a big mistake. While it is true that many do not believe in a specific religion, they do have a sense of religion, and engage in a wide variety of religious activities and the superstitions of Buddhism and Shintoism as “traditional customs.” For example, more than 70 million people recently took part in “Hatsu-Mode,” which is the New Years’ visit to a Shrine or Temple to pray for long life and happiness during the coming year. Nearly 75 percent of the Japanese people will visit family graves once or twice a year to appease their ancestors’ souls. All of which leads one to think that Paul’s statement to the Athenians might well be applied to the people of Japan, “I perceive that in all things ye are very religious (superstitious).”

Christianity seems to be one of the few forces from the West that actually threaten the Japanese identity. The true religion of Japan is Nihonkyo (Japanism) which defines a Japanese and makes him Japanese. Nihonkyo embodies the tendency to operate according to group and context, rather than universal principle. Christians arrive in Japan preaching a doctrine that is true for all circumstances. The Japanese think that is too universal, too abstract, and not concerned enough about the specifics of human relations. In short, it is too logical. If the demands of the community are in conflict with the demands of God, Christianity teaches men to follow God. This takes great courage in any society but Japanese think of this as part of the Western mythology about individual autonomy. For the Japanese, it is well-nigh unthinkable to forsake the group for principle or belief, no matter how deeply felt.

Christianity is considered un-Japanese. One woman said quite plainly, that she had a great deal of respect for the teachings of Christ, but she could never become a Christian because she was Japanese. For her, Christianity was too alien. It might work for Americans, but it was incompatible with being Japanese. Many Christians are afraid to express their faith to family and friends. On the way home from Sunday worship Christians will tell their friends that they have been studying English even when the worship was in the Japanese language. Concern about what others think truly guides and greatly dominates daily life and the decision making of the Japanese. The opinions of others are often taken more seriously than principles of right and wrong. A still untaught Japanese Christian stated it this way, “Human relations must come before the Truth in the Bible, and not the Bible before human relationships.” In Japanese thinking, religion is a “tool” for gaining one’s material goals and is subordinate to human relationships.

Today, the older generation is still worshiping the Emperor as a god, and many are telling local Christians that “religion is not for the living, but for the dead.”  The tide is changing, and among the younger generation, they are beginning to show an interest in “Western” Christianity. Mass meetings and mass appeals are not yet possible. Converts are made today by teaching them one by one in their own language. In Japan we are forced to remember that Christ did not say, “Go and address the great multitudes,” but, “Go and preach the gospel to every creature.”

We teach 45 to 50 weekly and 80 to 90 on a monthly basis, but they are not in one city. They are scattered over four political areas we would call “states” but the Japanese call “prefectures.” Each week we have been meeting in our home, in two homes of local Christians, the homes of three non-Christians, the Osaka national prison, a neighborhood association building, and a YWCA. We also meet monthly in another non-Christian home plus a meeting on a U.S. military base. We now have twelve regularly scheduled Bible studies meeting in ten different places. 

Sunday is our busiest day. On a typical Sunday we leave our home in the little town of Ichinomiya at 8:00 a.m. and pick up sister Moritani and brother Okamoto on our way to worship in Japanese at 8:30 in the city of Yamasaki. By eleven we are on our way to Japan’s third largest city of Osaka for both English and Japanese Bible study and worship beginning at 1:30 P.M. at the Umeda YWCA. For our third meeting place, we drive to the home of a Christian in the southern part of Osaka city. The fourth and final meeting place of the day is still further south of Osaka in the city of Matsubara. Evening worship in the Japanese language ends about 9:00 p.m. We still have more than two hours of driving to do before reaching home. The toll roads for this one day of driving cost 7,300 yen or $65 to $75 and gasoline is $3.60 to $4.00 a gallon, depending on the exchange rate. In this way we are able to teach what would be a nice small congregation in the USA. 

Not only is the need great, but Japan is one of the few countries in the east where preachers may enter freely, live where they please, and teach without hindrance of any kind. Japan’s doors are wide open to men who would preach the gospel. In recent years one or more souls are baptized into Christ for every ten Japanese Christians. The future of the Lord’s church in Japan is as bright as the promises of God.

1011-65 Azumi, Ichinomiya-cho, Shiso-gun, Hyogo-ken  671-4131 Japan, Orientbobw@aol.com

By Johnie Edwards

Hundreds of years ago, the weeping prophet, cried out the word of the Lord in the ears of God’s people, “Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit” (Jer. 2:11). Many today have changed their glory for that which is worthless.

1. Non-Profit Gods. Like the nation of Israel, some have changed the glory of GOD by being “. . . carried away unto these dumb idols” (1 Cor. 12:2). Many have allowed “the god of this world” to blind their minds” (2 Cor. 4:4). To serve false gods is but to change glory for the worthless.

2. Non-Profit Words. Paul’s charge to Timothy was to remind the brethren, “. . . that they strive not about words to no profit” (2 Tim. 2:14) . Some are not content to just teach the word of God but are given to “. . . fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying” (1 Tim. 1:4). We must not “give heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth” (Tit. 1:14) .

3. Non-Profit Preaching. Some preaching does not profit. The Hebrew writer said, “. . . but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Heb. 4:2). You see, this is so, because, “ But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6). Unbelieved preaching is not very profitable for the hearer.

4. Non-Profit Faith. James asked, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him” (Jas. 2:14)? Can the kind of faith which produces no action save? Take the time to read the illustrations of James to understand that “. . . faith without works is dead” (Jas. 2:15-26).

Checked what’s profitable lately?

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By Kyle Campbell

In Hebrews 12:18-24, the apostle Paul describes the glory of the new covenant as compared to the old. His comparison is derived from Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. Mount Sinai represents the old covenant while the Mount Zion represents the new covenant. In verse 24, Jesus is placed last in the listing of the heavenly citizens as a climax because it is his single offering that has made perfection possible (10:14) and because his blood brings men to God.

In saying that he is the mediator of the new covenant and that his blood benefits, the author again repeats his main theme. The sprinkled blood is not a reference to the sprinkling of blood at the Passover but to the covenant blood, which ratified the agreement God made with the Israelites (Exod. 24:4-8), and in Hebrews represents the blood of Jesus that ratified the new covenant (Heb. 9:18; 10:22). It speaks “better things” because its message reveals the true extent of God’s grace. The blood of Abel cried for vengeance against Abel’s murderer (Gen. 4:10), but the blood of Christ opens the way to heaven. The blood of Christ says many things to a lost humanity, and it is the purpose of this article to investigate what the “voice of the blood” says.

The Blood of Christ Speaks of Sacrifice

In Hebrews 9:22, there can be no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. The blood makes the atonement and Christ readily sacrificed his for our salvation. Atonement is merely the act by which God restores a relationship of harmony and unity between himself and human beings. It was clear that animal blood could not remove sins from God’s sight (Heb. 10:4). Animals cannot make moral judgment, either right or wrong, and therefore are incapable of sin. But man is a free moral agent and Jesus, the Son of Man, was spotless and unblemished or sinless, even though he was tempted as we are (Heb. 4:15). Therefore, his shed blood made the perfect sacrifice to separate the world’s sins from God (1 Pet. 1:18-20).

The Blood of Christ Speaks of Satisfaction

Romans 3:24-26 states that Christ was a propitiation or covering of our sins. He satisfied the wages of sin (Rom. 6:23). Justice demanded that he chastise sins committed  under the old covenant. The death of Jesus allowed God to be righteous in passing over the sins committed before the coming of Christ and in justifying sinners who obey Christ now. Colossians 1:20 says that the blood of Christ made peace between God and man. Only the blood of Christ could satisfy the separation that existed between the two.

The Blood of Christ Speaks of Substitution

It was sinful man who deserved to die on a cross, but because of the wonderful love of God, we can be spared from spiritual death (Rom. 5:6). All of our iniquity was placed upon Christ (Isa. 53:5-6), although we deserved to die in recompense for our sins (Isa. 53:8; Rom. 6:23). The only way we could have ever become righteous like God is to have Christ’s substituting blood (2 Cor. 5:21).

The Blood of Christ Speaks of Submission

In Matthew 26:39, when Jesus prayed at Gethsemane, we see the portrait of our Lord willingly submitting himself to the agonies of the cross and separation from his Father in heaven. Jesus learned obedience from the things he suffered (Heb. 5:8-9). No one made our Lord give up his life. He did this of his own accord (John 10:17-18).

The Blood of Christ Speaks of Salvation

In Matthew 26:28, Jesus states that his blood was poured out for the forgiveness of sins. Without the forgiveness of sins, there could be no salvation. Ephesians 1:7 reiterates that redemption and forgiveness of trespasses is obtained through the blood of Christ.

The Blood of Christ Speaks of Security

Although Christians are saved by the blood of Christ, they must remain faithful unto death (Rev. 2:10). Inevitably, they will sin (1 John 2:1; Rom. 3:23). John wrote in 1 John 1:7 that if we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus will cleanse us from all sin. This is a constant source of security for the faithful Christian.
    
Conclusion

Have you answered in obedience (Rom. 6:3-4)? Man owes a debt because of his sin (Rom. 3:23), but he cannot pay it. God can pay the debt, but he does not owe it. The answer is the blood of Jesus, which speaks of things far too wonderful for man to truly appreciate.

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