the voice of truth international, volume 33

8/8/2019 The Voice of Truth International, Volume 33

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Three Views of LifeOwen Cosgrove

One lived because he was afraid to die -No hope inspired his soul;

Life in this world was all he sought;He had no other goal.

He had no thought of Hell's dark depthsOr Heaven's glory bright;He stepped from this life's lowly scene

Into eternal night.

Two died because he was afraid to live.Life's heavy burden's store

Weighed greatly on his weary soul -'Till he wanted life n o more.

He took the life he could not bearAnd snuffed the candle out,

And walked death's valley, dark and deep,Because of fear and doubt.

Three lived because he sought life's hopeAnd thought of God's great love,

And treasured all Christ's blessings hereAnd Heaven's home above.

And when the death call bade his soul

To Heaven's golden shore,

He went to live with God above



(from page 40) Who Am I? page 91)

1. He was a Gentle, not a Jew.2. Christians (who had a Jewish background) challenged him

about going into a Gentile home and teaching.3. What God has; you must not call ... ".4. Yes, ix brethren went along with him.5. The Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and his household, as

He had fallen on the Jewish belevers on the day ofPentecost, *in the beginning".

6. "Then remembered the word of the Lord, how He said,'John indeed baptized you with water, but you shall bebaptized with the Holy Spirit. "

7. *If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gaveus when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, whowas I that I wuld withstand God?"

8. They became silent and then they glorified God, aying,

imos

T h e n God has also granted tu the Gentiles repentance tolife.

9. They were scattered as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, and theypreached the word wherever they went, but to Jews only.

10. Cyprus and Cyrene; Antioch; Hellenists [Grecians]; Lord Jesus.11. They believed and turned to the Lord.12. Barnabas.13. He was glad and he encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they

should continue with the Lord.14. Believed = cut to the heart; turned to the Lord = obedience in repen-

tance and baptism; added to the Lord =the Lord added to the churchthose that were being saved.

I S . They assembled with the Antioch church for a year.18. In Antioch of Syria.



Editor-in-Chief: J.C. ChoateManaging Editor: Byron NicholsLayout Editors:

Betty Burton ChoateBarbara A. OliverColin McKee

Research Editor: Ellen McKeeTypesetting: Gay Nichols

Eulene RamseyArt Consultant: Steven B. ChoateComputer Consultant: Bradley S. ChoatePromotion: Dale Grissom, Mark Posey,

Buck Davenport, Don Hinds, Roger Mills,

Roy D. Baker, Alan R. Henderson,Walter Irwin, James D. Cox.Distributors for Foreign Editions:

Sunny David, lndiaRoger Dickson, South AfricaReuben Ernperado, PhilippinesReggie Gnanasundararn, Sri LankaHenry Kong, SingaporeOng Chong Fatt, MalaysiaGeorge Funk, All-AfricaParker Henderson, Trinidad an d Tobago

Stephen Randall, AustraliaKeith Sisman, United KingdomJohn Thiesen, MalawiRod Kyle, New ZealandDan McVey, GhanaMike Nix, CaribbeanRobert Martin, Pacific IslandsJ.C.Choate, All-AsiaBob Dixon, NigeriaLoy Mitchell, ZimbabweT. Guite, Northeast lndiaDoyle Goodspeed, LiberiaSher Bahadur Karki, NepalCy Stafford, Tanzania

THE VOICE OF TRUTH INTERNATIONAL spublished by churches of Christ as a non-orofit effort. J.C. Choate (editor) P.O. Box 72,~ i n o n a , S 38967, USA; Phone: 662-283-1192;E-mail address: ChoateQWorldEvangelism.org.

In lieu of a subscription rate, a gift of $4.00IS suggested for single issues, $12.00 for fourissues. Make checks payable to World Evan-gelism Foundation, and mail to Byron Nichols,(Managing Editor) 2148 N. National, Spring-field, MO 65803; Telephone: 417-881-2638.

George AkpabliW.T. Allison

Robert BallRex BanksLeon BarnesWayne BarrierRoy BeasleyMaxie B. BorenT. Pierce BrownRon BryantJack W. CarterRon CarterFrank Chesser

Betty Button ChoateJeril ClineCharles E. CobbGlenn ColleyWillard CollinsOwen CosgroveSunny DavidJerry L. DavidsonHans DederscheckDavid DeffenbaughClarence DeLoach, Jr.

G. DevadanamRoger DicksonBillDillonBobby G. DockeryHershel DyerEarl EdwardsDemar ElarnReuben EmperadoAllan E. FlaxmanRoyce FrederickAlbert Gardner

E. Claude GardnerR. GnanasundararnGary C. HarnptonJack HarrirnanJohn HarrisW. Douglass Harris

Parker HendersonGordon Hogan

Wayne JacksonAncil JenklnsJerry JenkinsJimmy JividenJames JuddDayton KeeseeDalton KeyMichael L. KingMack LyonJoe Magee~ e c i l ay, Jr.

Hugo McCordColin McKeeJane McWhorterHollis MillerLoy MitchellKevin MoorePeter MostertBill NicksFenter NorthernDon L. NorwoodOwen D. Olbricht

Basil OvertonFrances ParrMax PattersonClayton PepperDavid PharrG.F. RainesStanley SayersKeith SismanDavid TarbetJohn ThiesenJ.A. Thornton

Betty TuckerKen TylerDon W. WalkerBobby WheatJon Gary Williams

"Go therefore and make disciples of allthe nations, baptizing them in the nameof the Father and of the Son and of the

Please send articles for publication and changes of address to Byron Nichols in Spring-field, including both old and new addresses so that our records can be corrected.



Samuel A. Matthews

We invite you to read the short self-teaching outline, looking up the

Scriptures to provide the appropriate1 answers in the blanks. After completing

the study and being totally convictedabout your answers, we pray that withan honest heart (Luke 8:15) you will

humbly obey these teachings so thatthe Lord can save you (Mark 16:16)

and add you to His family, the churchof Christ (Acts 2:41; Matthew 16:18;

Ephesians 4:4; 1:22,23).

We are simply a body of Christians(Acts 11:26) who are living for

(yet ready to die for) Jesus(Philippians 1:2 1). Whenever

sincere, penitenet peopleobey the gospel, God adds

ch one to the family,



HowDo WE DEAL

WITHO U R ENEMIES?

J. C. ChoateEditor-in-Chief

All people have enemies. Eventhough Jesus Christ lived a sinless

life, He had enemies. Not only didHe have enemies, but they werereli-gious enemies - en who hatedHim because He was righteous andbecause H e taught that all must berighteous in order to be acceptable to

God. The end result was that He was finally crucified on the cross. TheRomans- he secular government - rucified H im, but Hisreligious ene-

mies were the ones actually responsible for His death.We also have enemies. W e who have obeyed the gospel and are mem bers

of the Lord 's family are surrounded by people who oppose us. We are tryingto live the Christian life s o we can go to heaven but still there are those whoresent us, find fault with us, and work against us. Th e world offers all of itstemptations, trying to lead us away from the Lord. Unbe lief, humanism, andmaterialism are tools of evil being used to destroy us, while the misplaced zealof false religious bodies and false religious leaders is set in opposition toChrist and to us because we follow Him. And, always, there is Satan, our archenemy, with his host of followers, working to see our souls condemed in hell.Peter warns, " B e sober, he vigilant; because your ad versary the devil, as aroaring liotz, walketlz about, seeking whom he nzay devo ur"(1 Peter 5:8).

So how do we dealwith our enemies? Christ said that we should love ourenemies and do good to them. He said, "Blessed are the peacemakers: forthey shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecu t-

ed for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed areye, when men shall revile you, and per sec ute you, and shall say all manner ofevil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding g lad: for great

4



is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which werebefore you" (Matthew 5:9-12). Continuing, He said,"Ye have heard that ithath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: ButI say unto you,That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee o n thy right cheek, turnto him the other also" (Matthew 5:38,39). Then hear Him, as He says,"Yehave heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate

thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you,do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you,and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is inheaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sendethrain on the just and o n the unjust" (Matthew 5:43-45).

But how can we love ou r enemies, those who hate us, despitefully use us,and persecute us? By human nature it would be impossible, but Christians areto grow in partaking of the na ture of God, according to instructions given in2Peter 1:4: "...by which have been given to us exceedingly great and preciouspromises, that through these you may be partakers of divine nature , havingescaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Th e answer, there-fore, is in having an agape love (the Greek word for the highest form of love)for our enemy. What kind of love is that? It is not an emotional love but,rather, it seeks what is best for that person, even though he would do us harm.Such a godly love prompts us to return good fo r evil.We would not try to hurt

him or to cause him to be lost. Rather, we want that person to be saved. Wewan t to help him and hopefully to change him. That is the kind of love theLord had for us when he laid dow n His life for us- hile we were still ene-mies and alienated from God by our sins. W e didn't deserve such love andmercy, but He loved us anyway. As mem bers in His family, the church, weare to have that type of love for the lost, for the sinner, and for our enemies.

But what about the wicked, those who seek to harm us and others? Istheir wickedness to go unpunished? If w e who are wronged are forbidden to

seek revenge, how will matters be righted? The Lord has not authorized us, asChristians, to take the law into our hands and to punish the wicked. Our workis to try to teach and change those who are wrong. But God has tools for retri-bution: the civil government of the land is authorized to judge and punishevil-doers in this world, and God Himself will judge and sentence the unrepen-tant on the day of judgm ent.

At the hands of evil terrorists several thousand people lost their lives inNew York and Washington, D.C. on September11 when the World TradeTowers and part of the Pentagon were destroyed. Men , women, and childrenof more than eighty nations were killed, and the whole world has suffered from



the destruction in many subsequent ways. As individuals who lost loved ones,we could take it upon ourselves to try to punish the terrorists. But that is notthe job of individuals, and it is certainly not the responsibility of Christians.The law, "An eye for an eye..." was not given to Christians. "But," you object,"that is in the Bible! Has God changed?" No, not at all. In the Old Testam ent,God gave bothcivil and spiritual laws to the nation of Israel, because it was a

secular as well as a spiritual nation. Its civil leaders were instructed in the pun-ishment of the wicked, and its spiritual leaders provided spiritual leadership.But under the New Testament law, which is binding onus today, Christians area spiritual body living under spiritual laws, with instructions to leave the secu-lar laws to the civil governments of the world to enforce.

To individual Christians, Paul was instructed by the Holy Spirit to write,"Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of allmen. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wra th: forit is written, Vengeance is mine;I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if th in eenemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shaltheap coals of fi re o n his head. Be not overcome of evil, hut overcome evil withgood" (Romans 12:17-21).

On the other hand,God says to civil governments, "You are my sword toexecute w rath o n evil doers" Therefore, governments of countries around the

world are God's agencies to control lawlessness and to punish those whowould harm the helpless. In the New Testament, we are commanded,"Letevery soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but ofGod: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteththe power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they tha t resist shall receive tothemselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to theevil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, andthou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for

good. But if thou do that wh ich is evil, be afraid; for he beare thnot the swordin vain: for he is the minister of God , a revenger to execu te wrath upon himthat doeth evil" (Romans 13: 1-4).

And God, Himself, will have the final word as He executes judgment onthat last great day, when evil doers and the disobedient receive His condem na-tion for the evil they have done. "And I saw the dead, srnall and great, stand -ing before God , and the books were opened. And another book was opened,which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works,by the things which w ere written in the books....And anyone not found writtenin the Book o fL if e was cast into the lake offi re "(Revelation 20:12-15). 3



The Other

Sacrifices ofJesusByron Nichols

In spite of the tremendous sig-nificance of the sacrifice of His verylife on the cross, the death of JesusChrist continues to be one of themost overlooked events of impor-tance in the history of the world.This awesome incident surely doesnot receive the amount of our atten-tion that it deserves.

The writer of Hebrews said, "But we see Jesus, who was made a littlelower than the angels for the suffering of death, that He, by the grace ofGod, might taste death for everyone" (Hebrews 2:9). How can anyoneeven imagine such a thing?! This astounding statement becomes even moremeaningful as we read Paul's elaboration of the matter in Romans 5:6-11:"For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for theungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for agood man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His ownlove toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much

more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved fromwrath through Him. For i f when we were enemies we were reconciled toGod by the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shallbe saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God throughour Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation."

Most assuredly, such a sacrificial deed demands our attention, ourthoughtful consideration, and our lifelong expression of appreciation.

Although volumes could rightly be written (and have been) about the sacri-

ficial death of Jesus, let me call attention to some other aspects of the sacrificingthat Jesus Christ did as He experienced humanity for the benefit of the entirehuman race. Please give some lingering thought to just a few of the other sacri-



fices that Jesus made in addition to that incredible sacrifice on Calvary.(1) He sacrificed living in Heaven for a life here on Earth. The Lord

spoke of Himself in John 3: 13, "And no one has ascended to heaven but Hewho came down from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven. " Jesussaid these words to Nicodemus while He was still here, but He spoke themknowing that very soon He was going to die and be resurrected and then

return to His Father in Heaven. Undoubtedly the sacrifice of leavingHeaven is going to be much more impressive when we see and experienceHeaven for ourselves, but surely even now we can marvel that Jesus waswilling to sacrifice that glorious place for this ball of dirt called the Earth.

(2) Jesus sacrificed being on equality with God the Father (Philippians2:6,7). The Bible clearly affirms that Jesus was not inferior at all to evenGod Himself, yet He gave that up in an effort to save us from our sins.

(3) Our Savior sacrificed by allowing Himself to be misrepresented,misunderstood, and falsely accused - ll because His compassionate con-cern was for others and not for Himself.

(4) Jesus sacrificed His will for that of the Father. Remember thatJesus had been equal with God up in Heaven, but as a human He says, " ..do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent My" (John5:30). Another time Jesus declared, "My food is to do the will of Him whosent Me, and to Jinish His work" (John 4:34). Of course, the best remem-bered words of Christ along this line were His prayers in Gethsemane as Heagonized over His approaching death. Twice He implored the Father, " 0

My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as Iwill, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39,42).

(5) Jesus sacrificed by enduring rejection and humiliation. He wasridiculed and mocked, and even many of His disciples forsook Him. Insteadof demanding that people acknowledge Him for who He really was, the Sonof God allowed Himself to be made fun of.

(6) The sacrifices of Jesus included being poor after having been par-taker of the riches of Heaven. In 2 Corinthians 8:9 Paul declared, "For youknow the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet foryour sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might becomerich." Jesus testified as to His poverty when He said, "Foxes have holesand birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay Hishead" (Matthew 8:20).

Much more could be said regarding the sacrifices of Jesus, but suffice it

to say that His entire life was a sacrifice, and all of it, including His death,was for our eternal benefit. He sacrificed Himself to make possible the sal-vation of the entire world. Just how thankful are we? f?

8



DAILY CHRISTIAN IVINGThe Burdensome Load ......... Michael L King ............................ 5

......istinctions of the Faithful Wayne Barrier .............................. 8....re You Still on the Bottle? Bill Dillon ...................................... 70

....................................ntegrity Gordon Hogan .............................. 71The Sign of a Disciple .............. Colin McKee ................................ 72

THE CHRISTIAN O M E

......s It Really that Important? Hershel Dyer ................................ 75............. ....................omen's Liberation Betty Burton Choate 76

God and Families .................... rdon Hinton ................................ 9Woman's Highest Calling ........ Jane Maynard .............................. 0

PROVERBS 17:22

..............................................................................................umor 83

CHARTS AND OUTLINES

Divine Fellowship .................... illard Thurman ............................ 86........................ ........................re You a Jew? E Claude Gardner 87

BIBLE CHARACTERS

.............. .od Uses the Broken Jerry L Davidson .......................... 8Profile of a Winner .................... Roy Beasley .................................. 2

.............Mother Who Made Bobby Dockery ............................ 4

BIBLE QUESTIONS............hy Do We Have . . . ? Ken Tyler ...................................... 6

Two Important Questions ... Kevin L Moore ............................. 7TEXTUAL TUDIES

................................race? What Does It Mean? ..Hugo McCord 99

............................... .hat Was Christ ?..............Sunny David 100FEATURES

Choate Editorial.......................

.C. Choate ............................................................ ..................................ichol Editorial Byron Nichols 7.............................aiting Room Bible Study John mark Wilson 20

............................................................................hat Must I Do? 39..................................................................................erse Search 40

............................................................ow Do You Measure Up? 64........................................................................uick Commentary 85

Who Am I? ...................................................................................... 1

FROM HE H E A RT OF ......................... ................rinidadnobago Mohammed, Neptune 102



\v ell before daylight this morning, my son Caleb and I were walkingwith Michael McCoy through some thick brush on his father's

ranch. Our destination was a remote wheat-field where we hoped to get ashot at one of the elusive deer that lived in the woods next to the pasture.The night was dark with only the stars providing direction for our stepswhen suddenly we stopped and stared speechlessly into the cold sky.

"What's that?" finally croaked, as it appeared that the area behind thehill in front of us had to be on fire! The sky was a deep red color withchanging hues that looked like the reflection of tongues of fire leaping into

the sky. It took a while, but we finally realized that we were watching anawesome demonstration of aurora borealis, the Northern Lights! Usuallyseen only in the higher latitudes, this special manifestation dazzled for sev-eral minutes until it began to fade with the approaching light of day.

The natural phenomenon seen in Texas reminded me of a super-naturalevent that took place in the Palestinian sky over 2,000 years ago. Lukeexplains that "There were shepherds keeping watch over th eirp oc ks at night.An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone

around them. ... Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appearedwith the ange l, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, andon earth peace to men on wh om his favor rests'" (Luke 2:8,9.14)



Whereas it might be "special"for us to see the Northern Lights,the events surrounding the birth ofJ e s u s w e r e t r u l y u n i q u e a s t h e

Creator of the universe introducedH i s " o n l y b e g o t t e n S o n " t o o u rworld. Named Imm anuel- Godwith us" --, His birth was like noneother as it represented deity's pres-ence with humankind. Th e impor-tance of such an occasion has notfaded through the centuries as men

and women of faith still celebratethe wonder of the virgin birth.

Unfortunately, not all the worldis willing to accept the coming ofJesus Christ as being absolutely dis-t inctive . For exam ple, the Hindureligion teaches that divine reality isexpressed in many forms and canclaim "Krishna is lord," "Buddha islord" or "Jesus is lord", simultane-ous ly and wi thout cont rad ic t ion .Such a view is unacceptable to theChristian who sees the miraculousbirth of Christ, His exemplary life,and Hi s t r i umphan t r e su r rec t ionfrom death as unparalleled in humanhistory.

John, one of Jesus' closest dis-c i p l e s , w r o t e t h a t " T h e Wo r dbecame flesh and made h is dwellingamong us. W e have seen his glory,the glory of the One and Only, whocame from the Father, full of grace

and truth" (John 1: 14). The apostlePaul also said "G od was pleased tohave all his fullness dwe ll in him ,

and through h im to reconci le tohimself all things, whether things onearth or things in heaven, by mak-ing peace through his blood shed on

the cross" (Colossians 1: 19,20).Such comprehensive testimonydoes not allow comparison with anyhum an representative. For that rea-son, "God exalted him to the high-est place and gave h im the namethat is above every name, that at thename of Jesus, every knee should

bow, in heaven and on earth andunder the earth, and every tongueconfess that Jesus Christ is Lord, tothe g lo ry o f God the Fa the r "(Philippians 2 : 9-1 1 )

If you live long enough and areaware of what is going on aroundyou, i t is l ikely that you will seesome amazing event take place inour skies. W hether it is the passingof a major com et, a series of meteorshowers, an eclipse, or an appear-ance of the northern lights, we canall be dazzled by what we see in theheavens. Th e significance of theseincidents however, wil l fade withthe passing of time and the arrivalof the next episode. Only the angel-i c a n n o u n c e m e n t o f t h e b i rt h o fJesus remains without equivalent .Let us join with those angels andbring honor to him by the way welive. 9

Larry Henderson is with the AbileneChristian University in Abilene, Texas,USA.



.Mediator, Advocate,Cecil May, Jr.

Jesus is our mediator. Amediator stands between twoestranged parties. He must be neu-tral, having no relation to eitherparty, or else equally related toboth. Jesus alone qualifies as amediator between us and God." F o r t h e re i s o n e G o d , a n d o n emediator between God and m en, theman Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).

As Son of Man and Son ofGod, Jesus stands where no othercould. Facing God as God, perfectand without sin (John 10:30; 2Corinthians 5:21); yet, " a m a n o fsorrows and acquainted with grief"(Isaiah 53:3), " touched wi th t hef e e l in g o f o u r i n f i r m i t i e s , " and" tem pted in a l l points l ike as w e

are" (Hebrews4:

15); "it behoovedh i m t o b e m a d e l ik e u n t o h i sbrethren, that he might be a merci-ful and faithful high priest, in thingspertaining to G od, to ma ke recon-ciliation for the sins of the people"(Hebrews 2:17). How wonderful tohave such a mediator!

Jesus is our advocate. Anadvocate is one who pleads anoth-er's case before a tribunal or bar of

justice. John, the beloved apostle,said, " M y li tt le c h i l d r e n , t h e s ethings write I unto you, tha t you sinnot. And if any m an sin, we have anA d v o c a t e w i t h t h e F a t h e r, J e su sChrist the righteous" (1 John 2:1).The word is "paraclete," the sameword Jesus used for the Holy Spirit(John 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7, trans-lated "Comforter" or "Helper").Note that Jesus refers to the Spirit as"another paraclete" (14: 16).

How wonderful! Our mediator,so carefully balanced as God andman, steps over to our side andpleads our case, becomes ourlawyer for the defense!

Jesus is our propitiation."An d he is the propitiation for our

sins, and not for ours only, but alsofor the sins of the whole world" ( 1

John 2:2). A propitiation is a sub-stitutionary sacrifice, an atonement.You see, we stand before God's barof judgment "guilty as charged".We need a mediator. We need anadvocate. But being guilty, and

God being just, we need somethingmore. Our mediator and advocatesteps over to the gallows, as it were



MyGod,MyGod,Why Hast ThouForsaken Me?

Hollis Miller

The words of our was made sin for all men. "For HeLord which serve as

the title for this article bring forth thetenderest of emotions from theChristian heart. The cry of the Son ofGod is so filled with pain and anguishthat only the hardest of hearts can failto be deeply moved by it.

The cry of Jesus was not a pleafor information, for He had taughtHis disciples that death awaitedHim, and why it awaited. " F r o mthat time Jesus began to show Hisd i s c i p le s t h a t H e m u s t g o t oJerusalem, and suffer many thingsfrom the e lders and chief pr ies tsand scribes, and be killed, and ber a i s e d t h e t h i r d d a y " (Matthew16:21). Elsewhere He said: "TheS o n o f M a n d i d n o t c o m e t o b ese w ed , but to give H is life a ransomfor many" (Matthew 20:28). Eventhough Jesus knew why He was onthe cross, His knowledge did notdeliver Him from the indescribable

agony the cross brought to His tor-tured body.

It was on the cross that Jesus

made Him who knew no s in to be

sin for us, that we m ight become therighteousness of God through Him"(2 Corinthians 5:21). To theGalatians Paul wrote: "Christ hasredeemed us from the curse of thel a w , h a v i n g b e c o m e a c u r s e f o rus.. . " (Galatians 3: 13). The wordsof the apostle clearly teach that thepenalty due sin was laid on Jesus." H e w a s w o u nd ed f o r o u r t r a n s-gressions, He w as bruised for ou riniquities: the chastisement of ourpeace was upon Him; and with Hisstripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5;cf. 1 Peter 2:24). No mortal cancomprehend the love of God, but allreasonable men can understandenough about the cross of Christ toknow that sin is a dark and terribleenemy of the human race.

"G od com mendeth H is love forus, in that, while we were yet sin-ners, C hrist died for us" (Romans

5 : s ) . 6

Hollis Miller is a gospel preacher liv-ing in Cadiz, Kentucky, USA.



Evolutionarv HoaxesDalton Key V

We must remember that whichevolutionists often fail to admit -that evolution is not fact, but theo-

ry. A fact can be proven; a theorycannot. Evolution has not, and

never will be proven as fact; there-fore, it is mere theory, and a fancifultheory at that.

Evolutionary scientists have along record of false claims whichcast a dark shadow of doubt upontheir professional objectivity. In1912 the "missing link" between

monkey and man was said to havebeen discovered in a gravel pit inSussex, England. This discoverywas based upon a few bones. Later,after this so-called break-throughhad been recorded in many text-books, it was learned that a fewmischievous students had buried the

bones, including the jawbone of anape, as a prank on their professor.

And that is not all . Th e"Nebraska Man", called, "Hespero-pithecus", supposedly millions ofyears old, was completely recon-structed from a single tooth. Thetooth was later found to belong to a

pig.One of the most famous discov-

eries was that of the "NeanderthalMan." This "missing l i n k was pic-tured as a slouched creature halfwaybetween erect modern man and theknuckle-dragging gorilla. It was

later discovered that the skeletonused for the model had in its knees abone disease, which accounted forthe slouch. The "missing link" isstill missing.

Why must we go to such greatlengths to establish a foundation fordisbelief when belief is so very

easy? The question of man's originis answered simply, completely, andplainly in the first few chapters ofGene sis. For those of us whobelieve the Bible, there is no prob-lem. God inspired Moses to write,"So God created man in his ownimage, in the image of God created

he him; male and female created hethem ...And the Lord God formedman of the dust of the ground, andhe breathed into his nostrils thebreath of life; and man became aliving soul" (Genesis 127; 2:7) 2

Dalton Key is the editor of Old Paths

and ~reaches or the North Amarillo~ h u i c h f Christ in Amarillo, Texas,USA.



The American Hu-manist Associatiolished "Humanist

years later published "HumanisManifesto 11" in 1973.

The name "Humanist" is noth-ing more than a sophisticated word believing their dogma which theyfor "Atheist," or "Infidel." The lat- designed "for a secular society on aest "Manifesto" was signed by such planetary scale."

people as Isaac Isamov, science-fic- (1) Under "Religion," it istion author, Lester A . Kirkendall, avowed that "traditional dog-Professor Emeritus of Oregon State matic or authoritarian religionsUniversity. called "the father of the that place revelation, God, ritual,sex education movement"; Lester or creed above human needs andMondale, former President of the experience do a disservice to theFellowship of Religious Humanists hu ma n species. " Hu ma ni stsand brother of Walter Mondale, regard the Bible as myths which

who was Vice-President of the U.S. do not pass the test of scientific(1977-81); Joseph Fletcher, famous evidence, thus they reject Godadvocate of "Situation Ethics," and and all the supernatural eventsBe tty F rie dan, fou nd er of th e recorded in the Bible.N.O.W. and called "the mother of (2) "Promises of immortalthe women's liberation movement." sa lv at io n or fear of et er na l

The purpose of this article is to damnation are both illusory andshow that, unfortunately, through harmful." Rather than accept

their influence in educational circles the teachings of Jesus regardingand all bran che s of the med ia, heaven and hell, they affirm,humanists have deceived many into "There is no credible evidence

17



that life survives the d eath of thebody." Thus, they accept evolu-tion, the propaganda of the athe-ist, as the answ er to the m atter of

or ig ins . Th is too l o f a the ismutterly eradicates any need forGod as a bas i s for fa i th s incet h e y b e l i e v e t h a t s c i e n c e-which deals only with empiricalk n o w l e d g e , o r w h a t w e l e a rnthrough our five senses- s thefinal answer.

(3) This leads to the beliefin the realm of moral standardsand values that man's ethics are"au tonomous and s it ua t iona l ,needing no theological or ideo-logica l sanction."

How do they arrive at this ethi-c a l k n o w l e d g e , s i n c e th e r e i s n oreligious authority for guidance?

(4) "Reason and intelligencea re the mos t e ff ec t ive in s t ru -ments that humankind possess-es. Th ere is n o substitute; nei-ther faith nor passion suffice inthemselves."

Therefore, humanists conclude,since we walk by sight and not byfaith (2 Corinthians 5:7), we humanscan set our own standards of ethics,and there are no sub-absolutes. W eshould be "tolerant" and "not prohib-it, even by social sanctions, sexualexpressions by consenting adults .

The many varieties of sexual explo-ration should not in themselves beconsidered 'evil.'"

W hen you hear anyone express-ing to le rance toward homosexualbehavior or fornication, remembert h a t t h is c a m e r ig h t o u t of t h e

Hum anist Man ifesto I1 and not fromthe absolute standard of Go d's HolyWord.

When men and women are notwil l ing to speak out against theseevils, they are walking and talkingas the atheists. Hum anists and thosewhom they have influenced are the

out-spoken advocates of abortion,d i v o r c e , a l t e r n a t e l i f e s t y le s a n dpromiscuity, all of which God hates(Malachi 2: 16; Rom ans 13:9).

Furthermore, these people aret h e a d v o c a t e s w h o p r o m o t e " t h eindividual's right to die with dignity,euthanasia, and the right to suicide."After all, if it is permissible to takethe l ife of a baby in the mother 'swomb, it is equally right and "digni-fied" to take the life of an elderlyperson in an old folks' home!

In fact, according to humanists,there literally is no such thing asmoral right and wrong, good andevil: there is only personal opin-ion followed by personal decision.

J e s u s s a i d , "Every tree thatbringeth not forth good fruit is hewndown, and cast into the f ire.Therefore, by their fruits ye shallknow them " (Matthew 7: 19). Q

Bill Nicks has been involved in foreignmission work for many years, mostrecently in Trinidad.



created by Divine will and power, consider the following facts about theearth, its atmosphere, and its relationship to the rest of the un iverse:

The rotation of the earth on its axis, for instance, is 1,000 miles per hourat the equator. If it were 100 miles per hour instead, the days and nightswould be ten times as long, the result of which would be the burning up ofall vegetation each long day and the freezing of each surviving sprout eachlong night.

The sun, the source of light, has surface temperatures of 12,000 degreesFahrenheit; the earth is far enough away for the right warmth, not too much,not too little. If the sun gave less radiation, the result would freeze us all;and if more, it would roast us all.

The slant of the earth is at an angle of 23 degrees, which gives seasons,and if not so tilted, the movement of the vapors of the sea would turn conti-nents into ice.

If the moon were set at less distance from the earth, tides would sub-

merge all continents twice daily, and the mountains would erode away.If the crust of the earth were ten feet thicker, there would be no oxygen

and all life would die.If the atmosphere were thinner to the point of precision, meteors which

hurl from their orbits and dart toward the earth and which now burn andconsume in the atmosphere, would shoot to the ground and set fires over thewhole earth.

All of this is proof that life was created, is governed by mathematicallaws, and is not an accident. f?

Foy E. Wallace, Jr. (1896-1979) was an outstanding scholar, preacher, editor,writer, and Christian.

1 9



ave you ever wondered about"the natural man" of whomH

Pau l s ays , "B u t t he na tu ral manreceiveth not the things of the Spirito f Go d; fo r they a re foo l i shnessunto him: neitlzer can Ize know thembecause they are spir i tual ly dis-cerned" ( 1 Corinthians 2:14)?

Is Paul saying that a sinner can-not understand the gospel of Christw i t h o u t a p e r s o n a l m i r a c u l o u s

p o w e r o f t h e H o l y S p i r i t b e i n g

given unto him ? Of course, the pas-sage does no t say tha t , bu t whatdoes it mean?

A careful look at the mat terbeing discussed in this whole chap-ter, leading up to verse 14, will helpus understand who Paul calls "thenatural man" .

Beginning with verse 1 Pau lstates, "1 came to you. .. declaringunto you the testimonyof God" He

c o n t i n u e s ; " I dete rmined no t to

Parker Henderson



know any thing among you, saveJesus Christ , and him crucified"(2:2). Paul also says, "...my preach-ing was not with enticing words of

man's w isdom, but in demonstrationof the Spirit and of power" (2:4).He gives the reason for such

preaching, "T ha t your faith shouldnot stand in the wisdom of men, butin the power of God" ( 2 5 ) . Paulcalls the gospel he preached, "thewisdom of God in a mystery, even

t h e h i d d e n w i s d o m w h i c h G o dordained before the world unto ourglory" (2:7). This message "noneof the princes of this world knew:for had they known it, they wouldno t have c ruc i f i ed the Lord o fglory" (2:8). Paul makes it veryclear that he is writing about the

gospel of Christ, which was plannedfrom eternity and which the princesof the world did not know, or theywould not have crucified the Lord.

The gospel of Christ is that ofwhich Paul continues to write, say-ing, "But as it is written, eye hathnot seen , nor ear heard , ne i therhave entered into the heart of man,the things which God hath preparedfor them that love him" (1 Corinthi-ans 2:9). Here he shows that man,of himself, could not make up thisgospel message, it did not comefrom man's heart but from God and,of necessity, it had to be revealed byGod in order for man to have it.

In the very next verse Paul

makes it clear that God is the sourceof his information. As an apostle ofJesus Christ, "...God hath revealedthem unto us by his Spirit..." (2:lO).

In the next verse, Paul says, "...evenso the things of God knoweth noman, but the Spirit of God." (2: 11).Because man cannot think up, makeup, nor of himself know the gospelof Christ; it had to be revealed byGod to man!

Man did not know the true

gospel until God revealed it. Paulstates this in verse 12, " N o w w e(Paul speaking of himself, but it isalso true of all apostles and proph-ets; Ephesians 3:5) have received,not the spirit of the world, but thespirit which is of God, that we mightknow the things that are freely givento us of G od" ( 1 Corinthians 2:12).

It is very clear that Paulreceived the gospel message fromGod by the Holy Spirit. In the nextverse Paul declares, "W hich thingsa lso we speak , no t in the wordswhich man's wisdom teacheth, butwhich the Holy Ghost teacheth, com-paring spiritual things with spiritu-a l" (1 Corinthians 2 : 13). Paulreceived the gospel message by reve-lation of the Holy Spirit; this meansthat the words are the words whichthe Holy Ghost teaches. This is howall of the apostles and prophetsreceived the gospel message.

"The natural man" of thevery next verse is held up in con-



trast to the apostle Paul. Wh o isthis natural man? He is the manwho did not receive the revelation.He is like those princes who did not

know the gospel. The point is notthat he is a sinner but rather that heis without the revelation of God'sword. He is the one under consider-ation all the way through the pas-sage who did not know and under-stand the revealed message of God.

You may be wondering, "To

whom has God revealed that hid-den mystery?" The answer is givenby the same apostle, "How that byrevelation he ( Go d) made knownunto me the mystery; (as I wroteafore in few words, Whereby, whenye read ye may understand myknowledge in the mystery of Christ)Which in other ages was not madeknown unto the sons of men, as it isnow revealed unto his holy apostlesand prophets by the Spirit"(Ephesians 3:3). God revealed themessage by the Holy Spirit to thetrue apostles and prophets. In turn,they wrote that which had been amystery in other ages, but wasrevealed to the apostles and prophetsand, through them, to the world!

How can the rest of us under-stand that revealed mystery? Paulstated clearly, "Whereby when yeread ye may understand" his knowl-edge. To Timothy he also urged,"Study to shew thyself approved untoGod, a workman that needeth not to

be ashamed ... " ( 2 Timothy 2: 15).Again, Peter added, "...desire the sin-cere milk of the word, that ye may

grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:2). It was

Paul who also said, "So then faithcometh by hearing, and hearing bythe word of God" (Romans 10: 17).

Thus, "the natural man" wasman without God's revelation. Theapostles and prophets were the spir-itual men who received the longawaited "mystery", the gospel of

Christ. That mystery has beenrevealed to the apostles andprophets who wrote the message.When honest men read it, studyit, hear it, they can understandwhat the apostles understood,believe and obey what the apostlesbelieved and obeyed, and thus besaved. This is called "continuing inthe apostles' doctrine" (Acts 2:42).The sword of the spirit is the wordof God (Ephesians 6:17). God'sSpirit leads men today by the writ-ten word of the Spirit, the gospel ofJesus Christ, which is God's powerunto salvation (Romans 1 : 16)

The churches of Christ arepleading for all men to go back tothe Bible! Let's read the Bible;study the Bible; and obey the Bible!In doing this we can all really be thechurch of Christ that Jesus built solong ago. V

Parker Henderson is director of theTrinidad School of Preaching, andlong-time missionary to the country ofTrinidamobago.



I brought something special with bu t the gran dm oth er ke pt cry ing .me today - y grandmother's fami- She said, "The choco lates will onlyly Bible. Inside there is my family mak e my grandd augh ter happy forahistory : birthd ays, ann iversa ries, l it tle while, but this book can mak ebaptisms, and deaths. This Bible has o u r fa m ily h ap p y fo rev er." T h ebeen in my family for a long time, missionary felt so sad that he gaveand it is special to us. Your family the grandmother the only Bible heprobably has a special Bible, too, and had left- he one he was planningyou probably have your own person- to give to his own grandson. T hea1 copy that is special to you. R u s s ia n g r a n d m o th e r w as v er y

Bu t did you know that there are grateful to receive this treasure.many families who do not even own Th is mad e me think of all theon e copy of the Bible? A mission- copies of the Bible my family has atary to Russia told us that , in that home. We don't even realize what acoun try, hundreds of families would precious possession we have or thinkstand in line fo r hours in freezing about how many people gave theirtem perature s in hop es of ge tting a lives for us to have an English Bible.

B i b le . H e r e m e m b e r e d o n e o l d M a n y y e a r s a g o , o n l y t h egrandmother who had waited a very Cath olic priests we re able to readlong t ime, but a l l the Bibles had the Bible . In the year 1380, a manbeen g iven away be fo re he r t u rn na m ed John Wy c l i f f e d a r e d t ocame. This g randmother was very t r an s l a t e th e La t in B ib le in toupset and just kept standin g there, English for the comm on man. Onlycrying. Sh e told the missionary that twenty-sev en copies of this transla-she wanted the Bible for her grand- tion were made. Can you imagine

daugh ter, and it was her birthd ay. how long it took to copy the entireTh e missionary offered to buy the Bible by hand?child a box of choco lates instead, Th en in 1525, W ill iam Tyn-

2 4



dale fled from England to Hollandwhere he translated the Bible andmade many copies using the newGutenberg pr inting press . The se

Bibles were smuggled into Englandinside bags of grain. How ever, over1 2 , 0 0 0 c o p i e s w e r e b o u g h t a n ddestroyed by the Catholic church,a n d Ty n d a l e w a s b u r n e d a t th estake. His dying prayer was, "Openthe King of England's eyes."

Finally, King Henry VIII decid-ed to leave the Catholic church sothat he could divorce his wife. Heb e g a n t h e A n g l i c a n c h u r c h a n d ,ironically, he then commissionedTyndale's friend, Miles Coverdale,to translate the Bible. In 1539 thefirst "English Authorized Version"- he Great Bible- as released,in spite of attempts by the Inquisi-t ion-Genera l to des t roy both thework and Coverdale.

When I think of what it took sotha t I can ho ld th i s B ib le in myhand, I know it is not just a place torecord family history. It is not just a

book to carry to church services. Itis the power of God to salvation foreve ryone wh o be li eves (Romans1: 16), and it can mak e us happy for-ever. This book conta ins Go d 'sown words (2 Timothy 3:16) andguides the way my family l ives ,works, and plays.

The Bible te l ls my family top ray fo r each o ther an d those inneed (James 5:16). When we sit to

eat together, we always pray.The Bible teaches us to visit the

sick and shut-in (1 Peter 4:9), somany times my mom and dad take us

to see the elderly of our community.Mrs. Sybil always gives me a hugand smells like perfume, and Mrs.Dot always offers me a drink. Whenwe visi t at the nursing home, theelderly think I am funny, andI makethem laugh. One lady thoughtI wasthere to take her hom e with me.

The Bib le a l so teaches us toshare what we have (Acts 2:45), somy family tries to find ways to helpothers . W e shared our t ime th issummer by doing work-service inour community. It was fun to mowy a r d s , w a s h w i n d o w s , a n d p ic kapples for the shut-ins.

These a re on ly a f ew o f theimportant lessons God has for us inHis Word. I don't want to take myfamily's most precious possessionfor granted. By studying the Bible,my family will grow closer to eachother and to God. Like Joshua and

his family in the Old Testament, wewill continue to serve the Lord byr e a d i n g a n d d o i n g h i s Wo r d .".. .choose for yourselves this daywh om you will serve...But as for meand my house , we wi l l s e rve t heLORD" (Joshua 24: 15). 8

Jamie L. Henry is a young Christianw h o p a r t i c i p a t e s i n t h e " L a d s t oLeaders" program. He lives with hisparents, Larry and Tammy Henry, inDennis, Mississippi, USA.



'I cts records the fact that God's importance of the Word. They wereWord was preached with bold- not s ide t racked to serve tab les ,

ness (Acts 4:31) everywhere Jesus' which others could do, but devotedf o l lo w er s w en t ( ~ c t s :4 ) , t o themselves to preaching the Word

Samaritans (Acts 8:25), and even to (Acts 6:2-4).o th e r co u n tr ie s ( ~ c t s 1: 19; Why pnaththt Word?13:5,46, 14:25; 15:35,36; 16:32; We are to preach God's Word,17: 13; 15:11; 19:10). Paul's cus- which is the Gospel of our salvationtomarY approach was to discuss (Ephesians 1: 13; Romans 1 16), be-G o d ' s Wo r d , t h e S c r i p t u r e s (2 cause it can make people "wise forTimothy 3:16); "The n Paul, as his sa lva t ionn (2 Timothy 3 ~ 1 5 ; cts

custom was, went in to them, and 13:26).An

angel told the apostlesthree Sabbaths reasoned to preach the words of this life (Acts

Scriptures" (Acts 17:2). Gentiles to tell them what to do toThe apostles saw the be saved (Acts 11: 14).



Response to the Word who receive it.3. The proper response to the

Those who had a readiness Of Word is faith and baptism, followedmind received God's Word (Acts by a life dedicated to Jesus.17:1 howeve r, those w h o s e 4. Those who received the Wordminds were closed rejected it (Acts were baptized for the forgiveness of13:46, 28:26,27). their sins.

Receiving God's Word brought 5. Salvation comes to those whopeople to believe (Acts 4:4; 17:11, obey Jesus when they hear the name12) and to be baptized (Acts 2:41; of Jesus and the kingdom preached8: 12; 18:8). The pattern in the book (Acts 8:4,5,12).of Acts is that, when the Word was 6 . Both the Samaritans (Actspreached* those w ho received it

8~14) nd the Gentiles (Acts 11:l)believed and were baptized for the "received theforgiveness of their sins. This was

, The description given of thetrue Of those On the Of Pentecost response on the day of Pentecost -(Acts 2:38-41), of those in % Irnaria

when preaching forgiveness in Jesus7(Acts 8:12,13), the Ethiopian (Acts name began (Luke 24:47) - as8:25-39), the first Gentile converts that those who received the Word(Acts 10:47,48; 11:1), Lydia (Acts were baptized. This must mean that

16: 14, 15), the jailer in Philippi ,,,iVing the word includes baptism(Acts 16:32,33), and the converts in in order to be saved (MarkCorinth (Acts 18:8). 16:15,16), for the Word can make us

When the rep0* was given 'On- wise to salvation, and baptism wascerning those who had and the result of receiving it (Acts 2:41).been baptized, the statement is g. Preachers who do notIllade that received the Word the Word today are failing to bring(Acts 2:41; 8: 14; 11: I), but not that people to salvation.they received Jesus as their person-

g. Failure to preach the Word is toa' savior^ prayed the sinner's fai l to follow the instruction ofprayer, received the Or Jesus and the precedent set by theany other such statements. early church.

tonclusbns 10. Receiving God's Word is the

From the preceding information only way to salvation, yesterday 7

we can draw these conclusions: today, and until the end of time. V

1. The Scriptures are to be respect-ed and preached (2 Timothy 4:2). Owen D. Olbricht is a writer living in2. God's Word will save those Sherwood, Arkansas, USA.

2



/Jack Harriman

T h e N e w Te s t a m e n t w r i t e rsnever used the Greek equivalent ofthis word, "synecdoche", but theyoften did what i t means. In theirspeaking and writing, they used afigure of speech by which the wholeof a thing is put for a part, or a partfor the whole. Jesus prayed, "Give

us this n'ay our daily bread. " A partof His diet (bread) stood for all ofHis diet. A knowledge and applica-tion of this figure of speech is nec-essary to properly understand thewil l of Go d for us. Let m e i l lus-trate.

As to how and w h e n one be -

c o m e s a s a v e d p e r s o n , t h e N e wTestament seems to make severa lcon t rad ic to ry s ta tem ents . Eph e-sians 2:8 says that man is saved "by

grace through faith," but Romans10:lO says that "confession is madeto salvation. " And A cts 11 18 saysthat "God has granted to the Gen-tiles repentance to life. " Still dif-

ferent is 1 Peter 3:21, which saysthat "baptism saves us. "

This could be very confus ing

unless one recognizes the fact thatfa i th i s a f igure of speech whichs t a n d s f o r t h e w h o l e o f m a n ' sresponse . So are co nfess ion andrepentance and baptism, as used inthese quotes! This is why we muststudy all that the Lord has said onthis subject, and others, before we

begin to draw o ur conclusions. Q

Jack Harriman preaches the Gospel inFayetteville, Arkansas, USA.



DOCTRINE O LIVE BY

W h e n y o u t h i n kabout i t , a person's rel igious per-spective can always be traced backto his understanding of God's call-ing of man: how that call comes andwhat that call contains.

S o many m easure their spirituall i fe f rom that moment when they"received Go d's call ." Cou ntlessothers wait patiently for their ownspecial saving encounter with God.Whether perceived as received orexpected, this way of God callingman in to a persona l re la t ionsh ipwith Him is evidently open to widevariety and personal interpretation.

On e feels he is called by meansof a near-death experience; whileanother has a dream. On e is called

to join an established denomination;while another is led to start his own .One is called to worship in silent,

ed medita-t i on ; wh i l e ano the r i si n s p i r e d b y H a r d R o c k w i t h a"Christian" message.

Does God actually call individ-uals in these many different ways?If so , how can anyone do what Petertells us to do in 2 Peter 1:10, "makeyour call and election sure"?

If we want to know how G odc a l l s p e o p l e , s h o u l d w e g o t ohumans for guidance? W ouldn't themost reliable answer to this question

come from the One doing the call-i n g ? According to Go d ' s ownWord, how does He call u~ ?



Called by the Lospd of LhristPaul reminded the Thessalonian

Christians of their call from God in2 Thessalonians 2: 13,14: " G o d ,from the beginning, chose you forsalvation through sanctification bythe Spirit and belief in the truth, towhich He called you by our gospel+for he obtaining of the glory of ourLord Jesus Christ. "

This same description of God'scall is beautifully stated in 2Timothy 1:9,10: "W ho has saved usand called us with a holy calling,not accord ing to our works , bu taccording to His own purpose andg r ac e w h i c h w a s g iv e n t o u s i nChrist Jesus before time began, buth a s n o w b e e n r e v e a le d b y t h eappea r ing o f ou r Sav io r J e susChr i s t , who has abol ished dea thand brought life and immortality tolight through the gospel."

So, when God calls someone" fo r salvation through sanctifica-t ion" , He does so by the gospel.And when the calling is "accordingto His own purpose and grace ", it isthrough the gospeI.

Remember we are wanting toknow how God says that He callsus. The apostle Paul, through theinspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrotethat it is "through the gospel". So,what is that gospel?

The Lospel of Christ PreachedLet's hear from the apostle Paul

again, this time in 1 Corinthians

15:l-4:"Moreover, brethren, 1 declare

to you the gospel which I preached

to you, which a lso you received andin which you stand, by which alsoyou are saved, i f you hold fast thatword which I preached to you -unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you first ofal l that Chris t d ied for our s insaccording to the Scriptures, and

that He was buried, and that Herose again the third day accordingto the Scriptures."

According to Paul, the gospel isthe death, burial and resurrection ofJesus Christ . We can f ind thisprominently at the heart of thepreaching recorded in the book of

Acts. It was in Peter's first sermonon the day of Pentecost:

" M e n o f I s r a e l , h e a r t h e s ewords: Jesus of Nazareth, a Manattested by God to you by miracles,wonders and signs which God didthrough Him in your midst, as youyourselves also know- im, eing

delivered by the determined purposeand fo reknowledge of G od , youhave taken by lawless hands, havecrucified, and put to death; whomGod raised up, having loosed thepains of death, because it a s notpossible that He should be held byit." (Acts 2:22-24)

Over and over again, we hearthe apostles present this gospel.



DOCTRINE TO L I V E Y

(Acts 3: 13-15; 4: 10; 5:30; 10:37-43)So unique was this gospel that Paulwarned in Galatians 1:8, "Bu t evenif we, o r an angel f rom heaven ,

preach any other gospel to you thanwhat we have preached to you, lethim be accursed."

So, we know how God callsmen: through the gospel. Weknow what that gospel must be for itto be God's calling: the death,burial and resurrection of JesusChrist. So, what should we doabout all the other ways that peopleclaim to be called? What should wedo about all the anticipation forGod's calling to fit our expecta-tions? What should we do aboutthese "other gospels" to which peo-ple think they have been called?

"Your faith should not be in thewisdom of men but in the power

of Lad" (I LorinthiansTh e first two chapters of 1

Corinthians were written to remindthose Christians that the gospel that

they obeyed was thankfully notfrom men but God. It was notwhat the Jews or the Greeks werelooking for ( I Corinthians 1:22)."Christ crucified" was a stumblingblock to the Jews and foolishness tothe Greeks ( 1 Corinthians 1:23).But God chose the preaching of the

death, burial and resurrection ofJesus Christ to be "the power ofGod and the wisdom of God" ( 1

Corinthians 1:24). "T ha t no fleshshould glory In His presence. Butof Him you are in Christ Jesus, whobecame for us wisdom from God-and righteousness and sanctifica-tion and redemption - hat, as it iswr i t ten , He wh o g lor ies , l e t h imglory in the Lord" (1 Corinthians1 29-3 1).

So we must all determine withPaul "not to know anything amongyou except Jesus Christ and Himcrucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). Paulquoted the prophet Isaiah in 1Corinthians 2:9 about what wemight imagine God's call to be:"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,nor have entered into the heart ofman the things which God has pre-pared for those who love Him."

That's what makes Paul's fol-lowing affirmation in 1 Corinthians2:12 so very important to all of us:"N ow we have r ece ived , no t thespirit of the world, but the Spiritwho i s f rom Go d , tha t we migh tk n o w t h e t h i n g s t h a t h a v e b e e n

freely given to us by God."From our study thus far wehave learned how God calls all men:through the gospel. We know whatthat gospel must be for it to be thetrue calling of God: the death, bur-ial and resurrection of JesusChrist. And we know that this

gospel will not be controlled orchanged by what any man expects ordesires - t is the one Gospel,



DOCTRINE TO L I V E BY

delivered once and for all tomankind, and any who would try tochange it are under the curse of God.

Now, let's assume that all these

statements of truth are believed tothis point. What would one do inorder to respond to God's oneand only call through the gospelof the death, burial and resurrec-tion of Jesus Christ? How doesone "accept the call"?

Obey the LospelHow does one obey the teach-

ing of the death, burial and resurrec-tion of Jesus Christ? Must we allhang on a wooden cross, be buriedin a borrowed tomb, and be raisedfrom the dead on the third day?

Thanks to more of God's

revealed Word, no!!! Paul told howthose in Rome obeyed the death,burial and resurrection of JesusChrist in Romans 6:3-5: "O r do younot know that as man y of us as werebapt ized in to Chr is t Jesus w e r ebaptized into His death? Thereforewe were buried with Him throughbap t i sm i n to dea th , t ha t j u s t a sChrist was raised from the dead bythe glory of the Father, even so wealso should walk in newness of life.For if we have been united togetherin the likeness of His death, cer-tainly we also shall be in the like-

ness of His resurrection."Paul called this r e sponse o fbaptism into Christ, obeying " that

form of doctrine to which you werede l ivered" (Romans 6 :17). Thuswe know God's chosen way toanswer His call!

In Acts 2:38 the very peoplewho crucified Jesus, who heard thecall of the gospel in Peter's sermon,were given the same way to obeythe gospel: "Re pent and let every-one of you be baptized in he nameof Jesus Christ for the renzission ofsins, and you shall receive the gift

o f t he Ho ly Sp i r i t . " And that'sexactly what about three thousandof them did! That's what those whohear and believe the gospel call willdo today: "Th en those w ho gladlyreceived his word were baptized"(Acts 2:41).

No sensation can replace thepower of God in the gospel of JesusChrist. No emotional high or lowcan match the truth of His death,burial and resurrection. No humanimagination can compare to thereality of God's true call.

Thank God for the simplicityand dependability of the gospel ofJesus Christ! Thank God for Hiswillingness to forgive our sins!Thank God you still have time tobelieve and obey the call of the

gospel! Q

Rodney Tedford worked in Trinidadfor eighteen months, and now returnsoften to teach in the Trinidad Schoolof Preaching. He and his family workwith the Ash Street congregation inPerry, Florida, USA.



DOCTRINE T O LIVE BY

The Purpose of

Baptism - .,. . .....The New Testament records the event of thousands of people who were

baptized (Acts 2:41; 6:7; 8:6,12). They were immersed in obedience to thecommand of Christ for the remission of their sins.

1. Obedience to the gospel: The gospel is the historical fact of thedeath of Jesus for our sins. It is the event of His burial and resurrection to

give us hope of eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:l-4). This historical event iscommunicated to us through the inspired word of God. Unless one obeysthe gospel, he cannot be saved (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; 1 Peter 4: 17). Whenone is baptized he is buried with Christ into His death in order to be raisedfrom the waters of baptism to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4;Colossians 2:12). Therefore, the mode of baptizo is immersion into thedeath, burial and resurrection of Jesus in order to be saved.

2. Remission of sins: When one is immersed with Jesus in obedienceto the gospel, he comes into contact with His blood. He thus receives for-giveness of sins (Acts 2:38), as his sins are washed away (Acts 22:16;Timothy 3:s). God subsequently adds the immersed believer to His spiritualfamily, the church, which is made up of people who are in a covenant rela-tionship with Him (Acts 2:47).

Candidates for Baptism

There are definite prerequisites that qualify one for baptism. (1) Only

those who can be taught are to be baptized (Matthew 28:19,20). (2) Onlythose who can understand the command to be immersed are to beimmersed (Acts 2:38). (3) Only men and women are to be immersed (Acts8:12). (4) Only those who can hear the teaching of the gospel are to beimmersed (Mark 16:15,16; John 6:45). (5) Only those who can believe areto be immersed (Mark 16: 16; John 8:24; 8: 12; 1 8:8). (6) Only those whocan receive the word are to be immersed (Acts 2:41). (7) Only those whocan repent are to be immersed (Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30; 2 Peter

3:9). Therefore, baptism is only for adults who can make a free-moralchoice to be immersed. 9

Roger Dickson is President of the International School of Biblical Studies, basedin Cape Town, South Africa.

3 3



Dead or Al ive?J. Lee Roberts

"F or as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ"

( 1 Corinthians 15:22).

All who reject God's instruc- 8:22; Luke 15:32). Paul describedtions and disobey Him, as did widows who live only for pleasureAdam, are separated from God by as dead while living ( 1 Timothytheir sins and are spiritually dead. 5:6).When we, along with Adam, follow All who follow Adam's disobe-the advice of the serpent, instead of dience are also dead! Through sin,

listening to the Lord, we are cut off all die in Adam. Read Ephesiansfrom the source of spiritual life and 2:l-6: You were dead through theare no longer in fellowship with our t respasses and s ins in which youCreator. This sin, this rejection of once lived, following the course ofHis wisdom, is universal as "all this world, following the ruler of thehave sinned". Thi s is to be "in power of the air, the spirit that isAdam" and to be spiritually dead. now a t work among those who areJesus spoke of this state when He disobedient . Among th ese we al l

told the dead to bury their dead and once l ived in the passions of o u rwhen he pronounced the rebellious jlesh, ... like the rest of mankind.young prodigal as "dead" (Matthew "Bu t God, who is rich in mercy,

3 4



out of the great love with which Heloved us, even when we weredeadthrough our trespasses, m a d e u sal ive together wi th Chris t ... and

raised us up with Him."All spiritual life is in Christ,as we follow His example of totallove and obedience to the Fatherand to His will. Convicted of theenormity of our sins through theSpirit's work in the message of theCross, we turn from the love and

practice of sin to love God and Hisrighteousness.

We are made spiritually alivewhen we reject Adam's exampleand obey Christ in baptism. We areburied with Him and raised to walkin holiness, our hearts changed tohate evil and love godliness, - ocease serving sin and to become ser-vants of righteousness.

"Buried with Him in baptism, inwhich you also were raised with Himthrough faith in the working of God,who raised Hiin from the dead.

"A nd you, being de ad in yourtrespasses and the uncircumcisionof your f lesh, He has ma de al ivetogether with Him, having forgivenyou all trespasses, having wiped outthe handwri t ing of requi rementsthat was against L L ~ ,hich was con-trary to us. And He has taken it outof the way, having nailed it to the

c r o s ~ (Colossians 2: 12- 14)."W e know that we have passed

from death to life, because we love

the brethren. He who does not lovehis brother abides in death.

"W hoever hates his brother is amurde re r, and you know tha t no

murderer has eternal life abiding inhim. By this we know love, becauseHe laid down His life for us. Andwe also ought to lay down our livesfor the brethren" (1 John 3: 14-16).

"F or we ourse lves were a l soonce foolish, disobedient, deceived,sewing various lusts and pleasures,

living in malice and envy, hatefuland hating one another.

"B ut when the kindness and thelove o f God ou r Savior toward m anappeared , no t by works of r igh t -eousness which we have done, butaccording t o His m ercy He savedus, through the washing of regener-a t i o n a n d r e n e w i ng o f t h e H o l ySpirit , whom He poured out on usabundant ly th rou gh Jesus Chr i s tour Savior... " (Titus 3:3-7).

Prayerfully read these addi-tional scriptures: Romans 6: 1-19; 1Peter 1 :22-25; 3:l-17; Acts 2:37-42;1 John 2:3-6; Titus 2: 11-14.

In Christ w e are made aliveand are being changed into His like-ness, always taking on more andmore of His attributes - oving asHe loved, forgiving as He forgave,as the Spirit works in us. Q

J. Lee R oberts, formerly a missionaryto the French world, now worshipsand works with the Greenlawn churchin Lub bock, Texas, USA.



the Love or c;obAllan E. Flaxman

"God commendeth His love toward us in that while we wereyet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:s ) .

How horrible is the Bible pic-ture of Hell! Many years ago I lis-tened to a sermon delivered by oneof our outstanding preachers, basedon the Bible description of Hell. Itwas not funny. It was designed tomake his audience "sit up and taken o t i c e ." I t c e r t a i n l y g o t t h a tresponse from me, and I feel confi-dent that it got the same result from

the large audience.Hel l i s a p lace of Darkness !Hell is a plac e of Fire! Hell is aplace of suffering and weeping andgnashing of teeth! In Hell the con-demned will remember all the eventson earth they wish they could forget!For example, the times they ignored

those who were trying to encouragethem to becom e Christians. Hell isEternal - t will never end!

You can s t ay ou t o f He l l byobeying the Gospel, but if you onceget into Hell you will never get out!Not a pretty picture! And remember,God painted such a graphic picture,

doubtless, so that it would be a warn-ing to everyone th rough the ages

(Mat thew 13:42-50; 18 :8 ,9 ; 8 ;12 ;Jude 13; Luke 16:27-31; Mat thew25:32; 2 Thessalonians 1:s ).

Hell is the ultimate destiny ofa l l u n f o rg i v e n s i n n e r s ( R o m a n s6:23). Tha t, then, raises the ques -t ion, "W hat is s in?" Also, "Howdoes God regard sin that He wouldprepare a place as horrible and ashorrifying as Hell is, for unforgiven

sinners?"Perhaps we should begin by not-i n g t h a t G o d ' s p r e s e n t a t t i t u d etoward sin is not new! In the begin-ning, in the Garden of Eden, Godpromised Adam and Eve that to eatthe one forbidden fruit would bringabou t t he i r dea th . Thousan ds o f

years later we are all too well awarethat God kept that promise. W e havelearned, too, that God never fails tokeep any promise He ever makes. Inthe days of Noah, the whole worldpopulation, except for eight people,was drowned in the Flood. W hy ?Because of sin. And, as the story

c o n t i n u e s o n t h r o u g h t h e OldTe s t a m e n t u n t i l t h e c o m i n g o f



I f a n y s i n n e r e v e r g o e s t oHeaven, it will be by the grace ofGod. None of us deserves to goto Heaven . Non e can earn ormer i t h i s s a lva t i on . W i thou t

Christ and God's mercy throughH i m , w e a r e h o p e l e s s l y a n dutterly lost.

t o Heaven because he ha

neve r known o f a gospepreacher who taught thatw e a r e s a v e d b y o u r o w nworks. In forty years of exte vat ion by grace , he iss iv e rea d in g in Re s to ra t io n fighting a s traw man andMovement literature, I have never jousting at windmills.r e a d w h e r e a n y o f o u r b r e th r e n Are we saved by grace?taugh t that one can earn his Own sal- An swer yes or no ! Emp hat ical ly

vation. the answer is "Yes!" Are we sav ed1 have heard our people s ing by our own works? Answ er yes or

throughtheyears"The0ldRugged n o ! E m p h a t ic a l ly t h e a n s w e r i sCros s " , "Amaz ing Grace" , "H i s 4 : ~ o , "Grace Reaches Me", "Without H im One mo re question needs to beI Cou ld D o Nothing", and dozens of addressed. Although God has givenoth er s on gs a b o u t th e ma tch les s His grace to us through Jesus Christ,grace of Jesus, and the necessity of is anything expected of us? Can

that grace in o ur salvation. salvation be a gift and still haveS o when som e sectarian teacher conditions?



+ G o d g a v e C a n a a n t o I s r a e l(Joshua 1:2,3,11). Did they haveany responsibility to appropriate it?+ Jesus taught us to pray, "Give

us this day our daily bread"(Matthew 6 : l l ; 1 Timothy 6:17) .Does this remove all responsibilityfo r us to w ork (2 Thessa lon ians3 :8)?+ G o d h a s g i v e n u s H i s Wo r d(Acts 7:38; 2 Peter 1:3) . D o wetherefore not need to study, becauseHe has given it to us?+ Christ gives us His peace (John14:27). Do we have any obligation tobe at peace and to be peacemakers?

"Therefore being justified byfaith , we have peace with Godthrough our Lord Jesus Christ: Bywhom we have access by faith intothis grace wherein we stand, andrejoice in the hope of the glory ofGod" (Romans 5 : 1,2).

"F or the grace of God thatbrings salvation has appeared untoall men, teaching us that denyingungodliness and worldly lusts, weshould live soberly, righteously, andgodly in this present world . . ."

(Titus 2:l l -12 ). f?

O w e n C o s g r o v e p r e a c h e s fo r t h eNorthside Church of Christ in Waxa-hachie, Texas, USA.



Supply the

missing infor-mation from

T

the book of

Acts, chaptereleven, NKJV.

i. What was so unusual about Cornelius' con-

version? (V . 1).

2. What happened when Peter returned toJerusalem? (V . 2).

3. The voice Peter had heard from heaven said,

r ---leansed com-mon." (V. 9).

1 4. Did other Christians go with Peter, to serve as wit-nesses? (V. 12).

5. What happened, as Peter began to preach? (V . 15).6. What promise did Peter remember, as a result of this manifestation

of God's approval of Cornelius becoming a Christian? (V . 16).7 . What conclusive reasoning did Peter use to settle the matter? (V. 17).

8. How did the Jerusalem church respond? (V . 18).9. What happened to Christians who were scattered abroad after the

stoning of Stephen? (V . 19).

10. Men from and came to . There they taughtabout the . (V . 20).

11. What response did these people make? (V. 21).

12. When the church at Jerusalem heard of their conversion, who did

they send to them? (V . 22).13. What did Barnabas do when he came and had seen how these

people had responded to God's grace that had been offered tothem by way of the preaching of the Gospel? (V. 23).

14. How does their belief, turnina to the Lord, and beina added to theLord compare with the record in Acts 2:37-47? (Vs. 21-24).

15. When Barnabas found Paul, what did they do? (V. 26).

16. Where were disciples first called Christians? (V . 26).

[See inside of back cover for answers.]



bv ldentitv and Determinate Qual

"S o it was that for a whole yearthey assembled with the church andtaught a great many people. Andt h e d i s c i p l e s w e r e f i r s t c a l l e dChristians at A ntioch " (Acts 1 1 26).

"Greet one another with a holykiss. The churches of Christ greet

you" (Romans 16:16).There is a d ifference between

identical and determined. Identical

is defined as, 1: being the same; 2:

having such close resemblance as tobe essentially the same. Determineis defined as, 1: to fix conclusivelyor authoritatively; 2: to decide byjud ic i a l s en tence ; 3: t o s e t t l e o rdecide by choice of alternatives or

possibilities.If I see a mound of red earth

with a hole in the middle and red



ants going in and out, I identify thatto be a red ant hill. I hav e not deter-mined it to be a red ant hill. Thatwas a l r eady de t e rmined be fo re I

cam e upon the scene. Even ifI mis-takenly identified it as a mole hill itwould still be a red ant hill. I wouldno t change i t s cha rac t e r i s t i c s bycalling it something different.

qualities that merited his identifyingthem as "churches of Christ".

B u t w h y d i d P a u l s p e n d s omuch time and effort writing to vari-

ous congrega t ions , p lead ing wi ththem to correct serious flaws in theirmidst? W as it because they were indanger of losing their determinatequalifications that would affect their

Th e d i sc ip l e s o f Chr i s t we recal led Chris t ians f i rs t a t Ant ioch.This iden t i fy ing te rm came aboutquite naturally because of their obvi-ous C hrist- l ike characteristics andloyalty to the Savior. But supposethat somewhere along the way theyhad cast off those noble characteris-tics and returned to the ways of theworld. Or suppo se they had intro-duced into their daily activities thingsthat were foreign to that which Jesushad determined for His saints. Wouldthey still have been Christians?

P a u l w r o t e t o t h e c h u r c h i nR o m e , "Th e churches of Chris t

salute you." Th is greeting reflected

Paul's attitude toward, and identity

of, certain congregations scatteredthroughout the land. Th ese surelyposses sed ce r t a in p rede t e rmined

identity as churches of Christ? Howlong would the church in Corinthhave been identified as the church ifthey had not corrected their faultsand repented of their sins?

Th ere are certain qualities thatcan develop within a congregationt h a t c a n s o c o n t r a d i c t t h e d e t e r -mined characteristics of the Lord'schurch a s to cause it to lose its iden-t ity as His bod y: fa l se t each ing ,r ebe l l i ous member s , unqua l i f i ede lders and deacons , ha t red , envy,etc., etc. The se cannot be counter-b a l a n c e d b y a s i g n o n t h e d o o r.T h e y m u s t b e r e c o g ni z ed , d e a l twith, and corrected. Not to do sowill lead to tragedy and eternal con-

demnation. V

Joe C. Magee preaches for the churchof Christ in Carthage, Missouri, USA.



Jerry JenkinsThere is no greater sorrow than

religious division. It is sad to lose aloved one. hav e a child to be resent-ful and rebellious, o r have a divorcein the family, but the deepest possi-ble sorrow for one who loves the

work of the Lord is division in thelocal congregation. This sorrow isso great because it undervalues thechurch.

Jesus displayed His estimate ofthe value of the church in the gardenwhere "...in agony He prayed moreearnestly: and His sweat was as itw ere great dro ps of blood fallingdown to the ground" (Luke 22:44),and in the blood freely shed in Hisscourging (John 19:1), and as theydrove the thin spikes of steel intoHis feet and hands, and His bloodsplattered on the cross and ground( L u k e 23:33). E a c h d r o p w h i c hpoured from His body was the pricepaid fo r the church (Ephesians5:23;Acts 20:28). He certainly did notconsider the church to be insignifi-cant o r non-essential.

R e l i g i o u s d i v is i o n h u r t s s obadly, for i t a l ienates family andfriends. Som e of my relatives will

but on Sunday will not break breadin the M emorial Feast together.

Religious division hurts, for itt akes the focus f rom the pr imarypurpose of the church, which is toteach the Go spel to those lost in sin,

and makes the incidental becomedominant in ou r thinking.

Re l ig ious d iv i s ion o ff e r s , a tleast in the minds of the non-com-mitted, excuses for not worshipingG o d . I t h in k of s o m a n y w h odropped out of service through theyears because there was difficulty inthe local congregation.

Religious division hinders reli-gious neighbors and fr iends f roms e e i n g a n d o b e y i n g t h e t r u t hbecause we have fa i led to be thelight on the hill (Matthew 5:16). Ithas been stated, "I would rather bethe Roman soldier who pierced thephysical body of Christ as one who,by gossip, misrepresentations, andanger, divided His spiritual body."

May we never be one who inany way would be responsible forreligious division. P

fellowship with me in my home, eat Jerry Jenkins Preaches for theRoebuck Parkway congregation in

food provided, sleep in Our beds, Birmingham, Alabama, USA,



Esteem Them HighlyIn Love

Dale Grissom"An d we beseech you, brethren, among us, those whose efforts keep

to know them which labor among the church active and alive. Perhapsyou, and are over you in the Lord, w e n e e d t o b e r e m i n d e d , a s t h eand adm onish you; and to esteem Thessalonian brethren were, that wethem very highly in love for their have a responsibility to know andw o r k ' s s a k e. A n d b e a t p e ac e e s t e e m o t h e r s h i g h l y i n l o v eamong yourselves. Now we exhort because of the work they are doingyou, brethren, warn them that are in service to the Lord.unruly, co mfort the feeble-minded, W e are to be a happy and joyfulsupport the weak, he patient toward people; after all, we have the hopeall men. See that none render evil and prom ise of eternal life. W e arefor evil unto any m an; but ever fol- to be a prayerful people, not just inlo w that which is good, both among time of need or want, but continual-yourselves, and to all men . Rejoice ly. W e are to be an energetic andevermore. Pray without ceasing. In excited people, desiring to share theevery thing give thanks ; for this is hope we have in Christ with others.the will of God in Christ Jesus con- A n d w e a r e t o h o l d f a s t t o t h atcerning you. Quench not the Spirit. which is good - ever compromis-Despise not proph esyings. Prove ing the truth - nd carefully avoidall things; hold fast that wh ich is all appearance of evil.good. Abstain from all appea rance When a congregation of God's

of evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:12-22). p e o p l e w o r k s h a r d t o g e t h e r t oT h e a p o s t l e P a u l w a s h e r e spreadthebordersofHiskingdom,p le ad in g w it h th e c h u rc h in then there will be an appreciation ofTh essa lon ica to get to kn ow , per- one another and of the effort that issonally and intimately, those who put forth. Th ere is no place in thelabored among them and were over church for disunity and division; ou rthem. He further adm on ished the energy must be spent in serving thebrethren to esteem them very highly Lord. P

in love for their work's sake.Too often w e do not Dale Grissom works with the church

k n o w t h os e w h o w o r k s o h a rd of Christ in Dex ter, Missouri, USA.

4 4



Reaso~s hythe ChurchShould Put a Priorityon Building

a Loving Church

Because a loving church is a united church .

Acts 2:46,47 describes the early Christ ians in Jerusalem as united."N ow all who believed were together, and had all things in common"(Acts2:44). This church was united. They enjoyed being together. Th ere was abond between the Christians.

The church today should also be so bonded in unity that the membersenjoy the time that they can spend together. Unity is vital for a people to

work as a group to accomplish the Lord 's purpose. Any d ivision, even inunderstanding the work of the church, can defeat the church's efforts toaccomplish the works of love. W henev er there has been division amon g

4 5



members of God's own church family, i t has handicapped His cause.Som eone has well said, "The price of a divided Christendom is an unbeliev-ing world."

Because a loving church holds and involves members.When love does not bind Christians together, some ask the question,

"How many times a week is onerequired to attend church ser vic es? 'Lo vein the Jerusalem church enabled Luke to say of them, "S o continuing dailywith one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, theyate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart" (Acts 2:46).

Studies on church unity and fellowship would cau se us to conclude that

fulfilling the need for close friends in the church through a sincere fellow-ship that binds is difficult to achieve in large groups. W hile some may, atfirst, question the value of small groups, the truth of this assessment is seenin the fact that we are social creatures whose needs will inevitably be m et bysomebody, somewhere, who will invest enough time in a relationshipto

make it meaningful. Large churches face a greater problem developingthese close relationships than small churches.

Because a loving church will see souls being saved.When people praise God for His blessings, have favor with fel low

Christians, and keep their focus outward, souls will be brought to Christ.There is grave danger of the church turning inward and becoming a chubbycollection of nice folks exist ing only for the edification of the saints.Instead of being fishers of men, they are keepers of the aquarium! W henthey reach that point, there is more joy on earth over o ne new church build-ing than over 99 souls that repent! Not so with the Jerusalem church whoseleaders were the men Jesus trained. Luke wrote,"...praising God and lzav-ing favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily thosewho were being saved" (Acts 2:47).

Is your congregation seeing edification that results inlove and multipli-cation? If not, d o not be m isled:it is losing its direction!

The church at Ephesus is the story of a church who left its first love(Revelation 2). Many good things were said about this church. They were



holding fast to the correct doctrine. They apparently knew the differencebetween truth and error, but they did not recognize that they had lost the zealthat was characteristic of them when they had left worshiping idols andburned their books, turning to the true God to obey the gospel (Acts 19).

There are churches today that are absolutely true to the Scripturesdoctrinally but are empty, spiritually. The carnal nature of humanity canjight but cannot perform spiritual works. In such churches, whatever devo-tion is left is largely focused on negative things. Their lovelessness maymanifest itself in a number of ways: (1) They may be extremely conserva-tive, unable to distinguish between the changeable (methods) and theunchangeable (doctrine). (2) They may be governed by negative attitudessuch as, "I don't think that will work here" or "It costs too much," or "Idon't believe we are ready for that." (3) They focus on the defense of thegospel while neglecting the advancing of the gospel. (4) They are quick toaccuse others of apostasy, yet are not themselves following the command ofour Lord to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9). (5) Often these churches arelike James said: "But ifyou have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts,do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend fromabove, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seekingexist, confusion and every evil thing are there" (James 3 : 14-16).

The admonition of the Lord to the church at Ephesus is applicable tochurch members whose love has deteriorated: "I have this against you, thatyou have left yourfirst love. Remember therefore from where you have fall-en; repent and do thefirst works .... " They were warned of what would hap-pen if they did not!

Conclusion

Where are you and your congregation in relation to being the lovingperson or people that we must be? If you claim to be a Christian but are notconcerned about others - hat is, you are not concerned about helping carryout the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20) - re you really obeying thegreat commandment (John 13:34,35)?

Is your congregation seeing edification that results in love and multipli-cation? If not, do not be misled: it is losing its direction! V

Clayton Pepper, now deceased, devoted much of his energy as a gospel preach-er to study and promotion of "church growth".



We a l l want the church to grow, butwe mus t know tha t church growth fornum bers' sake is ugly. There is more to

Christianity than our collective ego.W e are here to glorify God by seeking

and saving the lost. Ho w can we doit? Le t 's examine som e simple

soul-winning principles, thingswe can do to be evangelisti-

+ Point to Jesus.B e c o m e a J o h n t h e

B a p t i s t . J o h n s a i d ,"Behold the Lamb of

God. " This is a notablecharacteristic of John ; h ew a s m o r e i n t e r e s t e d i n

Jesus than in h imse l f .

Personal ego can be a

Randall Caselman

major stum bling block in our soul-winning efforts- oo much emp hasis onself, our opinions, interpretations, and ideas. It is easy for us t o be w rappedup in self-esteem, intimidation, se lf-aggrandizem ent, and assertiveness. No.No. Point to Jesus. Be willing to lose self for the sake of souls. John lostdisciples. They left him to follow Jesus.+ Be Transparent. Evangelism is our getting out of the way so otherscan see Jesus through us. Paul said we are to become transparent. "I no

longer live, but Christ lives in me. " Jesus said, " I f I be lifted up, I will drawall men to me. " Are we willing to becom e transparent? Lift up Jesus.

+ Create Curiosity. We need to take this soul winning tip from theM aster Himself. A man c am e to Jesus asking, "Rabbi, where do you live?"Do you know what Jesus' answer was? "Come see." Later this individual,

4 8



Andrew, became a disciple, an Apostle, but it all began in curiosity. Peopleare searching, and rightly so. Paul taught in His Mars Hill discourse thatGod had placed within us a mental mechanism that causes us to search, tolook, to reach out - o our creator, to God. Invite neighbors to come and

see. Come see our love, our sincerity, our search for truth, our friendliness.Come see Jesus demonstrated in His people.+ Be a Friend. Friendship evangelism works. Most of us are in thechurch because of friendship. Someone cared enough, loved enough toinvite us, bring us, teach us, and show us Jesus. Books, articles, and semi-nars on relationships are in big demand. People are interested in relation-ships - ecoming a part of something, somebody. Friends, family, fellow-ship, neighboring are important. The truth is, we cannot, will not, survivewithout this concept. God created us for relationships. The Bible declares,"It is not good that man should be alone." Jesus called His first disciplesfrom among friends and kin. Andrew brought his brother. The lady atJacob's well went to her friends and town folk saying, "Come se e theChrist. "

Church growth demands more Christianity than simply coming to ameeting at the building three times a week. We must offer Jesus to our chil-

dren, our spouse, our kinfolk, neighbor, fellow worker, yes, even our ene-mies. Surely most of those who love us would be honored to be asked to"come and see - eet Jesus". P

Randall Caselman preaches for the Lord's church in Bella Vista, Arkansas, USA.



with its false doctrine, short cuts were taken. One favourite was to incorpo-rate existing cults, converting them to 'Christianity'. Many pagan templeswere thus converted into 'cirches', retaining the original word! Not onlywas the original word retained, so were the doctrines and priesthood. Thuswas born the idea that the church is the building, the only place for worshipbeing on 'dedicated holy ground', and hence the organisationlhierarchy ofthe Catholic Church and, later, Anglican and some denominations.

The Celts had four main festivals, associated with the seasons. Imbolcwas celebrated on 1 February and was associated with the Irish mother god-dess Brigit (meaning exalted one).

After the Druids were destroyed, the cult of Brigit remained and contin-ues today as the Catholic cult of St. Brigit whose feast day is the 1 February.Brigit was possibly associated with the British deity Brigantia.

Another temple practise was that of sacrifice, animal and human. The



The pagans worsh ipped t reeson all continents. Even today somepagans - indus and Bud dhists-still worship "the spirits" o flin trees.

T h i s p r a c t is e w a s w i d e s p r e a d i nEurope before and after Christianitybegan. Pope Gregory I wrote a let-t e r t o A u g u s t i n e o f C a n t e r b u r y(c600) to encourage the pagan useof decorating buildings with ever-greens . Augu st ine had been con-ce rned wi th pagan i sm in wha t i s

now England; again the answer wasto incorporate this into Catholicism,rather than to fight the custom.

Mistletoe is of Celtic origin. Itwas known as ' a l l -hea l ' and wasbelieved to have certain miraculouspowers. M istletoe is found on theoak tree which w as highly veneratedby the Oak Priests (Druids) of themany Cel t ic t r ibes across Europeand England. Because of its associ-ation with the Druids, some denom-inations have in times past refusedi t s u s e i n d e c o r a t i o n s i n c h u r c hbuildings.

In the Isle of Wight, which liessouth to Portsmouth, Eng land, is thetown of G odshill, so named becausehere is a hill where pagan gods wereworshiped. This was a pagan 'highplace ' where not only pagan wor-ship took place, but also folk weresacr i f iced to pac i fy var ious gods

including Be1 (Baa l). T he Isle ofWight was the last part of what isnow called England to fall into the

c l u t c h e s o f t h e C a t h o l i c C h u r c h ,a r o u n d t h e y e a r 9 0 0 A . D . T h epagan idea of 'holy places' dedicat-e d f o r w o r s h i p b e c a m e a p a r t o f

Catholic doctrine.When Wickliffe made his trans-lation of the Bible into English in1380, the word 'cirche' was broughtover into the translation from paganuse. This helped, further, to estab-lish in the minds of the populace theold idea of the sanctity of the build-

ing where worship took place, ratherthan the bibl ical concept that theholiness was in the body of people

Ty n e d a l e i n h i s t r a n s l a t i o n s(1525, onw ards), realising that thew o r d w h i c h h a d b e e n t r a n s l a t e d'church' referred to the people ofGod, used the word congrega t ionins tead . Th e 1611 K J t ranslatorsretained 'church' although by thistime scholars realised that the wordchurch referred to the congregationrather than the building.

Churches of Christ during thisp e r i o d ( 1 6 0 0 ' s ) w e r e k n o w n a s'church (or congregation) of Christ'or Church of Christ or Con gregationof Christ, all three being used inter-changeably.

Listen to the words of 'saint 'B e r n a rd , a C i s t e rc i a n m o n k a n dabbot of Clareval, who wrote a let-ter to the Earl of St . Giles in the

year 1147, complaining that he washarbouring 'Henry of Toulouse, aheretick' who practised believer 's



One ESome years ago the owner of one of the chain

s t o r e s t h a t s o l d m i l k s h a k e s w a s s i tt in g a t t h ecounter in on e of his stores. H e listened to theperson making the milkshakes as he asked cus-tomers, "Would you like an egg in your milk-shake?" Perha ps half the custom ers wo uldsay, "No." H e had a flash of insight into thepossibilities and told his employees to changethe question to, "Would you like one egg ortwo in your milkshake?"

Revenue in the stores increased by a million dollars the following yearbecause of the extra egg s that were sold. The psychology behind the strate-gy is basically sound. Th e person who really does not want an egg in hismilkshake can answer, "Neither". Bu t those who have not given it anythought will often first examine the two suggested possibilities and thenchoose one or two. Even if the person chooses on ly one, the store may selltwice as many eggs as it did when the choice was only between one and

none. If he chooses two, the store may sell three times asmany as it did originally!

Two?T. Pierce Brown

When the average person has to process histhinking to make a decis ion between one or

two, then on h i s own vol i t ion br ing in to the

equation another alternative that has not been sug-gested to him, many persons will not do that extra

thinking without help. M ore will choose one egg or



two than will choose none.As I thought about the princi-

ple, I decided to use it in setting upa Bible study. I had been asking,

"Would you like to have me cometo your home for a Bible study?"The answer normally would beeither "Yes" or "No". Frequentlywhen it was yes, the following typeof statement would be made: "I willlet you know when." To my disap-pointment, because there was no set

time, often no study ever material-ized even with those who hadagreed to have one.

So, using the new-found princi-ple, I changed the question to some-

thing like this, "Would you ratherstudy with me on Monday night orTuesday?" If the reply was,"Neither," I still had the choice of

saying, "Which other night wouldbe best?" If they repli ed, "OnMonday," then I had an opportunityto say, "Would six or seven o'clockbe best?'They might still choose atime that suited them better, but I

discovered that I could greatlyincrease the number of studies when

that process was used than by sim-ply suggesting that I would be gladto come by some day at some time.If you look on the calendar you willnot find "some day" listed. If you

look at the clock,you will neverfind the hands

point to "sometime".

If youwill learn to sug-gest the properalternatives, youwon't make anextra million

dollars, but youmay win anothersoul for Christ!Which is worthmore? V

T. Pierce Brownworks with the

Lord's church inC o o k e v i l l e ,Tennessee, USA.



CHR IST IAN ITY N ACTION

I Randolph Bonas

THE ANVILLast eve, I passed beside the blacksmith's door,

And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime.When looking in, I saw upon the floor

Old hammers, worn with the beating years of time."How many anvils have you had", said I,

"to wear and batter all these hammers so?""Just one" said he, and then with twinkling eye,"The anvil wears the hammers out, you know."

And so, thought I, the anvil of God's Word,For ages skeptics blows have beat upon;

Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,

The anvil is unharmed, the hammers gone!-Author Unknown

When we think of the anvil - urable and long-lasting - e can easi-ly think of the Bible, God's wonderful word! It has endured the past, thepresent and will endure the future blows of falling hammers. Peter says

"T he word of the Lord endures forever"( 1

Peter 1:25).The "hammers"

could be anything that fights, attacks or is opposed to the Bible: (1) atheists,



(2) skeptics; (3) false teachers, in general, would fit the category. All thatcould be thought of as "anti-Christ" would fall under the figure of "ham-mers".

Notice how, like that anvil, the word of God withstands all blows that

rain against it. Truly, the Bible is beyond the power of man to destroy."...the word of ou r God shall stand for ever" (Isaiah 40:8). Jesus said,"He ave n and earth shall pass away , but my w ords shall not pass away "(Matthew 24:35). Even at the Lord's return, His words will yet be there tojudge mankind: "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, hastha t which judges him- he word that I have spoken will judge him in thelast da y" (John 12:48).

Notice, also, that when the word of God is embraced in the hearts ofGod's people they become like the anvil. The Psalmist said, "Thy wordhave I hid in mine heart, that I might no t sin ag ainst thee" (Psalm 119: 11).Jesus said, " I f y e abide in me, and m y words abide in you, ye shall ask whatye will and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7).

With His word abiding in us, Christians are steadfast, able to endure thetemptations and attacks of the world. "For I a m persuaded that neitherdeath nor life, nor angels no r principalities nor powers, nor things presentnor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any o ther created thing, shallbe able to separate us from the love of God w hich is in Christ Jesus ourLord" (Romans 8:38,39).

We become His workmanship (Ephesians 2:lO) and grow strong,clothed with impenetrable armor "...that ye may be ab le to withstand in theevil day, and having done all to stand" (Ephesians 6 :13).

Now if we will go one step further, when the members of the churchstand together, with that word, the church of Christ is like the anvil! Thechurch is a living organism, built on the foundation of Jesus Christ: "For noother foundation can anyon e lay than that which is laid, which is JesusChrist" 1 Corinthians 3: 11).

The church is made of "living stones" - aptized believers -: " youalso, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, ... o God tlzrough



Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5).The church is the living "...pillar and ground [support] of the truth... " (1

Timothy 3:15). During the early days, in spite of severe persecution, thechurch grew with great power. In Act 2:41, on the day of its birth, three

thousand were added to the church. In a brief time the number of men hadswelled to five thousand (Acts 4:4). Within another brief period, thatgospel-filled body had rnultiplied greatly (Acts 6:7).

The church of Christ will stand forever (Daniel 2:44) and, as JesusHimself promised, "o n this rock I will build My church, and the gates ofHades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). What a wonderfulanvil-like church our Lord built!

With the powerful word of God to enable His people, there are twothings we must do:d First, we must stand with the Bible, love the Bible, teach the Bible andlive like the Bible instructs. The church of Christ thus stands strong.d Secondlv. we must verv care-fully teach our children so that gen-eration after generation will knowthe gospel. Every generation mustb e t a u g h t u n t i l th e L o r d c o m e sagain.

There is no time to lose and nogeneration to be left untaught.With God's word we will endure,

no matter what the circumstancesmay be. Without it, there is noenduring, no strength, no stand-ing, no church of Christ. P

Randolph Bonas is a Trinidadian, anda third generation Christian. Muchlike Timothy of old, his grandmotherwas a faithful Christian until herdeath. His mother still lives and is anactive Christian in the congregationwhere Randolph is a gospel preachersupported by the local church ofChrist in San Fernando, Trinidad.



CHRISTIANITY N ACTION

ness. I thought thatmy life was over. I

had no hope. No-body cared about

my past life was goinme, and

Iwas be-through my mind. ginning to feel the

didn't even thinabout the future, about The big thing inwhat was going to prison i s gaining

respect. I startedassociating with agroup of prisoners

burglary of habita-

asked me i f Isoever a man soweth,t h a t s h a l l h e a l s o and since Ireap" (Galatians 6:7)I was indeed reapin were "cool" andthe "wild oats" of m "tough" and that

David Mendiola

Prison was a whole new envi- one would get more respect byronment. The way television shows being a member, I accepted theirprison is nothing like the real thing. invitation. Little did I know how

I was entering into a world of dark- that would change my life.



Because I was a member of adisruptive gang, I was placed in seg-r e g a t e d h o u s i n g , w h i c h m e a n sspending 23 hours a day in a single

cel l .I

kept no t ic ing a vo lunteerchaplain who was visiting anothergang m ember a few cells away fromme, and I f ina l ly a sked to speakwith him. H e was an evangelist ofthe church of Christ.

We started talking about God,Jesus Christ, the B ible, and the most

commonly asked quest ion - i feand death. He continually referredme to the Bible , and the more hevis i ted me, the more in te res ted I

became in finding those answers tomy questions. 1 found that much ofwhat I had been taught as a childwas not consistent with the B ible.

tract" on my life. I struggled overthis cost of commitment, but withthe encouragement and prayers ofChristians, I decided to follow and

obey Christ all the way. On August16, 1994, I was baptized into Christacco rd ing to the New Tes t amen tt e a c h i n g ( A c t s 2 : 3 8 ; R o m a n s6:17,18). I was so very happy tohave become a "new creature" (2Corinthians 5 :17).

The M exican Mafia immediate-

l y i s s u e d a c o n t r a c t o n m y l i f e .Though I was afraid of what mighthappen, I drew com fort and strengthfrom the words of Jesus, "And benot afraid of them tha t kill the body,but are not able to kill the soul; butr a th e r f e ar h i m w h o i s a b l e t odestroy both soul and body in hell"

baptism, and God has protected me from

As I read and studied the Bible,I realized that I was totally "lost"and needed to be saved f rom mysins. I also grasped the profoundtruth that "N o m an can serve twomasters" (Matthew 6:24).

I k n e w t h a t t o b e c o m e a

Christian I had to leave the M exicanMafia, but I also knew that if I leftthe gang they would put out a "con-

(M atthew 10:28). M y l ife was inGo d's hands.

I t has now been seven yea r ssince my baptism, and God has pro-tec ted me f rom those who wouldki l l me . W hether H e chooses tocontinue to do so, my hope is that

"Chris t shal l be magnif ied in mybody, whether i t be by l i fe , or bydeath " (Philippians 1:20).



Beloved brothers and sisters inChrist, I encourage you to remainfaithful, for the Lord says,"Be thoufaithful unto death, and I will give

thee the crown of life" (Revelation2:lO).For those who have neglected

faithfulness and have left their firstlove of dedication to the Lord, Hesays, "Remember therefore whencet h o u a r e f a l l e n , a n d r e p e n t "(Revelation 2 5 ) for "If we say that

we have fellowship with him and walkin the darkness, we lie, and d o not thetruth; but i f we walk in the light as heis in the liglzt, we have fellowship onewith another, and the blood of Jesushis Son clennseth us from all sin" (1John 1:6,7). "If we confess our sins,he is faithful and righteous to forgiveus our sins, and to cleanse us from allu n r i g h t e o u s -ness " (verse 9).

Las t ly, i fy o u a r e n o t aC h r i s t i a n , Iu rg e y o u t ocome in faith inGod's BelovedSon Jesus, whow a s s e n t t os a v e m a n k i n df r o m o u r s i ns(Matthew 1:21;John 3:16), for

He i s the onlyw a y t o G o d( J o h n 1 4 : 6 ) .

Those who reject Him will not seelife (John 3:36). Go d calls you torepent of your s ins (Acts 17:30) ,and confess with your mouth that

Jesus is the Son of God, Lord andSavior (Romans 10:9,10), and thenyou must be baptized (immersed)into Christ for the forgiveness ofyour sins (Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16 ; 1Peter 3:21).

Living a faithful Christian lifecan be tough, though we wil l be

a b l e t o a c c o m p l i s h a l l t h i n g st h r o u g h C h r i s t w h o g i v e s u ss t r eng th (Ph i l ipp ians 4 : 13 ) . AsChristians, rest assured that we canlive forgiven , guilt-free, and that wecan know without a doubt that weare saved (1 John 5:13)! 9

David Mendiola is a Christian inmatein prison in Huntsville, Texas, USA.



-E. Ulric Alleyne

Our enemy, the Devil, Satan, "the old Dragon", "the Serpent", know s usbetter than we may care to believe. He has had time and opportunity tostudy the human family intellectually, physically, emotionally, psychologi-cally and spiritually. It may be that he can well predict our next move, andour responses to his onslaughts and deceitful devices.

This is not an attempt to praise Satan but to warn his opponents who hav enot taken the time to "study" him. It is for those who did not read the "mis-sion statement" and "warning brief ' (the Bible) from our Captain JesusChrist, which tells us what we are up against. It is for those w ho do not knowor who may have forgotten how to resist and defeat this enemy of ours.

In M atthew 13:24-43, our Captain used an illustrative story (a parable)which gives us a good op portunity to observe how ou r enemy works:"The

kingdom of heaven is like a ma n who sowed good seed in his field ; but whilemen slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went hisway. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares



also appearedSo the servants of the owner

canze and said to him, 'Sir, did youno t sow good seed in your f ield?

How then does it have tares? 'He sa id to them , 'A n enemy

has done this. '

The servants said to him, 'Doyou want us then to go and gatherthem up?'

But he said, 'No, lest while yougather up the tares you also uprootthe wheat with them. Let both growtogether until the harvest, and a t thet ime of harves t I wil l say to thereapers, First gather together thetares and bind them in bundles toburn them, but gather the wheat intomy ba rn.'"

Satan waited for the "good peo-ple" to do their work in the fieldsand then cunningly attacked theireffort. He did not strike with directopposing force but simply by adding"evil" to the "good". He mixed inthe bad to confuse those who areopposed to his way. The result will

not be confusion, alone, but frustra-tion, anger, disappointment andworry over the effect of the "evil"being so close to the "good".

The most effective part of thestrategic move of the enemy is howhe waited for the "good people to"sleep" before he sowed his tares

among the wheat! While we waitfor a frontal attack, Satan stabs inthe back. While we look outside for

the enemy, he operates from theinside. While we sleep, Satan risesto do his worst!

Our Captain, the Lord Jesus

Christ, knows Satan well and hasinstructed that in the battle of thegood and the bad, both will continuein close quarters. "They will growtogether" until it is clear what iswhat and who is who. The bad willbe rooted out and the good harvest-ed as the final battle comes to anend. "The Son of Man will send outHis angels, and they will gather outo f H i s k i n g d o m a l l t h i n g s t h a toffend, and those who practice law-lessness, and will cast them into thefurnace of fire. There will be wa il-ing and gnashing of teeth.

Then the r ighteous will shineforth as the sun in the kingdom oftheir Father. He who has ears tohear, let him hear!"

A sad thought concerns thesouls that are lost as a result of thebad seed that was sown while menslept. We are the people of God;

therefore, let us all be awake lestSatan mix error with truth, minglethe lost with the saved, put wrongwith right, and get good so mixedwith bad that the harvest for ourMaster be very meager and small.In some of the field there may be noharvest at all. Q

E. Ulric Alleyne is a preacher of thegospel in TrinidadlTobago, in theCaribbean.



w o r e ,putting away lying, qpt each one of you speak

truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

Qe angry, and do not sin:

do not let the sun go down on yourwrath,

nor give place to th e devil.

qpt him wbo stole stea lno onger, but rather let him labor,

working with his hands what is good,

th at he mayhave somethie to give him who has need.

qpt no corruptword proceed out of your mouth,

but what is good for mcesary edification,

tha t it may impart grace to the hearers.

gSad do not grieue the gjoly 6p iri t of q o d ,by whom you were sealed for th e day of redemption.

qpt all bitterness, wrath,anger, clamor,

and evil speaking be put away fiom you,with a ll malice.

gSnd be kind to one another, tenderhearted,

one another, just as c&od in wrist

forgstveyou (sp he sian s 4:2532).



Paul es tabl ished the fact that Paul , l ikewise , addressed thep e o p l e " i n this tabernacle do burden dilemma of man in his lettergroan" (2 Cor in th ians 5 :4). This to the Gala t ian Ch r i s t ians . T w ocom es as no surprise to those of us verses seem contradictory upon ini-wh o contend with the challenges of tial co nsi de ratio n, tho se being 6:2d a i l y l i v i n g . If w e co ul d on ly and 6 :5 . Rip ley def ines the wordunderstand the ma gnitude of som e "burden" differen tly in these tw oof the battles ragin g in the hea rts passages. He states that "burden",and souls of others , we might be as i t appe ars in verse two, in theless harsh and judgmental, and more Greek (baros) means, " l o a d . Thiscompassionate and loving. burd en can pertain to any load of

65



difficulty, sorrow, or pain. We areto bear one another's burden of thisnature. "Burden" in verse five isfrom the Greek (phortion) which

means, "pack", representing thewhole of one's duties before Godfor which personal responsibility isrequired. A distinction is madebetween one's own burden (pack),and the heavy "load" of another.

There are three ways in whichone can respond to burdens:

+ "Every man can bear his own"(Galatians 6:s)+ "Bear one another's" (Gala-tians 6:2)+ "Cast thy burden upon theLord" (Psalm 55:22).

When bearing one another'sburden, mutual assistance is beingexperienced. Some burdens can be,and are to be, shared with others.

The responsibility of "rightly divid-ing" the Word of God is somethingto be borne mutually. The with-drawal of fellowship is a weightyburden of responsibility that mustbe a shared activity. The restorationof an individual to the Lord and Hischurch necessitates mutual assis-tance. Christians are to manifest"the abundant grace through thethanksgiving of many abound to theglory of G o d (2 Corinthians 4:lS).The burden of sorrow, meetingmaterial needs, teaching about rightand wrong (i.e., addressing sin), the

Some responsibilities cannot be burden of leadership, and so many

transferred to others and must be other obligations are met by mutual

personally assumed. Others cannot assistance.believe, repent of sins, confess Some burdens are beyond the

Christ or be baptized for us. One's reach of both individual and collec-

service t~ God cannot be accom- tive human efforts. We must learn

plished vicariously. The responsi- to place these kinds of burdens upon

bility for personal devotion to the the Lord (Psalm 55:22). He has

Lord and answering before the judg- promised to sustain us as we s t W -merit bar must be assumed as an gle to cope with these heavier bur-individual (Romans 14:12; 2 Corin- dens. Sometimes the burden will be

thians 5: 10). ~t is equal folly for lifted or removed, but at other timesone to attempt to hide or avoid his He provides us with the wherewith-own burdens fo r doing right and al to escape or to endure (1 G r i n -a v o i d i n g w r o n g a s i t w a s f o r A d a m thians 10:13). Great comfort isand Eve to try to hide from the pres- found in this Passage because we

ence of God in the garden. Self- learn that burdens "are common toassistance characterizes the bearing man," that "God is faithful," man

of one's own burden. will not "be tempted above that ye

6 6



are able," and that He will "alsomake a way of escape." Assurancewas given by the apostle Paul thatstrength would be provided to bear

whatever burdens might come.Paul, himself, appealed to Godthree times to take away his "thornin the flesh." God told him, "M ygrace is suaicient for thee: for mystrength is made perfect in weak-ness" ( 2 Corinthians 12:9). We arenot being presumptuous when we

cast upon the Lord those unbearableburdens that must come. "Let yourrequests be made known unto God"(Philippians 4:5-7). Peter musthave known through both revelationand practical experience that when"Casting all your care upon Him;

for He careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7),God would oblige.

Let us be willing to assumeburdens that are our responsibilityand nontransferable in nature.Secondly, let us become consciousof the load of heartaches beingborne by others with which we canhelp. Finally, when we realize thatour burdens are beyond our control,let us be willing to cast them uponthe Lord with confidence and con-viction that certain help is presentfor the asking.

To all the sincere hearts in theworld experiencing burdens, be

comforted by the fact that "Burdenswere lifted at Calvary, Jesus is verynear!" One day, there will be no

more burdens after crossing theriver of death. There, we shall laydown all the struggles and loadsassociated with the flesh ( 1

Corinthians 1554-58).Trust in the Lord, "And let us

not be weary in well doing: for indue season we shall reap, if we faintno t " (Galatians 6:9). May Godbless your every effort to honorHim in this life. B

Michael L. King preaches for theGrant Street Church of Christ inDecatur, Alabama, USA.



Distinctions of the FaithfulWayne Barrier

T h e B i b l e p r o v i d e s d e t a i l e dinformat ion about g rea t men andw o m e n o f f a i t h t h r o u g h o u t i t spages. So m e refer to Hebrew s 11 ascon ta in ing t he "Ha ll o f Fame o fFaith". The nam es of great men andw o m e n d i s c u s s e d th e r e i n c lu d eA b r a h a m , A b e l , E n o c h , N o a h ,Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Joseph, Moses,R a h a b , G i d e o n , B a r a k , S a m u e l ,J e p h t h a h , S a m s o n , a n d D a v i d .

S tudy o f t he B ib l e r evea l s manyothers whom we w ould characterizeas having a faith that distinguishedthem. Think abo ut the faith of Paul,James, John, Peter, Barnabas, Johnt h e B a p t i s t , a n d o t h e r s . W h a tmakes these people different fromthe masses? A com prehensive listof traits, factors, and attitudes thatcharacterized these people of faithwould be too long to cover in this



article, but a few prominent distinc-tions can be discussed.

First, their trust in God wastotal, complete, and first in their

life. They were as Jesus said all Hisfollowers should be, as Paul wrote inPhilippians 4:6,7, "B e anxious fornothing, but in everything by prayerand supplication, with thanksgiving,let your requests be made known toGo d; and the peace of God whichsurpasses a l l und ers ta ndin g, wi l l

guard your hearts and minds throughChrist Jesus. " They believed them-se lves to be as Paul de scr ibed inRomans 837, "...in all these thingsw e a r e m o r e t h a n c o n q u e r o r s ,through Him who loved us."

Second, they had a clear pur-pose and goal in life. Again Paulstated it well as he wrote in Philip-pians 3: 13,14, ". . . forgett ing thosethings which are behind and reach-ing to those things which are ahead, Ipress toward the prize of the upwardcall of God in Christ Jesus." Thisgoal was clarified by Paul in Romans1:16 as he stated, "I am not ashamedof the gospel of Chr ist, for it is thepower of God to salvation.... "

T h i r d , t h e y t r u s t e d i n t h epower of prayer and God's p rovi-dential hand of guidance. Con-

sider Paul ' s s ta tement in Romans8:28 when he declared, ".. .we knowtha t a l l th ing s work toge ther fo rg o o d t o th o s e w h o l o ve G o d. . . . "

James expressed confidence in thepower of prayer in James5:16 as hes t a t e d , " . . .t h e e f f e c t i v e , f e r v e n tprayer of a r ighteous m a n avai lsmuch.... " Jesus taught His follow-ers in Mat thew 7:7 to "ask, seek,and knock," and one will "be given,w i l l f i n d , w i l l h a v e t h e d o o r

opened."We , t o o , c a n b e m e n a n d

women of distinguishing faith if wedesire to be. W e must simply feedand exercise our faith, so that it willgrow. As it grows, we can achievespiritual success by allowing God'spurpose and will to shape our life.T h r o u g h a m a t u r e f a it h , w e w i llexperience the joy and contentmentto sustain us until our life is overand our w ork o n earth is complete.

Our faith can m otivate others toseek the Lord and obey His wi l l ,just l ike men and women of greatfai th about whom we study in theBible. 0

Wayne Barrier lives in Florence,Alabama, USA., and is part of theWorld Evangelism team taking theGospel throughout the world.



Are you still on the bottle? Not the beer bot-tle or the whiskey bottle (although those are bot-

tles to be avoided), butI

mean themilk b

" I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual,but ... s unto babes in Christ. I have fed youwith milk, and not with meat: for hitherto yewere not able t o bear it, neither yet now are yeable" ( 1 Corinthians 3: 1,2). The Corinthianswere rebuked for their lack of spiritual growth and developm ent. They sim-

ply and sadly had not grow n in their spiritual life. They had time and oppor-tunity, but the Corinthians remained in a state of spiritual immaturity-they were religious dwarfs! The y should have been walking and takingsolid food, but they were still on the bottle.

There are too m any like the Corinthians in the L ord's church today.They must always be taught, but they never teach. They complain at themere thought of some inconvenience or hardship. Theynever encourageothers, but must always be exhorted themselves. The y never seem to be

able to deal with the deeper spiritual problems that require much practicalwisdom and understanding.

The writer of Hebrews said,"W hen or the time ye ought to be teachers , yehave need that one teach you again which be thef ir st principles of the oraclesof God; and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat"(Hebrews 5:12). Does this explain why there is always a teacher shortage inthe church? Let every child of God labor to bea well-seasoned, keen-minded,mature soul, capable of declaring the Gospel. Let us get off the bottle! V

Bill Dillon is editor of Gospel Gleaner and preaches for the Lord's church inMountain Home, Arkansas, USA.



C r i s tc o m -

manded His followersto g o in to a ll the

w o r l d a n d m a k ed i s c i p l e s o f a l lnations (Matthew2 8 : 19). T h o s ewho are His d is-c i p l e s m u s t b er e c o g n i z a b l e .H o w d o w e r e c -

ognize a true dis-c i p l e o f C h r i s ttoday? W hat arethe distinguishingcharacteristics?

S o m e h a v es t rongly aver redthat the exclusive

identifying markof the Lo rd's disciples is brotherly love. John 13:35 is quoted asthe proof text : "...by this shall all men know that you are my dis-ciples, i f you have love one for another. " Certainly the disciplesof Christ must manifest sincere mutual love. Failure in this traitimpa irs true discipleship.

Ho wev er, Christ did not say that love was the exclusive identi-fying mark of His disciples. Although ab solutely necessary, i tdoes not stand alone. Several other things are put forth by thescriptu res as necessary signs of a true discip le.

In John 8:31, Jesus said, ". .. ifyou abide in my word, you aremy disciples indeed. " Abiding in His word is just as important a s

practicing love. Love "covers a multitude of sins", but cannot be substitut-ed for abiding in His word. "Whoever transgresses and does not abide inthe doctrine of Christ does not have God" ( 2 John 9 ) . Of course an integralpart of abiding in His word is the manifestation of love. Neither stand salone.

Jesus m entioned another sign of His true disciple in John15:s: "By this

7 2



is My Father glorijied , than you bearmuch fruit; so you will be my disci-ples." Fruit bearing is as true a signof discipleship as love. Again, nei-

ther stands alone. Each characteris-tic is equally imp ortant. One maypractice deep love, but if he doesn'tproduce f rui t or abide in Chris t ' sword, he is not a true disciple.

Again, Jesus said in Luke 14:27that if on e doesn 't take up his cross

he cann ot be His disciple. Tak ingup one's cross may involve willing-ness to suffer, shouldering burdens,making personal sacrifices, forget-ting self or giving up certain prac-tices and relationships. I may pro-duce fruit but still cling to a rela-tionship that hinders me spiritually.I m a y s h o w m u c h l o v e bu t b eunwilling to carry a burden during at ime of c r i s i s and thus sh i rk my

responsibility.In Matthew 12:48-50 our Lord

indica ted tha t His d i sc ip les werespiritually his "mo ther and b roth-

e rs" . Then He concluded by say-ing, "...whoever doe s the will of MyFather in heaven is My brother ands i s te r and mother. " Therefore adisciple of Christ is recognized bythe fact that he does the will of God.

Christ 's disciples are not one-dimensional . W e are recognized,no t by one s ing le t r a i t , bu t by acom posite of characteristics. W iththe application of everything thatH i s w o r d c o m m a n d s , w e a r e ,".. .complete, thoroughly equipped

f o r e v er y g o o d w o r k " ( 2Timothy3:17). QColin McKee does mission work inIndonesia, is a part of the "WorldEvangelism" team, and l ives inWinona, Mississippi, USA.



(Read during the funeral service of Aunt Judy.

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16 pa CBr9d b U mu!

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Bug mug av~tht~ i n a and hain.



T h e d i s t i n g u i s h e d e d u c a t o r ,Francis Wayland Parker, had jus tconclude d one of h is lec tures . Aw o m a n c a m e t o h im a n d a s k ed ,"How early can I begin the educationof my child?" He then inquired ofher, "When will your child be born?""Born," she gasped,"why, he is alreadyf i v e y e a r s o l d . "" M y g o o d n e s s ,

w o m a n , " h e s a i d ,"don ' t s t and he retalking to me. Hur-ry home . You havealready lost the bes tfive years."

In our Sundayw o r s h i p s e r v i c e s,s e r m o n s f r o m t h epulpit are naturallygeared more to adult minds than tochildren, though surprisingly, chil-dren often are am ong the most atten-tive listeners. But it is in our Bibleclasses, Sundays and Wednesdays,t ha t ou r ch i ld ren l ea rn so much .These classes should have the enthu-siastic support of all members of thecongreg ation. W hile the dedicatedteachers (God bless them everyone)are most intimately involved in thisnoble work, all Christians, and espe-cia lly the parents , should be con-cerned about what is being taughtand how the children are learning.

In these, their most impression-

able years , young souls are beingspiritually trained for godly living.With so many of their peers growingup to become evildoers and a men-a c e t o t h e s a f e t y o f o t h e r s , h o wimportant it is that the children ofChristian homes be guided toward

l ives o f r i g h t e o u s -

la It

ReaeeyTEtat

Iw w 7

Hershel Dyer

ness.Adults need to set

the example for their

children. Of course,a l l r i g h t - t h i n k i n gp e o p l e w a n t t h e i roff-spring to grow upto be spiritually goodand useful, but howmeaningful can suchc o n c e r n b e i f t h eadults do not attendB i b l e c l a s s e s d e -

s i g n e d f o r t h e i r o w n s p i r i t u a lgrow th? It is a bit l ike the fatherwho urges his child to eat vegetables- Because they're good for you"- ut will not touch them himself!

"And these words w hichI com-mand you today shall be in yourheart. You shall teach them dili-gently to your children, and shalltalk of them when you sit in yourhouse, when you walk by the way,when you lie down, and when yourise up " (Deuteronomy 6:6,7). P

Hershel Dyer has worked for manyyears with the 10th and Rockford con-gregation in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.



Betty Burton ChoateThere was a time not so long ago band who stood between them and- n my ear ly years - w h en a t he w o rl d. L e g a l l y , n o t m u c h i n t h e

woman was treated with deference and line of "rights" was defined becauserespect. "Ladies first" was the rule, as the very cul tu re itself sa fe-g uardeddoors were opened for ladies, and they the majority.traditionally walked in front of men. "W o m an 's S u ff er a g e" ha dA man stood up and gave a woman his brought freedom s and recognition inseat. Even a rough man would refrain areas that were just and fair: womenfrom the use of bad language in the had gained the right to vote and topresence of women. A slur spoken inherit property. Working conditionsagainst a woman could cause a fight in and term s h ad im pro ved fo r tho sedefense of her good name. A woman who had to work outside the home.

was shielded and protected from the T h er e w as a re as o n a b le ba la n ceharshness and dangers of the world, between "freedom" and "protection".insofar as was possible. Then came the "Women's Liher-

That is not to say that there were ation Movement", led by those whonot hard-working, courageous women were intent on "liberating " w om enwho strugg led along -side their hus- from every definition associated withbands wi th the chal lenges of l i fe . the word: from their dependence onThere were certainly cases of abuse of men, from the confines of the home,

women, men who took advantage of an d fro m the m or al res tr i ct io n stheir physical weakness and of their imposed by a Judaeo-Christian cul-inability to protect themselves legally, tural ethic.emo tionally, and physically. There W e've seen the effects of35-40

were "bad" wo men, and there were years of "liberation" now. Leg ally,bad men who made life miserable for women hav e end less "rights" de lin-the women under their power. eated in our law code. They can sue

But the majority of women were for discrim ination and win the suit.p ro te ct ed an d d ef er re d t o as th e They can sue for admission to an all-"weaker sex". They and their chil- m ale m i l i t a ry ac ad em y, an d th edren lived in the security of a hus- doors swing wide. They are fighting

7 6



now to be free to serve in the danger-ous conf ines of a su bm ar ine , andeventually they will be granted that"privilege" too.

S o women a re " f ree", andthey've achieved the goals they weretold were rightfully theirs. They are"equal" with men now - o defer-ence is shown them, no part icularrespect. If a man gets to the vacantseat first, the woman can stand. Herears are no longer considered too pureto hear foul language; in fact, she maybe more vulgar-mouthed than hermale counterpart. There is no neednow to shield or protect her as the"weaker" sex - he is al lowed tocarry the load right along with men.

T h e w o m a n c a n d e v e l o p acareer, rushing about in the morningto feed the family, getting the chil-d r en o ff t o s choo l o r t o day -ca re(sometimes the husband may help).Af te r work ing e igh t hours , she i sallowed to go home to the never-end-ing mother/wife/home-maker work.Quite often the rat-race her life hasbecome is paying little or nothing inactual cash after child care, taxes,increased clothing, t ransportat ion,and food costs are factored in. But,never mind - his is her "libera-tion". Sh e is no longer confined tothe boredom of home. These are thef reedom s and respons ib il it ie s she

wanted, and now she has them!Wo m e n a r e n o w f r e e t o f a c e

d a n g e r a n d d e a t h i n t h e m i l i ta r y

along with the men. They can standin the sun on road construction sitesand hold the stop signs. They canlift weights too heavy for their bod-

ies to bear, because they have wonthe freedom to be hired for anyjob,even if it destroys their health.

Wo m e n a r e l i b e r a t e d by "nofault" divorce. Marriage is no longerexpected to last a lifetime; divorcecar r ies no s tigma. A woman canleave her husband for no reason-o r she and the children can be leftfor no reason. She then has the free-dom to carry three full loads- ut-side job, mother, and ho me-maker,often with no help of any kind andno child support from the man whohas grown up in a culture devoid ofrespect for women and of the feelingof responsibility on the part of men.Amazingly, the "women's liberationmovement" seems to have freed menmore than women!

A woman who chooses the freelife style of no marriage at all cannow - i thout social censure -"live in" w ith boyfriend s, o r ha veintimate relations with any numberof men on a casual, "entertainment"basis. Sh e is free to deal with thevene rea l d i s ea se s, o r even A IDS,t h a t m a y d e v e l o p . S h e c a n a l s ocarry, bear, and be responsible forthe children who may result from her

free morals. Or she has the freedomto harden her natura l love for thenew but unwanted life within her, to



THE CHRISTIAN OME

have it killed through legalized abor-t ion. Then she can l ive wi th thatguilt the rest of her life, eithersuffer-ing from it or hardening herself to it

until she has no heart left . Eithe rway, the woman is the one who willhave life-long effects of the ravagesof the world's new moral freedoms.

Yes, we have achieved a "free"society. Women are free to work atany outside job along-side men, andthen go home to do most of the tradi-tional work of women that- ddlyenough - asn ' t vanished in th isbrave new world. They are also free,i n m a n y c a s e s , t o c a r r y a l l t h eresponsibility fo r the children theybring into the world. They are free tosuffer a lifetime of consequences forthese new freedom s in our culture.

And the men who choose to liveby this new cultural and moral codeare free- eriod.

I used to think that women wereas intelligent as men. But after see-i n g t h e m f i g h t t o a c h i e v e t h eexploitat ion and ruination of their

sex, mis-labeled as "freedom" by apoliticized "liberation" group- ndbe happy about their achievement-one can on ly conc lude t ha t somewomen mus t be ex t r eme ly dumb ,and the rest of us are paying terrible~ e n a l t i e sor their dumbness.

W h a t d o e s G o d h a v e t o s a yabout the husb and wife relationship?"W ives , submi t t o your own hus -bands, as to the Lord. For the hus-

band is head of the wife, as alsoChrist is head of the church; and H eis the Savior of the body.

"Therefore, just as the church issubject to Christ, so let the wives beto their own husbands in everything.Hu sband s, love your w ives, just a sChrist also loved the church and gave

H imse lffor her, that He m ight sancti-f y and cleanse her with the washingof water by the word, that He mightpresent her to Himself a gloriouschurch, not having spot or wrinkle orany such thing..

" S o h u s b a n d s o u g h t t o l o vetheir own wives as their own bodies;

he who loves his wife loves himsegFor no one ever hated his own flesh,but nourishes and cherishes it, justas the Lord does the church.

"F or we a re m embers o f Hisbody, of His flesh and of His bones .'For this reason a man shall leavehis father and mother and be joinedto his wge , and the two shall becomeone flesh.' ... let each one of you inparticular so love his own wife ashimse8 and let the wife see that sherespects her husband" (Ephesians5:22-31,33).

On further thought, is it possible No hum an plan for men and women

t h at s o m e s c h e m i n g , d i a b o l i c a l -can improve on God's plan. Q

minded man is actually the head of Betty Burton Choate is a Christian wifeand mother, l iving in Winona, Miss-

this "liberation" movement?@ issippi, USA.7 8



Ardon Hinton

It is hardly possible to give thisbasic building block of human soci-ety more attention than it is due. Noinstitution has filled a more signifi-cant role in hum an history. W henfamilies and their related concernsb e g i n t o d e c l in e , s o d o e s t h e i r

home land . Go d know s bes t, andrejecting His viewpoints is danger-ous indeed.

T h e word "family" in this useof the word includes such concernsas marriage, bringing up children,responsibility for parents and others,and household managem ent. It pro-

vides the very important beginningof a child's education and training.N e v e r d o u b t t h a t e v e r y c h i l d i sl e a r n i n g s o m e t h i n g a n d b e i n gtrained for living. The teaching andtraining may be faulty, even ungod -ly, but certainly it is taking place,day by day.

Another th ing you should notdoub t is that every family, even if itis reduced to one person, has someinf luence on the world around i t .All people, whether married them-selves or not, should feel obligatedto uphold the sanctity of marriageand to work fo r the preservation andedification of the fam ily.

Al though people have fami ly

ties by birth or adoption, and thushave family ties even if they nevermarry, the fact remains that marriageis the source of on-going families.Tampering with God's will regard-ing marriage results in polluting thisvital social stream at its source.

God made His view of marriageknown in the f i r s t chap te r o f theBible. It is one man and one woman,united in heart and mind in a part-nership that cannot be dissolvedwithout the one doing the dissolvingbeing found guilty by God.

Mankind has devised numerous

s u b s t i t u t e s f o r t h e r e a l t h i n g :polygamy , no-fault divorce, cohabi-t a t i o n w i t h o u t m a r r i a g e , n o -commitment marr iages , same-sexunions , and casual sex outs ide ofm a r r i a g e . N o n e of t h e s e r e a l lywork. They produce problems forsociety, downgrade women, create

epidemics of some diseases, under-mine the nurturing of the next gen-eration, and create a lot of unhappi-n e s s . B e y o n d a l l t h i s, w e m u s tnever forget that whenever peopleviolate the system God Himself hases tabl ished, they offend Him andmust suffer the consequences. 9

Ardon Hinton works with the Lord'schurch in Roosevelt, Oklahoma, USA.



THE CHRISTIAN H O M E

A1 of us li vein a societyw h i c h

shamefully con-

t i n u e s t o p r o -duce its sha re ofv i c t i m i z e dw o m e n . T h i sw r i t e r i n noway attempts tolessen the ser i -o u s n e s s o f t h ep l igh t o f thosewomen who areactually in suchadverse circum-s t a n c e s . N o r ,

do I in any wayl o o k o v e r t h es i n f u l n e s s o fany person whoperpetrates such

Jane Maynard

evil against women. God will hold them accountable. How ever, Satan issubtly taking advantage of the legitimate claims of victimized women andusing those claims to make a blanket statement about all women. Especiallydoes he love to lump women profess ing godl iness in to the vic t imized,deprived of their rights and in need of counseling.

In Exodus 2 0 5 God stated that H e is a jealous God . His jealousy was

for Israel's fidelity. Th e Father loved His children and did not want themcorrupted. H e sought to protect them for their own happ iness. Paul exhibit-ed the same type of jealousy over those he had converted(2 Corinthians



11 2). He called it a godly jealousy.Perhaps it is time for God's

women to develop enough of thatsame jealousy to reaffirm, before a

dark and desperate world, the exalt-ed position God has given women.

The highest calling of women isthat of servants. Women can andshould be proud of who they are:servants of the Most High God.While servanthood is a submissiverole, it is by no means a lowly one.

To the contrary, it is a special place,a place of honor reserved for thosein whom God has entrusted some ofHis greatest work on this earth.

No woman in Scripture por-trays more adequately the beauty ofa servant spirit than does Abigail (1Samuel 25). She was married to ahateful (l7), high-tempered (14),selfish (11), drinking man (36) ofimmense wealth (2). (Can 't youhear what the "experts" of our daywould do with her s i tuat ion?)Abigail was a servant to her ownservants (14-17), to David and fourhundred hungry men (18-20), andcommitted to her marriage despiteher husband (35,36). When Godfinally relieved her of an abusivehusband and she was preparing tobecome the wife of David, how didshe view her new position? She'sjust a servant.

Then she arose and bowedher face to the earth and sa id,

" H e r e is your maidservant, aservan t to wash the feet of m ylord's servants.'' (41)

Abigail beautifully teaches that

circumstances surrounding ones lifedo not determine their service toGod. Whatever she was as Nabal'swife, she would be as David's wife.Whatever she was, married to awealthy man, she would be marriedto a man running for his life fromking Saul. She would be a servant.

Abigail's life cries out to godlywomen of all times and of all situa-tions that servanthood is a condi-

tion of the heart. When women ofGod have the servant spirit priori-tized in their hearts and lives, theircommitment and submission to Godwill cause them to soar to newheights of faith and service.

With the servant spirit intact,woman is equipped to undertakeGod's great work. By His own planand design there are some roles inlife that only women can fulfill.One of those roles is that of being awife. From the beginning of time(Genesis 2:18), God knew manneeded a helper, an effective coun-terpart for his life. As man's helper,woman faces her most challengingwork as a servant, a work thatdemands strength and perseverance.Of necessity, she must develop aforgiving spirit early in the relation-ship. Despite the fact that marriageshould be a fifty-fifty partnership,



m a n y t i m e s t h o s e r a t i o s w i l l b edrastically al tered. Ho w eve r, thew o m a n ' s l o v e f o r G o d a n d h e rrespect for the confidence He has in

her wi l l enable her to encourage,strengthen and help the man matureto his greatest spiri tual potential .The godly woman with the true ser-vant mindset will prayerfully hoverover her marr iage with the godlyjealousy necessary to forgive, pro-tect and nurture their love .

A second role that only womencan fill is that of motherhood. It hasbeen correctly stated that, "WhenGod has wanted His greatest workd o n e , H e h a s n o t a m a s s ed H i sarmies. Rather, H e has simp ly laida tiny baby in so me mother's arms."Entrusted into her care are the tinysou l s whom God knows she wi l li n f l u e n c e f o r e t e r n i t y. W h i l ewoman is not the only parent andcertainly does no t bear full responsi-bility for the children, usually it isthe mother who spends more one-o n - o n e t i m e w i t h t h e m t h a n t h efather does . Therefo re her di recti n f l u e n c e m a y h a v e a g r e a t e rimpact.

It is women then, as servants,who are primarily responsible forthe foundational training of elders,deacons , p reache r s , t he i r w ives ,Bible class teachers, etc. To view

the position of the mothers who per-form such tasks as a lowly place ofl i t t le worth is a corruption which

can be found only in the Gospel ofSociety, authored by Satan. For heknows fu l l wel l tha t the work ofwomen is some of the most impor-

tant work on earth.What a chal lenge and what a

career: "molders and makers" fore t e rn i t y ! W o m e n of G o d h a v eevery right to shelter the precioussouls of their children with a godlyjealousy which allow s them to growup, f iercely loved and thoroughly

taught in the ways of G od.The woman of God is specia l

and is of great worth (Proverbs31).She is not victimized, weak o r lack-ing in intel l igence because of hersubmissive spirit , as Satan claims.She a lways has access ib le to herthe great Counselors , to meet herevery need (Psalm 1 19:24, Isaiah9:6). Their help, coupled with thewom an's submission to God , allowshe r t o ho ld a un ique pos i t i on o fhonor and esteem as she is entrustedwi th the cha l l enges o f u s ing he rGod-given creativeness to influencefor eternity the ones she loves.

There is no greater career, noh i g h e r c a l l in g , n o r d o e s a n y o n eensure more God-given rights. thando women who have made them-selves the servants of the Mo st HighGod. Q

Jane Maynard is a counselor forwomen for the College and NorthChurch of Christ in Mountain Home,Arkansas, USA.



and began to slowly read the old The teacher asked her Bibleman 's las t wi l l and tes tament , class of 3-year-olds, "And who was"Being of sound mind, I spent every Matthew?" There was no answer.last cent I had while I lived." She then sai d, "Wel l, who was

A woman telephoned the policeto report that thieves had been atwork 011 her car. "They've stolenthe steering wheel, the brake pedal,the accelerator, the radio, and thedashboard." The police sergeantsaid that he would investigate.

A few minutes later the policestation phone rang again. "Don'tbother," said the same voice. "I gotinto the back seat by mistake."

A man in his beat-up old cardrove up to a toll booth. The tollcollector said, "Two dollars."

The owner said, "Sold!"

John? Surely you remember him."Sti ll no answer. "Now, come onchildren. You're letting me down.Surely someone knows who Peterwas - ow speak right up!"

A s oft voice came from theback row, "I fink he wuz a wabbit."

An optimist thinks that this isthe best possible world. A pessimistfears that this is true.

Boy: "Dad, Mom just backedthe car out of the garage and ranover my bicycle."

Father: "Serves you right, Son,for leaving it on the front lawn."

Time may be a great healer, butRemember: Amateurs built theit's also a lousy beautician.

ark - rofessionals built theTitanic.

You're getting old when you-get the same sensation from a rock- YOU ust have to wonder ab outing chair that you once got from a some folks. They think God is deadroller coaster. and Elvis is alive.



any understanding of thef God is thought to be toler-

way we can be saved from



CHARTS N D OUTLINES



CHARTS N D O U T L I N E S

Are You a Jew?E. Claude Gardner

I. IntroductionA. "I am a Jew and I am no t a Jew."

1. It is not abhorrent if o ne is a Jew by race.2. A high percentage of Pulitzer Prize winners are Jews.

B. But anyon e who is a Christian is a part of S piritual Israel in G od 'ssight.

11. Discussion

A . "lsrael after the flesh" (1 Corinthians 10: 18). These were childrenof Abraham.

1. The Jews were Go d's chosen people (Isaiah 44:2;Deuteronomy 7:6-8).

2. Jesus would com e and bring salvation.3. Tw o parts to the Abraham ic promise (Genesis 12:1-3;

Matthew 1).B. "Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16). It is the church of the Lord .

1. It is made up of both Jew s and Gentiles (Ephesians 2: 14-16).2. Both are "one" (Galatians 3:26-29).3. There is one plan of salvation to both Jews and Gentiles

(Romans 1 16).a. "We do n't ha ve a message to the Jews", som e say.b. This contradicts the Bible.

4. Both Jews and Gentiles are sinners (Rom ans 1,2) and stand inneed of Christ and the gospel.

C. How does one become a Jew spiritually?1. It is by circumcision of the heart (Ro mans 2:28,29).2. It takes place at baptism (Colossians 2:12).

111. Conclusion

A. Jews by race have no special favor from God and do not have anyclaim by d ivine right to Palestine as many believe.

B. There is only one way to G od and to heaven and that is through

Jesus Christ (John 14:6). B

E. Claude Gardner is Presiden t-Eme ritus of Freed H ardem an University ofHenderson, Tennessee, USA.

8 7



CHARTS ND OUTLINES

G od Uses the BrokenJerry L. Davidson

Introduction

1. "T o everything there is a season, a time for every purpose underheaven.. .a time to break down, and a time to build up." (Ecclesiastes3: 1-3).

2. Many things need to be discarded when broken (e.g., toys, tools, dishes,and gadgets).

3. Other things must be broken to be used.a. A farmer breaks ground to plant the grain; when the grain is

harvested, crushed and processed, life sustaining bread is madefrom the flour.

b. In service to God there are many things to keep whole or intact(e.g., the physical body, the Word of God, the church).

c. Other things can be used only when they are broken. Considerthese:

I. Broken Pitchers - ith broken pitchers Gideon's army triumphed

(Judges 8).A. Success was not in military might, but rather in obedience to the

Lord's command.B. The pitchers had to be broken to reveal the torches, which along

with the sounding of trumpets and the war cry, put the enemy toflight.

C. The Lord expects us to break the "pitchers" in our hands to showforth the light of the Gospel (Matthew 5 :14-16; Acts 16:18;

Philippians 2: 15).

11. The Golden Calf - When the Israelites became impatient with Mosesat the foot of Mt. Sinai they cried out to Aaron for a substitute god(Exodus 32:23).A. The appeasing golden calf was both an idol and a monument to

Israel's impatience and faithlessness.1. As long as the golden calf remained, God's Law could not be

received.2. Moses took it and ground it to powder.. .as a dramatic way of



CHARTS N D O U T L I N E S

C. In Christ we have "open doors" instead of "walls".

VI. The Broken Heart

A. Sinners are restored where there is genuine repentance.

1. This involves heart broken sorrow for past sins, a humblemourning for having offended God, and a turning in completesubmission to His will (see 2 Corinthians 7: 10; Acts 2:38;Colossians 3: 1-3).

2. David came to realize that "the sacrifices of God are a brokenspirit, a broken and contrite heart" (Psalm 5 1:7 ; 34: 18).

B. May we recognize that the only sound heart is the heart that hasbeen broken.

1 . Hardness of heart and stubborn pride must be broken down.2. But when the heart is broken through the Gospel, there is also

mending power and hope.

Conclusion:

In the words of the hymn written by L.O. Sanderson:Bring Christ your broken life

So marred by sin,

He will create anew,Make whole again;

Your empty, wasted yearsHe will restore,

And your iniquitiesRemember no more.

Jerry Davidson is an instructor at International Bible College, Florence,Alabama. He also directs the French World Bible School.



W ho Am I?

1. 100 1 was a shepherd, a sheepbreeder, from Tekoa. (1: l) .

2. 90 1 lived in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam, the son ofJoash, king of Israel.(l:2).

3. 80 Though my God-appointed work lasted only a short time, I servedas His spokesman about 760 B.C.

4. 70 My work was to warn Israel of the approaching udgment of God,the coming "Day of the L o r d (2:6 and following; 5:18).

5. 60 At the beginning of my work as a prophet, I pronounced God's judg-ment on eight nations. (chapters 1 and 2).

Though historical records show that Israelwas prosperous, I condemned the preva-lence of injustice and of unconcern aboutthe poor and helpless. (2:6,7).

I condemned, also, the rampant spiritualcorruption among the Israelites (2:7,8).

Through me God said that He had sentthe lsraelites cleanness of teeth (lack ofbread), He had withheld rain, He hadblasted them with blight and mildew,locusts had devoured their crops, but the)had not returned to God (4:6-9).

God warned that He would send a differ-ent kind of famine: a time when theywould frantically run here and there, seek.ing the words of the Lord. (8:11,12).

Finally, God promised to "raise up thetabernacle of David , with Israelites andGentiles who would be called by Hisname, and that after that great day Hispeople would never again be pulled up.(9:11,12,15).

My Score-

See answer on inside back cover.



Caleb was a w inner. he went into Canaan as a spy. Now,Caleb was one of the twelve after the forty years in the wilderness

Israelites sent into Canaan as spies. and early efforts to take parts of the

All of them brought back an evil land from its inhabitants, Caleb wasreport, except for Caleb and Joshua. 85 years old. But, he was not readyThe oth er to retire - ot Caleb.men weref e a r f u lb e c a u s ethere weregiants in the

land andgreat walledcities. Theywere con-vinced thatthe peopleof Israelcould not

p o s s i b l ydefeat suchenemies, butCaleb andJ o s h u ainsisted that,with God's help, they could take theland. In faith, they urged Israel to

advance immediately. Instead, thepeople listened to the majority.Because they did not believe God'spromises, they were forced to wan-der in the wilderness for forty yearsuntil all of that generation had died.Only Caleb and Joshua lived toenter into Canaan.

Caleb was a winner.Caleb was forty years old when

He said, "I urn ass t rong th i s day as I

w a s i n t h e d a y t h a tMoses sent me: as my

s t r e n g t h w a s t h e n ,

even so is my strengthnow, for war, both to

go out , and to comein" (Joshua 14:ll).

Caleb requestedHebron for an inheri-tance, the very moun-tain from which they

had seen the giantsand the walled cities.And Caleb did whathe had known waspossible with God'shelp forty years

before: he and his warriors droveout the inhabitants of the mountain

and took the land.Yes, Caleb was a winner, and

we can be winners, too.It is not easy to tell the differ-

ence between a winner and a loserby a casual glance. Their appear-ance may be much the same. Theymay dress alike, shop in the same

stores, and live in the same neigh-borhoods. Successful people come



Bobby Dockery

We read in the them to the last ounceBible of a coura- of their endurance,geous mother who they died andmade a differ- were laid to restence . in the life

of a child...

nthe welfare ofher people... n the his-t o r y o f her full of heart-nation! Her ache and toilname was and tears -Jochebed -

not the most this: Joche -beautiful name bed has a se-to modern ears- but a name history becauseprofoundly beauti- of these three chil-fu l, nonetheless. It dren: Miriam, Aaron,means " J e h o v a h is herglory. " She is the first person When Moses was born,

in the entire Bible to have a name Jochebed made up her mind to fightcompounded with "Jah" - he for the life of this child who hadsacred name of Jehovah! been sentenced to death by the

Jochebed and her husband decree of Pharaoh. As long as sheAmram were from the tribe of Levi. could, she hid him away in a secretTheir home was a slave's cabin. place. When she was unable to con-The ir day s were fil led with ceal him any longer, she wove himdrudgery and grinding toil under the a little boat, a cradle of papyrus

threat of an overseer's whip. When reeds, and placed it in the rushesyears of cruel adversity had ground growing at the edge of the Nile



Riv er. M ir iam was le f t to s tandwatch, and when Pharaoh's daugh-ter discovered the baby in the bas-ket , Mir iam managed to get thei r

own mother appo inted as the child'snurse !

Think wha t a d i f f e r ence t heinfluence of this wom an mad e in thel if e o f h e r s o n ! W e r e m e m b e rMoses as a great man of God, buthow differently his story might haveturned out if it had not been for theinfluence of a great, godly mother!When Moses grew to manhood, theBible says he "refused to be calledthe so)? of Phar aoh' s daughter ,choosing rather to suffer aflictionwith the people of God, than toenjoy the pleasures of sir7 for a sea-son" (Hebrews 11:24-26). W h a tprompted that choice? During hisformative years Moses was rearedby a woman whose name meant"Jehovah is her glory," a womanw h o s e d e e p lo v e f o r h im w a smatched only by her determinationto serve God!

May we neve r cease t o g ivethanks for the th ings our mothershave meant and continue to mean tou s . M a y w e b e f a i t h f u l t o t h elessons they taught us. M ay Go dhelp us to honor, by the living ofour lives, all those who have madeand continue to make a difference!%

Bob by Dockery is a writer and preach- I

er in Fayetteville, Arkan sas, USA.



Do W e Have So Many

Churches Today?Ken TylerObviously, this is a good question. The reason we have so many churchestoday is because individuals have departed from God'$ pattern in the NewTestament and started their own denominations. Various names have beengiven to these denominations which are not found in the New Testament. In

these denominations you will also find doctrines that are not the same as thattaught by Jesus and the apostles. The New Testament condemns divisionand a departure from God's way. Paul told the Corinthians, "...that ye allspeak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that yebe peijectly joined together in the same mind and in the sa~ne ~dgTnent" 1Corinthians 1 :10). In response to false teachers, Paul also told the Galatians,"But though we, or an angelporn heaven, preach any other gospel unto youthan that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Galatians19). Jesus stated concerning the scribes and Pharisees, "But in 1,ain the.y d oworship rile, teaching for doctriries the commandments o f mererl" (Matthew15:9). We must realize the difference between the "commandments of men"and the "commandments of God."

The truth of the matter is that we do not read of "different churches" inthe New Testament. Jesus said in Matthew 16: 18, " .. will build mychurch .. " The church built by Christ is the only church. The various con-gregations were simply the same church meeting at different locations.

Denominations are not found in the New Testament. They were started bymen hundreds of years after Christ built His church.What we need to do is get back to the New Testament pattern and quit

forming new denominations and simply be the church Jesus built. It's sadthat we have hundreds of denominations in our world when we read of onlyone church in the New Testament (Ephesians 1:22,23; 44) . We do not havethe right to tamper with God's Word (John 10:35). It is time for people towake up and leave man-made denominationalism and practice what the New

Testament teaches. B

Ken Tyler is a gospel preacher working with the church of Christ in Arab,Alabama, USA.

96



Kevin L. Moore

W& 5'4 7Zead 4 7h &&ZC 7tc+kkhzt'?

Th e Tribulation theory proposes that for seven years after the so-called"rapture", the human race on earth will experience horrific judgm ents untilthe visible return of Christ. An often -cited proof text is Matthew 24:21, butth i s pas sage i s ac tua l ly i n t he con tex t o f t he Lord ' s desc r ip t ion o fJerusalem's devastation (verses 1,2, 15-20; see also Luke 21 :20-24) whichwas fulfilled in A.D. 70. Jesus said it wou ld occur during the generation ofHis disciples (Matthew 24:34), and Josephus recorded indescribable suffer-ing, death, and destruction at the time of Jerusalem's siege.

Th e proof texts taken fro m the book of Revelation to support this theoryare used out of their historical context. Revelation was written near the endof the first century A.D. about things "which must slzortly take place" ( I : 1;

2 2 6 ) . John was not writing about a period of tribulation that was to occur

2000 years in the future; he was writing to the first century congregations ofAsia (1:4,11) concerning the persecutions they were already experiencing(1:9; 2:9,10; 7:13,14).

The Bible has much to say about the tribulations of early Christians.John 16:33 says, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you nzayhave peace. In the world you will have tribulation; hut be o f good cheer, Ihave overcome the world." (Acts 5:41 ; 14:22; see also (M ark 4: 17; John15:20; Rom ans 12: 12; Philippians 1:29; 1 Thessalonians 3:3,4; 2 T imothy

3: 12;1

Peter 2:20,21; 4:13,16). Th e rapture and tribulation theories areman-made doctrines which are not taught in the Bible.

W & 7 e t c r G ? + & i k e d o r t d R i ?

Christ will come at an unknown, unexpected time (Matthew 24:36,42;25:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4; 2 Peter 3:lO). H e will descend from heavenwith a shout, with a trum pet sound, with His angels, and with f ire. 1Thessalonians 4: 16, 17 says, "For the Lord Himselfwill descend from heav-

en with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet ofGod. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive andremain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord

97



in thp air. And thus we shall alw aysb e w i t h t h e L o r d N . ( s e e a l so(Matthew 25:31; 2 Thessa lon ians1:7,8). All the dead will rise (John5:28,29); first those who were right-eous, meeting the Lord in the air,followed by the living righteous (1Thessa lon ians 4 : 16 ,17 ; M a t thew24:40,41).

At the resurrection, physical bod-ies will be changed to spiritual ones:"Beho ld , I tell you a mystery: We

shall not all sleep, but we shall all bechanged - n a moment, in the twin-kling of an eye, at the last trumpet.For the trumpet will sound, and thedead will be raised incorruptible, andwe shall be changed" (1 Corinthians15:51,52).

The presen t wor ld wi l l be

destroyed (2 Peter3: 10): "Bu t the dayof the Lord will comeas a thief in thenight, in which the heavens will passaway with a great noise, and the ele-ments wi l l mel t w i th fervent heat ;both the earth and the works that arein it will be burned up. "

Everyone will stand before the

Lord in judgment (Acts 17 :31 ; 2Corinthians 5:10), and every kneeshall bow and every tongue shall con-fe s s t ha t J e sus Chr i s t i s Lo rd(Philippians 2:9-11: "...At the nameof Jesus every knee should bow, andthat every tongue should confess thatJesus Christ is Lord, to the glory ofGod the Father."

Matthew 25:32.33 tells us that

the r ighteous and the unrighteouswill be separated. "All the nationswi l l be gathered before Him, andH e w i l l s e p a r a te t h e m o n e f r o manother, as a shepherd divides hissheep from the goats. And H e willset the sheep on His right hand. butthe goats o n the left. '"

Since time will be no more, allo f t h i s w i l l s eem to occu r " i n amoment, in the twinkling of an eye"(1 Corinthians 1 5 52 ).

After judgment the unrighteouswill be eternally punished in hell;t h e r i g h t e o u s w i l l b e e t e r n a l l yblessed in heaven: "And I saw thed e a d , s m a l l a n d g r e a t , s t a n d i n gb e f o re G o d , a n d b o o k s w e r eo p e n e d . A n d a n o t h e r b o o k w a sopened, which is the Book of Life.

And the dead Mtere judge d acco rd-ing t o t he i r works , by t he t h ingswh ich were w ritten in the books.

The sea gave up the dead whowere i n i t , and Dea th and Hadesdelivered up the dead who were inthem. And they were judged, eac hone according to his works.

T h e n D e a th a n d H a d e s w e r ecast into the lake o ff ir e . This is thes e c o n d d e a t h . A n d a n y o n e n o tfound wr i t t en in the Book ofL q ew a s c a s t i n to t h e l a k e o f f i r e .(Matthew 25:41,46; see also Reve-lation 20: 12-15; 1 Peter 1:3,4). Q

Kevin L. Moore works with the churchof Christ in Wanganui, New Zealand.



To understand any passage orteaching from the Bible it is neces-sa ry for one to look a t the back-g r o u n d o f w h a t i s b e i n g s a i d ,because if we do not read to under-

stand in its specific context, we caneasily misunderstand and draw anentirely wrong conclusion. So onemust ponder the fact of why a cer-tain thing was said or done aboutw h i c h w e r e a d i n t h e S c r i p t u r e .What was the context?

In John chapter 6, we read thata great mul t i tude of people weref o l l o w i n g C h r i s t . H e t o o k f i v e

loaves and two smal l f i sh in Hishands and gave thanks for them, andthen fed the who le mu ltitude of peo-ple - ome five thousand plus -from this sma ll amo unt of food. Of

c o u r s e , a l l o f t h e p e o p l e w e r eimpressed by w hat He did, and evensaid, "This is truly the Prophet whois to come into the world."

But then we read tha t on thefollowing day they again began tolook for Chris t. W hen Jesus sawthem, He said , "M ost assuredly, I

say to you, you seek me, not becauseyou saw the signs, but because you



FROM HE HEART O F. .

The Church of Christ

Ken Mohammed and Gilbert Neptune

It was during World War I1 that members of the church of Christ firstbegan meeting in Trinidad & Tobago. These services were conducted byAmericans stationed in Trinidad and were temporary in nature.

In 1965, an American preacher, Ralph Wharton, in St. Vincentbegan a radio program. The program was received by interested personsin Trinidad. Ralph came to Trinidad to visit a group of students and bap-tized Dave Dailsingh, Kaso Ramcharitar and Chanardaye Ramdeen. Thechurch was begun on June 26, 1967 and this group of young people, along



F R O M T H E H EA RT OF . . .building in San Fernando, this train-ing school used the church facilitiesfor classes. T he brethren had bor-rowed money from American church-

es to build the first building owned bythe church in Trinidad and Tobago.T h e s c h o o l r e m a i n s i n t h a t s a m ebuilding, under the direction of theSan Fernando church until lhe presenttime. Many of the missionaries havetaught in the school.

During the time when Jim Maasey

was director of the school, he began atape and pr in t ing min i s t ry. S in ce1979 Parker Henderson has served asthe director. Current regular teachersare Gilbert Neptune, Ulric Alleyne,

Preacher students of the Trinidad

School of Preaching and Teach-ing, San Fernando, Trinidad.

Dominic Dos Santos, Winston Clarke.Jr. , and Donna (music) and ParkerHenderson.

Current enrollment in the schoolis 37 full-time students and 10 part-time. Churches in America assist inthe support of students, and churchesin Trinidad provide their preachers asteache rs in the school.

During the past twenty-twoyears American brethren have sentten preachers to live in Trinidad toteach in the school. T h e s e a r e:Eu gen e Cardinal, Tim Conatser. FredG i v e n s , R o n E d w a r d s , K e n n yBayles, James Huggins, Bil l Nicks,

Female students who are learningto be teachers.



F R O M HE H E A RT O F . . .congregation was established and remains unto this day . Both men continueas effective evangelists, Th addeus in St. Thom as and Ulric in Trinidad.

A Television Pro-gram, " K n o w Your

One of the newest congregations of Trinidad t ian% they ar e l ikewisemeets in this used tin church building in a

Hindu community in Woodland. many of the congrega-

t i o n s i n Tr i n i -d a d a n d To b a -go.

Today it isestimated thatthere are about

4,000 membersof the churchin 42 congrega-tions. Accord-ing to our latestf i g u r e s , Tr i n i -d a d 1 T o b a g oc l a i m s a t o t a l

p o p u l a t i o n o f Gospel meeting in Woodland, with Kenneth Dimsoy1,300,000 peo- doing the speaking.



: D o You Want to Reach out to

: Others, b u t . . .I

, How often do you meet up with a friend or a rela-: tive, or simply develop a conversation with aI stranger and, because of your concern for their soul,: you turn the topic of discussion to spiritual things?: But little can be said in those few minutes, and there1 is a desire to leave them with something to guideII their thinking after you part ways. What can you do?I

I We have a suggestion. Keep copies of THEI

VOICE OF TRUTH NTERNATIONAL in your hand-: bag, ready to share with those who show an interest.I It is so easy to offer it, with the words, "I'd like toII share this special magazine with you and to invite: you to study with us. Here, at the back, is a contact1 address, phone number ......"I

' For $25 a month, you can personally receiveI

1 35 copies of each issue - 5 copies to sharewith the precious souls you want to teach!I

(Return this form in an envelope, along with yourcheck, to the following address)

THE VOICE OF TRUTH NTERNATIONAL

2148 N. NationalSpringfield, MO 65803

Att. Byron Nichols



Dear Sirs:I

I want to subscribe to the quarterly magazine,THE onc~ w I

TRUTH NTERNATIONAL. Enclosed is my check for$12.00 for four I

issues, or $20.00 for eight issues, starting with Volume. My I

address is given below. III want to order the complete set of volumes in print (32 issues)I

for the reduced price of $80.00.My address is given below. II

Please send special prices for WBS teachers and their students.I want to MAKE A GIFT SUBSCRIPTION of THE VOICE OF I

TRUTH N T E R N AT I O N A L . Enclosed is my check for $12.00 for four1

issues, or $20.00 for eight issues, starting with Volume_. The :address is given below. I

I want to send $25.00 per month (or a multiple), for a box of35 1

copies (or multiples) of each issue of the magazine as they are :printed. Churches are also urged to use boxes in this way. I

Please use my special contribution to send more copies of this 1

issue to the mission fields of the world. I

I

Please accept my check to send a bundle to our missionary. I

The address is given below. I-

I[71 As a congregation we want to help print and circulate 100,000copies of each issue of this magazine by making a special contri- I

bution to this effort. We can specify where the copies we pay forIwill be used, whether in our personal work, in jail ministry, over-seas, o r . . . I

I

[71This congregation wants to have 1000 copies (for $1000 plusI

shipping) special-printed of the next issue, with our (our missionary's)II

address, to be shipped directly to us or to him, as per instructions.I

NAME

ISTREET I



Republicof Trinidad &T o m

Tobago /

Trinidad

TRINIDADAND TOBAGO-memk P a K l t a y Demoaac

ol Stak M i rthurI N.R. RuhmHeadelGmammsrR:

Rim M i t o r hhick Maiming

secular FamxI n t h e ~ , o f f t h e p a s t

roast of VenerwbI . n d W 1,981 squaremiles.

po011)ltbo: 1,300.000; 656 pwsquare mile.

Port&-Spin, b b r -ough, San F e d .

English (officid). Hhdi,French, Spanioh

9895:freewrdeanpuDswy.

The Church:-2. with a ~ m

4000Christhthwghwt CauntlyAmrkarrPstatbnedinTrinidadfff

kgm worPhipphg during W d ar II, but iwas not until 1965 that Ralph Wharton, a

AmericanpxtB~hSt .Vb~pnt .camT W I o h R t h a t & a n d u r b a p t i z p ~ c c ntacts. Dwe D d h g h , Km RamdvaritaraChanardaytRamdeenobeyed the gospel a

famPdther ruekusofhf i r s tcqreg~J26, 1967,inSanFemwdP.

B o b h d t o T W i r1 9 7

the voice of truth international, volume 33

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