The Voice of Truth International, Volume 9

8/8/2019 The Voice of Truth International, Volume 9

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- s Have Not Known The8-e have not known Thee as we ought,Nor learned Thy wisdom, grace, and power;The things of earth have filled our thought,And trifles of the passing hour.

Lord, give us light Thy truth to see,And make us wise in knowing Thee.W e have not feared Thee as we ought,Nor bowed beneath Th ine aweful eye,Nor guarded deed, and word, and thought,Rememb'ring that our God was nigh.Lord, give us faith to know Thee near,And grant the grace of holy fear.We have not loved Thee as we ought,Nor cared that we are loved by Thee;Thy presence we have coldly sought,And feebly longed Thy face to see.Lord, give a pure and loving heartTo feel and own the love Thou art.We have not served Thee as we ought;Alas, the duties left undone,The work with little fervor wrought,The battles lost or scarcely won!Lord, give the zeal, and give the might,For Thee to toil, for Thee to fight.When shall we know Thee a s we ought,And fear, and love, and serve aright?When shall we, out of trial brought,Be perfect in the land of light?Lord, may we day by day prepareTo see Thy face, and serve Thee there.- .B. Pollock


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Throughout the Old Test-a m e n t a g r e a t d e a l w a s s a i dabout the coming of a spiritualkingdom. Isaiah foretold that inthe last days the Lord5 kingdomwould be e s t ab l i shed ( I sa iah2:2,3). Daniel said that God would set up a kingdom which wouldnever be destroyed (Daniel 2:44). Joel said that the Lord's Spiritwould be poured out upon all flesh at that time (Joel 2:28,29), andPeter explained that Joel's prophecy was fulfilled in the momentoushappenings recorded in Acts 2.John the Baptist came preaching that the kingdom o f heaven wasnear at hand (Matthew 3:1,2), and Christ said that some who were

standing in His presence would not taste of death until they saw thekingdom com e with power (Mark 9: l) . Finally, Christ said that Hewould build His church upon the rock, the fact that He was the Sonof God (M atthew 16: 18'19; 1 Corinthians 3 :l l) . He promised that -He would give to the Apostles the keys of the kingdom, the authorityto tell men and women what they could do to enter the kingdom orthe church.

In Acts 2 we see that the prophecies were fulfilled concerningthe establishment of the kingdom in Jerusalem as the power of theHoly Spirit was poured out on the Apostles and they began to speak2


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with tongues, o r in other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance.This was the kingdom that John had said was soon to be established,the one that was from heaven, and the one C hrist had said He wouldbuild. The Apostles , then, used the keys of the kingdom or thechurch as they preached the gospel for the first time and revealed tosinful man how h e could be saved. Those who heard, believed,repented of their sins, and were baptized for the remission of theirsins were saved and added to the church by the Lord himself.The kingdom and the church were therefore the same institu-tion, being the house of God or the spiritual body of Christ (1 Timo-thy 3: 15; lco r in thi an s 12:27). Paul , speaking to the church a tColosse, said concerning God, "Who hath delivered us from thepower of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of hisdear Son " (Colossians 1:13). The Hebrew writer said, "Whereforewe receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace,whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godlyfear" (Hebrew s 12:28). No w of what kingdom was he speaking?The kingdom of God, the kingdom which was from heaven, the Lord5church, comprised of people the Lord saved and added to it, makingthem members of His body, the spiritual body of Christ, again beingthe church (Ephesians 1 22,23; Colossians 1:18).Now after the Lord's death, burial, and resurrection, the recordsays concerning Christ, "To whom also he showed himselfalive afterhis passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days,and speaking things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1 3).In other words, Christ was giving final instructions to the Apostlesconcerning His kingdom or church which would shortly be estab-lished in Jerusalem. He went on to exhort, "But ye shall receive thepowec after the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be wit-nesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, andunto the uttermostpart of the earth" (Acts 1 :8).

So in Acts 2 that kingdom, the Lord? church itself was estab-lished with some 3,000 obeying God and being added to i t (Acts2:40). Th e gospe l was preached again and again both in Jerusalemand in Judea with thousands more obeying the Lord and being addedto that same church. But there is more. At this point, the record


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says, "Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preachedChrist to them" (Acts 8 : s ) . Continuing, we read, "But when theybelieved Philip preaching things concerning the kingdom of God,and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men andwomen" (Acts 8:12).So w hat do we have? We see how the Lord instructed theApostles concerning the kingdom of God, and then Philip preachedChrist to the Sam ari tans . But , amazingly, in doing so he a lsopreached the kingdom of God to them! Why was there so mu chemphasis on the kingdom or the church? Because it was the culmina-tion of God's efforts for mankind; it was the vehicle through whichHe would provide salvation. It was from God, it had been prophe-sied, the Lord had promised it, and the saved were added to it! Itsimportance cannot be overstated.Sometimes we hear people saying the church is not importantand that we should not talk about it so much. I t is true that thechurch is not the saviouc since it is made up of the saved, who arehuman beings; but Christ is the saviour of the church, having died forit and having purchased it with His own blood, and therefore we m ustbe m embers of it if we want to be saved and to go to heaven.If you remove from the scriptures all of the things said about thek i n g d o m o r t h e c h u r c h , h o w m u c h w o u l d y o u h a v e l e f t ?Furthermore, if Christ built the church, is head of it and saviour o f it,serving as i ts foundation and call ing i t by His name, if He haspromised to return for it and present it to God, how could anyonethink that it is unimportant? And how will men know about it, of itsdivine origin, o f its purpose and m ission, and o f its tremendous placeof importance in God's overall plan unless we preach it to the world?In conclusion, let us appreciate the church, love it as the Lordloves it, be th an k h l to be m embers of it, and let us eagerly tell othersabout it so that it may truly spread throughout the entire world. A sPaul said, "Unto him be glory in the church by C hrist Jesus through-out all ages, world without end. Amen " (Ephesians 3 :21) 9


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" . . BUTASFORMEAND

MYHOUSE..9BYRONNICHOLSMANAGINGDITOR

Sure ly we have all been impressed with som e of the statem ents made byoutstanding statesmen of the world in times past. Included am ong the m orenotable ones are Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death,"Winston Churchill's "I have nothing to give but blood, sweat, and tears,"and Henry Clay's "I'd rather be right than be President." Such words ofcommitment and exhortation have helped countries and causes to be victori-ous instead of suffering defeat.As great as these proclamations of courage and ded ication were and are,they do not measure up to the significance of many declarations found in theBible. It would be hard to find one more inspiring than a statement byJoshua in his farewell speech to the people of God just before h is death. InJoshua chapter 24 the faithful leader of the Israelites reminds them of all thatGod had done for them and their ancestors, delivering them from their ene-mies and providing all their needs for them, including a special land inwhich to live. He then proceeds to tell them that they have a great decisionto make: Are you going to se rve pagan gods, as your fathers did at times, orare you going to render loyal service to the God w ho has de livered you andlovingly provided for you? Then, in the last part of verse 15, Joshua makesthis great statement of com mitment, dedication, and de termination:". . but as for m e and my house, we will se w e Jehovah."


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Joshua was able to make this remarkable declaration because of hisgreat love for God, his Israelite brethren, and his family. His words wereprompted by his deep gratitude to the Lord for all that He had done forJoshua and all those he loved. Surely more of us would join with Joshua inthese words if we understood what Joshua understood. Surely few of uswould drift very far away froin the Lord while fully comprehending all thatHe has done for us and continues to do for us.It's one thing to make a commitment for ourselves, but it's quite anoth-er thing to make a commitment for others. How could Joshua speak for hisfamily when he said, ' I . . . but as for me and my house. . . . ? He could doso in the sense that he was determined to do all within his pow er to see to itthat his family members were as comm itted to faithfully serving the Lord ashe was. His loved ones still had the freedom of choice; they could becomelike the pagan nations around them if they so chose, but it would not happenwithout his having made every possible effort to get them to share his deeplove and gratitude for God.Many more husbands and fathers need to follow Joshua's example. Analarming number of families, even Christian families, are in great need ofspiritual repair. God has given the husbands and fathers the major responsi-bility in such matters, as is clearly shown in Ephesians 5:22-6:4.Perhaps there is an even greater need for more elders and preachers whowill fearlessly take their stand with Joshua and echo his commitment. It is avery elementary fact that no group, religious or otherwise, will ever succeedbeyond the level of its leadership. The church of the Lord absolutely musthave men as its leaders who will duplicate the determination of Joshua tostand with and for God, regardless of the opposition, even if the oppositionshould sometimes come from within the church itself. Satan will nevermake it easy for God's people to loyally serve the Lord, and at times heeven uses some of God's own people, as was true in Bible times, to lead thechurch astray. As a result, there is perhaps a greater need than ever beforefor elders who will lovingly and boldly live up to the words of such notablepassages as Acts 20:28-31; 1 Timothy 3:4,5; and Titus 1:9-16. Preachers,too, are called to be faithful to the admonitions of such passages as 2Timothy 4: l-5 and Titus 2 : l, just to name a few.Knowing that each one of us will one day be called before the Lord injudgment, dare we live our lives now with less of a commitment to H im andHis Word than that of His loyal servant Joshua? May God's children every-where dedicate themselves fully to Him and to the furtherance of His greatcause here on the earth. Let's be sure that God can depend on us. 53


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GODOur God's Love for Us...................

.................................implifying 11Jesus. the Master Teacher .......... 3........................................oday 1 5.................................ho Sins? 15EVIDENCES

That You May Believe..................1 6The Bones of Caiaphas ............... 7. . .hristianity: The Gospel for All 18......he Testimony of Archaeology 2 1THEWORDOF GODFinding the Book ........................ 25The Bible's Honesty.................... 27..................he Relevant Gospel 28......... .he Bible Hope of the 30

DOCTRINEO LIVE BY...........ohn's Emphasis on Truth 32Fellowship in the Lord................. 33

Opening the Curtain....................34SALVATION

Faith or Feeling?......................... 37..................alvation in Christ 40Reasons Why Some ................4 1Washed ..................................... 43THECHURCH

Is One Church As Good . . ? .......45He Enjoyed Himself ................ 6The Church Is Us .......................48........ne Church in Many Places 49.............he Church Is Important 5 1

WORSHIP4 Kinds of Worship ................. 54Worship Is Inside Out ................. 56True Worship.............................. 57.........orship and Entertainment 59DAILY CHRISTIANIVING

.................................appiness 62

....onesty in the Business World 64Three Publicans .........................6...................................xhorting 69. . . ........Owe No Man Anything " 70..........................................ield 7 1.....uilding According to Plumb 73

THECHRISTIANOME.........roviding for Older Parents 75.....nly When God Ties the Knot 77What "Honoring Father" Implies ..78........athers: What Have They 80.............he Stranger We Took in 82CHRISTIANITYN ACTION

..................ersonal Evangelism 84...........................Sending God 86........Christian Woman's Role 87..................eople in Jail Need 90BIBLE HARACTERS

Adam. The First Man .................. 93..........hree Lessons from Uzzah 95.......ary. the Grateful Demoniac 97Demas. The Forsaker ................. 99CHARTS ND OUTLINES

The "One" Baptism of Eph. 4:5 . 0 1.....he Second Coming of Christ 102........Church that Pleases God 103....t What Point Is One Saved? 105POEMSND W RIT ~NGS............................ut of Nothing 12.....................hat Is a Teacher? 14.....................................tories 26......................here Is No Death 29....................he World We Make 42................................dmonition 44.....................................Prayer 58Put Jesus First ...........................60

..............................Living Faith 6 1...........................roublemakers 72.......................Mother's Prayer 727


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Thorns, Nails, Spears, Crowns ....74My Mother's Hands .................... 6.......................he Waiting Place 79Have We Forgotten?...................96The Little Things .........................98Keep Plodding On.....................I00ThatTemper Is a Useful Thing ...106

F E A T U R E SBible Word Power .......................23Quick Commentaly .....................31Verse Search ............................. 36.................uzzle from Galatians 53Who Am I? ................................92Puzzle Answers ............... ack Page.R O M THE HEART F . .Egypt ......................................107The Lord's Army .......................111HOW MPORTANTISTHISMAGAZINE?NEVER HA S THE NEED FOR

KNOWING AND DEFENDING THETRUTH BEEN GREATER THAN INOUR PR ES EN T AGE. ATHEISM,HUMANISM, PAGANISM, ANDIGNORANCE AR E ON THE RISE,GAINING NEW STRENGTH. 17 ISIMPERATIVE THAT T HE LORD'SPEOPLE EQUIP THEMSELVESWITHA THOROUGH KNOWLEDGE OFGOD'S W O R D , TO PROTECTTHEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIESFROM BEING LED INTO ERROR.THAT S ONE OF THE PRIMARYPURPOSESOF THISMAGAZINE.

THE SECOND GREAT P U R -POSE FOR TH E VOICE OF TRUTHINTERNATIONAL IS THAT IT MAYBE USED A S AN EVANGELISTICTOOL FOR THE LORD'S PEOPLETHROUGHOUT THE WORLD. GODHELPU S TODO MIS. JCC


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as the sacrifice for us. When wethink of the suffering Jesus enduredfor us we can begin to understandhow g reat God 's love is.It is difficult to imagine whatterrible suffering was endured bythos e w ho d i e d by c r uc i f i x ion .Criminals who were crucified ravedand screamed, and cursed those whocrucified them. But with Jesus itwas very differen t. He patientlyendured His agony. When He did

OurGod's Lwe

came to save sinners. That was anact of divine love (John 3:16). Heknew He would have to die for sin-ners in order to save them, and Hislove for them made Him completelywilling to do that. Even the terribletreatment He received from themcould not take away His love forthem. When we remember this, wecannot doubt His perfect love for us.God sent His Son to die for usbecause He wants all people to learn

" F o r G o d s o l o v e dthe world that he gave hisonly begotten Son, thatwhoever believes in Himshould not perish but haveever las t ing l i f e" ( John3:16).J e s us , G od ' s Son ,came in to the wor ld tos a ve pe op le f r om the i rsins and give them eternallife. In orde r to do that,He had to die on the cross

forI)S

0. P. Bairdi

cry out, it was not a cry ofha t r e d a nd a nge r , bu tins tead i t was a c ry oflove. He called out to HisFather in heaven and said,"Father, orgive them, forthey do not know whatthey do" (Luke 23:34).How could Jesus havethat kind of love for Hisenemies who hated Himand were torturing Him to

i death? It was because He


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the truth and repent and be saved:"For this is good and acceptable inthe sight of G od our Savior, whodesires all men to be saved and tocome to the knowledge of the truth"( 1 Timothy 2:3,4). "The Lord is notslack conc erning His promise, assome count slackness; but is long-sufering toward us, not willing thata n y s h o u l d p e r i s h b u t t h a t a lls h o u ld c o m e t o r e p e n t a n c e " ( 2Peter 3 :9).Now, with God's love for us inour minds, let us consider this veryimportant question: "Who trulyloves Go d?" Tha t is a v i ta l lyimportant question because God'sblessings are for those who loveHim.

Je su s sh o we d u s Go d , t h eFather. He said, ". . . He who hasseen Me has seen the Father. . . ."(John 14:9). We see Jesus when welearn what the Bible tells us aboutHim, and that makes us love Hima n d H i s Fa th e r . Lo v in g Go dinvolves a feeling of deep affection,but it is much more than emotionalfeeling. Let Jesus tell us who it isthat loves God: "He who has Mycommandments and keeps them, it ishe who loves Me . . . I f anyoneloves Me, he wil l keep my word;and My Father will love him, andWe will come to him and make O ur

Mine but the Father's w ho sent Me "(John 14:21,23,24).The apostle John says, " F orthis is the love of God, that we keepHis commandments. . . . " (1 John5:3).God's love in us drives out ofour heart the love for sin and fills uswith the love for righteousness. TheSpirit of Christ is the Spirit of love,and ". . . if anyone does not havethe Spirit of Christ, he is not His"(Romans 8:9). The Spirit of God, orthe Spir i t o f Chr is t , i s the HolySpirit. That Spirit in the heart willfill the heart with God's love: ". . .the love of G od has been poured outin our hearts by the Holy Spirit whowas given to us " (Romans 5:5).

When our hearts are filled withGod's love we can understand whatit is like to be a Christian. God'slove in us will make us love others.It will cause us to love even ourenemies and sincerely desire theirforgiveness, as Jesus desired theforgiveness of those who crucifiedHim.Let us open our hearts to G od'slove so we can love Him. Then wewil l repent of our s ins , keep onlearning God's truth in His Word,the Bible, and we will obey Hiscommandments. B

home with him. He who does notlove M~ does not keep My words,. 0. P. Baird is a former missionary,and he now lives in Searcy, Arkansas,and the word w hich you hear is not U. S. A.


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Jeril (Polly) ClineIt had been a hard day. He had been hungry butunable to eat (Matthew 2 1:18,19). Upon enteringthe temple, His authority had been challenged(Matthew 21:23) . Later the chief priests andPharisees sought to seize Him, but waited for fear

of the crowd (Matthew 2 1:45,46). Instead, they,along with their previous enemies, the Herodians,opted to trap Jesus with this explosive question: "Isit lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?"(Matthew 22:17). Volatile in nature, this was sureto stir up hatred and strife, no matter what Hisanswer was.The Nationalist Movement maintainedthat to pay the tribute money to Caesar was toacknowledge his royal authority and to dis-own tha t o f J ehovah , Who a lone wasIsrael's King. To answer, "Yes," would notonly have shocked His people's feelings,but would have cast great doubt upon Hisown claim of being Israel's MessiahIKing.On the other hand, to have replied, "No," was

just what the leaders were waiting for,the Roman civil authorities, and itwould have been taken as a com-mand to rebel by such fanat icJewish groups as the Zealots.In this potentially explosiveatmosphere, our Lord moved themfrom the seemingly complex to thesimple: "'Why are you testing Me,you hypocrites? Show Me the coin used


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for the poll-tax. ' And they broughtHim a denarius . And He said tothem, 'Whose likeness and inscrip-tion is this?' Th ey said to Him,'Caesar 3. ' Then He said to them,'Then render to Caesar the thingsthat are Caesar's, and to God thet h i ngs t ha t a re G od ' s . ' "Simplifying . . . Simply put, Hewent to the heart of the issue. Theanswer was not "which one" . . ."either, or" . . . but, "both, and!""And hearing this, they marveled,and leaving Him, they went away"(Matthew 22:22).Jesus had cut right through thecomplexity of the civil problems oftheir day. Whether it concerned awoman who was married to sevenbrothers, or the religious question- W hi ch is t he g rea te s t com -mandment in the Law?'- the sim-ple answer of God quieted the con-fusion of man.Could i t be that the heart oftheir probledquestion is ultimatelyat the base of mine? Jesus simpli-fies the matter when He asks them:"Is this not the reason you are mis-taken, that you do not understandt he sc r ip t u res , o r t he power o fG o d ? " ( M a r k 1 2 : 2 4 ; M a t t h e w22:29).In o the r words , you do no tknow the what and why of life orthe Power available to carry out that"what and why."He ends the discussion with one

of His ow n questions meant to leadthem to the Who of life when Heasks: "What do you think about theChrist, whose son is He . . . howdoes David in the Spirit call Him,Lord . . . ? " (Matthew 22:44).Who, What, Why . . . God notonly answers our quest ions , butsimplifies the answers so that wecannot fail to understand. Then Hesupplies the power to cany out Hiswill, if we are willing (2 Corinthians3 5 : 4:7L QJeril (Polly) Cline is a Christian writerliving in Blue Ridge, Georgia, U. S. A.


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Kenneth TiptonMany religions will concedeth a t J e su s Ch r i s t wa s a g o o d

teacher, even if they deny that Hewas the Messiah. What made Jesussuch a master teacher? What meth-ods and techniques made Him sogood as a teacher? Perhaps the bestway to examine His methods can befound in one of His longest record-ed classroom lectures, what we callthe "Sermon o n the M ount."In Matthew 5:2 the introductionbegins, ". . . He began to teach. . . "Jesus begins by teaching about rela-tionships between cause and effectin Matthew 5:3-11. Some examplesgiven are: they who mourn . . . willbe comforted; the meek . . . willinherit; those h ungry . . . will befilled; and those pure hearted . . .will see God.Students are called the "salt ofthe earth " and the "lig ht of thew o r l d , " a s J e s u s u s e s c o m m o nmaterials to illustrate His point inM atthew 5:13-16. There was noneed for fancy materials.In Matthew 5 : 7-48, Jesus usesreferences such as "you have heard"

to introduce His quotations, anduses subjects that are current, aswell as familiar topics like: murder,adultery, divorce, and even swear-ing. His teaching involved keepingthings relevant.Jesus challenges students whoa l r e a d y h a v e g o o d b e h a v io r t oachieve to an even h igher level(Matthew 6:l-18). Those ideals arese e n in g iv in g a lms w i th o u tannouncing i t , praying privately(n o t o p e n ly ) , a n d c o v e r in g u pinstead of flaunting one's fasting.In Mat thew 6 :1 9 -3 4 , J e su steaches His students how to handletheir possessions and how to handleworry. These are concepts that arepersonally applicable to each indi-vidual learner.Relationships with others aretaught by Jesus in Matthew 7:l-23.Here He teaches about judging oth-ers, asking others for help, and rec-ognizing those who are evil-doers.In His conclusion in Matthew7:24-27, Jesus describes those whofollow His teaching as being wise,compared to those who do not fol-


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low His teaching as being foolish.The narrative by Matthew con-tinues in Matthew 7:28 by sayingthat the crowds were amazed at Histeaching, because He taught as onehaving authority.

As a life-long educator, I wouldsuggest that if we want to be suc-cessful teachers, we should followthe same pattern and teach causeand effect relationships, use simpleand common materials to illustrateour points, and use references andquotes that are familiar to our stu-dents.

If our s tuden t s a re a l r eadygood, we should challenge them togo to an even higher plane, person-alize the lessons to apply to theneeds of the individual, and contin-ue to teach about the importance ofrelationships.

If we have done these things aswell as Jesus did them in His teach-ing, our students will also be wiseand not foolish.Like it or not, we are all teach-ers, either formally or informally.In Matthew 28:19,20 the outline is(1) teach, (2) baptize, and (3) moreteaching.Therefore, we must str ive toimprove our teaching methods andtechniques to be l ike Jesus , theMaster Teacher. 0Dr. Kenneth Tipton is a faithfulChristian and is a public schoolsuperintendent in Maysville, Missouri.

What is a Teacher?1. A Teacher is one1 who a ffects the eternity1 of others.

I 2. A teacher is one who/ helps another learn.1 3. A teacher is one whoI imparts knowledge.1 4. A teacher is one who/ awakens another to hisI needs.I 5. A teacher is one whocorrects, inspires andI guides others.II 6. A teacher is moreimportant to the teach-

ing/learning processthan the method, thesetting, or the visuals.7. A teacher is theproduct of conscien-tious labor.8. A teacher is able topump abilities from theresource.9. A teacher is ninetypercent of the curricu-lum.10. A teacher is a sculp-tor of souls.11 . A teacher is God'sambassador on earth (2Corinthians 5.20).


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TODAY is here. I will begin witha smile and resolve to be agreeable. Iwill not criticize. I refuse to waste thevaluable time G od has given me.

TODAY has one thing in which Iam equal with others- ime. All of usdraw the same salary in seconds, min-utes and hours.

T O D A Y I w i l l n o t w a s t e t i m ebecause the minutes I wasted yesterdayare as a vanished thought.

T O D A Y I r e f u s e t o w a s t e t i m eworrying about what might happen. Iam go ing to spend my t ime mak ingthings happen.

TODA Y I am determined to studyto improve myself, for tomorrow I maybe needed , and I must no t be foundlacking.

TODAY I begin by doing, and notwasting my time. In one week I will bemiles beyond the person I am today.TODAY I will not imagine what Iwould do if things were different. I willmake a success with what I have.

T O D A Y I wil l ac t toward o therpeople as though this will be my lastday on earth. I will not wait for tomor-row. Tom orrow never comes.- elected

Who sins?God's word is very plain.Romans 3:23 says, "... for allhave sinned and fall short ofthe glory of God." 1 John 1:8adds, "If we say that we haveno s in , we deceive our -selves... "You would look at thesweet face of a baby or achild and object, "No! Childrenare not s inners! They are

innocent!" And Jesus wouldagree with you, for He said,"...unless you are convertedand become as little children,you will by no means enterthe kingdom of heaven."So, who are the 'all' whoare sinners? Romans 3:12-18

identifies sinners as maturepeople who have chosen evilrather than good: "They haveall gone out of the way ... hereis none who does good...."Their ...mouth is full of cursingand bitterness." 'There is nofear of God before their eyes."S in is no t c rea ted orimposed on humans; sin isthe choosing to disobey God.Babies and children aresafe; they are not evi l ,because they are not knowl-edgeable enough to choose;but all normal-minded adultshave sinned and must answerto God.Next: Is there a way out?


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ThatYouMayBelieveHollis Miller

Of his Gospel, the apostle John ries of men. But why should it bewrote: "Many other sigm therefore that way? Some who deny the his-Jesus also performed in the pres- torical existence of Abraham, Isaac,ence of the disciples, which are not Jacob, and Joseph seem to have nowritten in this book but these have difficulty accepting the historicitybeen written that you may believe of other ancient personalities. Werethat Jesus is the Christ, the Son of t he I s r ae l i t e s a peop le wi thou tGo d; and that believing you may ance s t ry? I f no t , then why no thave life in His name" ( Jo h n accept the Patriarchs as real histori-20:30,31). cal personalities?M en pas s a m ile sto ne in life Who decides whether the earlywhen they understand that nothing Christians were right or wrong inthey learn today, however much it th ei r ap pr ai sa l of Je su s? W hymay be, can undo a fact of the past. should tha t de cis ion be m ade bySo important is this bit of knowl- someone who never met Him, sawed ge that it c an so m etim es sto p Him, touched Him, or witnessed Hisslid es int o sp iri t ua l ob liv ion . works, or by someone who has anThings that have already happened antibiblical theory to defend?in the world are indelibly imprinted There is no valid reason why aon the pages of time. The Je ws, Christian should surrender his or herJesus, the apostles, the Bible, the faith to the skeptics of the world.church , and a host of other personal- The apostle Paul speaks even today:i t i e s and even t s su r round ing "The Spirit explicitly says that inChristian faith cannot be erased. later times some will fall away fromThey can be discussed, believed, the faith, paying attention to deceit-disbelieved, or ignored, but they ful spir its and doctrines of demons"cannot be deleted from time. (1 Timothy 4: 1). Dear reader, mayFor some strange reason, what w e al l be a dm on is he d by the sethe Bib le reco rds is som etim es apostolic words. 0judged either correct or incorrectit agrees with Hollis Miller is a gospel preacher liv-other ancient records and the theo- ing in Cadiz, Kentucky 4221 1, U. S. A.

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Christianity: TheG o s p e lfor All Cultures

Roger E. DicksonIn the defense of Christianity that Luke makes in the book of Acts, heinforms us that the early disciples went first to the Jews, and then to theGentiles. After the initial establishment o f the church, the disciplespreached to the Jews only (Acts 11:19). However, Jesus stated that theGospel would be preached to all nations (Luke 24:47). In Luke's defense,he proves that this was cam ed out in the lives of the disciples. He presentscases of how this mission was accomplished. He records evidence of howGod miraculously communicated to the disciples that the Gentiles shouldreceive the message of the G ospel.


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A God that would be the one true God of all humanity would revealHimself so as to establish a religion that was applicable to all men for alltime. True Christianity is this type of religion. Because it is applicable toall men is proof that it has been truly revealed from the one true God.Luke's central argum ent is to uphold Jesus and the church as the meansby which the brotherhood of humanity can be accomplished. The fact thatthere is one God and one Lord Jesus Christ establishes a foundation uponwhich all men can be religiously one. The church, therefore , is a brother-hood into which all cultures of the world can come and serve the one trueGod. It is a brotherhood that will establish peace between men of all cul-tures of the world. Only the God of heaven could have established such acomm unity. This is Luke's argument.A. Th e Gospel W ent To Th e Samaritans. Luke first records how theGospel went to the Samaritans, whom the Jews socially rejected. "Philipwent down to the city of Samaria andpreached Christ to them" (Acts 85).As a result, ". . . multitudes with one accord heeded those things whichPhilip spoke. . . ." (Acts 8:6). "When they believed Philip as he preachedthe things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ,both men and wom en were baptized" (Acts 8:12).

B. The Gospel Went To The Gentiles. In Acts 10 and 11 Peter andsix Jews went to the house of a Gentile named Cornelius. While they werein the house of Cornelius, God poured out on this Gentile household the g iftof the Spi r i t (1 1:15- 17). W hen Peter an d his witnesses returned toJerusalem, the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem first contended with Peterabout his going into the house of a Gentile. They protested, "You went in touncircumcised men and ate with them!" (1 1 3) . However, Peter explainedto them the vision which he had where God told him that He had made allthings clean (10:9-16). The voice of the vision stated, "What G od hascleansed you must not call common" (10:15). Peter followed the instruc-tions o f the vision. He went to the house of a Gentile and preached theGospel. When the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem heard Peter's defense,they said, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life"(11:18).

C. The Gospel Went To The Gentile World Through Paul. Paulwas personally called by Jesus on the Damascus road. The purpose of thecalling was to send Paul to the Gentiles with the message of the Gospel(Acts 9:15). Throughout his ministry, therefore, Luke records incidentswhere he fulfilled this special ministry.

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When the unbe l i ev ing Jewsrejected the Gospel in Antioch ofPis idia , Paul and Barnabas to ldthem that they were turning to theGentiles. He said to the Jews, "Itwas necessaly that the word of Godshould be spoken to you first; butsince you reject it, and judge your-selves unworthy of everlasting lije,behold, we turn to the Gentiles "(Acts 13:46). Luke also records,"Now when the G entiles heard this,they were glad and glorified theword of the Lord . . . ." (13:48).The same thing as the abovehappen ed in Corinth. W hen theunbelieving Jews opposed Paul andblasphemed, ". . . he shook his gar-ments and said to them, 'Your bloodbe upon your own head s ; I amclean. From now on I will go tothe Gentiles "' (Acts 18:6). As aresu l t , many of the Cor in th iansbelieved and w ere baptized (1 8:8).When the Jews in Rome reject-ed the Gospel, Paul said to them,"Therefore let it be known to youthat the salvation of God has beensent to the Gentiles, and they willhear it!" (Acts 28:28).Luke's argument on behalf ofPaul and Christianity was that theGospel was for all the world. It wasnot for the Jews only. In fact, theOld Testament prophets had proph-esied that the Jews would hardentheir hearts against the Gospel (Acts13:47; 28:26,27; see also Isaiah

6:9,10; 42:1,6; 49:6; Jeremiah 5 :21;Ezekiel 12:2). This harde ning ofhearts would spur the Gospel on tothe Gentiles throughout the world.The fundamental truths uponwhich Christianity is based are nec-essary for salvation. Such truths areappl icable to a l l cul tures of theworld. They are truths which arenot culturally linked; that is, theyare not truths which are identifiedby or characteristic with any oneculture of the world. Because thefundamental beliefs o f Christianityare such is evidence that Christian-ity was revealed by the one trueGod. The fundamental beliefs ofChristianity which are revealed inLuke and Acts are those truths thatare necessary for salvation . Theycom pose t he s i m p l i c i t y o f t heChrist ian fai th. They are Go d'sdirections for godly living and holi-ness which are applicable to all cul-tures of the world for all history. ORoger E. Dickson is Director ofInternational School of BiblicalStudies in Cape Town, South Africa.

" % b ~ g o o dndpkac-ant it iswhen brethrendwelltogether in unity"

(PsalmU3:l).


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The Testimony ofArchaeologyPerry N. Hall

Th e s tud y o f Ch ris t ia n While we are convinced thatE vi de nc es is an ex ci tin g an d internal evidence is more than su fi -rewarding experience. My interest cient to prove that the Bible is thein Biblical archaeology, history, and ve rb all y in sp ir ed , in fa ll ib le ,geography was greatly stimulated inerrant, all-sufficient deposit o fw he n I vi si te d the mu se um s of eternal truth from God, it is com-Europe and went to the Bible Lands forting to observe that archaeo logi-for six weeks in 1963. In the past cal discoveries have been found totwo centuries, while the Bible was be in harmony with Biblical decla-being vigorously attacked by skep- ration. We would expect this to betics, God in His providence revealed the case, since Biblical writers werethrough the spade of the archaeolo- miracu lous ly guided by the Holygist a vast amount of information Sp iri t in the ir reco rd ing o f thetha t ha rmo n ize s wi th the B ib le Div ine message ( John 1 6 : 1 3 ; 1record. Multiplied mounds, murky, C o ri n th ia n s 2 : 1 3 ; 2 T i m o t h ywell-preserved tombs of Pharaohs, 3: 16,17; 2 Peter 1 :20,21; Jude 3).and isola ted ca ve s con ta in ing Every s ta tement of the Bibleancient Biblical manuscripts have must be true if it is of God. Thatyielded up their secrets. The past includes its comments on history,has come galloping into the present, lo ca tio ns , cu st om s, ch ar ac te rs ,giving external evidence to the fact geog raphy, civ iliza tion s, etc ., asthat God has reve aled Him self to well as that which is God 's revealedman. Ou r unders tand ing o f the obl igatory wil l for man. W hileBible message and its environment much of that which has been uncov-has been increased through study of ered does not seem to relate directlythe artifacts of art, architecture, Ian- to the biblical text, they still give usguag e, literature, tools, we apons , a wealth of information about thecus toms , d re s s , and o the r such times. This, in and of itself, is ofremains. gre at value in our s tud y of th e

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Bible. More than twenty-five thou-sand s i t es , on ly a few dozen ofwhich have been excavated, serve asa potential source of almost unlimit-ed information and exciting discov-eriesOccasionally there are discov-eries that relate directly to the bibli-cal record by referring to actual peo-ple, places, and events of the Bible.One such discovery was made bySir Henry Layard, when he excavat-ed t he anc i en t c i t y o f Ca l ah o rNimrud , es t ab l i shed by Nimrod(G enes i s 10 : l O f f ) . In t i m e i tbecame one of the capital cities ofAssyria. Between the years of 1845and 185 1, three palaces were uncov-ered containing much sculpture andstatuary, and from which the cele-b r a t e d B l a c k O b e l i s k o f S h a l -maneser (859-824 B. C .) was recov-ered by Layard. It is today locatedin the British Museum in London.This limestone obelisk stands sixfeet six inches high and containstwenty panels, five on each side.Al l o f the pane l s dep ic t t r ibu tebeing brought to Shalmaneser 111.On one side, second row from thetop, a figure is shown on his handsand knees pay ing t r ibu te to theAssyrian king. The obelisk declaresthe figure to be the Israelite king,"Jehu, Son of Ornri." The powerfulAssyrian army (see Nahum 2:3ffand 3:2ff) m arched f rom Ca l ahunder Shalmaneser I11 to attack a

coa l i t i on com pr i s i ng I s r ae l ,D am ascus , and t he coas t a lcity-states in 841 B. C. Jehu ofIsrael chose to becom e a tributary tot he A ssy r i ans , and t he B l ackObelisk of Shalmaneser depicts thetribute of the royal staff , s i lver,golden vessels, tin, and fruits thatJehu paid.Jehu, tenth king of Israel cameto the throne during the time o f theprophet Elisha. He exterminatedAhab's line according to prophecy(1 Kings 19:16,17; 2 Kings 9,lO).Jehu is the only king in eitherIsrael or Judah whose "picture" orlikeness we have thus far today.This testimony from the mounds ofCalah agrees wi th the his tor icalaccuracy of the Bible. Our faith inthe Bible is reinforced. 0Perry N. Hall preaches for the Univer-sity church in Tyler, Texas, U. S. A.

lished the earth,and it abides"


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It Helps to Enrich Your

A re you sure you are understanding the richestmeaning of the Bible? Tes t your comnprehen-sion of the following words used in the contextfound in Hebrews 10:22-33. AAer making y o uchoices, tun1 the page for the correct answers.-1. wavering 11.- A: signifying a greeting. B: not inclined to move. C: ridingthe surf D: leaning2. provoke v.- A. to rebuke. B: to harass. C: incite to action. D: to invoke3. forsaking v.- A: abandoned. B: miss a church service. C: getting a divorce.D: to be disobedient.4. assembling v. - A: gathering together. B: to favor someone in appearance.C: resolving differences of opinion D: to be easily irritated.5. exhorting v.- A: making a speech. B: to rebuke. C. take advantage of. D. acomforting entreaty.6. gazingstock 11.- A. to bring upon a stage for the purpose of holding one up tcridicu le. B: animnals that watch for the whole herd. C: a restraining yoke.D: to look at stock animals.7. wilfully adv. - A: restrained. B: deliberate, or in full awareness asopposed to ignorance. C: reluctant. D: agreeable.8. judgment 11.- A: tl ~ e ay of the Lord. B: an opinion. C: verdict. D: divinedecision c o~ ~c en ~i ngight or wrong.9. indignation n.- A: wrathful. B: fervent minded; excited emotionally.C: aloof D: chagrin10. devour 11.- A: eat rapidly. B: to totally consume. C: burn. D. gorge1 1. adversaries rr.- A: blasphem ers. B: a mentally retarded person.. C: thoseset against Christianity. D: persecutors12. covenant n.- A: a compact; an agreem ent by 2 or more. B: a religious party.C: a unilateral agreement. D: a church order.13. despite 11.- A: to praise. B: to insult. C: to re tu n ~ vil for evil. D: regard-less of circumstances.14 . vengeance 11.- A: be toleram~t. B: to swear C: to do good. D: a punishingrevenge.15. recompense v.- A: to requite. B: pay a debt. C: not keep a promise.D: default on a loan.16. illuminated v.- A: lit. B: to make see. B. burning. C: extinguished. D. smarl17. affliction It.- A. hurt. B. duress. C. to lay hands upon. D. to press together

Authorlw Sbonx's Greek Dlctlonary


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Answers to"ZthefptoZnriah Z&nr diHbWord94mmr'

W a v e r in g : (G k. decision concerning right or wrong.ines)B : not inclined to 9. indignation-(Gk. zeolos) B: fer-ve; the idea is to re- vent minded, excited emotionally.main faithful unto death. In context, the heated display of

2. pro voke-(G k. paroxusmos) C: in- punishment from God upon allcite to action. In context, to eagerly who turn their backs on Jesus afterurge each other to love God, each once confessing him.other and be ready to undertake any 10. devo ur-( Gk. estheo) B: to totallygood work consume; eat up. In context, those

3. forsaking-(Gk. eqkataleipo)A: who apostatize will be "eaten up"abandoned; in context: to leave in with the fiery anger of an avenginga strait or emergency and not re- God for the ill treatment ofhis loveturn. Quit the church and return to and grace shown in Christ.the former way of life before 1 1 . adversaries-( Gk. hupenan tios )knowing Christ. C: those set against Christianity.

4. assembling-(Gk. episunagogue)A: Those opposed to Christians.a gathering together. In context, 12. co ven an t4G k. diatheke)A: acom-meaning the regular worship gath- pact; an agreement between 2 orerings of the church. more. In context, the agreem ent in5. exh ortin g-(Gk. parakaleo) D: a which God will be a Fa ther to the

comforting entreaty. In context, to new convert, and the convert is toanswer a call and stand beside one be an obedient child.in time of need. Consoling each 13. despite- ( Gk. enubrizo ) B: toother in tim es of persecution and insult.strengthening. 14. vengeance-(Gk. ekdikesis) D: a

6. gazingstock-(Gk. theatrizo)A: to punishing revenge.bring upon a stage for the purpose 15. recomp ense-(Gk. antapodidomi)of holding one up for ridicule. In A: to requite. In context to repaycontext, to be arres ted for your fa ith with penalty.and the be placed on display for 16. illum inated -(G k. photizo) B:people to gaze at you like a common make to see. In context, becamecriminal. knowledgeable about God's grace.

7. wilfully-(G k. hekousious) B: del- 17.affliction -( Gk. thlipsis ) D: toibertate , or in full awareness as press together (under great press-opposed to ignorance. In context, ure; hence, mental strain)to put Christ to shame and discreditby sinning intentionallyagainst him Vocabulary Scaleafter believing and being baptized, 7-10 correct...............................ood11-1 3 correct.................Bible Studentg. judgment-(Gk. krisis) D: divine 14-15 correct.................Bible Scholar


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D ur in g the rei gn o f K ing demned. He also led them in theJosiah, the book of the law of God doing of all that the book comm and-w as found. W ho lost it and how ed. As a result, a great reformationlong it had been lost, no one knows. took place.Its discovery initiated a series of Wouldn't it be wonderful if weevents that touched the life of every could have a reformation in ourperson in Israel and Judah (2 Kings comm unity like that one? In this22 and 23). When King Josiah read example we have the simple formu-it, he was extremely alarmed. He la for such a reform ation. First, likewas alarmed because their lives and Josiah of old, we m ust find the bookdoctrine were not in harmony with of the law of God and read it. Inthe teaching of the book. Then he our da y , t ha t book i s t he N e wand all the people made a covenant Testament. It is not lost in the sensewith God to carry out that which of being out of sight. It is lost onwas written in the book. Josiah then book shelves and coffee tables. It isled the people in the removal of all lost in plain sight. It is lost becausethe t h ings w h ic h t he book c on- it is not being read. What we need

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most today is to read the book andhea r the book r ead . T he NewTes tament i s God ' s p resen t daymessage for you and me! Turn offthe television, cancel subscriptionsto numerous magazines. Throw thejunk mail in the trash can. Readthe book!Secondly, like Josiah of old, wemust make a covenant with God toobey it. It does little good to readthe book if we do not obey- ll ofi t! This will require some soul-searching and cost-counting. ReadLuke 957-62.Thirdly, like Josiah of old, wemust stop doing all those things thebook condemns and start doing allthose things the book commands.Here is the real key. There must bedoing. And the doing of it is bothnegative and positive . Som e thingswe must exclude, others must beincluded. Som e must be stoppedand others started.This is the answer to troubledhomes and broken marriages. Thisis the answer for drug abuse andsu ic ide . Th is i s the answer fo rcrime and violence. This is theanswer for lying and cheating. Thisis the answer for rape and childabuse . T h i s i s t he answ er fo rhunger and strife. Find the book! PJack Harriman preaches for theCenter Street Church of Christ,Fayetteville, Arkansas, U.S.A.

StoriesI read a story o f war,O f k ings and pr inces fa ir ,A giant kil led by aboy's slingshot,A m an who se s t reng thwas his hair.

O f miracles and wander-ings

To find a prom ised land.Of m en w ho bu il t the i r

hom es on rock ,And som e thei r homes o n

sand.I read a s tory of love,O f a God-Man come to

earthTo l ive, to die, to l ive

again,To give man's soul i ts

worth.O f all the books I 've read,O f a ll the s tor ies heard ,Non e has moved m e qu ite

a s m u c hA s s to r ies f rom God ' s

Word.-Jessie Granville


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David DeffenbaughNoah got drunk, Abraham lied,Jacob could be cunning, Moses wasreluctant, Gideon was fearful, David

was scheming, and Elijah becamedespondent. These certainly aren'tthe characteristics for which thesemen a r e f ond l y r emember ed .However, they are qualities that onoccasion were displayed. Such is atestimony to the Bible's honesty.That grand book not only revealsGod and His will to man, ut it alsocal ls man to submit to that wil l .One way t ha t i s ach i eved i s bytelling us about people with whomGod deal t direct ly and how theyresponded. The Bible, though, in itshonesty, does not hide their faultsand shortcom ings. That honestyserves a great purpose.First , these individuals, whoobviously found God's favor, werehum an, just like us. We are able toidentify with the fact that they hadfaults and shortcomings. But if wecan identify with their weakness weshou l d a l so i den t i f y w i t h t he i rs t re n g t h . N o a h w a s o b e d i e n t .

on God's strength, David repented,and Elijah recovered . We too, inspite of the unmistakable fact thatwe are human, can do God's will.Second , even g r ea t peop l emake mistakes. It is easy to becometoo demanding of people. We oftenhave expectations of elders, dea-cons, preachers, Bible school teach-ers, and other fellow Christians thatmany Bible heroes couldn't live upto. Though God never has con -doned the faul t s of men, he hasalways allowed room for recovery.Of course, we expect the Bibleto be honest. If it weren't, it would-n't be the Bible. Bu t its honestychal lenges us to act ively pursueGod's will in our lives, knowing fullwell we are weak. A fter all , weknow others who were weak, as arewe, who pleased God. It also chal-lenges us to respond to weakness inother s as God responds - i thpatience, compassion, understand-ing, and encouragement. 0

" - - - . .~ b ~ ~ h ~howed peat faim, David Deffenbaugh preaches for theNorthside congregation in Harrison,followed God's lead, Gideon relied Arkansas, U. S. A.


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The giggly girl who called me "TimmyToodles" on the back of her seniorpicture.I don't think that any of these,or their families, would mind myRelevant mentioning them here. They al lremind us that life upon this earth istruly brief. Hop eh lly, they will allGospel remind us that Christianity is veryreal . Those who tel l us that theTim Nichols

The death of those close to usreminds us of the brevity of life. Inj us t t he pas t f ew weeks I haveattended the funerals of two friends.One had lived a "long" life, and oneleft us while still very young, as theresult of a tragic automobile acci-dent. I have just talked with theparents of another old friend whohad recently died of a heart attack.He was a few years younger than Iam . I a t tended my 20 year h i ghschool reunion and discovered thatten of my classmates have alreadypassed from this life. I rememberthem all as young and healthy. Twoof them had participated w ith me ina gymnastics tournament when wewere in school. Another was a starathlete who seemed to always forceme t o ano t he r we i gh t c l a s s i nwrestling because I could not com-pete with him for a spot on the var-sity team. Another I remember as a

t ru th we preach i s " i r r e levant"because it is not "lively" enough tocapture the attention of our sensu-ous generation, or "open-minded"enough t o enco mp ass a ll o f thet h i ngs t ha t t he wor l d wan t s t obelieve and practice, have missedthe whole point.The truth is relevant for ourgeneration precisely because it issimple enough to be understood andapp l i ed by a l l men and womeneverywhere, who will one day passfrom this f leet ing existence intoeternity. Th e Gosp el (when it isobeyed) is, in effect, our "ticket" toheaven. Heaven is the goal, and theGospel is the means by which wecan attain it. Who would re h se toattend a ball gam e because the ticketwas no t , i n h i s o r he r op i n i on ,ornate enough? Who would refuseto cash a check for a million dollarsbecause the check was too plain?The faith for which we contendwas de l ivered just as i t ought tohave been delivered in the first cen-tury. It perfectly m eets the needs of


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all those who are traveling betweent he c r ad l e and t he g r ave : t heteenager, the old farmer, the librari-an, the contemporary musician, theintrovert, the extrovert, the grounds-keeper, and the college president.Anyone, in any of these categories,who demands that we change theGospel to accommodate his or her"special needs" simply does notunder s t and t he pur pose o f t heGo spel . To change our teachingand p r ac t ice o f the Gospe l t oa c c o m m o d a t e a n y o n e o f t h e s egroups would exclude some of theothers, and it would invalidate our"ticket."The " spec ia l need" tha t theGospel is designed to meet is sharedby all equally. We all need hope forthe day when our mortal remainswill be placed in the grave. We allneed to have our sins forgiven. Weall need to be restored to fellowshipwith God. If these truths seem to betoo "simple" for you, we are sorryto tell you that we have no right tochange them. The simple Gospel ofChrist is the only "ticket" to heaventhat we can show you. If you wanta more elegant or entertaining tick-et, you will need to look elsewhere,but we can offer no assurances thatit will be honored when this life isover and eternity awaits. 0Tim Nichols preaches for the Churchof Christ in Keyser, West Virginia,U.S.A.

I There IsThere is no death! Thestars go downTo rise upon some othershore.And bright in Heaven'sjmeled crownThey shine forever more.There is no death! Theforest leavesConvert to life the v im -less air.The rocks disgorg~o feedThe hungry moss theyThere is no death! Thedust we treadShall change beneath thesummer showersTo golden grain, or mellowfruit.Or rainbow-tinted flowers.And marching on unseenbefore us.The dear immortal spiritstread,For all the boundless uni-verseIs life- There are nodead."- nonymous


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In this age of m uch skepticism,unbelief, infidelity, imm orality, andopen ridicule of God and all thingsholy, let us consider some reasonsfor believing the Bible.In spite of all the claims of theevolutionists, the Bible gives theonly reasonable and sensible expla-nation of the origin of all things.The Bible has withstood all the

Obedience to the Bible bringshappiness and peace now, and thehope of even more later (Psalm 1;Philippians 4:7).Those who disregard the Bible,ignore its teaching, and violate itslaws bring upon them selves unhap-piness and misery. As Paul wrote,"Be not dece ived ; Go d is no tmocked; for whatsoev er a man

attacks made upon it through theages. All efforts made to destroy itand disprove it have ended in miser-ab l e f a il u re . As Jesus sa i d ,"Heaven and earth shall pass away,but my words shall not pass away"(Matthew 24:35).The Bible gives strength andcomfort to those who study and liveby it in life and hope in death. Paulspoke of this in 1 Thessalonians4:13-18. Indeed it tells us of a bet-ter place for those who prepare for it(Matthew 25:34).

soweth, that shall he also reap. Forhe that soweth to his flesh shall ofthe jlesh rea p corruption; but hethat soweth to the Spirit shall of theSpi r i t reap l i fe ever las t ing"(Galatians 6:7,8).Those who refuse to bel ieveand obey the Word of God and livefaithful to it will be eternally lost.The Bible is man's hope- isguide in life. Have you obeyed it? OW. T. Allison preaches for theCreekwood Church of Christ, Mobile,Alabama, U. S. A.


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Clarence DeLoach, Jr.We believe the Holy Spirit used words to communicate divine truth (1Corinthians 2:13). How ever, it appears that the Spirit chose words consis-tent with the style, vocabulary, and personality of the various writers ofScripture . Such accounts for the uniqueness of style as seen in John 's writ-ings. John used words like love, life, witness , testimony, and truth often.Note his em phasis upon truth in 1 ,2 , and 3 John:Truth, according to John, is something to be known. The theme o f 1John is our confidence in Christ. Know is the key word. Truth can beknown and understood! No mystery! No speculation!Sadly, many have espoused the view that no matter how intense one'sdesire, he can never really know what the truth is. Sad, because if one can 'tknow truth, he can never be free, for truth makes us free (John 8:32).Truth, according to John, is to abide in us, as we abide in it. John

praised and com mended all those who have known the truth-because thetruth abides in us (2 John 2). He goes on to say that when we do not ab idein the doctrine (truth), we have not the approval of the Father and the Son (2John 9).Doctrinal truth is so important that those who do not bring it are not tobe received (2 John 9-11).Truth, according to John, is to govern our practice. It is more thanmental knowledge. It must be applied to life. John commended Gaiusbecause he "walked in the truth" (3 John 3). It was a joy for John to knowthat Christians were faithfully walking in truth. So , truth not only is to beknown, but practiced!Truth, according to John, is something in which we share. Whenwe receive those who bring the truth, we become fellow-workers for thetruth (3 John 8). We become partners in truth, as we love it, teach it, andpractice it.In these times when there is such a low commitment, we need to satu-rate our hearts with John's emphasis on truth. QClarence DeLoach, Jr. preaches for the Walnut St. Church of Christ, Dickson,Tennessee, U. S. A.

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Arthur OhanovAbout two years ago a book fromAmerica was translated into the Russian lan-guage and made a sensation among people inUkraine. The title of this book is Life After Life,and its author is Dr. Raymond Moody. Dr. Moodyinvestigated the experience and feelings of peoplewho passed the condition of so-called "clinical death."

tific investigation or proof.Let's consider what God tells us on this particular issue.Yes, to Jesus, and only to Him, we can ask this question, "Whatwill be after death?"In Matthew 10:28 Jesus said, "And do not fear those who

kill the body but cannot kill the soul." Here He revealed andconfirmed for us what previous generations were dreamingabout and vaguely guessing- he human soul is eternal andundestroyable. The existence of life beyond the grave wasexcellently proved by Jesus Himself, when the Lord was resur-rected "o n the third day, according to Scripture. "spoke of a future life as a universally-recognized and obvious fact.Jesus knew what He said - I came forth from the Father andhave come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to theFather" (John 16:28). And He also said, ". . I am the resurrectionand the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die" (John 11:25,26).Jesus illustrated His revelation on future life with parables and true sto-ries. One of His wonderful parables is a parable of a rich man and a beggar


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. Jesus saw - John, chap-- . er nine.2. How did He heal the man? (V. 6,7)3. What was the response of the Jews whenthey realized that the man had been healed?

4. On which day was this miracle done? (V. 14)5. What did some of the Pharisees say about

6. Others asked, "?I (V. 16)

7. When they asked the man who had been healed, what did he say?8. Why did the man's parents not answer clearly? (V. 18-22)9. What did the man say when the Pharisees went to him again? (V. 25)10. The people denounced Jesus and the healed man, saying, ''L--- " (V. 28)11. In amazement the man answered, "Now we know that---He hears him." (V. 30,31)12. "If this Man , ."

13. When the Jews excommunicated the man, so that he was cut offfrom being able to worship God, what did Jesus do ? (V. 34,35)14. Jesus said to him, "15. How did Jesus identify the Son of God? (V. 37)16. What did the man do in response? (V. 38)17. Jesus said that He had come into the world for what? (V. 39)18. Why were the Pharisees not forgiven of their sins? (V. 41)

[See inside of back cover for answers.]


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Frank ChesserAre you walking by faith or by feeling? How you answer this questionwill determine your eternal destiny. How do you know you are saved?Many people respond to this question by saying, "Because I feel it in myheart." How tragic that one would allow something as important as salva-

tion to be based upon mere feeling. In no other area of life does one allowfeeling to be the basic criterion for determining the rightness or wrongnessof a particular thing or course of action.One does not bake a cake by "feeling." Instead, a recipe is consulted inorder that one might know the proper ingredients to use, the correct amountof each ingredient, and the proper temperature at which to bake. A contrac-tor would never attempt to build a house by "feeling." Rather, he consults ablueprint in order that he might know exactly how the house should be con-structed. One would not think of taking a cross-country trip by "feeling."Instead, a road map is consulted so as to know the exact route to take, whento turn right, left, etc.Furthermore, in baking a cake, one would not argue for the use of fif-teen additional ingredients on the basis of the failure of the recipe to specifythat such ingred ients were not to be used. If a blueprint calls for three bed-rooms, a wise contractor would obviously not act so presumptuously as toadd a fourth bedroom and then attem pt to justify his actions by saying, "Butthe blueprint doesn't say not to." A traveler desiring to reach a certain desti-nation does not feel at liberty to go in just any direction on the basis of theroad map's failure to eliminate such routes with a "Thou shalt not . . . ."

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Many people seem unable or unwilling to apply this same logic to reli-gion. We are commanded to "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians5:7). God's Word is the only source of faith (Romans 10: 17). Thus, to walkby faith is to walk according to the teachings of the Word of God. It is notpossible to engage in an act "by faith" if that act is not authorized by theWord of God. God's Word is a divine recipe, blueprint, or road map.One cannot know he is saved simply because he "feels" saved. Onecannot know that his worship is acceptable to God simply because he"feels" that it is. Neither is it possible to know that one is on the road toHeaven merely on the basis of feeling. God's Word, which is our blueprintor road map, must be consulted. .As Moses was careful to follow the divinepattern for the construction of the physical tabernacle (Exodus 25:40), evenso must we exercise diligence in following God's divine pattern for the con-struction of our spiritual lives.It is imperative that we recognize the unreliable nature of feelings.Subsequent to war, women have sometimes remarried, "feeling" that theirhusbands were dead, only to discover months or years later that they werealive. Truly, feelings are deceptive and unreliable. What seems right from ahuman perspective may be wrong. "There is a way which seemeth right untoa man, but the end thereof are the ways of death " (Proverbs 14:12).Feelings are often produced by the acceptance and belief of testimony.For exam ple, a man receives a message stating that a loved one has just beenkilled in an automobile accident. He is imm ediately overwhelmed withgrief. A short time later, he receives another message informing him that aterrible mistake had been made: the previous message was in error, and hisloved one is alive and well. Immediately his feelings undergo a dramatictransformation. He is filled with joy. One's feelings respond in direct rela-tion to the nature of the information or testimony received. If one receives asad message and believes it, he will be sad, regardless of whether the mes-sage is true or false. This is why feelings are so unreliab le, both in everydaylife and in religious matters.Many people are in religious error because they have allowed their feel-ings to be their guide, and their feelings are based upon religious teachingwhich is not in harmony w ith the Word of God. One can feel just as spiritu-ally secure in error as in truth. Prior to becoming a Christian, Paul was adevout Pharisee. He described himself as one who was " . . . taught accord-ing to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and w as zealous towardG o d . . . . " (Acts 22:3). He had lived in all good conscience before God

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(Acts 23:l) . Paul felt spiritually secure . He felt that he was right, but hewas wrong. Had Paul been determined to "walk by feelings," he wouldnever have renounced Judaism and embraced C hristianity.Far more is involved in "walking by faith" than just believing in Godand the deity of Christ. Even the devils "believe and trenlble" (James 2:19).Jesus spoke of certain Jews who "believed on him" (John 6:30), yet He laterdescribed these same Jew s as children of the Devil (John 8:44), because theyrefused to employ their faith in action by com plying with His will. Am ongthe chief rulers of the Jews, many believed on Christ, " . . . but because ofthe Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put oui of the syn-agogue; For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of G od"(John 12:42,43). Agrippa believed what the prophets said concerning

Christ, yet he fell short of becoming a Christian (Acts 26:27,28). "Ye seethen how that by works a man is just$ed, and not by faith only" (James2:24).The faith that saves is the faith that obeys. The faith that avails is that". . . aith which work& by love" (Galatians 5:6). In order to please God,one must be characterized by the "obedience of faith" (Romans 16:26).W ho shall enter the kingdom of Heaven? Jesus answered, ' I . . . he thatdoeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven" (Matthew 7:21). Salvationis reserved for a select group, ". . . them that obey him " (Hebrews 5:9).Consequently, man is saved by divine grace and blood when heresponds to God's w ill in obedien t faith. Hav ing heard, believed, andobeyed the will of C@T man enjoys the reality of salvation by grace, andthus experiences a "great feeling." A Christian does not appeal to his goodfeelings as "proo f' or "evidence" of his salvation. He appeals to divinetruth as is set forth in the Bible, and his compliance with that truth. "Andyeshall know the truth and the truth shdll make you free" (John 8:32) .However, employing one's faith in obedience to the will of God, and thusenjoying salvation by grace, certainly a$ords ample reason for good feel-ings.Are you walking by faith or by feeling? Remember, the untaught heartis ". . . deceilJir1 above all things, and desperately w ick ed . . . . " (Jeremiah17:9). Solomon affirmed, "He that t w t e t h in his own heart is a fool. . . . "(Proverbs 28:26). Place your trust in God and His Word, not in the ficklenature of human feelings. QFrank Chesser is the preacher for the Lake Forest Church of Christ,Jacksonville, Florida, U. S. A.


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I t i s the need fo r in the name of thecleansing on the inside. Sin enters and in the Spirit of our God. "every life and stains us with its filth No m atter how dirty and filthy we(Romans 3:23). We have all , like hav e bec om e in sin, we can besheep, gone astray, each one to his washed through the blood of Christown way. This sin in our lives sep- and have a new start. By such aarates us from God (Isaiah 59:1,2; washing we can becom e justified inEphesians 2:1-3). Unless som ething the Lord 's sight and set apart for theis done to cleanse us from sin and greatest service of all.its effects on us, we will suffer eter- It is this washing which sets usnal ruin away from God (Rom ans apart as the church. In Ephesians6:23). 5 :25-28 Paul was describing the

Because of God's amazing love church when he said, "Husbandsand grace toward us, He has made it love your wives as Christ also lovedpossible for all of us to be cleansed the church and gave Himselffor if,from our sins. We can be washed that He might sanctifj, and cleanseand made as c lean as i f we had it by the washing of water by thenever sinned at all. In 1Corinthians word, that He might present it unto6:9-11 Paul described the horrible Himselfa glorious church withoutsins one can get into and the fact spot or wrinkle or any such thing."that if we continue in them we can- The church is not innately good. Itnot inherit the kingdom of God. He has been cleansed. It is made up oflis ted: "Fo rn ica tors , ido la ters, those who have been dirty in sin,


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but have been cleansed. It is thewashing which will make it possiblefor God to have us presented as ag l o r i ous , spo t l e s s , w r i nk l e l e s schurch. This washing is done inwater.In Titus 3:5 Paul explained thew ash i ng fu r t he r . H e sa i d , " H esaved us, not on the basis of deedswhich we have done in righteous-ness, but according to His mercy, bythe washing of regenerat ion andrenewing by the Holy Spirit. "The strange thing about thiswashing is that it doesn't have any-thing to do with cleansing the out-s ide , but the ins ide. In 1 Peter3:20,21 the Bible says, "Who oncewere disobedient, when the patienceof God kept waiting in the days ofNoah, during the construction of theark, in w hich a few, that is, eightp e r s o n s , w e r e b r o u g h t s a f e lyt h r o u g h t h e w a t e r . A n d c o r r e -sponding to that, baptism now savesyou - ot the removal of dirt fromthe flesh, but an appea l to God or agood conscience- hrough the res-urrection of Jesus Christ."The w ashing is done in water at

The question isn't, Have youever gotten dirty on the inside? Itis, Have you been washed? And ,Are you living daily as one who hasbeen w ashed , r em a i n i ng i n t hec l eans i ng f l ow o f t he b l ood o fChrist? Truly the church is made upof those who have gone far downinto sin but were washed and madeclean in Christ's blood. But to havethe cleansing, one must be washedin the water by the Word, or havet he w ash i ng o f r egene ra t i on a sdescribed in John 3:3-8.

Have you been washed? OLeon Barnes is an evangelist for theBarrow Road Church of Christ, LittleRock, Arkansas,U.S.A.

All the water in the world,however hard it tried,

Could never, never sink aship

unless it got inside.the time of baptism, but the cleans- ~ 1 1he evil in the world,ing i s done to the hear t or con-sc i ence by t he b l ood o f Ch r i s t . the blackest kind of sin,Remember Revelation 7:14. "These Can never hurt you One leastare the ones who come out of the bit-great tribulation, and have washed unless YOU let it in.their robes and made them white inthe blood of the lamb." -- Anonymous


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OllechmhAsGood

AsAnother?

Dalton KeyWhile living upon this earth,Jesus promised, " . . . I will build

my church . . . . " (Matthew 16: 18) .What did He intend to build?Did the Lord plan to establish adenomination? No. A denomina-tion, by definition, is a named partof a larger who le. The scores ofdenominational bodies around us,which claim at least some allegianceto Christ , purport to exist as butparts or units of the larger, universalbody of Christians. They are distin-guished one from another by pecu-liar doctrines and practices. Christcould not have had a denominationin mind when He promised to buildHis church, for that which He built

established on Pentecost Day, asrecorded by Luke in the secondchapter of Act s , the saved werebeing added by the Lord to thechurch (Acts 2:47) . If the savedwere in the church, and the churchwas meant to be made up of thosesaved, the church could not possiblyhave been designed as a part or unitof a larger whole.No, the church which Jesuspromised to bui ld i s s imply thebody of people saved by the bloodof Christ and who submit to Him asthe body's head. Because all thosewho obey the Gospel and are savedare added to the church, "There isone body . . . . " (Ephesians 4:4) .

Wherever and whenever fai thfulsaints are found, who have receivedsalvation from sin by the grace ofGod at the time of their Gospel obe-dience, the church may be found.As the body of Christ , operat ingunder H i s headsh i p ( Ephes i ans1:22,23), the church of Christ mustsubmit itself to His divine will in allmatters pertaining to work and wor-ship (Ephesians 5:24; Colossians3:17). The church which Jesus builtis both singular and exclusively His.In light of these facts, who canhonestly say, "One church is just asgood as another"? Q

was to be, not a part of a largerwhole of redeemed people, but the ~ : ~ ~ , ~ ~ \ ~ ~whole itself. After the church was Texas, U.S.A.


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Recently, a divorcee told me that he"didn't think that he could live hislife alone." He was saying that hisphysical pleasure was of greatervalue than his spiritual well-being.It is pertinent to observe that onewould be better off without a matefor the rest of life than without Godfor the rest o f eternity. But thatkind of teaching upsets people, andthey cannot interpret it as reality,since it isn't fun or contributing totheir personal pleasure. It is, how-ever, very similar to the teaching ofone Who said, "l fy o u r right hando f f en d s , th e n c u t it o f f . . . . "(Matthew 5:30).The frequent response to this is

their ears" ( 2 Timothy 4:3), andthen practice .the error.

Paul wro te to the church a tCorinth and insisted on an intro-spection. In 1 Corinthians 16:13 hecharged them, "Watch ye, stand fastin the faith, quit you like men, bestrong. " The emphasis in this verseis to distinguish between behavingas men (courageous, strong, mature)a nd a s c h i l d r e n , o r w e a k l ings .Surely, we do no harm to this textby say in g tha t Paul wan ts thechurch to "get serious." Maybe thatis what we need to hear today. Wedon't want to be found "enjoyingourselves to death." Q

that the church should be planning C . B r u c e W h i t e p r e a c h e s f o r t h eBeltline Church of Christ in Decatur,more programs, building more cen- ~ l ~ , , ~ ~ ~ ,, A.ters for act ivi t ies , and providingmore opportunities for the membersto play, rather than teaching seriouslessons on how to live. The ques-tion that must be faced is this, "Willthere be any real members of thechurch to occupy these places?"The business of the church is seri-ous.Now, am I opposing everythingthat is not serious? Obviously, I amnot. But the emphasis of the churchneeds scrutiny. We must be alert tothe pressure to "conform to this pre-sent generation. " We cannot beguilty of reading "they will followtheir own lusts and heap to them-selves teachers who wil l scratch

The only way tobe good is toobey God, loveyour f ellowrnan,and hate the

devil.


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Ron BryantSpeaking of the citizens of the Kingdom of heaven, Jesus said, "Ye are

the salt of the earth . . .ye are the light of the world" (Matthew 5 :12ff). Hethen urged His disciples, "Let your light shine . . . let men see your goodworks and as a result come to glorzfi your Father in heaven. " He urgessimply that His followers function as a distinctive and saving influence inthe world.The Kingdom of God 's dear Son is made up of men and wom en, boysand girls, that have been translated out of darkness. They have been recon-ciled unto God through the blood o f Christ. These reconciled ones also havecome to a post of duty. They are called by God to personify and to proclaimthe G ospel of Christ to the world.In any community members of the body represent the Kingdom in thatcommunity. It is obvious that in a given place the body can never be moreeffective nor dynam ic than the individuals that compose it. In simple terms,if we belong to Christ, we represent Him. It is our faith and our love, ourdevotion and our commitment that the world observes. It is only as we con-sistently and effectively personify and proclaim our Lord that His body isable to function effectively. In even simpler terms: If the church is a warm,caring fellowship it will be so only if we are warm and caring. If the churchis growing spiritually and numerically, it will be so only as we are studying,sharing, praising, following, and encouraging others to do so. If it is a gen-erous and liberal body, it will be so only as you and I give liberally and sac-rificially t o the work of the Lord. If it is a spiritually strong, biblicallysound body, it will be so because you and I are, above all else, comm itted tothe Word of God. If it is a soul-winning body, it will be so because you andI are daily proclaiming and personifying Christ. The church is us. QRon Bryant preaches for the Camelback congregation in Phoenix, Arizona, U.SA


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10:23-25). He also teaches us to cooperate like the parts of a human body(Romans 12:3-8). When ". . . everypart does its sha re . . . " it ". . . causesgrowth of the body for the edzhing of itse lfin love" (Ephesians 4: 16). Thechurch "grows" when people obey the Gospel (Acts 2:47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:7)and when mem bers learn and obey more of God's Word (Hebrews 5: 12-14).We are called out of error - ot to scatter spiritually into differentdenominations- ut to be united in one body and follow only the doctrineof Christ. On the night before He died, Christ prayed, "that they all may beone, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one inUs, that the world may believe that You sent Me" (John 17:21).So, in one sense, Christ has only one "church." He did not begin anydenom inations. "Denomination" usually refers to a group of churches orga-nized under a man-made name and following man-m ade doctrines. Christpromised to build one church: ". . . I will build My church . . . ." (Matthew16:18). The church is the "body" of Christ (Ephesians 1:22,23). Like ahuman body, the Lord's church has one head and one body. Christ is notthe head of many denominations. "There is one body . . . one Lord, onefaith . . . ." (Ephesians 4:4,5). We continue to be part of His church if wecontinue following the "one faith" - ne set of beliefs given by C hrist.

However, the Bible also speaks of "churches," such as "the churchesof Galatia " (Galatians 1 2). These were not different denom inations. Thesechurches were in different locations in Galatia, but they taught the samedoctrine. Paul wro te, "Now Ip lea d with you, brethren, by the name of ourLord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the sam e thing, and that there be nodivisions among you . . . ." (1 Corinthians 1:10). Man-made religiousnames and man-made doctrines cause divisions. If we follow doctrines ofmen, our worship becomes worthless (Matthew 15:9). But if we continue inthe teachings of Christ, we are truly His disciples (John 8:31,32). "Whoevertransgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God.He who ab ides in the doctrine of C hrist has both the Father and the Son" ( 2John 9).If we are not in G alatia, we cannot be called "the churches of Galatia."But everyone who truly obeys the Gospel and follows Christ is "in Christ"(Rom ans 8 : l ; 6:3,4). Anywhere on earth, churches which truly followChrist are "the churches of Christ" (Romans 16:16). BRoyce Frederick preaches in India four months each year and edits InternationalGospel Teacher. He lives in Lufkin, Texas, U.S.A.


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The Book of Galatians for adults

The number of letters in each word below wil l help you f il l inthe puzzle above.3 4 5 6 7 8JOY AMEN ANGEL FATHER ABRAHAM BARNABAS

LAW ENVY ENEMY GOSPEL APOSTLE CONTRARYSON HOPE GRACE LEAVEN FREEDOM NEIGHBORSOW LIVE GREEK SPIRIT GALATIA PATIENCELOVE PEACE GENTILEPAUL SINAI JUSTIFYREAP PROMISE10 SERVANT9 CONFIDENCEELEMENTAL GENTLENESS 11JERUSALEM PERSECUTED INHERITANCE12 13 14FAITHFULNESS RIGHTEOUSNESS TRANSGRESSIONS


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Kinds ofWorshipMentionedin theNew Testament

KenTyler1. Vain Worship

Jesus said in reference to the scribes and Pharisees of His day, "But invain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments o fmen" (Matthew 15:9). Notice carefully that Jesus described the worship ofthese people as being "in vain." The reason He gave for their worshipbeing in vain was that they were "teaching or doctrines the commandmentsof men. " Today most people say, "It doesn't matter what you believe aslong as you are sincere." If this were true there would be no such thing asthe commandments of men. We must realize that if we teach the com mand-ments of men our worship will be in vain just like the scribes and Phariseesof Jesus' day. 2. Ignorant Worship

Listen carefully to these words of Paul as he preached in Athens,Greece, " . . . Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are toosuperstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found analtar with this inscription, To the Unknown God. Whom thereforeye igno-rantly worship, him declare I unto you " (Acts 17:22,23). In verse 30 of thischapter Paul called upon the people of Athens to repent of their ignorantworship. Today many gods are being worshiped in this world, but I hopewe know there is only one God. Jesus told Satan in Matthew 4:10, " . . .Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. "54


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Jimmy JividenDo religious rituals seem cold?Do sacred ceremonies seem mean-

ingless? Is worship impersonal ,merely an exercise in demandedduty? Do worship periods makeyou feel as if you are an audiencewatch ing a p rofess iona l per for -mance?If you answered "yes" to any ofthe above, then read on.The Bible teaches that worshipis a spiritual fellowship with God.I t i s no t em ot i ona l exc i t em en t ,magic rituals, or holy words, butsubmission of our own will to thewill of God.This submission involves theinner man- is mind to reason, his

heart to feel, and his spirit to will.If you do not understand the wordsof worship, if what you say and doin worship is not from your heart,and if your will is only passivelyinvolved, then worship cannot takeplace. The Bible teaches that wor-ship must be "with the spirit" and"wi th the mind" (1 Cor in th ians14:15). Worship must be more thanwatching a performance.

This submission involves fol-lowing the will of God revealed inthe Bible. There can be no substitu-t i o n s o f h u m a n i n n o v a t i o n s o rneglect of what God has revealed.Good intentions do not count. Ifthey did, every man could make hisown idol and w orship his own way.The t rue God i s worshipped " intruth" (John 4:24).

W o r s h i p i s a deep sp i r i t ua lexpression of a g ra teh l heart.W orship i s a ra t ional under-standing of what is thought, said,and done in the worship experience.Worship is a humble submis-sion to God, approaching Him as Hehas directed in H is Word.The B ible teaches that true wor-sh i p com es f rom t he hea r t andinvolves bo th the sp i r it and theunderstanding of the worshipper.More i s i nvo l ved t han go i ngthrough traditional rituals and the

stimulation of emotional response. O

Jimmy Jividen is a gospel preacherand an author from Abllene, Texas,U.S.A.


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heartfelt because of the joy we receive in expressing our love and adorationto the Father who gives us everything and who loves us. David said, "Bringan ofleering and come before him . . . ." There is a consciousness that wehave come out of the worldly, everyday events and are now in G od's augustpresence, and we have in our hands "an offering." That means we are giv-ing Him something.Is this encounter exciting? Yes! But not as the world counts exciting.It is like two people deeply in love, and one is expressing how much he orshe loves the other, while a precious gift is handed over. There is feelingbetween the two of them. Love is felt and enjoyed and, in the process, iseven made stronger. The worshipper concentrates upon God, not on self:

There is a splendor about this kind of worship. It is in the mind andheart of each individual worshipper. God alone knows who has worshippedHim in the true "splendor of holiness. " QHarvey Porter preaches for the Montgomery Boulevard Church of Christ inAlbuquerque, New Mexico, U. S. A.

S L e w odd a l T J o u t mE now La5 no dPu.r:Ot5 pLa5utr5 Cl ing pain, i t 5 w i5Am i5 wain;O beel a foundation tLat ' 5tzadfa5t and 5u.r.5:4PPput &5u5 F l b t in m j h fz .CILz Lold&5u5 died dmy id va tio n to win:A e went in my ltcad to ~ d wa d GPed;&eLmption i@eL m~ to give up aLP5in:d ~ u t5u5 F l 5 t in my hfe .


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The Voice of Truth International, Volume 9

Documents

Transcript of The Voice of Truth International, Volume 9