Prayer

Jesus told us what to say when we pray. When you pray, you should address God and not man. Prayer to God is sacred, “Hallowed pray to “Our Father who art in heaven.” (Matthew 6:7-9). Our prayers are to be in “thy name.” Jesus, our example, showed us when to pray. He prayed before He made a decision (Luke 6:12-13). Before selecting His apostles He spent all night in prayer (Luke 6:12). He prayed for the sorrowing souls of Mary and Martha at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:32-43).

He prayed for Peter when Satan had asked for him. Jesus said, “Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you. But I have prayed that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:31-32). Jesus prayed in His own sorrow. He cried out in prayer, “Father the hour is come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee” (John 17:1). In the garden He prayed, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew. 26:39). Jesus prayed for those who abused Him. He said, “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). As we often sing. “pray when in sorrow, pray when in trouble, pray all the time.”

G.K. Wallace

A FAITHFUL FRIEND

It is good to have a friend. We all need someone in whom we can utterly trust. We need someone who loves us in spite of all our weaknesses. We need someone who will comfort and encourage us in times of trouble and sorrow when the world leaves us alone to fight our battles. “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Proverbs 17:17).

“Ointment and perfume rejoiceth the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel” (27:9). Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, “So long as we love we serve, so long as we are loved by others I would almost say we are indispensable; and no man is useless when he has a friend.” Jesus Christ said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15: 13).

Gossip can wreck friendship. “He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very (chief) friends” (Proverbs 17:9). A true friend will help you up when you have fallen down. He will defend you when others speak evil of you. He will believe you are innocent until you are proven guilty. A good friend is a great blessing. To be a friend one must give of himself and appreciate all that is loving and noble in others. “A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter” (11:13).

Do not turn against a true friend, and don’t be a treacherous friend. “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me” (Psalms 41:9). “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Proverbs 27:6).

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS!

G.K. Wallace

Prayer

Jesus told us what to say when we pray.  When you pray, you should address God and not  man.   Prayer to God is sacred, “Hallowed pray to “Our Father who art in heaven.” (Matthew 6:7-9).  Our prayers are to be be thy name.”  Jesus, our example, showed us when to pray.  He prayed before He made a decision (Luke 6:12-13).   Before selecting His apostles He spent all night in prayer (Luke 6:12).  He prayed for the sorrowing souls of Mary and Martha at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:32-43).   

He prayed for Peter when Satan had asked for him.  Jesus said, “Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you. But I have prayed that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:31-32).    Jesus prayed in His own sorrow.  He cried out in prayer, “Father the hour is come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee” (John 17:1).  In the garden He prayed, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew. 26:39).    Jesus prayed for those who abused Him.    He said, “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).  As we often sing. “pray when in sorrow, pray when in trouble, pray all the time.”

 G.K. Wallace

I AM THE TRUE VINE

Isaiah used the vine as a type of Israel, planted and tended by the Almighty as the husbandman.(Isaiah 5:1). Israel was not the true vine. Christ is the true vine (John 15:1). In John 14 the Lord had just said to the disciples, “Arise, let us go hence.” He had just eaten the last supper with the apos-tles. He said that he would not drink of the fruit of the vine again on this earth. Likely on the table from which they had just risen was the fruit of the vine. And now he says, “I am the true vine.”

In the first eight verses of John 15 we find the following outstanding lessons about the vine and the branches.

1. That morality alone cannot save.
2. That there is but one true church.
3. That we should get in Christ, stay in Christ, and stay out of everything else or be lost.

Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” Morality alone cannot save. Men can be morally good apart from Christ. Yet apart from Christ they can do nothing. There is no spiritual life apart from Christ. Cornelius was a moral man apart from Christ but he was unsaved (Acts 11:14). If morality alone can save then Jesus died in vain. There were just as good men morally to be found in the Mosaic age as there are now. If a man can be saved by his own goodness then Jesus died for no purpose at all. Why did he die if they could be saved by their own goodness? Let the moral man remember these words, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” There is no spiritual life apart from Jesus Christ, the true vine.

Thus we see that one must get into Christ to be saved. Paul says that we are baptized into Christ. That makes baptism necessary to salvation in Christ Jesus. You cannot do anything apart from Christ but you can’t get into Christ unless you are baptized (Galatians 3:27).

This “true vine” is the true church. The vine is the spiritual body of Christ. The church is His body (Colossians 1:18). There is one body (Ephesians 4:4). There is but one body (I Corinthians 12:20). Paul does not say “churches” but “the church.” If one desires to be united with Christ let him obey the gospel and thus be added to the “one body,” the church, the “true vine.”

The objector says that Christ is the true vine and all the denominations are branches. Christ said, “I” am the vine and “ye” are the branches. “He” that abideth in me. Note the use of the per-sonal pronoun. Do men refer to churches as “he” and “ye”? Is that the way they talk where you live? Is that the way your preacher talks? Would you say about the Baptist Church—he is a large church? The use of the personal pronoun shows that Christ was talking to his disciples and not to “churches.” Individuals are the branches and not organizations. But just suppose for a minute that the branches are churches. In what branch are you? You say that I am in the Baptist branch. Yes, but wait, Christ said abide in “me.” You should not abide in a branch but in the vine. If you are in a branch you ought to get out of it and get in the vine. Get out of the branch and get in the vine. “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” Abide in the vine or be burned. Do not abide in a branch. You cannot abide in a branch. A branch is a disciple or a Christian. Individuals are the branches and not denominations.

Did God set denominations in the vine? If so, which ones did He put in? If God set denominations in the vine it is strange that He never said anything about it. If He did mention them will someone please tell where?

For one to claim that denominations are the branches is an apology for something they know that is not mentioned in the Bible and a rank per-version of the fifteenth chapter of John. Denominations came into existence hundreds of years after Christ. They are of human origin and no one has a Bible right to belong to any of them.

The “true vine,” the church, was established by Christ and all Christians are members of it (John 3:5). The church is God’s house. God’s house is His family (I Timothy 3:15). God has no children out-side of His family.

From this chapter we learn that we must bear fruit to please God. “Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be my disciples.” You cannot bear fruit apart from the vine. To bear fruit you must be in the vine. How does one get in the vine? He must believe (Mark 16:15-16.) He must repent. (Acts 2:38.) He must be baptized (Galatians 3:27.) These steps put one into Christ. Yet it is not enough to get into Christ. In Christ the branch must bear good fruit. The fruitless branch (disciple) will be lost. He will be cast forth and be burned (John 15:6.) Our duty in regard to this is clear. We must get in Christ, stay in Christ, and stay out of everything else.

Someone may ask, “Can a man be saved and go to heaven and stay out of the vine?” No, for Christ says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” It is Christ or nothing. It is the true vine or no vine. It is the true church or no church. Christ here teaches that you cannot be saved out of the church and you cannot be saved unless you stay in the church.

G. K. Wallace

YOU CAN STILL FIND THE CHURCH OF THE BIBLE

In 1942 when I was in Kansas City, someone stole my car. I had a new 1942 model NASH automobile. My car was gone! I did not know which way to turn. So I called the police. When they came, they began to ask questions. They asked, “What kind of car is it? What is the name of the car?” Suppose I said, “It doesn’t make any difference about a name. Just go find me a car.” They asked, “What model is it? When was it made?”

Suppose I said, “It doesn’t make any difference when it was made. Just get me a car. The model is immaterial.” Suppose that they had come back with an old 1914 model. I would have decided it did make a difference, would I not? I suspect that if I had talked to those policemen like that, they would have said, “He is drunk; we had better lock him up.” Yet I can talk to the world about the church and say, “It does not make any difference about the name, makes no difference when it was started, no difference what it does,” and the world says I am a scholar. If I had talked that way to the police, they would have said I was a drunk!

Yes, they have destroyed every identification mark of the church. But let me tell you, you can find the church that Jesus built, if you will get out and look for it in as sensible a manner as those police looked for my car.

G. K. Wallace

Evil Companions

“Evil communications [companions] corrupt good manners [morals]” (I Corinthians 15:33). The choice of personal associates is very important. To go wrong here could cause one to lose his soul. There is an old proverb that says, “There were two dry logs and one green log, but the dry logs burned up the green one.”  Our associates could destroy us. We all need congenial society. The kind of people with whom we associate is a sure sign of our character.  We are the result of our choices. One may be ever so sound in the Faith, but if he frequents the company of corrupt men he will soon become as they are. We should be careful of our company because of what we are. Evil companions will not tolerate us unless we adapt to their so-called “lifestyle.”   Our dedication to Christ should be so complete that we will shun evil companions. Half-hearted men lead only half a life. The only way to keep character up is to live up to the highest standard at all times —Jesus Christ. Paul said, “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11).

G. K. Wallace

The Providence of God

All Christians believe in the providence of God. David Lipscomb well said, describing the age in which we now live, “The Bible draws no distinction between special and general providence, as the terms are generally understood. God is always present in His laws. What is done through these laws, God does” (Questions and Answers by Lipscomb and Sewell, page 518).

SPECIAL PROVIDENCE

In the age of miracles there was no doubt many special providences manifested. Jesus conferred special blessings on certain individuals and groups. The apostles excercised special powers on certain occasions. These miracles did not interrupt the laws of nature. They demonstrated a power of God over and above the laws of nature. These miracles were confirmatory and temporary (Mark 16:20; Ephesus 4:11-13; I Corinthians 13; Hebrews 2:3).

INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Providence, whether special or general, was unrelated to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Christ raised Lazarus from the dead but not as a result of the prayers of Lazarus nor the fact that the Holy Spirit dwelt in Him. Christ showed special providence to many who were not even children of God. Balaam’s ass spoke in an “unknown tongue.” God’s general providence is manifested toward the birds (Matthew 6:26). The Christian farmer asks God to bless his fields. However, we know that the Holy Spirit did not dwell in Balaam’s ass, a bird, nor a corn stalk. It is not correct to expect special providence to accomplish what may be gained through the ordinary channels of blessings.

TESTIFYING

That special providence was exercised in the case of miracles both in the Old Testament and the New is apparent even to the casual reader of the Bible. That God over-ruled circumstance in the life of Esther, Daniel, Joseph, or Paul, et al, cannot be denied. However, there was an inspired interpreter to certify the providence of God in these Bible characters. Today, we have no divine interpreter and therefore we cannot relate our experiences as the leadings of God. There have been things in my life, as in yours also, that appear to be providential. They may be but I cannot preach such as I have no divine interpreter. I shall not and I cannot Scripturally relate my experience as an act of God. Paul said, “We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (II Corinthians 4:5). When you hear one of my brethren testifying he is preaching himself, he is not preaching Jesus. I will not and cannot preach myself. Let me preach Jesus. All actions of the holy men of the Bible have certified to us by divine revelation. My message is a certified Gospel and not a human experience. I have no right to relate my experience as the leadings of God. Every false teacher makes the same claim and all have the same proof–their tongues. I know a man who claims that the Holy Spirit has directed him all the days of his life but he now preaches the exact opposite of what he preached yesterday. Is his tongue reliable? It is high time that we quit preaching ourselves and start preaching Jesus Christ.

The testifying among us cannot be justified by referring to reports of work done whether in the book of Acts or the News and Notes of the Gospel Advocate. It is good to report but to relate an experience and claim it is a leading of the Holy Spirit is a different thing altogether. Since the only evidence one has of a special providence is his own experience he has no right to relate it as an act of God. No one now has a divine interpreter of his life and any interpretation of his life is purely human. To preach such experiences is to preach oneself and thus to violate the instructions of the Holy Spirit (II Corinthians 4:5). We have a complete message revealed in the Word of God and we should proclaim it and not ourselves.

G. K. Wallace