“ACQUAINT NOW THYSELF WITH HIM, AND BE AT PEACE” Job 22:21

Men have sought for centuries to define peace, and it can be a difficult task. Some define peace as the absence of war, but it is more properly described as the presence of the Lord with one, whether war is present or not. Peace is a much discussed subject in the Bible, and it would be good for us to pause for a few moments from our daily pursuits and notice some of the biblical references concerning it.

The Psalmist wrote, “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8). For those who faithfully follow Him, peace is a constant companion, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them” (Psalm 119:165). This does not mean that those who faithfully follow Him will never see adversity, but that despite the adversity peace is within them, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee” (Isaiah 26:3). We determine, in large part, whether we walk in peace or not, as Paul wished for the Colossians, “let the peace of God rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15).

The Christian age, in which we now live, was spoken of in prophecy as a time of peace, “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4). Again Isaiah wrote, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid” (Isaiah 11:6). Paul said, “to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6). Those who are Christians, who have been justified by Christ, were said to “have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

Christ knew the importance of peace, and He said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). The peace which comes from above is a preserving peace. It will take us through the difficult periods of life and preserve us safely into the arms of the Lord, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). As the gallant warrior of the Lord surveys the carnage and destruction round about him, as he sees all of the lost souls thrust into eternity without hope, as he sees his words fall on deaf ears, and as he sees his deeds of godliness go unappreciated, and as he sees his efforts “fail,” he nevertheless takes with him the knowledge mat God is with him, and helping him, and is most pleased with him. This leads to the realization that in the last day, when the judge of all the earth shall give out the eternal sentences for all men, his efforts will not be forgotten (I Corinthians 15:58). As the grand announcement to the world declares, where Christ is, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). You can make this peace yours by obeying the Lord and walking faith-fully in Him.

Are you a Christian? Have you heard and believed the Gospel (Hebrews 11:6, Romans 10:17); repented of sins (Acts 17:30-31, Luke 13:3); confessed Him before men (Matthew 10:32-33, Acts 8:37); and been immersed in water for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16)? Are you being faithful in all things (Revelation 2:10)?

Tim Smith

WHAT IS THE “STANCE” OF THE CONGREGATION?

That is a good question, and one especially appropriate in our day. It has been shown, time and time again, that a person baptized can grow and develop into a knowledgeable, working, and faithful child of God due, to a great extent, to the congregation wherein he has his membership. The opposite has been shown also. In fact, it is seen in the movement that some members must make, through job transfer, etc. Leave one sound and faithful congregation, and then place membership with and serve with a congregation known for “what it will tolerate,” and that child of God will change also. The individual will accept and blend in with the congregation. It depends on the congregation’s “stance.”

Be sure, a congregation will have a name, a reputation, based on its work and its “stance.” Rome was known for having a faith spoken of throughout the world (Romans 1:8). Thessalonica was known for its sounding out the word into far distant areas (1 Thessalonians 1:8). The churches of Macedonia were known for their liberal giving (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). Sardis, once having a good name, and with some of that still lingering in the minds of men, nevertheless was told by the Lord that “thou are dead” (Revelation 3:1). We recall hearing of one person saying, “This congregation is known for its love and that congregation is known for its doctrine!” That, brethren, is tragedy? Love and doctrine are combined within the system of the Lord. Jesus combined them in his statement in John 14:15.

What, by the way, wherever this is received, is the “stance” of the congregation where you are? Is the doctrine of God sounded forth powerfully and plainly, and without modification, addition, subtraction or dilution? Is the congregation a “disciplinary” one, in that sin is rebuked, and the wayward and disobedient are seen to with dispatch? Are the Bible classes known for their emphasis on the word of God, or are the classes given to playtime and waste-time? Have the elders led the congregation in taking a stand against worldliness, sectarianism and every other form of error that will weaken and finally kill the church? Is the emphasis of the congregation’s work that of preaching and teaching rather than entertainment and social work? Are those in the congregation content to abide in God’s will, rather than always having a desire for something new and appealing that they can borrow from sectarianism? Are those who stand up to preach and teach grounded in the faith, with no disposition to traipse off into liberalism, anti-ism, Crossroadism or any other “ism”? Oh yes, a congregation has a “stance”―a name―a reputation.         

Preachers can help it be known for what it is, good or bad. Elders can do the same. So can Bible class teachers. So can the members. What is entered into the eternal record books, under our names, will be those things we did/failed to do while members of the congregations where we lived. We will partake of, support, condone, and further whatever “stance” the congregation has taken. Now, the question again: How is it where you are? Are you ready to face God concerning it?

Bill Jackson

THE BIBLE WILL SAVE THE WORLD

THE Bible contains the true religion, or there is none. There is light in the Bible to save the world, or the world is lost. Our only choice is between the Bible and nothing. Judaism is abolished. Mohammedanism has no claims in internal merit or external evidence. The fruits of all Paganism show that it is evil, and only evil, continually. Infidelity has nothing for the world. While it would take Christianity from us, it has nothing to propose. It is no system—no doctrine—teaches nothing and defends nothing. Its only province is to stand and deny. It finds fault with everything, starts doubts, destroys confidence, fills the world with fears, and spreads an eternal gloom over the prospects and hopes of all nations. Reason and the light of nature have been tried longer and more effectually than any system in the world. At least four thousand years have the pagan nations been trying what they could do for our race without a revelation from God. In all the experiments yet made, with no guide but reason and the light of nature, the tendency has been downward. Deterioration has been the universal result, without the light of the Bible.

We then, cling to the Bible, and the religion it reveals, as the only hope of the world. If it fails, all must fail, and all must be lost. But it is folly of the most stupid order to speak of the Bible failing. Its Author is emphatically the friend of man. Its holy lessons are all for our good. All who have been led by it, are thankful they ever knew it. It has never deceived one or misled one. No one has ever lamented being led by it. The more solemn and affecting the circumstances around us, and the greater the trials in which we are placed, the more comforting and precious are its holy consolations to the soul. It encourages all that is good; discourages and condemns all that is evil. It is our guide and comfort through the journey of life; nor does it fail when we are sinking in death. No one who believed it before, in a dying-hour denies and repudiates the Bible. But many determined infidels have recanted and repudiated their infidelity when sinking into the eternal state. That which they talked in health, that which dwelt upon their tongues in their mad career through life, they themselves condemned, in the most awful and solemn moments of life, and with their dying lips repudiated. How shameful and preposterous, that a man should live such a life of folly and inconsistency as to be compelled in his dying moments to condemn all his past life, with all the sentiments he had cherished and inculcated, and warn all men against them!

Benjamin Franklin (1812-1878)

THE CAUSE AND CURES OF EMPTINESS

One of the complaints made against religion today is that it is empty. This has led many to completely reject Christianity and turn to various forms of pagan religions. Even in the church are found people that have become disillusioned and decide that it is empty and needs restructuring. I am ready to admit that there is emptiness in the lives of multitudes, including many in the church.  What is the cause of all this? Is it because there is something wrong with Christianity? Is our plea for a return to the New Testament an outdated thing? I do not believe so. The cause is somewhere else.

EMPTY PULPITS - “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain” (I Corinthians 15:14). The word “vain” means empty, hollow, lacking in reality. It is possible for preaching to be just an empty form. Paul’s statement to the Corinthians states this. What makes empty preaching? Paul said to the Corinthians that if Christ was not raised from the dead, then the preaching of the apostles was empty. This strikes at the very heart of modernism. Modernism rejects the resurrection of Christ along with all other supernatural teaching of the Bible: Rejection – of the supernatural—the inspiration of the Bible, miracles, the virgin birth as well as the resurrection—leaves only empty preaching. In view of this, just think how much empty preaching is being done today.  The Bible is a revelation from God containing the mind of God (I Corinthians 2:10-13). It contains the thoughts and ways of God (Isaiah 55:8). The purpose of preaching is to proclaim the Bible. When the great fundamental truths of the Bible are ignored and the wisdom of men is substituted for the wisdom of God, preaching is empty. The very word for preaching in I Corinthians 2 refers not to the delivery of the sermon, but to its content.  Preaching that does not deal with what the Bible says about sin, faith, repentance, confession, baptism, love, hope, the church, worship, Christian living, falsehood and error is just an empty form.       

A great amount of the emptiness in religion can be traced to empty preaching. We can never cure the empty hearts and lives until we fill the pulpit with Bible preaching again (1 Corinthians 15:14). Empty preaching produces an empty faith. “Faith comes from hearing God’s word” (Romans 10:17). Paul refused to use “excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring the testimony of God.”                                                      

He preached Christ and Him crucified. He did not use “enticing words of man’s wisdom” and the reason was that he did not want the faith of the Corinthians to stand in the wisdom of men”  (I Corinthians 2:14).  The wisdom of man is but an empty shell and can produce only an empty faith. Much that goes for faith today is only a shell, empty of all contents, for it is without any Bible basis. Paul uses the word “vain” again in verse 17 of this same chapter. “Your faith is vain,” but the word “vain” here does not come from the same Greek word as the one in verse 14. The word used here means “wanting in results, fruitless, futile.” Empty preaching can only produce a faith that lacks results, fruitless and without works, one that is futile. How much of what is called faith today is described by this word?   Read Hebrews 11 and see the reality of their faith. It was not empty therefore the results are described in that chapter. This kind of faith will not make empty lives.

EMPTY WORSHIP - Empty preaching leaves an empty faith and empty faith makes worship empty. “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips: but their heart is far from me. In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8, 9). The word “vain” here is not the same word as the one in I Corinthians 15:17. Empty preaching makes empty faith. Empty faith makes empty worship. Gimmicks are not the solution to the problem. Preachers are in the lead in trying to think up something new to try to make “worship meaningful.” It is strange that if has not occurred to them that the place to begin is in the pulpit. Holding hands, turning out the lights, chain prayers and women leading will not produce faith and no worship will ever be anything but empty that is not worship “in faith.” One cannot get “nigh unto God with his mouth, nor honor God with his lips, while his heart is far from God.” The doctrines of men, substitutes for Bible preaching, will not create a faith that is necessary for spiritual worship. Faith is not magic. It is Bible based and only a Bible faith gives meaning to worship.

EMPTY LIVES - “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?’ (James 2:20).  Empty preaching results in empty faith, empty faith results in empty worship: empty worship ends in empty lives. A faith that is only a shell cannot make a life that is full. A dead faith does not bring about fullness of life. Here is the answer to so many empty lives today. To expect satisfaction in living from a dead faith is to expect the impossible. One hour sitting on a pew on Sunday morning is the outcome of empty faith and this in turn leaves the life empty while people watch T.V. on Sunday night. It leaves life empty on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The round starts over again if one happens to feel like making it for the one hour on Sunday. Such lives will be empty in time and eternity. This is the root of empty lives.

EMPTY RELIGION - “If any man among you seemeth to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart this man’s religion is vain” (James 1:26). Empty preaching leaves empty faith, empty faith means empty worship: empty worship ends in empty lives and empty lives ends in empty religion. Listen to all the complaints about the church today. I just do not get anything out of the services.”   James says that religion that is all talk and no practice is empty. Religion that is full is found in the next verse. “Visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and keep unspotted from the world.”   Bible preaching makes Bible faith, Bible faith produces real worship, real worship produces full lives and full lives are active in serving the needs of others. Widows and orphans are terms that are intended to suggest the whole area of Christian service.

EMPTY BIBLE STUDY -  “But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions; and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain” (Titus 3:9). The study of the Bible ought to be profitable. Too many of our classes are unprofitable and empty. Instead of seeking out the meat of the Word as food for the soul, too many times the discussion is about trivial things or questions that will never be answered. I sometimes have the feeling we are having classes, not because we are hungry for the truth of God, but simply having classes for classes sake. It is something that we have been doing a long time and we just keep going through with it. Such empty Bible study is of no value.

THE BIBLE IS NOT EMPTY

“Do you think the scripture saith in vain?’ (James 4:6). Our talk may be empty but the scriptures never speak in vain. We can make it empty in various ways but that is our doing and not the Bible.

Franklin Camp

FREE WILL

One of the areas often hotly disputed in religion and philosophy is the question of human free will. Are human beings free moral agents? Do they have the inherent ability to choose to do certain things or not do those things? Do they have the power to obey or disobey God on their own volition? Many philosophies are deterministic in nature. By deterministic we refer to the idea that human beings have no real free will and that their actions are completely predetermined by forces outside of their control. Even in many religions, determinism is a central part of the belief system.

However, the doctrine of determinism is counter-intuitive, meaning that from the out-set it runs contrary to what common sense itself would seem to dictate. If every action by a human being is completely predetermined by outside forces acting independently from one’s own will, then no one could rightly be held accountable for any action. No one would be responsible for what they do. The very concept of justice runs counter to this conclusion. It is clearly false that people are not at all responsible for their actions. They most certainly are responsible and are held so by our own legal systems, which operate on the premise of personal responsibility to abide by the legal norms and statutes of society for the sake of stability, peace, and safety. This is fundamental to any orderly society. To hold people responsible is implicit in any legal system. This presupposes the ability of people to comply of their own free will with the laws of that society.

Also, the idea of determinism is self-defeating in that it implies that one cannot change one’s mind of his own accord. This contradicts the practice of teaching deterministic systems in religion or philosophy. Teach-ing implies the capacity for the one taught to learn, which implies some measure of control of will on his or her part. It is patently absurd to maintain that people ought to come to believe in the specific deterministic system while maintaining that it is impossible for them to do so of their own accord. When one holds to determinism, he implicitly admits the falsity of his position when he seeks to ration-ally convince others of its truth. If the system were true, then people would have to believe in it anyway. They would be compelled to do so by the predetermining power outside themselves to do so. So why spend time arguing for its truth? Why try to convince some-one that he really cannot be convinced of anything of himself? That would be an exercise in futility, if the system were really true.

The Bible teaches that man is a free moral agent. We have the innate ability to choose to obey God. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve,” proclaimed Joshua to the Hebrews in his farewell address (Josh. 24:15). Christianity is premised on the ability of “whosoever will” to come and drink of the waters of life (Revelation 22:17). The invitation of Christ is open to all (Matthew 11:28-30).

Daniel Denham

The Unity of the Church

The book of Psalms has been appropriately called “the hymn book of the Bible.”  There are more than twenty-five hundred verses in its one hundred and fifty chapters, and doubtless that many songs have been composed from them through the centuries and millenniums since their sentiments swelled the bosom of Israel's sweet singer.  Many of these verses were chanted in the worship of early Christians, and they will be sung in every generation wherever people are found worshiping God until we learn the “new song” in Heaven, “when all the redeemed singers get home.”

To rob our modern productions of the sentiments and psalms of David would be, indeed, to impoverish our worship of praise.

A SONG OF UNITY.  Psalm 133 is a song of unity, “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”  There is nothing more stifling and stultifying to the emotions of the soul than strife and division.  There is nothing more soothing and beneficent to the spirit than peace and unity.

Unity among brethren is like “the precious ointment upon the head,” in the psalmist’s refrain.  The Easterners perfumed with fragrant oil.  Unity perfumes the church and sweetens the atmosphere like the precious oil “than ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard:  that went down to the skirts of his garments.”

THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT.  Exhorting the brethren to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” Paul outlines, in Ephesians 4:4-6, the basis of unity. “There is one body, one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling:  one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”  The “unity of the spirit” is the unity the Spirit teaches, or that results when the Spirit’s Word is obeyed.

There is one God—unity in worship.  A divided worship cannot be rendered “in spirit and in truth.”  Wherever and whenever rendered, true worship must have the two elements—the right spirit and the right act; for God is one, and “seeketh such to be his worshipers.”

There is one Lord—unity in authority.  Human authority in religion is wrong.  Christ is Lord, and His Word only is authority.

There is one faith—unity in message.  The Spirit, which guided “into all truth,” does not impart conflicting messages.  The Gospel promotes unity; and where there is division, something else has been preached.

There is one baptism—unity in practice.  Modes of baptism!  We might as well talk about shades of white.  There is no such thing.

There is one body—unity in organization.  The church is one body.  It is impossible to have “spiritual unity” and “organic” division.  Unity is both spiritual and organic.

There is one Spirit and one hope—unity in life, in desire and expectation.

Thus, Paul outlines the only basis of unity.  Let the world cease their efforts toward amalgamations, federations, alliances, and unions, and adopt the divine standard and basis of unity—oneness in Christ.

THE PRAYER FOR UNITY.  The Lord's prayer in John 17:1-21 was an ardent petition for unity.  “May they all be one.”  Jesus praying for the unity of believers!  Yet, it has not touched the heart of those who are promoting denominationalism in the world, nor even of brethren who sow discord and stir factions in the church.  Denominationalism is the misrepresentation of Christianity—a horrid caricature—and the authors of perversions in religion are enemies of Christ, professing and even honestly thinking themselves to be His friends.

But “charity begins at home.”  We cannot with good grace preach unity and practice division. “I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (I Corinthians 1:10).  Paul’s beseechment should not only be our preachment, but also our practice.  The unity of Christians is the only hope of bringing the world to Christ.  Jesus knew it, and therefore prayed that “they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.”                                                              

Foy E. Wallace, Jr

COME HOME….

There’s an old song that goes:

“Many years ago in days of childhood, I used to play till evening shadows come. Then winding down that old familiar pathway, I’d hear my mother  call at set of sun, “Come home, come home it’s supper time. The shadows lengthen fast. Come home, come home, it’s supper time. We’re going home at last.”

I cannot hear that song without a lump rising in my throat as I remember my own mother’s call like that one, oh, so long ago in childhood. And even today,her voice echoes through my memory.

There is a similar call that ought to resonate through the minds of many today. That’s the call of the Savior in His revealed Word, saying, “Come home, child.” How many souls stand in jeopardy this day because they have left the Savior and returned to the world? They may not be immoral or vile, but they have simply shunned and neglected Christ and His church, as did Demas, whom Paul said, “loved this present world” (II Timothy 4:10).

The erring child of God stands daily in jeopardy of losing his soul eternally because he has chosen to leave the only Way to the Father (John 14:6). But the mental and physical abilities to come home are still in his possession. Those abilities are gifts from God, but he will not always possess them. Peter told Ananias that the land he and Sapphira sold was theirs to do with as they willed, and asked them even after it was sold, “was it not in thine own power?” (Acts 5:4). The things God has granted us are ours to use as we see fit. Those things include our thinking and reasoning abilities and time. Yes, God has given us time to repent because He is not willing that any should perish (II Peter 3:9). God does not want you to be lost eternally, but He will not force His salvation upon you. He is longsuffering and wants you to come to Him of your own free will. That is in your power today, but it may not be in your power tomorrow.

Think about the condition of your soul today. If you have left Jesus for the world, your condition is worse than if you had never obeyed the Gospel. “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (II Peter 2:20–21).

Mothers and fathers, long departed from this world, still raise their voices in memory, saying, “Come home.” Faithful Christian friends who love you, gently implore, “Come home.” Dear cousins, uncles, and in-laws who love you, kindly plead, “Come home.” Parents who love you more than life itself, pray and plead for you to “come home,” and the Savior, Who died a criminal's death to wash your soul white as snow in His guiltless blood, says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

We love you more than you will ever know and the Savior loves you even more than we do. Won’t you hear His voice? Won't you resolve to “come home” today, to faithfully follow Him and enter the joy of Heaven when this short life ends? This plea is set before you because God, Who gave His Son for you does not want you to perish (John 3:16), and because we love you so much.

Jerry Brewer