JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD

The world of unbelief has one great impossible task toovercome before it can take a second step in destroying the life and work of Jesus Christ. That first problem foratheists and modernists of every class and degree is thedeity of Jesus Christ. He is either God or he is animpostor. Since the atheist, agnostic and modernistcharge that Christ is not divine, it falls their responsibil-ity to prove the charge "beyond reasonable doubt." Thedefense is ready with undeniable evidence.

The first thing one would have to do in denying theevidence of the defense is to discredit the Bible, andthrough the centuries man has utterly failed to do this. The word of God lives and abides while generation aftergeneration has passed away after trying to destroy thisindestructible Book.

The denial of the deity of Christ must center upon thefact that he is the Son of God. One must believe in his Sonship to be saved (John 3:16; 8:24; 20:30; Romans10:9,10; 1 John 4:15). If it can be established that JesusChrist is truly the Son of God, then he is divine andmodernism in every form goes down in total defeat.

1. PROPHECY—Prophecy was spoken hundredsof years before Christ was born concerning his birth,life, death and resurrection. It began with the promise ofthe seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15. A promise tobless all nations in the seed of Abraham was made in Genesis 12:3; 22:18; to Isaac in Genesis 21:12; andcontinued to the close of the Old Testament. Someone has said there are 332 direct prophecies made and fulfilled concerning Christ. It would be impossible for this number of state

ments to be made of a person hundreds of years beforehe was born and not one of them fail to come to passunless God guided the prophets concerning His Son.Again and again in the New Testament it is said: "thatit might be fulfilled" concerning something said ofChrist in the Old Testament. It all goes on to include the present reign of Christ at the right hand of God. Mod-ernism cannot successfully explain away prophecy as itrelates to Christ as the Son of God.

2. THE VIRGIN BIRTH—Among the propheciesconcerning Christ is that in Isaiah 7:14 which said thesign given would be that a child was to be born of avirgin. Luke 1:26-35 and Matthew 1:18-23 make Isaiah

7:14 apply to Christ.

Jesus asked his enemies, the Pharisees, what theythought of Christ and "whose son is he? " and theyanswered, "The son of David" (Matthew 22:41-46). Hethen asked how David called him Lord as he spoke bythe Spirit. Do you know how they answered Christ? " And no man was able to answer him a word." If he were not divine why did they not answer him?

3. TESTIMONY THAT HE WAS THE SON OF GOD—Various ones in the New Testament plainlycalled Christ the Son of God. God Himself did (Hebrews1:1, 5; Matthew 3:17; 17:5). John the Baptist did (John 1:33). The apostles who had seen, heard and handledhim testified that he was the Son of God (John 6:69,Matthew 16:16; Acts 9:20). The devils declared him tobe the Son of God (Matthew 8:29). Jesus said himselfthat he was the Son of God (John 9:35-37; 4:26).

Discounting the proof of prophecy and the virginbirth, how would one go about setting aside the testi-mony of all these witnesses? What procedure of cross-examination would one employ to discredit all the wit-nesses to the fact that Christ is the Son of God?

4. THE MIRACLES—It is easy to simply say that these miracles did not happen as they are recorded inthe New Testament. But explain why the enemies ofChrist did not expose him while he lived and they werepresent when he did these mighty works? These mira-cles served to bear witness that he came from God and was the Son of God (John 10:24, 25; 3:2; 5:36).

When Peter and John healed the lame man at the gateto the temple "in the name of Jesus Christ," it created

quite a stir among the people. Many believed, but thepriests and chief rulers with the high priests, Sadducees andPharisees laid hands on them and put them in prisonuntil the next day. Now, when they tried to discredit thiswork and beheld the "man which was healed standingwith them, they could say nothing against it" (Acts 4:14).Verse 16 says: "What shall we do to these men, for thatindeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it." But along comes a modernist and deniesit all with a single statement; no proof at all! These whowere there could not deny it!

5. THE RESURRECTION—Christ was declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection (Romans 1:4). Godraised him from the dead (Acts 2:32; Romans 10:9,10), andGod would not have raised an impostor. The resurrection ofChrist is one fact that cannot be disputed, and it declareshim to be the Son of God.

The evidence can be enlarged in every area listed above, and other areas of proof can be given, but these aresufficient to give an irrefutable argument for the deity ofJesus Christ. He is the Son of God. That fact is the foundation to all authority in spiritual and religious matterstoday, and it will be overriding factor in the judgment ofGod. Our salvation from sins rests upon the fact thatChrist is the Son of God. Our eternal destiny dependsupon the fact that he is the Son of God.

A SHORT COURSE IN PREMILLENNIALISM

The subject of this article is intimidating to many.Many could not possibly spell it, some cannot pro-nounce it and many have not the faintest notion what itinvolves. Yet, a large portion of religious society iscaught up in this "ism" in one way or another.

What Is It?

The prefix "pre" means before. "Millennium" means

one thousand years. "Ism" means that a doctrine has

been crystallized around the idea that we are living

before the 1,000 years. The whole idea begins with a

misunderstanding of Rev. 20:1-6 where the victory

scene is painted for the souls martyred for the cause of

Christ in the first century. There God assured them

that Satan's allies would be defeated and their cause

would triumph. That grand assurance was symbolized

by Satan being bound "for a thousand years."

Many teach that Christ will come in the clouds, catch

up the righteous with him in what they call "the rap

ture" and that while they are in that state, great tribula

tion will take place here on earth. Some associate that

with the "battle of Armageddon", the re-gathering of

the Jews to Palestine and related things. Then, after all

the conflict is over and the earth has been cleansed,

Jesus will come with his saints back to the earth, set up

headquarters in Jerusalem and reign there for a literal

1,000 years. At the end of that time, the wicked dead

will be raised, the general judgment will take place and

the wicked and righteous will be separated for eternity.

The worst thing wrong with the whole theory is that it

just is not so! The word of God does not teach it.

Events of the Second Coming Rule It Out

(1) Matt. 25:1-13 teaches us that when the master ofthe house returns, the door will be shut. The time of preparation will be over. Premillennialists want to leave the door cracked open wide enough to give the unbeliev-ing Jews another chance. This violates the principlethat "God is no respecter or persons" (Acts 10: 34-35). (2) His coming will be the end of the world. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in whichthe heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (2 Pet.3:10). This passage deals with "the promise of his com-ing (verse 4) and that also concerns the facts that the

world is "reserved unto fire against the day of judg-ment" (Verse 7). This passage is sufficient reason toargue that the Lord will not set foot on this earth again,for at his coming it will be burned up and every elementin it will melt with fervent heat. He left in clouds, will come in clouds, we will meet him in the clouds, and this earth will be no more. Whatever the "new heavens and earth" will be, they will not be this present order as weknow it. This earth, including Palestine and Jerusalem,is going out of business at his coming and that thwartsthe whole scheme.

(3) At his coming all the dead will be raised. Jesus said "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, inwhich all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,and shall come forth; they that have done good, untothe resurrection of life; and they that have done evil,unto the resurrection of damnation" (Jno. 5:28-29). Note that the same "hour" the righteous come forth from their graves is the same "hour" when the wicked rise from their graves. There is no 1,000 years in between. But what about 1 Thes. 4:13-18? Well what about it? There Paul answered a questionwhich the brethren asked about the righteous dead asopposed to the righteous living at the time the Lordcomes. They did not ask about the wicked dead andhe did not deal with that. But Jesus did in John 5:28-29! (4) At his coming the judgment will occur. Matt. 25:31-46 shows that when he comes he will sit on the throne of his glory and will separate the wicked from therighteous. Note the order of the passage. He comes inglory, then he shall sit upon his throne, before him shallbe gathered all nations, and he shall separate them. Thisleaves no room for a thousand years between his comingand the judgment. (5) When he comes he shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father. "But every man in his own order: Christ the

first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his com-ing. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom of God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authorityand power" (1 Cor. 15:23-24). He shall not take up rulewhen he comes, he shall deliver it to the Father. He shall put it down. If you can tell the difference in "take it up" and "put it down" then you know what is wrong with Premillennial-ism. This agrees with the prophetic vision of Daniel who foresaw the coronationof Christ. He said, "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the cloudsof heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and theybrought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: hisdominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall notpass away, and his kingdom that which shall not bedestroyed" (Dan. 7:13-14). Daniel said that in his visionit was when this one "like the Son of man" came to the Ancient of Days that there was given him "do-minion, glory and a kingdom." Premillennial folks arguethat he will take up his kingdom and begin to reign when he comes from the Ancient of days. Whether youever learn to spell the word, or even pronounce it, youcan refute Premillennialism if you know the difference between to and from.

What Harm Is It?

But is not this just an innocent theory? What harmdoes it do? It does great harm. The consequences ofdenying the present existence of the kingdom of Christare serious.

(1) In Jno. 3:5 Jesus taught that the new birth putsone into the kingdom. But if the kingdom is not inexistence, then none are in it, and if none are in it, then none are "born again." Premillennialism robs us of thenew birth. (2) Matt. 18:3 teaches that conversion puts one intothe kingdom. But if the kingdom is not in existence,then none are in it, and if none are in it, then none are now converted, nor can they be. This would make evan-gelism useless. Premillennialism militates againstevangelism. Oh yes, they preach. But for what? To con-vert men? That will put them in the kingdom and you can't have that with no kingdom to put them into. (3) Col. 1:13 teaches that those outside the kingdomare "under the power of darkness" and therefore lost. Ifthe kingdom is not in existence, then all the world is lostunder the power of darkness, including every premillen-nialist, and will remain so until the "millennium" com-mences. (4) Luke 22:29-30 teaches that the Lord's Supper wasto be eaten in the kingdom. Notice he set his "table"that they might eat and drink "at my table in my king-dom." If the kingdom is not now in existence, thennobody on earth has a right to eat the Lord's Supperand every premillennialist on earth who does so is guiltyof presumptuous sin when he eats it. If we do not havethe kingdom in existence now, then we can't have a table, converts, or anything else in what does not exist.It won't do to argue that the church is the "vestibule"of the kingdom. Jesus said nothing about putting histable "in the vestibule." He said it would be "in the kingdom." If the kingdom is not here yet, then we aredeprived of the right to eat and drink at his table in hiskingdom. Do you still think this is just a harmlessspeculation? (5) Zech. 6:13 says, in prophesying about the Mes-siah,. "and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shallbe a priest upon his throne." The same time he sits andrules on his throne is the same time he serves as priest.Since we offer up spiritual sacrifices unto God by himwho is declared to be our high priest, then he is eithersitting as king and priest now or else we act presumptu-ously when we pray, and present our bodies a livingsacrifice acceptable to God by him. Is he our high priestnow? If so, then he is king now. If he is not king now,then neither is he priest now and we are robbed ofprayer through him. Innocent theory? No, far from it.

Premillennialism is a grave error which pervertsprophesy, makes God unfaithful to his word, robs us ofthe new birth, conversion, holds us in the power ofdarkness, denies us the right to eat the Lord's Supperand bereaves us of our high priest when we pray. Such asystem is gravely in error. We must continue to opposeit with all our might.

• * * * * * * * * *

• FLOYD THOMPSON CHANGES WORLDS

It is with personal sadness that we take note of thedeath on Sunday, August 26, of Floyd Thompson ofSanta Ana, California. This brother preached the gospelfor over 45 years and was known and respectedthroughout the nation. He worked for many years withthe Fairview church in Garden Grove, California. He was a source of stability and godly influence not only insouthern California but wherever he preached. He was a great encouragement to young preachers. A largecrowd was present to pay final respects and to hear thegospel preached. My own associations with him werelimited but always pleasant and profitable. His name and influence for good is virtually a legend in the west.He helped to plan the August Fairview Lectures whichclosed two days before his death to cancer. I was one ofthe speakers (along with Paul Earnhart) and my fivemorning sermons dealing with shepherds and sheepwere suggested by him as were the evening sermons byPaul Earnhart.

The passing of such men leaves a void in the ranks ofgospel preachers. Younger men must lift the torch andcarry it forward without faltering. Our deepest love andconcern is expressed for his beloved wife, Ruth Thomp-son who also provides a most worthy example to teach the young women. If you wish to drop her a note of encouragement, her address is 429 Eastside Ave., Santa Ana, California 92701.

WE HAVE BECOME STOIC

One of the chief characteristics of the ancient Stoics

(Acts 17:18) was ataraxia which is a word meaning

"freedom from emotions." The word, "Stoic," itself,

means "not easily excited; unmoved by joy or grief."

The Stoics strove to master their feelings in order that

they would not be affected by any event, even personal

tragedies in their lives. They presumed that peace could

only be realized by total indifference or apathy toward

all things. Their personalities, therefore, were cold and

lifeless.

In over-reacting to emotionalism, some of us havetaken on the spirit of stoicism. This is obvious as re-flected in the atmosphere of our worship in many places.In every act of worship there is a dispirited participa-tion. No feeling is reflected! From beginning to end it isbland, stereotyped and formal, with the environment ofa morgue. Worship should be a joyous occasion wherethe spirit is lifted up and the heart is satisfied. LikeDavid, we should be able to say, "I was glad when theysaid unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord" (Psa.122:1).

Look at the typical, lethargic church in the exercise ofits worship. There is a call to order by the song-leaderannouncing the number of a song. There is no introduc-tion to worship, but simply, "number 200" ringing outthrough the auditorium. Again, you might hear, "num-ber 2-0-0, number 200," as people begin to settle down.

Stoical Singing

The leader stands like a statue, head buried in thesongbook, dragging along with the pitch an octave toohigh, and, a song that has been worn out by over-exposure. The singing is atrocious! But they finallywork their way through the first song and the secondone goes about the same way, except this time the songmay be off key and way too low. After the singing of twosongs (this has been the routine for 20 years), it is timeto stand for prayer.

The third song has an "Amen" at the close of it, butno, you cannot sing that as it would show some emotionto say, "Amen," or it is too sectarian. I do not knowwhat we are going to do with all of the "Amens" in theBible. Well, anyway, the song is finished and the leaderretreats to the back of the auditorium where he sits till the invitation hymn, and when that is ready, he makeshis way up the aisle with a fifteen-second lull betweenthe time the preacher stops and the song begins.

Brethren, song-leaders can make or break a service.

How rich and uplifting is the worship when there is

good singing—songs that warm the heart and brighten

our hope. We need to use the best we have and train

those who are inexperienced. But for some reason breth

ren will put anybody up to lead singing, frequently

dressed in untidy clothes, and we wonder why people

are getting turned off and quitting the church.

In a gospel meeting, brethren feel compelled to use a different song-leader each night, and some of them arenot ready to conduct the singing. Brethren will sendhundreds of miles for a preacher, spending 700 to 800dollars for the meeting, and then greatly hinder it by not having the best man available to lead the singing.Preachers of years past brought song-leaders withthem. They had great singing. Some places would bewise in bringing in a song-leader for gospel meetingsand have a songfest each night for 25 or 30 minutesbefore preaching. What great meetings we would haveif such were done.

Another thing, look at our faces when we sing. Someof us have a countenance that resembles a Missouri mule—long and forlorn. Certainly, there are sad songs,but many songs have a message of salvation and joy.Why cannot we reflect in our faces and actions suchwonderful words? Is this another sign of stoicism?

Stoical Prayers

Sometimes prayers are uttered in rote—just emptysayings. Jesus had somewhat to say about vain repeti-tion (Matt. 6:7). Spontaneity is lacking! The phrasesused are the same expressions over and over. We needto ask, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Lk. 11:1). The modelprayer of Jesus (Matt. 6:9-15) serves as an excellentfoundation and guideline for prayer. We all could profitby studying the prayers of Paul (Phil. 1:9-11; Col 1:9-12)and pray in like-manner.

The brother leading the prayer should speak loudly enough to be heard by the entire assembly and when hefinishes, there should be some "Amens." Paul said an"Amen" is in order at the giving of thanks, providing weunderstand what the brother said (I Cor. 14:16). Wegenerally understand what is spoken but the "Amens"are rather scarce. Most of the time there is just the"Amen" of the brother leading the prayer. Again, anindication of stoicism. We might ought to do like theblack brother in a white congregation when he closedhis prayer. He said, "Now, let us all say, 'Amen.' "There was an overwhelming response.

Stoical Observance of the Lord's Supper

In the observance of the Lord's Supper, nothing issaid, whatsoever to focus our minds upon the suffering and death of our Lord. At a given moment in the wor-ship, perhaps after the third song, or after the invitationsong, men come from all directions and line up at thetable. A brother, without any explanation, begins giv-ing thanks, and the bread is passed among the wor-shipers. The fruit of the vine is treated in the samemanner. After the Lord's Supper is concluded, theygrab the collection plates, also without explanation, andstart down the aisles. By habit the members know what is happening in sequence, but the visitors learn as ittakes place and are somewhat unprepared.

Brethren, the greatness of Jesus and His unspeak-able love demonstrated at Calvary deserves more fromus than a hurry-up, frigid and petrified appearance atthe Lord's Table. How refreshing to hear a brother givea brief talk that shows a feeling of gratitude for Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf. Then, when the Supper is fin-ished and the contribution is ready to be taken, some-one can talk about the privilege of giving and what God has done for us in a material way.

Stoical Preaching

Preaching, with not a few, has become "talks." There is not much preaching to it. The audience is asleep inabout five minutes from a monotone and maybe a topicthat is as irrelevant as the Pony Express. Preachersneed to put some punch, "fire" and enthusiasm in theirsermons instead of trying to act like a Harvard theolo-gian. We are preaching to common people with everyday common problems, hence, we need to gear ourpreaching to their common needs, and preach with allthe vim and vitality we can "muster-up."

Have you noticed how gospel preachers are intro-duced, anymore? It might go something like this: "Af-ter singing of this song, George will bring us the les-son." With such exuberant (?) introduction, dullsinging, and perhaps a stereotyped prayer and ritualis-tic communion, the audience is practically comatose bythe time the preacher is ready to preach. May I add,what has happened to the affectionate designation,"brother?" Too, has the word, "sermon," become obso-lete, or the expression, "preach to us," antiquated?

From the pulpit the preacher many times sees stone-faces, zombies, who sit emotionless. There is no re-sponse, no Amens, no nodding of heads, no expressionof approval when the truth is preached. We have be-come too austere! Hearing Christ preached should ex-cite us with jubilation and joy. It will show on those whoare elated. It cannot be concealed.

Stoical Announcements

Finally, we do not want to overlook the announce-ments. They generally come at the end of the service.They are so abrupt without any continuity of worship.There is no mention how good it was to have been in theservice, the blessings enjoyed, the sermon preached,etc., but far removed from the events that transpired,the brother starts with reading cold, hard facts. Warmth is missing.

The announcer proceeds to the sick and announcesthat "Bob Jones had surgery and is in room 240 at thelocal hospital." Brother Jones may be in critical condi-tion, but there is no statement of concern, or request forprayers on his behalf. No feeling is expressed to hisfaithful family in the audience. This should not be. Some of us have gotten to the place where we cannotshow emotions, shed tears of joy or sorrow and offersympathy. Brethren, we MUST change!

On the other hand, thank God for vibrant churchesand vigorous Christians who can sing "Sweet By andBy" with tears of happiness, who pray with fervency, who are touched with gratitude, and express it, everytime the Lord's Supper is eaten and who appreciategospel preaching and show it.

Those who have drifted into lethargy and coldness,need to be revived. Give us live, active, caring, Spirit-filled (Eph. 5:18) churches and Christians everywhere aswe endeavor to serve the Lord in a world of sin.

CATHOLICISM AND IDOLATRY

God has always forbidden idolatry, yet it is one of theoldest and most common practices on earth. Man has apropensity toward worshipping that which he canmake, feel, see and serve. It seems difficult for him toappreciate or relate to a God that is omniscient, omnipo-tent and omnipresent—the true God of heaven.

The first two of the ten commandments deal with idolatry. God said, "Thou shalt have no other godsbefore me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any gravenimage, or any likeness of any thing that is in heavenabove, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in thewater under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyselfto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am ajealous God. . ." (Exodus 20:3-5.) God meant what Hesaid!

The passages of scripture dealing with idolatry aretoo numerous for us to mention in this study. We shallexpect the reader to do some reading from the Bible.

In Psalm 115, we are given a vivid description of idolsthat are "the work of men's hands." The inspired writersays, "They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes havethey but they see not (nor can they cry, E.B.): They haveears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smellnot: They have hands, but they handle not: feet havethey but they walk not: neither speak they throughtheir throat. They that make them are like them; so isevery one that trusteth in them."

In Isaiah 44:10 we read, "Who hath formed a god, ormolten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?"Remember now that an idol is profitable for nothing—any idol any place and any time! Then in verses 13through 20 we have an interesting and incredible scene.The writer discusses a man who goes to the forest andcuts down a tree. With one part of it he kindles a fire towarm himself. With another part of the tree he kindles afire to bake his food. We have all seen or experienced these uses of wood. But the use of the third part of thetree is difficult for us to understand. With that he makes a god, a graven image, which he worships andcalls on for deliverance. Remember that the idol is made of the same tree which was used for heating and cook-ing. It is hard for normal people to see any sense in that, isn't it? But wait now. Before you reject and criticizesuch a stupid practice, consider a more recent one.

"The statute was delivered to the church May 12 after having been carved in Italy. It depicts the VirginMary adorned with three carved roses.

"Thousands of people visited the church to see thefigure, and at least one person said he saw it weep.

"The tear came down her cheek from her right eye,' said Richard Sopys of Chicago. 'You can't explain it, but it was there.'

" 'She's crying because she wants peace, and the world is full of sinners,' said Catherine Metlow. 'I be-lieve in her if she cries or not.' "

That good lady really has the power of perception.Not only can she see the statue cry, but she can tellwhat it is thinking about! And in answer to Lewinski weask: How can "anything or anyone" ever be a worthyobject of our devotion?

The Catholic Church allows things like this to bereported through the years. One television network re-port observed that the contributions to that congrega-tion had increased considerably following the report.But what we don't understand is how thousands of sensible people can believe that a piece of wood can cry!Could the same wood cry if it has been for fire wood orstove wood? Then why would it have the power to cry by being carved into a statute? It would have to bebecause God has given it life and approval, but wethought He had said, "Thou shalt not make unto theeany graven image." How could He approve that whichHe has forbidden?

We do not believe the report—not a word of it!

Catholicism is a system of idolatry. Go around any oftheir buildings—schools, hospitals, church buildings—and you will see statues everywhere. You even see themin their automobiles. Does any automobile insurance company believe that they have the power to preventaccidents?

They sometimes argue that they do not worship thestatues. But do they believe that they have any poweror spiritual or miraculous significance? If they do not sobelieve, then why have them? What good are they? And if they do worship or reverence them in any way and toany degree, they are guilty of idolatry.

When you see thousands of people march by thatcold, dead, dumb statue and believe that they see itcrying, you can understand why it is so difficult to teachthem that it is wrong to sprinkle water on a baby, countbeads, call men by such titles as "Father," believe in theinfallibility of the pope, and many like things. Theybelieve what they have been taught to believe and wantto believe, "if she cries or not."

"Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (I John5:21). Why? "For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God."

ATTITUDE AND CONTINUAL CLEANSING

QUESTION: Does 1 John 1:7 teach continual cleans-ing of sins of ignorance for the Christian whose attitudeof heart is right? I recently heard a preacher offer 2 Tim.

1:18 as proof of such forgiveness as saying that thisverse shows that we, like Onesiphorus, will stand injudgment guilty of sins of which we are not aware andfor which we will need the mercy of the Lord "in thatday"—EP

ANSWER: 1 John 1:7 reads as follows: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son clean-seth us from all sin." 2 Tim. 1:18 should be read in the light of its context:"The Lord give mercy unto the house of One-siphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was notashamed of my chain: But, when he was inRome, he sought me out very diligently, andfound me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in howmany things he ministered unto me at Ephesus,thou knowest very well" (2 Tim. 1:16-18).

From my study of the Bible, I have found only twolaws of pardon—one for the alien and one for the saint.Both involve more than the right attitude of heart. Forthe alien the law is hear, believe, repent, and be baptized(Rom. 10:17; Mk. 16; 15,16; Acts 17:30; Rom. 10:10;Acts 8:27; 2:38). For the saint the law is repent, confess,and pray (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9).

I stand amazed at the somewhat desperate efforts ofsome to find a third law of pardon—one for the saintwho sins ignorantly. Obviously, one cannot repent of some sin of which he is not aware, i.e., he has no knowl-edge that such is sin. He may have knowledge thatcertain things are sin and be conscious of guilt in suchmatters without recalling the particular time, place,circumstances—even the number of times the sin was committed—still, the knowledge he has enables him torepent. However, the one who sins not knowing thatwhat he does is sin cannot repent nor confess his sin asper the requirement of 1 Jno. 1:9: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." It should be ob-served that this verse is in the context of 1 Jno. 1:7 and accordingly is part of "walking in the Tight." This re-quires more than "the right attitude of heart."

Furthermore, there is a contradiction in the positionset forth in the question submitted by the querist. If, inthis life, one is continually cleansed of sins of ignoranceon the basis of the right attitude of heart, he will notneed mercy in the day of judgment for another cleaningof the same sins. One making this argument shouldmake up his mind as to whether he is cleansed by mercyin this life or in the day of judgment—one does notprove the other.

Besides all this, the "mercy" of 2 Tim. 1:18 has no reference to forgiveness of sins "in that day." If so, theCatholic doctrine of praying for the dead is established.Yet, gospel preachers have refuted this doctrine of Ca-tholicism through the years by pointing out that thereis no proof that Onesiphorus was dead at the time Paulwrote. Paul's mention of the household of Onesiphorusand not Onesiphorus personally was done possibly be-cause Onesiphorus was away from home and Paul knewit, or possibly Onesiphorus was dead, or possibly be-cause of other reasons one might give, none of which canbe established necessarily. Furthermore, the Scripturesteach that forgiveness of sins must take place in thislife. The reward is based on "deeds done in the body" (2Cor. 5:10). There was no hope for the rich man or hisbrothers beyond this life (Lk. 16:19-31). However, if"mercy" refers to the forgiveness of sins "in that day,"then praying for the dead is very much in order (accord-ing to this example) because all will have died beforestanding in judgment (Heb. 9:27).

To what does the word "mercy" refer? Concerningthis phrase in question, Adam Clark says, "It is proba-bly only a Hebraism for, God grant that he may here beso saved by Divine grace, that in the great day he mayreceive the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternallife."

I am persuaded that the word "mercy" refers to theeternal reward, the basis of which is the mercy of theLord and not our own merit. It is not uncommon for both "grace" and "mercy" to be used in such a way as toinclude particulars not mentioned specifically. Thismakes "mercy" a metonymical expression whereby thebasis of the reward is put for the reward itself. Even if"mercy" refers to forgiveness of sins "in that day," it isused by metonymy—"mercy," the basis of forgiveness,being put for the forgiveness itself. There is Scripture for the former, none for the latter.

Please Renew Promptly

For some time I have considered writing an article onthe subject of modern translations, or versions, of theBible. I have procrastinated for a couple of reasons.First, I hoped that the activity in this field was a fad which may excite the world, but not affect the churchadversely. Second, when I saw that the church wasbeing influenced by these literary efforts, I hoped that someone better qualified than I would give attention tothis blight. While some may be doing so, I think moreneeds to be said, so I will address the subject in ageneral way.

Trends

Anyone, with a reasonable amount of experience,knowledge, and perception, can recognize a trend,whether that trend be in politics, the environment, orreligion. We have seen trends in discipline, marriage,dress codes, and in many other areas. In religion wehave seen the trend away from spiritual emphasis, to-ward man's social and material well-being. Not muchelse was to be expected from religions which were con-ceived in the minds of uninspired men, and which havebeen perpetuated by the doctrines and commandmentsof men (Mt. 15:8-14). But, some trends have adverselyaffected the Lord's people, from Old Testament times until now.

There have always been those who did not think itproper to criticize a doctrine or a practice while it was inthe trend stage, i.e., before it was full-grown, or before itbore fruit. Yet, others recognized the dangerous trendswhich began to surface in many areas, and properlysounded the trumpet of warning (Jer. 6:17), in spite ofsuch labels as "antis" and "watchdogs of orthodoxy."The Bible teaches that everything brings forth after itsown kind (Gen. 1:11ff; Jas. 3:11, 12), and Jesus said,"Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Mt.7:20). I don't have to wait until a coconut hits me on the head before telling myself not to stand under a coconuttree during a wind storm!

The Translations

Again, I will leave the detailed examination of these pseudo translations, or versions, to others. But, any man, "whose eyes are opened" (Num. 24:3), can seeproblems and dangers resulting from the emphasissome have placed on these modern versions.

There may be at least two reasons for the popularityof new versions, and I strongly suspicion that theremay be a third reason on the part of those who use such versions. First, any publisher is going to sell as many ofhis Bibles as he can. Those who manufacture shirts and ties are not going to be satisfied if you are satisfied withyour present shirt and tie. They will change the style ofthe shirt collar, or the tie, so you will be persuaded tobuy new ones, and also a tie pin to match. The publisherof Bibles is likewise going to try to sell you a new Bible.If your old King James or American Standard transla-tion is still in good condition (and some Bibles don'tsuffer from much wear), you are not a very good pros-pect for a new Bible. So, the publisher has to convinceyou that a new "version" is just the thing you need.

Second, there may be some subversive efforts on thepart of atheists, agnostics, evolutionists, or other ene-mies of the Bible to alter the true text of the Bible. And, I know that some religious groups have produced ver-sions which are more favorable to their own peculiardoctrines and practices.

While the aforementioned reasons may account forthe production of said versions, I cannot account for theuse of such versions in the church, unless a third reasonfor the popularity of such versions is considered,namely, the desire to impress others, or "be in style." Iwould like to think that many are sincerely seeking a more understandable text, as far as the teaching of theBible is concerned, but I cannot reconcile this positionwith the facts.

The Results

Most preachers and teachers in the church will agree that thousands have learned, taught, and preached thetruth from the King James and American Standardtexts of the Bible. I'm not saying that these are the only faithful translations of the Bible, but their popularity inthe past is unquestioned. And, while some may preferthe latter over the former, my observation is that theKing James Version is going to be around for manyyears to come. I keep a copy of the American Standardand Revised Standard Versions on my desk for easyreference, and sometimes refer to them in my preach-ing, But, I learned to quote from the King James, and any attempt to change at this stage of the game would only confuse me and the audience as well. Which factbrings up another matter.

What is the result (fruits), of the emphasis given tothese modern versions? Can preachers preach better?Do people understand better? I have seen youngpreachers attempt to read or quote from several of thesenew versions, and some cannot get one verse read orquoted correctly. The result is a mixture of several dif-ferent versions, and both they and the audience appearto be confused. "How is it then brethren? when ye cometogether, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doc-trine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpre-tation. Let all things be done unto edifying" (1 Cor.14:26, KJV). Let me suggest also that when a preacherthinks it necessary to refer to different versions, eventhose about which there is no controversy, let those inthe audience, both members and non-members knowwhat you are doing. Otherwise, after the audience hasrecovered from its initial surprise, you may get oneyourself!

Brethren, we have some able and knowledgeableyoung preachers in the Lord's church today—let us notneutralize that condition by an Ashdodian attempt to"intrude into unseen things and new gimmicks, vainlyinfatuated by worldly knowledge and efforts to be pro-found" (Mixture of KJV, PJC, on Col. 2:18).

RELIGIOUS CONFLICT

In the 5/19/84 Huntsville Times, there was a columnby Michael J. McManus entitled "Are Religion LeadersIntolerant Of Other Faiths?". The Article deals with the complaint that religious people are at each other's throat all over the world. The religious conflicts in theMiddle East, Ireland, and the Iraq-Iran War are listedas examples of religious conflict behind political andmilitary clashes. Because of this, many have concludedthat religion, rather than being "Bread of Life" is "Bread of Destruction".

Robert Muller, Assistant Secretary General of theUnited Nations, when asked "Why has religion had such negative impact?", said "Each religion is so con-vinced that it has the ultimate truth, that they are willing to die for that truth."

Muller is interested in affecting some kind of union ortolerance between the religions of the world and hasdrafted a 10 point "Declaration Of The Oneness For TheHuman Family" that will be the centerpiece for dia-logue by leaders of the world's six great religions; Bud-dhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam,and Judaism, at a "Spiritual Summit" in New York andat the United Nations this Fall, beginning on Oct. 7. Itis stated that these religion leaders at this Spiritual Summit will see if they can agree with the 10 principlesset forth in Muller's Declaration.

Before looking at these ten principles which arethought to present a basis for peaceful coexistence ofreligions, let us look into the real cause for conflict.

Basis For Religious Conflict

Muller suggested the cause is that "each religion isconvinced that it has the ultimate truth and they arewilling to die for it". The dying here is not just giving up one's life for his faith, but causing others to die whooppose or refuse to accept this faith. This has alwaysbeen a characteristic of human religions.

The first murder was the result of a religious conflict.

Cain substituted his own chosen sacrifice instead of the

God-ordained one offered by his brother, Abel. When

Cain's human way was rejected and he saw his brother

accepted, he rose up against his brother and slew him

(Gen. 4). Human wisdom (knowledge) "puffeth up" (1

Cor. 8:1) and leads to pride, envy, and strife. Human

religions have never placed great value on life. Many

require human sacrifices or the mutilation of the body.

True religion comes only from God. His truth has everdemanded respect for life. The command of Gen. 9:6"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his bloodbe shed: for in the image of God made he man", was toemphasize the value and worth of man. Other creationsof God could be killed and consumed by man (Gen. 9:3),but not so with him who was made in the image of God.Shedding man's blood, in Hebrew, is "murder", andGod does decree the death penalty to be administeredby man for the murderer. Executing the murderer iskilling, but not murder. God is not promoting His Causein this, but simply assures those who would rise upagainst a brother and murder, in violation of God's will do so at the price of their own life.

The command in the Decalogue, "Thou shalt not kill"is literally "Thou shalt do no murder". Such has alwaysbeen forbidden under the penalty of death. Under theNew Covenant, the execution of the murderer has beenput in the hand of civil powers (Rom. 13:4; Acts 25:11). Violence and conflict have never been the result of men following God's Will. Conflict arises when men forsake God and promote their own way, or godless men rise upagainst the righteous because they refuse "to run withthem to the same excess of riot".

In the New Covenant, Jesus even forbids hate andmalice in the heart that leads to murder (1 Jno. 3:15).When one who claims to be a Christian harbors and purposes in his heart evil, even violence, for another, hehas already abandoned the cause of truth and right andmay become an instigator and promoter of conflict. It isnot the cause of truth that promotes the violence, butthe abandonment of it, or the jealousy of truth haters.

The religious conflicts, past and present, that peoplepoint to as evidence of religion being the cause of strife,only embrace false or apostate religion and not thatwhich is of God. The "Inquisition" of Catholic history was the result of apostacy within that system, not the practice of Christianity.

The only conflict that comes as a result of Christian-ity is the suffering and persecution of Christians, withno retaliation, at the hands of Christ rejectors. This isthe kind of violence Jesus anticipated as the result of His coming, and the revelation of truth. He said, "Thinknot that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not tosend peace, but a sword" (Matt. 10:34). He did not usethe carnal sword to establish his cause for "when he suffered, he threatened not. . ." (1 Pet. 2:23). "He wasoppressed, and he was afflicted yet he opened not hismouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as asheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not hismouth" (Isa. 53:7). When Peter, a chosen apostle,sought to defend his Lord with the carnal sword, Jesusrebuked him and said, "Put up again thy sword into his place, for all they that take the sword shall perish withthe sword" (Matt. 26:52).

The apostle Paul said of promoting Christianity "Forthe weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mightythrough God to the pulling down of strong holds; cast-ing down imaginations, and every high thing that ex-alteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringinginto captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ"(2 Cor. 10:4-5). Jesus forewarned his apostles, "If theworld hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hatedyou. If ye were of the world, the world would love hisown: but because ye are not of the world, but I havechosen you out of the world, therefore the world hatethyou. Remember the word that I said unto you, Theservant is not greater than his lord, If they have perse-cuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have keptmy saying, they will keep yours also. But all thesethings will they do unto you for my name's sake, be-cause they know not him that sent me" (John 15:18-21).

The conflict that arises from the preaching of "truth"(Christianity) is mental, emotional, and domestic: car-nal opposition from Christ rejectors and haters of truth.This, however, is lessened every time a mind is capturedand Drought to the obedience of Christ.

It is not Christianity, the only God-revealed religion today, that promotes carnal resistance and retaliation;that promotes it's cause by violence to others: thatleads protest marches with rock and bottle throwing and police clashes: that preaches civil disobedience:that harms people and property when they think wrong is being done.

The Only Remedy

Religious conflict exists only through human reli-gions and apostate systems. There is no way to elimi-nate this through human Councils, made up of humanbeings filled with pride and jealousy. The only solutionis complete abandonment of human systems and sub-mission to the divine. Knowing this, God planned anddivinely revealed Christianity, the only system capableof bringing about "peace on earth and good will amongmen". Realization of this will never be universal, but will characterize those who truly allow Christ to reignwithin their hearts; who become citizens of His spiritualKingdom.

(An article to follow will look at Muller's 10 principleswhich he thinks presents a basis for coexistence andpeace for people with different religions).

It is always a sad thing to report on one who at onetime has stood for truth and right but has now departedfrom teaching that truth; especially a fellow gospel preacher. However, be that as it may, we deem it neces-sary because of Romans 16:17, and because of con-science, to warn brethren about brother Darwin Chan-dler.

In October 1983, brother Darwin Chandler was in-formed by the elders of the House Street congregationin Alvin, Texas that his services as the local preacherwould no longer be required. This was soon after theelders had asked Wayne Partain to come and preach onthe "grace-fellowship doctrine" that is being taught byCarl Ketcherside, Arnold Hardin, R. L. Kilpatrick andothers. Brother Chandler, according to the elders at House Street, had been preaching some of this "grace-fellowship doctrine" making a distinction in "gospel"and "doctrine" which the Bible does not make. It is also interesting to note that after brother Chandler was"fired" (his terminology) he told another gospelpreacher that he called no less than Arnold Hardin tosee if brother Hardin could help him find some support.

Brother Chandler is now preaching for the JacksonStreet congregation, a liberal congregation, in Alvin. On March 25,1984, brother Chandler preached a lessonentitled "How Did I Get Here?" in which he explains, inhis own words, how he arrived where he now is.

In this article, we want to allow Darwin, in his ownwords, not only to tell you how he got where he now is,but also to tell you, in his own words, what he nowbelieves. And, according to his own statements, he iswhere he is because, in our understanding of the Bible,he now teaches error on the Holy Spirit, and the worshipand work of the church. In fact, we believe his state-ments are so far from the truth that only a brief expla-nation will be necessary on our part. We believe you will recognize immediately just how far from truth he hadgone, and therefore we are simply going to quote fromhis speech and allow him to explain why he is where heis.

Led By The Holy Spirit

Brother Chandler tells of his seeking wisdom that hemight know what the Lord would have him know, and as you will observe, no sectarian preacher could havegiven better testimony. Brother Chandler said, "I hadbelieved for a considerable time, and preached, what theBible says about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but Ihad never practiced it. I had never brought it out to anypractical application in my life. So, for the first time onthat trip home (from Odessa, TX JTS) in the fall of 1982 I said, 'Father, I believe you have given the Holy Spiritto dwell in your people for the sake of helping them tounderstand the scriptures, through whom you givethem this wisdom if they ask, and I don't know how you do it, I don't care. All I want is this wisdom. Will youhelp me through the Holy Spirit? And brethren, for thefirst time in my life, in the fall of 1982, some thingsbegan to fit together.' "

Nature Of The Church

"I learned in my studies of the nature of the churchthat the church is nothing more or less than the sumtotal of all those who have been immersed into Christ. That's all it is. That has staggering import as it relatesto what we call the work of the church. Because, yousee, if the church is simply the sum total of those whohave been immersed into Christ, that means that the work of the church is anything that God gave as aspecial obligation to his people."

"... Well that immediately raised the question about the false distinction we have made for years between collective work and individual work; or individual workand local work. We would say, 'well God has givencertain things to individual Christians to do, and He's given certain things to the local collective body to do,and they don't always match.' Now then, you knowwhat I'm going to say every time I hear that? My goodfriend and brother will you just open the Bible and showme where that distinction is made at least just one time.(How about I Tim. 5:16 and Matt. 18:15-17, H.O.W.)You know where that came from? I didn't think you did.I don't either, even though I preached it for years.Somebody made it up. Somebody just plucked it out ofthe air. They said, oh, what the individual can do is notthe same things as what the church can do. There's a difference between the work of the individual Christian and the work of the collective body. And I guess nobodyever said, 'prove it from the scriptures. Show that Godmakes that kind of distinction.' So what we did was take an opinion about that and divide the brotherhood overit. The Bible doesn't make any such distinction as that.Absolutely not. What God gave every Christian to docan be done by every Christian. Doesn't that makesense? How incredibly sensible that is. What God gaveevery Christian to do can be done by every Christian.And so, that makes orphan homes supported by thechurch legitimate because they can be supported byindividual Christians. No distinction. Somebody madeup the distinction and divided brethren over it. But it isnot a distinction of the Bible.

"Also, there is the legitimacy of cooperative efforts.And that makes fellowship meals together legitimate.If we can meet, several families in our homes and sev-eral families on church property, or several familiesanywhere to eat together, we can do it as a whole bodyof people. They did it in Acts the second chapter, didn't they? I '11 tell you something else, if we want to do it as apart of a worship service we can do it. Now I don't know how you feel about that, but you need to read I Cor. 11and realize that what they were doing was having aworship service and either in close proximity to it or as a part of it, they were eating a fellowship meal, and whatPaul was doing was saying you've made such a mess of this thing that when it comes time in this process thatyou're gathered together as a church, read that, 'Whenye are come together in the church' he says there aresome problems here. Part of it was the way they werecorrupting the fellowship meal. They had come togetherin the church to do that. Ask me now, ask me, 'Chan-dler, why couldn't you see that all those years?' Because I was blinded by legalism, that's why. I'd been toldsomething different all my life. All I could see was whatI'd been told. Somebody put those blinders on me, and I had no peripheral vision. The simple fact is, God did nottell us what to do with the money we collected in thechurch treasury. You don't think that's right? Well,consider the fact that in the first place in the NewTestament you cannot read of a church treasury assuch. Doesn't mean it's wrong. But try to read that ifyou like. Go on a hunting trip through the New Testa-ment. It's scriptural, good, logical. The fact is, the onlycollection we can ever read about was taken up essen-tially by Paul and his cohorts to relieve the needysaints. Never took a collection for anything else thatyou can read about. What that means to me is, Goddoesn't much care about how we get the money. He justwanted us to get enough to do His Will. Get it how youwant to, get it where you want to, and accomplish Hiswill with it. And along with the fact that God did not tell us what to do with the money we collect, we can use it asour spiritual leaders direct. That's one reason why wehave elders. To give us the wisdom, to give us someguidance in these areas where God has not specified.

"Not only that, but God did not restrict the method ofdoing our work, so we have an option. If we want to do itall by ourselves, we can do that. If we want to cooperatewith another church, we can do that because God hasn't said how. He said here is what I want you to do. Hedidn't say how. He left it up to us under the leadershipof spiritual men.

"I don't know how much you have thought about itbrethren, but the basic difference between us and thenon-cooperative brethren is that we disagree on meth-ods of doing God's will, and they have made their method a matter of faith, and refused us as apostatesbecause we've forsaken what they call the pattern, eventhough God says not one solitary syllable regarding thehow of doing his will. They've found a pattern some-where, yes. I preached the pattern. Before God I couldn't tell you what it is now. I used to know—used tothink I did. They've found a pattern somewhere. Couldn't read it. It's all based on human devices, human explanations; arguments based on inferences etc. andthey took those opinions and made them matters offaith and divided the body of Christ."

Well there you have it, brethren. Read it and weep— weep for one who has turned from the truth and whonow ridicules those truths he once preached, and wholike those of yesteryear have used these time worn argu-ments to try to "prop up" the missionary society, etc.May we all pray that brother Chandler sees the error ofhis way and returns before it is too late.

PARENTAL STUPIDITY

In more recent articles on parental responsibilities wehave dealt with some implications of the Biblical state-ment. "Nurture them in the chastening and admonitionof the Lord." In our last we pointed out that parentaldisagreement on proper disciplinary procedure mayresult in the ultimate breakdown of discipline and mayeven destroy a marriage. We also dealt with the effectsproduced by the five "IV of parental blindness—inconsistency, incompatibility, injustice, indulgenceand indifference.

Several years ago I wrote Solving Family Problems, abooklet now out of print, in which I delineated seven-teen points of "parental stupidity wherein reason isdisplaced by emotions, ignorance, or dullness of dis-cernment." Practically all of these statements are posi-tive. I bid my readers, particularly parents whose chil-dren are yet at home, to reflect upon these observations.In fact, if your children are yet with you, it would be wellto copy or clip this out and place it where you can read itdaily. If you are a grandparent, why not send theseobservations to your son and/or daughter?

Ponderable Points for Parents

1. True love always works for the child's ultimate welfare, not its temporary pleasure.
2. An act of a child which mars his character is in-comparable to one which disturbs a parent's con-venience or personal pleasure. Consider a child's lying, stealing, etc., along with parents' desire to golf, fish, party or even sleep.
3. A failure to punish a child after warning is (at least could be) a warning to parents that they will ulti-mately be punished by that same child.
4. Failure to teach a child self-reliance and initiative is to exchange strength for weakness, sturdinessfor instability, independence for insecurity, brav-ery for cowardice and faith for doubt. It is to con-fuse rights with responsibilities and make hippiesout of potential heroes.
5. Overdoing a child's accomplishments in his pres-ence and to others is as destructive as failure to take note of his achievements at proper time andoccasion. One "is as bad as the other if not worse!"
6. Failure to recognize the various stages of a child's

physical and social development and adjust "nur-ture" accordingly is to create a freak for the child's would-be buddies to ridicule, a misfit for familyfriends to pity and to produce a most embarrass-ing situation to explain!

1. Every "no-no" and every "yes-yes" should be prompted by love and each must find its explana-tion to the child by a parent who makes the childunderstand that he/she as a parent is amenable toGod for his treatment of his child as is the child amenable to God for its treatment of the parent.
2. A child mature enough to ask an intelligent ques-tion is mature enough rightly to expect and receivean intelligent answer.
3. The child who is taught to pray that his parentsmay "nurture" him in the chastening and admoni- tion of the Lord is learning the meaning of wisdom. "A wise son maketh a glad father."
4. Parental companionship with a child is the surestguarantee of child companionship with parents asthe shadows lengthen.
5. The child who does not learn right from wrong from his parents will probably learn wrong through his associates.
6. Learning by earning is good for the head, heartand pocket-book. By failure to learn to earn onelearns to be a dead-beat or a thief or both.
7. The child not allowed to entertain his friends at home will be entertained by them away from homeand to his parents' great sorrow.
8. He who does not learn that he is to requite hisparents misses a fundamental law of God. See 1 Tim. 5:4.
9. Parental disagreements in a child's presence cre-ates confusion and distrust in the child and sets the stage for the child to use one parent againstthe other.
10. The child who learns truthfulness and honesty,dependability in responsibility, modesty and cour-tesy is building that "good name" which "is ratherto be chosen than great riches" and the "lovingfavor" which is more valuable "than silver and gold" (Prov. 22:1).
11. Four steps guarantee absolute failure for parents:the wrong example, a lack of correction, a break-down in communication, and no teaching of God's word.

NOTE:Parents stupid enough to overlook theseperils make "F" on their report card andjustly deserve the grade they receive.

THE CHANGING SCENE

I am writing this in late August. Even now there is ahint of fall in the air. Fall is our favorite time of year.There is something grand about fall. Is it because there issuch beautiful maturity all around us in nature? The countryside is filled with evidence that summer is past,crops are being harvested. Soon the pumpkins, shocks ofcorn, stacks of hay and changing color in the leaves willappear and we will have a lavishly colorful interlude beforewinter is upon us.

Life is kind of like that, you know. There is first theenergetic forces of spring, the prime of summer, the harvest of fall, and the inevitable winter. This is a new kind of time for us. For the first time in thirty-two years wewill not be preparing a child for public school or college.Now that will take quite some adjustment on our part.Although it was always a lot of hurry-scurry and alwaysexpensive to try to get the "bargains" on clothes and supplies, it nevertheless became a part of us and our life-style. Now it must change and we must fill it in with otherthings, events, and activities.

Nostalgia is a hard thing to handle some times. Yet inreminiscing we have a tendency to think mostly of thegood things and of the good times. Surely there has been the other kind but who wants to think about that? There are so many things to be thankful for that to dwell on the other side of the matter would seem most ungrateful.

My father-in-law once said that the happiest times arewhen our children are around our feet. I believe he was correct. Then is when we have our greatest opportunity tomold them and shape them into vessels of honor fit andmeet for the Master's use. So many parents are lettingthis wonderful time pass them by. When both parentswork and the children are farmed out to sitters or day care centers, there is a strain on everything. Great and wonderful times and phases take place during these earlyyears. They will soon pass us by and be gone forever.

Looking back it is evident that our best times were not when we had the most money and "things". The best times were an assortment of little things. Trips to the Tampa airport on Saturday afternoon, cashing in gascoupons for free rides at the Super-test park, a ride on thecauseway to Clearwater, trips to Virginia from whereverwe happened to be living, fishing on the pier at MoreheadCity, cozy winter nights in West Virginia

while nature clothed the beautiful hills with a blanket of snow, picking and singing together, the new pup Jet, theblack and white kitten we named Sputnik, going to gospelmeetings here and there, trips back to Virginia at Thanksgiving to be with grandparents and parents, the Pennsylvania fairs and horse shows, Bryan's famous ice cream cones, teaching the kids how to drive (we alsoprayed a lot at such times), wonderful family gatherings atChristmas, our trip to Niagara Falls—all these and so manymore rush into our thoughts now. Many of you who willread this will certainly relate and can substi-tute yourown situation into the context. Surely there are a goodmany who know full well what this time of life is and what itbrings about in our thinking.

Now is a time of transition for us and many others.The empty house will be full only on rare occasions and atspecial times. It is a time to re-evaluate, take stock and get ready for a new run in a different way. We have not been this way before as brother Homer Hailey em-phasized in talking about the periods of our lives. In regarding it in this way we find the prospects both exciting and exhilarating.

My advice to those who are newly married and thosewho are starting their families is this. Make the most of your children while you can. All too soon that period ofyour life will pass and you will be back, the two of you, in anempty house. Yet, it need not be quite so empty if you haveprepared a reservoir of beautiful memories to fill it. Inthat span of time hopefully you will have formed such aclose relationship as man and wife that you can turn toeach other. Then you can face the future hand in hand as one. This is God's arrangement. This is the changing scene!

1. A mother died in Kentucky leaving five children.The word spread and within three days they had enoughrequests to adopt eighty-seven children.
2. A feature article in the Nashville Tennessean February 21, 1954 said there were ten couples regis-tered for each child that was available for adoption inthis country.
3. The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky on March 12, 1956 said one million families are asking forbabies with only ninety thousand available.
4. George DeHoff agreed some years ago to putevery child in the Tennessee Orphan Home in a goodChristian family within thirty days. The Home refusedto give him the permission. Many people today wouldstill make the same proposition to Tennessee OrphanHome.
5. The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky an-nounced April 8, 1956 than an eleven year old boy hadrun away from home. The report said 200 calls came inwanting to help with MANY requests to adopt the boy.
6. In a Texas town recently a baby was abandonedand the report said the switchboard was swamped withrequests to adopt the baby.
7. In Longview, Texas February, 1965 two boys wereabandoned and the paper said 120 calls came in in eighthours with other calls continuing to come in the follow-ing morning from people wanting to help these boys.
8. On January 10,1963 a baby was abandoned on thedoor steps of a church in Birmingham, Alabama. Theyreceived more than 100 offers to adopt the baby.
9. A few years ago a twelve year old boy was lodgedin jail in Georgia and the report said they had calls from all over the nation with many offering to adopt the boy.
10. The Orlando Sentinel reported on March 19,1966that a teen-age girl had been rejected by her family andthat SIXTY families wanted to adopt her "sight un-seen."
11. The Arkansas Gazette reported on November 24,1962 that officials at St. Edwards Hospital receivedmore than 100 inquiries to adopt an abandoned baby.
12. Less than two years ago Brother Connie Adamscame to Huntsville, Alabama to conduct a meeting atChapman Acres where I was preaching. He announced one night that he knew of two children who were availa-ble for adoption. Two families responded that night.But within the hour word came that they were alreadyadopted.

As the judge said, out in Texas, "We need an orphanhome like we need a hole in the head." And as I would say to our liberal brethren, "You need a scripture for whatyou are doing, if you would go to heaven when you die."

"Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,And caused the dawn to know its place; That it mighttake hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it? It is changed like clay under the seal;And they stand forth like a garment." (Job 38:12-14,New American Standard Version.)

"It turneth itself as clay of a seal." (Robert Young's Translation.)"It is turned as clay to the seale." (King James Ver-sion, 1611 Edition.)"It is turned as clay to the seal." (John Campbell's Edition, 1857.)

The use of moist clay and a seal or signet ring, was a basic means of "signing" or authenticating as genuine the message contained on a clay tablet in ancient times. Thewet clay was inscribed with the message, and then the ruler or law-making official, would impress his ring into thewet clay; the clay tablet would then be turned or rotated, sothat the signet ring's design made a pattern of concentriccircles, which was specifically related to the shape of thestone of the signet ring.

Thus, Job was comparing the stationary position of thesun, to that of the signet ring; while the earth turns underthe sun, like the clay tablet was rotated under the seal.However, for many, many centuries after the time of Job,the ancient peoples thought of the sun as rotating aboutthe earth. They thought of the earth as the center of theuniverse . . . . the 'geocentric' theory.

Most of our modern English versions fail to note theHebrew word that really carries the thought of "changed by turning". Job thought of each day-break, asthe beginning position of the turning of the clay underthe seal. By rotating the clay to the point of beginning,you were repeating the daily change of the earth, through turning ________________ in relation to the sun.

I urge students of the Scripture to go over the 38th Chapter of Job "with a fine toothed comb", and see just howmany hidden predictions and prophecies are con-tained inthat one Chapter, that make reference to the many scientific discoveries concerning the earth and the universe, that man has stumbled across in later centuries.

Only the Inspiration of Heaven could have dictated the contents of that Chapter, as well as the rest of Holy Scripture.

Send all News Items to: Connie W. Adams, P.O. Box 69, Brooks, KY 40109

TRUMAN SMITH, 115 West "F" Street, La Porte, TX 77571— Pat and I have now moved to La Porte, Texas after serving five yearswith the church in Henderson, Texas. All readers of this paper, please make note of our new address above. We are optimistic about our workwith the Broadway church. Clarence Johnson laboured with this church for 9 years, but has recently moved to work with the churchof Exton, Pennsylvania. Every indication is that the work will goforward. La Porte is located a few miles east of Houston and justsouth of Bay-town. Our building is at 704 South Broadway. We meet on Sunday for Bible study at 10 A.M., worship at 10:50 A.M. and evening worship at 6:30 P.M. Wednesday evening classes are at 7:30.When in the area, please stop in and visit with us.

WARNING

L. A. STAUFFER, 1716 Dover Trace Dr., Fenton, MO 63026— Brethren should be warned against extending benevolent help toDavid Abbott (his wife and brother-in-law), an unworthy brother whois contacting churches in the midwest (St. Louis and Kansas City).Brethren may contact me or Don Moore for full information. Myphone numbers are (314) 225-5898 or 821-4910 and brother Moore'sare (314) 849-1081 or 842-1612. He seems to be contacting conserva-tive churches.

JERREL STURDY, 512 N. 10th Street, Ponca City, Oklahoma74601—I am in need of the following books, should any reader have them and be willing to sell them: Autobiography of Daniel Sommer by William Wallace; Humble-Garrett Debate on the located preacher andBible colleges; Introduction To the Scriptures by Thomas H. Home.This five volume set was reprinted by Baker Book House in 1970. My phone number is (405) 765-8593.

GENE TAYLOR, 3575 Picket Court, Tallahassee, FL 32301—Thefirst Sunday in July I began working with the Westside church inTallahassee. Since 19771 have been working in southwestern Indiana,first in Evansville and for the last three and a half years in Mt. Vernon.The Southwind church in Mt. Vernon engaged in studies with theinstitutional church in Mt. Vernon which resulted in three families leaving that group and placing membership with Southwind. Includedin that number is Jeff Adkins who had been their preacher. TheSouthwind church, seeing his desire to renounce error and preachtruth, now supports him in the work of an evangelist. They are to becommended for giving this young preacher the opportunity to grow and mature. He is a young man of conviction and ability.

I look forward to a profitable and pleasant association with thebrethren at Westside. Our building is located at 2150 Belle Vue Way inTallahassee. Service times on Sunday are 9:30 A.M.; 10:30 A.M. and 6

P.M. Wednesday nights at 7:30. When visiting in northwest Florida,or attending Florida State University, or if you have a son or daughtergoing there, please contact us. We will provide information and trans-portation to service for those needing it. Our phone number is (904)576-4010.

FERRELL JENKINS, 9211 Hollyridge PL, Temple Terrace, FL33617—After fifteen years of teaching Bible at Florida College, I have resigned to begin full-time preaching with the Carrollwood church ofChrist, 13345 Casey Road, Tampa. I am already in my third year ofwork at Carrollwood. The church has an attendance of about 100, a good teaching program, and two fine elders. Opportunities abounddue to the tremendous influx of young families into the Tampa work area. The brethren here agreed for me to continue with some meetingseach year and to conduct my tours. For 1985 I have planned a BibleLands tour to include the seven churches of Revelation, an area that I personally visited this year, and a tour of Scandinavia. About fifteenof my publications are available from Religious Supply Center. I havediscontinued personal distribution of them. Taped sermons are availa-ble from The Spoken Word, P.O. Box 127, Greenville, IN 47124. Address me at my residence.

PREACHERS NEEDED LAKE BUTLER, FLORIDA—The Danville church, located in Union County near Lake Butler, about 25 miles north of Gainesville,Florida needs a preacher to work with us. We have about 30 inattendance and our building is paid for. The church has been in existence for about five years. We would prefer someone with experience and able to do per-sonal work. He would need some outside support since we can supply about $1000 per month. Contactus at Rt. 2, Box 796, Lake Butler, FL 32054 or call one of the following: Charles Blackwelder (904) 496-3859; Leonard Bivins (904) 496-2198;Roger Blackwelder (904) 496-3515.GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN—Since Jim Smelser has moved to work with the church in Glen Elyn, Illinois, the church in Green Bayneeds a full-time preacher. The congregation is small, with about 30 members, and can provide partial support. The church is sound andwilling to work. Those interested may write the church at 1621Hillcrest Dr., Green Bay, Wisconsin 54304, or call Keith Bucklew at

(414) 497-4651.

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE—The Bell Road church located in southNashville is looking for an evangelist to work with us. We have ap-proximately 80 members and are self supporting. We desire a maturefamily man who is well grounded in the truth. Please send resume to1608 Bell Road, Nashville, Tennessee 37212. Cal (615) 833-4928.

PULPIT FURNITURE NEEDED

The church in Bridgeview, Illinois is trying to secure a used pulpit and matching communion table. Blond wood coloring is desired, possiblyoak. If you have such furniture for sale or exchange, please contactRay Madrigal at (312) 563-1819 or Lee Bolden at (312) 598-5760.

URGENT NEED

D. D. ISONG UYO, faithful preacher for many years in Lagos, Nige-ria, passed away on August 30 at Norton's Hospital in Louisville,Kentucky where he had been a patient for seven weeks or more. Hehad cancer which destroyed his vocal cords and was sent here in thehope that he could get care not available in Nigeria. Nigerian brethren provided his plane fare to this country. He appeared to be makinggood progress until he suffered a stroke. Leslie Diestelkamp, PaulEarnhart and others who worked with him in Nigeria, speak highly ofthis brother. His death represents a great loss to the work in Nigeria.Brother Diestelkamp was here with him when he had his first surgeryand many Louisville area brethren visited with him. The cost of hiscare here is enormous. It is likely that the hospital and Doctors willdiscount the bill considerably, but even with that it will come to $50-$60,000. Dale Profitt, 3302 Tara Ct., LaGrange, KY 40031 (phone502-241-4029), a member at LaGrange and a vice president of a local bank, has agreed to act in his behalf. He tells me that about $25,000has been received to date, mostly as a result of appeals sent out byLeslie Diestelkamp. If you would like to help or need informationabout the matter please contact Dale Proffitt.

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EDITORIAL LEFT-OVERS "SIR, WE WOULD SEE JESUS."—Paul Earnhart and I were recently on the Fairview Lectures in Garden Grove, California where Floyd Thompson preached for so many years. Every time wearose to speak, the statement which heads this paragraph greeted us as we laid our Bibles on the pulpit stand. It was neatly stenciled on apiece of wood and affixed to the stand right below the microphone. Itis a most appropriate sentiment for all men who preach.

FRINGE BENEFITS.—One thing not always considered in arriving at what would be adequate compensation for a preacher, is the"fringe benefits" common to the wage earner in the industrial world. But there are other fringe benefits. One of the fringes in my work is getting to spend some time with other gospel preachers withwhom I work during meetings, or those in that area who come tovisit and discuss the things of God. My life has been greatlyenriched by being in the homes of devout Christians across this land.In August I was able to

work with Jack Nunn at Ridgeway, Virginia, Jim Price and Steve Goffin Kaysville and Salt Lake City, Utah and Ken Dart in Garden Grove,California. One of the richest fringes I have had in a long time wasgetting to hear Paul Earnhart preach 10 times in one week and addedto that, staying at the same house where he stayed. His series on "True Spirituality" was rich indeed, and his evening series on "Seeking theLost" was faith building and challenging.

We have our problems and disappointments, major issues and mi-nor skirmishes, but it refreshes me to know there are a host of goodbrethren across this land who are simply trying to serve the Lord inthe midst of a crooked and perverse generation and who want to go toheaven more than anything else. Among them are fanners, miners,teachers, bankers, factory workers, real estate agents, business own-ers and hourly wage earners. They share their meals, homes and hearts with those of us who preach the gospel. They work all day, rush home,eat quickly, change clothes and rush off to hear the gospel preached.They bring their neighbors, friends and relatives to hear the word ofGod. Their children get tired, have homework, ball games and otherinterests, but they are there when you arise to speak. They are refresh-ing Christians. What would we do without them?

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GOD'S TAPESTRY Every year about this time. Throughout the regions of our clime, Where'er a tree or shrub is found In quiet corners of our town In hidden nooks and countryside In forests thickand meadows wide,

God works a golden tapestry Which He displays for all to see. He works a littlegold and brown Then scatters flaming orange around; A hint of russet here and there Then brilliant scarlet everywhere.

The pattern changes day by day Asdeep blue skies are changed to gray.And when His needlework is done He pulls the threads out one by one Till soon this glorious work of art Is swallowed up in winter's dark.

—Betty Tope

NN THE NEWS THIS MONTH

BAPTISMS			308
RESTORATIONS			121
(Taken from bulletins and papers received by the editor)