Watchman Magazine

While our Lord was limited in his ministry to the land of Israel (Matt. 15:24), he nonetheless did leave home and go to other places to preach and teach God’s word. In light of this there are a number of lessons he teaches us that apply to foreign evangelism.

1. He accepted the hardships involved. After leaving home, Jesus had “not where to lay his head” (Lk. 9:58). Also, the endless journies that were a part of his ministry to the house of Israel must have been tiring (e.g., Jno. 4:6). While we recognize that there is nothing wrong with a preacher staying in one place (1 Tim. 1:3) and having a place in which to live (Acts 10:6; 21:8; 28:30), Jesus’ example is instructive when applied to foreign evangelism. One who decides to spread the Gospel somewhere far from his home, especially in a foreign land, must take some hardship for granted. This would include not only separation from home, but having much of the work load on one’s shoulders, the lack of some familiar services and products, and living in a strange land, sometimes among people who speak another language. While there is a danger of exaggerating these hardships (they can sure make good stories to tell!), one need only consider them at face value to see that it would be much easier to simply stay put in the relative comforts of wherever we call home. Accepting hardship is not something that should be shunned or shrank from. Sacrifice was the spirit of Christ’s ministry and we are called to be living sacrifices to him (Rom. 12:1; cp. Phlp. 2:17).

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En el sermón del monte, Jesucristo toma un ejemplo de la horticultura.

“Guardaos de los falsos profetas, que vienen a vosotros con vestidos de ovejas, pero por dentro son lobos rapaces. Por sus frutos los conoceréis. ¿Acaso se recogen uvas de los espinos, o higos de los abrojos? Así, todo buen árbol da buenos frutos, pero el árbol malo da frutos malos. No puede el buen árbol dar malos frutos, ni el árbol malo dar frutos buenos. Todo árbol que no da buen fruto, es cortado y echado en el fuego. Así que, por sus frutos los conoceréis.” (Mat 7:15-20)

A sus discípulos, Cristo les dice que estén a la mira de los “falsos profetas”, los cuales fraudulentamente afirman tener la inspiración divina. Pero si al exterior parecen ser maestros legítimos, ¿cómo se reconocen, pues? Como en el caso de un árbol, el fruto que se produce depende de lo interior. Un árbol bien grande dará mal fruto si está enfermo adentro. Así que, mirando superficialmente al exterior del árbol no basta para juzgar su índole. Un verdadero cristiano producirá un fruto comestible y útil (uvas e higos); un falso producirá algo dañino (espinos y abrojo) que sólo sirve para perjudicar. Lucas confirma que los malos frutos provienen del interior, manifestando una enfermedad interna.

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QUESTION: “Does it bother you, too, Larry Ray?”

REPLY:

Obviously, the question above requires explanation. After writing the article which appears below, “What Will Baptists Say?,” I sent copies to Wayne Camp and to Robert N. Wilkin. Mr. Camp is a long time friend of mine, a Baptist preacher with whom I have had three public debates. Camp’s material was reviewed in a series of twelve articles which appeared in Watchman in four monthly installments, January, February, March and April of this year (1998). I have not heard from Wayne regarding any of the material I sent to him.

Mr. Wilkin and I engaged in a debate in January of 1996. We discussed the subject of salvation by grace through faith (video tapes are available). At that time, Bob Wilkin and I signed an agreement to discuss perseverance, eternal security, or “once saved, always saved.” However, Mr. Wilkin has refused to honor his commitment and will not debate the question with me, nor has he secured anyone else to take his place.

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There is an element among churches of Christ that maintains that the “false teacher” of 2 Peter 2:1 is actually a “lying teacher,” rather than “one who teaches something that is false.” The argument sounds good, maybe, until one considers the whole scriptural picture and “the whole counsel of God.” Today we are finding preachers, men who have been faithful for many years, who are teaching that one must know a person has intent to deceive in order to mark that person as a false teacher. In other words, they maintain we must not mark someone who teaches error “in all sincerity.” And their justification for this is solely their subjective claim that the “false teacher” of 2 Peter 2:1 means a “lying teacher.”

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The people were complaining again. This time, they were tired of eating the manna God had given them to eat – food which they did nothing to earn, but was rained down from the sky for them:

And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” (Numbers 21:5)

It should be remembered that the manna tasted pretty good, like wafers made with honey (Exodus 16:31). Yet this was not the first time they had complained about it; a short time earlier, they whined about not having meat, and God rained down quail for them. Indeed, this incident is just one in a seemingly endless series of complaints.

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Bible study has everything to do with growing. We all know that we are to grow, but do we really know how to grow? There are many important things that we must do in order to grow. While we would not say that Bible study is more important than anything else, we can say that it is foundational. It is like God’s plan of salvation. All parts are equally important even though they have different characteristics and functions. The bible records over twenty things that save us. Try to leave one out, and you cannot have salvation. To try and place a greater importance on some parts over others is outrageous. But, there is one that is more vital to us than the others. In the case of salvation the one thing that provides for salvation is our individual obedience. Without obedience, God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and everything else is useless for our salvation.

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Inherent in the idea of the word “judgment” is the concept of making a decision. People are constantly making decisions of one sort or another. We decide what to wear, what to eat, how best to make provisions for ourselves and our families. On the job, decisions must be made concerning the most efficient way to complete a task. We exercise this normal human function by using a process of judgment. We accumulate facts, analyze them, and then select which course to follow. It is a natural human event to judge.

As with so many natural human events, the Lord has regulated man’s judgment processes. “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). Jesus did not here prohibit the exercise of this natural human task, but placed his demand for righteousness upon it. We could cite many examples of this same sort of regulation. Sexual relationships between men and women are not prohibited by God, but are regulated by the command of Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:27-32; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Corinthians 7:1-9). Business activities, even when they reap great wealth for those involved, are not prohibited, but are most certainly regulated (Luke 12:16-21; James 4:13-17; 1 Timothy 6:17-19).

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“Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” (Mt. 15:12).

The history of “speaking the oracles of God” (1 Pt. 4:11) is a history of controversy. There is an inimical and hostile difference between truth and error that is reflective of the difference between God and the Devil. Diametrical opposites, truth and error will never be compatible, nor should they be. Christians should not be ambivalent about our attitude toward truth and error, God and Satan. We have enlisted in a war, have had our weapons issued by God, have engaged the enemy and there can be no quarter given (2 Cor. 10:3-6; Eph. 6:10-18; 1 Tim. 1:18; 2 Tim. 4:7). Though the analogy of “warfare” is figurative, the battle is real. We are not talking about Don Quixote tilting at windmills, as in a farce. A spiritual battle is no less real because it is not physical; though not material, it is nevertheless actual. Carnal battles maim and kill for life; spiritual battles have eternal consequences. Only to the ignorant and apathetic does the fight seem melodramatic. Only the faint-hearted plead for peace conferences with the enemy. Our foe is implacable, unrelenting and without mercy. Only the “sword of the Spirit” with all the other God-given weaponry can prevail against the Devil. It is wishful thinking to suppose we will have peace in this life.

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The prophets of God were His mouthpieces to Israel, the way in which He revealed His will to the people. Regarding the office of prophet, Jehovah said in Deuteronomy 18:18-22, “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’; when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

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I appreciate the opportunity to share with you some thoughts on the above topic. This writer is convinced that this topic has been greatly overlooked; so, let us go directly to our subject.

Our theme comes from Ephesians 5:27; therefore, there can be no doubt that God intends for the church to be glorious. The Random House dictionary defines glorious as, “exalted praise, resplendent beauty…” Vine says it means, “held in honor, of high repute”; and, in this context he used such words as “splendid” and “gorgeously”

The word is used in the New Testament in reference to other things (nature, the eternal state of the redeemed, etc.); but, we are here concerned only with the church. What do we think when we hear the word “glorious”? It may be that we need to re-mold our thinking along these lines.

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Any person who is at all conversant with the New Testament knows that therein is set forth the teaching that the connection between the death of Christ and the salvation of man is inseparable.

• Christ died “for our sins” (1 Cor. 15:3);
• Christ “died for all” (2 Cor. 5:14),
• “Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8),
• Christ “gave himself for our sins” (Gal. 1:4);
• Christ tasted “death for every man” (Heb. 2:9);
• Christ “bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24)

Scores of other passages regarding the death of Christ could be cited.

In view of the teaching of the above passages it is rather strange that so many think they will attain salvation apart from Christ’s death. When one points to his morality as the basis for salvation he is, in effect, saying that Christ died in vain so far as he is concerned. There is in the thinking of many religious people a total disregard of the New Testament emphasis on the vicarious death of Jesus.

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Six times in the book of Ephesians the word “mystery” occurs. Phrases such as “the mystery of His will” (Ephesians 1:9), “the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:4), and “the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19) point to God’s plan of redeeming man from sin and death. Through “revelation”, Paul preached the unsearchable riches of Christ making known the “dispensation” or stewardship “of the mystery” (Ephesians 3:4, 8-9). The “mystery is great” as it emphasizes “Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:32).

God’s great mystery speaks of relationships. The relationship of Christ with His church is one characterized by self-sacrificing love on the part of Christ and reverential obedience to Christ on the part of each member of the Lord’s church or body. (Ephesians 5:24-25). The Jew and Gentile relationship in the church of Christ is one of sharing in the same spiritual blessings, “to wit, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6). Being justified on the basis of one’s faith in Christ instead of racial distinctions unifies men and women as fellow-heirs in the hope of heaven.

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In his epistle to the Ephesians, Paul extols the glorious church of our Lord (5:27). The church was planned by God from eternity past (3:11) for the redemption of mankind (5:23), and the glory of God (3:21). By its existence and purpose the church reveals the manifold wisdom of God to the universe He created (3:10). The church had its beginning on the day of Pentecost about fifty days following the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2). It was established then and exists today as a result of divine planning, the fulfillment of divine promises, and the execution of divine power.

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“To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:10-11).

This wonderful Scripture expresses a thought that staggers the mind’s ability to comprehend and appreciate. This Scripture states that the angels in heaven learn the manifold wisdom of God through seeing what God has accomplished in the church.

Paul previously expressed his deep feeling of indebtedness to divine grace that God had given to him and the other apostles and prophets the blessed privilege of revealing his previously concealed mystery, namely that the Gentiles could be fellow-heirs of the promises of Christ through the gospel. He was blessed with the grace of preaching to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, bringing to light to all men that mystery which God had kept secret since the world began. But now at the end of the ages, God revealed his mystery.

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“…Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27).

In contrast to the babel of voices in the religious world today, the voice of inspired revelation presents the church as God would have it to be. How awful it would be to be searching for a religious affiliation today, with no knowledge of the word of God. How confusing it would be to seek a church without any concept of what that church should be like.

Shopping for a “church home” today is like going through a buffet line, with a smorgasbord from which to choose. In fact, shopping for a church today is very much like a testimony for the “me” generation: “What is in it for me?” “Which church has the most to offer?”

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