Editorial

“Even if you are on the right track you will get run over if you just sit there. Move!!” When we read this little saying we were impressed by its logic, We can certainly apply it to the things of God.

So often it would appear that when one learns the Truth and is baptized, they then settle down in complacency and do less than they did when they were searching for it, Recently we explored an old abandoned gold mine and certainly a person looking for gold did not stop when they finally found the vein. It is very difficult to discover gold as it is usually buried hundreds of feet in the earth in some of the most remote places. Once found, the work of digging, crushing and refining begin in earnest. No prospector in his right mind would spend a lifetime searching for gold and then fail to work it once discovered.

This same principle applies to the Truth. In order to find it, we must search and dig, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing,” Not only has God hid gold in the depths of the earth, but he has also hid His Truth from the wise and prudent, It is up to us to search the scriptures daily as did those who lived in Berea, It is only by being diligent in our studies that we ever come to a knowledge of God’s Truth. This is the reason most people never find gold or the Truth.

But what do we do once we have found it? We know what the gold prospector does, We know what Jesus told us the man who found the treasure hid in the field did. With joy he sold everything he possessed and bought that field, Being on the right track calls for action, Move!! We know that works will not save us hut it is also true that we will not be saved without them.

It is interesting to notice that when Jesus described the judgment seat that those who were condemned were cast out, not for the had things they had done, but simply because they had done nothing! “I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: etc.”

It is probably safe to say that our most besetting sin is that of laziness, The man with one talent did not steal it, he buried it, When his Master returned he was quite willing to give it back hut this was unacceptable, The Lord wanted more He wants more of us too, Now that we have discovered the Truth, what are we doing with it? Do we behave as a group of dedicated followers of Jesus on fire for the Truth? Do we say with Jesus, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work.” ?

There is no doubt but that we are on the right track, We have found the gold mine. It is simply a question of what we are doing with it. Very soon we are going to be called upon to show our Master the fruit of our labours. Let us pray that he will not find us empty-handed,

Condensation is commonplace in today’s modern world. From condensed milk to powdered eggs and potatoes we find that many familiar items are reduced, con­densed, dehydrated so that they take only a fraction of their former space. Records are reduced to micro film, even the dead are cremated to a handful of ashes.

In reading the lives of the kings of Israel and Judah we find that a life of some 30 to 70 years is eventually reduced to just one sentence. “And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did.” Or, “And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.” In between these two extremes we find “And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart” and “He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.”

Has it occurred to us that our life is also going to be condensed to just one sentence. What will that sentence be? Think of all the things we have done, all our hopes, plans, all our activities, all the things we have learned, places we have gone, people we knew, goods we acquired, money we earned and spent, jobs we’ve held, homes we’ve owned, cars we’ve driven, children we’ve raised, degrees we’ve received, awards we’ve won, meals we’ve cooked, a whole life of activity, condensed to just one sentence. Let’s stop where we are right now and contemplate that sentence. If it was to be written today, what would that one short sentence say? We need to remem­ber Paul’s words of warning “For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.” We know what we would like to say if we could write that one sentence condensing our whole life into just a few words, but we are not the one that will pronounce it. Jesus will reduce our whole life into just a dozen or so words. What will he say about us? Although he will state the verdict, we are the ones that will give him the material from which he will condense a life to a word. When milk is condensed, the non-essentials are removed and only the solid nutrients are left. When gold is refined in the fire, the dross is burnt up, the gold remains. When the wheat is winnowed, it is the chaff that blows away. When God con­denses our life, all the extraneous non-essentials will be gone. What will he left? Only what we did for Jesus will remain.

Take a life of 66 years, 22 years of sleeping will be taken off, while another 22 years of laboring for the bread that perishes can in the main be discounted. We’ll have spent almost 6 years eating, a good 4 or 5 years commuting to and from work, perhaps 3 solid years of just reading the daily newspaper. We may have consumed 3 years in school and how many years we frittered away on trifles light as air, only God knows.

Now let’s take just a week instead of a lifetime and condense it down to just one sentence. We spent 168 hours last week. None spent more and none less, but how did we spend them? Would Jesus be able to say that we did that which was right with a perfect heart, right but not with a perfect heart, or evil, last week? Only the things we did for God will count. How much of the last 168 hours counted?

If Christ does not come this week, we will have a brand new 168 hours to spend and if he does not come this year, we’ll have 8,736 hours to fill with the things of God or the things of this life. Next week and next year can he different from last week and last year. It all depends on how we choose to fill those hours. May Jesus say of us at his coming that we did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.

Since the Israeli-Arab war there has been a story circulating about a lone Israeli soldier on a hill waving to the Arab army below. The Arab commander first sends up 50 soldiers to take the hill only to have them all destroyed. Next he orders 100 men to storm it and again they are defeated. Just as he is about to send 200 men up the hill one lone Arab, all tattered and torn, comes running down screaming “Don’t send any more men up there, it’s a trap. There are two Israeli soldiers up there.”

Upon hearing this story our minds went back to the incident when Elijah sat upon the top of the hill and twice the captain and his fifty men were consumed with fire as they came to take the prophet.

Certainly it is true that when we have God on our side, we need not fear the armies around us. The Lord has certainly helped Israel in ages past when they were hopelessly outnumbered by their enemies. When Hezekiah was surrounded by Senna­cherib’s army he turned to the Lord for help and in the morning there were 185,000 dead Assyrians killed by the angel of the Lord. When Gideon faced the Midianites, God reduced the Israeli army to 300 men “lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.”

Already the modern day Israeli army is beginning to vaunt themselves by saying just what God knew they would. In a recent Life Magazine article, Theodore H. White says, “Some might see it as a miracle . . . but Baruch Fisher did not see it as a miracle. ‘There was no place for us to go.’ he said.”

The Jews in Israel now are not very religious. One Israeli Captain who fought in their war of independence personally told us that the Jews in Israel do not need God because they are now in their own land. He explained that a belief in God helped give the Jews hope when they were scattered but now that they are in their own land, they need no one, not even God. Life magazine reports that in Israel today “there is a glowing pride and sense of muscle.”

God has a plan and purpose and He will bring it to pass but not for the righteousness of the Jews for God has said “I do not this for your sakes, O House of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went . . For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.”

History is repeating itself. As God told the children of Israel once before when they conquered their enemies, “Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

If God dc’s all this because of His promise to others, think what He will do for us if we are faithful to His word. He has promised that “the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” He has promised “(For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee.” He has promised that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” He has promised that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

We are never alone or outnumbered if God is on our side. for “if God be for us, who can be against us?” Let us then “taste and see that the Lord is goo.i: blessed is the man who trusteth in Him.”

As we then watch God working out His purpose with the nations of the earth, let us remember that He is doing all this to bring to pass the Kingdom for “the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” While we are watching and waiting, let us be sure that we do not allow anything to separate us from the love of Christ. “For we are persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In Acts 19:18-19 we have recorded one of the most expensive bonfires in history. “Many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.”

These people burned books that were worth a lot of money from a worldly viewpoint but in God’s eyes they were fit only for burning. Today there are a lot of books that cost great sums of money that are good only for bonfires in the sight of God. Solomon said that “of making many books there is no end” and he said that in the days before the printing press was invented. Today we are flooded with books of every type and description and millions of dollars are spent every year on them.

Once we become convinced of the Truth of God’s word, we need to follow the example of those who heard Paul preach and burn the books that would draw our minds away from the things of God. We truly are what we think and we fill our minds with the things we read so it behooves us to choose our books as we would our friends. Recently, in a weekly letter called “Perspective” we read, “The man insists on the finest steak cooked to perfection, and he reads Playboy! He nourishes his stomach on the best food money can buy, and feeds his mind on photos of nude women. Pitiful what some men give their minds to chew on. They demand the best food for their bodies, and stuff their intellects with garbage. No wonder their hearts are starved. Bodies fat and well fed and intellects and emotions suffering malnutrition.”

We can only get out of a thing that which we put into it. When we pour from a coffee pot we expect to get coffee but this is only true if coffee was first put in the pot. If tea comes out, it is because someone put the wrong thing in the pot. The same is true of our minds. We can only think about things with which we are familiar. It’s impossible to think about our trip to Europe if we’ve never been there. Our minds record and store away for future meditation those things which we put into them. Our minds are filled by what we see, what we read, and what we do. It then stands to reason that if we want to do what is right, we must like the little monkey see no evil. This would mean that we would not go to places where we would see the wrong things. We will read only those things which build up the spiritual man because these are the kinds of things we want to feed our minds. Burn the books that draw one’s mind away from the things of God. This would apply, not only to books which pander to the flesh but also those silly empty headed type of books that do nothing to strengthen our minds. If we fed our bodies on food that was not in itself harmful, yet had no food value, we would still die of malnutrition. We must feed our bodies with food that has value. So with our minds, let us make sure that everything we read is helping build us up because time is too precious to fritter it away on meaningless garbage. Television is a wonderful way to fill our minds with a lot of nothing. What a terrible waste of time. Not much can be said in favor of radio either. If we have been reading the right kinds of things, we are better off even while driving, to turn off the radio and meditate upon the things we’ve read than to have these wholesome thoughts pushed right out of our minds by the things that come over the air. After all, we are what we think about all day long and if the world is telling us what to think because we are constantly listening to the thoughts of the world through radio, television, daily newspapers, etc., how are we going to think differently than they do?

Jesus told us that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, for a good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”

Let us then choose with care what we read and what we see, for we will only get out of our minds that which we have put into them. No wonder Paul admonished us saying, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

“Here am I; send me.” And God said, “Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.”

Isaiah did go and preach to the people, but as God predicted, they heard without understanding and looked without seeing.

We, like Isaiah, live in times when few have ears to hear the word of God and eyes to see His glory, His warnings, or His signs of the times.

The fact that few will see or hear does not lessen our duty to say, “Here am I, send me.” God is still calling out a people for His name, one here and one there. The laborers are few. This is no time to be unemployed as a laborer for God. The work is there. The harvest is plentious. What possible excuse can we give for standing idly by when there is so much work to be done? Oh, there are lots of excuses we can give. As in the parable Jesus gave us, I have bought a piece of ground . . . another said I have bought five yoke of oxen, and another said, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come.” These all have their counterparts in modern excuses. The piece of ground is often a beach house or mountain cabin or place on the desert or it can even be our garden at home. At any rate, we cannot go campaigning because Saturday is the only day we have to tend to it. The oxen can easily be our automobiles which instead of transporting us to the work of the Lord carry us over hill and dale in the pursuit of this world’s goods. Wives haven’t changed since the time of Jesus and often the husband or wife makes an excellent excuse for not doing what we didn’t want to do anyway.

When it comes to preaching the truth, to telling others of our hope, we often feel like Moses who told God, 0 my Lord, I am not eloquent.” But God replied, Who made man’s mouth? have not I the Lord? Now therefore go.”

The difference between those who go and those who find excuses for staying home from the Lord’s work is not that the one group feels adequate and the other inadequate but rather that the doers and goers do and go feeling that of their own selves they can do nothing but that if God be for them, then who can be against them and so, with Paul they exclaim “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” and away they go to do the best they can. Surprisingly they find that the more they try to do, the more they are able to do and though woefully inadequate, nevertheless with God’s grace the work gets done and the laborers learn and benefit as much or more as those to whom they have come to minister.

Paul tells us that he “kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house.”

Are we keeping back anything from those around us because we are ashamed to go house to house? Are we keeping quiet instead of trying to teach for fear we might be asked something we can’t answer and thus be embarrassed? Are our feelings so important to us that we would rather preserve them than risk being shown up?

Paul said “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Are we? Jesus warned that some would be ashamed of his Gospel and he said that “whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

If we follow Isaiah’s example, we will say “Here am I, send me” and God will say to us “Go and tell this people” and soon Jesus will say to us “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened.” Mark Twain

We are all a lot like Mark Twain in that most of the things we have worried about never happened. All that worrying wasted on things that never happened! Many have spent sleepless nights listening for non-existent burglars. Others have endured endless agonies over terrible automobile accidents that never took place. Certainly there is enough real trouble in the world that has happened that we should not allow ourselves the luxury of becoming distraught over things that might happen.

We certainly believe that the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” Worry over things that haven’t even happened is clearly a lack of faith. There is a great difference between being cautious and worrying. It’s foolish to take unnecessary chances but to allow our imaginations to run wild in all the horrible things that might take place is very foolish.

Solomon tells us that “whoso harkeneth unto me (God) shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.” Isaiah declares, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

Now we see it becomes a matter of faith and trust. God will do his part. He will keep us in perfect peace if our mind is filled with His thoughts. When we become disturbed over what might be, we are not acknowledging that the angel of the Lord is encamping around us. This does not mean that we will be free of all trouble and tribulation, but it does mean that nothing that happens will be outside the providence of our Heavenly Father. Therefore even the troubles that do come upon us need not disturb our peace of mind. Jesus tells us, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Yes, our Saviour wants us to have peace even while having tribuation in the world. He wants us to be cheerful even while in the midst of our troubles.

It surely was this attitude that caused Paul and Silas to be singing in prison at midnight after being beaten. No wonder Paul could cry out, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” We need to remember that we can too.

It’s a great comfort to know that God will never allow us to be tried or tempted beyond that which we can bear but will always provide a way of escape so that we may be able to bear it. When we turn our life over to God, He directs it in every way so that all the good things and all the trials that come to us are ordered by Him and His angel is there to see that all goes well with us. When we fully realize this and believe it, we truly are filled with peace. As David put it, “Great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing will offend them.”

The key to this happy and successful life is to love God’s law and fill our minds with His thoughts. This can only come through constant reading of His Book and prayer. It is then that God takes over and keeps us in perfect peace. When this happens we, with Paul. will be able to view the troubles that come upon us calmly and rejoice in them. Paul said, “I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.” This is the goal we must seek.

When this happens we will certainly cease to be bothered by troubles that never happen. Mark Twain’s problem will no longer be ours. Not even the troubles that do happen will get us down for we now live unto God therefore with Paul we say, “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

The teacher asked each student in the class to write an essay about their pet, and two little girls who were twins turned in identical essays about their puppy When asked why the essays were exactly alike, they replied that they were both about the same puppy.

Unless there is collusion, no two people, not even identical twins, will say exactly the same thing about anything God has made us each a distinct Individual, and although different, yet each in his own way can sere As God said of Paul, so it applies to us as well, that each of us are to be His witness unto all men.

No two witnesses seeing the same accident will give the exact same account anymore than two little girls working Independently will write the same essay about the same puppy In spite of their differences, true witnesses will agree and confirm the facts, but a skillful lawyer can trip up a false witness In the case of those who testified at Christ’s trial many hare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.

Now we are all witnesses our life is a trial, and we are testifying every day We can be a willing witness, or like the Jews of old who were God s witnesses even in their disobedience we can help prove the truth of God s prediction that there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies Of your own selves, warns Paul, shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

What kind of a witness are we? When a certain number of facts are known, the testimony of the witness can be tested to determine whether or not he is telling the truth John exhorts us to try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone into the world John proceeds to give us the test to apply to determine whether a witness is true or false, and says that “hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error ‘

It is important that we each keep alert to the facts so that we may easily discern the true witness from the false It is also important that we each make sure that not only is our testimony true, but that we are always prepared to give an answer for the hope that is within us.

An ignorant witness is no witness at all If we were present at an accident or scene of a crime and slept through the whole thing, we could not be of any help Neither can we be a true and faithful witness for Christ if we are not aware of the facts concerning his life, his sacrifice, his return, or his commandments.

Oh, you re a Christadelphian, now just what do they believe?” someone asks Are we ready to testify Or are we ashamed, either of our own ignorance or of Christ himself? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

No two people will say exactly the same thing, but we should all be ready, willing, and able to be a true and faithful witness and give to every man that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us with meekness and fear’

With God there is no Fifth Amendment Not even ignorance can be used as an excuse We are witnessing every day, either by what we do or do not do, either by our acts of faith, or the lack of them, either by giving an answer or being ashamed of him The big question that will be answered by the judge of all the earth very soon is, Just what kind of a witness are we?

Have you heard about the cowboy that was fired because he said a discouraging word? According to the song “Home on the Range” it was seldom done. Unfor­tunately discouraging words are uttered rather frequently instead of just seldom heard. They are said almost everywhere human beings congregate, including our own ecclesial meetings. Instead of the encouragement which we all need some of our own group sometimes weaken the hands of the workers with a discouraging word.

We have an example of this with Judah’s remarks in Nehemiah 4:10: “The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.” Nehemiah was doing his best to keep everyone work­ing at the rebuilding of the wall and these negative remarks were about as welcome as measles on a vacation. Already Nehemiah had his hands full with bitter enemies from without who were poking fun at his labors saying, “What do these feeble Jews, even that which they build if a fox go up he shall even break down their stone wall.” The ridicule would have been easier to take if only those with Nehemiah could put up a united front, but discouraging words like Judah uttered often tend to take the heart out of the rest of the workers.

Let us make sure that we are not guilty of saying discouraging words when a worthwhile effort for the Truth is proposed. It is always easier to say “It can’t be done” than to try, and this negative thinking is apt to discourage the hands of those preparing to do it.

It certainly worked this way when the ten spies came back with their report to Moses. “The land flows with milk and honey nevertheless the people be strong, we be not able to go up against the people for they are stronger than we.” The effect of these discouraging words was disastrous. The same thing can happen in our day.

The children of Israel had God on their side and still discouraging words pre­vailed. We are assured, as was Joshua, that if we observe to do according to all that God has commanded, then He will make our way prosperous and we shall have good success. Do any of us dare to be negative when God is so positive? “If God be for us, who can be against us?” No wonder Paul cried out “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

We have nothing to fear if we have God. Peter walked on water as long as he looked toward his Lord, it was only when he looked away at the wind and waves that he became discouraged and began to sink.

Discouragement, thought or spoken, can rob us of opportunities to rise up and build. It is important to be sure that we are doing what God has commanded but this being true, let us neither say or listen to discouraging words. “Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.”