FEBRUARY 2017 NO. 02 VOLUME 62 As The Life Of

help brethren who donate significantfunds to the Philippine work so thatthey can have a legal tax deduction.H.A.N. is approved by the I.R.S. as a nonprofit charity. Thomas soon learnedabout it and out of the goodnessof his heart volunteered to use hisskills to create a website to provideinformation and reports about H.A.N.He has maintained the site http://helpaneighbor.net/ gratis through theyears but relinquished this task to hisson, Jacob, a couple of years ago as hiscondition worsened. This is just oneexample of the quiet but valuable workhe has done for the cause of Christ. Ican be a better Christian because ofthe example and influence of this goodbrother.”Mike O’Neal, who preaches for theWestside church in Wichita, KS wherethe Keese family worships, has beena close observer of the family as theyevidenced faithfulness through trials.He said, “Words are inadequateto express the depth and breadthof the love, respect, admiration andappreciation the brethren at theWestside church of Christ in Wichita,KS have for Thomas Keese and hisfaithful family. The reason for suchregard is not because of all that he hassuffered due to the MS that ravagedhis physical body, but the result ofhis spiritual life, godly influence andhumble devotion to the cause ofChrist. Thomas, instead of allowingdisease to hinder his service, foundvarious ways to be actively engaged,including setting up and managingwebsites for several congregationsand brotherhood publications. Articleswritten by Thomas have been a sourceof insightful, biblical teaching and greatencouragement to many brethren andcan be read on his personal website:http://4suchatimeasthis.org/. He alsodeveloped a very useful search enginehttp://seekye1st.net/ for sermons, Bibleclass material and other publications.All (including myself) who have had theprivilege to know Thomas have beenbenefited and blessed spiritually by theexperience. Paraphrasing the tributegiven Dorcas in Acts 9:36 is certainlyappropriate when referring to Thomas’life: ‘full of good works and charitabledeeds which he has done.’”What about us? Life has noguarantees. Time and chance overtakeall. If our lives are limited by someunexpected handicap or infirmity, howwould we react? Would we wallowin despair, or make the best of a badsituation?I again saw under the sun that therace is not to the swift and the battleis not to the warriors, and neither isbread to the wise nor wealth to thediscerning nor favor to men of ability;for time and chance overtake themall. Moreover, man does not know histime: like fish caught in a treacherousnet and birds trapped in a snare, sothe sons of men are ensnared at anevil time when it suddenly falls onthem (Eccl. 9:11–12).TransitionsAfter forty years, Mike Willis hasretired from editing Truth Magazine.Although he will continue to servein other ways, those associated withthe GOT Foundation wanted to say“Thank You” for his devotion, fidelityand long years of service. Accordingly,in the section of this issue normallyreserved for theme articles, we includesome expressions of appreciationthat were offered to Mike at a surpriseretirement party held in his honor onNovember 3, 2016. Because of spacelimitations, all could not be printed,but they are accessible at http://www.truthmagazine.com/.abounding in the work of the Lord,knowing that your toil is not in vain inthe Lord (1 Cor. 15:58).ConclusionChange is a constant during ourearthly sojourn. Opportunities comeand go; tragedy unexpectedly strikes;accidents and illness alter (or end) wellmade plans. Despite living in a worldunder the curse of sin and death, weare obligated to “redeem the time.”Therefore be careful how you walk,not as unwise men but as wise,making the most of your time,because the days are evil (Eph.5:15–16).Despite life’s uncertainties, Goddoes not change. Physical objectsperish; human accomplishments aretemporal. Yet, God’s word endures toall generations. Let us, therefore, givethanks for His provision, precepts, andprovidential care.He has weakened my strength in theway; He has shortened my days. I say,“O my God, do not take me away inthe midst of my days, Your years arethroughout all generations. Of old Youfounded the earth, and the heavensare the work of Your hands. Even theywill perish, but You endure; and all ofthem will wear out like a garment; likeclothing You will change them andthey will be changed” (Ps. 102:23–26;cf. 1 Pet. 1:23-25).What about us? What will we do withour allotted time? How will we employour talents, and spend our energy?What will be our life’s legacy?Therefore, my beloved brethren,be steadfast, immovable, alwaysFebruary 2017 TruthMagazine.comMark MayberryEditorMark and Sherelyn have laboredwith the Adoue St. churchof Christ in Alvin, TX since1998, where he serves as theevangelist and an elder. Hiswebsite is http://markmayberry.net/ and his email is mark@truthpublications.com.5

How the Bible Came to UsThe Preservation of God’s Wordby Kyle PopeHow can we know the Bible is complete? Is something missing? Was something left out? Does Scripture offer any answers?My grandchildren have some puzzleswe keep in a box of toys in the roomwhere they stay whenever they visit.They are simple puzzles with onlyabout 20 pieces but occasionally one ortwo of the pieces gets misplaced. Whenthat happens, even if all the otherpieces are in place, it’s not a completepicture—something is missing. Welearned in our first lesson that thewriters who wrote the Bible claim tohave done so by the direct guidanceof God. If we accept their claim, aquestion that immediately arises ishow can we know that the Holy Spiritdid not also inspire other authors towrite other books not found in theBible? Does the Bible have all of God’srevealed word or is something missing?Three Facts About God and HisWordIf we accept that God has revealedHimself through the written wordwe must notice some things God hasrevealed about Himself and His word.1. God is All-Powerful.Unlike gods of mythology and falsereligion, the God revealed in the Bibleis omnipotent, a word that means“all-powerful.” Solomon declared, “ourGod is greater than all gods” (2 Chron.7:5). Jeremiah wrote, “‘Ah, Lord God!Behold, You have made the heavensand the earth by Your great power andoutstretched arm. There is nothing toohard for You” (Jer. 33:17). God is “theMaker of all things” (Jer. 10:16; 51:19),6and Jesus, God in the flesh, said, “withGod all things are possible” (Matt.19:26). So that means while humansmay try to resist God’s will, they cannotoverpower Him.2. God’s Word Accomplishes ItsPurpose.When God spoke to Isaiah, Hecompared His word to rain and snowthat water the earth and cause growth.He declared, “So shall My word bethat goes forth from My mouth; itshall not return to Me void, but it shallaccomplish what I please, and it shallprosper in the thing for which I sentit” (Isa. 55:11). So if God sends forthHis word and God is all-powerful,man cannot prevent God’s word fromaccomplishing its intended purpose. Asa result 3. God’s Word Endures Forever.All throughout the Bible, it is taughtthat God’s word cannot pass away.David proclaimed, “The entirety ofYour word is truth, and every one ofYour righteous judgments enduresforever” (Ps. 119:160). Isaiah was toldto, “Cry out!” the truth that “All fleshis grass, and all its loveliness is like theflower of the field. The grass withers,the flower fades but the word of ourGod stands forever” (Isa. 40:6-8). Jesus,God in the flesh, declared, “Heavenand earth will pass away, but My wordswill by no means pass away” (Matt.24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 21:32). Finally,Peter described the word of the gospelFebruary 2017 TruthMagazine.comof Christ as an “incorruptible” seedthat is “the word of God which livesand abides forever” going on to quoteIsaiah 40:6-8 (1 Pet. 1:22-25).So if God is all-powerful, and Hisword endures forever, what doesthat tell us about whether the Bibleis missing something? If man couldsuccessfully remove, destroy, erase,or delete something from the divinerevelation God intended to preserve,wouldn’t that mean human beings hadovercome God? Yes. So along with theclaim that the Bible is from God, wemust also understand that it teachesthe principle that God will preserve Hisword.Free Will and ProvidenceHow can that be true if we all havethe freedom to choose right or wrong?I could make the decision right now totake a Bible and cut out all the pagesthat teach things I don’t like. I couldburn every bookstore that sells Biblesand force everyone I could to give uptheir Bibles to be burned. Wouldn’t thatsucceed in destroying God’s word? No.We’ll see in future lessons that thereactually have been times when peopletried to do these very things, but eventhough human beings have free will(the right to choose right or wrong),an all-powerful God always exercisesprovidence.The word “providence” comes froma Latin word that means “to foresee.” Itrefers to the ways God provides things

to His people. The Bible makes it clearthat God knows everything that willhappen long before it occurs. Jamesdeclared, “Known to God from eternityare all His works” (Acts 15:18). Isaiahtaught that God is One, “Declaringthe end from the beginning, and fromancient times things that are not yetdone ” (Isa. 46:10). Imagine that youknew someone was about to hit youin the face—would you move yourhead to prevent him from hitting you?Would you take steps to try and makehim change his mind about taking thatswing? If you let him hit you wouldyou put some ice nearby to soothethe pain? God is so far above us! Godknows everything we will ever do, andcan act in ways to make certain thateven if people try to destroy His word,it will be preserved for those who needit or for the time when people willfollow it.Examples of God’sPreservation of His WordLet’s notice two examples of thisrecorded in the Bible. Near the finaldays of the southern kingdom ofJudah, the Israelites had become sowicked they had given themselves tothe most extreme forms of idolatry everpracticed in ancient times includingchild sacrifice and temple prostitution(cf. 2 Kings 23:7-10). Any remnants oftrue worship according to the Law ofMoses came only from traditions heldin the memory of the people. Thishappened because God’s word fellinto such disuse that the book of theLaw had actually been lost! On oneoccasion when the temple was beingcleared, Scripture records, “Now whenthey brought out the money that wasbrought into the house of the Lord,Hilkiah the priest found the Book of theLaw of the Lord, given by Moses. ThenHilkiah answered and said to Shaphanthe scribe, ‘I have found the Book ofthe Law in the house of the Lord.’ AndHilkiah gave the book to Shaphan” (2Chron. 34:14). When the law was readto king Josiah, he committed himselfto lead the nation in restoration of trueworship of God according to His word.Unfortunately Josiah’s son,Jehoiakim, did not have the samerespect for God’s word. When the Lordled Jeremiah to send a message fromHim to the king, the Bible records, “Andit happened, when Jehudi had readthree or four columns, that the kingcut it with the scribe’s knife and castit into the fire that was on the hearth,until all the scroll was consumed inthe fire that was on the hearth” (Jer.36:23). Because he didn’t like whatGod said, Jehoiakim tried to destroy it!Did he succeed? No. God commandedJeremiah, “Take yet another scroll, andwrite on it all the former words thatwere in the first scroll which Jehoiakimthe king of Judah has burned” (Jer.36:28).Even though people disregardedGod’s word so much that it was lost,God preserved it for the time whengood hearts would obey its commands.Even though people tried to silence anddestroy God’s word, God preserved itfor those who would respect it. Todaywe can trust that God has preserved Hisword just as He intended. Nothing islost. Nothing is missing. It exists just asGod intended. In future lessons we willsee historical examples of this in God’sprovidential preservation of His wordthrough the ages.Kyle PopeKyle Pope preaches for theOlsen Park church of Christ inAmarillo, Texas. He has writtenseveral books published byTruth Publications includingHow We Got the Bible. He can bereached at kmpope@att.net.Books by Kyle PopeHow We Got the BibleISBN 1584272984 10.99How did we get the Bible inits present form? What aboutdifferent translations? HowWe Got the Bible gives a goodexplanation of how the Bible wascreated and transmitted downthrough the centuries.Ready to Give a DefenseISBN 1584273860 7.99This workbook provides bestpractices for addressing commonerrors about salvation, worship,women’s roles in the church,the organization and work ofthe church, and more, withan emphasis on the authorityof Scripture as our guide inreligious matters.For more books by Kyle Pope, visitCEIbooks.com/authors/kyle-popeFebruary 2017 TruthMagazine.com7

Women’s Insight: Teaching Our ChildrenThe Principle of the Learner (1)by Aleta SamfordTeaching a Bible class can be one of the most rewarding things we do, unless we have poor listeners. At that point, everyone’s time iswasted. God’s word provides principles that help us all become better listeners.We move now to the secondprinciple of the mind, the Law of theLearner, which states, “The Learnermust attend with interest to thematerial being learned.” Our challengeis to make this truth a reality. “One mayas well talk to the dead as to attempt toteach a child who is wholly inattentive”(John Milton Gregory, The Seven Lawsof Teaching, 34). Our class periods aretoo short to plead with the children tocooperate.The purpose of these nextfew articles is to emphasize theresponsibility of the learner, butbecause they are young, adults are stillresponsible for the type of listenersthey become. We continue the searchfor catalysts to motivate the mind andthe will of our children to do what weneed them to do because they want todo it.Let us, like the Master, carefullyobserve a little child, that we maylearn from him what education is; foreducation, in its broadest meaning,embraces all the steps and processesby which an infant is graduallytransformed into a full-grown andintelligent man (Gregory, 7).We can all understand this quote;we observe it every day. Imagine it inan illustration where we have two cliffs.We place the little child on one sideand envision him as the transformed“full-grown and intelligent man” on theother side. The path from one side to8the other is made up of all the “stepsand processes” it takes to get himthere.Our primary focus in the spiritualeducation of our children is thatthey one day walk with the Lord. TheScriptures are filled with this purposefor our lives, but I want to look at howthe apostle Paul states it: “For thisreason we also, since the day we heardit, do not cease to pray for you, andto ask that you may be filled with theknowledge of His will in all wisdom andspiritual understanding that you maywalk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasingHim, being fruitful in every good workand increasing in the knowledge ofGod” (Col. 1:9-10).In effect, Paul emphasizes the“steps and processes” that will help uswalk worthy of the Lord, etc. He wasconcerned with the spiritual educationand growth of the church then, and ofcourse it applies to us today. For thesake of our illustration, I would liketo suggest that these three aspects(knowledge, understanding, andwisdom) become the structural piecesneeded to develop and improve ourdaily walk with God. Little childrenmust take this path, and we mustcontinue in it.Just as God’s word gives usprinciples to become the best teacherswe can be, He continues to guide us inthis next principle of the mind. We areFebruary 2017 TruthMagazine.comlooking for catalysts; we are looking forbeginnings: “The fear of the Lord is thebeginning of knowledge ” (Prov. 1:7).“The fear of the Lord is the beginningof wisdom, and knowledge of the HolyOne is understanding” (Prov. 9:10).Fear is the divine motivation in theprocesses of gathering the neededinformation (knowledge), internalizingit (understanding) and applyingit (wisdom). Spiritual educationembraces these and transforms us intopeople of God.In our next article, we will makespecific application of these verses toour children.SourceGregory, John Milton. The Seven Laws ofTeaching. Revised ed. (Grand Rapids,MI: Baker Book House, 1995).Aleta is the wife of GeneSamford who preaches for thechurch that meets in Kemp, TX.She has taught Bible classesfor forty years and, in an effortto help other women jointhe ranks, presents a seriesAleta Samfordof lessons based on her ownexperiences and The Seven Laws of Teaching. Heremail address is aletas10@sbcglobal.net.

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DoctrineGrace and Faithby David FlattWe are saved by grace through faith. While often misunderstood and controversial, grace and faith are inseparable conditions for oursalvation.For by grace are ye saved throughfaith; and that not of yourselves: it isthe gift of God: not of works, lest anyman should boast (Eph. 2:8-9).There may be no clearer doctrinalexplanation for human salvationthan the above cite passage. Yet,despite Paul’s clarity on the subject,there may be no greater doctrinalcontroversy than the nature of humansalvation. What is the extent of God’srole in salvation? What is the extentof our role in salvation? Does God doeverything and we do nothing? If wedo something, does that negate whatGod does? Whose role in salvationis greater? God’s or ours? These areimportant questions to which the Biblegives answers.Just as there are two parties insalvation, God and man, there are twoelements in salvation: grace and faith.First, consider God’s grace. Simplydefined, grace is a gift. God’s gift isoffered in spite of the recipients beingentirely undeserving. There are manyexamples of God giving an undeservinghumanity gifts. God gives humanity airto breath and food to eat. He makesthe sun to rise on the evil and goodand sends rain on the unjust and just(Matt. 5:45). God has given humanitythe gift of His word. We can understandGod and His expectation for us as theresult of the word of His grace (1 Cor. 2;Acts 20:32). Most significantly, God hasgiven undeserving humanity the gift ofHis Son: “For God so loved the world,10that He gave His only begotten Son,that whosoever believeth in him shouldnot perish, but have everlasting life”(John 3:16). The Son of God makes oursalvation possible (Titus 2:10). None ofthese gifts can be earned. We are notowed anything from God.Now, most do not question God’sgrace. Few would deny these examplesof God’s grace. The controversiessurrounding the nature of humansalvation do not concern what God hasdone. Rather, controversies surroundhow man is to respond to God’s grace.What is our role in human salvation?Many people object to placingconditions on human salvation. Thetheology of human salvation acceptedby most of western society can bedescribed in the following statement.“Jesus died; therefore we are saved.”This is not a new concept. When theGospel began to be preached, the Jewsfalsely charged Christianity as teachinga person could live in sin and be saveddue to the grace of God. The Jews hadthe law to restrain sin. Christians hadgrace which only encouraged sin. Pauladdressed this false charge: “What shallwe say then? Shall we continue in sin,that grace may abound? God forbid.How shall we, that are dead to sin,live any longer therein?” (Rom. 6:1-2).Evidently, there was more to salvationthan simply receiving the grace of God.Now consider our faith. Grace isGod’s part in salvation. Faith is our partFebruary 2017 TruthMagazine.comin salvation. Simply defined, faith isbelief which affects action. Faith is aresponse to God’s grace. For example,do we believe God gave humanitythe gift of His Son? If we believe, howmust we respond? How is this belief toimpact our lives? Is there something weare to do in response to God’s grace?If we are to be saved, we mustobey. We must act on our faith. Jamescontended man was to demonstratehis faith by his works (James 2:14-26).Faith without works is dead. If we donot obey, we will be lost. God’s gracedemands action. For example, Paulwrote Titus, “For the grace of God

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