The Ohio Independent Baptist, July 1962

a tronomer. uncovered hi telescope and looked out into the univer e. ith the growth of mind and the gro~ th of kno\.\ledge. rea on can take higher fligh . but never can it free i elf when left to it elf from the thought of the finite. the mea ured. All thi how u that the truth i not within our elves. Man i too infinite imal to be the repo itory or the tandard of truth even for him- elf. May I ay that imple reason take u along the route that lead to revel ation. Rea on compel u to expect ome revelation of what truth is. while Chri tianity actually upplie it. It offe~ to u a demon tration of the truth and that within a per onal life. When Jesus Chri t our Lord declared, ··1 am the truth". He u t– tered the one word which man i really eager to catch when he i a new creature in Chri t Je u . For much a men admire truth as et forth in propo ition . they can only love truth when it becomes incarnate in per on . When Je us ays He is the Truth He doe not mean that H e teache the truths of cience or hi - tory. For these we must earch; the force of thing demands thi . I want to say right here that no per on is o free to inve ti gate cientific and other ecular truth a he who ha found for h is own life the Truth even J e u , a the truth is in J e u . The truth beloved, that Je u give and demon trates i truth avai lable for life - truth that build character and f a\hion manhood. Christ is the Truth Chri t is the Truth. H e i the truth incarnate. He is '"fu] l of grace and truth.· , In H im truth wa per o n all y alive. In H im elf He wa true: to od and m,tn. He had the equi librium of a pentect harmony in Hi own blessed nature. In proportion a we show our co r1 formi ty to or di<;\Cnt from H im we show the lrt1th or fia) ene s in ourselves. hfii ·t i indecc.l the t1L1th ,,it~l. J! e makes 11 1~ ,vo1cl life to others. He gives it fore~ 111 every life th at surrenders it e lf lo I-J i mia~ tel')' . I Jc is 111ore tha11 n1an's xan1p]e. He is Ma11 's avior. l1is i tl1e t111ique note of C l1ri tia11it y. l1ri tiar1ity i 11ot religio,1. l1ri t ia11i- t y i I J l · r~ . . . tl1c lif c)f 1l1e I..ortl J Lt 111 i t ir1tr cltt ti i11 u at tl1c 111 u111e11t Vle are l)orn agai11. ,.I J1 e I , d l l i 111 I f id : " I a 111 c 111 c t 1 n t tlie)' n1igl1t }1, e l ife." ( J >1111 l 0 : 10 . J 110 al d Jared : ·11e tl1nt l1 a tl1 tl1 111 Jiatll lif ." ( J J 1111 5:1:!). I 11 n I au I gi I t l1i rr 11 1 a lin g \\ 1d : ·• J Ill e t Ji, 1 l1ri t ." ( l'J,iJ. J : 21) . I r) · 111 g t f, ll ,., I 1 r i t j n t 11lri toan' t). The 01.10 IND[PENDENl BAP ISl • eac 1ng rom e or . : . : .. :·:.:.:.:.: ...· ...........•... ·.· .•...•. •.•.• .· ...· ...•...........•.....•....... · .•... · ..... ·.·.· . •.• .. . .. . . . . . . .. .... .. . . .. . . . ·•· .. ·.·.·.·.·.·.·:·:·:············-·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.· ·.·.•.· .·•· .. ·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·:·.··-·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.•.·.·.·.•.•.• ........................ .. .•••••••••.. • ·.·.·.···-·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·..·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·:·.·.·.·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:···: ·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.-·.·.·.·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:···:······-·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:··-·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·..·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·~·=·:·:···:·:·:·· ..·.•.•••••·•··••·•••·•••·•·•·•·•···•·•••·•·•••···•·•••·•·•••••·•••••·•·•·•••• . . ........................ · .. ·.·•••·.·.·.· ... •.•.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.· ........ ·.·.·.·.•.•.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.· .. ·.·.• . ·.• .• .· .... ·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.-.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.•.·.· .. ·.·.·.,.·.·.···· ............................ ·.· ... ·.·•·•·.·•·•·.·•·.·.·.·•·.·•·.·•· .. ·.·•·•·•·•·•· .·.·•·.· .. ·.·•·•·.·•·•·•·.•.·.·.·.·.·.·.· .. Chri tianity i not initiation of Chri t it i the indwelling of Chri t. Chri tianity i not tryi ng to do any– thing: it i tru ting Chri t, who h~s done all! He ha fini hed the work and there i nothing to do imply tru t Him who aid "It i fin i bed!' ' H e bed Hi preciou Blood on tl1e ro and the work i all done or1ce and forever. Experience ju tifies the truth of Chri t' c}aim . When men receive Him a the Truth they are freed from every kind of bondage and from all illu ion. They in fact enter into perfect liberty. When we find Je u Chri t we find the trL1 th for human and never in any other \Vay. I f any man wi he to do God' \Vill, he hall be able to decide the trt1 th of religiou teaching, and the on who i true will give the freedom of trt1th (John 7: 17). The pre ence of the truth incarnate in Chri t place every man in a new itua tion. It challenge it command it ifts him. o man can ever be the ame agai n after he ha truly beheld J u Chri t. ' 'Every one tha t i of the truth hcareth my voice." The e word of the Lord J e u are poken to u today ju t a they were to Pila te in hi day. A man' claim i te ted by the power of recognition. A man cla iming to be mu ical recognize in the work of Mozart or Bach or H andel the ma ter me ' age. If Ii teni ng t one of their great ma terpiecc he fail to detect tl1c ma tcr· me · age and interpretation. then hi clain1 of competer1cc an– i~he . he fact that he fad l gi c the ma') lcr''> me age and intcrpr tat1011 proc lain1 h11; o" n J al~it) 1n n1ak111g t1ch a cla1n1. I ht i trllC \\ 1th the p1ofC\\cd follo~c1 of Jc\ll~ 1111\t JJ 'v\C arc of tl1c t1t1th v.·c can11ot l1clp l1t1l 1CC()gn1,c tl1c accent <)f Jl! tt\ t l1 c ( ' 11 r is t . Danger of compromise '"I l1cr i grea t da11ger, at tl1t' 11rt"s– cnt clit)', <Jf Cl>Ol()J 111 ising trutl1 tor tilt; ak >f u11it)Jl. ' l J1is silt tllll l1 ~ car ft1ll guarth;cl agai11 t. r·11 r "a11 l>e n trt1 t111 i 11 attai,1 I ,,t tllt c::xp\;11 e c>f trt1tl1 . I l1 c: trt1 l1r is ti ·t 11 's 111 >tl< l1t lild e, r l , '"~ l di nt ai 11 t rutl1 at , II c st; i t111 il) ll " n l>c 1)r 11101 J i11 tlli ,, a • () 111t1 l, tl1 I> tl r, llt1t 111ai 11t ·1i 11 111 tru tl1 ." l li t= I) 1 ii1 i J1 I l f t I' 1 i n , 11 t 11 11- trary, may be thu enunciated: "Pro– mote union at all co t; if truth can be maintained a wel l. o much the better but promote union." Thi latter principle can only be carried ot1t at the expen e of all that i divine in the way of te timony. We hould ever bear in mind, that ·'the wi dom \vhich i from above i FIR T PURE. then peaceable.' ' The wi dom which i from beneath would be ' 'peaceable" fir t an d therefore it can never be pure. I would tir up your memory concerning the tatement of the Apo tle Paul. He aid · I tamper not, i.e. handle not deceitfully God' m age' ' ( JI Cod. 4:2) for the Word of Truth i to remain un– changed up to the appearing of the Lord J u Chri t ( I Tim. 6: 14). Fai thful stand Hence, the command t "keep that which i committed to thy tru t' ' at v . 20 of the ame chapter; \vhich mak it very plain that there hould be no fel low hip \: ith th e \\h op– po e the truth of the Go pel f r it i evident that there can be no tru t timon}' ,vhcre truth i f r– fcited. And \\ hat i more, "the \\ rath of God i re ealed fr m hea\en again t al l ung clline and t1nright– eoun of n1en \\ h hold the trt1th in unrighle U' ne .' ' ( R n1. 1:lc.-19). But, ,, hen one ha th\; vVord of J a th ba i of hi C()t1vi t1on . he n1,, calrnl}' tantl again t the ft1ll tide l1f h Ll 01 an op I n ion an ti p c c j ti d 1 e. f () r. i t \\ e a re of the t r tt th . an Li 1 cc g111 l c ( "h11 t a t1cl1, \\C ,1rc b0t1r1tl tt) t,1ke <1 1Jc \\ 1th H1n1. \\ c \\ 111 c )TlfC'i\ H1n1 d thc l ur ll of I itc \\ c ~,1 c l)()t1ntJ lt) l1car \\ 1t11e,, t () H 1n1 \\ l1ctl1c1 l t 111 c d 11 t hot ll'> , ,l \\c .1 11ng t)f ( 'rt)\\Il t)t .... 1 tll\..: ltn1l1111g t f 4\ t .11, ~1r ... hill. ..()nlv let , ttr ct.1nvc1,.1t1l)ll t1~ ., " .1, 1L l,i.:c<)Ol\:tl1 tl1c 1l,,11~l \)l t l1r i~t • • • d ll tf i Il 11 ( 11 i 1 l g l " I l l f l ll l \ \ l' l 1 r "" ., atl\Cl~arit:s: \\11 i' ll i l ) tllclll nll ~, tllt'11t lt)~t:n ot J)crcliti()ll l t1t t, , ,ti of ,t, a ltl)ll ,111 t il1~,t tlf l,\,ll. I~ ,r tttlll) \ ,u it is 1?.i, 1 r 11 i11 l)\:'l1all l f ., ......, l1ri t , n )( () t1l, t,, l, Ii·, t)ll li i111, llttl • ls> It) su lcr f >r ll i .1ke." ( I> I 1 i 1. I : .._ 7 f. . - t \ , ..... ) • }-1 l r it i 111 \ t g I ) r i t 1 1 t I t 1c', t t1 1 t 11 , , t 11 e l 1 lJ I l--1 , , n as t 11 ~ t I tl t }1 i i11 111 i t J e u , ,, kn ,, \\ 1tt1 tit J 1n I, ntt11 )f ~ \I >llbt that ill p- l , sirig 1 ,, t :s ell t: I 1 1 I t g l l \ 11 ( 11ti11t1etl 111 1 I ba ·k , er Pg 9 , JULY 1962