Ready! Set! Go!
"They shall mount up with wings like eagles" 
(Isaiah 40:31)

 

Volume 5—Number 3—March 2003
 
 

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

       READY:  Absolute Truth

     SET:  Unclean!

     GO:   PRINT!
 
 
 

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A Monthly Publication of the Church of Christ  at Duluth, Georgia 
to equip the saints in reaching 
the lost through example and evangelism. 

Editors 

Skip Andrews 
3239 Highway 120 
Duluth, GA  30096 
770  476-2159 
email: Skip Andrews

Bobby Wood 
1410 Flat Shoals Road 
Conyers, GA 30013 
770 922-8341 
email: Bobby Woods 

Produced under the oversight of the 
elders at Duluth, GA
 
 

Rod Rutherford
Dennis Hatchett
Skip Andrews
 

This paper is sent free to all who request it.

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The Battle Lines Are Drawn!

I suppose that there is always at least one war somewhere in this old sinful world.  Men have been fighting to the death almost since the beginning.

But we who are members of the church of Christ know that there is a much more significant war, and the stakes are “out of this world.”  Paul wrote of it in Ephesians 6:10-13.  

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (NKJV).

The pages of this periodical are presented in the hope that we can keep our focus on the real enemy—Satan.  We are to fight him by wearing the whole armor of God and by wielding the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Our goal is to make friends out of our enemies.  Our goal is not to destroy them!  We would do well to learn this lesson internally as well.  Much of the New Testament was written to address the sin of Christians waging war against one another, which is one of the devil’s most powerful tools to keep us from the real war.

     - Skip
 

    In Jesus’ High Priestly prayer to the Father, He prayed, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). When dealing with the authority of the Scriptures, a pertinent question is, “Is there absolute truth?”  If there is no absolute truth, then the Scriptures cannot be authoritative. However, if the Scriptures are absolute truth as Jesus stated in the above passage, then they carry the authority for all that is done in religion. To answer the question, consider the following.
 FIRST, IF THE BIBLE IS GOD’S WORD, THEN THE BIBLE IS TRUTH BECAUSE GOD CANNOT LIE. To establish this, we must first show the Bible is God’s word. Paul wrote, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God...” (2 Timothy 3:16). In addition, if the Bible contains traits beyond the capabilities of man, then the Bible is not the product of man but of God. The Bible does contain traits such as predictive prophecy which is beyond the capabilities of men. Therefore, the Bible is God’s word. Now that we have established the first part of our statement, we must establish the fact that God cannot lie. Hebrews 6:18 is clear. In part it says it is “impossible for God to lie.” In Titus 1:2, Paul wrote, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” Finally, consider John’s statement “that no lie is of the truth” (1 John 2:21). Since the Bible is God’s word, it is truth, and no lie is of the truth. Therefore, the Scriptures are absolute truth.
 SECOND, IF THERE IS NO ABSOLUTE TRUTH, THEN THERE IS NO WAY UNTO SALVATION SINCE A PERSON MUST KNOW THE GOSPEL IN ORDER TO BE SAVED. Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Thus, an understanding of the truth is necessary for salvation. This is reinforced by Peter in 1 Peter 1:22, which says, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth...” In 1 Timothy 2:4, Paul wrote about Christ Jesus’ desire: “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” Finally, the writer of Hebrews equated the knowledge of the truth with salvation. He wrote, “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins” (10:26; see also 2 Thessalonians 2:10).
 THIRD, IF THERE IS NO ABSOLUTE TRUTH, THEN THERE ARE NO FALSE TEACHERS AND THE WORDS OF JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES ARE VAIN. How could there be false teachers if there is no standard of truth? So in order to establish this premise, all one must do is show that Jesus and His apostles said there were false teachers. Such statements would clearly imply a rightful standard of truth.  False teachers are either not teaching the truth or going beyond what the truth teaches. With this in mind, consider Jesus’ statement in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Further, Jesus warned, “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:11). These clear statements of Jesus cannot be ignored! Peter, an apostle of Jesus, spoke of false teachers who sneak around and introduce God’s people to “damnable heresies” (2 Peter 2:1). Finally, because there are false teachers, John exhorted Christians to “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1).
 FOURTH, IF THERE IS NO ABSOLUTE TRUTH, THEN THERE ARE NO “TRUE WORSHIPPERS.” To the woman at Jacob’s well in Samaria, Jesus said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). “In spirit” means the spirit of man or the inner person. “In truth” means according to truth, God’s word. Since true worshippers worship God “in truth,” then truth must be understood for true worship to be accomplished.
 FIFTH, IF THERE IS NO ABSOLUTE TRUTH, THEN THERE CANNOT BE A FAIR AND RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT AT THE END OF TIME. Jesus said, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). Jesus was clear! The standard of judgment on that great and notable day will be His word, but how can that judgment be fair and righteous if He has not revealed His will? Paul reinforced this in Romans 2:2, which says, “But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.” In Revelation, John recorded that the dead, both small and great, will stand before God in judgment, and the books will be opened (Revelation 20:12). No doubt, among the books will be the book of books — the Bible. 
 Is there absolute truth? Of course! If there is no absolute truth, there is no word of God, no salvation, no false teachers, no true worshippers, and no fair judgment.

Call 770 476-2159 and order a bundle of Ready! Set! Go!  We will send it free, ten times each year.  All we ask is that they are distributed and read.
 

In the world of opposites is the concept of clean versus unclean.   “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the spirits”  (Proverbs 16:2; see 20:9).  The preceding reference points out the need for a reliable standard that can show us the real difference between clean and unclean.  The Bible is that standard!  Please study the information in the two columns below in order to learn the importance of this Bible theme.
 
 

1. A description is found in Revelation 17:4.
2. The condition is described in Ephesians 5:5 and 2 Corinthians 12:21.
3. Some evil moral standards that make one unclean are given in Romans 1:24 and the context.
4. The unclean lifestyle is rejected by those who obey Jesus (Romans 6:19; Ephesians 4:19).
5. Uncleanness is listed with a host of other sins in Galatians 5:19-21.
6. The gospel calls all people out of uncleanness (2 Corinthians 6:17; Ephesians 5:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:7).
7. Paul made a claim about not being unclean in 1 Thessalonians 2:3.

1. This is a serious subject, as these references show: John 13:10,11; Revelation 15:6; 19:8,14; 21:18,21.
2. There is an honorable goal associated with this—to be pure (clean) from the blood of all men (Acts 20:26).
3. The method by which God can make us clean involves His word and its message about the blood of Christ (John 15:3; Acts 15:9; Ephesians 5:26; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Hebrews 1:3; 9:14, 22, 23; 10:2, 22; James 4:8; 1 John 1:7).
4. Being clean begins with the internal part of man (Matthew 5:8; 1 Timothy 1:5; 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:3; 2:22).
5. Being clean involves the external part of man (James 1:27).
6. Clean and unclean really are opposites (Titus 1:15).
7. There is a great danger for the Christian to note: it is possible to forget that he was made clean (2 Peter 1:9).
 
 
 

Which side of this chart describes you?  Are you really applying the word of God to yourself?  Do you understand that as a Christian, you cannot be effective at helping others unless you live a clean (pure) life?  Please take the time to read these verses: Matthew 23:25,26; Psalm 51:7,10.

T“Ready! Set! Go!” is a paper designed to promote and encourage evangelism in every area of the world.  The Duluth congregation is involved in reaching the lost wherever they may be and by every possible means available.
One of the ways this is being done is through the efforts of Truth for the World which is under the direct oversight of the Duluth elders.  The mediums used in this work involve the use of television, short-wave radio, regular radio, the internet, the printed page, and campaigns.  Last year the fruits of our labor brought over nineteen hundred precious souls into the fold of Christ.  Our hopes are for this year’s harvest to be even greater.  
Such an effort requires workers.  We have eight fulltime workers to accomplish this great task.  One area of this work is printing.  By doing our printing in-house, we are able to send far more materials to the lost than would be possible if we hired the printing done.  One of the problems we have is raising enough money to accomplish this work.  It is a great problem to have since the work continues to grow, creating the need for even more funds.  There are two areas of cost involved in printing:  the money needed for supplies and the funds to support the printer.
Skip asked me to write this article to address the second area.  One year ago I came on board Truth for the World to be the printer after having preached full time for twenty-nine years.  When I was asked if I would be interested in doing this work, it was not hard to say yes when I considered how many souls would be reached by what I would be doing.  In foreign lands, every tract we print is read by a minimum of twelve people.  Last year I printed over one million tracts, plus tens of thousands of Bible Correspondence Courses.  Imagine the souls this literature is reaching, and then consider the nineteen hundred plus baptisms last year are only those we can document.  How many more are being saved which we do not know about?
The one factor in coming to TFTW which concerned  me was finding enough personal support.  I still need to raise a good portion of my support.  This is where you can help.  I am asking for congregations who are concerned about mission work both at home and abroad to allow me to come and present the work.  This involves a slide presentation which shows you the staff and the work we do.  Would you consider allowing me the privilege to talk to the congregation where you are about our work and the needs which I have?  If so, please call me any time at 770/867-9643 or write me at R. F. (Bob) Knox, Jr., 648 Rosebud Lane, Winder, GA  30680.  
Thank you for considering this plea.  Together we can be Ready! Set! and Go! into all the world with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.
     - Bob Knox

Do you need help with discouragement, fear, lack of faith, family problems, etc.?  This is a series of 12 video lessons using “five smooth stones” to conquer these “Goliaths.”