CLARITY OF TEACHING

An article by Bobby L. Graham

The Bible itself is clear in its teaching, leaving no doubt about our responsibilities to God.  The reason for such clarity is the nature of God's will:  it is divine revelation, designed to make manifest the things of the Lord for the benefit of man (I Cor. 2:5ff; Eph. 3:1ff).  The Lord has not left us wondering or guessing about the path of acceptable service.  Truth is narrow, demanding, and precise in its very nature, whether the field of geography, mathematics or Biblical truth.

Those teaching Biblical truth must be sure they teach truth, not their ideas, opinions, or ways.  When they teach truth, they ought to do so in love, kindness, and genuine concern for souls.  These motivations and manners in teaching will also demand that they teach clearly, so that all present might understand.  Too often teachers leave their students in the fog of wonderment or the haze of confusion.  This should never happen.  Truth is too important, souls to precious, and eternity too real for teachers to apporach their task haphazardly.  They do nobody a favor by failing to tell them what God wants them to know and to do; they deny them the word of life found in God's Book and endanger all souls involved --- teacher and taught souls.

It is easy for teachers to allow clarity to become the excuse for hateful words, just as it is easy for them to claim love as their reason for witholding truth.  The truth is that love will never withhold any needed truth, just as truth will never countenance any vestiage of hate in teaching of truth (II Timothy 2:24-26).

Those listening to Jesus and the apostles might have gone away not accepting their teaching, but they never had to wonder what they had taught or their motive in teaching it.  All Bible teachers and preachers must strive for the same objective.

“Some of our preachers are so vague, sometimes they are months trying to get the people to understand what they meant and what they didn't mean.  There is no necessity for this.  What the Bible teaches on any subject may be so presented that the people will understand it --- cannot help but understand it.”  So wrote F.G. Allen in 1879.  N.B. Hardeman used to say that he believed a preacher ought to be able to answer a Bible question about matters of salvation on a postcard and still have enough space to tel Aunt Mary and Uncle Johnny hello.  When teachers teach with question marks instead of exclamation marks, they need to go back to the Bible to learn again what they need to know so they can teach it!

POLLUTED BREAD

BY STEVE NIEMEIER

Malachi 1:7 teaches us that the Lord was disturbed over the “polluted sacrifices” that were being made to Him.  He asked them if the governor would be pleased with these sacrifices.  This is a wonderful lesson for all of us to learn.  God is not pleased with “polluted sacrifices.”  God knows us better than we know ourselves.  This is frightening when we stop and think about it.  We may not give cheerfully as the Lord requires.  We may not give as we have prospered, as the Lord requires.  We may not give regularly as the Lord requires.  Yet, the Lord knows this and He knows the intent of our hearts.  This is “polluted” in His eyes.

This congregation as well as every congregation of the Lord's people has a responsibility to be good stewards of the Lord's money.  However, we are to fulfill the work that He has assigned to each congregation.  Evangelism, edification and benevolence are the three areas the Lord has assigned for each congregation to do.  We have no record of “accumulating” funds just to have a “big” bank account.  We are to make sure that we are pushing ourselves to do the best that we can and the most that we can to enhance the gospel in this area.  We should at all times be looking for opportunities to spread the gospel and most of these opportunities will have a cost to them.

While we are to be good stewards of the Lord's money, we should not confuse this with being “tight-wads.”  A good steward means that we will use the Lord's money “wisely.”  A good steward also means that we will not offer up “polluted” sacrifices to the Lord.  We must be prudent with His money.  Our efforts must be according to His word and acceptable to Him.  Also, it means that we are willing to sacrifice in order to spread the gospel.  The questions that we must ask ourselves are, “Have we done that.”  Have we given “cheerfully?”  Can we give more?  Are we willing to give more?  Are we willing to move forward in the Lord's work in this area?  Or is it easier to just offer up “polluted sacrifices?”

RESPONSIBILITY

A SELECTED ARTICLE

Responsibility is the state of moral obligation.  It is bounded on the north by authority, on the east by intelligence, on the south by ability, and on the west by opportunity.  Its capital city is Conscience, situated on the River Truth.  It is traversed by mountain chains of difficulty and made fruitful by streams of sincerity.  Its natural resources are head, hands and feet.  Its products are deeds, and the inhabitants are called Doers.  It carries on an extensive interstate commerce with neighboring states.  Its Maker and Ruler is God.