THAT BOY IS NO HUSBAND!
by Glenn Colley

While holding a gospel meeting in another state recently, I was asked by the local preacher to meet with him and a woman who had asked to talk with us. She felt helpless and really needed advice. This tenderhearted, forty-something Christian mother's eyes welled up with tears as she began, "My fifteen-year-old daughter is pregnant." Their hearts were broken, and their daughter is facing decisions no one should ever have to make. Now, that baby is pure and sweet and an heritage of the Lord Ps 127:3. Nevertheless, for their family, today's heartaches and problems are real.

Go back to the days before the fornication was committed--before the unhappy decisions were made leading up to this pregnancy out of wedlock. Perhaps this girl, as most, reasoned this way: "We love each other so much. He loves me just like he is my husband." No doubt he told her he loved her and she believed it was so. But words sometimes have different meanings, and here is one great example of that sort of confusion. If the truth be told, his love consisted of 95% lust and 5% true affection. Boys and girls this age would say I was wrong and figure I didn't know what I was talking about. But the evidence speaks too loudly for me to be wrong.

Read on…

Consider the difference between the way a real husband loves his wife and the way that 18-year-old boy loved his 15-year-old girlfriend.

(1) He loves her enough to die for her. Therefore, he loves her enough to live for her. He always want what is best for her. He would never intentionally hurt her. "Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it" Eph 5:25.

(2) He loves her as his own body. Just as we naturally avoid things which would harm our bodies, such as drinking poison or jumping out of an airplane without a parachute, a man protects his wife from anything which could harm her. He does not want her hurt.
He would suffer himself before he would let her be hurt. "So men ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh" Eph 5:28-29.

(3) He provides her with the things which will help her live long and happily in this life. He loves her with a love that totally desires her best interest. As the Bible says, he "nourishes and cherishes" her. "For no
man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church" Eph 5:29.

Now, contrast that husband's love with that of this 18-year-old who chose to commit fornication with his girlfriend--a girlfriend who is now
expecting her first child. Girls, WAKE UP to the truth! Perhaps this girl thought, "He loves me like I was his wife." No he doesn't! Think of
the risk that boyfriend was willing to put that girl in, in order to satisfy his physical desires for a short time. He led that girl into a pit of physical and emotional serpents, and ignored that danger to her to get what he wanted. Could she walk through that pit and not be bitten?

(1) He ignored the emotional guilt she would experience. Sex is not trivial and it isn't something you can forget. Women (and many men) who committed fornication in their dating years, who are now 35, look back on their teen years with deep regret for sexual sins. Did this girl's boyfriend think or care about that? What about later when she is middle-aged and is trying to encourage her teenage daughter or son to remain pure? Did he care that this even would probably roll a wave of guilt over her again and again through her life?

(2) He was not concerned about how she would feel when she had to look into the eyes of her Mom and Dad when they learned of her sin. Oh, how could you erase the memory of the pain in their eyes when they learned
the truth? But he didn't think of that when he sought to satisfy his selfish desires. The potential emotional pain she could suffer meant nothing to him. All that mattered was the moment and what HE wanted. He didn't protect her from the pain of guilt. He produced it.

(3) He did not love her children. In fact, he had contempt for them. He knew that she was able to bear children, and that she would probably bear children sometime. To have his desires momentarily fulfilled he was willing
to risk that she will conceive her first child by him, and such a baby would one day learn that he was conceived out of wedlock. Perhaps one day that child would suffer the poverty of a single parent house, and one day be the oldest child in a home where he is a stepchild of his dad and a half-brother to the other children. Many babies in America are being raised
by grandmothers because their daughters misunderstood the word "love," and committed sin with a boyfriend. Who would be so heartless about your future children to do such a thing? Why doesn't he love the children more than that? Why doesn't he love YOUR children more than that?

(4) He ignored the gut-wrenching remorse she will feel now that she is pregnant and must face people she respects--her grandparents, her preacher and elders, her Bible class teacher, her old boyfriends, the kids in bible class. Why should he care? All he knew was that he wanted her so much, and that's all that mattered. The rest did not matter enough to change his mind. He loves somebody, but it was not her. It was himself.

Take another look at that boyfriend. He may be handsome, sweet, and the envy of all other girls, but he is no husband.

Do not let him treat you like you are his wife. 

WHAT PREACHERS USED TO SAY
by Jack Harriman

"If I say anything in this sermon that is not in harmony with New Testament teaching, you will be my friend, if you will come to me
afterwards and bring this to my attention."

In former days, I heard preacher after preacher begin a sermon with a statement similar to this. Most of these were sincere in their request. They intended accurately to teach the word of God. They documented their message with many scriptural refer ences. They avoided statements that could be taken two or more ways. They understood they would be challenged by some of their listeners if they should teach inaccurately and invited such challenge.

This is not intended to be a blanket indictment of all preachers and churches, but I don't hear similar statements much any more, and my great concern is that attitudes toward the word of God have changed in both the pulpit and the pew. Three com ments:

First, mature gospel preachers have a responsibility not only to preach the word accurately, but also to challenge the inaccurate
preacher of it. "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine" 2 Tm 4:1-2. The fact that this may make the challenger very unpopular must not prevent the doing of it. This is the charge we have from our Lord.

Second, elders are to challenge inaccurate teaching, thus protecting both the teacher and the church from unsound teaching. He is to be, "Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsay ers" (Titus 1:9). This requires knowledge, courage and tact, and, given the mood of our day, may result in charges of Phariseeism, etc.

Third, mature members must also do what they can to keep the teaching
and practice of the church pure. A few days after a visiting preacher spoke, an elderly, infirm woman pointed out to me that one
thing he had said was erroneous. After consideration, I agreed. She was correct. There are many such Bible students in the Lord's church who recognize erroneous teaching when they hear it.

If it is not accurate, if it is not according to inspired teaching, if it is not in the Book, every mature member of the Lord's church
should be able to recognize that fact and take proper corrective action. 

~From LEMMONS-AID

John’s Three Black Lies
Olen Holderby

J. W. Roberts, in his small commentary on the first epistle of John (124), quotes Stott as referring to the three lies which John discusses as “three black lies” of this epistle — thus the title of this article.

THE “MORAL” BLACK LIE
1 John 1:6.

“If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.” This is parallel to 2:4, “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” So, if we claim to have fellowship with God, but walk in darkness, John says we lie.

Since the Scripture is God’s word (2 Tim. 3:16), this means that it is God calling such a person a liar. Now, if I called you a liar, it would not make you one; but, if God calls you a liar, you are it! God makes no mistakes.

“Walk” is a way of life and without reference to time; while “darkness” (sin) is one way of “life” — moral or spiritual darkness. John says, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (v. 5); so, there is no sin with God “at all.” The darkness of verse 6 is the same as the darkness of verse 5; and the light of verse 7 is the same as the light in verse 5. This suggests that only the sinless can have fellowship with God. This thought may seem to be contradictory to verses 8 and 10, which affirm our sinfulness. Not so!

THE “DOCTRINAL” BLACK LIE
1 John 2:22.

“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ . . .” Keep in mind that this would be God calling such an one a liar. John has already said, “no lie is of the truth” (v. 21). Since God’s word is the truth (John 17:17), this amounts to a denial of God’s word. Further, this amounts to a denial of his divine Sonship (5:20), and, a denial of the Father — God himself.

The Gnostics believed that Jesus existed, but they denied that certain divine attributes were his. Matthew 1:23 argues that Jesus was “God with us.” If Jesus was God, he had to possess the attributes of God; otherwise he could not be “God with us.” In Mark 1:22, it is said that Jesus taught them “as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.” The scribes taught with delegated authority and that from their own priestly officials, and they taught their traditions, opinions, and the Rabbinical teachings. On the other hand, Jesus taught with inherent authority, and he taught the words of his Father (John 12:49). Being all-wise, he could cut through the traditions and teachings of men and say, “This is it!” His word was law and there was no appeal from it (Ps. 119:89).

So, in both matter and manner Jesus proved himself to be the divine Son of God, the promised Messiah. If I make him any less than this, I make myself a liar. Again, “. . . all liars have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.”

THE “ETHICAL” (SOCIAL) BLACK LIE
1 John 4:20

“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar . . .” So, if I claim to love God and hate a brother, I simply am not telling the truth — I am a liar. For the third time, keep in mind that this would be God calling such a liar.

In verse 19 we read, “We love him, because he first loved us,” This, of course, is in reference to God’s love for us; and, who could deny this factual statement. However this is not true when it comes to loving our brother. We love our brother whether or not he loves us.

In John 13:34-35, Jesus gave the whole world the right to judge whether or not we are his disciples, by the love we have one for another. Since love always does what is best for its object, our love sometimes will appear to be cruel (see 2 Thess. 3:6). Man’s love goes upward to God, outward to our fellows and downward to our enemies.

“And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:21). Thus, we are commanded to love one another; and, if I fail to do so, and at the same time claim to love God, John says that I am a liar.

And, once again, “. . . all liars have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.” 

The words, "Semper Fidelis", are Latin, meaning, "Always Faithful." These words are the motto of The United States Marine Corps. The motto has a deep, rich tradition, which has been a part of The Corps since its beginning. In short, every Marine is to develop a bond for God, Country, and Corps. This can be seen by visiting the different grave sites of faithful Marines, who gave their lives for this country, and/or for a fellow Service member.

The same can be said of Christians. We too should carry the motto: "Semper Fidelis." This life is not about being perfect, or without some failures or short-comings in our lives. But this life should be lived in faithful service to our Lord, Jesus Christ! The New Testament teaches that a man does not have to live a perfect life, but a faithful life to Christ. Listen to Paul the apostle: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. which the Lord, !he righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing" 2 Tim 4:7-8.