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March 2012 Seek The Old Paths 17

Vol. 23, No. 3 March 2012

WHYAREWELOSINGOURCHILDREN?James W. Boyd

Young people who are trying to do right, and parents who are trying to

train them right, meet with the most aggravating opposition from otherChristian parents and young people who are content to follow the world.

We properly make greatefforts to take the Gospel tothe whole world. Many noble

deeds and sacrifices are being madeby many people in this effort. Godwill bless them for it! At the sametime, while it is not true of all, manyare losing their children. Leaders inthe church have suffered such losses.Compare the number of small chil-dren in Bible study with the numberof young people in the teenage andyoung adult classes and you can seethat somewhere along the line wehave many dropouts. Faithfulbrethren who labor among the youthwarn of the increasing apostasyamong the young: the lack of genuinespirituality, a growing Biblical igno-rance, disrespect for Biblical authori-ty, and either the inability or unwill-ingness to stand for the truth evenwhen taught. Again, we want to say

this is not an indictment of all. But itis true of many, even many who havebeen reared in what we considerChristian homes.

From what are they being lost?To what are they being lost? They arebeing lost from the church, truth,efforts to restore New TestamentChristianity in every generation.They are being lost to other religions,denominations, non-religion, anti-religion, atheistic and worldly pur-suits. Many who are retained arelukewarm and indifferent. Some

have estimated that as high as fiftyper cent of our young people, rearedin the church, are leaving. What isbeing lost are precious souls. Theseare souls with a good opportunity togo to heaven, settling into a course oflife that leads to hell.

Why is this drain taking place?Can we plug it before others go thatway? Some years ago I spent severalmonths inquiring, reading, inter-

viewing, questioning young people,parents, teachers, anyone who hasmuch to do with the spiritual life ofthe young, seeking answers to thisproblem. An analysis of my findingsshow there are a number of factorsthat are contributing to the loss ofour young.

IT STARTS IN THE HOME

Basically, the attitude and actionof the home dominates the scene. Thefault lies there more than any otherplace. We like to blame every bodyand every thing other than where theblame really lies. There is no profit inthat approach. The home is not thesole cause, but it is probably theprime cause of the loss of the young.We need to take this medicine and dosomething about it. Parents cannotplay church, putting other thingsfirst, and then expect their young toput God first. It seldom happens. Par-ents have failed so often to teach by

word and example what a Christianshould be.

God placed the prime responsi-bility of spiritual training of a childon parents (Prov. 22:6; Eph. 6:4; Gen.18:19; Deut. 11:19). We need to study,not just passively read, these verses.The first business of every parent isto see to it that the child knows Godand his duty to God.

Parents display such attitudesthat are sickening and disgusting.They are young only once. Let themhave their fun and good times. Weneed to learn that no time is a goodtime that does not put God first. Toindulge the young is detrimental tothem. They become ill-equipped tomeet their sacred duties. This atti-tude implies that it is unpleasant toserve God. It is just a deprivation. Itsuggests that there is plenty of timesomeday to learn about God. To saythey are young only once suggeststhat possibly God does not knowthat. Yet God says, Remember nowthy Creator in the days of thy youth(Eccl. 12:1).

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?

Can we rear a child fifteen or soyears in the atmosphere where God,the church, truth, Christianity,

(Continued on page 22)

Losing Our Children

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For where two or three are

gathered together in myname, there am I in the

midst of them(Matt. 18:20).The context of the Lords state-

ment in Matthew 18:20 begins inverse one. The Lords disciples askhim a question, Who is the greatestin the kingdom of heaven? Jesusanswered with a barrage of bothaction and words in verses 2-6. Hespeaks of the sincere attitude andhumility that those who seek to fol-low him must exhibit. If we desire tobe great in the kingdom and in hissight, we must be sincere, having noimpure motive. We must be meek

and humble. Our heart is kind andseeking only to do His will. We do nottry to take advantage of others. Welove and care for others. We wishthem well just as we desire to bewell. We want to be accepted of theLord and we want those around us tobe accepted as well. When we do this,while humbly obeying his will, weare great in his sight and in his king-dom.

Jesus speaks in verse sevenabout offenses and how it must bethat they will occur. An offense is a

matter that causes another to fall orstumble. Things like this will hap-pen, but woe to that man by whomthe offence cometh! Our goal is tonever be one who contributes to thedownfall of another. If and when wedo commit such offenses (sins), wemust repent of them, ask forgivenessand make it right so they will not becharged against us.

In verses 8 and 9, He tells of thedrastic measures one must take inorder to be a faithful disciple. Heuses the figure of cutting off a hand

or foot or plucking out an eye if suchcauses us to stumble in our Christianservice. He is not commanding us tomutilate our bodies. This is a figureof speech, a hyperbole (exaggeration).The point is that we cannot allowanything, even the most preciousthing to us, to hinder our service toGod. Nothing can stand between usand our devotion and commitment tothe Lord. We must seek the Lord andHis kingdom first (Matt. 6:33). Allelse is secondary in comparison.

In verses 12-13, Jesus tells of afaithful shepherd having a hundredsheep and how that if even one goesastray the shepherd will search dili-

gently until it is found. More rejoic-ing is made over the one that is foundthan over the ninety nine that aresafe. Souls are precious in the sightof God (cf. Psalm 49:8)! Even so it isnot the will of your Father which is inheaven, that one of these little onesshould perish (v.14). These wordsalso speak of our attitude toward theweak and downtrodden. Our wholefunction as servants of the Lord is tobe as our Master. When we are so, weare like Him.

In verses 15-17, Jesus gives

instruction on what to do when abrother trespasses against us. Theword trespass means we have beensinned against. This is not a trivialmatter wherein someone has hurtour feelings. One has sinned againstus and their soul is in jeopardy. Its amatter that cannot be swept underthe rug and we just let it slide. Thisperson needs to know the error theycommitted and they need to repent.We are obligated to try to resolve thematter with them. Because it is apersonal offense, against me and me

alone, we go to them privately. If thematter is resolved (in the repentanceof the offender), forgiveness isextended and the matter is laid torest. No one else ever knows any-thing about it. If, however, the persondoes not repent, then we are to takeone or two more with us as witnessesin a further attempt to get them torepent. If they repent, we haveprayer together and the matter is notbrought up again it is forgotten.No one else has to ever know aboutit. If the offender still does notrepent, then the matter is to bebrought before the whole churchThis shows the seriousness of theoffense and brings pressure upon theoffender to repent. If their stubborn-ness prevails and they do not repent,the whole church is to see this broth-er as wayward, unfaithful, and nolonger in fellowship with the Lordand the church. He is counted as aheathen man and a publican (v.17)When the saints follow the Lordsinstructions to resolve matters suchas this, we meet with the Lordsapproval. We have the assurancethat He is in our midst.

The text of Matthew 18:15-17 ismis-used when applied to a situationwhere error has been publiclytaught/preached. It is said that theerror cannot be examined (corrected,

rebuked) publicly until the personwho taught the error has beenapproached privately. This is false. Itties the hands of faithful brethrenand hinders the defence of theGospel. It says that the truth must besilent while error is taught. Such isnot so. The Gospel is always to bepresented while error is rebuked andcorrected. Consider Rom. 16:17-18, 2John 9-11, Eph. 5:11, Gal. 2:11-14.

The Lord and His way is not away of division. It is a way of unity,harmony and peace. If we want the

Lord to accept our service and wor-ship, then we must comply with Hiscommands.

THE LORD IS WITH US

When we live as the Lordrequires, doing those things pleasingin his sight, having an attitude anddisposition that is like His, He is inour midst. Notice the words ofMatthew 18:18-20: Verily I say unto

you, Whatsoever ye shall bind onearth shall be bound in heaven: and

18 Seek The Old Paths March 2012

THEREAMI

INTHEMIDSTOFTHEM#1Garland M. RobinsonWhen is Jesus in our midst? When does he prom-

ise to be with us? When are we assured He is

there? It is when we do his will.

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whatsoever ye shall loose on earthshall be loosed in heaven. Again I sayunto you, That if two of you shallagree on earth as touching any thingthat they shall ask, it shall be done

for them of my Father which is inheaven. For where two or three are

gathered together in my name, theream I in the midst of them.

Verse 18 shows that the apostlesbound and loosed those things thathad already been bound and loosedin heaven (cf. Matt. 16:19). They didnot speak of their own will, theyspake Gods will. Jesus did the same(John 12:49) and so did the HolySpirit (John 16:13).

Verses 19 and 20 show that whenwe stand together in doing the Lordswill, He is with us He is in ourmidst. We are one with Him.

A very common application thatis made of verse 20 is that when twoor three are gathered together in theLords name, then He is with them. Itis thought that this applies to theassembly of the church. Some saythat when two or three get togetherat the lake, then that constitutes theLords assembly. And, for this causesome forsake the assemblies of thesaints on the Lords day and excusethemselves to do whatever they wantto do. Thats not what this verse istalking about! Its not talking about

the assembling of the church. Itstalking about the fact that when wedo the Lords will, following Hisword, then He is with us. He is in ourmidst.

Both Old and New Testamentsshow that the Lord is with His people His church. He is in our midst.Psalm 22:22 is quoted in Hebrews2:12: Saying, I will declare thy nameunto my brethren, in the midst of thechurch will I sing praise unto thee.

In Revelation 1:13, John saw...in the midst of the seven candle-

sticks one like unto the Son of man,clothed with a garment down to thefoot, and girt about the paps with agolden girdle.This is an obvious ref-erence to the Lord Jesus. Seven vers-es later in verse 20, it is revealed thatthe seven candlesticks are the sevenchurches. The point is made clear,Jesus is in the midst of faithful con-gregations, not just when theyassemble, but when they act in fol-lowing His divine will.

The seven churches mentioned inRevelation 2 & 3 serve as an example

(both good and bad) for us today. Theobvious point made in these twochapters is that the Lord walked inthe midst of these churches. He didso to govern, to watch and to ruleover them. Verse one of chapter twosays he walketh in the midst of theseven golden candlesticks (cf. Rev.1:13). Five of the seven congregationsare given stern warning that unlessthey repent, their candlestick wouldbe removed (2:5). They would nolonger be a light bearer. They wouldcease to be a shining example. TheLord would depart from them. Hewould abandon them to their ownselfishness and conceit. If they wouldnot listen and take heed, there wouldbe no reward.

When is Jesus in our midst?When does he promise to be with us?When are we assured He is there? Itis when we do his will. If we areservants of God, faithful and true,the Lord is with us.

In the great commission, Jesussaid, Go ye therefore, and teach allnations, baptizing them in the nameof the Father, and of the Son, and ofthe Holy Ghost: Teaching them toobserve all things whatsoever I havecommanded you: and, lo, I am with

you alway, even unto the end of theworld. Amen (Matt. 28:19-20). But, ifwe are not faithful, if we hold ill-will

toward others, if our heart is notright, if our conduct is shameful, wecannot expect the Lord to stand withus. Such a life is repulsive to theLord. He does not promise to be withus. Instead, He promises to take

vengeance against us at the last day(cf. 2 Thess. 1:8).

Having the Lords favor andapproval is needed above all else. Heis the judge (John 12:48). If we desireand expect to go to heaven, theresonly one way to get there; and, that is

to do his will. Jesus said, And whycall ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not thethings which I say(Luke 6:46)?If yelove me, keep my commandments(John 14:15).Ye are my friends, if yedo whatsoever I command you(John15:14).


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With this issue we are announcing a change of oversight in regards to "Seek The Old Paths."I have accepted the invitation to work with the Leoni (pronounced Leona) Church of Christ, nearWoodbury, Tennessee a faithful congregation with three fine elders, four dedicated deacons andgood faithful members. I have been preaching for them since August 2011 while they were lookingfor a preacher. They extended to me an invitation to accept the work, and after much thought andprayer, I've decided to work with them. It does not require a change in my personal residence; but,does involve a change of oversight and a change of address. You can start sending all correspon-dence and contributions to: Leoni Church of Christ, P.O. Box 7506, McMinnville, TN 37111

Preparations are underway to get all the necessary things in place for moving the equipment,office, etc. The transition is going smoothly and you should not see any interruption in the paper(with the exception were already experiencing because of equipment problems). As always, Irequest your prayers in doing the greatest work on earth preaching and teaching the unsearch-able riches of Christ.

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An abundance of false teacherscirculated among the brother-hood of Gods people during

the first century. It was thereforenecessary for biblical writers to fre-quently call attention to this phe-nomenon. One writer who repeatedlywarns the brethren was the apostleJohn. In one of these statements hedeclares: Beloved, believe not everyspirit, but prove the spirits, whetherthey are of God; because many false

prophets are gone out into the world(1 John 4:1, ASV).

Gods people must heed thissame warning today. As false teach-ers saturated society within the firstcentury, it is no less true in the twen-ty-first century. The Lords churchtoday is assaulted on every side bythose teaching destructive heresies.It is incumbent upon Gods people totake seriously their responsibility asguardians of the truth. God expectsand demands this of us.

Following, is an exposition of 1John 4:1. An appreciation for this

divine directive will help motivate usto test the spirits in order to deter-mine whether certain doctrines orig-inate with God or man.

FALSE PROPHETS

The phrase false prophetstranslates a single term in the origi-nal, a compound word composed of

pseudo and prophetes. The termoccurs 11 times in the New Testa-ment. Its first occurrence is whenJesus warned the disciples of thedeceptive nature of false teachers

Beware of false prophets, who cometo you in sheeps clothing, but inward-ly are ravening wolves(Matt. 7:15).Within the biblical context, aprophet is a proclaimer of thedivine will which could not ordinari-ly be known except by special revela-tion. The true prophet was aninspired spokesman for God.

The termpseudo is often prefixedto words in the New Testament todenote the spurious (false) characterof the one mentioned or the deceptivenature of the thing referred. For

example, besides false prophetsthere are false Christs (Matt.24:24), false teachers (2 Peter 2:1),false apostles (2 Cor. 11:13), falsebrethren (Gal. 2:4) and false wit-nesses (Matt. 26:20). The apostlePaul even prefixes pseudo to thenoun logos (word) to characterize thefalse teacher as a liar (1 Tim. 4:2).This latter sort is especially danger-ous because through hypocrisy theyare like actors who play parts sowell that their words have the ring oftruth (BDAG, 1096).

Thus, the false prophet is thecounterfeit whose claims are bogusconcerning himself and his message.He is a fraud who pretends to speakby inspiration of the Spirit, or atleast on Gods behalf, but in actualitypreaches a message of human origin.His message does not comply withGods word. When one preaches thatwhich is not in harmony with divinerevelation, that person is a falseprophet. This kind must be rejected.

Association on a spiritual plane can-

not be extended because his effortsare detrimental to the cause ofChrist. Those who sympathize withand support a false teacher becomesa partaker (fellow-shipper) of hiscorrupt works (2 John 9-11).

MANY ARE GONE OUT

The term many relates thenumerous amounts of false prophetsoperating at the time the apostlewrote this epistle. John says evennow have there arisen manyantichrists (1 John 2:18). In his next

epistle he continues to assert thatmany deceivers are gone forth intothe world (2 John 7). This highquantity of false teachers agitatingthe brotherhood was anticipated byJesus: And many false prophetsshall arise and shall lead manyastray (Matt. 24:11). Paul statesthere were many adversaries (1Cor. 16:9), many corrupting the wordof God (2 Cor. 2:17), many enemiesof the cross of Christ (Phil. 3:18), andmany unruly men, vain talkers anddeceivers (Titus 1:10).

Notice that the ratio of thosemisled by doctrinal error is propor-tionate to the abundance of falseprophets. The existence of many falseteachers results in the deception ofmany innocent people. These are thepercentages Peter had in mind whenhe wrote, And many shall followtheir lascivious doings; by reason ofwhom the way of the truth shall beevil spoken of (2 Peter 2:2). Sadly, wehave a large class of brethren todaywho do not believe there are any falseteachers. But the Bible clearlydepicts that there were many in exis-tence even while the apostles werestill living. A quick survey of doctri-nal deviations dispensed throughoutthe land suggests there is no reasonto believe their tribe has decreased inmodern times.

The phrase gone out translatesa single verb. Grammatically, theform is aperfect tense which may bethe most exegetically significant ofall the Greek tenses (Moulton, 140).Since the perfect is employed less fre-

quently than the present, aorist,future, or imperfect tenses, when it isused there is usually a deliberatechoice on the part of the writer. Theforce of the perfect is that it describesan event completed in the past (inthe indicative mood) which hasresults in the present time (i.e., inrelation to the time of thespeaker/author). The resultant statewhich proceeds from the past actionis presented as a continuous state. Itis a combination of the aorist andpresent tenses. In this sense, the per-

fect relates a completed action withcontinuous, existing results (Wallace,572-573). Another describes the per-fect tense as indicating a presentstate of affairs resulting from a pastaction (Zerwick, 96).

The specific use of this tense hereis called an intensive (or resulta-tive) perfect. This kind of perfect isused when the writer wishes to

emphasize not so much the pastevent but rather the results orpres-

ent state produced by the action ofthe past. It is not that the use of the

For Deeper Study...

TRY, PROVE, TESTTHESPIRITSStephen Wiggins

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perfect excludes the notion of a com-pleted act, but rather that thefocusis on the results which follows. Thesignificance of this is that Johnwants to call special attention, notmerely to the fact that false teachershad gone forth into society (a pastevent), but specifically that the insid-ious influence of their error waspresently continuing to affect thebrotherhood of Gods people at the

very time he wrote this warning tothe brethren (Vincent, 2:355).

Although the difference is subtle, theKJV (followed by the ASV) capturesthis nuance better than the moderntranslations many false prophetsare gone out into the world in con-trast to have gone out (NIV, NRSV,etc.). This is not surprising. Rep-utable scholars are on record asacknowledging the KJVs superiorrendering of the Greek Perfect overmany modern translations (Wallace,575).

A comparison of the passageunder discussion with 1 John 2:19where the apostle says the falseteachers went out from us and 2John 7 where he says they are goneforth into the world, results in somegrammatical dividends. In all threepassages the apostle employs thesame verb to describe the going forthof the false teachers, but in the latter

two passages he portrays this actionwith the aorist tense rather than theperfect. This is significant becauseoften the choice of tense used by thespeaker/writer is made for the specif-ic purpose of describing the specifickind of action he wishes to portray.The significance of the perfect tenseis that John wants to call specialattention to the fact that the influ-ence of the false teachers waspresently continuing to affect thebrotherhood at the very time hewrote this warning to the brethren.

But with the aorist tense, John isconcerned more with emphasizingthe simple fact that the false teach-ers have left. This is done with theaorist which is the way an action isportrayed in summary form; theaction is portrayed as a whole,including both the beginning andending point. The whole occurrenceof the false teachers exit from thefaithful is viewed as a single entityregardless of its internal make-up.This is not to deny that the falseteacher continued to influence Gods

people in a negative way as por-trayed elsewhere with the perfecttense. There is simply a differentemphasis underscored with the useof the aorist. The fact that the falseteachers went out is given in snapshot form by the aorist tense thefalse teachers have left (they wentout from us). The significance of theaorist tense here is that with it Johnarticulates that now the false teach-

ers are gone, they have left, and are nolonger to be considered a part of the

fellowship of Gods people (Fanning,255-256).

BELIEVE NOT EVERY SPIRIT

John uses a couple of imperativesto set forth the obligation whichGods people are to implementtoward false teachers. The firstcomes negatively whereas the secondtakes the force of a positive com-mand. The apostle has just refer-enced the commandment to believeon the name of his Son Jesus Christ(1 John 3:23). He then offers animmediate contrast at 4:1 with thefirst of two imperatives believenot every spirit. While there are sev-eral uses for the imperative in bibli-cal Greek, the primary usage it to setforth a command. Here, this onetakes the form of a prohibition. Anaction is being forbidden. Since the

imperative is the mood of intention,it moves in the realm of volitionwhich involves one imposing theirwill upon another. In this context,God imposes his will upon his chil-dren by commanding them not tobelieve certain doctrines even thoughthey fly under the banner of a reli-gious message. As in any command,it sets forth an obligation and not anoptional choice. It might initiallyseem strange that God would com-mand his people not to be gullible ornaive in doctrinal matters. Yet, this is

exactly what this prohibition entails.There are some doctrines Godabsolutely forbids people to believe.

When God says believe notevery spirit but prove the spirits,themeaning is that one is not to believeany religious teaching without prop-er discrimination. The term spiritsis an allusion to the prophets andtheir messages. This is indicated bythe immediate reference toprophets in the second half of this

verse. The Holy Spirit miraculouslyinspired prophets in the first century

church so as to progressively revealtruth through them. These inspiredprophets were called spirits (2Thess. 2:2) or spiritual (1 Cor.14:37) because they possessed thespiritual gift of prophecy. But theterm spirit can reference an acti-

vating spirit that is not from God..[and] Because there are persons acti-

vated by such spirits, it is necessaryto test the various kinds of spirits(BDAG, 836). This being the case, thetermpneuma (spirit) in the passageunder consideration is used asmetonymy of the cause. This is afigure of speech whereby the term isput for the prophets and special rev-elation communicated through them(Bullinger, 543). The sense of the pas-sage, then, is as follows: believe notevery spirit [i.e., every doctrine spo-ken by a prophet presumablyinspired of the Spirit], but prove thespirits [i.e., doctrines supposedlygiven from prophets inspired by theSpirit], whether they [i.e., the pre-sumably prophetic doctrines] origi-nate with God. To test the spiritsthen, was in effect, to test the partic-ularpneuma under whose impulsionthe prophets spoke the Spirit oftruth (cf. John 16:13) or the spirit oferror (v.6).

PROVE THE SPIRITS

The second imperative comple-ments the first prove the spirits,whether they are of God. One is toreject (believe not) certain doctrines,but only after those teachings havebeen evaluated in light of Godsinspired will and found to be in non-compliance with revealed truth. Theterm prove relates this evaluativeprocess. Paul uses the exact sameimperative form Prove all things;hold fast that which is good (1 Thess5:21). The word can express a coupleof different nuances of which both

may be embedded in its meaninghere. First, it means to make a criti-cal examination of something inorder to determine its authenticity,

put to the test, examine. Second, it sig-nifies to draw a conclusion aboutsomething as genuine or worthy onthe basis of that testing, to prove,approve (BDAG, 255; Louw/Nida,364).

This evaluative process cannot

(Continued on page 23)

Try, Prove, Test The Spirits

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morality are secondary to school,games, television, pleasure, movies,etc. and expect them to be groundedin first things first (cf. Matt. 6:33)?

Children are taught at home what isof prime importance.

Can we allow children to pursuesocial interests, conform to thecrowd, seek popularity, engage inunchristian recreation, lasciviousbehavior, filling their minds with themoral trash produced by the degen-erate minds of the movie, magazine,and television industries, and expectthem to love the pure, noble, moraland clean things of life?

Can we hold out to them the ideathat success is financial success,acceptance, worldly recognition, andexpect them to follow the Christ whonever sought such things?

Too many parents have neglectedto teach and demonstrate in theirown lives the loyalty God expectsfrom a Christian. Yet somehow, theythink their children will seek what isgood above all else. Yes, the problemof losing our young is first and fore-most, above all else, a reflection ofthe home.

OTHER SITUATIONS

Some young people are lost whenthey enter into circumstances thatdiscourage Christianity. Sometimesit may be unavoidable, such as whenthey might be forced from home intothe armed forces. The trials are hardand they need every encouragementand prayer. Many are lost, or at leastshow their lack of concern for Christ,during the years when they seekhigher formal education at collegesand universities where God and His

will are considered irrelevant andstupid. Take a young boy or girl out ofhigh school and sit him/her at thefeet of some wise scoffer and mock-er who take shots at God all the time,teaching infidelity as if he kneweverything, it certainly has a detri-mental effect on many youths. Theyhear the truth ridiculed and they donot know enough truth to resist theerror, nor are they in a position to beable to defend it even if they wereinformed. The devil has many of hisservants in the chairs of learning in

our educational systems.

A MAJOR DRAIN

Others are lost by disregardingthe Lords teaching regardingmarriage. They marry outside thechurch and are further drawn awayfrom the truth. They ignore Godslaws on marriage and divorce (toooften having been led astray by falseteachers in the church regarding thissubject), and once finding themselvesin a bad circumstance, they remainthere rather than please God andrepent of their sinful state and comeout of it. Often young people are sub-

jected to a divided home religiously,or to one or both parents being indif-ferent toward God. This hasdestroyed the faith that could andshould have been nurtured.

Still others become the victims ofthose who constantly berate theLords church, criticize it, belit-tle it, and reduce it to nothingmore than a denominationamong denominations thatneeds restructuring. These liberal,lying, new lights, often speak of thechurch as being out-of-date, answer-ing questions nobody is asking, lack-ing love, full of tradition, hypocritical,stagnant, etc. How can any personconstantly hear that Satanic barrage

and have respect for the church?They lose interest when they are con-vinced of such harangue. Such criticsoften cater to, adopt, and admire themessage and methods of denomina-tions. They like to impress the youngwith their sensationalism, emotion-alism, promotionalism, jive talk,unorthodox dress and conduct. Theycreate and then exploit what theycall the generation gap, and weanthe young away from the wise coun-sel of faithful parents, godly eldersand sound Gospel preachers. They

call for an abandonment of the past,whatever it was, and an adoption ofthe new even if it is not true.

NEGLIGENT OLDER PEOPLE

Parents and church leaders andteachers too often sit idly by, compla-cent, gullible, naive, even cooperatingwith such things, and uproot thesound and solid religious heritageour young deserve. That heritageincludes faith in God, love for family,love for the church of the Bible, the

sanctity of the home, conformity toGods standard of morality. Too manyyoung are being served huge help-ings of modernism, immorality, com-promise, permissiveness, foul speech,Marxism, anarchy, rebellion, downwith everything, and up with noth-ing. The do your own thing attitudehas captured the souls of many, andthis go along to get along sicknessthat is often evident among someolder people has taken many of theyoung away from God.

These critics of Gods way aresometimes politicians whose person-al lives are in shambles, educatorswho worship at the altar of their ownwisdom, the social gospel clergymenwho do not have much regard for thesoul of man or his eternal destinySome act more like brotherhood funand games directors who are calledyouth ministers, who think it is thework of the church to provide play-grounds, gymnasiums, pleasuretrips, etc., and put their emphasisthere. Many youth seminars havebeen little more than sessions to con-

vince the youth that the eldershipsGospel preachers and parents whohold to the Word of God, are irrele-

vant. The efforts of godly and deter-mined Christian parents have nomore deadly enemy among the youngthat these flighty, flippant, cute,

know-it-all youth workers who con-stantly ape liberal digressives anddegrade the Lords church andridicule the nobility of the past.

The church has a role regardingparents and youth. It is the same rolethat it sustains to all people, youngand old. It is not to assume the workof the parents and home, providingrecreation, secular education, etc. Itought not coddle and condone sinsregardless of who is involved. Ratherthan thinking the answer lies withsingles classes, single again classes,

youth seminars where brainwashinggoes on, week-end retreats that takethe young away from Lords Day con-gregational worship in favor of lake-side worship, the church has theGod-given task of preaching andteaching the same saving Gospel toeveryone. To preach the word byreproving, rebuking, and exhorting isthe work of the church. Ignorance ofthe Word of God and the lack ofrespect for it is at the heart and baseof the loss of young people. It wouldbe better to study the Word rather

Losing Our Children(Continued from page 17)

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than engage in problem solvingwhere participants share ignorance.The church deserves the full supportand cooperation by every home inassisting in such efforts.

DID YOU EVER CONSIDER THIS?

We must add that parents have aduty to other parents. It is sinful toplace stumbling blocks before youngpeople. Parents and their young areresponsible for their influence. It isnot merely my own business whatmy young people do, where they go,how they dress, what they areallowed to do. Inasmuch as youngpeople influence one another, andpeer pressure is heavy, parents havethe responsibility to see to it thattheir young set a good example. It isnot unheard of that young peoplewho are trying to do right, and par-ents who are trying to train themright, meet with the most aggravat-ing opposition from other Christianparents and young people who arecontent to follow the world. We haveheard it said, Its nobodys businessbut ours if my children attend thedance. That is as false as a three dol-lar bill. Every member of the church,parents, children, elderships, preach-ers, all are effected adversely. Weneed to ask if the influence of our

home is contributing to the cause ofChrist and encouraging Christ-likeconduct, or is it as often as not, likethe influence of the sinful world?

Every young person is a gift fromGod. None can be lost without itbeing an eternal loss. Experiencewarns that many do fall away. Let usresolve that we shall make that num-ber as small as possible. Teach theyoung, show the young, what being aChristian really is. Follow the teach-ing of the Bible, not the ways of theworld. Show them how to resist the

influences that are evil when theycannot avoid them. But many ofthese influences can be avoided withparental concern, teaching, and guid-ance.

There is not one young person wecan afford to lose. Are you really will-ing for your son or daughter to go tohell? Certainly, you are not. Just howstudious and diligent are yourefforts, at home and in the localchurch, to see to it that they followChrist?

One of the tragic realities of

recent years is how many schools,colleges, and universities operated bybrethren are now more of a hin-drance to faithfulness among the

young than helpers of the home tokeep them strong and build them up

2720 S Chancery StMcMinnville, TN 37110

be accomplished without the firstidea and pragmatically wouldinclude the second. Once a doctrinehas been examined, if it passes orfails the test, it must then, from apractical standpoint, be approved ordisapproved. Every doctrine is to becritically examined in light ofwhether or not it is genuine. But apart of the complete process involvesthe second definition as well thedoctrine examined now must receiveapproval when it passes the test. It isnot enough to merely test a doctrine.It must then receive approbation ifpart of authentic truth. Only thenshould any teaching be embraced byfaith and obeyed as saving truth. Ourresponsibility in this matter shouldnever be taken frivolously. The eter-nal welfare of souls is at stake.

That John uses the imperative inthepresent tense is significant. Whatmust be appreciated is that time asan element of tense is basically non-

existent in non-indicative moodssuch as the imperative. At the fore-front is aspect or the way in whichthe writer wants to portray theaction of the verb. John could haveplaced the imperative in anothertense to relate a different kind ofaction. He chose, however, to use the

present tense and probably for a spe-cific reason. While contextual consid-erations must always be allowed for,the unaffected meaning of a presenttense basically relates an activity asa continuous process, without the

beginning or end in view. Thus, Johnnot only commands brethren toprove the spirits but to do so as anongoing process of operation. Thisspecific kind of present is categorizedas the iterative present (which isfrequently used with the imperativemood). Therefore the idea conveyedis that of repeated, continuous action.This is repetitive action in the sensethat it is done over and over, againand again (Wallace, 514, 520). Theimplication of this is that as long asfalse teachers circulate within socie-

ty, the Lords church will continuous-ly be under the God-given responsi-bility to keep on repeatedly testingthe doctrines taught by those claim-ing to speak on Gods behalf.

John says doctrines are to betested to see whether or not they areof God. A consideration of the syn-tax here offers some exegetical divi-dends. In the original this grammat-ical construction consists of a prepo-sition coupled with a noun in thegenitive case. It may be categorizedas a genitive of source (origin). Thisrelates that a doctrine must have

God as its source for it to pass thetest and receive approval it mustbe of God in the sense of beingfromGod. If a religious teaching does notoriginate with God (if it is not derivedfrom a Divine source), then it mustbe rejected as arising from someother cause (cf. doctrines of demons,1 Tim. 4:1; but not the unwarrantedtaught by demons per the NIV).Today, if a religious teaching cannotbe substantiated as coming fromGods book (the Bible), it ought not tobe embraced as part of the apostles

doctrine or the doctrine of Christ(Acts 2:42; 2 John 9). A false doctrineis nothing more than a religious mes-sage which does not come from God.Likewise, a false prophet is nothingmore than one who preaches a reli-gious message which cannot be sub-stantiated by Gods Book (the Bible).Brethren will do well to heed thesematters.

Following is my translation ofthe verse under consideration. It isintended to be paraphrastic for thepurpose of highlighting the verbal

tenses and moods used by theinspired apostle: Beloved, I com-mand you, dont believe every spirit!

But I command you to repeatedly testthe spirits to determine whether theyoriginate with God, the reason why isbecause many false prophets are goneout into the world.

For a list of Sources in writingthis article, see: seektheoldpaths.com/stop312.htm#SOUR

105 East PlantersSan Augustine, TX 75972

Try, Prove, Test The Spirits(Continued from page 21)

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We appreciate very much Seekthe Old Paths and the stand fortruth that you continue to make.We pray God that you will able tocontinue your work for manymore years. We are moving to theRio Grand Valley of Texas andseeking brethren sound in thefaith with whom we can worship.

Do you have either a congregation or individuals in Mission,McAllen, Pharr, Edinburg or Weslaco, Texas who are subscribers orsupporters of Seek the Old Paths. Perhaps this would be a meansof finding those of like precious faith. Thank you for your time. InHis Service ...Bill Schwegler, [email protected]. I haveenjoyed your sound paper for many years now and try to pass it onto those who may (or may not!) appreciate it. Please send a sub-scription to the following people. Enclosed is our donation to helpwith the postage ...Vic Sicard, Lebanon, MO. Greetings fromthe church that meets in Allenhurst, Georgia. Thank you so muchfor the work you are doing in publishing Seek The Old Paths. Itis certainly a blessing to have your sound publication that all canread and find Bible truth. We have been receiving your publicationfor some years. We request that you continue to send us a bundleof twenty copies each month. Please accept the enclosed check and

use it in whatever way you deem best for the publishing and dis-tribution of this good work. May God continue to bless you in thisnoble effort ...Bob Miller, for the church of Christ at Allen-hurst, Allenhurst, GA. I heard about the wonderful articles youhave been publishing regarding seeking the old paths. In thesetimes when we are seeing many departures, it is good to know thatsomeone is addressing the issues. Please add the following namesto your mailing list. Thank you ...JoAnne Bozman, East Point,GA. We will send a check every month. Our congregation is verysmall but we are the church of Christ as it was in the beginningand are uplifted by your articles. May God continue blessing you...The Church of Christ in Fulfarrius, TX. We have enjoyedSeek The Old Paths for years and would like to donate to theexpenses. Thanks ...M/M Roy Boone, Cleveland, MS. I wasintroduced to your publication by Perry Sexton. I have thoroughlyenjoyed reading it. I would like to get added to your mailing list. Im

enclosing $$. Thank you for the great job with Seek The OldPaths. God bless ...Jim Lyndoe, Custer, SD. Amen to brotherRobinsons article in September 2011 re: Sin Carries A Price. Toadd to his comments, many in the Lords church today have depart-ed from the truth, whether it be for popularity or to remain in acongregation where he is well paid. The truth is too important tocompromise to swell numbers and remain in the good graces oferring leadership. Read Johns letter to the church at Ephesus inRevelation. They left their first love. They were warned that Godwould remove their lampstand. They were to repent. If not, theirnames would have been blotted out of the book of life. Also, read 1Corinthians 9. Paul said that he brings his body into subjection,lest he himself becomes a castaway. A compromise of right andwrong badly affects society. Parents, whose children fall into badhabits, such as lying and stealing will laugh it off and call it aphase instead of properly discipling them for such things. People in

the workplace will often listen to, laugh at, and participate in gos-sip, slander, and filthy off color jokes as well as play raunchy musicin their cars and homes. This is what I believe a stumblingblockreally is, when Christians are no different from non-Christians...Leslie Putman, El Dorado, AR. Brethren, the Ashville High-way congregation would like to receive the STOP. We receive itwhere I attend. Brethren, you are doing a good work in proclaim-ing the truth. Keep up the good work. I am enclosing a check tohelp with the expenses. Thank you ...Name withheld byrequest, Greenville, TN. The Van Nuys Church of Christ will bemaking a move to a new location and begin a growth opportunitywith the North Oaks Church of Christ in Santa Clarita, California.Due to this change, we will need to cancel the monthly newsletterwe have been receiving from your congregation. Our congregationhas appreciated so much your publication and hope to reinstate its

continued delivery when we make the necessary adjustments inour new location. May God continue to bless you in his service...Paul Branam, elder, Van Nuys Church of Christ, Van NuysCA. I need you to change my mailing address. I really enjoy read-ing Seek The Old Paths news letter. Please keep them coming tomy new address. Thank you for all you do to help get the word ofour Lord out there to others. God bless you and yours ...JohnEdwards, Lansing, KS. I am sending a small donation for sixcopies of Seek The Old Paths. Please send one copy to each of the

addresses that I am sending ...Albert Boyd. As Daniel prayedmorning, noon and night, you and I pray for Bible preachers, teach-ers, missions and local work in all places. The harvest is white...Elsie Weatherford, Saltillo, MS. May God continue to blessyou in this good work. Thanks for all you do ...Debbie StreetCorinth, MS. James D. Cox has passed away ...Flower MoundTX. We are enjoying your papers. Just keep up the good work. Godbless you all ...Macedonia Church of Christ, Dresden, TNDear elders, please accept this donation in memory of my late dad,Samuel Denton. He loved this publication and would always passit along to us. Thank you for your tireless efforts ...Wayne & Jim-mie Wiley, Whitleyville, TN. Keep up the good work with SeekThe Old Paths ...James R. Smith, Horn Beak, TN. I wouldlike to receive your monthly publication of Seek The Old Paths. Iread them and then pass to a sister in Christ. Thank you

...Dorene Sloan, Sweet Home, OR. I am an inmate at theStevenson Unit in Cuero, Texas. Ive been transferred from theEstelle Unit. I would like you to have my new address so I canagain receive Seek The Old Paths. I do not want to miss any moreissues. Thank you so very much for all you do to further the causeof our Lord ...Kenneth L. Bourland, Cuero, TX.

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