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Needed Truth

Eighty years have elapsed since the first issue of Needed Truth came from the press. The pioneers of those days saw that, although in the preceding centuries much precious truth had been recovered from the New Testament, the apostolic pattern of church constitution was still obscured by human tradition and expediency. It cannot be doubted that in those days God was giving more light on this matter, and a heavy responsibility rested on those to whom light was given. They decided to pass on that light, and Needed Truth was founded to disseminate it. This was an act of faith and courage for which, under God, we are greatly indebted to them. Had they not taken this step the cause of truth would have been ill-served by them.

Godly men take no pleasure in controversy for controversy's sake but there comes a stage when battle must be joined or truth surrendered. This applies in every age, and the present age is no exception. The apostles found it necessary to contend earnestly for the Faith and such contention cannot be avoided if we are to guard this precious heritage. We live in a climate of indifference and compromise. Issues are blurred and many are "tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men..." (Ephesians 4.14). In spiritual matters the authority of Scripture is increasingly discarded and modern techniques of persuasion substituted for it. Amid such perils we need to recapture the vision of our spiritual forebears with a solemn reaffirmation of allegiance to God's infallible word.

One of the lessons of history is that a succeeding generation often fails to appreciate to the full what has been secured for it by the struggles and sacrifices of men of former days. This is a real danger today. On every hand truth for which the martyrs laid down their lives is being squandered and the few voices raised in protest are derided. The truth which Needed Truth was founded to uphold can only be preserved by loyal-hearted disciples who are dedicated to practise it, whatever the cost. This. is our challenge in 1968. It is a challenge which has no attraction to the carnal Christian. If we love ease and lack vision, we may find many reasons to abandon the struggle and go with the stream. But we must not drift from the truth. We must hold it at all costs and pass it on unimpaired (2 Timothy 2.2). Your courage will encourage another-hold fast! Men of faith look not for present ease:

"Th' eternal glories gleam afar,

To nerve. our faint. endeavour:

So now to watch! to work! to war!

And then, to rest for ever!"

The Living Christ

On page 5 is an introductory article to a series on the Resurrection of Christ which we hope to publish during 1968, if the Lord will. Various writers have agreed to deal with different phases of the subject in ensuing months. Our Lord's bodily resurrection is a crucial doctrine of the Faith and an increasing awareness of its verity, its consequences and its power, would bring spiritual invigoration to us all. We trust that the treatment of the subject month by month will convey to readers something of the thrill of the early Christians as they grasped the significance of our Lord's complete victory over death and the grave. The note of triumph in the early preaching of the apostles swelled to a crescendo as the Spirit of God unfolded in the epistles and in the book of the Revelation the magnitude of our Lord's resurrection victory. With them the resurrection of Christ was no mere tenet of belief. It was a dominating influence in their lives, giving them a spiritual vitality which is strangely lacking in our times.

The living Christ alone can bring a sense of worthwhile purpose to life. Life has little meaning for the average man today. Frustration, disillusionment and despair abound as atheistic humanism becomes the creed of the many. A prominent humanist has declared, "On humanist ideals life leads to nothing, and every pretence that it does not is a deceit". Modern man has lost his way! The living Christ beckons, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14.6). "Jesus Christ is the centre of everything and the object of everything, and he who does not know Him knows nothing of the order of the world and nothing of himself" (Pascal).

"I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me", wrote Paul (Galatians 2.20). Here is the secret of that amazing, purposeful life. It was not Paul that men saw but Christ living in him. Because Christ is risen He can be present by His Spirit in the lives of His followers. He can now share life with us and transform it. This is "the life which is life indeed"; it is the foundation of all genuine Christian experience.

An Unnecessary Theory

That the walls of Jericho fell in the manner described in Scripture has long ago been confirmed by archaeological research. According to a report in The Times newspaper, Professor Jacob Feld, at a conference on soil mechanics at Haifa, said, "The walls of biblical Jericho fell after an expert mining operation by Joshua, who understood soil mechanics. The mining took six days. Trumpets were blown by Joshua's men to draw the defenders' attention from the mining." This theory, of course, is in conflict with the account of the fall of Jericho given in Joshua 6. It accords with other modern attempts to eliminate the miraculous from Old Testament history. We do not need the professor's theory. It was not by mining but "by faith the walls of Jericho fell down" (Hebrews 11. 30).

unknown | Jan 1968
Comment By Torchlight