Christian Chronicle (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 37, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 8, 1950 Page: 2 of 8
eight pages : ill. ; page 18 x 14 in. Digitized from 35 mm microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
!
t
Number 37
February •< 1950 ’
Volume VII
n
By JOSEPH L. CANNON
but
i
believest with all thy heart, thou
Peter's confewion showed that be had directly
Classes Grow in
any man.
Bible at ENMU
to man in the
very cheap indeed.
fall cementer in Bible eeurees.
’I
4
r
/■
Mie]
before
I the
in the
God." Jesus
g made that
for havi
ike Jesus.
Religious Books, Paper Being
Published for Japanese Work;
American Articles Translated
0/
Each week the editorial article which la adjudged moat
timely and valuable will bo printed on thio page
of CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE.
bo gi
phllo
simi
drawn. So antagonistic did His enemies finally
become that they threatened any man with ex-
communication who would admit Jesus to be the
Christ In John 9:22 we read, “These things said
his heart. The confession of Christ is not
with a nod of the head, nor with any manl
tion of good works but rather is made with the
mouth and has as its object the salvation of man.
Enrollment in the Bible depart-
ment at Eastern New Mexico
University, Portales, N. M-, has
almost doubled for the new se-
mester, according to a report
from E. Debs Smith, who occu-
pies the church of Christ Bible
chair.
In the spring of 1948 a gospel
paper was begun in Japan. It was
called “Light and Life,” and was
dedicated to the propagating of
the gospel, and the edification of
the church of the Lord. Today
is is growing and is almost two
years old. Its co-editors are
Charles Doyle, Virgil Lawyer, S.
Nagano, and Joseph Cannon.
le anathema
zof Jesus by
; ■'
Ion from the
in to confess
and. the Son
that
Ishi Uchi, Taga Machi,
Ibaraki Ken. Japan
Through this work our breth- passing of a few months saw a definite line being
ren are getting regular instruc-
tion, and are being grounded in
the New Testament faith. Our
mailing list reaches into the five
states where our brethren are
active. We have received letters
of appreciation from them and
are convinced that this is a good
work.
The Light and Life Publishing
Company has published two
books so far. The first was a
book of twelve sermons with a
section of questions and answers,
given and answered in our gospel
meetings. It was called “The
Hltachi-Taga Lectures,” and two
thousand copies were printed.
Our second and latest publication
is a translated edition of “The
New Testament Church” by Roy'
E. Cogdill. This is ideal for class
work, and fills a great need. Two
thousand copies of this were
printed also.
...................
: -dr
When Jesus began His public ministry, it was
not long until people began to form different
conceptions of Him.
In Matt. 16, we find Jesus with His disciples in
manent foundation here in Japan
that the kingdom may spread
from here to all of Ada. Pray
for this work, and if you would
like to contribute something for
the publishing of gospel litera-
ture in Japan, either write any
of the editors here, or send
checks to the Church of Christ,
62 Fern Ave., Toronto, Ontario,
Canada, marked for literature
fund. Acknowledgment will be
promptly made. <
♦
I
Regarding tbs eunuch's confession, if will
JtaMtad that he WM required to make that
confession immediately prior io baptism.
Baptism signifies the transition from one
state into another; it is the means whereby
God washes away a person's sins. The con-
fession was the test of the candidate'* fitness
to bo baptised. The confession Is the oath of
allegiance to Christ before a man can enter
the army of the Lord.
pture makes the reqUire-
lon be made before wit-
There were 69 enrolled on the
first day of registration with
some late-conuH * e m p eeled.- -
Brother Smith reports 20 preach-
ers taking graduate work with
nine working on their master's
degrees in Bible. There are also
several taking advanced degrees
in other subjects who are taking
Bible minors. »
of a twenty page paper which 4s There were M enroitod for the
The voice of God
^garden ot Eden wh<
.............
■ ' ■
This 22-page monthly is a
standard size magazine. Its cov- 1
er is blue with red and white let-
ter design. Under the title "Hl-
kari to Inochi,” or in English, ;
“ight and Life,” is the emblem
*■ of the open Bible and the uplifted
cross, which represents the pur-
pose of the paper's existence. Its '
circulation is 1,000 copies, and <
represents at present the only 1
regular source of instruction for j
our Japanese brethren.
We are trying very hard to '
meet the literature needs of our
brethren which are very great. ]
Therefore the contents of our
paper are varied in their subject
matter. For instance, we print '
articles written by our Japanese
brothers, sermons that we have
preached, answers to questions,
and a section on various news
from the churches. We print
also articles translated from the
English. These include children’s
literature, a woman’s column, ar-
ticles taken from our gospel pa-
pers from America, and some
things from certain good books.
We wish to acknowledge the
use of articles from the pens of
the following brethren: Bonds
Stocks, G. H. P. Showalter, Foy
E. Wallace, G. C. Brewer, L. G.
Tomlinson, two tracts from the
10th and Francis Street church in
Oklahoma City, J. W. Shepherd,
A. G. Hobbs, James D. Bales, Roy
E. Cogdill, Eugene S. Smith, R. B.
Sweet, and J. Emmet Wain-
wright
The American workers over
here encourage the progress of
the paper and most of them con-
- tribute material to it. Due to the
poverty of our brethren, the pa-
per is not self-supporting, al-
iMUUgh tais is bur definite goal.
The publishing expenses -ere be-
ing paid by the churches of Can-
ada through a work fund pro-
vided by their contributions sent
by, the Fem Avenue church in
Toronto, Canada. Thia amounts
to <36:00 a month for 1,000 copies
The confession of Christ is to be made before
witnesses. Paul said to the young preacher Tim-
othy In 1 Tim. 6:12, IS, “Fight the good fight of
the faith, lay hold on the life eternal, wborsunto
' thou west called, and didst confess the good cm-
fession in the sight of many witnesses.. X charge
thee in the sight of God, who giveth life to all •
things, and of Christ Jesus, who before Pontius
Pilate witnessed the goad eonfooMon. . The
confession of Christ is to be made before man
(Matt. 10:32). There is no display of courage in
man’s confessing Christ privately, nor for that
matter in the presence of friends. The person
displaying the most courage is he who is willtag
to confess Christ before the very enemies of the
Son of God. Thea * ‘
ment that the conf<
MMMMk
We are working to build a per- but little of us; but- In Christ’s day Peter was
ij bucking the entire religious system. He was
going directly contrary to everything he had
been taught from the time he was a child up to •
that time. Me would be considered a traitor to
his religion and many people would question his -
sanity for having placed his allegiance with a
man like Jesus. He was joining the ranks of the
minority, having possessed the courage to admit
that his whole religious background was wrong.
It would have been easier if ho had remained
with the majority and thus been popular; but
Peter's confession showed that bo had directly
aligned himself behind Jesus.
No more significant confession has mortal
man over made than the one which Peter
made when he acknowledged Jesus io be the
Son of the living God. In brief, this state- *
ment is one which embraces iho entire sys-
tem of ChristtaaiiTt Ji la the only confession —
of faith which God requires of any man.
With the passing of centuries and tho mul-
tiplication of human creeds, mon havo made
it compulsory for others to make every kind
of confession imaginable. Sometimes if is
required that a confession of a creed-book .
Ivon. This simply shows us how human
losophy and theology havo corrupted *
iplo religion of Christ as wo find it in
first century. How much of a need there is
today for us to abandon the religions of anon
and tho creed* awl dogmas which human
wisdom has originated, and that we all get
back to tho purity of the religion of God's
Son.
Jnsus Stands as the pivotal point for tho
passing centuries. Everything before His day
pointed to Christ's coming; everything since
center of tho universe, the solar system of
"WWtl^iWBr“MMr Iliw IWWW AM1B11101IX* Ul JI 1TB
is io be found centered tho fundamental faith
which is so essential to our salvation. To
make a confession of Christ and to do it hon-
estly, sincerely, and whole-heartedly to the . ..
grandest event which can transpire in jK
human Ufa, /
Tho sweeping confession which Peter
made io 11 nothing unsaid. The apeoite dm -'•
M«u. ju, we iinu Jtraus wiui uu uwtiptw ***
Caesarea Philippi which is in northern Galilee.
While there Jesus asked them what men thought
about Him. The answer generally was favor-
able, although not accurate, Some said that He
was John the Baptist; others affirmed that he
was Jeremiah, for they saw in His life a sim-
ilarity to that Old Testament prophet; there were
others who called Him Elijah. The book of
Malachi had come to Its close with the predic-
tion of Elijah yet to come.
So far as their reports were concerned, all
of these ideas of Jesus were favorable but in-
accurate. However, we do know that there were
some who thought of Him as an imposter. This
group was led by the Pharisees who were the
religious leaders at that time.
Between Christ’s friends and His enemies the
his parents, because they feared the Jews: for
the Jews had agreed already that if any man
should confess him to be Christ, *
put out of the synagogue.” A pul
was thus hurled against the friend
His enemies.
It was a crime worthy of eepara
Jews’ religious activities for any n
Jesus as God’s Son. On the other
of God directly met the challenge. Hes
confession to be a test of one’s accoi
before God. Jesus said, "Everyone therefore who
shall confess me before men, him will I also con-
fess before my Father who is in heaven. But
whosoever shall deny me before men, him will
I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
(Matt. 10:32, 33). So we see that the confession
of Jesus as the Son of God came to distinguish
the followers of Christ from His enemies.
\Vhen, therefore, Jesus was talking to His dis-
ciples at Caesarea Philippi, He put the question
directly to them, "Who do men say that the Son
of man is?” The apostle Peter answered. "Thou
art the Christ the Son of the livii
immediately blessed Peter for ha’
acknowledgment.
In our day and time that confession demands
THE GOOD CONFESSION
By EARL WEST
in Matt 1:11, "And she shall bring forth a
. son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus for
it is he that shall save his people from their
sins." The term "Christ" however, is the
official title of Jesus; this word means "the
Anointed One."
It was the practice in Old Testament times
to anoint throe classes of mon—prophsto,
priests, and kings. Jesus is unlike any pre-
decessor in that Ho is at once in all throe
classes. Ho is tho prophet of God, tho spokes-
man of tho will of God; Ho is the
God who intercedes in man's beta
tho throne of heaven; Ho is our king and
rules tho hearts and lives of those who sub-
mit to Him. It is because of this that Ged
has given to Jesus all authority in heaven
and upon earth (Matt. 28:18).
Peter’s confeesion also takes in the fact that
Jesus is tho Son. He is not a son of God. but tho
Son of God. He stands related to God in a way
that no other human being is related to God.
Modernistic infidelity which has infiltrated into
the religious world brings Jesus down to the
point where He is a son of God, the same as
every man in Adam’s race. But who can fail
to note the fact that Peter’s confession made
Jesus more than a son; He is raised above the
level of common man.
Peter’s confession takes in the fact that Jesus
is the Son of the “living God." This phrase is
so characteristic of the New Testament scripture.
Jehovah is set in direct contrast to the pagan
idols of that day and time. God is not a lifeless
ge to be crushed by the onslaughts of men.
He is a God of life, being at once the source
sustenance of all living things. Jesus is the
of the living God.
This, therefore, is the confession which Peter
made. It is the confession which God requires
of every individual if that individual is to hope
for eternal salvation. However, it may be in-
quired as to how that confession is to be made
and when the proper time would be to make it
Shall we turn our attention to this thought for a i
moment In Rom. 10:9, 10, we read, "Because if
thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lora,
and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with
♦ha heart men believoth unto Hgh**oiinnsss; and
with the mouth confession is made unto salva-
tion." Paul tells us that man believes with the
heart and then his mouth speaks the thought of
his heart. The confession of Christ is not made
In Acts 8 we have the story of a person who
was converted by the preaching of God’s word.
Having heard Philip the evangelist preach, this -
man from Ethiopia, noting the presence of water,
eaid, "Behold, hdre is water; what doth hinder
me to be baptized?” Philip inquired, “If thou
believest with all thy heart, thou mayest, and he
answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ-
i« the Son of God. And he commanded the char-
iot to stand still: and they both went down into
the water, both Philip and the eunuah; and he
baptized him.” (Acts 8:37, 38).
We observe from this s&ripture that with the
mouth the sinner'made the confession of hia
faith in Christ and upon his confession was bap-
tized into Christ.
*
.. j
THE CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE
FEBRUARY L 1660
PAGE TWO
o.
L. IHMTUSAL TSy
Published Wednesday of each week except the last weak in Juns
and the last weak in December at Abilene, Txas.
68*00 Per Annum in Advance.
62JM Outside United States.
Send all communtoattoas and articles to Box 1168, Abilene, Texas.
ULAN L HICKS — _______________ ___Bdltor
LOU NHLLE PETERS Assistant Editor
Entered as second-class matter October 18, 1944, at the Post Office
at Abilene, Texas, under tho Act of March 3, 1879.
6
_
lilHi
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Hicks, Olan L. Christian Chronicle (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 37, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 8, 1950, newspaper, February 8, 1950; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1306072/m1/2/: accessed May 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.