TELL IT “PLAINLY”

 

TELL IT “PLAINLY”

INTRODUCTION:

In this great country of ours we have been the recipients of the benevolent hand of our loving Creator. God has and continues to bless America in spite of our moral decline as a nation. We have so much. And, it is this state that has brought us to our allegedly self-sufficiency, our deceived dependency on ourselves that has masked and blinded our need for God.

Because we are living in such an affluent society, “political correctness” is the norm of the hour. The things we need the most are thrown away into the sea of indifference. We are so afraid of consequences and the repercussions of “straight talk” that there is no longer an objective standard. Truth is no longer absolute but relative. Speaking the truth in love (i.e., love for the truth) is not synonymous with being mean-spirited or judgmental. Truth saves (John 8: 32). And Paul asks, “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” (Galatians 4: 16).  

The world at large is perishing to an eternal hell and the religious community is being duped by false teachers and preachers. God is going to one day call us into account for how we have lived our lives on this earth. There needs to be a restoration, resolution and renaissance of men and women recommitted to teaching and preaching Bible truth without fear, equivocation and/or ambiguity. We need men and women with strong voices for God with love in their hearts and truth on their lips to “Tell it Plainly.”

JESUS AND LAZARUS

In John chapter eleven, Jesus is told that his friend Lazarus was sick. He deliberately remains two more days in the place where He was that He might perform the miracle of raising him from the dead. In the conversation concerning Lazarus, Jesus uses the beautiful terminology of sleep in describing Lazarus being dead. However, the disciples did not grasp and understand for they said, “Lord if sleeps he will get well” (John 11: 12). Jesus, knowing their misunderstanding and with bluntness of speech clarifies. “Then Jesus said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead’” (John 11: 14).

What the world in general and the religious community in particular needs is for someone to “tell it plainly.” The following truths are “plainly” taught in the sacred scriptures and are put forth for your consideration and contemplation.

1. MAN IS A SINNER. No one who is mentally sane and who has reached the age of accountability can escape this Bible truth of man being a sinner. “…There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3: 10). “For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin” (Ecclesiastes 7: 20). “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3: 23). Sin is transgression of God’s law (1 John 3: 4). Your “goodness” falls short before the holy God. To “tell it plainly” you are a sinner in need of a Savior!
2. JESUS CHRIST IS OUR SAVIOR. In a context of idols, Paul discusses the truth about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. However, there is not in everyone that knowledge…” (1 Corinthians 8: 5-7). Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men through His death and the shedding of His precious blood (Hebrews 2: 9). If man is to have access to the Father, it must be by Him (John 14: 6). “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4: 12). Yet, many people make the claim of being His disciple without following strict obedience to His word. We want the Savior but we want to put His Lordship on layaway. That will not work! Jesus said, “But why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say” (Luke 6: 46). To “tell it plainly” Jesus Christ is our Savior and you need to do what He says!
3. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IS THE ONE AND ONLY CHURCH WHERE THE SAVED ARE. I know this may come off as dogmatic, but remember, we are talking about telling it plainly! When it comes to a doctor, I want a dogmatic doctor! When it comes to a pharmacist, I want a dogmatic pharmacist! When it comes to a pilot, I want a dogmatic pilot! Don’t you? Jesus promised to build His church. “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16: 18). There is not another man in the Bible who ever made such a statement. God did not leave it up to the whims of man to build His church. No man has the right to come along and start a “church” wearing a different name, teaching a different doctrine, with a different plan of salvation in the name of Christ. “…praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2: 47). You cannot find one denomination in the entire Bible. If it is not authorized, then it is not recognized. To “tell it plainly” you cannot be saved unless you are in the church of Christ!
4. MECHANICAL INSTRUMENTS OF MUSIC IN WORSHIP IS SIN. When it comes to the subject of worship, the masses have come to please themselves. They have not given much thought about what the Bible teaches concerning scriptural worship. Most people do not understand that worship is a matter of biblical authority (Colossians 3: 17). That authority can only come from Christ. Friend, is your worship authorized by God? Are you doing the things in worship that the Father seeks? Mechanical instruments of music in worship are an innovation by men. Man must worship God according to the divine pattern. “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father is spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4: 23: 24). The Bible teaches we are to sing and make melody in the heart. “…speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord…” (Ephesians 5: 19).

We are, today, living in the time of the New Testament. “In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrew 8: 13). Therefore, our authority is now Christ and the New Testament and not Moses and the Old Testament (cf. Matthew 17: 1-8). The New Testament authorizes us to sing.

To sing with mechanical instruments of music is an addition. The Bible condemns adding or taking away from the word of God. There is no authority to play mechanical instruments of music in worship. There is not one Bible passage that teaches such. To “tell it plainly” mechanical instruments in worship is a sin in worshipping God! 

∼By Stacey L. Mobley