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―That in everything ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge, even as TheThe TestimonyTestimony of Christ was confirmed in you.‖ I Cor. 1:5–6 Verse Of The Month “Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein… then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God…” Deuteronomy 8:12–14 Vol. II August, 2011 No. 8 “BEWARE OF DECEPTION” Dale Gish Old Satan, he smiled, when he looked down at men, His new tricks were working again and again; No more persecution, no shortage of bread, God’s church and His people, well-loved and well-fed. The saints, who once gathered in secret, unknown, Now worship in freedom on land of their own; In comfortable buildings designed and well-planned, Shade trees in the churchyard, no tax on the land. The Bible, the book of the ages—suppressed, The book that our forefathers prayed to possess; Now sold in abundance, on sale, guaranteed, We all have our own and we know how to read. The faith of our fathers, who died for the Lord — That stood through the fire and dungeon and sword, Now stands to the Ultimate Test, if you please, Of Compromise, Comfort, Abundance, and Ease. Deception! The slow, subtle mist that sets in — That fogs out the line that defines what is sin; And even the devil, though black as the night, Has now been transformed to an angel of light! And old Satan, he smiled as he gazed at the view, His new tricks were working too good to be true; No more persecution, no shortage of bread, God’s Church and His people, well-loved and well-fed. Selected by Kelly Lavy The Testimony ................................... ............................................................. ................................ ................................................................ ........................................................... ................................... ......................................................... ........................................................... .............................. ............................................ ............ ......................... ........ ..................................... .................................................... ...................................................... .......................................................... LEAN ON ME ―Is there no other way, O God, except thru‘ sorrow, pain and loss, To stamp Christ‘s image on my soul? No other way except the cross?‖ And then a voice stills all my soul, as stilled the waves on Galilee: ―Canst thou not bear the furnace heat, if‘ ‘mid the flames I walk with thee? ―I bore the Cross, I know its weight, I drank the cup I hold for thee; Canst thou not follow where I lead? I‘ll give the strength—lean thou on me.‖ Author Unknown Selected THROUGH SUMMER‘S HEAT 3 Editorial THROUGH SUMMER’S HEAT sometimes the refreshing comes through one of the ―redeemed In the summer, we have difficulty Ones‖? Have you found that God sometimes accomplishing our duties our Rock sometimes uses one of outside because of the sweltering His servants to provide that re- heat. We often seek relief by finding a freshing, that shade, that cool wa- shady retreat or a refreshing cool ter, that quenches the thirst on drink. We have heard of people feel- the hot day? ing like they will lose their balance, The apostle Paul gives a beauti- or sometimes even passing out, as the ful commendation to some of the noonday sun bears down its unrelent- saints in his day: Of Onesiphorus ing heat on their physical frame. he says, ―for he oft refreshed Life can be like that in the spiri- me…‖ (II Timothy 1:16). To Phile- tual sense as well, when in the mon he wrote, ―…the bowels of the heaviness of its struggle, the saints are refreshed by thee, pressing nature of life‘s battle brother.‖ (Philemon 7) comes down hard upon our weak- Allow me to place this burden of ened spirits, and we sometimes refreshing responsibility upon the feel ourselves waver or falter. shoulders of each reader. If you One simple question presents have tasted that the Lord is gra- itself as we experience this press- cious, and have received of the ing problem in the ―heat of our Holy Spirit, then you have the tools day‖: Where do we go for relief? to be a refresher among His People. Whether we are a busy young You have your own deliverance to mother with several children, or a draw from. You have His Presence father and husband dealing with the with you. You have His Word and pressures of the day; whether old or His promises. You are not too old or young; in whatever station we have too young. Satan will try to fill you found ourselves, we will find that with thoughts about your inability, the ―heat‖ of our trials can press or a host of other things. But the upon us and test us until it seems truth stands tall above his devices, that our limit has been reached. and the truth will destroy his devices Isaiah 32:2 speaks of a time with the brightness of its coming. when ―a man shall be…as rivers of We can rise up and be a bearer water in a dry place, as the of encouraging truth, and be, shadow of a great rock in a weary among our brethren, one who pro- land.‖ Have you found your Lord vides for others God‘s shade from and Savior to be just that? Are the the heat, His protection from the blessings of His Presence, His sweltering blast, His water to Word, His Promises filling that quench the thirst of the saints. place of relief, comfort, and protec- The result of this will be that the tion from the blasting heat? work of God among His weary We have another question: People will be accomplished, even While the first place we should though the day, or the trial, be certainly go is directly to the Lord ―sweltering hot.‖ in prayer, and seek our relief from Him only, have you found that Lowell Miller 4 The Testimony August, 2011 General MODESTY • Free from vanity, egotism, boastfulness, or great preten- This has been a subject of great sions. (Pretensions are great interest for quite some time, and outward shows.) these lines are only penned as en- • Free from ostentation or showy couragement to anyone who feels extravagance. (Ostentation to accept them as a way to provoke means a display intended to im- thought and promote a more mod- press others.) est lifestyle and thought pattern. • Having or showing a regard for We claim no expertise in the realm the decencies of behavior, of modesty, and we need prayers speech, dress, etc. and help as much as anyone. • Limited or moderate in amount, Modesty in the literal spelling of extent, etc. the word and its various forms With the above definitions in could only be found one time in mind, and coupled with the the Bible (I Timothy 2:9). Upon thought delivered at our Annual searching for synonyms for mod- Conference last year, that pride est, modesty, and modestly, inter- could be anything that calls at- esting and very biblical terminol- tention to oneself, it became an ogy was found: humble, meek, obvious conclusion that modesty, resigned, unpretentious, plain, pride, and respect are closely and unostentatious, quiet, seemly, deeply intermingled. Modesty proper, simple, unadorned, unaf- cannot be dictated by certain fected, pure, chaste, decent, hon- est, virtuously, restraint, courtesy, rules, but is governed only by a moderate, and reasonable. Just condition of the heart that is will- about every one of these terms is ing to follow biblical instructions found in the Bible. Also of inter- to live a life for Christ. Modesty est are the antonyms: boldly, in its various forms is not merely boastfully, pretentiously, vanity, a lifestyle, it is a heartstyle! We conceit, egotism. Most of these may adhere to self-imposed terms (in some form) are also guidelines as a helpmeet to found in the Bible. It became ap- achieve a ―state‖ of modesty ex- parent that modesty is an inher- ternally, but blindly or ignorantly ently, ingrained biblical principle following a particular set of rules we would do well to maintain. will not make us modest or im- Modesty is defined by Webster‘s modest (―for of the abundance of unabridged dictionary with the the heart his mouth speaketh‖ following meanings: Luke 6:45). The following areas • Having or showing a moderate could be all encompassing if we or humble estimate of one‘s are truthful to ourselves and al- merits, importance, etc. low them to be. MODESTY 5 Area #1 events, persons, or general infor- Attitudes and Aimings mation; do we use modest lan- Attitude is defined two ways: guage, or do we embellish it with one, as our manner, disposition, our opinion? The Bible teaches to feeling and position, with regard let our yea be yea and our nay, to a person or thing, especially the nay (James 5:12). When someone mind, and secondly, as posture of treats us ungraciously, do we use body appropriate or expressive of words seasoned with a tone of an action or emotion. Attitude can temperance, meekness, and mod- be a great asset or detriment to eration? Do we have an attitude our character. It has been said of compassion and helpfulness to- that character is what we are or ward those in less fortunate cir- what we do when no one is cumstances? How do we respond around. In other words, it is the to compliments given to us regard- deep recesses of our mind that ing our ―talents‖? The Bible tells only God sees and knows! Hu- us not to think ourselves more mans tend to confuse character highly than we ought to think! with reputation: Reputation is (Romans 12:3). Do we support and what men think we are encourage other believers and character is what in their walk to follow God knows we are! Do we support and Christ, or do we If our attitude is become judg- to be modest, the encourage other mental, thinking terms charitable, believers in their our way is the t e m p e r a n c e , only way? We moderation, re- walk… or do we be- are not called to spectful, and loving come judgmental…? judge.