This article is transcribed from a presentation originally made at an Apostolic Chris-tian Church Eastern Camp meeting, held August, 1968. Itis available in pamphlet form from the Apostolic Christian Publishing Company.

Brother WernerLeimgruber

When we began our Campon Sunday morning, BrotherGeorgeFreundheldtheserv-ice and spoke on the themeof our lesson, “What Must IDo to Be Saved?”. And hefulfilled what I trust all of usappreciated: namely, a defi-niteneedtoredefinethetruescriptural meaning of what itmeans to be saved. He men-tioned that this concept of being saved, the concept of salvation, the concept espe-cially of repentance, had be-come a bit fuzzy and blurredincertainquarters,sothatweneed to redefine it and getback to the true and soundbasis of the Word of God.This morning we wouldlike to present a sequel, as it were,tothatparticularlessonbe redefining some otherconcept which in the recentpast has, unfortunately, be-come rather blurred, seri-ously distorted, and danger-ously misrepresented.BrotherBoband Iwouldlike

The Newsletter of theApostolic Christian Publishing Company

xhortations

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

— II Timothy 4:2

Volume 1 Number 4 Autumn, 1996

In This Issue

True Unto the End — Page 1

The Fallacy of Eternal Security — Page 1

Doctrinal Deviations of Calvinism — Page 9

Who Are the Wise? — Page 13

The Life of Samuel Heinrich Fröhlich —Page 14

“We need... to get back to the trueand sound basis of the Word of God.”

True Unto the End

This excerpt, written by a brother in the former Yugoslavia, poignantlytypifiesthe sufferingof theSerbianbrethrenbydescrib-ing the case of one brother who was persecuted by the authorities for his refusal to bear arms or swear to an oath.This letter is taken from a work compiledby Brother K. Stäubli, from Pfäffikon-Zürich, Switzerland, in 1928. Brother Stäubli served with Brothers Eduard Geistlich and Henry Michel as a delegate on behalf of the brethren of our faith to the official conference of the Alliance of the Societies for the League of Nations, in Brussels. There the matter of non-combatant alterna-tive military service was addressed with the Yugoslavian and Romanian authorities.

The Fallacy ofEternal Security

Continued on page 2

April 14, 1928

Indeed, dear brother, it is hard to believe what an evil andlawlessmovementthoseinpoweraredirectingagainstusatthepresenttime,seeminglywiththepurposeinviewtoexterminateus. But there are also some among them who declare that it would be the greatest blessing for mankind, if all were like usNazarenes.

Werner Leimgruber, Robert W. Freund,George Freund

Continued on page 4

Autumn, 1996 Exhortations • 1

“Thy word is true...”

(Psalm 119:160).God’s word is truth. How is it, then, that so many conflictinginterpretations of the Scripture exist? The adversary, whoknows all the errors associated with each truth, is busy sowingthem in the hearts of men, both believers and unbelievers. ThelesswetrainourselveswiththearmorofGod,themoresuscep-tible we are to his advances.Those teachings that are obviously false generate only asmall following: Satan much prefers the subtle errors, with which he can deceive many.How can we separate spiritual truth from spiritual error?Here is a simple test that can be used to examine whether aparticular teaching is truth or error:

Does the doctrine flow from the Bible naturally? Is it incomplete harmony with the teaching of the entire Bible?

Does support of this doctrine require strained and awkwardinterpretations of the Scripture?

Is this doctrine in complete harmony with God’s evaluationand abhorrence of sin and His plan of redemption?

Does this doctrine encourage a closer walk with God ratherthan encourage yielding to temptation and a life of sin?OurgraciousGoddesiresthatweunderstandHiswordtous,personifiedinJesusChristandrecordedintheBible. Itisours,then, to take in, to partake of heartily, daily.Such a habit willhelp usbecomebetterpreparedtomeettheMaster at the end of this life. There will be more spiritual fruit.That is what we are striving for, after all.

Exhortations

isthenewsletteroftheApostolicChristianPub- lishingCompany,Syracuse,NewYork.Itspurposeistodeclare andpromotetheoriginaldoctrinalstandpointsandpracticesof theApostolicChristianChurchthroughthepublicationofrele- vantarticles,bothhistoricalandcontemporary. Correspondenceregardingthisnewsletterandotherpublica- tionsidentifiedhereinmaybeaddressedto:ApostolicChristian PublishingCompany,P.O.Box416,Syracuse,NewYork13215- 0416.Emailmaybesentto:exhort@acpub.org.VisitourWorld WideWebsiteontheInternetathttp://www.acpub.org GregoryD.KufchakEditor GaiusW.LaubliAssociateEditor DavidM.FreundBusinessManager

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A captain, an assistant judge in the court martial, who hadnoknowledgeoftheNazarenesuntilhemetthemincourt,oncesaidtome,“TheNazarenesdeserverathertoberewardedthanpersecuted.” For this very reason he selected a Nazarene pris-oner to be his orderly (personal assistant). When General______ organized the persecution, this orderly was taken atonce to the prison in ______.This captain, and a major as well, expressed their desire tohavemeaccompanytheminvisitingtheprisoners,theirformerservants. I was glad and ready to go along.The militaryjudges,especially, forthemostpartspeakinthehighest terms about the Nazarenes. But they are often com-pelled to sentence them contrary to their own conviction,because they are ordered to do so.During the visit referred to above, the warden of the prisonreceived us with greatest kindness. When the two officers left,they begged him to treat the Nazarenes with kindly considera-tion. The eyes of the captain were full of tears.Last Friday we buried a soldier who was our brother. Thepoor man had once before served a prison term of 4 years forrefusing to take up arms and to take the oath. But, in order tomake continuous persecution possible, he had been “par-doned”, and he was again ordered to report for military dutyto his company in ______. Again he was told to take up arms and to take the oath; butas he could not act against his conviction, he was sent to prisonagain. The place of confinement was very wet. The dampnessand the cold were so severe — the prison not being heated —that he had to suffer a great deal during the winter. About10daysagohewassenttothemilitarycourtin______.But in the evening, preceding the day when he was to bearraigned before court, he suffered a stroke of apoplexy. Hispoor mother and his young wife were informed by telegraph.They left at once for this city. They arrived by train after a triplasting 24 hours. He was no longer able to recognize them,although he opened his eyes quite often; but he couldnot uttera word.For a week he lived on in this condition, just as if he wereasleep, and in this way he passed fromthis life. An autopsy wasperformed. One of our brothers had a chance to see his dis-sectedbody.Itwasterribletolookat.Thebrainwasfullofblackblood, the kidneys were black. It cannot be said that he wasbeaten; but, taken at its best, it may have been due to the coldand exposure suffered. It was a sad and a terrible scene.He had been a healthy, very handsome, and strong man. Hispoor wife had unknowingly suspected his sufferings and had written to him that he should sign the document which deals withtakinganoathandtakinguparms,andwhichalsocontainsa clause stating that he felt sorry for having been misled.

True Unto the End

Continued from Page 1Continued on page 3

2 • Exhortations Autumn, 1996

Inhisanswertohiswifehewrotethatthiscouldnotbedone:“It is not enough to have made a good beginning and reachedthe middle, but it is necessary to also be true unto the end.”When you were here, you became acquainted with ourbrother, the Serbian soldier so highly respected and trusted bythe major, who is a judge in the military court. This soldier waslately “pardoned”. The other day he was sentenced anew toseveral years in prison. He is a loving, faithful brother whoserved a number of years together with the late brother in theprison in ______. He has given us the best proof of the finecharacter of our late brother. He wept like a child over him.One of our brothers, acting on the request of the latebrother’s mother, begged the official in charge of the hospitalto postpone the funeral until her brother-in-law could arrive,but he was given such a ferocious answer: “These poisonedminds ought to be exterminated.” Our brother died earlyThursday morning. His mother wanted to have

her only son

buried on Saturday. Her wish was refused with contempt.Weneverbeforehavehad acaseofdeathamongthesoldiersofourfaithherein______,andthishard-heartedandcontemp-tuous conduct on the part of the hospital management hasgrieved us very much.When I heard of this terrible blow and of the dangerousillnessofourBrother______,ItelegraphedatoncetotheElderBrother ______ to hold himself in readiness to come to us, atmy calling, in case of death. Our brother died the 6

day and Iinvited Brother ______ to come to the funeral. We waited in vain for his arrival. We went out to the railroad station to meeteverytrain.Hedidnotcome.[Possiblytheextraordinaryemer-gency caused by this conflict with the government made itimpossibleforanyonetocome.

Translators

.]Iwasallalonewithour young Brother ______ and with twosisters. Oh, itwas hardfor us to be alone!Our poor imprisoned brothers are treated by the military judges as kindly as circumstances permit. They are at liberty tocome into the city and to attend our meetings. They came tothe funeral service in the chapel in spite of the verbal order of the commandant forbidding them to do so. Oh, they could seeour great distress and they came to say a last farewell to theirbeloved comrade.Bythistimethegeneralhadprobablyheardsomethingaboutthe harshness of the hospital director and he set the time forthefuneralat4:30insteadof3:00.Then10soldierscommandedby an officer arrived to act as a guard of honor.Wesangafewhymnsinthechapel.Thesoldiers(themilitaryprisoners) were good singers. It was a quiet song, much like amystical anthem, but very sweet and touching.A fewstrangers,civilians, came in and joined us in the chapel. Some of themcould not restrain their tears.When thesinging was over,ourbrothers,themilitaryprison-ers, had to go away. Then the body was placed in the military

True Unto the End

Continued from Page 2

hearse and taken to the cemetery. The grave marker, with acrossupon it,carriedatthehead ofthefuneralprocession,hadthe following inscription on it: “Military Prisoner ________”.Though no clergyman officiated, wherever the funeral pro-cession encountered any officers, even those of highest rankstoppedand saluted,standingatattention inhonorofthedeadsoldier.Only afewofourbrotherswenttothecemetery.There we read a few verses, then we sang and prayed. The officerremained with us to the very end. He was very friendly, and when he left he shook hands with us.We were very sad and depressed, but everything had gonemuch better than we had anticipated in the beginning. Thesinging of the few of us was also very beautiful. Let us praiseGod for this!I am alone and lonely here in ______. I have no opportunitytoactuallyseetheatrocitieswhichourbrothersinthefaithhavetoendure,butitwasdreadfultotreatthisbrotherofours,whom we buried here, with somuch cruelty —

and he wastheonlyson of a loving, tender mother!

In return for the many beneficial services which the Naz-arenes render the Serbian people, they are now persecuted tothe verge of extermination and they are being tortured underthe pretense of the law of self-preservation: “If we do notexterminate them, the Romans or the Italians will come andtake our country and our people.”It is sad, very sad, but it is true: just as Austria exterminatedand persecuted the Serbian people, old men and children, inthe beginning of the war, so is Yugoslavia now treating theNazarenes. The men of military age are being destroyed andtheir poor families are reduced to misery and great distress...Yours, united in love,(Signature)

This letter supplies a very personal glimpse into the extent of suffering the Serbian brethren had to endure because of their determinationandfaithin“holdingfastthefaithfulword”,adher-ing to the doctrinalteaching of not bearingarmsor swearingtoan oath. A companion article in the next issue of

Exhortations,

“Hold Fast Without Wavering”, will provide a doctrinal overview of theScripturalprohibitionagainstbearingarmsorswearingtoanoath, and describe the historicalcircumstanceswhich formed the back- drop to the tragic experiences in this letter.

O faithful be! Who here in every trialWill show his worth — his praise meets no denial;Were there no test, the strong could not be known,Nor weak, nor faithful,Nor those faithless grown.— Zion’s Harp, Hymn 172