Roy C. Deaver

After a lengthy battle with dementia, Roy C. Deaver passed from this life on March 2, 2007. Roy was born in 1922 in Stephens County, Texas, in the suburbs of Caddo, to my grandparents, Harvey and Alta Deaver. My grandmother was 18 when Roy, her oldest child, was born. She had experienced difficulties with a couple of prior pregnancies, and according to family lore, she had prayed the prayer of Hannah, and asked God for a healthy son, whom she would encourage to become a preacher of the gospel. Roy preached the gospel for more than 60 years.

Dementia was not the only thing Roy battled during his life on earth. He defended and proclaimed the truth of God’s Word. He was well known among Christians as an educator, administrator, minister, elder, teacher, writer, and debater. The impact on those who heard him speak, and those who read his writings, may never be known this side of eternity. He was also a son, a brother, a husband, a father, grandfather and uncle.

He was tireless in his devotion to the church. At one time he served as the President of Ft. Worth Christian College, the director of Brown Trail School of Preaching, the pulpit minister at Brown Trail Church of Christ, and as an elder at Brown Trail. The operative phrase here is “at one time”. Roy Deaver served in these capacities at the same time.

I was teaching a class one Sunday, in Lewisville, on the book of Romans, and a visitor to the class raised his hand to make a comment. Because of the difference in our last names, he had no way of knowing that Roy Deaver was my uncle. As he spoke, he stated, “Roy Deaver is the smartest man in the brotherhood. He knows more Bible than anyone I know, and he has memorized the entire New Testament.” I wouldn’t doubt that Roy was an incredible Bible scholar and one of the best Greek scholars of his time. I never heard him claim to have memorized the entire New Testament, but obviously Roy had impressed many that were seated at his feet while he taught.

The relationship I had with Roy was less frequent, in occasion, as those who were in his immediate family, or those in the congregation or school where he was working. When we got together, there were lots of jokes, lots of laughs, and lots of fun. I watched him grieve, not as one without hope, the death of one of his sisters in 1965, the death of his dad in 1977, the death of his brother in 1999, and his mother in 2000. He helped us grieve the loss of other family members, including my dad in 2001. Thankfully, he was too sick and unable to come to the funeral of my mother, his youngest sister, in 2006. But, I have found numerous notes of encouragement and love from Roy to my mom, sent over the years. Roy was the last survivor of that Deaver family of six. My faith tells me that they are all together now, enjoying one another and perhaps a “mess of catfish” and some clear conversation. My grandfather, Roy’s dad, suffered from dementia, and so did my mother. It’s been a long time since that Deaver family had a clear and meaningful conversation together.

I was always able to call on Roy for advice, counsel, or insight into situations that I was facing. When the Lewisville church was first established, and continued to show amazing growth, he, tongue-in-cheek, asked me, “Didn’t you say that you had already appointed elders there?” Then, we laughed, knowing full well that he had the utmost respect for elders. When I was asked to serve as an elder in 2000, at a very young age, he gave me encouragement, and expressed his confidence in me to accomplish the task with God’s help.

In the later years of his life, it saddened me to see friends and colleagues turn on him, withdraw fellowship from him and members of his family, and dismiss and minimize his contributions completely, based on their disagreement with a few of his teachings. The Lord will settle those things in His time, but I can’t help but be saddened by the actions of these men. It also saddened me to see him struggle with his memory, one of his greatest God-given tools. His close friend, Tom Warren, experienced many of the same things during his bout with dementia. A family member told me, that in his last days, Roy would cry and say, “I need to be preaching the gospel”. It appears that, after the Lord, his mom’s prayer shaped him as much as the influence of Brother Pullias, Brother Hardeman, and Brother Warren.

As we have honored some, in this blogspace, who were giants among us, we honor Roy Deaver in that same regard. Even if it takes nine, or ninety, of us to fill his shoes, we are obligated to try and fill them.

Is there a future giant among us today?

PROPHECYING & SPEAKING IN TONGUES

My esteemed colleague and dearly beloved brother in the Lord has posted a most intriguing article entitled, “That You May Prophecy.” When we initiated this blog last year, we stated that our purpose was to encourage a deeper study of the Word of God. We also stated that the four contributors would not agree with each other on every article that would be posted. I am writing this article as another view of the contents of 1 Corinthians 14.

One of the first rules of Bible study is to study a passage in its immediate context. By that, we mean can one ascertain the meaning of a scripture by studying the scriptures that surround the given verse.

In the book of 1 Corinthians, the Apostle is dealing with problems that were being faced by the church in Corinth. This of course, does not mean that other congregations were dealing with the same problems, or that other congregations would ever deal with the same problems. Therefore, as we study the problems enumerated in the book of 1 Corinthians we must remember that Paul was writing to deal with specific issues relating to the Corinthian congregation. Scholars, also call this, the “Sitz em Laben,” or the life situation of those who were recipients of the letter.

It is not possible to fully understand statements such as, “but especially that you may prophecy” (1 Corinthians 14:1), and “Why do you forbid to speak in tongues” (1 Corinthians 14:39), without placing these statements in the context of the entire discussion of 1 Corinthians 12-14).

Paul’s lead statement, “Now concerning spiritual gifts…” (1 Corinthians 12:1) allows us to know something of the question he is about to answer. He then begins to discuss several aspects of the spiritual gifts problems relative to what was taking place in Corinth. Brother Wayne Jackson states about this section of scripture, “Paul’s need to address this controversy likely was generated by a report of divisiveness within that church (cf. 1:10ff), and as a result of correspondence with some of the saints there (7:1).

Paul mentions the spiritual gifts that were available to the Corinthian church. Among these are wisdom, knowledge, healings, prophecy, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. From reading chapter twelve, it becomes apparent that some at Corinth were boasting about their particular spiritual gift. Paul concludes this chapter and begins chapter thirteen by stating very clearly that these gifts are of little value if they are not exercised with love. After defining love, he places it in contrast to the spiritual gifts. The gifts were temporary phenomena, they would cease, but love would last forever.

In Chapter fourteen Paul selects three of these gifts; tongues, interpretation of tongues, and prophecy, to illustrate the division that was occurring in the church at Corinth. It appears that the Apostle is attempting to regulate the use of these gifts.

Some of these Christians appear to be abusing their ability to speak in tongues. Paul admonishes those who had the gift of speaking in tongues to remain silent, if there was no one present who had the gift of interpreting (1 Corinthians 14:2, 6). In addition, he admonishes those who had the gift of tongues to speak “in turn” (1 Corinthians 14:27). Finally, they were told to exercise self-control so that order might prevail when they came together (1Corinthians 14:33).

In regard to prophecy, Paul makes the assertion that it is greater than the gift of tongues, when the gift of tongues is used improperly. The gift of prophecy was a divine gift that allowed the possessor of the gift to teach in such a way so that the entire church might be edified (1 Corinthians 14:3). Because the gift of prophecy did not require an interpreter, so it was deemed the greater gift (1 Corinthians 14:1-5, 22-25).

Paul’s admonishment to desire the gift of prophecy (1 Corinthians 14:1) and to not forbid speaking in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:39) must be studied in the context of the entire discussion (1 Corinthians 12-14). Neither of these gifts would last. It is my conviction that both of these gifts were miraculous gifts and that they were temporary (1 Corinthians 13:8). One should no more affirm that we have the gift of prophecy today, than that we have the gift of tongues today. They both appear from the context, to stand or fall together. It is my conviction that neither is present in the church today.

That You May Prophesy?

In the context of 1 Corinthians 12 – 14, Paul speaks of numerous spiritual gifts present, at that time, in Corinth. At the beginning of Chapter 13, he contrasts the gifts of tongues, prophecy, knowledge, and faith with the gift of love. At the end of Chapter 13, he speaks of the superiority of love, as a gift of the Spirit, even over the great gifts of hope and faith. Of all the spiritual gifts, only love will endure throughout eternity.

At the beginning of Chapter 14, he writes, “Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy” (NKJV). Then, throughout Chapter 14, he extols the benefit of prophecy to those in the church and to unbelievers.

Does the context require us to view this gift for first century Corinth only? For first century Christians only? For us, as Christians, even today?

Should we pursue the gift of prophecy? If we seek the gift of prophecy today, can we find it? What is the Biblical meaning of prophecy, or the Biblical meaning of prophesy?

Vines states, concerning the words derived from “prophemi”, included in 1 Corinthians 14:1 above, the following:

“Though much of OT prophecy was purely predictive, prophecy is not necessarily, nor even primarily, foretelling. It is the declaration of that which cannot be known by natural means (Matthew 26:68), it is the forth-telling of the will of God, whether with reference to the past, the present, or the future”.

Ralph Earle states, concerning the word “prophemi”, that it “means to speak forth”. He further states, similar to Vines, the following:

“Contrary to popular usage today, the Biblical meaning of “prophecy” is not foretelling, but forth-telling. Put in simplest terms, the prophet is one who speaks for God”.

That would be consistent with Peter’s admonition in 1 Peter 4:10f. If we speak for God, we speak forth for God, and for His glory.

Scholars are divided on whether or not this gift, or in some cases any of the spiritual gifts remain with Christians today. The difference in their positions would appear to be based primarily on the definition distinction of foretelling and forth-telling, and also on the source of the information for the prophets (spokesmen for God).

Vines even states that teachers have replaced prophets in the church, primarily due to his interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13:8f and 2 Peter 2:1. His basis for this distinction is stated as follows:

“The difference is that, whereas the message of the prophet was a direct revelation of the mind of God for the occasion, the message of the teacher is gathered from the completed revelation contained in the Scriptures.”

My personal conviction is that spiritual gifts continue today, in whatever measure the Spirit chooses to distribute them (1 Corinthians 12:7ff; 1 Peter 4:10f; etc.). I cannot know, and neither can Vines or anyone, whether all the people referred to as prophets, or who prophesied in the first century and prior, received their revelation directly from God. They may have received a revelation from others that had received a direct revelation from God. Or, they may have received their revelation from those who had received a revelation from someone who had received a revelation from someone who received a direct revelation from God.

The point is that the gift of prophecy is a gift intended for the sharing and edification of others. And the gift of forth-telling is with us today, and is expected to be with us until the Lord returns. We must all ensure that our forth-telling is consistent with the Word of God revealed to us. But, whether we teach in homes, in a classroom, write books, or seldom read blog articles, we should be forth-telling the Word of God. We should seek to prophesy.

Finally, in 1 Corinthians 14:1, Paul writes:

“Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” (NKJV)

“Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.” (KJV)

“Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.” (NIV)

“Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” (NASB)

“Pursue love, yet strive for spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” (McCord)

All of these are very similar in that they encourage us to pursue a course of love, and to desire spiritual gifts. These readings also seem to indicate that we should “especially” desire to be prophets or to prophesy.

Alfred Marshall’s Interlinear New Testament indicates a somewhat different reading, from the Greek text, which changes the focus of the passage.

“Pursue love, but desire eagerly the spiritual, in order that you may prophesy”. It appears to me that this reading is somewhat different in idea than the others listed above. Are we to be loving? Yes. Are we also to pursue the spiritual, or the spiritual gifts? Yes. Why? So we might prophesy. So we might be credible, and accurate, spokesmen, or forth-tellers, of God’s divine will. In OT times, the coming of the Messiah would have been a future event, but also something that had to have been told, because it could not have been known by natural means. Today, the proclamation of the return of the Lord, and judgement, is a telling of a future event. It too, is something that cannot be known by natural means. It requires, under God’s plan, spokesmen, forth-tellers, foretellers, or prophets.

Many of you, who read this, are preachers, teachers, writers, or you share the gospel with a friend, co-worker, neighbor or stranger. In a sense, you are prophets. You understand that you participate in an enormous activity. With that participation comes an even larger responsibility.