WHERE DOES THE CONGREGATION STAND?

TAKING SOUND GOSPEL PREACHING FOR GRANTED

Sometimes those of us who have been privileged to routinely hear sound gospel preaching come to take it for granted. To those who have had the “other kind” of preaching, the plain unvarnished truth boldly proclaimed and defended is a cool, uplifting, and refreshing draft of essential spiritual nourishment. I assure you that is not what many churches that continue to have church of Christ “above the door” are hearing. Many of the churches that are not openly promoting false doctrines, refrain from dealing with the first principles and fundamentals of Christianity that set the church of our Lord far apart from denominational sectarian churches founded and sustained on the commandments and doctrines of men.

“AS THE PULPIT GOES . . .”

Someone has well said that “as the pulpit goes, so goes the church.” I may also add that “as the eldership goes, so goes the pulpit.” But, that is not the end to “what and when” and “where they go.” If the church members do not respect Bible authority in all things (Colossians 3:17; II Timothy 3:16-17; 2:15; Hebrews 4:12; Luke 8:11,15; Ephesians 6:17; James 1:25; John 12:48), they will not tolerate scriptural elders who superintend the church according to God’s will. Such a rebellious church will raise up elders who are “men pleasers.” When this happens and is not corrected, gone is “the faithful spiritual neighborhood that is the church.”

A FABLE LOVING AND FORGETFUL PEOPLE

As noted, one of the first things to go when such rebellion permeates the bride of Christ is the faithful courageous gospel preacher. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (II Timothy 4:3-4).

Indeed, today we are in the midst of a “fable” loving people. Furthermore, we are living among “forgetful” people. As good Jeremiah declared of apostate fleshly Israel, so it is with spiritual Israel, the church. “Can a maid forget her ornaments or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number” (Jeremiah 2:32). Because so many in the church love “fables,” they have replaced the truth of the gospel with them. In general brethren have forgotten that…:

1. “God is not man that he should lie” (Numbers 23:19);
2. To rebellious man “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31);
3. “God is not mocked” (Galatians 6:7)―man shall reap what he sows.
4. “The conclusion of the whole matter…” for man “is to fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13);
5. The love of God always manifests itself in faithful obedience to God’s commandments (John 14:15; I John 2:5; 5:3).
6. Christ saves only those who obey him (John 14:6; Hebrews 5:9; Romans 6:3-4; 17-18; Acts 10:48);
7. There is only one plan of salvation (Romans 10:17; Acts 17:30; Romans 10:10; Acts 22:16);
8. There is only one church acceptable to God and she contains all those who are saved by Christ (Acts 2:38; 47; Ephesians 4:4; 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18; 5:25-27).
9. The Lord’s church exists any time and any where men will obey the gospel and “continue stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Mark 16:15; Romans 1:16; Acts 2:42).
10. The church of Christ is not a denomination; that is, she is not a part of the whole church, but she is the whole church or realm of the saved (Matthew 16:18; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:4; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 5:23);
11. The kingdom of Christ and the church of Christ are one and the same institution (Matthew 16:18-19; Mark 9:1; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; 2:4, 41-42, 47; Colossians 1:13; Revelation 1:9; II Corinthians 15:24-28).                                                                         

WE MUST PREACH THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD

While there are other marks of identity of the Lord’s church found on the pages of the New Testament, the above are sufficient to set forth those gospel truths that are not being taught by certain brethren. Yet, to be a faithful gospel preacher one must, with the apostle Paul, be able to declare: “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).~

with a question. “Why do ye transgress the commandment omind. It was the commandment having to do with honoring father and mother (Matthew 15:4). But how were they reacting to this word?

David P. Brown

REBUKING THE SINS OF FAMILY AND CLOSE FRIENDS

If you are a Christian teacher of the Bible who labors to follow Jesus’ example and His New Testament’s instructions in your life and teaching of God’s Word, it is important to understand and prepare yourself for those family members who, whether related to you by blood or law, think they are exempt from being taught Biblical truths that expose and refute their sins and/or spiritual weaknesses. To some of them being related to you means that you do not teach the Bible to them as you do to those unrelated to you. The foregoing is the case with those family members outside of Christ as well as those in Christ who are guilty of sin.

The foregoing is also true for some who are your close friends. Their understanding of being close friends means that they are exempt from your rebukes for any sins they have committed. Although in their thoughts or words they have never explicitly (in just so many words) said as much, they assume you have the same view of what it means to be their close friend as they do to be yours―close friends do not deal with each other’s sins as they do with other people’s sins. They expect preferential treatment. It is best described as the sinful “respecter of persons” mentality. When one must deal with the sins and/or spiritual weaknesses of family members and/or close friends in seeking to bring them to repentance, it will not take long to see which of them will thank you for loving them enough to say things to them that they need to hear, which things are painful for them to hear as well as for you to say.

It must have been a painful thing for the apostles Paul and Peter, along with their brethren, when Paul’s love for Jesus, His truth, His church, and Peter’s soul to withstand his fellow apostle, Peter, “to the face” because of the latter’s sin of hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11, 13). But not only had Peter sinned himself, but his sinful conduct caused other brethren to follow in his hypocritical footsteps. Paul’s public rebuke of Peter must have been at the very least a great embarrassment to Peter. However, on more than one occasion during our Lord’s personal ministry Jesus had rebuked Peter, and sometimes sharply, for his sins and spiritual weakness (Matthew 16:33; 13:31; Mark 14:29, 30). But to Peter’s great credit we see how humble, teachable, and correctable the apostle was (Proverbs 9:8; 13:1; 27:6; Ecclesiastes 7:5).

The episode of Paul rebuking Peter because of the latter’s sin did not result in the two apostles being estranged from one another as many times it is the case. There is no indication in the sacred writings that Peter was upset and angry with Paul because the latter publicly rebuked him for his sin. Peter did not cease to speak to or avoid Paul because the former was rebuked by the apostle to the Gentiles. In fact, many years later Peter referred to Paul “as our beloved brother” (II Peter 3:15). All too often when some brethren are publicly or privately rebuked for their sins, especially if the rebuke comes from brethren in the Lord who are family members or close friends, those receiving the rebuke forever hold a grudge against the one who delivered the rebuke.

Peter bore the marks of Christian character traits that all too few exercise when their sins are exposed by one who loves them enough to rebuke them for their sins. However, we who would be faithful in all things must be willing to lose the closeness that exists between family members as well as the closeness of our best friends in demonstrating our love for God, His Word, the church, and the sinner in need of rebuking. All too often those family members and close friends turn out to be only “fair weather friends” and “sunshine patriots.” They are simply not all they would have you to believe they are when it comes to their Christianity.

On the other hand, we who may be on the receiving end of a justified rebuke ought to look to Peter for an example of how to receive a deserved rebuke in being willing to cast down whatever pride we may have hindering us from making whatever corrections we need to make in order to be faithful to God. Moreover, we should be thankful for the child of God who loved us enough to point out our spiritual weaknesses and sins. Surely, if we understand that we have an obligation to God to rebuke the sins of our brethren, then we should also understand that we are to welcome being shown our sins by someone else, especially when we are rebuked by family members and friends, close or otherwise.

In closing this brief message we must realize that none of us who rightfully wear the name of Christ ought to allow pride, emotions, or relationships to cause us to fail in what needs to be said to or done with people in our efforts to get them to repent of their sins. The unforgiven sins in our lives are the only things that can separate us from God. Thus, those sins must be dealt with according to the scriptures. In order to do that, sinners must know and come to grips with the fact that certain actions in their lives are sinful and if heaven is to be their home they must repent of those sinful actions. Of course, if they do not repent, then at their death, or if the Lord returns first, they will be sentenced to eternal torment in a devils hell. No one wants that to happen to anyone―especially one’s dearly beloved family members and close friends. And to them and all others with Paul we ask, “Am I become your enemy, because I tell you the truth” (Galatians.4:16).

David P. Brown

SALVATION FROM SINS

Some people believe and teach we are all God’s children, but that is not true. We are all God's creation. However, all who are accountable to God for their actions have sinned and are thus separated from God―they are lost in their sins and in need of God's salvation (Romans 3:23; 6:23). All who are in need of salvation are children of the devil. In this world, all people who are accountable to God for their actions are either children of the devil or they are children of God. Jesus said to some Jews of His day that they were children of their father the devil, and they loved to do the evil things that the devil does. Jesus told them that the devil was a murderer from the beginning and always hated the truth. Jesus said that was the case because there is no truth in him. Furthermore, Jesus said that when the devil lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice, and He knows them, and they follow Him (John 10:27). And, Paul tells us that the children of the devil become the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians3:26) We learn from the next verse when one is by faith made a child of God―“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (ASV, 1901). Jesus said, “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35). He also asked, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46).

Ephesians 1:3 tells us that Christians are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Paul also wrote of Christians, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). A child of the devil must take each step in God’s great plan of salvation. This is the conversion process of one ceasing to be a child of the devil and becoming a child of God in God’s great family, the church of His Son. This is the process of being born again (John 3:1-21).

The steps in God’s singular plan of salvation leading to eternal life in Heaven are:

Hear and understand the gospel, for that is how faith is formed in one and then strengthened and sustained.

• Romans 10:17―“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”.
• John 20:30-31―“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
• Romans 1:16―“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
• I Corinthians 15:1-4―“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

Believe in the deity of Jesus Christ.

• John 8:24―“I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”
• John 3:18―“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
• Hebrews 11:1, 6―“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen … But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a re-warder of them that diligently seek him.”

Repent of one’s sins.

• Luke 13:5―“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
• Acts 17:30―“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.”

Confess one’s faith in Christ.

• Romans 10:9-10―“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
• Acts 8:36-38―“And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.”

Be baptized (immersed) by the authority of Christ in water for the remission of sins.

• Mark 16:16―“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
• Acts 2:38―“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
• Acts 22:16―“And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
• Romans 6:3-4―“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
• Galatians 3:26-27―“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
• I Peter 3:21―“The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Having been added to the church by the Lord Himself (Acts. 2:42, 47), one must continue to be faithful to Christ in the church of our Lord, for salvation can be lost.

• I Corinthians 15:58―“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
• Hebrews 10:36-39―“For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”
• Revelation 2:10―“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
• II Peter 2:20-22―“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”
• Galatians 5:4―“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”

More than the foregoing God does not require of the child of the devil to become a child of God. Less than obedience thereto and one will remain a child of the devil, losing one’s soul when life on earth is finished. Don’t turn a deaf ear to God’s great plan to make a child of God out of a child of the devil, so one can live with him in glory when this life is over. Jesus saves only those who obey Him (Hebrews 5:9).

David P. Brown

Conversion or Hardness of Heart

In admonishing Christians of their responsibility to continue to speak the God-saving truth that they may grow thereby (1 Pet. 2:2), the apostle Peter reminds them of how the Jews did not accept Jesus as the only begotten Son of God. Peter declared: They stumble at the Lord, being disobedient (1 Pet. 2:8). We learn from the Greek word translated being disobedient that its meaning is not to allow oneself to be persuaded. (see Thayer or any reputable Greek lexicon). Implied is the fact that man has the power to reject obvious truth.

He can close his understanding to adequate evidence if he does not love the truth above everything else (2 The. 2:10-12). When the truth is offered to an honest man in error, one of two things can happen: (1) He will keep his honesty by giving up his error and embracing the truth, or (2) He will reject the truth, give up his honesty, and keep his error.

Speaking for God, Isaiah said to Israel:  “Come now, and let us reason together” (Isa. 1:18). God created man a rational creature and has never bypassed man’s rationality in seeking to lead and guide him. God does not force Himself upon man against man’s will (Rom. 1:28). If man will not receive the abundant and adequate evidence regarding man’s spiritual needs, God is not going to force it on him. The people in Isaiah’s day were unreasonable and would not accept God’s Word. They simply would not allow themselves to be  persuaded (Isa. 6:9-13). Thus, they lost their honesty and retained their error. In the words of Peter: ”They stumble[d] at the word, being disobedient. Hence, Paul’s request to the Thessalonians that they pray that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith” (2 The. 3:2). If you want to become wicked, just stop being reasonable. In doing so, you will lose   your honesty and harden your heart as you embrace the strong delusion of error.

David P. Brown

For the Cause. . .

Many members of the Lord’s church (including not a few elders and preachers) refuse to understand that the Lord’s church is the Lord’s army. We exist to fight for the right as the Bible defines the right in everything. In order to remain faithful, beginning with ourselves, we are to engage in spiritual warfare all day long, 365 days out of the year, as long as we are able, and until the Lord returns.

But the previously mentioned brethren hold the false view that if they can just get over the present problem/problems, whatever it/they may be, they will be forever out of the problem business. This false mind-set is one of the devil’s greatest ploys to lull the church into a false sense of security. Once he accomplishes selling the church the error that holiness is harmlessness and whispering sweet platitudes to one another in order to make each other happy in our own conceits is the way to go, the father of lies has a much easier job getting us to digress from the Truth more and more.

In living the Christian life, we are in the process of getting over problems, or we are in the middle of them, or we are about to get into them. This is true of congregations as well as individuals and their families. Of course, this is not to say all problems are of the same magnitude. But, when we once realize that life is one problem after another, the better off we will be. And, when “... we know that ... the whole world lieth in wickedness [in the evil one, ASV–1901]” (I John 5:19), should we not expect problems to abound?

The Lord never promised us a life without problems (Luke 9:23; II Timothy 3:12). To the contrary, Christians are promised many problems because of their faithfulness to Him. However, Jesus said He would give us the solution to those problems (I Corinthians 10:13; II Timothy 3:16–17). Thus, “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:25).

A successful life is one lived on the Lord’s terms. Although the world never will recognize it, when Stephen was stoned to death for his uncompromising stand for the Truth, he died a complete success (Acts 7:54–60). He lived and died governed by God’s will. Stephen thereby continues to be an example to Christians in living and dying (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14; I Corinthians 15:58; Revelation 2:10).

David P. Brown

JERUSALEM HYPOCRITES: THOUGHTFUL CONSIDERATIONS

Ananias and Sapphira were active members of the early Jerusalem church (Acts 5). Please notice that I did not say that they were faithful, but that they were active (5:1-2). They were active hypocrites, and God killed them for their hypocrisy (5:5, 10). Yes, “God is love,” but He is also a just God (I John 4:16; Revelation 15:3). I trust that some have not reached such a sinful frame of mind that they would accuse God of not having enough love in His dealing with this sinful pair. All would do well to remember Paul’s comment, “yea, let God be true, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). To be a hypocrite is to live a lie. The original word means an actor, i.e., one who acted out a part or pretended to be that which he was not. As hypocrisy relates to religion, Webster defines it as, “a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not” (Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, 1963).Remember how that Ananias and Sapphira sold their land and gave some of what they received to the church for a worthy cause (Acts 4:32-37; 5:2). J. W. McGarvey, in his sermon on “The Jerusalem Church,” had these comments about Ananias and Sapphira’s contribution.

If the disciples at that age had been as demonstrative and irreverent in the Lord’s house as are some of our modern assemblies, I think there would have been general and very hearty clapping of hands at this deed (253).

McGarvey said this in the summer of 1893! It is, however, as fresh and applicable for today as if it had been uttered this morning! Both husband and wife wanted to be seen of men to be praised for their false generosity. This character flaw is typical of all hypocrites (Matthew 23:28).

So it is that our Lord warned: “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1). Their lie to the God of glory brought about His swift and sure retribution (Acts 5:5, 10). McGarvey again comments:

What awful work this was; and how quickly done! No tears, no prayers, no delay. Nothing but solemnity and awe like that of the judgment day, and whose work was it? Not that of Peter; for he seems not to have known that Ananias was to fall dead;  and although he knew that Sapphira would, he expressed no will of his own in the matter. It was the work of the great Head of the church, who thus exercised discipline in His church, so as to show those to whom it would afterward be entrusted, the promptness with which crying sins must be rebuked if the church would please Him. This is divine intimation on the subject of discipline. Shall we learn the lesson, or shall we continue, as so many churches have long been doing, to keep the ungodly in the church, under the vain delusion that we are exercising forbearance and mercy which heaven will approve, or under the idle impression that we have a better hope of saving a wicked man in the church, than if we cast him out? (254).

I am constantly made to marvel at how some things never change. You may be sure that if Ananias and Sapphira “agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord” before an inspired apostle (Acts 5:9), that in our age of worldly pride and “supposing that gain is godliness” (I Timothy 6:5), the same sinfulness will run rampant in the church. How many churches really want sermons preached that deal with the sins of the brethren? The present “positive preaching” concept would have us angry at God and Peter and cooing like doves over the poor unloved and mistreated Ananias and Sapphira. Beloved brethren, we must open our eyes to the sad state of affairs so many in the church have come to and realize the importance in godly discipline and its place in the saving of souls (I Corinthians 5:4, 5, 10-13; II Thessalonians. 3:6).

David P. Brown

UNITY AND DIVERSITY

Most of the time we hear the term, unity in diversity and not unity and diversity. The first of these is a contradiction of terms. Unity is defined as “oneness” and diverse means “unlike” (Webster’s 9th New Collegiate Dictionary). When we substitute the definitions for the words themselves, we have: “Oneness in Unlikeness.” Just how can unlike things be one (Amos 3:3)? We may as well say “dryness in wetness” or “goodness in badness.” These words taken in their normal usage and paired as we have done them are nothing less than nonsense. In the words, unity and diversity, we are saying that God’s Word demands “oneness,” “unity,” and “sameness” in matters of obligation. By obligatory matters we mean those things authorized by God’s Word by the various kinds of direct statements, those things implied by the Scriptures, or examples (patterns) contained therein (Colossians 3:17). The Bible authorizes in no other way than these. In fact, whether we realize it or not, in our own communication with one another these are the only means whereby any language or form of communication works. It is the very nature of language.

In 1 Corinthians 1:10 Paul said: “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” However, this same Paul so differed (not the same mind or judgment) with Barnabas over whether or not to take John Mark on their second preaching tour that they parted company (Acts 15:36-41). Is this the same Paul who wrote to the Corinthian brethren and begged them not to divide and to “be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment”? Did Paul preach one thing and practice something different? The answer is, “Of course not.”

Paul was begging the Corinthian brethren to be one in matters of obligation (i.e., those things authorized by God—Colossians 3:17). Paul and Barnabas did not differ over matters of obligation, but over optional matters.

Regarding the “sharp contention” that resulted in the two men parting company, there is no evidence that either one of these two great servants of God sinned in motive or action (I John 3:4; James 4:17). In fact, after their separation the church in Antioch of Syria backed them (Acts 15:40). Out of their difference in judgment, two preaching tours emerged. Hence, unity, oneness, or sameness must obtain in all matters of obligation, and diversity or difference is allowed in those matters where God did not specify who, where, when, and/or how the thing authorized is to be done.

In local church matters elders make the final decision in optional matters (Acts 20:28; Hebrews 13:7, 17; I Peter 5:1-3). Elders, do you know the difference in obligatory and optional matters? If so, do you know that you are to choose the option that expedites or is most advantageous (without the element of advantage a thing cannot be expeditious) in doing what God in His Word has obligated the church to do? When elders do not know these things, only confusion can result. If the church today does not evidence the fact that most elders do not know the aforementioned matters, then we do not know what it would take to prove it.

Today, those who advocate “unity in diversity” are trying to teach doctrines that are designed to make obligatory things optional. They teach that you can “opt” to observe the Lord’s supper on Sunday or any other day. If it violates your conscience or if it is against your “tradition” to take it on Thursday night, then do not do it, but do not divide the church over your differences. If you must not use mechanical instruments of music in worship to God, fine. Just do not separate yourselves from those who do. In fact, just about everything that God has obligated man to do by His authoritative will has been dealt with in the above erroneous manner. The result is that false doctrines are taught which loose men from what God in the Bible has bound upon them (various forms of “liberalism”) and bound men with what God in His Word has not bound upon them (various forms of “anti-ism”).

There can be no God-approved or true unity that is not founded on and sustained by Bible authority. We readily see the need of properly constituted authority in the everyday affairs of life.

David P. Brown