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

WHAT IS THE “STANCE” OF THE CONGREGATION?

That is a good question, and one especially appropriate in our day. It has been shown, time and time again, that a person baptized can grow and develop into a knowledgeable, working, and faithful child of God due, to a great extent, to the congregation wherein he has his membership. The opposite has been shown also. In fact, it is seen in the movement that some members must make, through job transfer, etc. Leave one sound and faithful congregation, and then place membership with and serve with a congregation known for “what it will tolerate,” and that child of God will change also. The individual will accept and blend in with the congregation. It depends on the congregation’s “stance.”

Be sure, a congregation will have a name, a reputation, based on its work and its “stance.” Rome was known for having a faith spoken of throughout the world (Romans 1:8). Thessalonica was known for its sounding out the word into far distant areas (1 Thessalonians 1:8). The churches of Macedonia were known for their liberal giving (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). Sardis, once having a good name, and with some of that still lingering in the minds of men, nevertheless was told by the Lord that “thou are dead” (Revelation 3:1). We recall hearing of one person saying, “This congregation is known for its love and that congregation is known for its doctrine!” That, brethren, is tragedy? Love and doctrine are combined within the system of the Lord. Jesus combined them in his statement in John 14:15.

What, by the way, wherever this is received, is the “stance” of the congregation where you are? Is the doctrine of God sounded forth powerfully and plainly, and without modification, addition, subtraction or dilution? Is the congregation a “disciplinary” one, in that sin is rebuked, and the wayward and disobedient are seen to with dispatch? Are the Bible classes known for their emphasis on the word of God, or are the classes given to playtime and waste-time? Have the elders led the congregation in taking a stand against worldliness, sectarianism and every other form of error that will weaken and finally kill the church? Is the emphasis of the congregation’s work that of preaching and teaching rather than entertainment and social work? Are those in the congregation content to abide in God’s will, rather than always having a desire for something new and appealing that they can borrow from sectarianism? Are those who stand up to preach and teach grounded in the faith, with no disposition to traipse off into liberalism, anti-ism, Crossroadism or any other “ism”? Oh yes, a congregation has a “stance”―a name―a reputation.         

Preachers can help it be known for what it is, good or bad. Elders can do the same. So can Bible class teachers. So can the members. What is entered into the eternal record books, under our names, will be those things we did/failed to do while members of the congregations where we lived. We will partake of, support, condone, and further whatever “stance” the congregation has taken. Now, the question again: How is it where you are? Are you ready to face God concerning it?

Bill Jackson

“CHRISTIAN” FOOTBALL!!

Quarterback Sneak – Church members quietly leaving during the invitation.

Half Time – The period between Sunday School and worship when many choose to leave.

Bench warmer – Those who DO NOT sing, pray, work, or apparently do anything but sit.

Staying in the Pocket – What happens to a lot of money that should be given to the Lord’s work.

Two minute Warning – The point at which you realize the sermon is almost over and begin to gather up your children and belongings.

Trap Play – You’re called on to pray and are asleep.

End Run – Getting out of church quickly, without speaking to any visitors or fellow members.

Flex Defense – The ability to allow absolutely nothing said during the sermon to affect your life.

Half_back Option – The decision of 50% of the congregation not to return for the evening service.

Blitz – The rush for the restaurants following the closing prayer.

Author Unknown

Church Discipline Equals Saving Souls

Since the first Pentecost following the resurrection of Christ, God recognizes only faithful members of the church of Christ as the saved of the earth (Acts 2:47). These persons who heard the Word of God, had faith in Christ formed in them by their correct understanding of the Word (the Gospel; Mark 16:15-16; Romans 1:16), repented of their sins, confessed their faith in Christ, and baptized (immersed) in water by the authority of Christ into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in order to obtain the remission (forgiveness) of sins (Romans 10:17; Acts 17:30; Romans 10:10; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38; Romans 6: 3-4; I Peter 3:21; Acts 22:16). This is God’s plan of salvation. It is obligatory upon man. Less than these steps in God’s plan one cannot do and be saved from his sins. More than what this plan of salvation requires God does not demand of one in order for him to be saved from sin. Only persons who have complied with the preceding plan of salvation are authorized to be fellowshipped by other children of God (Acts 2:41; Ephesians 5:23).

In order to remain in fellowship with God, church members must continue to live according to the New Testament teaching regarding Christian living (Acts 2:42; I John 1:7). Since space does not allow for a detailed discussion of obligatory matters in Christian living, suffice it to say that obligatory matters relating to faithfulness pertain to what Christians must do to remain saved. A child of God who ceases to submit to any or all of God’s obligatory laws (New Testament principles that one must abide by in order to remain saved or faithful) must have any relationship between himself and faithful members of the Lord’s church terminated.

Christians must understand that all the processes or means by which the church teaches and trains its members to “walk in the light” is disciplinary in nature. However, I am emphasizing the responsibility of faithful members to restore wayward members and to keep the church pure by withdrawing fellowship from those who are determined to live disorderly lives (lives not in submission to the obligatory matters of the Gospel of Christ or those who create factions by making laws for God and splitting the church by striving to make other Christians submit to them as if they were obligatory in nature). The design of all church discipline is to save erring brethren and to keep the church pure in life and teaching.

When the church fails to discipline her members she is not doing all God demands her to do and be. It is a sin of omission (James 4:17). God intends for the church of Christ to be His influence for good on the earth. When church members are allowed to be impure, it is impossible for the mission of the church to be accomplished as God intended. Hence, when members of the church persist in sin, faithful brethren must labor to get the unfaithful to repent. However, if in time a church member adamantly refuses to repent, the church is to withdraw itself from the rebellious member. This means that this person is not to enjoy the fraternal association that exists between and among faithful members of the church of Christ (Romans 16:17-18; I Corinthians 5; II Thessalonians 3:6, 14-15; Galatians 6:1-2). Sins that have their beginning in private between two brethren are taught by Christ to be handled according to Matthew 18:15-17. Furthermore, elders who will not demand that such be routinely preached and practiced are themselves sinning and need to repent. If they refuse to amend their ways, they become subjects for corrective church discipline themselves.

David P. Brown

A Dying Ember

A story is told about a member of the church who was missed at the regular services. The preacher went to his house and found him sitting before an open fireplace. The absentee, somewhat startled, hastily placed another chair before the fire, and braced himself for the expected rebuke...but not a word was spoken by the preacher.

Taking a seat before the fire, he silently took the tongs and lifting a glowing coal from the midst of the others, placed it down by itself on the hearth. Remaining silent, they watched the blaze die out.

The member of the church got the lesson. He said, “You don’t need to say a word, brother. I’ll be at services, where I belong, beginning this Wednesday evening.” Do you need the lesson?

Author Unknown

What Kind of Member Are You?

There are all kinds of members referred to in the New Testament. Some had lost their first love (Revelation 2:4-5). Others had become only lukewarm (3:14-19). Some had forsaken the assembling of themselves together (Hebrews 10:25). Others had gone all the way back and had fallen from grace (Galatians 5:1-4). Some never did return to the right way (John 6:66; I Peter 2). There are many other classifications of members in the New Testament. Then there are some modern groups each of which has quite a following. What kind of a member are you?

Are you a “oncer”—one who attends church services only once per week—on the Lord’s day morning? Such members enjoy good health, but they never come at night. Had they been at Troas, they would not have heard Paul preach until midnight, and would have missed the fine fellowship of the occasion, plus the witnessing of the miracle of raising a man from the dead there that night (Acts 20:7-14).

Some are church “tramps”—they go tramping from one congregation to another, worshiping here and there, so as to dodge any responsibility for doing anything in the church and having any part in any real program of work. They are often called“Church Drifters.” They never settle down so as to work and grow in the church (I Corinthians 16:13).

Others are simply “leaners”—they “lean” on the church in every time of illness, misfortune, and the like, but they never contribute to its work. They are out to “get” and not to “give.” They are like the Dead Sea which has no outlet. They have no life. They are like sponges—they take in all they can hold but you have to squeeze them to get anything out of them!

Some others are “specials”—they work for the church on some special occasions which happen to appeal to them. But the regular work of the Lord has no appeal unto them. The every-day matter of being Christians is to them a drab affair. When they are tuned up they work enthusiastically, but no one ever knows when they are going to get rubbed the wrong way about something. They are “supporters” of that part of the work of the church that they like, but they oppose the other good works being done by others.

But some are “pillars”—they are always dependable. Without them the church would be a laughingstock in the community. They stand ready at all times to do what they can for the glory of God. They are happy that they have been saved, and feel that if they had a thousand lives to live, they could not do all they would like to do for the wonderful Saviour who came, bled, and died, that they might be children of God and have the happiness which they enjoy in the Lord, every day, along the way.

What kind of member are you?—You need not try to deceive anyone by your answer, for the way you are living proclaims daily the kind of member you are! Maybe you need to change your ways, and move up in the church—up to higher ground ofChristian living. Many have changed who found themselves in a failing group, doing little or nothing for the church.

Gus Nichols

What is the Kingdom of God?

That the same is meant by “kingdom of God,” “kingdom of heaven,” “his kingdom,” and the “kingdom of his dear Son,” as a general rule, there can be little doubt, whether the same is meant in every instance or not. That which is called “his kingdom” (Matthew 16:28) is called “the kingdom of God” (Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27). The same kingdom mentioned in the phrase, “the Son of man coming in his kingdom,” is also mentioned in the phrase “the kingdom of God,” for these are two reports of the same speech. The two expressions are simply two designations of the same kingdom. The same, precisely, that is called “the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23) is called “the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25).In Matthew the record is: “That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of God.” The “kingdom of heaven” is at hand, as recorded (Matthew 3:2), is undoubted the same as “the kingdom of God” (Mark 1:14), for these are two records of the same thing. The same kingdom is meant (Matthew 13:11) in the words, “Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,” that is meant (Mark 4:11) in “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.” “He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11), and “He that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28), are simply two records of the same thing, and the same kingdom is meant in both records.

In the following language the phrases “my church” and “the kingdom of heaven” are two designations for the same. That which is called “my church” is called “kingdom of heaven.” “I say also 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; and I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (See Matthew 16:18-19). When we think and speak of what the Lord calls “my church,” we should keep in mind that He calls the same thing, in the same connection, “the kingdom of heaven,” and that He calls the same “my kingdom” (John 18:36). Paul’s “general assembly and the church of the firstborn,” to which he said “we are come”(Hebrews 12:23), is the same as his “kingdom that cannot be moved”(verse 28 of the same chapter). It is the same as His “one body”(Ephesians 4:4; I Corinthians 12:13). All who enter the “one body” at all are immersed into it, or all who enter the kingdom at all, which is the same as entering the “one body,” enter it by being born of water and of the Spirit. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see [or enjoy] the kingdom of God.” (See John 3:3.) “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (See John 3:5.) The same community is styled “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth” (I Timothy 3:15). “In Christ” is in the body, church, or kingdom. To know what the church is, the body of Christ, the house of God, the temple of God, the building of God, is to know what the kingdom of God is. This view will assist much in ascertaining what the kingdom of God is, and several other things to be investigated in this article.

When we are thinking of the Lord’s community as a body, we think of the head and the individual members, the life and support of the body. When we think of the same community as a house, or family, we immediately think of the head of the family, the members, the discipline and ruling of a family, the care and oversight of a family, the support and dependence of a family, the accession by birth or adoption, whichever figure may be used, and the losses by death, or those who have abandoned the family. When we think of the same community as a temple, or building, we think of the proprietor, foundation, the lively stones built together in it, and the builders. When we think of it as a kingdom, we think of a king, constitution, laws, territory, subjects. When we think of it literally, as the church, congregation or community founded by Christ, the only divinely founded religious community on earth, we think of God, who authorized it; of the prophets, who predicted its founding, with many of its stupendous and momentous surroundings—the Lord Messiah, who founded it; the great truth on which it is built; the authorized apostles and evangelists who first preached the Gospel, called people together, under their new head, in the new community, or the church, making “one new man.” It has Christ for its head; the Gospel—the power of God—to turn the world to God; the teaching of Christ and His apostles for its edification and instruction.Christ is its supreme authority for everything. His authority is set forth in His own teaching and that of His divinely authorized and inspired apostles.

The church, community of living God, is composed of members, and has a head, Gospel, teaching or territory. Bishops or overseers, and deacons, in their work, are limited to the congregation in their own vicinity, having no jurisdiction in other congregations. The church of the living God, the body of Christ, or kingdom of God, embraces all the local congregations, with the members, in all the world—all who are truly the people of God. As a whole, it is not an organized body, and has no method of acting in conventional form, in making decrees, laws or decisions. Its head has made, signed, sealed and delivered to it His laws and decrees, and demands of the church, or kingdom, implicit obedience. It is not the business of the church to make laws or decrees, but implicitly to obey and submit to the laws and decrees made by the head of the church.

This community, church or kingdom, of which Christ is the head or King, and all that pertains to it, was embraced in “the eternal purpose of God,” but had no existence, in the form of a community, church or kingdom, only in the purpose of God, for ages. The same that was embodied in the eternal purpose—“a secret,” “hid in God”—was subsequently embodied in the promise to Abraham. It was still a secret, a mystery, in the promise of a blessing for all families of the earth, without any revelation explaining what that blessing was. That promise embraced the Messiah, the Gospel, the church, and all the attendant blessings for the human race. Still, the church, or kingdom, did not exist in fact, and the blessings were spoken of as “good things to come,” and not good things already come. The same precisely, embodied first in the purpose, and then in the promise of God, subsequently filled a large space in prophecy, but still as “good things to come.” Peter has the following comment touching the prophets: “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come to you: searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. To whom it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to us, they did minister these things, which are now reported to you by them who have preached the gospel to you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; into which things the angels desire to look.” (See I Peter 1:10-12.) The kingdom of God is found, first, in the eternal purpose of God, then in the promise of God to Abraham, then in the prophecy, and then in the preaching of John the Immerser. In the preaching of John it is in different form, and a new item comes into the preaching. It is now “the kingdom of God is at hand,” “the kingdom of God approaches.” 

Benjamin Franklin

1812-1878

Taken from New Testament Christianity, Vol. I (1923), pages 198-204.