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

Going About Doing Good

Peter declared that Jesus, “...went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” (Acts 10:38). The apostle John wrote, “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (I John 2:6). 

From these two verses one can easily understand that one is to follow the example that was set down by the Lord (cf. I Peter 2:21) and since He “went about doing good,” men also should go about doing good.

How is this to be done? Notice these passages about the things which the Lord did in doing good: “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people” (Matthew 4:23; cf. 9:35). “And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth. And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils” (Mark 1:38-39). “Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached” (Luke 7:22).

These verses state that the Lord preached the Gospel and healed the sick and afflicted. He attended to the needs of the spirit and the body. Thus, He cared for the whole man.

God knows that all men require certain things to keep their bodies functioning, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For afterall these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things” (Matthew 6:31-32). Jesus realized the sincere fleshly needs of those that came unto Him and He feed them (Matthew 15:32-38; cf. Matthew 14:15-21).

God also realizes the needs of the sick. In the age of the miraculous [in contrast – we, who live past the first century, do not live in the age of the miraculous (Mark 16:17-20; I Corinthians 13:8-13; et al.)], those with a variety of illnesses and maladies were released from their burdens, such as: “And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity” (Luke 13:11-16); and, “And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth  his  hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed” (Matthew 8:2-3).

However, the Lord proclaimed that there is a yet another good to be done unto others which is of far greater importance than the mere physical. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness He said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). This statement makes it abundantly clear that the physical has its importance but the spiritual has a greater preeminence. Why? The answer is very simple: every man’s spiritual life and destiny depends upon his reaction to God’s Word. That reaction is either love and obedience or hatred and disobedience. Paul stated the truth of man’s dependency upon God’s Word, “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). The Word of God is able to “build you up,” that is – satisfy one’s spiritual needs in this life (obedience to God and fellowship with Him); and to “give you an inheritance,” that is – provide an eternal home with God in Heaven.

God demands that men care for the physical needs of his fellowman (Luke 10:29-37). James stated that one’s care is to be genuine and not feigned, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James 2:14-17). Those with legitimate physical needs are to be cared for when one has the opportunity and ability to help. However, men’s spiritual needs are far greater and should receive the greater attention.

Paul wrote, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). The greatest good anyone can do for another is to preach unto him the Gospel of Jesus the Christ. Their eternal lives depend upon it!

John Rose

“Will Modernism Destroy Us?”

In the past several years we have seen modernism raising its ugly head in the churches of Christ. Several elderships and many preachers have taught regarding the perils of modernism. These saw the effects of it in various congregations as well as in many denominations. We raised our voices and some heard while others did not care. Those who a few years ago had the “I don’t care” attitudes are today given over to modernism and its trends. 

We submit that modernism is not a new thing at all. In fact, the tempter was the first modernist. When Satan said, “yea hath God said,” he began the slippery slope down the dark road of modernism. 

Modernism promised in the temptation something that is impossible for man to be—“as God.” We must understand that modernism denies the reality of sin. Modernism waters sin down to the point that it no longer exists regardless of what the Scriptures teach. For instance, look what Adam said after the fall, “the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Genesis 3:12). 

Eve blamed the serpent, Adam blamed God, and from then until now man has not been prone to shoulder his own personal responsibilities for the most part. 

Very few in the Scriptures admitted that they had sinned. We want to shift responsibility to someone or something else because we must “white- wash” our own faults and set out thinking toward a more modern view of the Word in order to justify ourselves. Why? Because modernism is man’s effort to make the Bible conform in varying degrees to what man wants all the way to re-constructing the Gospel to the restructuring of the church. 

Ah, now we see why so much liberalism and compromise permeates us today. Many do not want to do what the Bible says so we will get us a new Bible that will suit our own style of living or we will ignore plain passages not thinking of judgment (cf. John 12:48). The modernist goes on with these thoughts and teaches that “everything dwells in varying degrees and can be measured.” Measured by what? Of course, by the instrument or thing that the modernist creates! 

This would require some method, and the way to determine method is very important. For instance, you cannot smell, taste, or see the modernist. An x-ray machine will not find them out. However, their words do and will betray them. Subjectivity led to this malady in a large way. The conduct of some Christians makes others resign from the thought of pure Christianity, and this is hypocrisy. Division has been created among us as well as the religious world in general. 

This, in my judgment, is one of the things that has led many toward agnosticism. And, why not! The modernist already rejects the Bible especially every miracle that is given therein. There is no study among them except trying to find a defense of the very selfish doctrine they hold dear. They can, all day long, tell one what the Bible does not say, while ignoring what it does say. All of us need to study the Bible more than we do because this is the only thing that will lead us to a wholesome Christianity. We need to ask for evidence. We need to state (live) our faith instead of showing a lack of faith. We need to teach the Scriptures to our children. As long as we feed them with intellectualism, modernism will flourish. Modernism will starve to death if we will feed ourselves and the people we teach the pure Word of God. 

Harrell Davidson