How Can It Be Possible?

For a person to be saved before baptism since Jesus said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). Peter told the Pentecostians to “Repent, and be baptized…for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). He also said, “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” (I Peter 3:21).
For there to be nothing in a name or one name as good as another when Acts 4:12 says, “there is none other name…whereby we must be saved.”
For one church to be as good as another when the Lord has a church (Matthew 16:18).
For there to be more than one church as the Bible says, the church is the body (Ephesians 1:23) and there is but one body (1 Cor. 12:20).
For one to be saved out of the Lord’s church since He bought it with His blood (Acts 20:28).
For one to be saved by faith only when James teaches that we are justified by works and not by faith only (James 2:24).
For sprinkling to be baptism when Paul says we are buried with Him in baptism (Romans 6:3-4). To observe the Lord’s Supper on Thursday night when Acts 20:7 says that the church at Troas came together on the first day of the week to break bread.
For a Christian not to fall from grace when the Bible warns against the danger of falling (I Corinthians 10:12), and even speaks of some who had fallen (Galatians 5:4).
For snake handlers to quote Mark 16:18 for handling snakes and not have services to drink poison as the very next thing referred to in the same verse mentions drinking poison.
For one to be a Christian and not be interested in saving the lost.
For a Christian to be interested in saving the lost and never try to teach them or talk to them about the Bible.
For a Christian to be in earnest about going to Heaven and fail to come to Bible study on Sunday morning.
For one to be a faithful Christian and miss the Wednesday night Bible study to watch television.
For a person to love the Lord more than relatives when they will miss services to visit relatives or stay away from services because relatives come to visit them (Matthew 10:37).
For a Christian to make $100.00 a week and give the Lord $1.00 and it be liberal giving (II Corinthians 8:2).
For a Christian to wait until the collection is being taken and run his hand in his pocket and give whatever he may find and purpose to give as II Corinthians 9:7 says to do.
For a Christian to be giving as the Bible teaches and then complain because the preacher preaches on it.
For a Christian to have the spirit of Christ who attends the congregation in their community and then because the elders do not see fit to follow every suggestion to give their money in other places. I have been looking for a long time to find the answers to these questions. If you have the answers to these questions will you please give them to me in order to put my mind at ease about these people. Most of the people mentioned above think they are going to Heaven so surely they must have the answers. I would like to see all of these go to Heaven but from where I sit I can only ask, “How can it be possible?”

Franklin Camp

Withdrawing from the Withdrawn

Strange as it may seem, some actually deny the right of the church to withdraw their fellowship from those who refuse to walk in the light. Others agree that such must be done, but that it cannot be done if some have already “withdrawn from the church.” This is strange language indeed, or we read nothing in the Scriptures about the right of people to “withdraw from the church.” However, we do read about the responsibility of the church to withdraw from certain ones who become wayward. The Scripture says, “mark them which cause divisions…and avoid them” (Romans 16:17); “when ye are gathered together…To deliver such an one unto Satan…. Purge out…the old leaven…not to keep company…not to eat…. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person” (I Corinthians 5:4-13); “from such withdraw thyself” (I Timothy 6:5); “Now we command you…withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly…note that man, and have no company with him” (II Thessalonians 3:6-14). 

These passages show that the church has an active responsibility in the matter of discipline, and must take a stand for truth and fellowship. Our responsibility is not merely passive. Apostates from the faith seldom become such for no reason at all, but are actively engaged in the ways of the world. “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world” (II Timothy 4:10). Those who forsake the Lord in worship have usually already forsaken Him in living. Does this mean the church can do nothing to discipline wayward members if they have already ceased to worship with the saints? Just where do people get the idea that fellowship is limited to the worship “service”? They must think so, if they think they are to withdraw only from those who attend worship. Actually, we do not forbid anyone to attend worship when they are disciplined, but we encourage them to attend so as to be exhorted to Christian living. A withdrawal of fellowship simply means that Christians are to do nothing with those withdrawn from that would indicate any approval of their wayward conduct, and this would primarily be outside of the worship service. Any effort to reject God’s Will in discipline is an effort to follow the way of least resistance. We need to forget our fears and human reasoning and start obeying God.

Don Tarbet

Seven Walks of Ephesians

Walk denotes activity; more than that, it denotes continuous activity. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the figurative use of walking for living or carrying on our life, is employed seven times. How very important and impressive is the lesson.

Walking in disobedience: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (2:1-2).

Walking worthily: “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (4:1-3).

Walking in vanity: “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind” (4:17).

Walking in love: “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (5:2).

Walking as children of light: “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (5:8).

Walking in wisdom: “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (5:15-16). 

Author Unknown

The Mission of the Church

Everything which God has made in creation and redemption has a mission. Nothing walks with aimless feet in the economy of God. The church is a divine institution—it is of divine origin. It, therefore, has a mission.

The building of the church was an expensive undertaking. The Lord could create the heavens and the earth without the shedding of a single drop of blood, but without shedding of His own blood He could not establish the church. “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it” (Ephesians 5:25). He purchased the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28). Even before His death, Jesus sacrificed for the church. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich” (II Corinthians 8:9). He was rich in terms of heavenly and eternal values, yet He became poor, “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross”(Philippians 2:7-8). Surely Christ would not have made such sacrifices for the church unless it was to have a mission in some measure worthy of its cost. What, then, is the mission of the church?

The question can be answered both negatively and positively. It is not the mission of the church to furnish amusement for the world or even for its own members. Innocent amusement in proper proportion has its place in the life of all normal persons, but it is not the business of the church to furnish it. The church would come off a poor second if it undertook to compete with institutions established for the express purpose of entertaining people. It would make itself ridiculous if it entered into such competition. Again, it is not the responsibility of the church as such to furnish recreation for its members. A certain amount of recreation is necessary to the health and happiness of the individual. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, it is said, and rightly said; but it is not the function of the church to furnish the play. The church was not established to feature athletics. Rather, it emphasizes the principle that “bodily exercise is profitable for a little; but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come” (I Timothy 4:8). Sometimes one would conclude, from the emphasis given to recreation, that godliness is profitable for a little, and that bodily exercise is profitable for all things.

For the church to turn aside from its divine work to furnish amusement and recreation is to pervert its mission. It is to degrade its mission. Amusement and recreation should stem from the home rather than the church. The church, like Nehemiah, has a great work to do; and it should not come down on the plains of Ono to amuse and entertain. As the church turns its attention to amusement and recreation, it will be shorn of its power as Samson was when his hair was cut. Only as the church becomes worldly, as it pillows its head on the lap of Delilah, will it want to turn from its wonted course to relatively unimportant matters. Imagine Paul selecting and training a group of brethren to compete in the Isthmian games! Of his work at Corinth, he said: “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (I Corinthians 2:2). What then, is the work of the church?

On the day of Pentecost, the birthday of the church, we find it preaching the Gospel. It is reasonable to expect the church, under the leadership of the apostles, to be engaged in its divinely assigned work. Christ, before His ascension, had laid upon His disciples, His church, the grave and momentous responsibility of preaching the Gospel to every creature in every age of the world (Mark 16:15-16). During the lifetime of the apostles the church was busily engaged in preaching the Gospel to the remote ends of the earth. In his first epistle to Timothy, Paul said, “These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly; but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (3:14-15). The church is the “pillar and ground of the truth”—not truth in general, but rather truth in particular. The church must support and preach the Gospel always as a part of its divine mission.

Further, the church in Jerusalem “continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching.” In addition to preaching the Gospel to alien sinners, the church taught and built up its own members that they might “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18). The Lord has made ample provisions for the edification of His people, the church.

And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error (Ephesians 4:11-14).

It is, therefore, the work of the church to promote the growth and development of its members.

Finally, the church in Jerusalem ministered to the material needs of its worthy poor (Acts 4:32-37; 6:1-6). The Gentile churches sent help to the brethren in Judea (Acts 11:29-30; Romans 15:25-26). Paul said that he was always ready to help those in need (Galatians 2:10). It is a part of the work of the church to help those who are in need, but the church is under no obligation to help those who will not help themselves.

“If any will not work,” said Paul, “neither let him eat” (II Thessalonians 3:10). If the church will discharge its duty in preaching the Gospel, in edifying its members, and in helping the worthy poor, it will not have desire or time merely to amuse and entertain.  

B. C. Goodpasture

Notes from II Timothy

In II Timothy 2:3-6 Paul gives three figures which suggest the hard service which is in Christ. The soldier, the athlete, and the husbandman. Paul gives the simile of comparing service to Christ to that of a soldier. The soldier has to go on duty and leave comforts, he must face the hardships of service, and the dangers of the battlefield. Paul points to his own example in saying, “Suffer hardship with me.” Paul did not ask Timothy to submit to that which he was unwilling to do; he suffered for his loyalty to Christ, and he asked Timothy to be willing to accept similar hardship. “No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier” (II Timothy 2:4). A soldier “on service” is one actually engaged in performing the obligations of a soldier. A soldier on duty must devote himself to the service of him who enrolled him. A soldier, to please his officers, must perform their orders without interference from his ties of home or business affairs. The comparison is that the Christian soldier, engaged in the service of the Lord, must keep himself free from the entangling affairs of the world which would hinder him in performing his duties.

"And if also a man contend in the games, he is not crowned, except he have contended lawfully” (II Timothy 2:5). In this verse the Christian is represented as an athlete. The reference is to an athlete in the ancient games which were so well-known in Greek history. Those who had a part in the games were required to conform to the rules of the game. They had to undergo much training to participate. Paul’s comparison is that Timothy must, therefore, conform to the laws of Christ, and not give up the discipline which would come through training.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible (I Corinthians 9:25).

“The husbandmen that laboreth must be the first to partake of the fruits” (II Timothy 2:6). Here the figure changes to that of a husbandman or farmer. The farmer should be the first to enjoy the fruit of his hands; but, he must first labor to have the fruit. One cannot receive the harvest of the fields if he does not work the crop. The comparison is that Timothy must recognize that for him to receive the fruit of Christian labor, he must engage in work in the Lord’s field.

“Consider what I say; for the Lord shall give thee understanding in all things” (II Timothy 2:7). Paul had used three illustrations to impress upon Timothy the necessity of concentration, endurance, and faithful toil to please the Lord as a preacher and a Christian. These points were drawn from the activity of soldiers, athletes, and farmers. Timothy was to consider these points carefully. If he properly considered these points, he would see that he was a Christian soldier fighting under Christ in a spiritual war with evil, that he was a Christian athlete running for the prize of eternal life, and a Christian farmer sowing the seed of the kingdom and looking to a bountiful harvest in the judgment.

J. Noel Meredith

My Bible and My Vote

Do believers in God, in Jesus Christ as His Son, and in the Bible as God’s Word have an obligation to evaluate candidates and/or political parties in light of Biblical teaching when they vote? Can a Christian be faithful to Christ if he votes for a candidate who champions anti-Christian causes and principles? Specifically, can a Christian vote for a candidate who:

• Favors Islam over the religion of Christ (hosted Ramadan dinners, but refused to host National Day of Prayer). The Bible affirms that Christianity is the one true religion (John 8:24; 14:6; et al.).

• Fears offending Muslims, but does not mind offending believers in Christ (before he delivered a speech, demanded a symbol of Jesus’ name be covered). If one is ashamed of Jesus, Jesus will be ashamed of him at the Judgment (Matthew 10:32-33).

• Ridicules believers in Christ (“they cling to their guns or religion”). Jesus said, “Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake” (Matthew 5:11).

• Heads a party that is opposed to God and the Bible (the original party platform removed God’s name completely; when they added God because of political expediency, it was roundly booed). As with all infidels, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:22).

• Favors abortion vigorously (ruled to override conscience protections relating to abortion for medical workers, favors killing babies born alive after botched abortions, favors funding abortion clinics with tax dollars, included a pro-abortion plank in his party’s platform, etc.). Life begins at conception, and intentional killing—in or out of the womb—is murder, which will send one to Hell (Matthew 2:16; John 8:44; Romans 1:29, 32; Revelation 21:8; et al.).

• Advanced the homosexual agenda in manifold ways (announced he would not enforce the Defense of Marriage Act, announced that he favors same-sex marriages, ordered that homosexuals would be allowed to openly serve in our military forces, ordered chaplains to perform same-sex marriages in military chapels, etc.). Homosexual behavior is a “vile passion,” that is “against nature,” and is “not fitting.” Those who persist in it will be lost eternally (Romans 1:26-28; I Corinthians 6:9-10; I Timothy 1:9-10; et al.).

When human loyalties clash with loyalty to God, believers must be faithful to God and Jesus (Acts 5:29). True believers will vote so as to maintain a “good conscience” (Acts 23:1).

Dub McClish

Like Leaven

“Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened” (Matthew 13:33).

Jesus and the disciples were on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He had spoken unto them the parable of the sower, of the tares, and of the mustard seed. Now, he speaks the little parable of the leaven.

“It is the property of leaven,” says J. W McGarvey, “that it quietly but certainly diffuses itself through the mass in which it is placed. The kingdom of heaven is like that, in that it spreads itself in like manner through human society. This parable is also prophetic and its fulfillment is constantly going on. The reason why three measures of meal are supposed, rather than any other number, is doubtless because this was the quantity that the women usually made up for one baking and the reason why a woman rather than a man is mentioned is because it was the business of the women to make bread.

1. The Master had said that a good life is like salt, i.e., a conservative influence (Matthew 5:13). His very presence in a community helps to preserve all that is good and wholesome in that community. By him the tendency to moral decay is arrested. How important it is for a wholesome person to remain wholesome!
2. And now he teaches that a good life is like leaven, i.e., a silent, an unseen, an irresistible influence that slowly but surely permeates the sum of society. By his speech and manner of life the Christian purifies and ennobles the people around him.
3. He had said that a good life is like light, i.e., an aggressive influence (Matthew 5:14-16). From his personality, goodness, and intelligence emanate. He is a great worker for God, and his works are light. Since light is such a powerful thing, it should not be concealed.

Frank L. Cox