A House Divided

"Next to the wicked lives of men, nothing is so great a disparagement and weakening to religion as the divisions of Christians." — John Tillotson

There is no doubt that sin is a great challenger of the truth of God’s church, but the quote says our divisions are also a huge problem for us. Do you think that is true?

Let me propose a scenario for you. A fellow here in town decides he wants to follow and obey God. So he asks one of his family members, and they tell him something that sounds good so he decides to do what they have said. But before he does, he tells another family member what he is about to do only to find out that they tell him something different. Confused, he asks other family members what to do. He receives various answers which agree and disagree with things he has already been told. Even more confused, he asks some trusted friends who give other answers. Thinking surely the preachers in town could give him a clear answer, he goes to them, but to his dismay they all give various answers. What is a fellow supposed to do? I do not think this scenario is too far-fetched. I could see it happening here in our community. Hopefully, this fellow will not give up because of confusion and will go back to what the Bible says. Because ultimately we will be judged by the Bible and not men’s opinions.

I believe there should be some shame on us. We have become content with religious division in our world. Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was not content with religious division when he penned 1 Corinthians chapter one verses ten through thirteen. Some were claiming to be of this person and some of another person. Paul asked, “Was Christ divided?” He called them out of division into unity. That can be tough because we must leave our opinions, likes, and desires and return to scripture for unity with God and His people.Too often, we like to bind our opinion and loose God’s Word, and that is the opposite of what we should be doing.

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Who taught you the gospel? Maybe it was your parents, grandparents, or someone else in your family. It is common for families to pass their faith down to the next generation (2 Timothy 1:5). Maybe a friend, neighbor, or coworker shared the truth of God’s word with you. Nowadays, maybe you watched a sermon on Facebook, took an online Bible study, or heard a podcast. Maybe it was a combination of these things or others. Are you grateful for those who took their time to share the gospel? Where would you be if they had not shared the gospel with you? I read a quote the other day by Emil Brunner that said, "One who receives this Word, and by it salvation, receives along with it the duty of passing this Word on... Where there is no mission, there is no Church, and where there is neither Church nor mission, there is no faith.”

What was Jesus’ plan for the spread of the gospel? His creation. We see an example of this in Matthew 28:18-20 when Jesus tells His disciples to go into all the world and make disciples. How do we make disciples? We must give them the Word of God. That is how faith comes (Romans 10:17). We see the gospel being passed down from Paul to Timothy and then from Timothy to other faithful men (2 Timothy 2:2). I do not believe God’s church will be destroyed (Matthew 16:18), but we can hinder its growth when we neglect our responsibility.

If you are a child of God, you were probably blessed to have those in your life who taught you the gospel. If we do not teach, will we have the same problem they had a few generations after Joshua (Judges 2:7-10)? Evangelism is not always fun. Fun does not make things right. Maybe you have been met with disappointment. Remember they are not rejecting you but Jesus. Brooks is going to be leading a door-knocking campaign on October 7th. If that is not an opportunity you can take advantage of, who will you share the gospel with?

Sending Sons

It has been over a week now since we dropped Nathan off at college. Thank you to all of you that have asked about him or contacted him. He seems to be loving it, and that helps the transition. It has been tough on me. In fact, I have described Nathan as my right hand. Perhaps God providentially provided a trip to Polishing the Pulpit and a van that was not working properly to keep me distracted from the emotion of it all. As I type this, my allergies must be acting up as my eyes want to water up. It is the right thing. He needs to spread his wings and fly. We have been preparing him for this all his life. The right thing can still be hard. We believe he is in a good place. A place where we know people and have friends. A place we believe cares about him, and we are thankful for that. In fact, in the times we have talked to him, he has confirmed these facts. That makes it easier.

It would be hard for me if we were taking him to a place that cared nothing for him or hated him. That is what the Father allowed Jesus to do. John 1:11 tells us His own did not receive Him. In fact, Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 21:33-46 about vine-growers killing the son of the landowner which was a reference to what the Jews were going to do to Jesus. That parable came true when the Jewish leaders arrested Jesus, turned Him in to the Romans, and demanded His death which was carried out on a cross. Why? Because of some sin Jesus was guilty of? No. Because of sin that I am guilty of. I find it hard to imagine sending Nathan to a place that would hate and kill him. But that is what the Father did because He loves His lost creation (John 3:16). Praise God for His love and sacrifice

The idea for this article came from an article I read in A Legacy of Faith email.