Truth Magazine

By Mike Willis

(In this article, we continue to study the important Bible texts on the subject of unity in Christ. Ephesians 4:1-6 is one of the most important texts on the subject.)

4. Ephesians 4:1-6. Paul revealed the platform for unity in Ephesians 4 when he wrote,

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; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

From this text, we learn several essentials for unity.

a. Attitudes essential for unity. Unity cannot exist unless the proper attitudes towards each other are present. Here are the essential attitudes for unity: (1) Lowliness: lowly thinking; humility; esteeming ourselves small. Arrogant men bent on having their own way destroy the unity of the saints. (2) Meekness: patient submissiveness to offense; meek; gentle. When men are unyielding and vengeful, the unity of the church is destroyed. (3) Longsuffering: slowness in avenging wrongs, the opposite of quick tempered. The Greek word makrothumia is a compound word made up of makros (long) and thumos (temper); we speak of being short tempered but have no corresponding English word for long tempered. (4) Forbearing: having patience with someone until the provocation is past. Injuries and insults will come to Christians; forbearance enables one to endure the insults and injuries without quitting, dividing the church or retaliating in any form. Many divisions are caused by sinful attitudes that manifest themselves in sinful actions.

b. Platform for unity. The seven ones lay down a platform for Bible unity. On these we must be agreed:

(1) One body. The body is the church (Eph. 1:22-23). So long as men think that there are many churches, they will not have the unity for which Christ prayed. Paul taught that both Jew and Gentile are reconciled to God in one body (Eph. 2:16). If two bodies (churches)  one for the Jew and one for the Gentile  were not tolerated in the first century, why should we conclude that more than one church is acceptable today?

The “one body” refers to the church universal. Men have different concepts of what the “one body” is. Some have the idea that the one body is composed of men of all denominations. The church is not composed of saved people from all denominations. One reason that we know that this is true is because the denominations founded by men do not teach men correctly how to be saved. The Catholic Church teaches salvation through meritorious works and the Protestant churches teach salvation by faith only. Neither teaches the conditions for salvation revealed in the Bible. Since those who compose these churches have not been born of the water and the Spirit (John 3:3,5), they are not citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

Furthermore, the one body is not composed of factions teaching conflicting doctrines, as would be the case if the church universal were composed of the Baptist Church, Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church, Catholic Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Christian Scientists, etc.

The platform of unity for the body of Christ must begin with the recognition that there is but one church. The one body of Christ has no intercongregational governing body. There are no synods, councils, or popes that have governing authority over local congregations. The universal church has Christ as its head and the inspired writings of the apostles and prophets which compose the New Testament are its only creed.

The saints who compose the universal church organize themselves into local congregations. Members of the universal church are commanded to band themselves together into local congregations for worship and to carry on the work of the Lord. The Lord has revealed a pattern for the work, worship, organization, terms of membership, etc. of the local church. In order for unity to exist, this pattern must be respected and adhered to by Christians. Consider these aspects of the pattern for the local church:

(1) The worship of the local church. The worship of the local church consists of five acts: (a) The observance of the Lord’s supper. The Lord’s supper is observed on the first day of every week (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:20; 16:1-2) and consists of the unleavened bread and fruit of the vine (1 Cor. 11:23-26). (b) Teaching the revealed word of God (cf. 1 Cor. 14:23-26; Acts 20:7). (c) Congregational singing (1 Con 14:15; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). (d) Prayer (1 Cor. 14:15; Acts 2:42). (e) Giving (1 Cor. 16:1-2). The unity for which Christ prayed demands that only scriptural worship be offered to God. Departures from the pattern for congregational worship, whether they be through a perversion of the Lord’s supper (e.g. changing the day on which it is observed, the frequency with which it is observed, or the items used), prayer (praying through the name of Mary), singing (introducing mechanical instruments of music, choirs, quartets and other special singing groups), preaching (changing the content or using women preachers), or giving (taking collections on days other than the first day of the week, demanding tithing, using business enterprises to raise funds, etc.) will destroy the unity of the church.

(2) The conditions for membership. The conditions for membership in the local church begin with a recognition that a person has been saved from sin (Acts 2:47; 9:26-27). The local church has no right to extend fellowship to those who have not obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ. There can be no fellowship with those outside of Christ (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1). The conditions for salvation are as follows: belief of the gospel of Christ, repentance of sins, confession of faith in Christ, and baptism (immersion) in water for the remission of sins. The church has no authority to extend fellowship to anyone who has not done these things.

Even as the extending of fellowship to a person is conditioned upon the recognition that he is in fellowship with Christ, fellowship can be maintained only so long as the local congregation perceives that fellowship with Christ is maintained. Sin breaks one’s fellowship with Christ; it also leads to the breaking of one’s fellowship with the local church when the sinner refuses to repent of his sins. (The local church must work with the erring to bring him to repentance. When efforts to restore the erring fail, the sin which broke the fellowship with Christ will eventually lead to the breaking of fellowship with those who are following Christ. See 1 Cor. 5; 2 Thess. 3:6,14; 2 John 9-11; Matt. 18:15-17.)

The unity of the church is limited to fellowshipping those who are perceived to be in fellowship with Christ. Bible unity cannot be attained and maintained unless these conditions for membership in the local church are respected.

(3) The work of the local church. Unity in the local church depends upon members respecting the pattern for the work of the church. The Bible authorizes the church to be involved in the works of evangelism (1 Tim. 3:15; Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16), relieving the benevolent needs of its members (Acts 2:45; 4:32-37; 6:1-6; 1 Tim. 5:1-16), and edifying the church (Acts 20:32; Eph. 4:12-13). When the local church becomes involved in programs of work not authorized by the Bible it undermines the basis for unity.

(4) The organization of the local church. The Lord revealed a pattern for the government of the local church. First of all, the Lord retained all legislative authority for himself (Matt. 28:18; Jas. 4:12). Second, he authorized elders (also known as bishops, overseers, pastors, shepherds) to oversee the local church (Acts 20:28). Their qualifications are revealed in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. Third, elders’ authority is limited to the local church (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:1-3). Fourth, the Lord revealed that deacons should be appointed to serve in the local church (1 Tim. 3:8-13). The unity for which Christ prayed is destroyed by the creation of offices not authorized in the Scriptures.

The unity for which Christ prayed can be found in adherence to the one body. To the degree that men depart from the revealed pattern for the church they create division. By restoring the pattern of New Testament Christianity, we are laying the platform for unity with every other saint who is loyal to King Jesus.

(2) One Spirit. The one Spirit is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s work was to reveal to man the word of God (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:8-13). In 1 Corinthians 12:3, Paul wrote, “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy “Ghost.” Those who follow the one Spirit follow the one revelation given by the Holy Spirit. He will recognize that the things written by the apostles and prophets “are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:37).

The modern concept of Pentecostalism destroys the unity of the church by making men believe that any strong inclination they may have is the leading of the Holy Spirit. Those who have accepted this concept of the leading of the Spirit preach conflicting doctrines and practice different kinds of religious worship. The Lord commands that we “try the spirits” to see if they are of God (1 John 4:1). Isaiah wrote, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (8:20). To the degree that we abide within the revelation given by the one Spirit, we promote the unity of the church. When we depart from the revelation of the one Spirit, we create division.

(3) One hope. The one hope of the Christian is the hope for abiding in the presence of the Lord in heaven through-out all eternity. It is the hope of our calling. This living hope is grounded in the resurrection of Christ from the dead; it promises an “inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:4,5).

As modernism undermined the faith of the mainline denominations, they gave up the hope for heaven. They scoffed at the one hope, calling it “the pie in the sky in the sweet bye and bye.” Having rejected the biblical hope, they created their own hope. They turned to create a brave, new world. The mainline Protestant denominations joined forces with various social movements in the United States to create their “heaven on earth.” They tried to create better labor conditions, rid cities of the ghetto, remove racial tensions, protest the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and other such social movements. The modern Pentecostals preach a “health and wealth” gospel, making health and wealth the goals or the hope of Christianity. Many Fundamentalists preach a thousand year reign of Christ on earth as the hope for Christians. Others focus their hope on the rapture.

To the degree that we remove the focus from the one hope of the gospel, we create movements which lead us in different directions and to division. You can understand the difference in the mission of the church which would exist between those who are working to attain heaven at the resurrection of the dead and those who work for homosexual rights. How can these two walk together when they have no common goal?

(4) One Lord. The one Lord of this verse is the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter said, “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:37). The principle of recognizing Jesus as Lord is taught in several verses. Consider the following: “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Yet cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24). Recognizing Jesus as the one Lord obligates us to put obedience to him as our foremost obligation.

When the denominational synod meets together and decides that women can be ordained as bishops and homosexuals can be appointed preachers, the Christian is obligated to ignore those who usurp the throne of Christ and render allegiance to the one Lord. To the degree that men depart from obedience to the one Lord, they create division. We promote the unity of the church by recognizing and following the one Lord.

(5) One faith. The word pistis can be used in a number of senses. It can refer to one’s personal faith, faithfulness in discharging responsibility, or what is believed, the contents of belief. In this verse the one faith is the contents of belief. This is the one faith spoken of in Jude 3 

.. ye should contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” There is but one body of doctrine to be preached and believed by saints.

The modem concept of denominationalism which teaches that there are many faiths undermines the unity of the church. Ecumenists have divided the New Testament into two sections: gospel and doctrine. Under gospel, they arbitrarily listed those things which men must believe in common to have unity (inspiration of the Scriptures, the virgin birth, bodily resurrection of Christ, the miracles of the Bible, and a few other things); under doctrine they listed the peculiar dogmas of each denomination. The ecumenical denominations maintained unity-in-diversity based on common belief in the doctrines labeled “gospel.” As the years passed, the number of items included in “gospel” diminished. Now a person can believe anything and hold membership in such denominations as the Episcopal Church.

Other experiments in unity-in-diversity, such as that followed by the Evangelicals, ultimately lead to an acceptance of those who have departed from the one faith in doctrine and/or practice. The Evangelicals are perfectly willing to extend fellowship to those who use women preachers, have loose views on divorce and remarriage, have different practices regarding water baptism, etc. They simply categorize these matters as “doctrine” and agree to disagree  regardless of what the one faith reveals on the subject.

To the degree that we abide in the doctrine of Christ, walking by faith in the faith once for all delivered unto the saints, we promote the unity of the church. To the degree that we depart from that faith, we create and perpetrate division.

(6) One Baptism. The one baptism of this text is the baptism of the Great Commission. Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16; cf. Matt. 28:18-20). The apostle Peter told those on the day of Pentecost to “repent and be baptized” for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38; cf. 22:16). The baptism of the gospel is water baptism (cf. Acts 8:36). It is an immersion (see any standard Greek lexicon for the definition of baptizo; cf. Rom. 6:3,4; Acts 8:37-38). New Testament baptism was administered to penitent believers (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38) who had confessed their faith in Christ (Acts 8:37-38). Penitent believers in Jesus Christ were baptized in order to be saved (Mark 16:16), for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38), to wash away their sins (Acts 22:16).

Those who depart from the one baptism of the gospel to practice a different baptism create division. Those who teach Holy Ghost baptism rather than water baptism preach another baptism. Those who administer baptism to impenitent unbelievers, such as infants, have departed from the one baptism. Those who sprinkle or pour water on those desiring to be baptized have turned aside from the one baptism. Those who are baptized as “an outward sign of an inward grace,” “to testify to the world of their faith in Christ,” or to become a member of particular denomination have departed from the one baptism of the gospel. Those who practice “baptism for the dead” preach another baptism.

To the degree that men teach another baptism and receive into their fellowship those who have received another baptism, they create division. We promote unity by teaching and practicing one baptism.

(7) One God. The one God of Ephesians 4 is Jehovah, the God who created the heavens and the earth, revealed himself to Moses, inspired the prophets, and sent his Son to die on the cross. “There is none other God but one” (1 Cor. 8:4). The platform of unity laid down by Paul is not so broad as to include the worship of many different gods (the many gods of Hinduism, Allah, etc.). There is but one God. The revelation God gave to Moses is reaffirmed by this verse: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image” (Exod. 20:2-4).

Some ecumenists have become so broad-minded that they are willing to extend fellowship to those who worship other gods. Whatever unity they create is not the unity of the Bible. The unity for which Christ prayed is a unity based on the platform that there is but one God. To the degree that we call men away from the worship and service of other gods, we promote Bible unity. To the degree that we tolerate, accept, and receive those who worship other gods, we promote division.

These sevens ones form the platform for unity. There can be no true Bible unity where these seven ones are not preached and promoted. Benjamin Franklin summarized Paul’s argument for unity on Ephesians 4:1-6 saying:

As there is but one body of Church; but one Spirit to dwell in that one body; but one hope set before that one body; but one Lord, the head of that one body; but one faith in that one body; but one immersion, the initiatory rite of that one body; and but one God and Father of all, above all, through all, and in your all, the author of it all, we should endeavor to maintain the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace, in that one body (“Union of Christians,” Gospel Preacher I:313-314).

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 15, p. 2
August 4, 1994

By Wayne S. Walker

In a recent sermon, I asked the congregation where I am a member if anyone could recall how many people had been baptized at Haynes St. so far that year? I told them not to answer out loud but to think about the question and try to answer in their minds throughout the sermon, through-out the day, and throughout the following week. I assume that it is the goal of every faithful congregation of God’s people, as well as every individual child of God, to see the Lord’s church grow both in spirit and in number. Of course, in order for numerical growth to occur, there must be conversions, people added to the Lord and his body through faith, repentance, and baptism.

But even before this will take place, Christians must grow spiritually to the point of seeing the need of working to save the lost and doing something about it. I would like for us to notice something that David wrote in Psalm 51:13. This is a psalm of repentance. But after he had made sure that his own life was in harmony with the Lord, he said, “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall be converted to you.” The purpose of this article is to encourage us so that we will teach transgressors and sinners will be converted to Christ.

In one survey, large numbers were asked how they originally became interested in the church where they attended. The results were as follows:

21.1% were invited by friends & relatives

16.6% were visited by members of the church

7.6% were visited by leaders of the church

5.3% were children invited by friends

3.5% became interested through gospel meetings

29.6% were contacted by various other advertisements

Note that 50.6% came by personal contact and of that 43% was made by someone other than so-called “church leaders”  just “ordinary members.” This survey shows that personal work is our best means of converting people. Yet, it is perhaps the least relied on of any other means.

Also, the Los Angeles Executive Club published some extremely interesting facts about salesmen’s calls. Eight percent of all sales are made after the fifth call back. Yet48% of all salesmen make one call and quit, and 25% make three calls and quit. In other words, the great difference between selling and failing to sell lies in the number of calls! It is so hard to get some Christians to visit. It is even harder to get them to revisit. And yet, this revisiting insures success in both selling campaigns and church visitation.

There is no substitute for personal contact. It benefits both the caller and the person called on. We like people better and they like us better as we really get to know each other. By repeated visiting our understanding is increased. Being persistent is the road to success since very few will respond on the first call. So the answer is visit, visit, visit, and then visit again. Apparently, both selling and visiting are discouraging to many people. All salesmen would like to sell every product on the very first call. But remember that experience indicates that this will not be done. Again, 80% of those eventually sold will be sold after and not before the fifth visit. Are we willing to work this hard to save some lost soul?

But the question now becomes, what can we do to try to reach others? Not everyone has the same abilities and opportunities. Some can teach a home Bible study and others cannot. Some live in a neighborhood where people are willing to study and others live in areas where people will not even talk to them. However, somewhere, there is something that each person can do. So, in this article, we want to discuss some ways that we can win others for Jesus.

First, there are some things that we can do alone (Mark 16:15; James 5:20). Each Christian has a personal, individual responsibility to preach the gospel and seek to convert the sinner, regardless of what anyone else is doing. For example, we can use tracts. We might keep some in our car, purse, etc. to give whenever an occasion arises. Or we might keep some handy at the door to give to everyone who calls, especially religious workers like the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Aldo, we might mail a carefully selected tract every so often to a particular group of friends. And we might leave them in barber or beauty shops, restaurants, laundromats, waiting rooms, terminals, or other places where reading material is provided for people. (Be sure that some name and address, either personal or congregational, is on the tract if a person reading it would want to make contact.)

Of course, as suggested earlier, we can and should visit  but whom to visit? We can visit new people in the neighborhood; acquaintances who are sick or in the hospital; someone we know bereaved by the loss of a loved one; a family with a new baby; a newly married couple; people who have lost possessions in a fire, storm, flood, or other tragedy; an elderly person who is lonely or shut-in; members who are weak or fallen away; and all visitors to the services of the church. Here would be a good place to add that every visitor who attends services should be given a visitor’s card to fill out so that his or her name and address will be available for follow-up. This is something else that each individual can do as a personal responsibility.

Another thing we can do is to use the telephone. We can make appointments to talk to people about the gospel or set up classes for others. I knew a lady who, after she was no longer able to attend services due to health, began calling her friends and asking to set up home Bible studies for the preacher and elders. A few were converted as a result of her efforts. We can invite people we know to regular services or gospel meetings. And we can call members who miss services and see if we can help in any way.

Then there are some other things that we can do as individuals. We can invite a friend or neighbor into our house to share a meal with us and then try to get a Bible discussion started. We can encourage new members by having them into our homes for a meal too (Mark 9:41). We can send a card with an appropriate message to those who are sick, are in hospitals, are newly married, have a new baby, have a birthday, have an anniversary, are shut in, or have some other special need or occasion. We can use tapes of sermons to share with others. And we can send a good gospel paper to friends or loved ones outside of Christ  e.g., With All Boldness, The Preceptor, Guardian of Truth, or Gospel Truths.

Secondly, there are things we can do with others (Luke 10:1-3). While there are some things that we can do all by ourselves. God never intended for us to do all our work by ourselves. We can take another Christian and go to a nursing home, hospital, retirement center, or jail to talk with people there. We can take another Christian and pass out gospel literature from door to door or to people on the street. We can take another Christian with us and visit prospects, visitors to the services, new Christians, weak and wayward members, and so forth. Or with another family in the church, we could invite a few couples who are not Christians to a get-together and try to start a Bible discussion.

Thirdly, there are things that we can do to promote the work of the church (1 Cor. 12:12-14; Eph. 4:15-16; 1 Tim. 3:15). We can call our friends’ attention to the activities of the church  radio or television programs, bulletins, Diala-Bible Message, home studies, filmstrips, gospel meetings, regular services, newspaper ads or articles, and correspondence courses. Some people just get several of the latter and start handing them out to people  good examples are the John Hurt, Sewell Hall, and Jule Miller course.

We can participate in a canvass of the community to take a religious survey that might produce new contacts by offering such services as correspondence courses, home studies, and filmstrips; or to pass out literature and announcements. If a person does not feel capable of teaching a home Bible study himself, he can start home Bible studies for the local preacher and other members who can teach them. We can ask our friends if they would like to see some filmstrips  e.g., the Jule Miller Cottage Meeting filmstrips, Winston Atkinson’s Fundamentals of the Faith film strips, and Neil Lightfoot’s How We Got the Bible film-strips. Some of these are now available on video cassette too. Or we just set up a regular class to study the Bible in a neighbor’s home. J.T. Bristow’s Knock on the Door, Ivan Stewart’s From House to House, and Homer Hailey’s Let’s Go Fishing for Men, all have excellent suggestions on how to do this. And we can have a Bible class in our own home, with a few members and selected non-member friends and neighbors attending.

Or we can give names of all new families in the neighborhood that we know of to be sent a packet containing information about the church. And we can issue invitations. We can invite people personally to attend regular services. It is good to put forth a special effort to do this at least once a week with one particular person in mind. We can especially invite everyone we know to come to our gospel meetings. And if necessary, we can use our cars to bring these people with us. Then once people are present, we can make a special effort to welcome warmly all visitors to our services. This is one area where most congregations probably need to be doing more. I know that it is difficult for mothers with small children, elderly, and others with special problems to get back and greet visitors, but each one of us needs to let our visitors know personally how much we appreciate their being with us. Through the years I have heard some people complain that there were not enough people at the door to greet visitors. Yet, while this is not always the case, usually the ones who complain the loudest are nowhere to be seen when visitors come thru the door.

And we can support heartily every soul-winning effort of the local congregation. We can teach in a vacation Bible school or other classes where we might instruct children in the truth and maybe open doors to lost parents. We can attend and encourage services in hospitals, nursing homes, jails, and so forth, conducted by the local church if it has any. We can participate in a personal work class or visitation program if the congregation has one. (Why is it that everyone agrees that we need to be doing more personal work, but when you announce a personal work class to help us get started and do it better, only a small few show up?) And whenever we see something that needs to be done, we can do it with all our might (Eccl. 9:10).

Finally, we must be genuinely converted, whole-heartedly dedicated, and enthusiastically zealous Christians. In Titus 2:11-14, Paul wrote of Christ, “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works.” If this is true of each of us, then we should not have any trouble finding things to do. The fact is that we have been saved to save others.

In January, 1975, Sewell Hall wrote an article entitled “Seeking the Lost,” in which he made the following observations: “When conversions are few it is easy to blame our failures on the times, the hardness of heart among people of our community, or the opposition of adversaries. In some instances these are legitimate reasons for failure. Jesus and the apostles sometimes failed be-cause of indifference or hostility. The `Parable of the Sower’ describes a type of soil that is hard and cannot be penetrated with the seed of the kingdom. Paul also warns of a time when `men will not endure sound doctrine.’ These times appear to be now.

“But we cannot legitimately claim these as the reasons for our failures until we are sure we have given the people of our community every opportunity to hear and reject God’s truth. This is not accomplished by merely building a building and advertising. `Here it is; come get it!’ There are a hundred counterfeit offers of this kind for every sound one. How is the public to know the difference? Jesus said go! The responsibility is ours to see that they have the message brought to them personally.

“It was recently reported to me concerning an active and successful congregation, `The elders plan to succeed and if an effort fails, they examine it and make several changes before they will abandon it.’ No wonder this congregation is successful; they plan it that way. Other congregations expect to fail and they reach their expectations. Efforts are only half-hearted and when they bog down there is no particular disappointment . . . We can excuse ourselves by saying, `We have tried everything and nothing works.’

“If the same kind of thought, planning energy, and dedication were put into our efforts to save the lost that we put into promoting our business we would be successful … True, many congregations will never be aroused to their responsibility and potential. But . . . how many . . . things … can be done by individuals regardless of what the church does or does not do? There is no excuse! And if we love the Lord and the lost, why should we seek and excuse? Better to seek the lost” (Vanguard; Vol. 1, #2). What brother Hall wrote nearly twenty years ago is just as true today as it was then.

We have a choice to make, both as individual Christians and as congregations. We can sit around and do nothing, the result of which is that local churches will dwindle and eventually die, and we will be lost. Or we can all get to work doing the best that we can to seek and save the lost. And even though the church might end up not growing in spite of our efforts, we shall still please the Lord and can be saved. And ultimately, that is all we can do and that is all that he expects of us.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 15, p. 8-10

August 4, 1994

By Donald Townsley

It is my conviction that there are several sins that are committed more frequently during the summer sea-son than at any other time of the year. In this article we will look at some of these sins.

Immodest Dress

The problem of immodest dress grows worse by the year! Dressing immodestly (by either women or men) is contrary to the law of Christ. Christians are not to be lascivious (Gal. 5:19). Lasciviousness is conduct that is shameless and shocking to public decency. Thayer says it means “unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, shamelessness, insolence.” W.E. Vine says it “denotes excess, licentiousness, absence of restraint, indecency, wantonness.” Clark says it means “all lewdness.” These definitions show that a Christian must always show restraint in conduct, be de-cent in dress, and never be lewd in any sense.

The definitions above would rule out the wearing of skin-tight jeans or pants on the part of male or female; the wearing of shorts; dresses that are cut too low, too short, or too tight, and dresses that have a slit which shows the leg half-way up the thigh (giving a “strip-tease” view of the leg which is very sensual and lust-enticing to the male). Paul said to the women: “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works” (1 Tim. 2:9-10). Paul told the older women to teach the younger women “to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Tit. 2:5).

The nakedness of a woman’s body excites lust in men. From his roof-top David saw Bathsheba washing herself and she was “very beautiful to look upon” (2 Sam. 11:2). David looked, lusted, then sent for her and committed the overt act of adultery with her (2 Sam. 11:4). The same thing happens over and over today: women ex-pose their nearly nude bodies to neighbors and friends of the opposite sex; lust is kindled, then it is not over until that neighbor or friend “goeth in to his neighbor’s wife” (Prov. 6:32-35)! Trust is destroyed! Hearts and homes are broken! And it all began with a woman indecently exposing her-self!

A woman who displays her body before men, or conducts her-self in such a way that she causes them to lust has become a stumbling-block (Matt. 18:6-7). No godly woman is going to be displaying her nude (or nearly nude) body before the eyes of a lustful world which has “eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin” (2 Pet. 2:14). A godly woman knows what is modest (in apparel and in conduct) and lives accordingly. She also teaches her children and sets the proper example of modesty before them. The writer of Proverbs said of the evil woman, “Lust not after her beauty in thine heart” (Prov. 6:25). Jesus said that “whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matt. 5:28).

Mixed Swimming

Mixed swimming is another summer sin that falls in the same category as that discussed above. True Christians will not expose their bodies to one another and to the people of the world by going to the public swimming pools and beaches. There is also physical contact involved in mixed swimming that is lust-enticing, Christians are to abstain from every form of evil (1 Thess. 5:22).

Godless Vacations

Many Christians not only take a vacation from work, they also take a vacation from God, Christ and the church! Many rob God in order to take their vacations  some drastically reduce their contribution, and others just eliminate it altogether! We all need to understand that the Lord’s work must go on: vacation or no vacation, duty to God must come first! Then, many go to places where there is no church. They have given no thought as to where they will worship on the Lord’s day (Acts 20:7; Heb. 10:25)! What if the Lord should come during this time when you have given no thought to ensure that his work goes on at home, and have made no preparation to worship him while you are away from home?

We all need to learn that Christianity is not a seasonal religion, nor is it circumstantial in nature. The practice of Christianity does not depend upon place  we must be Christians wherever we are; neither does the practice of Christianity depend on time  we are to be Christians regardless of the day or the hour! The “seasonal Christian” is good at church services and in the presence of the brethren, but many times he becomes a reprobate when he gets away from the brethren and the preacher and goes on vacation! He seems to forget that God sees him all of the time (Heb. 4:13). Brethren, we must be true Christians, in every sense of the word, in order to be pleasing to God.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 15, p. 1
August 4, 1994

By Isaac Errett

Far more widespread is the mischief arising from the intensely secular spirit of the age. The second mentioned evil is one that is realized by thinkers and students; but the mass of people do not think or study closely on these subjects. Without much thought or study they drink in the spirit of the age, which is grossly material and worldly. It is an age of material interests. Even science is subsidized by materialism, and has its chief value in ministering to the advancement of material interests. Education no longer proposes intellectual and moral enlargement and elevation as an end. Its end now is to fit us for the successful pursuit of wealth. Money is more than intellect, and intellect more than heart, these days. We are willing to wear the long ears of Midas, if only everything we touch may turn to gold. This insane thirst for riches, and the absorbing interest in the worldly pursuits which it necessarily engenders, puts every spiritual interest in peril. Not only are the devotees of wealth impervious to all at-tacks made by the gospel on heart and conscience, but the church is unnerved for the at-tack that ought to be made. This secular spirit is eating up the piety of heart and home and church. The closet is forsaken; the family altar crumbles. The Bible is no longer the book of the household. The daily papers, saturated with worldliness and reeking with vice and crime, and the weekly or monthly journal of literature and fashion, utterly Christless, if not positively infidel in its tendencies, form the reading of the family. Beyond this, if books are read, they are apt to be frothy fictions, written to minister to sentimentalism, and leaving the reader with hot blood and prurient desires. Our children go from these almost godless homes to secular schools, from which everything moral and religious is being most diligently rooted out, in obedience to the atheistic demands of a foreign population, who are not con-tent to enjoy in this land the liberty which Christianity has given them, but seek to establish in our country the same atheistic principles that have already sapped the foundations of morals in Europe, and made France the helpless, pitiable spectacle she is today. And our churches are invaded by the same secular spirit. The simplicity and spirituality of the church of God are sacrificed to pride and fashion. The crashing thunders of truth against all sin and wrong are exchanged for dulcet notes of rhetorical elegance, or for the sky-rockets of a sensational oratory. A false and hollow liberalism succeeds to the stern old bigotry that used to reign in the pulpit. Very short prayers and ten-minute sermons are the rage now. For the rest, the house of God must be made a place of refined amusement, so as to draw. Either delicious music or startling oratory must be had to draw. And when our children go from such homes into such schools, and from such schools into such churches, what sort of a generation are we training for the work of God? I tremble when I think of it. I am no foe to refinement or to oratory, and certainly no advocate of boorishness or of Ishmaelitish aggressiveness in the pulpit; but I would a thousand times rather see our pulpits filled with hairy Elijahs that could call down fire from heaven and send terror and slaughter among the foes of Israel, than with the most accomplished trimmers and slaves of the hour.

It is this worldliness, so wide-spread and so insinuating, that more than anything else paralyzes our missionary efforts. We are so intoxicated with the spirit of the times that we can not be brought to sympathize with a world that is rushing down to death. And we grow so selfish and ambitious in the midst of our earthly prosperities that we have no heart to give as we ought to give to the missionary work. There is ever an increasing selfishness, attending our growth in wealth, which very few escape. We have less sympathy with the world, and more anxiety for our own interests. And this operates in regard to our religious giving as in all other things. We lose our sympathy with the world of mankind. We learn to sneer at Foreign Missions, and figure on it to ascertain how much it costs to convert a soul in Africa or in India.

(Quoted from “Opportunity and Opposition,” New Testament Christianity I:76-79).

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 15, p. 5
August 4, 1994