Category Archives: the Church

Who Shall Abide In Thy Tabernacle?

What kind of person would you allow to live in your house? Would you accept just anyone? An incessant liar? A person who always talks about you behind your back? Someone who harms the helpless? Would a vile person or someone who held vile and contemptible people in high esteem be accepted? As a rule, you rightfully would reject such people, as most right thinking people would. In fact, God does want just anyone to come and abide in His house. Yes, He wants everyone to abide in His house but only if they behave themselves certain ways.

The fifteenth Psalm sets forth in general terms those whom God would allow in His Tabernacle under the Old Covenant. Under the New Covenant, the Tabernacle of God is the Lord’s church (Heb. 8:1). The Lord’s church is also spiritually designated Zion (Heb. 12:22,23). Who, then, does God want in His house, the church?

He wants those who walk uprightly in His House (v. 2). Our “walk” is our manner of life. This is a reference to our whole life, not just on Sunday morning, or on Wednesday evening or only when it is convenient. We are blessed when we do not walk in the council of the ungodly (Psalm 1:1). John says our life is to be continually lived in the light, indicated by the present tense of the verb “walk” (I John 1:7). A Christian is one who has changed his whole life (Eph. 2:2,3; Rom. 6:4). To walk uprightly, Paul says, is to walk “according to the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:11-14).

Only those who work righteousness can abide in the House of the Lord (v.2). William Tyndale translated the Greek term which is translated as “righteous” in our Bibles as “rightwise” or “rightways.” That word means in the right manner or way (cf. Matt. 1:18 “on this wise”). It is to be justified or just. It is not merely being right, but being right with God. The Jews failed to understand this about Jesus. They sought to establish their own righteousness based on law and rejected Christ (Rom. 10:1-3). True righteousness is found only in God’s word (Psalm 119:172; Heb. 5:13; Rom. 1:16,17).

Speaking the truth in your heart is a necessary quality for abiding in the tabernacle of God (v.2). Truth is vitally important (John 8:32; John 17:17; I John 5:13; 2:3, etc.) but we must speak the truth in our hearts, as well. It is easy to tell someone else what the truth is and what they should do, but it is much more difficult to examine our own hearts to find what is there. We must examine ourselves (I Cor. 13:5). We are frequently willing to dismiss what we do wrong while condemning it in others (Matt. 7: 3,4). If we do not deal with our problems in the here and now, God will deal with them in the there and then!

God does not want backbiters in his House (v. 3). Backbiting is the malicious defamation of someone’s character behind their back. It comes from a word meaning to “espy; to roam from house to house learning secrets and disseminating them.” Sometimes we must speak about other’s problems, but only with a view to help them. However, backbiting is condemned in scripture (Rom. 1:30; II Cor. 12:20). Some men’s tongues, it seems, bite worse than their teeth.

Doing evil against your neighbor disqualifies you from living in the House of God. “Evil” falls under two categories: Physical evil, which is unpleasant and unwanted events, and spiritual or moral evil. Sin is the only intrinsic evil and is always evil (I John 3:4). Physical evil cannot be completely controlled by us but moral evil is under our complete control. The Law of God’s House is fulfilled in one word, namely “love your neighbor” (Rom. 13:9,10).

To abide in the House of God we must not take up a reproach against our neighbor (v. 3). We should not be willing to listen to, much less believe, every evil report that is brought our way unless there is obvious reason. William Perkins gave this advice: “If we cannot excuse his doing, excuse his intent; if the deed is evil, think that it was done in ignorance; if there is no way to excuse him, think that some great temptation befell him, and you would do the worse if such a temptation befell you. And give God thanks that no such temptation has yet befallen you.” Remember Jesus was lied against by false witnesses (Matt. 26:57-61).

In the House of God the vile are contemned and those that fear the Lord are honored (v. 4). Who are our heroes today? Do our heroes epitomize the truth, goodness, honesty, and integrity? Do they exemplify biblical virtues or do they exhibit a rebel spirit? In the House of God, there are some things which are done by evil men of which we should be ashamed even to speak (Eph. 5:10-12).

The kind of man that God wants is one who keeps his word (v. 4). Jesus said we should let our word be our bond (Matt. 5:33-37). We should not be in the habit of promising what we cannot keep and should keep what we promise, no matter how insignificant the matter. It should be a matter of integrity for us even if, in the end, we find that it will hurt us. When we open our mouth to the Lord, we cannot go back (Jud. 11:35).

A person who abides in God’s House does not use his wealth to hurt others (v. 5). While there is nothing wrong with wealth in and of itself (e.g., Abraham was wealthy) we must never use the power which wealth carries with it to injure those less blessed. Indeed, a greater obligation rests upon those who have more to do more (Eph. 4:28). We should realize that we will not be able to keep our money once this life is through (I Tim. 6:6-10).

Under the New Covenant, we must obey the gospel to be added to the Lord’s church, the House of God (Acts 2:38, 47). But the kind of person God wants in His house under the New Covenant is essentially the same in character as those under the Old. Let us diligently strive to be those things God requires of us to enter into His Holy Hill and the Tabernacle not made with hands so that we may dwell there in the approbation of God.

Eric L. Padgett

Worship

Worship is an important element in the life of the Christian. While it is a command of the Lord to worship Him (i.e., Rev. 22:9), it should also be an automatic response of a grateful soul for the blessings of life and salvation. Indeed, in all human beings, whether they openly profess to be religious or not, there seems to be a tendency to worship. However, most direct their worship to the wrong object. Some worship their ancestors, others worship the heavens, some worship an object crafted by their own hands and others worship themselves (Rom. 1:21-28). While the desire and need to worship is there, the knowledge of Whom to worship and how to do it is not. God’s word teaches us about the proper object of worship and the proper way to do it.

First, only God is to be worshiped. “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Ex. 34:14). Because all other objects and persons are created by God, only He is worthy of worship (Ps. 100; I Chron. 16:25,26). Since Jesus is also God, and, along with the Holy Spirit, was involved in the creation of the world (Gen. 1:1,2; John 1:1-3), He is also worthy of worship (Mark 5:6; Rev. 4,5). Many, however, often without even realizing it, worship things other than God. Some worship wealth or possessions and others worship fame and status. But Jesus made it clear that we cannot serve God and mammon and be acceptable to Him (Matt. 6:24). God is the only authorized object of worship.

Second, reverence must be exhibited when approaching God in worship. When Moses approached God in the burning bush, God told him that the place whereon he stood was “holy ground” and that he should remove his shoes as a sign of reverence (Ex. 3:5). Today, of course, we do not show reverence by removing shoes, but we should show reverence in the way we approach God in worship by the way we dress, by the way we conduct ourselves and by the way speak. David said he would not offer to God that which cost him nothing (II Sam. 24:24). We should be willing to sacrifice in order to come before God. Like the four and twenty elders before the throne, we should cast down our crowns before the Lord (Rev. 4:10). Our attitude toward God will be manifested by how we present ourselves before Him (I Chron. 16:29; Psalm 92:2).

Third, God must be worshiped according to His will. Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” God must be worshiped both in spirit and in Truth (John 4:24). To worship God in spirit is to worship Him with the right attitude or disposition of heart, which we just mentioned. But God wills that we worship Him according to truth as well, which means it must be done the right way.

For example, when Abel offered the wrong sacrifice, God was not pleased (Gen. 4:4,5). Cain chose to offer that which God had not commanded and was condemned for his unfaithfulness (Heb. 11:4; Rom. 10:17). Likewise, Nadab and Abihu offered the wrong fire in worship, a fire which God had “commanded them not,” and were destroyed because of it (Lev. 10:1,2). God said He was going to be sanctified in those that come nigh Him (Lev. 10:3). The world attempts to worship God in it’s own way, and God will have none of it. Ignorant worship is false worship and is not acceptable to God (Acts 17:23). Jesus condemned this kind of attempt to worship God when He said, “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9).

Fourth, scriptural worship of God consists of specific actions which God has authorized. Some have said in the past that all that we do in life is worship. Such a view is completely without scriptural support. For example, when Abraham obeyed God’s command to offer Isaac, Abraham said “abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship” (Gen. 22:5). Abraham was not worshiping as God commanded until He went to the place and performed the actions God had commanded. Abraham lived during the Patriarchal dispensation when God spoke directly to the fathers (cf. Heb. 1:1,2). Today, however, we live in the Christian dispensation and we are to listen to the Lord and the Lord only (Heb. 1:1,2; Matt. 17:1-8).

Under Christ, worship consists of five specific acts: Teaching/preaching, prayers, singing, giving, and the Lord’s supper. Very early on in the inspired account of the establishment and growth of the Lord’s church we are given a list of things in which Christians strictly continued and these five items are subsumed under them. Acts 2:42 states: “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” While we cannot here go into detail about each of these avenues of worship, a brief summary will suffice to show the example of the first century church.

The book of Acts records that upon the first day of the week, the early church gathered to hear the gospel preached, which was the equivalent of the apostle’s doctrine being taught (Acts 20:7). The apostles doctrine involves teaching/preaching. This passage (Acts 20:7) also states that they partook of the Lord’s supper, or broke bread, on the first day of every week (I Cor. 10:16). Prayer was also an important and mandatory part of the services of the Lord’s church in the first century (Acts 12:12). On the first day of every week, first century Christians were commanded to lay by in store as God had prospered them (I Cor. 16:1,2). Finally, singing was a part of the worship of the assembled church (Heb. 2:12; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; I Cor. 14:15). Singing was also a way of “teaching and admonishing” which is referred to in Acts 2:42. Anything more than these adds to the worship and anything less, on the Lord’s day, takes away from God’s commands and corrupts the New Testament pattern.

God demands our worship be pure. Therefore, “let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker” (Ps. 95:6) and let us “give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (I Chron. 16:29).

Eric L. Padgett

On “Mission Statements” and “Visions”

I often search the internet looking at examples of web sites various churches keep to get ideas on how to make the web sites I maintain better. I see some things I like but there are many things I see which disturb me greatly. One thing which I often see on many church web sites is a “mission statement.” But it is curious to me that a congregation would need to develop their own modern mission statement or a “vision,” and these are often quite broad in scope and complex, when the Lord has given us a very complete and concise “mission statement” already:

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:18-20).

And again:

And he said unto them, 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).

Jesus was clear. The mission of the church, as He delivered it to the apostles, was to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” This is simple, direct, clear and concise. But what do many mission statements of modern “churches of Christ” say? Let’s look at one example of a “mission statement” that was the first I came across just randomly searching for “mission statements” (but it is not alone in either it’s content or thrust).

“The [name withheld] Church of Christ is a body of Christ-centered believers who submit to God’s word through faithful living and works of service, empowered by His Spirit to become a marriage- and family-friendly community of faith which embraces the blessings of our God-given diversity.”

What is this? Whatever it is, this is not the great commission! What this is is a piece of politically correct mumbo-jumbo designed to confuse people about the purpose of the Lord’s church. What is a “Christ-centered believer?” This is nothing but warmed-over, liberal denominational terminology. Scripturally, the church is the saved (Acts 2:47). Whatever happened to the time tested, biblical principle of calling Bible things by Bible names and doing Bible things in Bible ways (I Pet. 4:11)?

Is the purpose of the church to “submit to God’s word through faithful living and service?” It is not the purpose of the church to submit to God’s word, that is the nature of the church. Those who have obeyed the gospel have already submitted to God’s word by believing, repenting, confessing and being baptized (Rom. 6:16-19).

The notion of service also gets abused. Yes, we are servants of the Lord. The word “servant” used in the New Testament is the word for a bond-servant. A slave. As Christians we are His servants and must please Him, not men. Paul said, “If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). But too many see themselves as the servants of men first and of God last. These make an industry out of “service.” I will have more to say about this in a later post.

The errors encompassed in the statement “empowered by His Spirit” are too many to answer in this short post. Let it suffice to say that the Spirit works through His revealed word (Eph. 6:17). And while that revealed word teaches us about God’s design for marriage and the family, the Holy Spirit does not “empower” us to be “marriage- and family-friendly.” That is a choice we make, just like everything else we do.

The expression “community of faith” in the above “mission statement” is foreign to the scriptures. You cannot find it in God’s word. God’s people are the “called out,” the church. The church is the “house of God” (I Tim. 3:15). The English word “church” comes from the Greek word “kyriake (oikia), kyriakon doma ‘Lord’s (house).'” Jesus didn’t say “Upon this rock I will build My community” but “I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18). Such expressions as “community of faith” are more at home in socialism and liberalism than they are in the Lord’s house.

Finally, the idea that the Lord’s church was created to “embrace diversity” is simply another effort at using modern social issues to alter the nature and purpose of the Lord’s church. We all are to be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). We are to have the same mind and the same judgement (I Cor. 1:10). The mind that was in Christ Jesus is to be in us (Phil. 2:5-8). Instead of focusing on and “embracing diversity,” the Lord tells us to focus on and be conformed to the truth (John 17:17-21).

All attempts at developing modern “mission statements” by churches of Christ, or statements expressing their “vision,” are against the genius of New Testament Christianity. I know our society presses us to be conformed to the religious world around us and focus on issues that tantalize and fascinate. But let us, as New Testament Christians, reject all such exotic missions. Let us insist on going back to the New Testament for our faith and practice. Let us insist on speaking where the Bible speaks and being silent where the Bible is silent and calling Bible things by Bible names and doing Bible things in Bible ways.

Why should we, as Christians–disciples of Christ–want anything more than His Great Commission: Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned.

Eric L. Padgett

Should We Obey God Or Woman?

In a recent speech given at the Women of the World summit, Hillary Clinton, Democrat candidate for President, stated that “Far too many women are denied access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth…And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.” While you might think that she was referring to some far away, oppressed, backward country, she wasn’t. She went on to clarify that what she referred to was “not just in far away countries but right here in the United States.”

In many ways this is simply a strange statement. The expression “reproductive health care” is just a nuanced way of saying “abortion.” The Planned Parenthood website, for instance, while they offer other token services (very few of which seem to be related to parenting) clearly seeks to promote and advance abortion. It is nearly all they talk about. And yet, apparently, Hillary Clinton thinks there are not enough abortions even in the United States where there have been 57,852,000 since 1973. Already, this year alone, there were 360,187 abortions. Think of this! These are innocent lives being snuffed out just because they were inconvenient to someone else. And Hillary Clinton thinks women are denied this “right”?

Furthermore, she blames religious beliefs for stifling abortion. Whatever else she may be referring to when she says this, she has in mind the Biblical teaching that abortion is murder. She would have Christians to change their “deep-seated religious beliefs” in order to bring about her goal of increased access to abortion. This clearly demonstrates not only a lack of humanity but also a lack of understanding on her part of the nature of truth, the origin of the Bible and the basis of Christianity.

Christians do not arbitrarily decide what they believe. We believe the things we believe because they come from God, not from any man (or any woman). All scripture is given by inspiration of God (II Tim. 3:16,17). Faithful Christians would never, could never, change their view about the sanctity of life. Those who would presume to alter the teaching of God’s word are warned:

For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book (Rev. 22:18-19).

Christians, those who follow and adhere to the teaching of Jesus Christ, know that to add to or to take from the word of God is sinful. Christians would never seek to alter or have others alter their deep-seated views that come from God. Indeed, we ought to obey God rather than men or woman (Acts 5:29). While many will form their worldview based on something other than the Bible, faithful Christians, will have a “Thus saith the Lord” for their deep-seated beliefs.

This country does not now need, nor does it ever need, leaders who tempt its citizens to dismiss the will of God or have disdain for the sanctity of human life, which is made in the image of God. It needs leaders who will lead based upon the word of God. At the very lest, we need moral leaders who uphold the traditional Judea-Christian values that formed the basis of the founding of this country.

May God help us in the upcoming elections to choose men and women who uphold the traditional values upon which this country was founded, who will uphold the sanctity of life, and who will listen to God’s word as they govern.

Eric L. Padgett

Scratching Doesn’t Always Relieve The Itch

Have you ever had a place that itched but you just couldn’t find the spot to scratch that would relieve it? It can nearly drive a person up a wall! It is not until you scratch in some seemingly completely unrelated area that you find the relief you seek. I have also found that sometimes in life we think we know what we want but, in reality, what we are seeking would not really satisfy our desires. We try to scratch an emotional or carnal itch but can’t satisfy the desire. We are looking in the wrong place or for the wrong things.

For example, some people think they want complete social and moral freedom. They think they want complete freedom to act on each urge or to satisfy each base impulse. But what they generally find is that such a life is not ultimately satisfying. The prodigal son soon found that wasting his substance on riotous living did not satisfy his deepest desires. When he finally came to himself, he found that even being a hired servant in his own father’s house was far better for him than the course he had previously chosen (Luke 15:13-21). Many people think they want moral freedom but what they really need is freedom from sin and satan (Rom. 6:23; Acts 8:23; II Tim. 2:26).

Another example is when people seek to remedy an emptiness they feel in life by seeking material wealth and so they heap up silver as dust (Job 27:16). In their pursuit of wealth they often abandon the important things in life. Many mistakenly think that providing toys and gifts for their children and jewels and baubles for their wives can substitute for real love and affection. It does not and can not. All those things can never replace just being there and doing things with your family. Many think that having great wealth will eliminate all of their troubles. “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts” (I Tim. 6:9). So instead of scratching the itch of emptiness with seeking material possessions we ought to be seeking the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8). For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and loose his own soul (Mark 8:36).

Some people see what they believe to be injustice in society and feel the urge to intervene and correct the problem. So they set out to make ever more laws governing social structures and institutions. However, they fail to understand the true cause of all real injustice is not structures and institutions in society and it is not solved by social engineering, but the real problem is a heart problem and the solution comes in making the heart right. When Paul faced slavery in the first century, he did not mount a campaign to eradicate the institution of slavery in the ancient world. He simply preached the gospel of Christ and knew that it’s affect on people’s heart would change the way they conducted their lives. Paul’s actions with Philemon and Onesimus illustrate the principle. He told Philemon to receive Onesimus as more than a servant, “a brother beloved” (Philem. 16). Instead of seeking social justice we need to seek justification (Luke 16:15; Rom. 3:30).

Some people are exercised over the world’s disapproval of the Lord’s church and try desperately to make the world love it. It is normal to want to be loved and accepted. But we must realize that the world will never love the Lord’s church as it is scripturally constituted. The world hates the Lord, as He presents Himself in His word to the world, and they will hate His church if it follows His example (John 15:20). The urge to make the Lord’s church more palatable to world by watering down it’s doctrine or changing it’s mission or altering it’s design is foolhardy and misguided, however well-intentioned. Adopting the practices of the pagan world to be accepted by them was a course adopted by ancient Israel and was a course fraught with all manner of unintended deleterious consequences. Furthermore, it was a result of their rejection of the Lord and His will (I Sam. 8:5-22). It is trying to satisfy an itch by scratching in the wrong spot. Instead of seeking the world’s approval, we ought to be seeking the world’s conversion.

Most people are well intentioned. But good intentions are not enough when it comes to our salvation and service to God. Just scratching doesn’t always relieve the itch.

Eric L. Padgett

You Can’t Cross Heaven’s Borders By Breaking Its Laws

America today is witnessing a horde of invaders crossing our southern border. There is no doubt that among the reasons so many want to come to America is the promise of the blessings afforded her citizens. These blessings attract those whose lives are burdened with oppression, poverty and hopelessness. For over two hundred years, people around the globe have sought to avail themselves legally of these blessings of liberty. The problem with the present invasion is that it is unlawful and tears at the very fabric of American life and culture. It is ironic that there is a parallel between what is happening in America right now and what has been happening to the Lord’s church.

To become a legal citizen of the United States, you have to pass a simple test, speak and write basic English, not have a criminal record, etc. In short, you must meet certain requirements, follow certain basic laws. The same is true of becoming a legal citizen of the Kingdom of God, the church. To become a citizen of the kingdom of God, one must hear the word (Rom. 10:17), believe (Acts 8:37), repent (Luke 13:3,5), confess (Rom. 10:9,10), and be baptized (Acts 2:38). When one does these things, he is added by the Lord to His church, the kingdom (Acts 2:41,47; Matt. 16:16-19).

However, just as there are those who are allowing–and even inviting–illegals to come into this country, there are those who want to allow–and even invite–those who have not obeyed the law of the Lord regarding spiritual citizenship to come into the church. Many believe that those in the denominations, for instance, who have never followed God’s law are fellow-citizens of the kingdom of God. They fellowship them as if there was no difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world. By recognizing those in the denominational world as Christians, they advocate a form of spiritual amnesty without obedience to law.

Unfortunately, those who want the blessings this country offers without following it’s laws are bringing about the demise of the very institutions which made this country great. Likewise, those who advocate fellowshipping those in the denominations are disregarding the very things which make the Lord’s church distinctive and thereby destroy it’s power to save the lost. The church exists because it is made up of individuals who have been separated by God from the world (II Cor. 6:14-18; Acts 2:47). But when that line of demarcation between the world and the church is erased, then there remains no difference between them and the church is just as lost as the world.

When members of the Lord’s church adopt the innovations and terminology which characterizes the denominational world, they become the denominational world. We want all men to be saved, just as we wish all nations were blessed as America is blessed. But if America is destroyed through invasion and destruction of its western culture, then it can no longer be the unique and exceptional blessing to the world it once was (and hopefully is still). Likewise, if the Lord’s church disregards the will of God and assimilates an unscriptural, spiritually foreign culture, it can no longer offer a refuge from the burden of sin and spiritual poverty under which this present world labors. When individual Christians and congregations adopt the practices of the denominations, when they adopt their terminology, when they substitute the commission of Jesus with a worldly, social agenda, then they, too, cease to be the unique and exceptional blessing God created them to be as the church and become just one more lost denomination.

America may or may not survive this current onslaught against it. There are many in high places who are working feverishly hard to fundamentally transform America. Whether or not it survives this present crises will depend on whether or not America keeps the Lord as its God (Psalm 33:12; 127:1-5). But the truth regarding the Kingdom of Christ is, no matter what men may do to the Lord’s church, no matter how much they disregard the Lord’s will, the church will survive. It is not dependent upon the grace of man for it’s existence, but the will of God. The gates of Hell, Jesus said, will not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18,19)! You can’t cross heaven’s borders by breaking its laws.

Eric L. Padgett

Life, Liberty and Happiness

This country is unique in the history of the world in the liberties it enjoys. These freedoms have been codified into the founding documents of this country. In the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, the Founders acknowledged that our freedoms come from God, not from men, and that these freedoms include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. While we cherish these blessing greatly, there are greater spiritual blessings that we enjoy as citizens of the Kingdom of Christ.

As Christians, we enjoy the promise of life such as the world can never know. Physical life comes from God and all men enjoy it (Gen. 2:7). Since sin came into the world, however, we all live in fear of the flame of our life being extinguished (Heb. 2:14,15). For what is our life but a vapor that appears for a little while then vanishes away (James 4:14). But the Lord came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Therefore, we have the promise of life that now is and of that which is to come (I Tim.4:8). Jesus came to abolish death and He brought life an immortality to light through the gospel (II Tim. 1:10).

As Christians we also enjoy the blessings of liberty. God created man as a free moral agent, free to choose what he wants, even disobedience to His will (Josh. 24:15). But to choose contrary to the will of God enslaves one to sin (Rom. 6:20). Many men thrill at the promise others make of bringing them liberty, only to find themselves enslaved to some man-made ideology or power. There is a clear-cut , scriptural principle: of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage (II Pet.2:19). However, Jesus came to bring actual deliverance to the captives and to set at liberty them that are bruised (Luke 4:18). We have a perfect law of liberty (James 1:25). The law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2). And one day, even our bodies will be delivered from the bondage of corruption in to the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom. 8:21).

Finally, we also have the promise of happiness. The Declaration promises that Americans may “pursue” happiness. The Founders understood that true happiness is a very elusive thing and they were wise to say that it’s pursuit was all that could be assured. Many seem to think the more things they possess the happier they will be, but truly a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses (Luke 12:15). The truly happy man is the one that trusts in the Lord (Prov. 16:20). The truly happy man is the one that keeps God’s law (Prov. 29:18). The truly happy man is the one who suffers for righteousness’ sake (I Pet. 3:14) and is reproached for the name of Christ (I Pet. 4:4). They are truly happy who endure (James 5:11). In Christ, there is joy unspeakable (I Pet. 1:8)!

While we should always be thankful to God for this great country in which we live, and the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness it proffers, and appreciate the cost in human blood which made it possible, we should be even more thankful to God for the spiritual life, freedom from the bondage of sin and the eternal inward joy that comes from being a citizen of the kingdom of God. Nor should we ever forget the price in divine blood that these blessings cost the Son of God (Acts 20:28). The day we are raised from the watery grave of baptism is the greatest Day Independence the world has ever known.

Eric L. Padgett

Will Ye Also Go Away?

The teaching of Jesus is offensive! Don’t believe it? Am I speaking blasphemy? Listen to Jesus Himself. While He was in Capernaum, Jesus taught that His followers must (metaphorically, of course) eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to have eternal life (John 6: 53,54). To the Jews this was a “hard saying” because literally doing so would have been repulsive to them, probably even more than it is to us today (John 6:60). After all, they knew the prohibition against such in the Law of Moses under which they lived (Lev. 17:10-14). However, “When Jesus knew in Himself that his disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, Doth this offend you?” (John 6:61).

Notice that Jesus, Himself, asked if His teaching offended (scandalized) His hearers (John 6:61). He did this not because He wanted to change His message so that people would not be offended but because He wanted them to understand what it took to follow Him. He even told them that there were some standing there that did not believe Him (John 6:64). Remember, these were not avowed enemies of Christ but professed followers, His disciples (John 6:61). It was because these people, the Lord’s own disciples, were offended, that “many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him” (John 6:66).

Incredibly, in our politically correct, upside down world today, the actions of Jesus, Himself, would be grounds for dismissal of many a preacher if he were to so conduct himself. In certain congregations, if a preacher spoke the truth on a subject and many in the congregation left, the preacher would be blamed for causing division. He would be condemned for his harsh and unloving attitude. In many circles today, if a preacher preached the truth unapologetically on controversial issues, he would be warned against it and then terminated if he persisted. Sadly, so many today in the Lord’s church are more afraid of offending sinners than they are of not pleasing God.

On another occasion Jesus’ disciples came to Him and said “Knowest Thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?” (Matt. 15:12). Jesus had spoken against the practice of substituting the commandments of men for the doctrine of God and He called the scribes and Pharisees, “hypocrites” and transgressors (Matt. 15:3,7). Apparently, our Lord was not as concerned that He would offend anyone as He was concerned about offending God. Alas, today it is not so.

Obviously, if a man or woman tries, like Diotrophes, to “prat against others with malicious words” (III John 9,10), or, if in disciplining someone that person is caused to be “swallowed up of overmuch sorrow” (II Cor. 2:6,7), then there is a problem of attitude. Let us always speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). But when the truth of God is stifled, when apologies are always made for speaking the revealed will of the Father, when psychology replaces book, chapter and verse preaching, when sugar and honey “sharing” replaces fire and brimstone preaching, when man’s opinions replace God’s revealed truths, when ecumenism replaces exposing error, then there is a deeper problem of allegiance to God in the heart.

What possible good can it do to dunk someone under water but then suffer them to be led away into doctrinal and moral error? What good does it do to add numbers to a “church roll” if the church is nothing but a social institution? Though few will accept it, it is nevertheless true: Jesus’ teaching offends many people, even some who profess to follow Him. Shall we change it or water it down to suit the devil? Is our mission to please the masses so that we can inflate numbers? Is our mission to save our church buildings or is to teach the truth and provide opportunities for souls to be saved? I had rather be a member of a despised congregation of seven faithful disciples of Christ than a member of a popular and “active” congregation of 7,000 that had no concept of the truth of the gospel.

When certain of the disciples at the synagogue in Capernaum were offended by the teaching of Jesus and choose to walk no more with Him, He turned to His twelve apostles and asked them a very simple question: Will ye also go away (John 6:67)? We need to answer that question for ourselves today. Are you offended at the teaching of Jesus? Will you walk no more with Him if it means standing for the right and opposing the wrong? Or, will you, like Peter, say, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

Eric L. Padgett

In the House of the Lord

“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1).

Psalm 122 is one of the fifteen Songs of Degrees (Psalms 120-134). These songs were probably composed to be sung by the children of Israel as they went up to observe those yearly festivals commanded by God in the law (Deut. 16:16). This particular Psalm was written by David, who wrote at least four of the fifteen (122, 124, 131 and 133). In this Psalm, David describes the blessings found in the House of the Lord. In the Christian dispensation, the House of the Lord is the church of the Lord, the pillar and ground of the truth (I Tim. 3:15).

One of the blessings to be found in the House of the Lord is unity (122:2,3). Jerusalem, the place where God chose to place His name (I Kings 11:36), was “compacted together.” Barnes wrote of this verse: “The walls are all joined together; and the houses are all united to one another so as to make a compact place…from the necessity of the case, when it became the capital of the nation, it was densely crowded.” Furthermore, the last of the Songs of Degrees states the matter plainly: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).

In the Lord’s church there is unity (Eph. 4:3). This unity is based, not upon any man’s opinions or feelings, but it is based upon the Lord’s word (John 17:17-21). We are not now still seeking unity, as some claim, for this unity of the faith was obtained and Jesus’ prayer answered, when the revelation of the New Covenant was completed (Eph. 4:8-15). We must endeavor to “keep it” (v. 3), however. Even now the Lord’s church is “fitly joined together and compacted” (Eph. 4:16).

In the Lord’s House was also the Testimony of Israel. It is for this reason that the people of God went up to Jerusalem, “unto the Testimony of Israel” (122:4). The “Testimony of Israel” was the body of commands given unto Israel by God (Ex. 31:18) which was to be placed in the ark of the covenant (Ex. 25:16), the ark of the testimony (Ex. 25:21,22). It was above the Testimony of Israel, above the mercy seat, where God communed with man (Ex 26:34; Ex. 25:22).

Today, in the Lord’s church, we have the testimony of Christ (I Cor. 1:1-6). It is also called the testimony of God (I Cor. 2:1). This testimony involves the teaching regarding “Christ crucified” (I Cor. 2:2), which teaching Paul also calls the “gospel,” in I Cor. 15:1-4. It is the Lord’s church which is to take the gospel into all the world (Matt. 28:18-20). It is to the Lord and His testimony that all men should come to find rest (Matt. 11:28-31). And it is by the church the manifold wisdom of God is made known, “according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:10-11). Let all nations now flow unto it with joy (Is. 2:1-4; Psalm 122:1)!

David called on all to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6). Peace and prosperity were to be found within her walls, the walls and palaces of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:7,8). “Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat” (Psalm 147:12-14). The peace of God was to be found within the walls of Jerusalem.

Today, in the Lord’s house, the church, the peace of God can also be found. “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (Eph. 2:14-15). This peace is first and foremost peace with God (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:16) and then with our fellow man (Rom. 12:18), but it is a peace that is rooted and grounded in the gospel of Christ, the gospel of peace (Rom. 10:15; Col. 2:7).

Yes, I also was glad when they said unto me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord,” for that is where unity, the word of God and peace with God can be found! Will you rejoice and come unto the House of the Lord?

Eric L. Padgett