CHRIST IS INTERESTED IN OUR ATTITUDE AND TREATMENT OF OUR BRETHREN

Hollis Creel

When one of Jesus' disciples is wronged Christ is wronged. At the judgment Jesus will judge on the basis of what will have been done for others. In this regard He will say unto those who have done for others, "Inasmuch as you did unto one of these my brethren, even the least, you did it unto me" (Matt. 25:40). Then there will be a different response to those who have not done for others. "Inasmuch as you did it not unto one of the least, you did it not unto Me" (Matt. 25:45).

Brethren, we must treat each other right, not according to what we think, but according to the principles the Lord has given us to follow. If we wound a brother or sister we wound Christ.

Saul was on his way to Damascus with authority from the high priest to bind and bring Christians to Jerusalem for punishment. "And as he journeyed, it came to pass, that he drew nigh unto Damascus: and suddenly there shone round about him a light out of heaven: arid he fell upon the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" (Acts 9:3,4). So far as we know, Saul never saw Christ while He was on Earth. How then could he be persecuting Christ? He was persecuting Christ's brethren, and to do so was [and is] to persecute Christ.

When we are unkind to a brother we are unkind to our precious Lord. When we are unfair to a brother we are unfair to God's Son. When we say hurtful things about a brother or sister, we hurt Christ too. When we go all out to hurt another by vicious lies we should remember that we are waging war against Christ who died for us. If we understand this, how could we say and do some of the things that some brethren say and do to fellow Christians?

The brethren at Pleasant Grove have been wonderful to my family and me. So, the observations I am about to make do not apply to them. Many preachers and their families have not been so fortunate. Often brethren treat preachers and their families so unfairly.

The preacher is often made a scapegoat when things don't go to suit some self-righteous brother or sister. When a problem arises the easiest thing to do is offer the preacher and his family as a sacrifice to appease the disgruntled brother or sister, thus leaving the next preacher and his family as fair game for the next sacrifice.

And to further add to the problem sometimes-good brethren will sit by and allow it to happen rather than having the courage or desire to stop it. It seems that the easiest thing to do is to pull a Pilate and wash their hands of it and just let it happen. After all, the preacher can be replaced and we won’t have to deal with the problem. Brethren, would this not make the whole church guilty of the unfair attitude and action? "Am I [not] my brother's keeper?"

When some unscrupulous, uncaring brother mistreats God's children Christ is hurt too. When Stephen was being stoned by that angry mob for telling them the truth, Jesus stood at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56). When He ascended on high He sat down at His Father's right hand. When Stephen, His faithful disciple, was being stoned He stood. He looked down in pity, not for Stephen, because the Lord would receive his spirit, but for the angry mob who stoned him.

Brethren, when you are disposed to wrong a brother, whatever the wrong may be, remember, inasmuch as you did it unto one of His, you did it unto Him. And brethren, if we see this happening to a brother and do nothing about it, but just let it happen we do the brother wrong. And Christ is looking down from heaven with disapproval of our actions.

May God help us to do right by our brethren; but if some don't let us rise up in defense of our brother, else the Lord will say, "Inasmuch as ye did it not unto him, ye did it not unto me." [Words of Life, June 1998] &

PRIORITY OF TRUTH

W. E. Brightwell

If we are trying to go to heaven and take everybody with us that we can, we will have to place truth above the desire for peace and progress.

Truth must have priority over friendship. Differences are unpleasant. There is no excuse for them unless they are necessary to reaching our destination. Truth is more important than friendship. It is not a friendly act to compromise the truth. Love for friends demands that love of truth be put first (John 8:32).

Truth must have priority over courtesy. John sets the limits of courtesy where truth is in­volved: "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds” (2 John 10-11).

Truth must have priority over peace, unity and fellowship. Those are more desirable. We have preached millions of sermons on "unity." It is sad that we cannot enjoy more of it. But these things are results not goals. They follow conformity to the truth as naturally as night follows day or as water runs down hill. "If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another...." (1 John 1:7). Would it not be better to preach more on loyalty to God and to His truth, and let the peace, unity and fellowship come in their natural order?

The notion that we should sacrifice truth to keep peace in the family or make "party" progress is equally vicious and more for­midable than any false doctrine. We must continue to fight error or we will become a denomination. Which shall it be—truth or party? [From Words of Life, June 1998] &

DOES IT MATTER WHAT ONE BELIEVES AND/OR PRACTICES IN RELIGION?

By Bob Myhan

"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” (Matt. 7:13-23).

Jesus did not speak as though it did not matter what one believes and/or practices in religion, did He?

It does matter which gate one enters and which way one travels.

To “enter by the narrow gate” is to believe the truth; to travel the “difficult…way” is to practice the truth.

You can know “false prophets” by the error they teach. Don’t let them lead you, via the “wide…gate” and the “broad…way,” “to destruction.” &