Departing From The Faith - Part 5 by Paul Woodward (Reprinted from The Religious Reminder)
Other Departures - I Timothy 4:1
1. By 1850, the true Churches of Christ had not been rooted and grounded in the sound doctrine of Christ very long until Satan once again set out to devour these local congregations. I Peter 5:8 states, "your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." And he was partly successful in his effort, because in this year there was another great division in the body of Christ. The true Church of Christ was torn asunder by manmade doctrines, which were additions to the Holy Scriptures.
At Midway, Kentucky, the Church of Christ there placed a small organ in the church building to be used to aid their very poor singing in worship. This was over the protest of several in the congregation; one man removed it one night, · but it was soon back in the Church building and used along with singing; there it stayed, bringing about a complete division in the church. Other local Churches of Christ soon began to add mechanical instruments, (pianos, organs, etc.) to their worship services. The Churches of Christ who added instrumental music to their worship services eventually took on the name Christian Church. Most of the true Churches of Christ kept the name "Church of Christ." However, a few of the true Churches of Christ were even deceived and started using the name "Christian Church," but they rejected instrumental music in worship. NOTE: The Bible authorizes only vocal music or singing in worship. See Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3:16.
2. About this same time, 1850, several Churches of Christ banded together and formed the "Christian Missionary Society" in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a president and board of directors. This was an arrangement whereby local Churches could send money to the Society; then the Society would employ and pay preachers to preach the Gospel in missionary places. This too was met by great opposition, because it truly was a substitution for God's plan to preach the Gospel. No Christian can accept the Missionary Society.
God's plan was for every local Church of Christ to employ and pay (partly or fully) gospel preachers to preach in distant places. The Apostle Paul stated in II Cor. 11:8, "1 robbed other churches, taking wages of them to do you service." Again to the church at Philippi he writes in Phil. 4:16, "In Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity."
So you can see the missionary society was a substitution for God's plan to have the gospel preached. It truly resulted in churches giving to an institution to preach the gospel. Many of the churches that accepted instrumental music in worship also accepted the Christian Missionary Society. Besides taking on the name "Christian Church," these more liberal churches took on the name "Disciples of Christ Church." Both of these names are additions to the designations, which God has given to his family: the Church of Christ, the Church of God, Body of Christ, Temple of God, and a few other scriptural designations. However, no church in the New Testament was ever called "Disciples of Christ Church" or "Christian Church," even though individual followers of Christ were spoken of as Christians or Disciples of Christ; neither of these names were ever applied to the Church of Christ.
3. 1914 - Through the influence of R.H. Ball, several true
Churches of Christ in the Louisville, Kentucky, area began accepting
the false doctrine of Premillenialism. This false teaching states
"the Jews (God's chosen people) as a whole rejected Jesus
Christ when He first came to the earth. Because they would not
accept Him as their king, God had to postpone setting up the kingdom
of Christ as was prophesied by the prophets Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Micah and a few others. According to this theory, God then permitted
Christ to establish the Church instead. After the death, burial,
and resurrection of Christ, God called Him back to heaven, and
there He is to wait until the time comes when the Jews as a whole
will accept Christ as king; then Christ will come back to earth
the 2nd time and establish His kingdom, which He intended to do
at His 1st coming, and reign in the city of Jerusalem for 1000
years."
Such a false theory makes God unable to fulfill prophecy; it makes
the prophets false because they prophesied something that never
came to pass. It also makes Christ a false prophet and a liar
because He said in Mark 1:15, "The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God is at hand." The scripture that shows
some Jews did accept Christ as the Savior and King is John 1:11,
12, "He came unto his own (the Jews) and his own received
him not, but to as many as received him, to them gave he power
to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."
SPECIAL NOTE: The Kingdom which Christ came to earth the first
time to establish was the church (Matt. 16:18-19), so He did not
fail in doing what He intended to do, and God's prophets were
true because what they prophesied came to pass at the time they
stated. Let everyone who reads this say, "God is always true
and never lies to any man." So Christ did establish His kingdom
at His first coming to earth and we as Christians have been "translated
into the kingdom of his dear son," Col. 1:13. Be assured
when Christ comes the 2nd time, it will not be to establish His
kingdom but to deliver it back to God the Father, 1 Cor. 15:24,
"Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the
kingdom to God, even the Father".
4. About 1960, another division occurred in the true Church of
Christ. Those who departed began to use the sponsoring church
arrangement. This was the same principle that was used in the
Christian Missionary Society, except in their departure several
local Churches of Christ would send money (usually to a large
congregation). This large church then used this money to decide
when, where, and how much it would send to preachers or other
churches for preaching the gospel. Also this big church used money
it had collected to build and establish orphan and widow's homes
to care for the needy. This contradicted the scriptures by substituting
man's plan for God's plan in evangelism and supporting the needy.
See II Cor. 11:8 and Acts 11:29, 30.
Since this division occurred some of the unfaithful churches have
added fellowship halls, recreational facilities, wedding chapels,
instrumental music, etc., thus getting farther and farther away
from the truth. Sad to say some of these unfaithful churches actually
fellowship with denominational churches. These unfaithful churches
are known as liberal or institutional churches; however, they
have kept the name "Church of Christ." This makes it
difficult to tell whether a church is true or unfaithful just
because they use the name Church of Christ. All of us Christians
should beware of where we attend church services, especially when
traveling.
"We Walk By Faith" by James E. Cooper
"Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing
that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord
- for we walk by faith, not by sight"; (2 Cor 5:6-7).
The Bible often uses "walk" as a metaphor for one's manner of conduct. Life is a journey; we are merely "sojourners and pilgrims" here. An old hymn says, "this world is not my home; I'm just a passing through..." In the body we are "absent from the Lord," but like Paul, we "walk by faith..." and "make it our aim to always be well-pleasing" to God (2 Cor. 5:2-9). Our choices are made with respect to things, which are unseen, rather than to those which are seen (cf. 2 Cor. 4:16-18).
Although we cannot see God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and Heaven with our eyes, we have complete confidence that they are real, and we act accordingly.
Whether we see or do not see does not alter their nature or importance, nor does it make it improper to act with reference to them.
Faith enables us to see when the eye cannot. It makes easy the most self-sacrificial service required of us (cf. Abraham, Gen. 22). It enables us to endure sore trials without murmuring. When dangers arise, it lights our path and gives us courage. It enables us to overcome doubt and temptations for we believe that "Faith is the victory that overcomes the world!"
We do not "walk by sight." One walks by sight when he is motivated only by the approval of other people. He walks by sight when he makes mammon his god...when he lives for getting and hoarding, or spending and squandering...when he estimates worth by wealth, or property. A man walks by sight when he cannot control his appetite or passion; when he cannot put aside things "good for food and pleasant to the eyes" for the sake of tomorrow's sickness, or a life of disgrace; when he finds himself again and again yielding to the same temptation from which he has suffered. Weakly lives and miserably dies the one who is a slave of what his better nature condemns and despises, but to which his fleshly appetite, long made a tyrant by yielding to it, ties and binds him.
Quotes about Faith: "Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light...Faith wears everyday clothes and proves herself in life's ordinary situations...Faith grows only in the dark. You've got to trust God when you can't touch Him...A faith that hasn't been tested can't be trusted...Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to finally see what we have believed."
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34748.
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GOSPEL MEETING: January 28 - February 1, each evening
at 7:30 PM with David Tant of Roswell, GA.
BIBLE INSIGHT is published for the members of, and visitors to, the Church of Christ at Beverly Shores, Leesburg, Florida, USA.