(February 2002 Edition)
Editorial - Invited into God's Kingdom or Left Outside?
At the Lord's Table - Light in the Darkness, A Child is Born
Editorial
Invited into God's
Kingdom
or Left Outside?
Do we want to
live for ever?
We
can safely assume that every reader of the Caribbean Pioneer heartily
desires to live forever in the Kingdom of God.
To have any chance whatsoever of living forever in that Kingdom, we must have a robust scriptural faith. As our forerunner in faith, Isaac Newton expressed it: “God’s covenant with Abraham was a promise that his seed should inherit the land of Canaan for ever, and on this promise was founded the Jewish religion, and on that is founded the Christian faith. This ought to be understood by all men who pretend to the name of Christian.” As 17th century Polish Brother Andrzej Wiszowaty expressed it: “Jesus the Christ is the Anointed One of God promised of old to the fathers. He alone was begotten by divine power in the womb of a virgin. He alone has been raised by God to immortal life. To learn from God’s word is to be impelled to confess him before many witnesses and to be reborn in baptism, imitating the humility, death and resurrection of the Lord. Baptism is useless unless it is accompanied by an understanding of the true Faith and a humble spirit in the heart.” More importantly, as the apostle Peter expressed it: “God has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (II Pet. 1:4 NIV). As the apostle Paul expressed it: “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached unto you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain” (I Cor. 15:2).
A sound faith
Christadelphians have a sound faith, in a tradition of biblical
interpretation and understanding that began with the Lord himself, and has
continued unto this day. Jesus stated clearly that his words would never
pass away, that his “church” would never, and could never, be destroyed, and
the darkness would never overcome the true Light (Mark 13:31; Matt. 16:18;
John 1:5). Recent historical research and hundreds of documents from men of
faith through the ages have amply confirmed his words.
So we know that belief of the good news of the Kingdom of God, repentance, and immersion into the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins are all essential if we are to be saved eternally. Without these, we will perish. Foolish is the man or woman who hears this “word of the Kingdom” but does not “put it into practice” (Luke 6:49).
In July, 1892, it was reported that “an ecclesia has been formed in the Island of Barbados” with twelve members. The basis on which our second Caribbean ecclesia was established 110 years ago was taken verbatim from John Thomas. “If, upon divine testimony in the word, a man believes that Jesus of Nazareth was the suffering and risen Christ and Son of God, he then and only then, believes the apostolic gospel. If he obeys, it is able to save him from sin, and therefore from death. The only way to become a Christian is by being buried in water into the similitude of his death for the remission of sins. Unless a man is pardoned thus, there is no remission for him in this or the world to come. He is entitled to his wages – death. But if he no longer works sin, that very instant he becomes entitled to everlasting life through Jesus. But he may forfeit that title, and therefore lose his life. We can only preserve this title by persevering in well doing. For God will render eternal life to those Christians only who seek after immortality by patient continuance in well doing. He will transform their humbled bodies into a like form with the body of his glory. Should death overtake such before he comes, they will fall asleep for a while, and rest from their labors, cares and troubles here. But on the sounding of the trumpet voice, they will burst their prison house and come forth to meet him in the air. How glorious, splendid, and brilliant, then, will be the true Christian’s lot! Who would not endure tribulation, aye, would not, if needs be, surrender his life as a drink offering in the faith of so magnificent and ennobling a hope?”
This is the
good news
This is the good news which called me from episcopalian darkness to the
light of scripture truth 57 years ago. This is the good news which Sis.
Mary and I preached nearly half a century ago unafraid in the streets and
lanes of Kingston which today echo to the incessant gunfire of the
terrorists. This is the good news which we have proclaimed without fear or
favor ever since. This is the good news which at this hour is drawing
courageous and sincere seekers after truth to the Christadelphian
brotherhood in Iran and Bosnia, Jordan and Israel, Mongolia and Malta,
Rwanda and Vanuatu, Latvia and Panama.
This is the
grace of God
This is the grace of God in which we stand and by which we are saved. But
there is a danger which faces every convert to the true gospel. The danger
is this: the grace of God is so amazing, and so magnanimous and
unconditional is His forgiveness, that we can be tempted to take it for
granted. We can treat it with such indifference that we become arrogant and
ungrateful, thinking that because we “have the Truth,” the gate to eternal
life stands wide open for us. We imagine that we are the elect, that we are
somehow holier than others, and that we only have to be a Christadelphian to
be assured of a place in God’s coming kingdom.
For 1,500 years, the Roman Church was the sworn enemy of Bible truth. For the past 500 years Calvinism (a characteristically West European capitalist perversion of Christianity) has become a far more subtle adversary. The most dangerous of all Calvinist dogmas is “blessed assurance.” We have been seduced by this to convince ourselves that if we believe and obey a creed, or pass an “examination” on a list of doctrines, and then are baptized, our salvation is assured. Intellectual knowledge of true doctrine becomes the guarantee of salvation. Even our enemies know that this simplistic concept is unscriptural, and mock us when they see that we are deceived by it. What about John’s demand that we “produce fruit in keeping with repentance”? (Matt. 3:8).
In the present exciting phase of worldwide witness and growth, it is easy for Christadelphians to be complacent about their denomination. Moses warned Israel repeatedly about the dangers of complacency. It poses a great hazard for our individual salvation and our corporate acceptability to him who walks in the midst of the lampstands (Rev. 1:13).
“Amazing
grace” or “blessed assurance”?
The
Bible doctrine of God’s amazing grace is that He will “blot out” the
transgressions of truly repentant sinners – you and me – count our faith for
righteousness, and receive us with open arms as faultless and blameless at
the day of judgment. The “blessed assurance” heresy is a subtly plausible
form of the serpent’s lie. It distorts the grace of God into the lie that
God so loves the world that as long as we are in Christ and members of “the
church, which is his body” (Eph. 1:22-23), we are “free” to live exactly as
we like. But the purpose of God’s adoption is “so that we will be holy and
blameless in His sight” (1:4).
We dare not assume that by being a branch of the true vine we have “blessed assurance” of salvation. Evangelical Calvinism tells us: “once saved, saved for ever.” The Lord Jesus tells us something vastly different: “If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches [of the true vine] are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned.”
How can we
identify the true church?
However, can it come about that some true believers will eventually suffer
such a tragic end? Because a Christadelphian without the love, mercy,
compassion, and pity of God is not a real “Brother in Christ” at all.
“Anyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no
murderer has eternal life in him. This is how we know what love is. Jesus
Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for
our brothers and sisters.” And John continues with a vivid example which is
especially searching in these days when so many of our brothers and sisters
are exactly in the state described. “If anyone has material possessions and
sees his brother or sister in need but has no pity, how can the love of God
be in him?” And he goes on to say that this pity and love must express
itself “with actions and in truth” (I John 3: 15-18). How can we identify
the true church? “By this,” says Jesus, “all men will know that you are my
disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).
Actually, if we are honest about our Bible reading, we will recognize that the list of the things that will keep us out of the Kingdom is far longer than the list of things that will ensure that we get in. A moment’s thought will indicate that this is exactly as it should be. How could God have ever thought of making it possible to share His nature as if it were an item on cheap “special” at our local convenience store?
Perhaps it may seem that our final editorial is negative. It is certainly not. It is simply realistic. The Lord Jesus does not offer salvation on the cheap. Unless we take up our cross daily, and love the Lord with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, we will never reign with him on the earth.
Alan Eyre
My hand will no longer do what my brain tells it. For nearly 50 years I have been writing my thoughts to my friends and fellow saints whom I love across the world, and who in love have responded. Many of my wonderful correspondents have now fallen asleep before me. Some, like Mellie James in Jamaica, Adeline Kinlock in America, Joy Powell in Australia, Bob and Kathy Green in Canada, and Sam and Mary Seager in England, still fill my heart with joy. They write, even when I cannot reply. God bless them. More recently, the kindness of brother Don has meant more of you have shared some useful scriptural ideas. Maybe it is time for me to give you a few final words.
In these days of trial and testing, if there is an event in the Bible that is relevant to us right now, it is the dramatic story of Achan recorded in Joshua 7 and 8. Just think of the wealth of spiritual lessons that it teaches us!
The covetousness of one family impacted on the lives of tens of thousands of God’s people. It shook the confidence of the brotherhood’s leaders, and plunged them for a time into total despair. It resulted in the unnecessary deaths of thirty-six innocent persons. It brought a curse upon the entire community. It cast a dark shadow over their plans for conquest.
We are told that Achan and his family wrought folly in Israel, a folly which evidently merited severe judgment, a judicial execution by stoning and the ceremonial destruction of the corpses by fire. Whatever was that folly?
Achan stole from God. He thought he was simply taking the victor’s spoils. But Jericho had been God’s victory alone, and God alone was entitled to the “devoted things.” Achan broke a solemn covenant, an agreement between himself and God. He did not fear God or truly believe in Him, otherwise he would not have dared to do what he did. He stupidly thought that if he hid the stolen goods in the earth in the midst of his tent from the eyes of men, God couldn’t see, either. He lied. He covered things up. He kept quiet until he was found out, and he could no longer pretend it hadn’t happened.
And what were the consequences of Achan’s folly?
“Trouble” for God’s people. The curse upon the ecclesia of God meant that they could not prosper, because the covenant between them and God had been broken through covetousness. The covetous had to be exposed, and the folly of the covenant-breakers dealt with, before subsequent success and victory could be assured.
From my long experience, I fear that there is a far too prevalent tendency among us to do a cover-up when things go wrong. Even worse, we deceive ourselves that as Christadelphians we can do no wrong and make no mistakes. We are so ready to mock the financial and sex scandals in other churches, but whitewash our own. Really, it’s our pride. Because we teach the truth, we think God will overlook our blunders and be deceived by the whitewash. But God can see us as He saw through Achan and his family.
Achan did eventually confess, but only when he could not deny the facts. We are as foolish as Achan if we reach that point without admitting we are wrong.
The Lord Jesus tells us that all sin needs to be dealt with at its source – the thought. Many in Israel must have coveted those wonderful things in the ruined houses of Jericho. But they remembered the covenant they had made and for them the temptation ended there. Achan fed the covetous thought, and it set in train one destructive sin after another until there was nothing left but a pile of ashes.
Adultery is a sin because it is breaking a solemn covenant. A wildcat strike is a sin because it is the breaking of a covenant. Financial mismanagement is a sin because it is a betrayal of covenant trust. Most important of all is the covenant of baptism which nearly every reader has made. Keep that covenant faithfully, or your end, too, will be a pile of ashes.
Mary Eyre
At the Lord's Table
Light in the
Darkness, A Child is Born
Isaiah 8 records the conception and birth of Mahershalalhashbaz, the son of Isaiah and his prophetess wife. “Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me,” announced the prophet, “we are signs and symbols” (v. 18). Isaiah’s family life was an acted parable of God’s redemption.
If a people do not speak according to God’s word, there is no light to illumine their inner darkness (v. 20). All is gloom. Whenever people turn from “this word,” the “testimony” of God’s truth, and consult “spiritists” and follow men’s fallible notions, they see “only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness” (v. 22).
In chapter 9, Isaiah prophesies of a time when a great light will rise and shine in the region of Galilee, the northern province of the land of Israel. This light will follow the birth of a divine child who will be the long-promised king of David’s line. Isaiah links the rising light with endless “peace” and with “justice and righteousness” (v. 7). Glory to God, peace and joy will come through a “son given” by God Himself. And he stresses that this is a message for “all people” (v. 9).
Zecharias recognized that the holy child in Mary’s womb was the child of prophecy and promise. “The God of Israel has come and has redeemed his people, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:68,77-79).
Six months later, another symbolic fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy took place as described by Luke. Angels appeared to a group of shepherds who were “living out in the fields at night.” In the darkness they suddenly saw a great light. The glory of God shone around them. News of great joy for all people was proclaimed to them. The heavenly host praised God, saying “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace” (Lk. 2:14).
Matthew quotes Isaiah to demonstrate that his prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus taught the gospel of the kingdom of God in the region of Galilee. The people there “saw a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned” (Matt. 4:12-17). As in all his quotes from the Old Testament prophets, Matthew makes a subtle change in the text. Isaiah spoke of the people walking in darkness. By Matthew’s day, the people had almost lost hope and were not walking any more; they were sitting or living in total darkness!
The four themes of Isaiah’s prophecy are light in the darkness, the glory of God, peace, and joy to all people. The early chapters of Luke associate these themes with the birth of Jesus. Matthew associates them with the preaching in Galilee. And John’s record associates them with the table of the Lord. “Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (John 12:35; 17:1; 14:27; 16:24).
Before the birth of Jesus, men and women in darkness could only hope for the light of the world to come. Now we can walk in the light if we so desire, by our own choice. We can choose to walk forward in the light of the Lord or simply go on living in darkness. Here around the Lord’s table is light. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you.
Devon Walker, Round Hill, Jamaica
The race for life has just begun – so let us not speak as if we’ve won;
We will truly courage need lest care and sorrow slow our speed.
Let us not think since we’ve heard the call, and obeyed that that is all;
We’ve just started on the race and have partaken of God’s grace.
So, dear brothers and sisters, let us run with love and faith, till life is won;
For patience kind will crown our ways through sweltering heat and dreary days.
Hope will help when things go wrong, to trust His love and still grow strong.
So, above all, look well ahead, His word will guide us daily if we read.
Marjorie Harley
Four of us were at home, sharing the reading together of God’s word, when there was a country-wide power failure. Power cuts are not uncommon in Caribbean countries, of course, but this one was unexpected and unusually widespread. Going outside to investigate its extent and likely duration, the darkness was intense. There was no moon. But then the full glory of the starry heavens became apparent, and it was breathtaking in its majesty. It was a rare moment of awe at the handiwork of the Creator: “He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to govern the night. His love endures forever” (Gen. 1:16; Psa. 136:9).
Nowadays, most of us have difficulty in appreciating what Paul called “the splendor of the heavenly bodies” where “star differs from star in splendor” ( I Cor. 15:40-41). For one thing, many of us live in cities where artificial light outshines the stars (it’s God’s power we use: it’s not really made by the power company). So we have no way of appreciating the brilliance of the starry sky. Then again, in recent times, air pollution on a global scale has become such as to spread a dirty veil between us and outer space.
In Bible times it was different. There was no air pollution then. The skies were crystal clear, like it is possible to find nowadays only in some parts of Australia and the isolated islands of the southern ocean. Up to the 19th century, it was possible regularly to see Cuba and Haiti from Jamaica, and almost all of the land from appropriate hilltops as did Abraham and Moses.
When the angel of Yahweh wanted to impress Abraham with the greatness and certainty of God’s promises, “He took him outside and said, Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be.” As a wandering nomad on the desert fringe, Abraham would often have gazed heavenward and meditated on the marvel and miracle of God’s redemptive purpose with all mankind.
It is not surprising that in the Bible the sight of the starry heavens is meant to stir within us an awareness of the future glory that will be ours in the age to come if we are faithful now. Daniel was told: “those who lead many to righteousness [will shine] like the stars for ever and ever” (Dan. 12:3). What an encouragement to all of us who are campaigning for Christ and trying to lead others in the way of salvation!
But the message of the starry sky is not confined to comparing them with our future experience as glorified saints invested with the power of an endless life. In a wonderful passage, glowing with emotion, Paul reminds the Philippian believers, and us, of our present mission as Christadelphians worldwide: “you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life” (Phil. 2:15-16). As we gasped in awe that night of the power cut at the “spangled heavens, a shining frame” (Hymn 79), we just had to ask ourselves, “That glorious canopy of stars, spread across the globe, is a picture of all our ecclesias worldwide. Is it really true?” Paul tells us that if we are really preaching the way of salvation, it will be true!
Then Paul immediately adds a thought that pulls us up sharp, “That I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing” (Phil. 2:16). Does he really mean that we can boast about what we have done for the Lord? There is no doubt that kaychema does mean “boast.” But read the context carefully. You will see that what Paul is going to boast about in the day of Christ (that is, the judgment) is not his own work but the glorious, star-like lives of those who, through his unselfish labors, had come to know and serve the Lord “in a crooked and depraved generation.” If his generation could be so described, what about ours?
Look at the sky tonight, brother, sister. Gaze in wonder, even though it may only be a dimmed vision of its glory. And ask anew: are you shining as one of those stars as you hold out the word of life?
Glen Isaacs (the late)