DISCIPLE

This article by William MacDonald was written in the 1960s, but it seems to have been written for today. Spiritually we are in a shocking condition. The status of many local fellowships is bad news, and deteriorating by the minute. It is fairly well known that there have been scandalous cases of immorality involving even elders and full-time workers. Of course this type of news never gets into the magazines; there everything is sweetness and light. But the awful truth is that some respected spiritual leaders have fallen into gross sin in recent months and the only reaction seems to have been to hush up the whole thing, lest the word get out and our reputation be impaired. We have been arrogant, and have not rather mourned ( 1 Cor. 5:2 ). And that isn’t all. We have become materialists to the core. Supposing that gain is godliness, we have degraded ourselves to the worship of money. We have become more proud of the number of successful businessmen in our chu...

Thousands Forget There Were Two     “Oh, of course, I intend to be saved sometime, but there is no use being in a hurry about it. There is always a chance, even at the eleventh hour. Remember the dying thief,” a young man said carelessly when spoken to about his soul at the close of a gospel meeting.     “Which thief?” he was asked.     “Why, I had really forgotten there were two. I mean the saved one,” was the reply, as an anxious expression came over his face.        “Yes, one was saved, and is in heaven now. The other, who had an equal opportunity for salvation, is wailing in hell. What guarantee do you have that you will not spend eternity as he will, rather than as the other?”     It was a word fitly spoken, an arrow that pierced his conscience. The young man was led to see the folly of further procrastination, and that night he was saved for eternity, through repenting of his sins and tr...