DISCIPLE

  by Higgins, A. J. The Challenge     Isn’t everyone gathered to the Name of the Lord Jesus? If you have ever tried explaining to one of your friends that you are part of a group of believers who do not take any denominational name but gather to the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you have probably been confronted by this challenge. In their sincerity and simplicity, many take Matthew 18:20 to apply to any and every time that two or three believers meet. It hardly matters whether it is over coffee, pizza, or a Bible. And it certainly applies to when they “go to church” and meet with other Christians.     But what does it mean to be gathered to the Lord’s Name? Is it applicable to any gathering of believers at any time? To any group who meets for whatever purpose? The Context     A reading of Matthew 18 will make it clear that the context for the Lord’s statement in verse 18 is a local church and not an informal gathering of friends or a social outing of believers. “Tell it t

by D. G. Barnhouse "Through Isaiah Israel is described as: a sinful nation, a hypocritical nation, a people laden with iniquity, rebellious sons, offspring of evildoers, corruptors, forsakers of the Lord, provokers of the Holy One of Israel, despisers of God, companions of thieves, wicked, wanton, rotten, drunken, bribegivers, bribetakers, proud, arrogant, makers of evil laws, godless, oppressors, treacherous dealers, proud drunkards, filthy, and scornful men.      ...There are no terms or combination of terms in the human language which depict evil that may not be used in describing all men, as well as Israel, when out of the will of God. Apart from Jesus Christ, this is what we are. Yet God is holding out His arms all the day long to them. We can hear the sob of Christ if we listen closely, as He held out His arms, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto you, how often would I have gathered thee to my bosom as

When we find His law written either in the Ten Commandments or anywhere else, we believe that there is not one precept too many or too few. Whatever the precepts of the law or the Gospel may be, they are pure and altogether holy. The words of the Lord are like “fine gold” (Psalm 19:10), pure, precious, and weighty—not one of them may be neglected. We hear people talking about “minor points of the law” [note: today they say "non-essential doctrines"]and so on. However, we must not consider any word of our God as a minor thing if, by that expression, it is implied that it is of small importance. We must accept every single word of precept or prohibition or instruction as being what it ought to be, neither to be diminished nor increased. We should not reason about the command of God as though it might be set aside or amended. He commands; we obey. May we enter into that true spirit of obedience, which is the unshakable belief that the Lord is right! Nothing short of this is t

    Can we refuse the Lord’s Supper to a True Believer? Crawford, Norman    From January 1999, we have printed articles on the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. This Person of the Godhead is pleased to make an assembly His residence on earth. His very character is holiness, “For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 Cor 3:17). Can we refuse the Lord’s Supper to a true believer? This is a frequently asked question. To some, reception of everyone who comes seems to be a kinder method, but is it scriptural? It is even suggested that in refusing fellowship to anyone, we are professing a higher level of godliness than other believers. This is not true. We believe there are many believers in denominations who may have a deeper devotion to the Lord than we manifest. However, reception to an assembly is not a one-way street. It means reception to the assembly, but it also means reception of the assembly, its beliefs an

Why a “Back Seat”? Crawford, Norman         The expression “back seat” is not found in the NT. The “seat (or room) of the unlearned” may be anywhere in the building, so long as those who occupy it can observe the “breaking of bread” and it is outside the circle of fellowship. The verse normally appealed to when this practice is challenged is, “Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?” (1 Cor 14:16).      It has been contended that the word “unlearned” in this verse must be interpreted as meaning that the person was ignorant or unlearned in the tongue that was being spoken. Surely he was unlearned in the tongue, but a reading of the first 15 verses of this chapter will show that everyone in the assembly was ignorant of the meaning of the tongue. The words were mere sounds spoken into the air

      Often hindsight is filled with painful “If onlys.” If only Eve had not eaten of the fruit of the tree. If only Joshua had sought the will of the Lord before attacking Ai. If only Saul had done what the Lord directed Him concerning the Amalekites. The list could go on and on.      In our own experience maybe we look back and say the same thing. “If only I had followed my parents advice.” “If only I had studied harder.” “If only I had thought before I spoke.” “If only I knew more about the effects of abortion.” “If only I had not watched those immoral soap operas.” “If only we had spent more time preparing our children for spiritual success.” “If only we invested in eternity more.”      Nowhere will “If only” be more painful than in the eternal lake of fire. “If only I had read the Bible.” “If only I had believed the Gospel when I heard it.”      Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. Let’s make the decisions necessary to avoid the painful “If onlys.”  from the