Watchman Magazine

Introduction

The subject of withdrawing from the disorderly is not a popular one among brethren.  I personally have been a member of congregations where withdrawing from erring brethren was practiced sporadically, if at all.  However, if any congregation of the Lord’s people expects to be accepted of God, we must diligently know and practice God’s Word.  When Paul wrote God’s instructions: “…withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the traditions that you received from us…” (2 Thessalonians 3:6), this was not an advisement or suggestion, but a commandment; the same apostle wrote: “…if any man thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him take knowledge of the fact that the things that I write to you, they are the commandment of the Lord…” (1 Corinthians 14:37).  If individual Christians or the church (the body of Christ) fail to keep the commandments of God, we do not know God (1 John 2:3) and “…will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power…” (2 Thessalonians 1:8).  However, even among brethren who do understand what God expects on this instruction from His word, there seems to be profound disagreement about how to actually carry out these instructions. While God does allow some judgment to be exercised, most of this subject and its application is quite clear, when we allow the Word of God to define itself.  It is the purpose of this article to examine, from the scriptures, and from the scriptures only, what God has to say about how we are to withdraw from the disorderly.

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“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2).

It has been established that God is holy, and demands holiness from those who would belong to Him.  God demands and rightfully expects obedience from man because he is God, “Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them:  I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:37).

Men today are involved in all types of sin.  This is no different from times past, but it seems men are terribly wicked in our time.  Especially in America, men seem to have a skewed set of values, which lead them to ungodly actions. “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21).

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In the Old Testament, the concept of sanctification and holiness was broad.  It included not only living in accord with God’s standard of morality, but, for the Jews, it also included the ritualistic requirements of the covenant He had with Israel.

The book of Leviticus contains many laws required of the Israelites that they might be undefiled before Jehovah.  It was necessary that they observe these laws, both moral and ceremonial, in order to be considered clean and worthy of worshipping Him.  Concerning these laws, Jehovah said, “Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them:  I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:37).

The holiness of God demanded obedience on the part of the Jews.  They were to be holy in their conduct, because God was holy. “For I am the Lord you God.  You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44).  It is interesting that in this particular context, the Lord had commanded the Jews to refrain from eating unclean animals.  Later, this aspect of God’s law changed.

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“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).

Peter’s text expresses the fundamental nature of discipleship.  The term sanctify (hagiazo) is defined by Arndt and Gingrich as “treat as holy, reverence.”  Thayer states “to render or acknowledge to be venerable, to hallow.”  The Lord God is to be enthroned in our heart.  Such veneration is logical, as He is Lord.  A failure to reverence Him is a failure in discipleship.

The text is very similar to a passage found in the book of Isaiah.  The King James version renders Isaiah 8:13, “Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.”  A contrast is here made between men and God.  God is the one to be feared.  He is the one we are to concern ourselves with, rather than men.  The Christian ought never to make decisions based upon what men think.  Rather, our sole concern should be to please God.  Jesus said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

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In 1 Peter 1:13-16, the apostle Peter wrote:

“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Here Peter revealed the basis of the appeal made to holy living on the part of those who name Christ as their savior.  We are to be holy because God is Holy.  It is not an arbitrary requirement, nor is it capricious.  Further, holiness is to be defined by the nature of God rather than the customs of men.  Finally, holiness should be present in every aspect of the Christian’s conduct.

Because the call to holiness is so important, God’s children should have a clear idea of what is required of them.  In our time the call is muted and distorted by the static of worldliness.  Too often Christians either ignore or are unaware of the standard God has set for his people.   They compromise the mark God has set, and are guilty of embracing a morality that has its genesis in the mind of man rather than the mind of the Creator.  Let’s examine the basis of God’s call to his children to be Holy.

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The special theme section of our last issue of Watchman, (June, 2003), was entitled “Let None Deal Treacherously”:  An Examination of God’s law (and the error of men) on the subject of marriage, divorce and remarriage.  The issue consisted of nine articles on the subject, establishing what I believe to be the truth, and dealing with some (though not all) of the errors which men have advocated on the subject in recent years.  All of the articles were written by me.

The series initially was printed in the local bulletin I edit for the West Side congregation here in Fort Worth.  Because of the format of the bulletin, the articles were not long, and it was not my intention for them to be particularly “in-depth.”  I was aiming for a general, concise discussion of the issue, and judging from the generous feedback I received concerning the material, some at least were satisfied with the effort.

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“Remove me from your mailing list”

“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea…” (Matthew 3:1). John had a message and he proclaimed it widely and publicly — “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v. 2).  Not everyone liked what John had to say, but he was communicating the will of God. Luke tells us that “the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him” (7:30). Experience and history tells us that communication is sometimes a one-way proposition, though it is intended to be an exchange of ideas.

It is said of Jesus: He “went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom…” Matthew 9:35. But He knew that “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priest and scribes” (Luke 9:22). The Master Teacher was unable to reach many of His day and they turned a deaf ear to the proclamation of the Good News. They crucified Him even while He was willing to communicate God’s will.

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“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep”  (2 Peter 2:1-3).

With these words, the inspired Apostle begins to show his and the inspiring Spirit’s total disgust with those who are called here “false teachers.” Where is the emphasis in this chapter so as to alert us as to the danger of the false teacher? Some have directed us to the word in verse one “secretly”. Certainly Peter would warn us of the motive of the false teacher, and I grant that most false teachers today as well as then were of the stealth kind wanting to worm their way in so as to have an evil influence on a totally unsuspecting audience. However, what follows in 2 Peter 2 is absolute evidence that the danger of the false teacher has little to do with his motivation or his method, but, rather, the results of his teaching.

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To Paul from Asthenes

Dear Paul,

Peace and grace to you from our God and Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.  I want to commend you for your wonderful work of preaching Christ and Him crucified.  Your compassion and concern for the jailer at Philippi was inspiring.  I also appreciate your comment, "I have been crucified with Christ…who loved me and gave Himself for me."  What wonderful words of comfort.  Thank you.

I have a concern though; a concern that you may not have noticed, but others have.  I know this to be so because I have discussed it with them and they feel the same way I do.  I want you to be aware of it so your service to Christ may be even more effective, more fruitful.  My concern is this, your poor attitude and actions toward others on some occasions — not all — but some.  It seems to be driving people away from Christ instead of drawing them near.  This cannot be good under any circumstances, can it?  Let me give you specific cases.

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Editor’s Note: This article is the eighth in a series of articles dealing with the subject of Bible authority. The articles are short, as they first were printed in the local bulletin I edit. Feel free to reprint them if you find them helpful. However, credit must be given to Billy W. Moore’s class book A Study of Authority, as the articles follow closely the material found in that good book.)

A study of authority reveals that it can be categorized in two ways, Generic authority, and Specific authority.

By Generic we mean “general, opposite to specific” (Webster’s). So, Generic authority is inclusive. It includes all the methods or ways in which the thing authorized may be accomplished.

In contrast, by Specific we mean “precisely formulated or restricted; specifying or explicit” (Websters). So, Specific authority is exclusive. It only includes that which is expressly stated or specified.

On the surface, this may seem to be rather confusing. In reality it is a matter of simple common sense, and can readily be determined. Perhaps the best way is to illustrate the principle with an example from Scripture.

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Feature Editor’s Note:  This month’s article is a fine effort by brother Joe R. Price.  I commend the article to you, as well as the reports from foreign fields which follows.

Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."  (Matt. 9:37-38)

The need for laborers in the work of harvesting souls is undeniable.  For that matter, so is the fact that every Christian, according to his or her abilities and opportunities, is to be a laborer reaping souls in God’s harvest (Acts 8:4).

The truth is that many Christians need to repent of a lack of work in this area.  We need to rededicate our hearts and refocus our attention on trying to reach the lost with the gospel of Christ.  We sing, "to the work, to the work," but too often our lives say, "let somebody else work!"

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(Tim Cryer is a local Baptist with whom we had correspondence in the fall of 1999. ["A Baptist On Jeremiah 6:16," and "Baptist Preacher Responds To Our Review." E-mail me if you would like to have a copy of those exchanges]. Mr. Cryer never replied after the second review. However, he has written again. Below are the details about a young lady’s confrontation with "a Church of Christ Cultist on Osage St.")

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Introduction

"I have surely seen the oppression of my people," said God to Moses while the bush burned. Thus begins the greatest rescue operation ever conducted on Earth as thousands upon thousands of slaves are removed from one nation to begin a journey to the land of promise.

The Bible contains a number of type and antitype situations. Isaac is a type of the antitype Jesus, as his father was willing to let his only son die. The salvation of Noah and his family through water is a type of the water baptism involved in the salvation of modern men (1 Peter 3:20-21).

In the exodus of fleshly Israel, the Lord provides us a type of the sinner’s departure from his own slavery to iniquity and the most wicked Pharaoh of all, Satan. God’s desire on either side of the Red Sea is answered in Exodus 6:6-7: "I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God."

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A few years ago, Robert Bork wrote an excellent book entitled Slouching Towards Gomorrah. It chronicled the moral decline in America and the rapidly increasing rate of that decline. The book was written amidst the backdrop of the scandalous behavior of Bill Clinton while in the Oval office. Those defending Clinton’s disgusting behavior said that it was a "private matter" regarding "sexual conduct" as opposed to "public and official actions," hence, it was nobody’s business what one does sexually in a private setting. In his book, Judge Bork warned that the decline would continue and would become further ingrained in our society if such principles were consistently applied. While reading the book during that period, I must confess that I knew from a viewpoint of principle that he was correct, but I remember thinking, "How much worse can it get?"

Sadly, while on my recent trip to the Philippines, I found the answer to my question watching BBC News one morning. Having reluctantly listened to BBC News during trips to Lithuania in the 1990′s because it was the only news available, I knew their very liberal and anti-American bias. Official actions of the United States government are most often ridiculed, rarely commended and almost never made the lead story of the day. To my total shock, the anchor began the newscast with a broad smile and gave no attempt to hide the total joy felt in relating the news of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the sodomy laws of Texas and, by implication, other states as well. They interviewed representatives from the ACLU and every other liberal group around, all beaming over the decision. I sat down in stunned disbelief and immediately remembered Judge Bork’s prediction. Yes, it could and did get worse.

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