| November 8, 1998 |
Vol. I, No. 28
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"Raccoon" John Smith was reared by parents who were devout Baptists. For a while John, after joining a Baptist church, was a preacher of Baptist doctrine. In 1823, he came into contact with the teaching of Alexander Campbell with regard to restoring "the ancient order of things" religiously, and he was immediately impressed with both the desire and the possibility of doing so. After carefully re-reading the New Testament, John Smith renounced the Calvinistic doctrines of the Baptists with which he had been associated, and embraced the faith of the ancient gospel.
After having preached the gospel of Christ for several years, Smith finally had the opportunity to go back to his boyhood home where he had first preached Baptist doctrine. He especially wanted to see his aged mother. He had not seen her since he had renounced the Baptist belief, but she had, of course, heard rumors of what he had done. In the book, THE LIFE OF ELDER JOHN SMITH, John A. Williams tells of Smith's reunion with his mother:
"The old matron saw him coming, and, with all the alacrity of childish joy, tottered out to meet him. She hung upon him in her doting fondness, and poured her tears into his bosom. All the years of his manhood rolled back in a moment as he felt the pressure of her palsied arms around him. He was a child, a tender-hearted boy again, and he wept his pious tears upon her head. He led her gently into the house, and when the greetings were over, her heart turned to its distress.
"'They tell me, John, that you have left us! They say you deny the good Spirit that once gave you peace and that you tell poor sinners that water can wash away their sins! For a long time I would not believe them; but why didn't you wait till your poor old mother was dead and gone?'
"'Mother,' said he, 'I confess that my mind has undergone some changes in reference to the doctrines I once held as true; but many of the things that you have heard about me are idle tales. I do not teach nor believe such things. I have never denied the Spirit, nor taught that water can wash away sins.'
"'But, if you had only lived and preached as you once did, a few years longer, John, it would not have hurt me; I could have died much happier,' and she burst into a flood of complaining tears.
"He tried with all his heart to assuage her grief, but his words were powerless. He continued to sit by her side in silence, painfully conscious that he had not the address to wipe away her tears. 'Mother, on your account,' he said at length, 'I would be glad if I were still a Baptist; but I could not, then, be true to my convictions of duty. It pains me beyond expression, to wound the feelings of my mother; and I will now make you, as I regard it, a fair proposition: I will turn back and preach Calvinism as faithfully as I ever did, so long as you live, should I survive you, provided you will agree to answer for me in the day of judgment, should I be found wrong in so doing.'
"'Ah, John,' she replied, 'I can't do that. I shall have to answer for myself in that day and so must you, my poor boy!'
"'Well,' said he, 'if I must answer for myself THEN, do you not think, mother, that I ought to believe and act for myself now?'
"She mused for some time, and then, wiping her eyes, replied, 'I suppose you are right, Johnny; you ought to think for yourself. But you will have to account for it in the great day.'
"Thus she was reconciled; and, from that time, she did not cease to vindicate her boy to the day of her death. She could not, indeed, comprehend the nature or ground of his apostasy; but she always said that she at least was not responsible for it -- that John ought to be left free, for to his own Master he had to stand or fall."
Christ said, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me" (Matt. 10:34-37). Again, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30).
--CRJ
Television does not take people from church against their will.
"Crimes and Punishment," (c) 1973 by BPC Publishing Limited, contains in Vol. 2, page 75, an article with the above heading. The article tells the story of Charles Guiteau, the murderer of President James A. Garfield. Guiteau, somewhat like many others who are living in violation of God's will as revealed in the Scriptures, claimed to have some sort of direct communication from God. He is quoted as saying, "We acknowledge the shooting but not the killing... My bullet was not fatal. Garfield's death was caused by malpractice. I was only inspired to shot the President. The doctors finished the work... It is Deity's act, not mine, and I expect that he can take care of it. He has taken care of it very well so far." Guiteau is also quoted as saying, "I am not a murderer. The Lord inspired my act, as in the case of Abraham and others in the Bible... I strove to frighten the world, just as Paul did... The President's removal was an act of Deity." Once during the trial, he called the judge a liar, pointed his finger at him, and said, "God will curse you if you hurt a hair of my head."
Guiteau was found guilty of murder and was hanged June 30, 1882. He maintained to the end that God had inspired him to commit the treacherous deed.
Obviously, Guiteau was deranged. Normal people should be sane enough to realize that a voice heard only by themselves, a voice which tells them to behave in a way contrary to everything God has revealed in the past, is NOT the voice of God. God is anxious that all have His blessings, and so has spoken in a way that all can hear alike. It is true, that in other ages, God spoke to the ancients through prophets, Heb. 1:1-2, but today He speaks to us through the will of His Son, as recorded in the New Testament Scriptures. God is not adding anything to the New Testament today, and a woe is pronounced on any man who dares to do so, Rev. 22:18-19.
God did not guide Charles Guiteau to act contrary to the Scriptures, nor does He guide anyone today to do so. Those who cannot offer book, chapter, and verse for the way they walk religiously are not following the guidance of God. Those willing to submit to God's guidance do not need, nor do they receive, special secret commands. The grace of God that brings salvation is available to all through the instruction of the inspired Scriptures, Titus 2:11-12.
-CRJ
In the first five verses of Matthew 7, Jesus admonishes His followers not to be guilty of harsh judgments, not to possess a fault-finding attitude. He does, however, make known in verse six that they will find it necessary to make some discernment, lest they cast pearls before swine or give what is holy to dogs.
Then, with a realization of the wisdom His servants would need to obtain to apply these high principles, He promised, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."
Then, with this background, He sets down what has come to be called the "golden rule." "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the Prophets" (Matt. 7:12).
History tells us that the Jews had long recognized the negative aspects of this golden rule, saying such things as "What is hateful to yourself, do to no other." Of course, Jesus' golden rule will definitely include this negative aspect, but Jesus goes beyond the point of forbidding the evil -- He says there is something we are to do to/for our fellow man: whatever we want our fellow man to do for/to us. This principle says I must sometimes go out of my way to help other people, to be kind to them. It says I must forgive as I would want to be forgiven. It says I must teach others the path of a meaningful life as I would want them to do for me.
Jesus said that the basic purpose for which the law had been given and the prophets had been called was to guide folks to live in such a way that they not only failed to harm others, but they came to actually be a help to others along life's pathway.
It has often been pointed out that when we apply this golden rule in our lives, others often respond by treating us the way we want to be treated. This, of course, is not the reason we should abide by the golden rule, but it is an additional benefit from doing so.
--CRJ