The Ohio Independent Baptist, February 1970

(Concluded from page 1O) an inten el) olemn vvarning a J the deadly nature and character f ecumenical apo ta y. Believer nu t note thi well. The e apo tate hurchmen not only cau e divi ion nd make neces ary eparation , but ,or e than that they are guilty of a)'ing ..death-trap ' ' (skandala). They hem elve violate true Chri tiao un– tv. catching up multitude of people ,; 1 n their deadly clutche , carrying hem on to de truction. Their teach– ng are al o "death-traps ' in which no t of oul are fatally caught. fhe e f al e teacher are even uc– ~e ful in tearing ome believer away 1rom the unity of Christian fellow- nip and doctrine, and deceiving the heart of many imple people. I t -hould be noted that the "doctrine' ' i one. i.e. contrary fal e - while the ' 'death-trap ' ' are alway many, plural. The fal e doctrine in the oeginning was urely a skanclalon, ··death-trap.. - for it fatally caught the entire race of Adam. The Yea– hath-God- aid' ' doctrine till operate . and only God H im elf know for how n1any it ha proved to be a death– trap. ' ' on1ing back to Rom. 14 : 13. we nO\\. realize on1ething of the olen1n– i ty of thi tatement. It might be <le– ..cribed a the epitome of hri ti an example. In thi out tanding pa - age in which certain re pects i the focal p o i n t of the large context in chapter 14-15 con– cerning the relation hip of trong and weaker brethren - we are taught that we are not to render verdict upon our fel low-Chri tian . but that ,vc are re por1 ib]e for declaring a particular verdict upon our elve . Thi is a verdict we are to pro– nounce for our elves and i related --pecifically to a con i tent and circum– "' pect 1 ife of example before our fel– low-believer many of whom are perhap not o trong in the faith. We are ab olutely re pon ible for never etting a 'death-trap ' by our action and conduct in which ome weaker brother i en nared and by which he uffer ome deadly piritual harm. Any injury a believer Llffer , which damage hi (her) Chri tian character or te timony of faith is cleadly . Satan i hard at work with all hi deadly craft and cunning lay– ing ' death-trap " for believer ~ etting one Chri tian over agai n t another, Credit: First Baptist Church Coldwater, Michigan and exe rci ing all hi many device and trategen1 aga1nc.,t the experience of the aint , to br1ng about the hipwreck of their faith. The strong and mature Chri tian brother mu t ever be ready and willing to yield hi freedom and liberty in the faith {or the ake of the brother who i not o trong and mature . It i im– perative that we ab tain from any– thing which bear the lighte t ap– pearance of evil - which might ea ily be mi taken for uch by ome other believer who i looking on. 1 t i imperative that we not be guilty - even once - of etting any ort of "death-trap' ' into which ome fellow-Chri tian might wander trike hi foot again t the trap-trigger, pring the trap and be caught in it deadly grip. For uch a godly ex– ample, the atoning death of our Lord J e u Chri t, who loved u and gave H im elf for u , i the great n1oral and piritual lever with con- cientiou , dedicated hri tian : "But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walke t thou no longer according to love. De trO)' not /1it1i ,vit/1 ch)' meat, for whom hri t died: ' (v . 15) ... t I • ..... ,,' .· .. ~. . . . . . . . _ ....,,..........t Wells Construction Company 17219 Euclid, Allen Park, Michigan 48101 Mr. Oran Wells, President Complete Church Building Program Services Including l J_AYO .. 1.. l l~ I ' PPl - ( l· About \ ork 1~ t1ity Pla11 Call or Write Mr. Law rence F. W ilson Professional Engineer 3504 Worden Road Oregon, Ohio 43616 Telephone: 4 9-691-5886 or, Our M ain Office I