“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God” said Paul. John in his second epistle said “and now I beseech thee, lady.” Peter who at one time in his life might have been harsher writes to the brethren saying, ‘Dearly beloved. I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims.” The word beseech has the meaning to plead, beg, pray or entreat.
If the apostles were alive and writing to us today no doubt they would use this same word as they would plead with us to do what is right and beg us to abstain from doing that which is wrong.
As sincere brethren and sisters there are surely none among us who would purposely do that which is wrong but we have to be careful that what we think to be right really is right in God’s sight. When we want something to happen and we have worked, longed, .ind prayed for it to happen we can become so involved in it emotionally that to make it happen seems to be right whatever it may take to bring this about.
This can be true of any number of things but at the moment our thoughts are centered upon the earnest desire to have reunion with our Unamended Brethren and so we want to direct our pleading to all brethren and sisters who have a burning desire to see this come to pass.
First we must commend all who desire reunion for this is a worthy goal. We know that many families are at the present on opposite sides of the fence and this no doubt rears at our very heart strings. In many areas there are two small ecclesias, one in each fellowship which long to be together and as time goes on and nothing seems to be happening, frustration and even anger can well up in us and cause us to desire to take matters into our own hands and do what we believe ought to be done. We can understand and sympathize with this feeling but we now plead with you who feel this way to consider the following facts:
- We have been fortunate in having two well respected brethren, Bro. Cyril Cooper and Bro. Alfred Nichols of England, visit us on a fact finding trip. It would be premature to act hastily after we have solicited their help.
- God knows what is going on in His ecclesias and so the fact that reunion has been worked on for years and years and still is not accomplished is not without His knowledge.
- If reunion were simple and easy it would have happened a long time ago. How often have we watched someone struggle to do a task like open the lid on a jar and become impatient with them and finally say “here, let me have it and I’ll do it” only to find that we also could not open it.
- Jesus exhorts us to ”count the costs” Luke 14:28. We need to face the fact that reunion with the unamended brethren could cause disunion within our own fellowship if the reunion admits those who do not believe the same first principles that caused the Birmingham statement of faith to become amended. As one Eastern brother (not on the reunion committee but active in reunion work and anxious to accomplish it) said. “we want reunion, not realignment. We need to think about the soundness of this statement.
- A simple document that all can agree to while still holding different views will not solve the problem. Almost all churches will accept the Bible as the inspired word of God yet none of us, amended or unamended, could have fellowship with others based on an alleged acceptance of the Bible when there are known different beliefs. We desire reunion with all our hearts with those who believe the same doctrines and uphold them in fellowship. We want a simple document that will state dearly what we believe. No dedicated servant of Christ can compromise upon what he believes to be a first principle of the truth nor would he ask another brother lo compromise his beliefs. We are seeking reunion with those who are in agreement. There are sincere unamended brethren who are not seeking reunion with us because they do not agree with us doctrinally. We must honor and respect them even though we cannot fellowship them.
And so, dearly beloved, we beseech you to continue to pray and work for reunion, patiently continuing in well doing, recognizing that our Lord walks among his candlesticks and is aware of all that we are thinking and doing. Let us then “trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not unto our own understanding, acknowledging him in all our ways knowing that he will direct our paths.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One