____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ March 19, 2000 ____________________________________________________ Cremation by Kent E. Heaton, Sr. It is hard to imagine what Adam and Eve went through when they found their second son was dead. The record only tells us that she bore another son whom they called Seth: ``For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed'' (Genesis 4:25). As death has been a part of man's existence, so has the action of the final disposition of the body. The first burial that is recorded is the ``burial at sea'' performed by God in the great flood (Genesis 6). On man's part, burial was a common practice. Numerous places in scripture mention burial as a mode of disposing of the body when death occurred. Notable burials include Abraham seeking a place to bury Sarah (Genesis 23). Joseph promised to fulfill his father's request not to bury him in Egypt--''So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father'' (Genesis 50:12-14). The ceremonies of disposal of the body vary from culture to culture. The word ``funeral'' comes from an old Sanskrit word of northern India which means ``smoke.'' Many of the customs of disposal of the body are connected with geography (need to bury above ground), theology (Indonesians of the island of Bali make a life-sized image of a scared bull to hold the coffin of the dead person--during the funeral, the bull and its contents will be carefully burned), necessity (burial at sea) or traditions of culture (the Viking dead were placed in their boats, which were set on fire and pushed out to sea). The process of disposing of the body at death is not given as a law in the word of God. As there are many examples of burial there are a few examples of what is defined as cremation. Cremation is the act of destroying the body by fire. The method used today is to place the body and casket in a special furnace where they are subjected to a heat of from 2,000 - 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The bones are reduced to ashes. There are examples of ``cremation'' in the Bible. In Joshua 7, we find ``Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, `Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.' So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day'' (Joshua 7:24-26). Following the death of King Saul (by his own hand), ``All the valiant men arose and traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days'' (1 Samuel 31:12,13). In this case the bones were not completely consumed with fire as even later, ``David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the men of Jabesh Gilead who had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them up, after the Philistines had struck down Saul in Gilboa. So he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there; and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the tomb of Kish his father. So they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God heeded the prayer for the land'' (2 Samuel 21:12-14). Josiah, King in Judah, ``Took away all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel. He executed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned men's bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem'' (2 Kings 23:19,20). Under the Law of Moses, certain sins were punished with the burning of the body. ``And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you'' (Leviticus 20:14). ``And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire'' (Leviticus 21:9). In the story of Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38), when Judah was told that Tamar had played the harlot and was with child, Judah said: ``Bring her out and let her be burned.'' These are specific examples of ``cremation'' being used as the penalty for sin. During the days of the Babylonian captivity, fire was used as the means of execution as seen with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. ``And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace'' (Daniel 3:6). The Babylonians used fire in contrast to the Persians who used animals to punish criminals. ``And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den'' (Daniel 6:24). The act of cremation is not a sin. Sin is defined in 1 John 3:4 as ``Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.'' God does not have in His law a place that makes the act of cremation a violation of His law. To burn the body is a personal choice that can be made by anyone who desires to do so (in accordance with civil law). The problem with cremation that many feel is not in association with the law of God but rather the personal attachments given the body. This is a natural course of man's makeup. The reason for marble monuments is to remind ourselves of the outward person that we know and love. As Christians we recognize the importance is not the outward man but the inward man. We know that our fleshly bodies will grow corrupt and decay to return to the dust. What we look forward too is the eternal body that will never decay or die. Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, ``And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.'' The focus of our lives should not be grounded upon the outward man but what will become of us when we stand before God. The disposal of the body at death is not relevant to our eternal salvation. ``For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens'' (2 Corinthians 5:1). Whether we are buried above ground, below ground, at sea or burned with fire, our soul is what matters. The disposal of the body is left to our own desires and wishes in accordance with the law of the land. We look forward to our ``new'' body! ___________________________________________ Purity in Doctrine (Part 2 of 2) by Jeff S. Smith Fellowship and Impure Doctrine The propagation of false doctrine, if unchecked, will eventually sever a man's fellowship with God. The church at Pergamos numbered Nicolaitans in her fellowship, for which Jesus rebuked them and promised to fight against them with the sword of his mouth (Rev. 2:15-16). Thyatira had a Jezebel deceiving its members while operating as a part of that church and Jesus promised to cast her in a sickbed of tribulation (Rev. 2:20-22). Paul marked two teachers of error, Hymenaeus and Philetus, for espousing an impure doctrine regarding Christ's resurrection (II Tim. 2:17-18). He had the courage to expose the hypocrisy of Peter and Barnabas when they practiced the impure doctrine of the Judaizers in Antioch (Gal. 2:11-21), whom he claimed had become estranged from Christ and fallen from grace (Gal. 5:4). If I am obligated to sever fellowship with one practicing false doctrine, am I not obligated also to sever fellowship with the one teaching it (Eph. 5:11-12, Romans 16:17-18)? If Paul demands I withdraw myself from a brother who engages in sexual immorality with his father's wife, would I not also be commanded to withdraw myself from one who taught this was permissible and tolerable (I Cor. 5)? Am I obligated to withdraw myself from those living in ``adulterous marriages'' but continue in fellowship with the one who taught that couple to wed without concern? It can only be a respect of persons that leads one to come to such a conclusion. The deceiver's reputation protects him while the deceived get the shaft. Did the deceiver deceive intentionally? When the ox is in the ditch, the purity of the farmer's intentions in pushing him will not rescue him. If the souls of men are really so important to us, they will take precedent over a judgment of intentions and yearning for peace with the deceiver. Both the teacher and the taught are responsible for this sin and this error. ``Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand'' (Ezek. 3:20). Paul told the Ephesian pastors that he was ``innocent of the blood of all men'' for he had not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:26-27). Sometimes that stumbling block is a preacher who knows better but says nothing, claiming isolationism, community standards or some other excuse. Sometimes that stumbling block is a preacher or elder who gives no warning in order to protect the reputation and camaraderie of a revered soldier of the cross (I Cor. 4:6). One man's reputation is preserved at any cost, while a hundred men's souls perish in ignorance, without a peep from the shepherds (Heb. 13:17) and watchers (II Tim. 4:5). When impure doctrine is tolerated, impure religion will surely follow and the spots and wrinkles upon Christ's bride will render her unrecognizable in time. Concerning the error of Hymenaeus and Philetus, Paul notes that their impure doctrine would spread like cancer and overthrow the faith of the deceived. In his letter to Timothy, Paul was attempting to identify and excise the cancerous lesion from the body and prevent its spread and corruption. Let God be thanked for such an apostolic example of love for the redeemed and the pure wisdom from above. Conclusion How many preachers will examine their own hands in the day of reckoning and observe the ``blood'' of souls condemned, in part, because they uttered not a word of warning or were too reluctant to declare the whole counsel of God to someone presumptuously deemed unlikely to submit? One is reminded of Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth, desperately trying to remove the bloodstains of a guilty conscience, when he considers the tardy reflections of a preacher who failed to proclaim the word boldly as he ought (Eph. 6:20). In a work called ``Hope,'' William Cowper (1731-1800) wrote ``And diff'ring judgements serve but to declare / That truth lies somewhere, if we knew but where.'' Concerning matters of the faith, the Holy Spirit told us just where to look for truth, the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11). Now, we must go about declaring that truth without respect to persons, convenience, or ecumenical peace. Impure doctrine--speaking smooth things to satisfy an ungodly yearning for guilt assuagement rather than true redemption--both hinders the spread of the glad tidings of Christ and leads to a severance of fellowship with God and brethren. Tolerating impure doctrine is a deal with the devil, a willingness to exchange everlasting peace with God for a temporary peace on Earth among men. Woe unto both those who propagate and those who tolerate the cancer of impure doctrine. -- The Watchman Magazine, July 1998 ___________________________________________ NEWS & NOTES I will be preaching March 26 in Louisville, Kentucky, for the Birchwood church of Christ. If you live in that area, we would love to see you. The morning worship begins at 9. If everything works out well, I will begin preaching in Avondale, Pennsylvania, April 2 (the first day of Daylight Savings Time). Be sure to stop in and see us, if you ever happen to be in that part of the country. We would be glad to have you. ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 5:00 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________