Read Isaiah 62:1-5 …
Reading the sermons of preachers that have had a great influence on those of his time, and even further, can be entertaining and enlightening. The lessons delivered by N. B. Hardeman in the Ryman Auditorium are such sermons. There are times, as one reads Hardeman’s sermons, that his colloquial manner of speaking can be easily noted, while at other times he delivers a sentence or thought that appears to reach towards the heavens in its elegance. The great delight is when Hardeman, using a keen insight, delves into the Word of God and brings forth gems. One such gem can be found in the sermon “Why A Member of the Church of Christ?” in Volume II of the Hardeman Tabernacle Sermons as he is speaking about the various names that characterized those of the Church in Paul’s day.
“How were they designated in New Testament times? With reference to their relationship to one another, they were called “brethren;” with reference to their saintliness of character and purity of life, they were called “saints;” with reference to the fact that they are students and learners, they are called “disciples;” and when it came to the expression of their relationship to Christ, they were properly called “Christ-ians.”[i]
In this wonderful sentence Hardeman has captured a verbal picture of who we are as a people, as those that have become and are children of God (John 1:11-13; Rom. 8:14-16; Gal. 3:26-29). Very often it is in a name that people find their identity as what we call ourselves or what one is called by others places us within a certain group. The big group that most Christians place themselves in is the Church, but that relationship is one of family, that is why a term such as “brethren” should not be used lightly. When we call one another “brethren,” one is expressing an intimate and personal relationship, not one that is casual or temporary. As brethren we share a common Father, a common Brother, a common Spirit that identifies us with that great family of Godthat extends past the walls of a building.
When one becomes a part of that family – by belief, repentance, and baptism (Acts 2:36-47) – there is by necessity a separation from what one previously was to what one has become. Paul speaks of that separation when he reminds the Corinthians (of who he repeatedly refers to as “brethren”) that they were once caught in a number of different sins, but “you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). The word “sanctified” implies two things: that those Corinthians had separated themselves from their past sins and had separated themselves for a different life in this world. There is a purity of life a child of God aspires to that when one is referred to as a “saint” it is because we have been set apart for God.
But even as one recognizes themselves as part of a family, as one that has been separated for God, the life of a Christian does not stop there; indeed, we must continue as disciples. Most translations of Matthew 28:19 have “and make disciples” instead of simply to teach, for the Greek word means more than to just teach someone but also that the individual is to become a learner. Repeatedly in the book of Acts, Luke refers to the members of the Church as simply “disciples.” These disciples were the ones of which Jesus said, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). These were the same disciples that “gladly received his word” and “were baptized,” and then “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:41-42). As the group of learners grew, one also learns that the disciples in Antioch were the first to be called “Christians” (Acts 11:26).
Some have said that when the first disciples were called Christians it was meant to be derogatory, but does that really matter? When one thinks about being called a Christian it has these other names rolled into it. As Christians we are part of a unique family and can therefore be called brethren. As Christians we have been set apart from this world, sanctified, for His special purpose. As Christians we have taken upon ourselves the responsibility to become lifelong disciples – followers and learners – of our great Master. Let us wear the name Christian proudly for all to see; from those we associate with, to our actions in this life, to those things which occupy our time and attention. Let us join others that have decided to simply take that name and no other.
[i] N. B. Hardeman, Hardeman’s Tabernacle Sermons Volume II (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1958), 248-249.
the odd weekend preacher 