Dr. Williamson, a Canadian geologist, had been slipping along a rain-soaked road through Tanzania’s back country when, suddenly, his Land Rover sunk to its axles in sticky mire. Pulling out a shovel, he began to dig his four-wheel drive out. After some time, he uncovered an interesting looking pink stone. Being a geologist and naturally curious about rock formations, he picked it up. The more mud he removed, the more excited he became, but he hardly believed what he saw. When the stone was finally cleaned, Dr. Williamson had found a diamond! (Eldred Echols, Discovering the Pearl of Great Price, Sweet Pub, 1992).

He had found the now famous giant pink diamond of Tanzania. That muddy stone sparkles today in a broach worn by the Queen of England on occasions, and Williamson is world renowned for his find.

The Bible tells of a treasurer who found a treasure. Jesus’ comparison of a sinner who learns the Gospel to one who finds great treasure (Matthew 13:44-46) is illustrated by this Ethiopian treasurer who found the Gospel on a lonely road leading back to Africa from Jerusalem. Why did he—of all people in the world—find the treasure that day? Please read the story in Acts 8:26-40. The treasurer was willing to LOOK for something more.

This Ethiopian had traveled fifteen hundred miles one way to worship, and was still reading his Bible on the way home! He knew something of the Bible but wanted to know more. He was like a man at sunrise tilting his manuscript to catch the first light. As he read Isaiah’s prophecy of Jesus, he was catching the first rays of the rising sun of Christianity.

Who will find God’s treasure today? Those who are willing to look for it. God’s treasure is available to all, but it requires a careful and diligent Bible student (2 Timothy 2:15). The way to heaven is ‘hidden’ in the Holy Scriptures. Jesus said that the Scriptures (Old Testament) testified of Him, but His name is not found there (John 5:39). He taught in parables so that only those sincerely interested would find eternal life (Matthew 13:13-15). He said that the path to eternal life is strait and narrow and will be found by few (Matthew 7:13-14). We do not find the path by a casual pass through the Scriptures, but rather by a diligent search. No single passage teaches all we need, but we must study to put the pieces together to know the truth which will make us free (John 8:31-32). We should all strive to find, understand and observe God’s will for us—to obey the Gospel and become His children.

One may have to dig out from under denominational teachings and human traditions. Many today, like this treasurer, read their Bibles on the way home from church services and wonder why what they have just [heard or] experienced differs so much from what they read in the Bible. If you are one of these, read on. We should never be satisfied with a religion less than what we find in Scripture. We can do better. Christ’s church does exist today, and we can be a part of it! (Emphasis, ea).

The treasurer was willing to LISTEN to another viewpoint.
When Philip gave the treasurer an opportunity to learn more of God’s Word, he took him up on it. This treasurer was humble enough to admit to a complete stranger that he did not understand what he was studying. (He could have told this aggressive preacher to get lost, but then he would have stayed lost).

What was the eunuch reading? The place of the Scripture which he read was this, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth” (Acts 8:32). The treasurer listened as Philip showed how Jesus’ death on Calvary and His resurrection from the grave fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah chapter 53). Jesus meekly submitted to the outrages perpetrated against Him, and offered no more resistance than a lamb being slaughtered. Jesus’ premature death was prophesied more than seven centuries before He was even born (Isaiah 53).

This was not what the treasurer had been taught in the worship service he had just left. He learned the Truth because he was willing to consider another viewpoint. What about us? Too many religious discussions end with slammed doors and closed minds, raised voices and lowered respect for a friend, clenched fists and closed Bibles. Are we willing to calmly investigate another perspective? Do we do our own thinking, or do we simply accept what our preacher or parents tell us to believe? Truth never suffers from investigation—if we were right in the beginning, further study will simply confirm it. But if we were wrong we need to know before the Judgment (Matthew 7:21-23).

The treasurer was willing to LEAVE his past.
As treasurer for his country, he was doubtless an intelligent man. His religion was good. He was comfortable with it. He knew its customs, understood its theology. It taught high morals and had benefited his life. But now the preacher suggested that he give it up for something better. It no longer pleased God and was powerless to grant salvation. What went through his mind? Change religions? Go against my family? Offend my friends? Start over? Admit I’ve been wrong? Nonetheless, he desired to please God more than others (Galatians 1:10), and was willing to change religions. In heaven no one will ever regret giving up false religion (John 12:42) or sinful pleasure (Acts 24:25; Hebrews 11:25).

Philip evidently said something about baptism in their study (although Isaiah 53 does not mention it) because the eunuch interrupted this traveling Bible class to point out that they were passing a suitable place for baptism. (Since this was arid country, he may have thought, “If I don’t ask now, there may not be another river or lake until after he leaves”).

According to the book of Acts, something is wrong today when someone claims to preach Jesus, but whose hearers never request baptism. How can any man teach the Gospel and answer the question, “What must I do to be saved?” and not give the answer Jesus told us to give? (Mark 16:15-16).

This treasurer may have been wealthy in Ethiopia before his journey, but he left this scene a far richer man. In the last view we ever get of him, he is pictured with a “smile on his face.” You will rejoice too, if you find God’s treasure! ~ Allen Webster, Condensed from House to House—Heart to Heart, Vol. 12 No. 5.

No Church that adds to or takes away anything that God has said in His Holy Scriptures follows God’s word, though it claims to do so, because God said: “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you”—Deuteronomy 4:2. The apostle Paul, moved by the Holy Spirit, said, “Even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed”—Galatians 1:8. We want you to know the difference between faithful churches of Christ such as the one at Monticello, which follow God’s word as just quoted and Churches that do not. We want you to know the difference because God wants you to know.

He tells us in the New Testament of the church He wants us to know about. It was planned in the mind of God before the creation of the world (Ephesians 4:4), just as was His plan of salvation. It was prophesied of in Isaiah 2, Daniel 2 and Joel 2. Its establishment was prepared for by John the Immerser (Luke 2). The time of its establishment as “near” was preached by Jesus and the apostles (Matthew Chapters 4 and 10). Its birthday was on the day of Pentecost following the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2). This tells us that according to our current calendar, the church of Christ began in AD 33.

Now tell me, what church did Jesus establish? What did Jesus say? In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said “… I will build (establish) MY church….” (emphasis, ea). Having been divinely prophesied of, prepared for, and preached as near, the time had come. The prophecies of Isaiah, Daniel and Joel were fulfilled. The hearers of the Gospel preached on Pentecost following the resurrection were those prepared for the arrival of the church. They heard the terms of entrance and gladly received them, doing what they were told to do by the apostle Peter (Acts 2:37-41). Those who did as they were instructed were added by the Lord to His church--“And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (v. 47).

What church did Jesus build? His church. It was a pre-denominational church. It was established 573 years before the first earthly denomination, the Roman Catholic Church, which was established in 606 A.D. and almost 1500 years before any of our modern day denominations which began in 1530. Today, we have so many that it is hard to count them all.

Each has one or more differences in what is taught in the New Testament in things such as the names they go by, their organization, worship practices, and different plans of salvation. Yet they all claim they are following the Bible.

They are different from what is taught in the Bible because they add to, take from, change, and contradict what is said in God’s word, in their teaching and practices. Yet, Deuteronomy 4:2 and Galatians 1:8 continue to say just what they have always said.

Christ taught that to be forgiven of our past sins and become a Christian we must believe that He died for our sins. Those who believed that were told they must repent of their sins and be immersed in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. Those who did that were added by Christ to His church and taught how to worship, live the Christian life and be faithful as children of God. Please read 1 Corinthians 15:3; Acts 2:38, 41, 42, 47 and Revelation 2:10c (the 3rd sentence of that verse.)

To be a true church of Christ, we must not just say we believe the Bible, we must not just say we teach the Bible, we must not just say we follow the Bible; we must truly do what we say. That’s what following the Bible means.

If you would do just that, Christ invites you to join Him, in His church, and continue to follow His word. If you are looking for the church you read about in the Bible, investigate the church of Christ in your community. ~ A