Good teachers are vital to the cause of the Gospel. I am not speaking here of the ‘reading, writing and arithmetic’ kind (as vital as they are), I am speaking of those who teach the Word of God.
In my youth Peter Craig spent every Thursday night for three months teaching me the Gospel in his home. On the Sundays in-between I visited the Otumoetai Church of Christ and listened to Ian Mostert teach the adult Bible class and preach the morning sermon. I was an outsider who had come to investigate what this particular religious group was all about; something I had been doing for many months prior with other churches.
One thing was obvious: Peter and Ian ‘sang from the same song sheet.’ Their teachings were all about the Bible: ‘Book, chapter and verse.’ Faith and Truth were counted inseparable.
The message was plain: “Faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ” (Rom.10:17), and a holy life was impossible without this Word—“Sanctify them in truth, thy word is truth” (Jn.17:17).
Also, the doctrines of men were seen as enemies of the cross, and were to be exposed by the Light of the Word. I had met, and soon became a part of, a movement that went forward with the Sword of the Spirit in hand. Peter Craig gave me a brand-new Bible after he baptised me. It was The Gift containing all that he had already began to instil within me—The Word of God! The following Sunday, Bible in hand, saw me gathering the skills of ‘Swordsmanship’ as I followed Ian’s teaching and preaching.
I couldn’t wish a better start as a Christian than the one God blessed me with. I am eternally grateful!
I had the best of teachers!
John Staiger
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