BEN F. VICK, JR.

To baptize Wanda Young last Sunday night, it took seven or eight men and four women. The reasons were that our steps to the baptistery are too many, and she could not walk. She had to be taken up in a wheelchair, put into the water, immersed, and brought back down the stairs. There was rejoicing over her wanting to obey the Lord and our being able to accomplish the feat. There are pictures of this on our Facebook page. This incident made me think of other examples of cooperation in the Bible.

When Jesus was in Capernaum, his own city (Mark 2:1; Matt. 9:1), he was in a house, and many had gathered to hear him. There were so many inside the house that no one else could enter. The friends of a man with palsy, a paralytic, wanted Jesus to heal their friend, but they could not get near him because of the crowd. What were they to do? Their solution was to go up on the roof, break up the tile and let their friend down through the roof. Jesus saw their faith, forgave the man of his sins, and healed him. Cooperation brought about the salvation of his soul and the healing of his body.

In Judah’s last gasp of breath before she was taken into captivity, the weeping prophet, Jeremiah, said, “Thus saith the Lord, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. Thus saith the Lord, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.” (Jer. 38:2-3.) This angered some of the men in Jerusalem; so, they went to the puppet king, Zedekiah, and said that Jeremiah weakens the hands of the men of war and the people, in having spoken these words. They accused him of not being concerned about the welfare of the people. They said this man should be put to death. Zedekiah told them, he is in your hands, for I cannot do anything against you. So, they took Jeremiah and cast him into a miry pit where he sunk in the mire. Ebed-melech, one of the eunuchs in the king’s house, heard about this and told the king that Jeremiah would die if left there. The king commanded him to take thirty men and rescue him. So, Ebed-melech gathered thirty men, picked up some old rags and rope, and together these men rescued Jeremiah from the pit. By cooperation of this eunuch and the thirty men Jeremiah’s life was spared. Cooperation saved his life. He would live to see another day to prophesy for the Lord.

When the Jews returned from captivity, the walls of Jerusalem were in shambles. They were broken down, and the gates had been burned by Nebuchadnezzar seventy years before. Nehemiah, having surveyed the walls, said to the men of the city, “Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.” (Neh. 2:17-18.) Nehemiah 3 tells of the cooperation of families repairing the walls. This refrain is repeatedly found: “next unto them.” All were involved in repairing the walls and closing the breaches, except the nobles of the Tekoites, who would not put their necks to the work. They thought they were too good for such lowly, menial tasks. However, the other Tekoites repaired their portion and even repaired another place, as if they were making up for what their nobles refused to do. Despite the hindrances, Nehemiah said, “So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.” (Neh. 4:6.) The key to their accomplishment with God’s help was the people had a mind to work. Nehemiah said, “So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.” (Neh. 6:15) Success! The completion of the task was because of cooperation. Many hands made light work.

The chief captain had rescued Paul in Jerusalem and held him at the castle or barracks. Certain Jews had bound themselves under a curse to slay Paul the following day, but his nephew heard about the plot. He told Paul about it, and Paul sent him to the chief captain. The chief captain called for two centurions to make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to escort Paul to Caesarea. They brought him by night to Antipatris about 25 miles from Jerusalem and about the same distance to Caesarea. All but the seventy horsemen returned to Jerusalem. Paul’s life was spared. Four hundred and seventy men and the chief captain, plus the nephew, were all involved in saving Paul’s life. There was cooperation.

The apostle Paul was thankful for the fellowship with the church at Philippi. He wrote, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;” (Phil. 1:3-5.) At the close of his letter to them he wrote, “Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.” (Phil. 4:15-17.) There was cooperation/fellowship between Paul and the church. He preached; they supported his preaching. He stated, “I desire fruit that may abound to your account.” Any converts Paul made would also be counted as those the Philippian saints made. They worked together. That is cooperation.

When all work together in the vineyard of the Lord much can be accomplished to the glory of God.