By Flavil Nichols
During the War Between the States, a young woman learned the truth and obeyed the gospel. Her sweetheart, J.B. Halbrook, was a confederate soldier. He was captured by the union army and kept a prisoner in Michigan until the war was over. He was given a ticket to Nashville, TN and $2.50. From there, he returned to Centerville and found what was left of his home and family. He found his girlfriend and they were married. His wife studied the Bible with him, and he soon became a Christian. He thought the truth was so good and so simple that he began to teach and baptize many of his friends and neighbors. He began to preach, but he recognized his need for more training, so he came to the original Mars Hill Bible School, taught by T.B. Larimore. Upon completing his studies there, instead of going back to Tennessee, they moved farther south, coming into Walker, Marion, Fayette, and Lamar counties in Alabama. One of his many converts was Charley Alexander Wheeler. His wife taught him to read from the Bible. Along with his wife, C.A. Wheeler obeyed the gospel and soon began preaching to others. He started more than 100 congregations and baptized more than 6,000 people. But wait, the story is not ended! One of those 6,000 was my father, the late Gus Nichols. Twelve thousand were baptized under his preaching. Among those baptized by Gus Nichols, no one knows, nor can know, how many began to preach “the glorious gospel of Christ” (2Cor. 4:3,4 ); but I personally know several. I, Flavil Nichols, am ONE whom he baptized and whom he encouraged to preach the truth. And under my preaching, about three thousand have been baptized. A few among them preached the gospel also!
Only eternity can reveal the total results of the conversion of that one girl nearly one hundred and fifty years ago. The results are not yet all in! But this shows that TWENTY-ONE THOUSAND people have become Christians through this single thread in the fabric of her influence.
“Go, and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). YOU are important, tool Dear reader, if you go to heaven, others probably will be saved by you! “For what knowest thou, 0 wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how know est thou, 0 man, whether thou shalt save thy wife” ( 1 Cor. 7: 16)? “Let you light so shine before men, that they may see you good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). Each ONE is very important.
To whom is “good” due? The New Testament tells Christians that they are to do good unto all men, especially their fellow Christians. What is meant by doing “good”? In the context here, it is something that we have a limited opportunity to share. The “good” could be showing benevolent love in providing some physical sustenance. Or more importantly it could be by showing love for their eternal welfare and speaking to them about spiritual matters.