____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ February 18, 2001 ____________________________________________________ "Refusing Christ" by Randy Harshbarger The book of Hebrews contains a series of arguments that all point to one main truth, namely, the superiority of Jesus Christ. For example, chapter one shows Christ's superiority over angels. Chapter three shows that Christ is superior to Moses, the lawgiver. Christ provides a greater rest than that of Joshua as discussed in chapter four. The priesthood of Christ is greater than the priesthood of Aaron and Melchizedek. To those Hebrew Christians who were struggling to maintain their fidelity to the Lord, the question comes ringing forth: How will you escape if you neglect the great salvation that Jesus provides (Heb. 2:1-4)? To refuse Jesus Christ is to refuse God's final spokesman (Heb. 1:1-2). To know what is right and to then wilfully turn away places one in a serious, spiritual predicament. The Lord makes it clear that man can come to Him in obedience. Those who sincerely desire to know the doctrine of Christ can know it (Jn. 7:17). The good and honest heart puts forth the needed effort to learn God's truth, and is thus drawn to God (Jn. 6:44-45). When Jesus called men to Him, it is clear that men acting of their own free will CAN come to Him (Mt. 11:28-30). Prejudice sometimes keeps men from coming to Christ. Men close their spiritual eyes to needed teaching from the Lord (Matt. 13:15). Some men are simply unconcerned about the value of their soul, refusing to listen to the Lord (Rev. 3:20). Others listen simply out of curiosity, but they have no intention of ever obeying the gospel of Christ (Acts 17:18-21). All men must be alerted to the fact that the words of Christ constitute the standard they will face in judgment (Jn. 12:48). Some people are refusing Christ by substituting the purity of the gospel for the errors of men. For example, salvation by faith alone ignores the need to repent and be baptized. The idea that the alien sinner can pray through to salvation sets aside the Lord's will as expressed to Saul of Tarsus: ``And now why tarriest thou, arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins calling on the name of the Lord.'' Men promote denominationalism by saying: ``Join the church of your choice.'' This simply dismisses the teaching of the Lord concerning His one, true spiritual body, of which He is head (Eph. 1:21-23; 4:4). Followers of Christ in the New Testament wore the name of their Savior (1 Pet. 4:16). The names of men foment strife and further division. Men practice things in worship that are unauthorized before God. The matter of instrumental music is one good example of how men, however sincere they may be, seek to worship God on their own terms, rather than by simply doing what the Lord has authorized (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). Some refuse Christ by reasoning: ``I'm just as good as many of the folks who claim to be members of the body of Christ.'' That may or may not be true, but even if it is, you will not be judged by what others do or don't do (2 Cor. 10:12). Trusting in your own goodness and relying on the failures of others to help you make it to heaven can only bring spiritual ruin. Go back to the book of Hebrews and learn what you need to do. Hebrews 5:8-9 tells us that Christ obeyed His Father in all things. If Jesus Christ the Savior of the world felt the need to do what the Father said, who are we to think we don't need to do the same thing? Why would we think that we can refuse Christ and still be right in God's sight? To refuse Christ now is to be refused by Christ in the judgment. If you refuse Christ now, He will not recognize you as one of His own in the final day (Mark 8:38). See that you refuse not Him who is superior to all. -- Via Power Talk, December 26, 1999 ___________________________________________ Winning the World to Jesus in Less Than 32 Days! by Tom Edwards Here are some interesting figures which show how relatively short a time it would take to convert the whole world to Jesus--less than 32 days--and which would involve each person merely winning two other people to the Lord. It begins on the first day with one person winning two others to Christ. Then on the second day, those two new converts each help two others come to Christ. On the third day, those four new saints will each win two people to the Lord; and then on the fourth day, those eight new Christians will each win two more to Jesus Christ, etc. Notice from the following calculations how quickly that number of total people converted escalates: Day Converted Total Converted 1 2.................3 2 4.................7 3 8.................15 4 16................31 5 32................63 6 64................127 7 128...............255 8 256...............511 9 512...............1,023 10 1,024.............2,047 11 2,048.............4,095 12 4,096.............8,191 13 8,192.............16,383 14 16,384............32,767 15 32,768............65,535 16 65,536............131,071 17 131,072...........262,143 18 262,144...........524,287 19 524,288...........1,048,575 20 1,048,576.........2,097,151 21 2,097,152.........4,194,303 22 4,194,304.........8,388,607 23 8,388,608.........16,777,215 24 16,777,216........33,554,431 25 33,554,432........67,108,863 26 67,108,864........134,217,727 27 134,217,728.......268,435,455 28 268,435,456.......536,870,911 29 536,870,912.......1,073,741,823 30 1,073,741,824.....2,147,483,647 31 2,147,483,648.....4,294,967,295 32 4,294,967,296.....8,589,934,591 With our world population finally having passed the 6-billion mark, that number of people--and more--could be converted in 32 days. Of course, when we consider the millions of people who are still children in a "safe state"--and others who have also not yet reached an age of accountability--the grand total of all those who actually need to be saved from their sins would be much less than our 6-billion figure. It almost seems unbelievable that more than 8.5 billion people (if there were that many) could be converted in 32 days--merely by each person winning just two others to Christ--but check the calculations again; for that's exactly how it would be. We often think of various ways to make the world a better place, but what could be better than the whole world converted to the Gospel and striving to live according to it? There is certainly no better answer for the world today than Jesus Christ and the new life He can give to each one of us (Jn. 10:10; Rom. 6:3,4). It's sad to say, however, that down through the years, man has seemed to be content with that broad road leading to destruction and its "fleeting pleasures" of sin along the way. But for those who are willing to walk the narrow path that leads to everlasting life, they will not only find the journey to have been greatly worthwhile in eternity, but also while having plodded the course toward that heavenly goal. We know that there will be millions of people in heaven. Just think of all of those who have died, down through the years, before they ever reached an age of accountability, who will be there--along with all the redeemed. But compared to all the people who have ever inhabited our planet, it will be a small percent. We can say this based on the Lord's teaching about the narrow way that leads to life, which only a few will find; as seen in contrast to the broad way, which leads to destruction and with many people entering thereby (Matt. 7:13,14). Though there are some who have been Christians for many years who would say that they wouldn't know how to convert a lost soul to Jesus Christ, why can't they simply tell that lost soul what it was that they had to believe and do in order to become a child of God? Surely, they haven't forgotten that! We who are Christians need to each be concerned with winning the lost to Jesus. Now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2). Now is a time of God's patience being extended to the world because of His desire to see no one lost; but, rather, all to come to repentance and salvation (2 Pet. 3:9, 15; 1 Tim. 2:4). "...he who is wise wins souls" (Prov. 11:30); and for every soul won, all the angels in heaven will rejoice (Luke 15:10) and God will be pleased--for He takes "...no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live..." (Ezek. 33:11). Christ came into this world in order to taste death for every man (Heb. 2:9); so that by His death on the cross, the atonement could be made for the "whole world" (1 Jn. 2:2). How sad to think that most of the world today continues to reject that great outpouring of love shown at Calvary. To them, Christ's sacrifice has become nothing more than a vain thing or something powerless. Paul also speaks of people who view the preaching of the cross as foolishness, "but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18). No, the cross has not become ineffectual to the true believer, but rather it is a dynamo of sin-cleansing and soul-transforming power! But man, in his little weakness, has the ability, the free-will, to keep this power out of his life by simply remaining indifferent and unwilling to submit to God's plan of salvation. How foolish man often is. To be rescued from a burning building, to be saved from a sinking ship, to be delivered from a flood, etc., man would often feel much gratitude and joy over--even though this "salvation" from death is only temporary, and he will eventually die. But when it comes to the salvation of one's soul, which can lead to an eternal redemption--to live in perfect bliss and never die again--many people often give little thought to that, as if it something so trivial or insignificant, they'd rather not "waste time" thinking about it. By far, however, the person who lost his life in a burning building, drowned in a shipwreck, or in a flood would be far better off if his soul were saved than merely being a lost soul whose physically life was saved. For how can we even begin to compare anything that pertains to time with that which pertains to eternity? It would be like comparing the size of a grain of sand with the infinite universe around it. But, ironically, many people are totally wrapped up in that grain of sand, in a manner of speaking, with all their focus upon it, while remaining oblivious to the grand and imposing universe around them. Yes, we live in a time when many people, as it has been said, "Major in minors, and minor in majors"--but, actually, many simply have no interest at all in God's words of life, which they could accept and live forever, if they only chose to (John 8:52). The value of our soul over our physical body is shown in various ways throughout the Scriptures. For instance, Jesus states, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul" (Mark 8:36)? And in speaking of the persecution that would lead, in some cases, to torture and physical death, Christ said, "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it" (Matt. 16:25). This last part clarifies that the saving of one's physical life would be done so at the cost of rejecting Christ--and not merely saving oneself from falling off a bridge, for example, or from some other fatal accident. However, the real value of losing one's physical life for Christ can be realized by only those who truly do believe in Jesus; and yes, many were able to do so joyfully because they knew, as Jesus taught, to "...not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28). They could be like those whom the Hebrew writer spoke of who knew that they had "a better possession and an abiding one" that was laid up for them in heaven (Heb. 10:34) and, therefore, able to view death as a gain, as the apostle Paul also did (Phil. 1:21). Every soul is important to God. As we have seen, Christ died for every sinner--and this whole world could be saved in a relatively short time, if every Christian converts just two other souls (and the lost be willing to accept the Gospel). Let us, therefore, pray and work that the world will be won to Jesus Christ, to the glory of God! If we may help you to better understand the way of salvation, please contact us at the address shown below. We would be happy to do so. ________________________________________ Avondale CHURCH OF CHRIST P.O. Box 421 1606 Glen Willow Rd., Avondale, PA 19311 (610) 268-2088 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 11:00 A.M. Worship 6:00 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:00 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (610) 925-3567 e-mail: tedwards@onemain.com web site: http://www.mypage.onemain.com/tedwards/avondale ________________________________________