____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ April 29, 2001 ____________________________________________________ Solid Food by J. S. Smith The Hebrew writer was compelled to interrupt his explanation of the priesthood of Melchizedek to chastise his readers, whom he surmised would find such a subject beyond comprehension. The fault for this ignorance lay not in the writer, he asserted, but the reader, whose ability to grasp the scriptures had not grown properly. Although he had much to say about Melchizedek, he was hesitant to begin because his readers had "become dull of hearing" (Heb. 5:11). We are more likely to hear about dull speakers and writers than dull listeners these days and certainly there are plenty of them to go around. What makes a dull listener? In this passage, dullness of hearing has nothing to do with one's physical ability to hear, but one's conscious ability to listen. As people who sit to close to concert speakers wind up with hearing troubled by an incessant buzzing in their ear drums, so do certain disciples find themselves unable to concentrate upon the preached message. Many things contribute to dullness of hearing today, including all those stimuli competing for the attention of men and women. In my library is a copy of "Hardeman's Tabernacle Sermons" which were delivered in a packed Ryman Auditorium in Nashville over three weeks in 1923. Each night, for three weeks, people thronged in that old theater to hear brother Hardeman speak. The photograph of this event is at once encouraging and disheartening. To imagine a time when a gospel preacher could fill such a facility with people hungry to listen is amazing. To understand how far removed we are from this era is heartbreaking. Some will blame television and movies, video games and the automobile; and it is clear that all these inventions compete for people's attention (2 Tim. 3:4). Too, the prosperity of this generation has made many self-assured and disinterested in a spiritual message that includes correction and sacrifice (1 Tim. 6:17). Dullness of hearing is a particular problem even among members of the church of Christ. How many of us miss gospel meeting opportunities because we are more interested in doing something else? How often do some brethren excuse their absence from the regular worship service by announcing they will be attending a sporting event, concert, graduation or reunion? Since I was in school, the authorities have been telling us that the attention span of Americans is shrinking. If you have read this far in the article, you have surpassed the expectations of many educators. Preachers are thus challenged: Do you give in to the shrinking attention span and switch to sermonettes or do you attack the problem and seek to improve it with challenging, yet accessible lessons? In many outposts, the dullness of hearing represented by diminished attention spans has been coddled and exacerbated. Sermons have shrunk in duration, scripture content has evaporated, gimmicks have been adopted. The result is that the Christian mind has been lobotomized--sermons of depth and challenge cause eyes to roll into the back of the head and minds to wander to happier thoughts, like the jokes we heard in last week's sermon. Where the Hebrew writer chastises his audience's dull hearing, many preachers today simply adapt and dumb it down. Shame on them. One of the saddest things I sometimes witness is an older couple with their grown child, who because of a mental impairment, still requires constant supervision. Although an adult, he yet has many of the attributes and limited intelligence of a child. Such a one is not to blame, but deserves our consideration and compassion. The problem the Hebrew writer is exposing in chapter five is a self-inflicted spiritual retardation. Some who should be full grown by now are yet no more able than a babe in the faith. "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need some one to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Heb. 5:12-14). The elementary principles of our faith (listed in chapter 6:1-2) form the milk of the word which is the diet of babes in Christ. Many pulpits are adulterating this milk with junk food, empty spiritual calories, in the form of sermons short on scripture and long on anecdotes, grin inducing jokes and tear jerking tales. Whereas spiritual infancy should be a limited period, many never progress beyond it. They look like full grown Christians but would stumble and fumble if challenged to defend their "beliefs" (1 Peter 3:15). The key to progressing beyond the milk of the word to solid food lies in grasping the scriptures and applying them. I have a friend who can apply a paint brush to a piece of canvas and produce something beautiful and precise. If I pick up the same brush, I simply make a mess. Not only do I lack the knowledge of his craft, but any experience in it as well. As exercise builds bodily muscles, so the exercises of a sanctified conscience against temptation builds spiritual might (1 Tim. 4:8, Eph. 6:10). Sometimes dullness of hearing is best expressed when men are hearers but not doers of the word (James 1:21-25). They are "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim. 3:7), being led away by various lusts, against which they are practically defenseless due to their ignorance. As the twentieth century slips into the shadows of history, the church of Jesus Christ is challenged to be more than the artificial churches around her. Rather than reflect a dumbed-down theology, she must restore her attention to the finer and deeper details of God's blessed word. Christians must demand the whole counsel of God be preached and evangelists must refuse to provide anything less--even when threatened with unpopularity or unemployment (Acts 20:27, 2 Tim. 4:1-5). Lord willing, in the coming months, this column will mine the scriptures and seek to bring some of those "things hard to explain" into better focus. Only through challenging our minds and souls will we grow. If we fail to progress, we will regress or digress. -- Via Watchman Magazine ___________________________________________ Being Naive by Rick Liggin It's really kind of funny when we run into someone who is genuinely naive about certain things. We sort of chuckle at this innocence, and may even poke a little fun at such a person. But even though being naive may be somewhat foolish at times, it's not always bad. There are some things that we need to be naive about, especially if we are Christians. The apostle Paul urged, "but I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil" (Rom. 16:19). He means by this admonition that we need to be wise and experienced in those things that are good; but when it comes to our practical experience with evil, we need to be as naive as possible. And there is certainly nothing wrong with that! Why is it that so many of us just have to experience things for ourselves--especially when it comes to evil? Why can't we be wise enough to learn from the bad experiences of others? You don't have to experience alcohol or drugs or sexual immorality in order to know how awful these things can be! We can know how bad these things are just by listening to the Word of God and the experiences of others who were not wise enough to avoid these evils. Let's learn to be satisfied with our own innocence, and abhor that which is evil (Rom. 12:9)! Let's be glad that we're naive when it comes to experience in sin. There is nothing to be ashamed of in this! It is really the wise course to pursue! To choose the worldly path of practical experience is to choose the path that leads to self-destruction! Would you please think about that--and just choose to be naive? -- Via Think on These Things, January-February- March, 2001 ___________________________________________ God's Super Expressway by Jim R. Everett Late one Sunday night...driving along in my little black 1960 VW, listening to the radio on my way home to Temple Terrace, Florida, from a preaching "appointment" somewhere in north Florida -- not many stations still on the air after midnight and `60 model VW's weren't equipped with high tech stereo radio's that could pull in AM signals from very far. Finally found one station that was emitting a strong signal and settled back to listen while I parsed Greek verbs in my mind. Some premillennial preacher came on and introduced his material by adamantly affirming that God had predicting the building of super highways and that there was going to be one built between Assyria and Egypt -- Bible taught it, he said. I was suddenly wide-awake and the Greek verb "luo" was loosed from mind. Where in the world would he get such an idea? Well, he referred to Isaiah 11:10; 19:23-25 and 35:5-10, where God does mention a "highway." And several minutes later, by the time he got through mangling the contexts, he seemed to have satisfied himself that he had proved his point. Others have echoed his position in more recent times. God did predict a "highway" but He did not have in mind an international, super expressway physically joining Assyria and Egypt. One way I know that to be true is because Assyria no longer exists. That is no problem to "end-time date setters" -- they just have God revive the Assyrian Empire. But it doesn't end there. The consistency of their position would demand that, not only must Assyria be revived as a nation but, God must also re-establish Philistia, Edom, Moab and Ammon, for they are also found in the same context (Isaiah 11:14). God used the word "highway," because a "highway" between Assyria and Egypt, where Israel becomes a third part suggests accessibility and the free flow of people where there is peace between these nations. However, this highway is not designed for high-speed traffic -- it is for the redeemed to WALK on (Isaiah 35:9). Did Isaiah prophecy of the "end times" which are supposed to be events leading up to the rapture, Armageddon and the end of the world when he spoke of God's highway? No. Isaiah 11:10-16, is a prophecy about the first coming of Christ who was of the stock of Jesse and, in the context, it was the time when He would come to save the Gentiles as well as the Jews. I know that is true, because that is exactly how Paul used Isaiah 11:10, when he quoted it in Romans 15:7-12. The predicted highway is a way of holiness where the unclean shall not pass. It will be for the redeemed and no fool shall err therein. Those who walk in this way will come with singing and everlasting joy -- all of which describes the cleansing of men by the blood of the Messiah and the resulting happiness as they return to God (Isaiah 35:5-10). Modern day prophets need the sensationalism to keep audiences and sell books, but they are false prophets who have no regard for a proper handling of the word of God -- the preacher did succeed in keeping me awake. -- Via bulletin of the Cedar Park church of Christ ___________________________________________ News & Notes Susie Lykins' biopsy went well. Though the lab report is not yet in, the surgeons are strongly confident and have assured her that there is no malignancy. Brady Bates has still been having some pain with his broken arm. This Tuesday he might be able to have the cast removed if the doctor okays it. If so, Brady will soon have to begin physical therapy. It is this coming Friday (May the 4th) that the gospel meetings will begin in Bethlehem (with Gardner Hall) and Philadelphia (with Bob Buchanon). Later in May (21-25: Monday through Friday), the Susquehanna church of Christ in Marietta will be having a gospel meeting with a different speaker each night. I'll be preaching for them on the 21. Other speakers will be: James Finny (Tuesday), James Baker (Wednesday), Scott Smelser (Thursday), and Brad Hopkins (Friday). ________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________