____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ September 2, 2001 ____________________________________________________ Armed With Attitude by Dan S. Shipley In fortifying God's people to meet suffering and persecution, Peter says "arm ye yourselves also with the same mind" (the mind of Christ, 1 Pet. 4:1). Nothing better equips us to suffer for righteousness' sake than Christ-mindedness. That means seeing things from the divine viewpoint. Accordingly, such suffering comes as no surprise to those who live godly in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 3:17). Not only is it expected, it is made easier with an encouraging sense of purpose in recalling that we become "joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be glorified together" (Rom. 8:17). With the mind of Christ we see our affliction as light, temporary and even beneficial: "For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory..." (2 Cor. 4:17). Like Jesus, we must see a blessedness associated with persecution for His sake. And more, to experience a sense of joy and gladness with our endurance because of the great heavenly reward that is promised the faithful (Matt. 5:10-12). However, Christ-mindedness not only sees suffering in perspective, it enables us to see things "as they are" in other areas as well. From the divine viewpoint we see sin for what it is and therefore "hate every false way" (Ps. 119:104). In contrast, the carnally minded minimize and lightly regard sin; they usually "don't see anything wrong with it," much less mourn about it (1 Cor. 5:2). The mind of Christ is sensitive to sin. It sees every sin as serious; as a kind of spiritual cancer in need of immediate attention -- and they appreciate the remedy provided by the Great Physician. Such a view sees sinners with compassion, whether brethren who need restoring or aliens needing to know the gospel. They not only see sinners as needing help, they see self as the helper. "To have the mind of Christ is to see time as an expression of God's longsuffering (2 Pet. 3:15); as opportunity to do the father's will, knowing that the night cometh when no man can work. Nothing will enhance life more than to "Have this mind in you." -- Via Plain Talk, October 1977 ___________________________________________ Free Bible Course Provided Upon Request ___________________________________________ You Are Important by Jim R. Everett When Jesus taught his disciples not to worry about life, food or raiment, he constantly reaffirmed such truths on the basis that God can provide for their needs (Mt. 6:24-33). But there is an underlying implication in each point he makes which silently cries out -- "YOU ARE IMPORTANT!" Notice: "If God cares for each of the birds of the heavens; if he feeds them and one does not fall to the ground without His notice, are you not MORE IMPORTANT than the birds?" Again: "Are you not MORE IMPORTANT than the lilies of the field which, though transitory, are clothed in such beauty and splendor that they surpass Solomon's glory?" However, people have problems of feeling unimportant. For instance, a boy who is jilted by his girlfriend can reach such a "low" that he feels completely valueless. He decides life is not worth living, takes a knife and slashes his wrists. He, then, makes a desperate telephone call and his girlfriend rushes him to the hospital. You see, he really did not want to die -- he wanted to feel important. But there is no need to take such a drastic chance -- the line could be busy. On some occasions children do some things which are socially unacceptable in order to be noticed by other human beings. This reinstates their feelings of importance. Consider the little boy who, because he was not allowed to interrupt adults, stood in the background until he got to feeling desperate, so he walked up and kicked the preacher in the shins. He got plenty of attention then. Others will use gutter expletives or join a radical group because they are recognized and made to feel like "somebody." And someone else might compensate for incompetence by bragging about his prowess. YOU ARE IMPORTANT! "I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." the Psalmist said (Psa. 139:14). When God formed the first man and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, man was God's special creation in God's image (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:7); but so are you -- each of you. Elihu said to Job, "I also am formed out of the clay" (Job 33:6). Each of you is an individual made in the image of God. You are of great value to your maker. Because you are made in God's image, you are also important to yourself. Jesus said, "For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what shall a man be profited if he shall gain the whole world and forfeit his life? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?" (Mt. 16:25-26). There is nothing so valuable as your soul, hence, the utmost effort should be given to its eternal salvation. But you are also important to me, "For I seek not yours, but you..." (2 Cor. 12:14). I will, therefore, gladly spend and be spent to help you. Do not ever believe that no one cares what happens to you or that you are worthless and life is not worth living. You are a unique individual -- there is no one else just like you -- and you are priceless to God, to yourself and to me. -- Via Plain Talk, March 1975 ___________________________________________ Looking To Jesus by Robert F. Turner I have been asked to present some "simple study -- like Jn. 3:16." That is a reasonable request. Beginning with verse 14: Jesus compares his crucifixion to the lifting up of the brass serpent by Moses. We learn from Num. 21:4-9 that when the Israelites failed to trust God they were bitten by serpents and died. When they confessed their sins and asked for relief, God had Moses make a serpent of brass and place it upon a pole. When a man was bitten, if he would look to the serpent he would live. Jesus said he must be lifted up, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life." The reference is NOT to "lifting Him up" in our estimation. He was first "lifted up" (on the cross) that we might look to Him as our sacrifice. "Whosoever" erases any idea of a limited atonement. Salvation is available to all (1 Tim. 2:4-6 Titus 2:11-14), but only those who believe in (i.e., put their trust in) Him will receive the offered blessing. Jesus wants to be your Savior, but you must turn to Him (1 Tim. 4:10; Mk. 16:16). "Believeth" is not a momentary thing, done at some point in time and it is accomplished. Faith (trust) is the base from which springs our life in Christ. "In Him" is life, for He is its source and maintainer. Another way to put it -- we are lost in our sin (the disease), and our only hope is to have our sins removed, forgiven. Jesus died on the cross to pay the debt -- so that God could be both just and the justifier of those who will put their trust in Him (the remedy). Bible "faith" is not some experience, some "feeling" that comes from God. It "cometh by hearing...the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). First there must be the fact, then the witness, then the witness records the fact, and finally -- we hear and believe the record. The record concerning Christ is such that to truly believe it is to change our life accordingly. God's word is the sword of the Spirit. By it He enters, motivates, and fills our life. And for those who thus receive Him, Christ becomes our life. To one who understands the Bible use of "faith," it is almost a redundancy (more words than are needed) to say one must obey the Lord. James says "faith without works is dead" (Jas. 2:24-26). Faith which saves is a "faith which worketh by love" (Gal. 5:6). But God says "obey" (Heb. 5:9; Rom. 2:6-11; Acts 2:38) often enough and clear enough that there is little excuse for a Bible reader to think he will be saved by an inactive faith. "For God so Loved...." Careful exegetes think Jesus' statement ends with vs. 15, and vs. l6-17 are John's comments on what He had said. If so, we are thankful to the Holy Spirit for such a wonderful comment. He puts the salvation of man on the basis of love, the love that flows from God toward creatures who had rejected Him, a love so great that it manifested itself in self-sacrifice, a love that came not to condemn but to save. We "should not perish...," but love would be incomplete that did not warn of the awful end awaiting those who stubbornly reject God's love. -- Via Plain Talk, August 1975 ___________________________________________ Scriptures and Footnotes... Obadiah 1:1-4: Edom's Downfall Through Arrogance by Tom Edwards "The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom -- We have heard a report from the Lord, and an envoy has been sent among the nations saying, `Arise and let us go against her for battle' -- "Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you are greatly despised. The arrogance[1] of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock[2], in the loftiness of your dwelling place, who say in your heart, `Who will bring me down to earth?' Though you build high like the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down[3], declares the Lord." ------------ [1] The Bible has much to say about the sin of pride: "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling" (Prov. 16:18). "Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; assuredly, he will not be unpunished" (Prov. 16:5). "...God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (1 Pet. 5:7). [2] The pride of the Edomites was due to a couple factors: 1) their lofty dwelling, which they thought made them invincible, for they dwelt in a mountainous strip of territory with peaks as high as 5,700 feet near Teman. Petra, their capital, had just one narrow mountain pass leading into it -- so narrow that not many people could walk through it abreast -- and which made it very easy for the people of Petra to defend their city and to have an over-confidence toward doing so. 2) And as Homer Hailey points out, Edom also took pride "in his wealth. Possessing great ore deposits and being located as he was on the crossroads of caravan traffic, he had grown wealthy through trade, through duty charged the caravans that traversed his land, and through his disposition to plunder weak caravans that passed through" (A Commentary on the Minor Prophets, p. 33). It appears, therefore, that the Edomites' complete trust was in only themselves, their wealth, and the strategic location of their lofty, natural fortress-type dwelling -- rather than in God! [3] Yes, the Edomites eventually were brought down; and as God has often used other peoples or nations to do this, even so, He did for the destruction of the Edomites. Homer Hailey writes: "Historically, Edom's destruction began with the Chaldean invasion under Nebuchadnezzar but was not completed by that nation. Between the sixth and the end of the fourth centuries, Edom was invaded by Arabs known as the Nabataeans, a highly gifted people who drove the Edomites out of their land into a region south of Judea. The Maccabees brought them under subjection in the second century when Judas Maccabeus slew some twenty thousand of them. John Hyrcanus (134-104 B.C.) subjugated the remnant of the nation, forcing them to accept circumcision and nominally to accept the Jewish religion. Under the Romans some time during the first century after Christ the remaining Edomites were absorbed by the Arabs and their identity was lost completely" (ibid., pp. 37,38). ___________________________________________ News & Notes Carol Music (of Ashland, Kentucky) recently had a malignant tumor removed successfully; but it was discovered that several had spread to the liver. Let us keep her in prayer as she heals from the former surgery and seeks to have these additional tumors taken care of, as soon as she is strong enough -- perhaps, within the next couple weeks. Joe Thompson has been having trouble with his hearing lately -- in addition to his other ailments. Mae Cornette hurt her ankle a while back and was having some trouble with it. Margaret Mosier is sometimes not able to be with us due to her respiratory problems. Let us be praying for all these people! ________________________________________ Avondale CHURCH OF CHRIST 1606 Glen Willow Rd., Avondale, PA 19311 (For postal service: P.O. Box 421) (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 ________________________________________