____________________________________________________ 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 6, 2005 ____________________________________________________ Contents: 1) The King on a Cross (Clarence R. Johnson) 2) "Unto Us God Revealed" (Robert F. Turner) 3) Water Shortage (S. Scott Richardson, Sr.) ____________________________________________________ -1- The King on a Cross by Clarence R. Johnson The Jewish Sanhedrin condemned Jesus. The priest stirred up a mob who yelled, "Crucify Him!" Pilate the Roman governor gave the order, and the Roman soldiers carried out the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. "Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. And the inscription of His accusation was written above: THE KING OF THE JEWS. With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'And He was numbered with the transgressors.' And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, 'Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!' Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, 'He saved others; Himself He cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.' Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him" (Mark 15:25-32). It was customary for the charge against a condemned man to be placed on the cross above him. The "charge" against Jesus was that He was "THE KING OF THE JEWS." John tells us that the Jewish priests objected to the wording. "Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, 'Do not write, "The King of the Jews," but, "He said, 'I am the King of the Jews.'"' Pilate answered, 'What I have written, I have written'" (John 19:21-23). It is this writer's opinion that in this matter, Pilate was intentionally embarrassing the Jewish authorities by identifying Jesus as their king. Mark informs us that, not only the Roman soldiers, the Jewish authorities, and the spectators in general participated in ridiculing Jesus as He hang dying on the cross, but that even the criminals who were being crucified with Him mocked Him also. But Luke informs us that as the day wore on, one of them came to believe in the innocence and the Lordship of Jesus. "Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, 'If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.' But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, 'Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.' Then he said to Jesus, 'Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.' And Jesus said to him, 'Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise'" (Luke 23:39-43). "Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?' which is translated, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'" (Mark 15:33-34). These exact words of Jesus had been foretold by King David a thousand years before in Psalm 22:1. As Paul says in Gal. 3:13, Christ became "a curse for us (for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree).'" The Old Testament text is even more specific: "For he who is hanged is accursed of God" (Deut. 21:23). As Isaiah had predicted, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:5-6). -- Via The Susquehanna Sentinel, January 30, 2005 ____________________________________________________ -2- "Unto Us God Revealed" by Robert F. Turner Revelation is the "Act of revealing; the disclosing to others of what was before unknown to them." Paul said, concerning the gospel of Christ, "We speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden" (I Cor. 2:7). The gospel was not a mystery in our present sense of "mysterious," "occult," or "spooky"; but it was God's military secret -- His plan for overcoming the powers of Satan. Wicked people "made covenants" with the Satanic powers (Isa. 28:14-f); but God planned to lay in Zion "a precious cornerstone of sure foundation" and break this covenant. Because the "rulers of this world" did not know God's secret, they crucified the Lord of glory (I Cor. 2:8), but in His resurrection Christ "led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men" (Eph. 4:8). Continuing with Eph. 4:11 we read, "And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." These were divinely inspired men unto whom God revealed the mystery, in order that they might make known, through the church, His wisdom (Cf. Eph. 3:9f). The "us" of our subject (I Cor. 2:10) refers to such men who received God's truths through revelation. TODAY WE ARE CONVINCED OF TRUTH, THROUGH FAITH IN THE INSPIRED WORDS, WHICH THESE MEN PENNED. Paul declares, Eph. 3:2f: "If so be that ye have heard of the dispensation of that grace of God which was given me to you-ward: how that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ; which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit." The apostles and prophets (of New Testament) received truth through revelation, but others must READ WHAT THEY WROTE. In Ezek. 13, God issues a solemn warning to those who "prophesy out of their own heart," "that say, 'Jehovah saith,' but Jehovah hath not sent them." Yet, the religious world today is filled with so-called prophets who lightly rattle, "God told me this..." and "God told me that...." Several months ago a divorced woman, who did not even claim a scriptural cause, became very angry when I refused to officiate at a second marriage. She said, "I asked God about this, and He said it was all right." Opening the Bible, I suggested, "Let me ask God, and see what he says." When I began to read from Matt. 19 and I Cor. 7, the woman was appalled. She could scarcely believe that anyone, even Matthew or Paul, would question what "God told her." The apostle Peter, knowing that he must die, wrote "I will give diligence that at every time ye may be able after my decease to call these things to remembrance" (2 Pet. 1:15). Again, 3:1f. "This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write unto you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance; that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles." Luke announced that he would write, "that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed" (Lu. 1:3-4). The written Word of God is our rule of faith and practice, and we demonstrate our respect for the authority of heaven by the way we accept and adhere to this TRUTH. The gospel of Christ, revealed unto chosen witnesses, confirmed by "signs following," is contained in the written Word. Let us not imagine a vain revelation, but let us study what was written for our instruction, "rightly dividing the word of truth." - Via Truth Magazine, May 1957 ____________________________________________________ -3- Water Shortage by S. Scott Richardson, Sr. Most parts of the world have experienced droughts at some time in history. They are a source of great distress and discomfort. While almost everyone is aware of and talks about this lack of moisture, very few people are interested in a much more serious water shortage -- a self-imposed shortage of the "Water of Life." The Gospel of John, chapter four, finds Christ speaking with a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. There was a shortage of Water in this woman's life so the Saviour explains to her the "living water," the "water springing up unto eternal life" (vv. 10, 14). The woman learned, as can anyone who reads this passage, that to obtain the Water that eternally quenches thirst, one has to come to the source -- Christ. Today there are many who want Water, but refuse to come to Christ and instead choose their own way. This is nothing new, as we can read in John chapter six. Upon learning to obtain eternal life it was necessary to come to Christ through belief and obedience, many turned and "walked no more with Him." Turning away from Christ -- His love and His teachings -- creates a water shortage that will end in dehydration of our souls and even to death. Read, study, learn of Christ's love for mankind and then obey his commands that are found in the Bible. Develop the attitude of the woman at the well, "Lord, give me of this water that I thirst not...." -- Via The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia, January 16, 2005. ____________________________________________________ MYRTLE STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST 1022 Myrtle Street Denham Springs, LA 70726 (225) 664-8208 Sunday: 9:15 AM, 10:00 AM, 4:00 PM Wednesday: 7:00 PM evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520 e-mail: tedwards@onemain.com web site: http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go ____________________________________________________