____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ December 4, 2005 ____________________________________________________ Contents: 1) Accepted with God (Acts 10:34,35) (Bobby K. Thompson) 2) A Test For Selfishness (Steve Klein) 3) Glory to the Reader or to the Writer? (David Diestelkamp) 4) News & Notes ____________________________________________________ -1- Accepted with God (Acts 10:34,35) by Bobby K. Thompson "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." This passage, along with several others in the scriptures, refers to individuals being accepted with God. Accepted is defined: "To receive (a thing offered) with a consenting mind; to receive with favor; to approve." A number of principles are brought to our mind in this phrase, "accepted with God." Observe a few of these: 1. God does not accept all -- not all are accepted with Him. 2. There are conditions of acceptability with God. These conditions are stated in the passage. 3. Where there is acceptability, rejection also exists. Acceptance implies rejection of others. 4. The conditions for acceptability are the same for all. God is no respecter of persons. All may be accepted with Him who are willing to comply with the conditions of acceptability. Whom Does God Accept? Negatively: No man's person. "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons." From the original language, the phrase "respecter of persons" literally means "reception of faces." It signifies to regard the external circumstances of a man -- his rank, wealth, etc. as opposed to his real intrinsic character. God respects character -- not what men might be reputed to be (Rom. 2:11). Not nations. The passage speaks of those in every nation. The individuals in every nation are accepted with Him -- not the nations themselves. The acceptability rests with the individual who will conform to the will of God. The Bible does not speak of "Christian nations." There are Christians in the nations. There were Christians in Caesar's household (Phil. 4:22). Positively: "He that feareth him, and worketh righteousness." It is quite obvious that two conditions are stated that an individual must meet in order for that one to be accepted with God. (1) "He that feareth him, and (2) worketh righteousness." To develop one and omit the other is to forfeit our acceptability with God. We should not be amazed at these conditions. They are not new. Solomon stated the same principles in Eccl. 12:13, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." The conclusion of the whole matter involved being accepted of God. To fear Him and work righteousness is to fear Him and keep His commandments. What is it to fear God? One definition of fear is: "awe, profound reverence, especially for the Supreme Being." Fear in this respect is akin to reverence. When one fears God, he reverences Him. Fear also involves honor. When one truly fears God, he respects and honors God. Man is a foolish creature in that he so often fears the wrong thing or person. Jesus dealt with this thought when He said: "And fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28). In all that we do in being acceptable to God, we must do so in a manner of reverence for God. There is no time to make light of God. "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:28-29). What is it to work righteousness? Not only are we to fear God, we are also to work righteousness. If there were no other passage in the word of God that teaches that man is to do something to be accepted with Him, this passage certainly does! Man is to work God's righteousness in order to be accepted with Him. How can anyone say that they believe the Bible and deny such a simple observation? Have they never read Acts 10:34-35? Mind you, Cornelius "feared God with all his house" (Acts 10:2), but he was not accepted with God. Why wasn't he accepted in the new covenant that is in Christ Jesus? Simply because the gospel, which was for both Jew and Gentile, was not made known to him at this time and he was not aware of what was involved in working the righteousness of God. To work the righteousness of God is to obey the commandments of God. The Psalmist wrote: "for all thy commandments are righteousness" (Psalms 119:172). Peter preached the gospel to Cornelius and his household and "commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord" (Acts 10:48). When penitent believers, on a confession of faith, are baptized into Christ, they are working God's righteousness to be accepted with Him. This is what God authorizes for men to do that they might be accepted with Him. This is not righteousness that men have established, but that which has come from God. Having done this to be accepted with Him, we must continue as His children to fear God and do the things that involve being faithful unto death (Rev. 2:10). -- Via The Susquehanna Sentinel, November 13, 2005 ____________________________________________________ -2- A Test For Selfishness by Steve Klein Are you selfish? Few people would answer yes to that question. Yet many people are clearly selfish. What we need is a test that everyone could take to determine whether or not they are in fact selfish. A simple test for selfishness can be derived from the parable of the "rich fool" found in Luke 12:16-21: Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Was the rich man selfish? We would all agree that he was. He is the epitome of selfishness and self-centeredness. That's easy to see, isn't it? But, what makes it so easy to see? The answer is that the rich man used his wealth solely for himself. His riches didn't make him selfish, but his attitude toward them and his use of them did. Jesus concludes, "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Everyone who "lays up treasure for himself" is just like this rich man -- he's selfish! Here then is the simple test for selfishness: For whose benefit do you use your possessions, money and wealth? Exclusively for yourself, or for others also? The selfish person will use what he has primarily or exclusively for himself. This past month, once you paid for all of the necessities, how much of your "spending money" was spent on you, and how much was spent on others? This contrast between selfishness and selflessness is also seen in the qualification of elders found in Titus 1:7-8; qualified men are "not greedy for money, but hospitable." To be greedy for money is selfishness. To be hospitable, sharing what you have with others, is selflessness. One day a certain old, rich man with a miserable disposition visited a preacher, who took the rich man by the hand and led him to a window. "Look out there," he said. The rich man looked into the street. "What do you see?" asked the preacher. "I see men, women, and children" answered the rich man. Again the preacher took him by the hand and this time led him to a mirror. "Now what do you see?" "Now I see myself," the rich man replied. Then the preacher said, "There is glass in the mirror, and there is glass in the window. But the glass of the mirror is covered with a little silver, and no sooner is the silver added than you cease to see others, but you see only yourself." Let us "be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share" (1 Timothy 6:17). Let us work to earn money so that we "may have something to give him who has need" (Ephesians 4:28). Let us be like Christ who "though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). -- Via The Bulletin of the Church of Christ in New Georgia, August 7, 2005 ____________________________________________________ -3- Glory to the Reader or the Writer? by David Diestelkamp The fruit fly has long been the mainstay of biomedical research. An article in the April 3, 2000 Newsweek lauds the scientific breakthrough of reading "almost all of the chemical letters -- 165 million of them -- that make up its DNA." It is called "an impressive technical feat in its own right." My marvel at the technological accomplishments of man falls far short of my awe for the One who took nothing and made all that man is discovering. The science of man is simply reading what God has written. And we are still in the primary reader stage at that --humans have almost 20 times more DNA than fruit flies! "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well" (Psa. 139:14). -- Via Think on These Things, April-May-June 2000 ____________________________________________________ -4- News & Notes I was sorry to hear of a couple former members (of two different congregations I had worked with) who passed away recently: Albert Cunningham (of Portsmouth, Ohio) and Mae Cornette (of Avondale, Pennsylvania). They will both be missed, but fondly remembered. We extend our condolences to the families and friends and pray that God will help and comfort each one. Bill Holt's mother has been back in the hospital, due to an infection that required being excised. The surgery for Virginia Fontenot (Linda Poole Blevins' mother) went well. She is now at home recuperating. Mary Wallace (Steve's wife) is also now back home and on the mend. Steve again thanks everyone for their prayers. Terry McDonald, a member of the church in Baton Rouge, had surgery a while back to install two vertebrae reinforced by a titanium plate in his neck. Unfortunately, overdoing it too soon at work led to more painful trouble with this and the need to take about three months off from work, which has been difficult for him. He has also been recently diagnosed with a tumor between the skull and brain-lining, which he will find more out about this Friday. After having to delay an MRI just a couple days ago for Kevin Cowart because he had been unresponsive in ICU, he is now in a regular hospital room -- "talking up a storm" and "very alert"! This is amazing, for just a few days ago, due to his worsened condition, only immediate family could briefly visit with him. Now, however, he will even be transferred to rehab in only about 2 or 3 days. He will have to continue wearing his neck-brace for the next 12 to 14 weeks, since his neck was also broken in the accident; but what an improvement he has undergone in just the last couple days! ____________________________________________________ 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 ____________________________________________________