____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ January 1, 2006 ____________________________________________________ Contents: 1) Some Thoughts on Prayer (1) (Leonard S. Tyler) 2) A Fate Worse Than Non-Existence (Clarence R. Johnson) 3) Sin's Blinding Touch (Anonymous) 4) The Jewish New Year (Steve Klein) 5) News & Notes ____________________________________________________ -1- Some Thoughts on Prayer (1) by Leonard S. Tyler Prayer is much neglected, I believe, because it is much misunderstood. There are many aspects of prayer one cannot understand just as in all of God's dealing with man. Notwithstanding, prayer is a part of the life of a Christian. There are many false concepts of prayer. Some feel that since miracles have ceased no good can come from prayer. They forget that God operates through natural laws both spiritual and physical. This is God's way of performing His own will as He designed it. Who can deny it? Prayer must be in accord with the will of God and faith is essential for effective prayer (Jas. 1:6; Matt. 21:22). An expression from Brother E.A. Elam is as fresh and timely now as when it was first read in 1928: "The men and women named in the Old Testament as the most reverential, having the profoundest respect for the word of God, having made the greatest advancement in spirituality and the knowledge of the truth, and the most suited to serve God's purpose in advancing his cause were the most prayerful -- Moses and Samuel, for instance (Jer. 15:1); also Noah, Job, and Daniel (Ezek. 14:14). "So it is in the New Testament, and so it is now. The ones most advanced in real piety, in grace and godliness, and in the knowledge of the truth, are the most sincerely prayerful. "Paul, the most self-sacrificing and heroic and the one who accomplished the most in planting and building up churches, was also the most diligent in following his own inspired admonition: 'Pray without ceasing.' Without incessant prayer he could not have exercised so great self-control, have so advanced as he did in personal holiness, 'bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ' (2 Cor. 10:5), and could not have reached the grand consummation described in II Timothy 4:6-8.... "One of the first things said of Paul after he ceased to persecute Jesus was, 'For, behold, he prayeth'; and his last recorded utterance is a prayer for Timothy: 'The Lord be with thy spirit. Grace be with you.' "It is most instructive, and therefore helpful, to study all the recorded prayers, not only of Paul, but of all godly men and women of the Bible. "Not one of these many prayers, offered under different circumstances and at different times, was a collection of set phrases and formal words, but an expression of the full desire of the soul and directly to the point. "Prayers addressed to God are not filled with empty, useless words, but are pointed and usually short. "Every one who prays would like to think the prayers will be answered; hence, one wants to know how to offer prayers acceptable to God. So there can be nothing so instructive as to study the prayers which have pleased God and have been answered" (Elam's Notes on Bible School Lessons 1928, pp. 316-17). Some hold that any request which was made in the first century was for a miraculous manifestation of God in its fulfillment. This is not the way it was. When Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:24), He was not asking that without faith and obedience these would be saved. It must have been then, that He prayed that they might come to believe, obey and be saved. When Paul prayed for Israel that they might be saved, he surely did not pray that God would save them contrary to His will nor miraculously. He, it seems to me, was praying that Israel might come to understand, believe, obey and be saved. Yet both the Lord and Paul prayed for sinners. So all prayers were not for miraculous fulfillment. Christians are taught to pray. Paul wrote, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17). Jesus taught men always to pray, and not to faint (Luke 18:1). Some will counter, "If these texts are for us, how are we going to pray without ceasing or always?" The answer is clear -- just as the first century Christian did. We should thank God for the privilege of prayer and pray. -- Via Truth Magazine XXIV: 6, pp. 98, February 7, 1980 ____________________________________________________ -2- A Fate Worse Than Non-Existence by Clarence R. Johnson As Jesus was eating the Passover, He said to His apostles, "'Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.' And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, 'Is it I?' And another said, 'Is it I?' He answered and said to them, 'It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born'" (Mark 14:18-21). The betrayal of Jesus had been foretold in the Old Testament Scriptures. See Psalm 41:9 and related passages. Of course, the fact that God foresaw the deed does not necessarily imply that He specifically predestined Judas to be the doer of it. Perhaps the deed could have been done by one of Jesus' other friends. They all seemed to recognize that possibility, for one by one, they asked, "Lord, is it I?" The Greek text shows that the way they asked the question, they expected an answer in the negative. It is as if they said, "Lord, it is not me, is it?" But the fact that they asked at all shows that each of them at that candid moment realized his own potential for evil. And the events of the next few hours would show that their steadfastness and faithfulness to Jesus was indeed open to question. Later, when Jesus was arrested, "they all forsook Him and fled" (Mark 14:50). Before dawn Simon Peter had denied with an oath that He "did not even know who Jesus was." But, as the events of that night unfolded, it was Judas Iscariot who left during the meal, and returned with the soldiers who would lead Jesus away to be tried, sentenced, and crucified. And even though Judas was fulfilling prophecy, he must still be held responsible for his deed, for he had become a traitor by choice, not by compulsion. Jesus indicates Judas' eternal destiny by designating him the "son of perdition" (John 17:12). Peter tells us in Acts 1:25 that "Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place." The place of perdition became Judas' own place, and that by His own choice when he chose to betray Christ for 30 pieces of silver. One more thought we must mention. There is clearly a fate for the sinner worse than being non-existent. It would have been good for Judas had he never existed, for then he would not have betrayed the Lord, nor had to answer for that sin, nor go to the place of perdition for having done so. Perhaps Judas thought that his suicide would "end it all." But physical death does not end it all. Jesus said, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But...fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him" (Luke 12:4-5). -- Via The Susquehanna Sentinel, December 5, 2004 ____________________________________________________ -3- Sin's Blinding Touch PRIDE touched Naaman, the Syrian general, and made him revolt at Elisha's command to dip seven times in Jordan (2 Kings 5). SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS touched the Pharisee and blinded him to his own corruption and the publican's virtues (Luke 11:12). WORLDLY AMBITIONS touched the eyes of the young ruler and blacked out the possibility of an eternal crown (Luke 18:23). LOVE OF THIS PRESENT WORLD touched the heart of Demas and led him away from Paul and a faithful life (2 Tim. 4:10). COVETOUSNESS touched Balaam and blinded him to the tragedy of loving the wages of unrighteousness (2 Peter 2:15). SELF-WILL touched the vision of Saul and blinded him to the practice and consequence of presumption (1 Samuel 15:22). ENTICEMENT OF WOMEN finally put out Samson's eyes and sent him to grind in a Philistine mill (Judges 16). HUMAN TRADITIONS blinded Jerusalem so that she could not see her Christ (Mark 7:7-9). Beware!!! "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called 'Today,' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:12,13). -- Anonymous (Via The Bulletin of the Church at New Georgia, January 19, 2005) ____________________________________________________ -4- The Jewish New Year by Steve Klein As most Bible students know, the Jews of the Old Testament used a much different calendar than we do today. Originally, their calendar year began in the month of Tisri (our September). This was the time of the harvest and also the time of year in which the Jewish rabbis supposed that God had created the world. In Exodus 12, the Lord rearranged the Jewish calendar. As He was about to liberate the Israelites from the cruel bonds of Egyptian slavery, the Lord told Moses and Aaron, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you" (Exodus 12:2). This month was first called Abib by the Jews, and later Nisan. It corresponds to our March or April. The Lord also ordained a memorial Feast to be celebrated in the middle of this first month. The Jews were told to keep this Feast every year, "It is the sacrifice of Jehovah's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses" (Exodus 12:27). It is clear that God wanted the Israelites to remember their deliverance from bondage at the beginning of every year. The New Year was an occasion to recall that God's grace and power had liberated them, and that they owed their lives and their freedom to Him. Customarily, modern men begin the New Year with celebrations and resolutions. The focus is often on improving oneself. Might I suggest a different approach for this year? How about borrowing a little from a page in the Jewish calendar and begin this year by "giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins" (Colossians 1:12-14). Truly, our Passover has been sacrificed, Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 5:7). What better way to set the tone for a New Year than by remembering our deliverance from Satan's clutches and by determining never again to go back to the bondage of sin? "For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). Have a Happy (free-from-the-bondage- of-sin) New Year! -- Via The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia, 1/1/06 ____________________________________________________ -5- News & Notes I would like to solicit prayer for the relatives and friends of Lois Rader Ashworth and her son William C., Jr. Recently I learned that Mrs. Ashworth passed away December 3. She was 81 and a member of the Collegevue church of Christ in Columbia, Tennessee. Her husband had been a gospel preacher for many years, and departed this life in March 2000. Her son preceded her in death by 17 days, leaving Bette Wolfgang (the wife of Steve who preaches in Danville, Kentucky) the sole survivor of that family. We extend our condolences to Bette and to all the relatives and friends of these departed loved ones; and pray on behalf of the sorrowful for God's comfort, strength, and blessing for now and always. I would also like to request prayer for the brother of Dilcia Haik. Due to a serious car accident, he is now hospitalized, in critical condition, and not allowed to have visitors at this time. Dilcia has been a member at the Northshore church of Christ in Mandeville, Louisiana, for about a year now. Kevin Cowart was transferred January 3 to the Touro Rehabilitation Center in New Orleans. Let those of us who are Christians pray that all will go well for him. Let us also be praying for Bobbie Tarter's son David (who lives in Texas). He had recently been in the hospital due to very high blood pressure, and is now undergoing treatment and further examinations to determine the cause and the cure. ____________________________________________________ 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 ____________________________________________________