____________________________________________________ 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 14, 2007 ____________________________________________________ Contents: 1) "He Careth For You" (David McClister) 2) Worse than Sodom (Stacey E. Durham) 3) News & Notes ____________________________________________________ -1- "He Careth For You" by David McClister One of the most beautiful statements in all the Bible is found in 1 Peter 5:7 -- "casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you" (ASV). The apostle here combines commandment and fact in a most assuring way for every Christian. How great it is to know that we are not faced with the unpleasant task of having to worry our lives through or become dragged down by the day-to-day problems which are seemingly capable at times of piling up much faster than we can deal with them. By the grace and love of God, we are spared from the nervousness which plagues those outside of Christ. All we need to do when the worries come is hand them over to God and let Him take care of them. What a blessing this is! Yet all too often we neglect it and find ourselves needlessly grappling with our fears and worries. We often spend far too much time worrying about the bills, getting out of debt, the security of our jobs, our health, our safety, and a host of other things which really distract us from our main job of being the people of God first and making spiritual things our primary concern. Before we know it we are so bogged down in anxiety that we have lost sight of our spiritual concerns and have become like the rest of the world -- spending all our time minding the things of this life, rather than paying attention first to the things of heaven. For this reason, it is good to step back once in a while and evaluate just how we are living our lives. We all need, from time to time, to pull ourselves up from the details of the bills, job, etc. and make sure that heaven still is our chief desire. That is not to say that we must abandon all responsibility, but that we must ever be sure that we are not losing sight of our most important responsibility, which is obeying God. But even more than this, we need to take all of those cares and worries and deposit them squarely into the hands of God. He is far more capable of dealing with them than we are, for He is, after all, the Creator of all things. Surely a God as powerful as the one we worship can handle the problems we mortals face. Yet the facts are more encouraging still. Did you ever wonder why it is that God wants us to let Him handle our worries? It is not because God particularly enjoys having problems heaped upon Him, even though He can deal with them easily. No, God wants to take on our problems so that we can keep our sights set on heaven without any distractions. We need to realize that God wants us to be saved. The Scriptures plainly teach, "The Lord is...not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9), and "...God our Savior...would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4). God is on our side! He wants to see us be faithful to Him, and so He will deal with our problems so that we can concentrate upon being faithful and making it to heaven. This is a piece of what it means that "he careth for you." Thus we are commanded to cast our cares upon God. The apostle Paul issued the same exhortation in Philippians 4:6: "In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." This is not merely an option open to the Christian, nor is it a casual suggestion. It is a commandment of the Lord delivered by His apostles. The plain and simple fact is that God does not want us wasting our time worrying over things that have not yet happened to us. He wants us to spend our time wisely (Eph. 5:15f), concentrating on the good we may do in His service now. Let God take care of the problems of the future. As Jesus said, "Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Matt. 6:34). It is a matter of letting God be God, letting faith be faith, and letting today be spent in His service. God has designed the Christian life to be one of supreme serenity and peace, and there is no good reason why any Christian's life should be otherwise. Sure, troubles will come. They come to all men. But the great thing about our life in Christ is that we do not have to face them helplessly or alone. God has volunteered to handle our fears, cares, and anxieties for us. Now, with such fears out of the way, how much time do you suppose that leaves us for pleasing God? All of it! And what shall be the result for us? "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7). -- Via Guardian of Truth XXIX: 7, pp. 193, 217, April 4, 1985 ____________________________________________________ -2- Worse than Sodom by Stacey E. Durham Sodom and Gomorrah were places of such immeasurable evil and sin that God utterly destroyed both cities (Gen. 19). In those cities were all types of wickedness, including the predominant sin of homosexuality. Their sinfulness was so complete that not even ten righteous souls could be found there, for which God would have spared the cities. With that event of God's wrath, Sodom and Gomorrah became synonymous with sin and judgment. The writers of the Scriptures often made references to these cities in their efforts to illustrate the wickedness and destinies of those who sinned against God (Deut. 29:23; 32:32; Isa. 1:9-10; 3:9; Jer. 23:14; Lam. 4:6; Ezek. 16:46-63; 2 Pet. 2:6). Comparisons were made between Sodom and sinful nations, cities, and individuals that stood in opposition to God. Jesus also made such comparisons, but He identified wickedness that exceeded even that of Sodom. In particular, Matthew records that Jesus sent out His twelve apostles with very specific instructions. He told them to go and preach the message, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 10:7). He empowered them to perform miracles of healing, raising of the dead, cleansing of lepers, and casting out of demons (Matt. 10:8). And for any city that rejected the Lord's apostles, Jesus said, "It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city" (Matt. 10:15). Likewise, Jesus said of the city of Capernaum, which had rejected Him and His message, "You shall descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless, I say to you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you" (Matt. 11:23-24). We must appreciate the gravity of the Lord's words in these passages. For the cities that Jesus identified, their offense was considered worse than that of Sodom. If Sodom's sins were so grave that the wrath of God destroyed the city from the earth, then what punishment must await those who have committed the offenses of Capernaum? Exactly what did Capernaum do that deserved such a stern rebuke? The answer is that the people rejected the Son of God and His message. This is the offense that the Lord declared to be less tolerable than the reprehensible sins of Sodom. Those cities that rejected His apostles likewise rejected the Lord, for "it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you" (Matt. 10:20). Also, when Jesus sent out the seventy, two by two, He said, "The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me" (Luke 10:16). Consider this: Could there be anything worse than rejecting the Son of God? He is the Almighty (Rev. 1:8), the Preeminent One (Col. 1:15-18), the fullness of God (Col. 1:19; 2:9), and the One through whom all things were made (John 1:1-3)! He is the revelation of grace and truth (John 1:17), the declaration of God to mankind (John 1:18), and the greatest extension of God's love to the world (John 3:16)! He is the One who allowed the shedding of His own innocent blood so that we, being guilty of sin, could live in His glory for eternity! I could go on and on with descriptions of His glory, but the point is this: Who are we to reject HIM?!? I realize that all sin carries the weight of eternal condemnation, but to have rejected the generous offer of God's love through Christ will haunt lost souls for eternity. So then, considering the glory, grace, and love of the Lord, can we not still rightly say that to reject the lord Jesus is worse than the sins of Sodom? Indeed, it is, and the punishment of those who reject Him is a fearful thought. Therefore, let us hear His word and accept it, receiving as the benefit the salvation of our souls with the Lord for eternity. -- Via Creekview Bulletin ____________________________________________________ -3- News & Notes Here are some updates on people that we who are Christians can continue praying for: Chuck Bartlett, in writing about his wife who recently had her thyroid removed: "Many have been asking how Debbie has been doing and what were the results (cancer or no cancer). Well, we went to the doctor today and he said, 100% no cancer. We are very thankful for that. Debbie still gets tired easily, but that is improving. Thank you all for your prayers and concern (and cards, emails, calls). We have so much to be thankful for. God bless." After spending several weeks in Missouri, and not able to return home because of her health, Annie Mae Jackson is now back home. However, she will have to be on oxygen 24 hours a day for the rest of her life, due to her heart functioning at only 30%. Let us pray that she'll be able to adjust to this necessity without any trouble. Marion Edwards (my mother) has made some improvement, while rehabilitating in a nursing home, and was recently told that she might possibly be able to return home in a couple weeks. The following update is from Jackie Evans about her husband: "Just wanted to let you know that RJ has been admitted to the hospital again. He started his chemotherapy treatments about a month ago and the first two treatments went well -- only a day or two of feeling bad. However, after his third treatment he began to have nausea and vomiting and just feeling worse every day. We talked to the doctor several times and he prescribed various anti-nausea medications, etc., but nothing seemed to help. Finally he had to go to the emergency room Tuesday night and was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday. He is still very sick and the IV meds they are giving him don't seem to be helping very much. Please remember him in your prayers. I am planning to talk with his oncologist tomorrow and hopefully, he will come up with something new to treat him with. He has lost a lot of weight and is very weak and discouraged. "Again, please keep praying for his recovery." ____________________________________________________ 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 ____________________________________________________