____________________________________________________ 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 17, 2008 ____________________________________________________ Contents: 1) The Perfect Fool (Steve Klein) 2) Things Written Aforetime: "Noah Found Grace...." (Joe Neil Clayton) ____________________________________________________ -1- The Perfect Fool by Steve Klein No one likes to be thought of as a fool. Yet, according to the Bible, the world is full of fools. The Scriptures even describe a number of ways to become a fool. Here are seven ways to be a fool: 1. Doubt the resurrection. The resurrection is a difficult concept for mortals to understand. Some find this reason enough to doubt that there will be a resurrection. By doubting the resurrection, they have an excuse to live in pleasure and moral foolishness. The apostle Paul observed that "if the dead do not rise" we could well say, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" (1 Corinthians 15:32). Notice that doubting the resurrection leads to poor direction in this life. Given the fact that Christ rose from the dead, it is foolish to doubt the resurrection just because we do not understand how a dead person can come back to life. Paul notes that "someone will say, 'How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?'" He calls the person who would ask such doubt-filled questions a "foolish one" (1 Corinthians 15:35-36). 2. Build your life around worldly accomplishments and prosperity. In Luke 12, Jesus told of a rich man who was so prosperous that he had to build new barns to store all of his stuff. The rich man said to himself, "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?'" (Luke 12:19-20). 3. Despise instruction. "Fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Proverbs 1:7). They think they know it all, when in fact they have a lot to learn. "But fools hate knowledge" (Proverbs 1: 22). This kind of fool is commonly found in the home in the form of a teenager who will not listen to his father's instructions. "A fool despises his father's instruction" (Proverbs 15:5). 4. Enjoy starting arguments. "Any fool can start a quarrel," and so every fool seems to enjoy doing so (Proverbs 20:3). Truly, "A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calls for blows" (Proverbs 18:6). 5. Make light of sin. Fools mock at sin (Proverbs 14:9). Sin is funny to fools. They don't see the seriousness of it. So they laugh at filthy jokes, take pride in drunken parties, and brag about getting away with breaking laws or committing sexual immorality. "To do evil is like sport to a fool, but a man of understanding has wisdom" (Proverbs 10:23). 6. Act like you're always right and everyone else is wrong. "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes" (Proverbs 12:15). "A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart" (Proverbs 18:2). "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool" (Proverbs 28:26). 7. Act as if you will never have to answer to God. Fools commit many sins, "Yet they say, The LORD does not see." They are only kidding themselves. The God who created the eyes and the ears sees and hears all. "Understand, you senseless among the people; and you fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?" (Psalms 94:7-9). The number seven is thought to be the number of completion or perfection. If a person is a fool in all of the seven ways listed above, I suppose that would make him the perfect fool. Hopefully, we can all see the folly of that. -- Via The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia, February 20, 2008 ____________________________________________________ -2- Things Written Aforetime by Joe Neil Clayton "Noah found grace..." The corruption of the "sons of God" through careless mating with the "daughters of men" brought the wrath of God upon the ancient world. He determined to destroy everyone, except Noah and his family. The fact that He had determined finally upon such an extreme course shows two things very clearly. First, "Jehovah, saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of His heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). Secondly, God's patience had been taxed to the limit. Whenever men set their hearts to ignore the will of God, He bears with them as long as he can. Nehemiah's recital of the patience of God with Israel is a prime example (See Nehemiah 9:26-31). Yet, there were times when the patience of God ran out, as in the case when the children of Israel stubbornly refused to cease idolatry in Jeremiah 44:15-23. Even after God had determined to destroy all men by a flood, Noah "found grace" in His eyes and He gave him instructions on the preparing of a great Ark to save his family. "...The longsuffering of God waited (even further) in the days of Noah, while the Ark was being prepared..." (I Peter 3:20), and the suggestion is found in Genesis 6:3 that this period of "waiting" was 120 years! Such patience becomes a merciful God, but is astounding, in view of the sinfulness of man. Peter, the apostle, tells us by the Spirit that we should "account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation" (2 Peter 3:15), or an opportunity to be saved before His patience is strained to the breaking point by the sinfulness of men. It is significant, in the case of Noah, that the grace of God was expressed in the commands that enabled Noah to save his house. Men in some churches speak of the grace of God as some sort of mysterious invisible working of God to save men, usually expressed in that which they call "the direct operation of the Holy Spirit." The unique thing about grace, however, is that the Bible shows it to be expressed through God's word. Grace "instructs," says Paul in Titus 2:11-12. The same inspired teacher speaks of the close connection of the grace of God with the "gospel" and the "word" in Acts 20:24,32. Similarly, Noah "found" the grace of God in the commands to build the Ark. But, Grace must be complemented by Faith. Paul tells those of us who live in this final age that we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Hebrews 11:7 confirms that Noah answered the grace of God by faith. "By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." When Moses recorded the story of Noah, he did not record what he thought the story meant to him, or to the men of his day. We are told in the New Testament, however, that the prophets of old served the men of this age by recording these stories. The story of Noah is one concerning a certain salvation. But, God was preparing a greater salvation than that of Noah, "concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them. To whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things" (1 Peter 1:10-12). To us is also given the warning, "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest we happen to drift away from them. For if the word spoken (in the past ages) through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?" (Hebrews 2:1-3a). Noah's salvation is a mold for our own, in principle, and the record of his salvation is admonitory for us. After Noah responded to the expressed grace of God by faith, we are told that he "moved" and "prepared" the means commanded by God's grace. His carefulness in obeying every one of God's commands is a fitting example to us. "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he" (Genesis 6:22). Had Noah failed to obey some command of God, he would have been classed with the rest of the disobedient who were destined to be drowned. The care of Noah in obedience reflected the dire consequence of failure. Noah wanted to live! Do you? The consequence of rebellion to God in this age is far more serious than mere drowning. It means an eternal death (Matthew 25:41-46). Careless souls today quibble about the conditions to be met for their salvation, often refusing to be baptized. But, Peter wrote that Noah and his family were "saved through water; which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism..." (I Peter 3:20-21). To be saved, Noah had to obey every command. For salvation from sin today, men must obey every command, one of which is baptism (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16). Any one of us who refuses to obey a command cannot be saved by grace, for grace is revealed in commands. He cannot be saved by faith, for faith "moves" and "prepares." Do not add your sins to the burden that is straining the patience of God! Honor His grace, respond in faith, and be saved! -- Via Truth Magazine, XVI: 6, pp. 3-4, December 9, 1971 ____________________________________________________ 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 ____________________________________________________