____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ March 2, 2008 ____________________________________________________ Contents: 1) The Power of Hope (Michael L. Dubose) 2) Remember... (Gene Taylor) ____________________________________________________ -1- The Power of Hope by Michael L. Dubose Paul said, "And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor. 13:13). We understand that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6) and we emphasize its importance in His plan. We remember the occasion of the lawyer asking Jesus which is the greatest commandment. Jesus answered that we are to love God above all else and that we are to love our neighbor as ourself. He said that the whole law hangs on these two commandments (cf. Mk. 12:28-31). Thus, we continually teach about love as the central force in our obedience to God. However, we don't deal with hope quite as often. As a result, many Christians fail to take advantage of the great power of hope. On two other occasions Paul mentions the three together. In 1 Thessalonians 1:3, he wrote, "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." Again in 5:8 Paul said, "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation." It is significant to note that Paul said our helmet, the thing which protects our most vital part, the head, is the hope of salvation. Hope provides us with great protection against the temptations and snares of the devil. It is our "patience of hope" that motivates us to continue working in the Lord's vineyard. We can understand the great motivating power of hope by considering everyday occurrences. In fact, life, without hope, would be impossible to bear. We have all seen or heard of someone injured in an accident which results in paralysis to the limbs of the body. Over the days and weeks after the injury, the individual works, moving the paralyzed muscles with great difficulty and often in great pain. But the hope of one day walking again motivates the person to continue, to endure the hours of therapy and the suffering. It is no wonder that Paul repeatedly connected hope with faith and love. As Christians, hope is necessary to our spiritual well being. It is hope that motivates us to endure in spite of temptation, persecution, and indifference. It is our hope of heaven that helps us to patiently labor despite all of life's setbacks. The Hebrew writer said, "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. . . " (Heb. 6:19). Our hope is Christ. He is the anchor that holds us secure in life's troubled waters. We need to understand that there is a vast difference between hope and wishful thinking. Hope is desire plus expectation. Often we desire something but have no real expectation of receiving it; that is not hope. It is wishful thinking. Sometimes we fully expect to receive something, but have no desire to receive it. That is hardly hope. But, when we truly desire something and have a reasonable expectation of receiving it, then we joyously hope for it. Without Christ, we would have no hope of heaven. All men sin and separate themselves from God (Rom. 3:23). All are lost and unworthy of heaven (Rom. 6:23). But God sent His Son to die that through Him we might have the hope of everlasting life. Paul told the Colossians that it is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). Christ is the anchor of the soul in stormy seas. We desire to live in heaven and because Christ died on the cross we can fully expect to enjoy eternal life, if we keep His commandments (Heb. 5:8,9). While hope is a powerful weapon in our arsenal for quenching the fiery darts of Satan, we must understand the basis of hope. There is only one hope (Eph. 4:4). Only those who obey the truth have that hope. John wrote, "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 Jn. 3:3). We purify ourselves, as John explained, by keeping God's commandments, by doing righteousness. He said, "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him" (1 Jn. 2:3-5). And again, "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous" (1 Jn. 3:7). Peter taught, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth . . ." (1 Pet. 1:22). Those who have the one hope of which Paul spoke have obeyed the gospel of Christ and are continuing to do righteousness by continuing in His word. These are the ones who have been made free from sin (Jn. 8:32). Others may hope to live in heaven while rejecting the truth, but they have confused hope with wishful thinking. The desire may be there, but they have no right to expect to live in heaven. By refusing to obey God's word, the basis of hope is gone. Paul wrote of those outside of Christ as those "which have no hope" (1 Thess. 4:13). Truly, the most horrifying statement in the Bible is Paul's description of man without Christ. "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12). The hopelessness of those who reject God's word is mirrored in the account of the rich man in Luke 16:19-31. He rejected God's pleading while he was alive, his opportunity to obey God had passed and only eternal agony stretched before. Peter said, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 1:13). The idea here is that the child of God must set his heart firmly on Christ. We must recognize that only by doing His will can we hope to live eternally. This earth is not our permanent home; we are on a journey to heaven. Hope enables us to patiently endure, to overcome temptation that we might one day enjoy the mansions prepared for us in heaven. -- Via Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 10, p. 301, May 17, 1984 ____________________________________________________ -2- Remember... by Gene Taylor In his final epistle, written near the end of his life, the apostle Peter told his fellow brethren, "For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you" (2 Pet. 1:12-13). Reminders are good things. The older I get, the more I appreciate them. Like so many others, my memory is not what it used to be so it is good to be reminded of doctors' appointments, my wedding anniversary, my wife's birthday, etc. Often it is good for us to be reminded of some basic things in relation to our spiritual life. These things are very fundamental. All who are Christians know them. Yet, it is good to be reminded of them from time to time so that we might always remember them. Remember Who You Are The apostle John wrote, "See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is" (1 John 3:1-2). It is good for Christians to remember at all times that they are children of God. Christianity is not something that is donned on Sundays or when around other Christians. It is who we are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our conduct should reflect that fact. In John 8:44, Jesus told the Jews of His day that they were children of the devil because it was his will they desired to do. Conversely, if we are going to be children of God, we must desire to do His will in our lives. It is something we need to remember constantly. Remember Why You Are Here Sometimes, even though we might have the best of intentions, we get caught up in the ideas of the world around us and worldly things seem important to us. We give priority to our education, our job, our possessions, etc., instead of remembering what life is really about. No better statement of the purpose of life can be found than that which Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 12:13, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all." Let us never lose sight of the purpose of our existence. Let us not be distracted by the world and its enticements. Let us be firmly resolved to remember that "our all" is to live lives that honor and glorify our God. Let us never lose sight of that fact. Remember Why You Worship Jesus reminded the Samaritan woman at the well that, "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." We should always remind ourselves that worship is directed to God. Sometimes, some who claim to be Christians are dissatisfied with worship or even stay away because it was not done in the way in which they desired or by whom they wanted. Somehow some of us have gotten the idea that for worship to be what it should be that it has to be done to please us. In reality, is that not worship of self rather than worship of God? Self is never to be the focus of worship. Hebrews 10:24-25 says we assemble to worship God and to "...consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another..." As we worship, we should be thinking of God and others, not of self. Remember the purpose of worship. Additionally, remember the purpose of the building in which we worship. Though not sacred in and of itself, it was purchased with the Lord's money so that Christians might have a comfortable place in which to worship, study the word of God and carry out the work of the church. Let us not allow it to become just a social gathering place or a playground for our children. Let us respect the fact that it was built for the Lord's honor and glory. Let us teach our children such respect. -- Via http://www.padfield.com/1999/remember.html ____________________________________________________ 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 ____________________________________________________