. ____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ November 2, 2008 ____________________________________________________ Contents: 1) More Than Conquerors (Dan King) 2) Still Standing After the Storm (Steve Klein) 3) Expendable (Robert F. Turner) ____________________________________________________ -1- More Than Conquerors by Dan King One can picture in his mind a victorious Roman general returning to his beloved capitol to present the symbols of his battlefield glories before his Emperor and his people. He rides atop a white stallion, followed by his armies, cheered by the crowds, adored by all who behold his approach. He is a Conqueror. This image provides the background for a key text in the book of Revelation. Thus John portrays the Christ in the Apocalypse (19:11-14): "And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems; and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself. And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure." At that moment in time it must have been most difficult for those suffering Christians of Asia Minor to have imagined their Christ marching in such grand royal splendor. All about them suggested otherwise. The church was considered an illegal entity. Christians were oppressed and persecuted. Their possessions were being confiscated, their careers ruined, their businesses wrecked. Some of them were even tried on unfair charges and put to death. Things looked pretty dismal. Yet John's book of prophecy suggested that this was only what things appeared to be on the surface. In reality things were quite different. For one to get this deeper perspective, the "heavens must be opened," as they were for the Apostle John when he received his Revelation from God. Through the eyes of divine disclosure, the church was viewed as a mighty army "upon white horses" being led on to ultimate victory by their Savior and King. Similarly, Paul puts even the severest of life's trials (". . . we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter") in their proper perspective, that is, through heaven's eyes, and describes faithful Christians as "Conquerors": "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:37-39). 1. More Than Conquerors Not only are we conquerors, says Paul, we are "more than conquerors." Here the apostle uses the Greek term hupernikomen, translated by the Latin authors Tertullian and Cyprian as supervincimus. It means we are "supremely victorious" through him that loved us. This is a magnificent piece of spiritual eloquence! There is no victory like our victory. No one wins like we win. No earthly triumph can compare to our heavenly one. 2. No Power In Heaven Or Earth, Time Or Eternity, Can Separate Us From The Love Of God. What, or rather, who gives us this decisive victory? Paul answers, "Him that loved us." And there is no thing, anytime or anywhere, that can separate us from him who grants to us the victory. 3. The Love Of God Is In Christ Jesus Our Lord. So declares the apostle. But what does he mean when he says the love of God is "in Christ Jesus our Lord"? From the remainder of Scripture (and that is how we ought always to interpret Scripture, i.e. in the light of the fullness of its teachings), we discover at least three senses in which this is meant. First, the love of God is manifest toward us in that we are a part of the church, the spiritual body of Christ. Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it (Eph. 5:25). This is so because the church is that body of believers who have accepted him as Messiah and Lord both in word and deed: "... having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:5-6). Second, the love of God is shown in his providential care and spiritual guidance of those who are his children. No passage in the New Testament gives more consolation to a suffering Christian than the words of Romans 8:28-32: "And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be firstborn among many brethren: and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? if God is for us, who is against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?" Third, God's great love is extended to those who remain faithful in Christ's service. Jesus pointed this out in his private moments with the disciples: "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him. Judas (not Iscariot) saith unto him, Lord, what is come to pass that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (Jn. 14:21-23). God loves those who love him back. He also withdraws his love from those who pull away from him. But all of this -- and I cannot emphasize this strongly enough -- is regardless of circumstances. Outward appearances do not reveal the true spiritual situation. Early Christians were embraced in the bosom of God's love as they saw life as they knew it destroyed, as they gave up all their earthly possessions, and even as they were dying at the hands of Jewish or Roman persecutors. Even while they suffered they were "more than Conquerors." If we can only keep this in our hearts, we also can weather even the most difficult of life's challenges and maintain our faith to the very end. -- Via Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 5, p. 1, March 4, 1993 ____________________________________________________ -2- Still Standing After the Storm by Steve Klein Hurricane Ike destroyed many homes along the Texas coast. In one section of the community of Gilchrist, over 200 homes were completely leveled. But one is still standing. Warren and Pam Adams lost a house to hurricane Rita in 2005. They didn't lose this one, because they built it to stand in a storm -- it is supported 14 feet off the ground by sturdy columns sitting on thick concrete. A life of faith is not a life without storms. There will be heartache and sadness, temptation and trial, illness and death, disappointment and doubt. The question is not whether or not there will be storms; the question is whether or not we are building our lives to withstand them. No matter how others may be building their lives, we must build ours to stand. A life built on God's word will stand, because God is stronger than the strongest storm surge. "The floods have lifted up, O LORD, The floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea" (Psalms 93:3-4). Jesus said that the wise man "built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock" (Matthew 7:24-25). Jesus' words are the rock to build our lives on. If we hear His words, but don't follow them, we won't stand the storms. That is like building a house on the sand. We look forward to the day when all of life's storms are over -- when we stand before the Lord in peace, "holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight." That can be your experience if "you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard" (Colossians 1:22-23). -- Via The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia, September 21, 2008 ____________________________________________________ -3- Expendable by Robert F. Turner During WW II, when British troops were facing Dunkirk; when our boys were pushed from Bataan; someone applied the term "expendable" to forces left to cover the withdrawal. They were considered certainly lost -- given to the enemy -- their death or capture, the price paid for what was hoped to be some greater gain. There were examples of men accepting, even choosing this role, because they too believed in the greater end. One must believe in and greatly love his country to freely make such a sacrifice. How many soldiers of the Cross are willing to consider themselves (their pride, their comforts, not to mention their life) expendable in order that the greater purposes of His kingdom might be achieved? Do we dare consider that "giving ourselves" to Christ means just this? The Apostle Paul could ask others to pray that Christ be magnified, whether by his life or his death (Phil. 1:19-f.). He considered himself expendable. He had long ago "died with Christ" (Rom. 6:6-11), so that his own life, his earthly desires and appetites, were "hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:2-3). The greater end, service to his Master and the eternal reward, so dominated his thinking that no demands were too great. He was not his own (1 Cor. 6:19; 7:22-23), but was, and urged others to be "a living sacrifice" (Rom. 12:1-f.). Had you rather suffer wrong than see Christ's cause suffer? Will you swallow your pride rather than see the greater work damaged? That's what it takes when one is expendable. But this is no easy role to accept. We find ourselves reasoning that others get by without making the sacrifice -- why me? "If any provide not for his own --" is always good for rejecting the financial pinch; and we "live to fight tomorrow" in the more important battles -- which somehow never come. To us "expendable" says "worthless" but to Christ it was the way to find one's life, (Matt. 10:39). He "died for the people, that the whole nation perish not" (Jn. 11:50-51; 12:32). Full service to Christ begins the day we see ourselves as "expendable." -- Via Plain Talk, February 1974 ____________________________________________________ CHURCH OF CHRIST 201 Rushing Road (at the Hampton Inn) Denham Springs, LA 70726 Sunday: 9:15 AM, 10:00 AM, 4:00 PM evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520 tedwards@onemain.com http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go DIRECTIONS: Take the Denham Springs exit (exit 10) off of I-12. At the end of the exit ramp, turn north. Go about a stone's throw to Rushing Road. (You'll see a Starbucks, Circle K, and two other gas stations; with each on each corner.) Turn left on Rushing Road, and go less then 0.3 of a mile. Hampton Inn will be on the right. We assemble in its meeting room, which is very close to the reception counter. ____________________________________________________