. ____________________________________________________ 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 4, 2009 ____________________________________________________ Contents: 1) Our Christian Development and Growth (Richie Thetford) 2) True Faith (anonymous) ____________________________________________________ -1- Our Christian Development and Growth by Richie Thetford Before an individual can grow as a Christian he must first be free from sin. Peter writes: "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby" (1 Pet. 2:1-2). Later he says: "By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Pet. 1:4). Many Christians seem to be "spinning their wheels" when it comes to Christianity. They want to be an active Christian, yet they also want to continue to entangle themselves with worldly things. We cannot develop and grow into the Christian that God wants us to be if we are not willing to give it 100% effort! Only when we truly "desire" for the righteousness of God will we become a mature, seasoned, responsible, and respected Christian in his service. We must be determined to escape the world's lusts and have a living faith toward Christ. James writes: "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (Jas. 2:26). Our true character, development and growth as a Christian will be evident to all based upon our works. Our Christian growth will be seen by all without us having to ever say a word. Remember the words of Paul? "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all" (1 Tim. 4:12-15). A Christian's development, growth, and progress will be evident to all that see him. Conditions of Growth We can only grow in Christ when we place our trust and cares on him. "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Pet. 5:7). Jesus pleads, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matt. 11:28-30). When we cast our cares and lean on Jesus, then we are on our way to developing as a Christian ought to. The worrier, the pessimist, the negative individual will not grow spiritually because he has not learned to let Christ be the center of his life. When we try to go through our daily tasks without including God, then we have miserably failed. Each and everyone of us when asked if we would like to grow up to be a strong, active, knowledgeable, fruitful Christian would probably answer yes! What we say we want to be and what we actually are, often times are two different things. You see, our growth is conditional. Conditioned that we strive to be what we say we want to be! Steps to Christian Growth So how does an individual grow to become the Christian that God would certainly be proud of? The answer is found in the Bible. Peter writes: "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble" (2 Pet. 1:5-10). We learn that the individual who really wants to develop and grow into a servant of God, a dedicated Christian, has an active work to do. A Christian is: * One who is virtuous, longs for knowledge (Eph. 3:19; Prov. 24:5) * Exercises temperance (1 Cor. 9:25; Gal. 5:23) * Is patient (1 Thess. 5:14; Jas. 5:8) * Godly (1 Tim. 4:7-8) * Shows brotherly kindness always (Gal. 6:10) * Understands that all things must be done first of all because of love (1 Cor. 13:1-13). Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit informs us that, if we are actively pursuing these things, we will never stumble! The apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians and encouraged them to remain faithful and to develop and grow as Christians by saying: "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things" (Phil. 4:8). May we all strive to develop and grow by putting on the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), and meditating on the good, positive aspects of Christianity. As a result, people will be edified by your growth and encouragement! -- Via Truth Magazine Vol. XLIV: 5 p11 March 2, 2000 ____________________________________________________ -2- True Faith Romans 4:1-12 points to Abraham as God's best example of the kind of faith needed to please Him. Above all else, this passage teaches that we are saved by faith. We are not saved by "pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps." We are not saved by praying so many prayers, attending so many worship services or performing so many good deeds that God owes us salvation, or that God will reward salvation on that basis. Salvation is purely by grace, to those who follow in the steps of the "faith of Abraham." What is implied in this "faith of Abraham"? Abraham's faith was such that he could (A) BELIEVE ANYTHING GOD SAID, (B) DO ANYTHING GOD COMMANDED (C) WITHOUT ASKING QUESTIONS. Those three qualities form the example Abraham set for us today, if we are to have the same saving faith as he. God made some marvelous promises to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:1-6). In these passages God commanded Abraham to leave his earthly family (parents and kinsmen) and travel to a land He wanted to give him. He not only promised a land for his descendants, but God said Abraham's offspring would become a multitude too large to number. Finally, God told Abraham he would have a child, a son, and that through this child "all nations of the earth will be blessed." The difficult part for Abraham was that he was 100 years old and Sarah, his wife, was 90 at the time of this promise. But Romans 4:23-25 teaches that Abraham was certain that this promise would come true. Why? Because ABRAHAM COULD BELIEVE ANYTHING GOD SAID. And Abraham could do anything God commanded. God told him to leave his land of birth and go to a strange land, and he did. He gave Abraham the commandment of circumcision and he followed God's directive exactly as given. But the crowning moment of Abraham's faith is found in Genesis 22 when God commanded Abraham to take Isaac to Mount Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice there. No test of faith could be any greater than giving up, even killing, your only son. Can you imagine the look in Isaac's eyes as Abraham bound him, laid him on the altar and took the knife to plunge it into the body of his only son? Only God's angel prevented Abraham from carrying out this command. ABRAHAM COULD DO ANYTHING GOD COMMANDED. An important element of faith that is added in the example of Abraham is that he could do all this WITHOUT ASKING QUESTIONS. In our minds, let's ask Abraham some questions. "Abraham, where are you going?" Mt. Moriah. "What will you do there?" I'll offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God. "But isn't he the son of promise?" Yes. "But how will you inherit the Promised Land? How will your seed bless all nations?" I don't know. And he truly did not know! Oh, he considered the possibility that God might raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:19), but he had no assurance that God would do this. The point is, Abraham didn't know and he didn't need to know. He knew that whatever problems arose, God would work them out. Do we have the same faith as Abraham? Can we believe ANYTHING God says? Are we willing to do ANYTHING God commands? And can we do so WITHOUT ASKING QUESTIONS, patiently trusting in Him? God calls on us to have such faith today, certain that His way is best, no matter how apparent our "success" may be or not be outwardly. Are you wondering if there really is a group of Christians who are content to strive for this kind of faith? We invite you to come and see. -- Via bulletin of the North Gardendale church of Christ ____________________________________________________ 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. ____________________________________________________