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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" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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June 6, 1990
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Contents:
1) The Proper Attitude (Roy E. Cogdill)
2) Is Your Bulb Out? (selected)
3) When the Wind Blows (selected)
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-1-
The Proper Attitude
by Roy E. Cogdill
It is not every person who thinks himself to be religious who is really
interested in knowing the truth. Many people have the same attitude in
religion that others have in matters social, political and moral, that
is, they feel under no obligation to hear and learn or believe anything
different from what they have already accepted. Unless they agree with
what is being taught, they have no time or consideration to give it but
close their minds complacently and firmly against it. This is a
tragic attitude. It is prejudice and keeps us from giving the truth a
fair hearing.
If a man in a jury box were to make up his mind before all the
testimony or evidence was in, and refuse to give consideration to any
further evidence, it would evidently be a mistrial and a miscarriage of
justice. When a man is placed on a jury he puts himself, by law,
under obligation to listen carefully to all the testimony and to give
due credit to all the evidence, and the preponderance of the evidence,
admissible under law, and to render a true and just verdict on that
basis alone. If he does not, he has acted dishonestly and
inflicted an injury upon a fellow man.
When we allow prejudice of any kind to prevent us from giving proper
consideration to the truth, we mistreat the Word of God, injure our own
souls, and evidence that we value something more highly than we do the
truth and the favor of the Lord. If we are not careful, we will shut
out of our minds everything that is not in harmony with what we already
think is right. That is the same attitude religiously that is
demonstrated by those who tell us that the only moral standard is what
the individual decides for himself to be right.
This attitude was demonstrated by many who were following Jesus
according to the story in John, chapter 6. They actually were following
the Lord for the loaves and the fishes, for physical healing, for
political rewards, etc., and when he first taught something that they
had not heard, that was not in harmony with what they already had
accepted, they turned back to walk with him no more. Jesus asked his
inner circle of disciples, "Would ye also go away?" Peter replied,
"Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal life." We
need to realize with Peter that when we turn away from what the Lord
says we have abandoned the hope of eternal life.
No one knows all the truth; and the person is a fool who does not admit
to himself that since he does not know everything, the very thing that
he does not know may be the very thing that he needs to learn. If
he closes his mind to everything that is not in agreement with what he
has already learned, he will never know any more than he already knows;
and that means that wherever he may be wrong, he will continue to be
wrong until he changes his attitude toward both himself and the truth.
Concerning people of this disposition the Lord said, "In them is
fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, by hearing ye shall
hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not
perceive: for this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are
dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they
should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should
understand with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should
heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for
they hear" (Matt. 13:14-16). We need to examine our own hearts and see
if we really do want to understand the truth. Are we willing to hear
and see that we might understand and learn the truth? Will we
investigate and study that we might know?
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-2-
Is Your Bulb Out?
A man came into a garage the other day and requested that a mechanic
check a noise in the engine of his car. Sure enough, a bearing was
burned out due to a clogged oil line. "But," the frustrated man
exclaimed "the light on the dash never indicated anything to be wrong."
So they checked the warning light and found that the bulb was burned
out. The bulb cost 55 cents, the bearing would be 90 dollars.
Conscience is somewhat like the warning light in your car. Yet there
are certain circumstances under which the conscience will not
work. Paul speaks of those who have their conscience "seared with
a hot iron" (1 Tim. 4:2). The idea here is that which we have of
branding or cauterizing. It is the placing of a red hot iron against
the flesh which burns or sears it over and seals it up. The area
affected becomes dry, hard and insensitive. It describes a conscience
which will allow a person to indulge in evil and error without any
concern, or a conscience which fails to dictate in matters of right and
wrong.
If our conscience does not dictate any moral restraint or judge our
thoughts and motives, then we ought to become very much
concerned. If you can deliberately miss the worship service
without any pangs of conscience you ought to check your conscience. If
your conscience fails to warn you when it comes to practicing that
which is known to be wrong, then something is wrong with your
conscience. And unless the matter is corrected, you are heading toward
disaster.
Some people seem to enjoy boasting about how their conscience never
bothers them or interferes with anything they want to do. If this is
the case with you, let me suggest that you have a spiritual
checkup. Your bulb might be burned out.
-- Selected
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-3-
When the Wind Blows
A young man applied for a job as a farm hand. When the farmer inquired
about his qualifications, the young man replied, "I can do whatever
needs to be done, and I can sleep when the wind blows." The farmer was
puzzled by the phrase, "sleep when the wind blows," but hired the young
man anyway. A few nights later the farmer was awakened by a fierce and
severe wind. He raced to the quarters of the hired man but was
unsuccessful in arousing him from a heavy sleep. With considerable
annoyance the farmer went to check things for himself. He found the
doors locked, the chicken coop securely closed, the tractor in the
barn, a load of hay covered with a tarpaulin, and all else taken care
of. The farmer then remembered the young man's words, "I can sleep when
the wind blows." He now realized what he had meant.
In the lives of all of us the storms of trials, sufferings,
adversities, and disappointments will blow. Preparation should be made
so that when the wind blows our faith will remain strong, our hope
secure, and our peace of mind without disturbance.
-- Selected
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel,
for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the
deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins
(Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ
(Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water
for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4;
Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith;
for,
if
not,
salvation
can be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet.
2:20-22).
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First published for the Tri-state church of Christ in Ashland,
Kentucky, at 713 13th Street.
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards
tedwards1109@gmail.com
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