____________________________________________________ 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 28, 1993 ____________________________________________________ The Elder Brother by Everett Hardin In Luke 15:11-32 we have recorded the parable of the prodigal son. The primary lesson had to do with the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees, on the one hand, and the self-condemned publicans and sinners on the other. It was easy for the scribes and Pharisees to see that the publicans and sinners were lost, but it never occurred to them that they were lost, too. The chapter relates the story of two sons. One was lost through sins of the flesh, or of passion, while the other was lost because of sins of disposition. Yes, both boys were lost, one in the ``far country'' and the other at home. Let us consider the sins of the elder brother: He had the wrong attitude toward his brother. When he drew nigh the house and heard music and dancing, ``he was angry and would not go in'' (Luke 15:28). He was very ill-humored toward his brother, and harsh in what he thought and said concerning him. He would not call him brother, but referred to him as ``this thy son.'' Let us never forget the relationship we sustain to our brethren, as brethren, and our duty to them. We think too highly of ourselves when we refuse to receive those whom the Father has received. Bitterness toward brethren will cause us to be lost in hell as surely as the immoralities of the flesh (Cf. Galatians 5:19-21). Love for brethren is abundantly and plainly taught (John 13:34-35; I John 2:9-11; 4:19-20). He did not show honor and respect for his father though he boasted of his faithfulness. He complained to his father, as if he had not been so kind to him as he ought to have been. ``Thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends.'' He felt he was being discriminated against, and that his father was putting a premium on sin. Those who think highly of themselves and their services often forget the Master and His mercies. And anytime a brother is filled with self-pity and shows no concern for the things that are going on in the Father's house something is drastically wrong. The older brother was self-righteous or conceited. He boasted of his own virtue and obedience. ``Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment.'' While boasting of his faithfulness, he was obstinate to his father's entreaties to come into the house. While extolling his own goodness he aggravated the faults of his brother, set them out in the blackest colors, that he might turn the father against him. He was like the Pharisees and scribes who stood condemned because they ``trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at nought'' (Luke 18:9). Those who have served God, and have been kept from gross sins, have a great deal to be humbly thankful for, but nothing to boast of. Envy is another sin which was characteristic of the elder brother. He begrudged the kindness that his father showed him. ``Thou hast killed for him the fatted calf,'' as if he were such a son he should be. Envy is ``chagrin or discontent at the excellence or good fortune of another: resentful begrudging'' (Webster). An envious person feels that any honor done for another is a galling dishonor to him. Abel's righteousness was an offense to Cain. Instead of rejoicing over his brother's success, Cain envied Abel and murdered him (I Jn. 3:12). ''...but envy is rottenness of the bones'' (Prov. 14:30). As malignancy to the bones and leprosy to the flesh, so is envy to our spiritual beings. Envy is an indication of immaturity and carnality, ``for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men'' (I Cor. 3:3). It is the root sin from which springs so many other sins. ``For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work'' (James 3:16). The cure for envy is found in I Cor. 13:4: ``Love envieth not.'' Love is the antidote! We ought not to envy others God's grace to them, because we shall never have the less for their sharing in it. If we be true believers all that God is, and all that He has is ours (Luke 15:31). The prodigal son had deliberately left home and had engaged in sins of the world; and everyone, including himself, knew that he was a lost sinner. The elder brother had stayed at home amid an environment which was clean and wholesome and did not feel that he was lost. But when one stops to think, it is easy to see that he was lost because he was completely out of sympathy with both his father and his brother. -- Via Hazelwood Messenger (May 1987) ___________________________________________ The Church: The Fulness Of Christ by Lynn Wessel In the New Testament, the church of Christ is often spoken of as a body. This pictures the church as a living, functioning unit with Christ as the head and every Christian as an indispensable member. ``Body'' also emphasizes the singularity of Christ's church. Paul said, ``all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ'' (1 Cor. 12:12). The concept of a plurality of churches (denominationalism) is foreign to the pages of the Bible. Fulness In Ephesians 1:22-23 Paul said, ``And he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.'' Paul is declaring that, as the body of Christ, the church is the fulness of Christ. He that is full and ``filleth all in all'' has filled the church with His fulness. The fulness of Christ fills the church. Paul taught that God ``hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ'' (Eph. 1:3). All of the spiritual blessings that God intended for man are in Christ and, therefore, a part of His fulness. If Christ has filled the church with His fulness, then He has filled the church with all spiritual blessings. The blessings of forgiveness, peace, hope, joy, etc. are all in the church where Christ has placed His fulness. Importance This emphasizes the importance of the church in God's eternal purpose and also of our being a member of this church. The church is "according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord'' (Eph. 3:11) and not some afterthought on God's part. Without question, if an individual desires to be saved he must be a member of the church Christ built (Matt. 16:18), purchased with His blood (Acts 20:28), and filled with His fulness (Eph. 1:22-23). What Must I Do? The New Testament is clear in teaching what an individual must do to become a member of the Lord's church. There are many passages, but there is one in particular where Paul spoke of admission into the church as the body: ``For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many are one body, so also is Christ for in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body'' (1 Cor. 12:12-13). How does one get ``into'' (from without to within) the body of Christ? Paul said all who are there were baptized into it. The action which puts one into Christ's church is baptism. In order to enjoy the fulness of Christ the one who has faith in Christ must repent and be baptized into Christ where His fulness is. Consider also Gal. 3:26-27; Acts 2:38; 22:16. If you are not a member of the body of Christ, we exhort you to study with all urgency and then obey the truth. This obedience is how your soul is purified. Peter said, ``Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth'' (1 Peter 1:22). ___________________________________________ Selected Sentence Sermons All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. If at first you don't succeed, try a little ARDOR. Jumping at conclusions is not half as good exercise as digging for the facts. Many people have a good aim in life but most of them don't know when to pull the trigger. ___________________________________________ "...and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him. For Ezra had set his heart to STUDY the law of the Lord, and to PRACTICE it, and to TEACH His statutes and ordinances in Israel" (Ezra 7:9,10). ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________