____________________________________________________ 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 14, 1993 ____________________________________________________ Knowing What Spirit We Are Of by Tom Edwards When a Samaritan city was unwilling to receive the Lord because they saw that He had set his face toward Jerusalem, James and John asked Jesus if He wanted them to pray that fire come down from heaven and consume these inhospitable people (Luke 9:51-56). In response, the Lord rebuked James and John for not knowing what spirit they were of and explained that He had not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. As Christians, we also must learn what spirit we are to be of and strive to manifest this in our daily lives. For to give sway to merely our carnal impulses will cause us to fall short from that godly conduct which God would have us to possess. What is our first reaction, though, when we are insulted, misrepresented, or perhaps when we fall into sudden dire straights? Is it a reaction with which God is pleased? It is God's desire that we do not become enslaved to animalistic impulses, but rather that we live holy lives that elevate us above the base desires of the flesh, which are sometimes seen in outbursts of anger, jealousy, malice, pugnacity, or in many other ways as well. Instead, we must learn to be controlled by the Spirit of God by learning of the Spirit and allowing His righteous precepts to guide us in our every thought and deed. Someone recently said, ``It is easier for the Christian to control his action than his reaction.'' How true this often is; but as we strive to conform more and more to God's Spirit, our own spirits will better react in sudden adversities, such as in returning a blessing--instead of a curse--to the one who would insult us or when the road of life takes a quick detour onto the lane of misfortune. It is this type of conformity that helps us to obey the Lord's command to love our enemies and to pray for our persecutors (Matt. 5:43-48). To live without holding grudges, without being vindictive, and without being possessed by a bitter spirit is just part of the freedom with which God's truth can liberate us (John 8:31,32). Recently, where I preach, we have been considering what real love is all about, as seen in 1 Corinthians 13. There it is defined as being ``patient...kind...not jealous...does not brag and is not arrogant; does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things....'' (vv. 4-7). As seen in these definitions, love is made up of many beautiful virtues; and since God is love, these thoughts help us to better understand the spirit we, too, are to possess and manifest. In the following article, Lewis Willis makes another vital point that we need to take to heart: ``Bible love is not just an emotion...It is an act of the `will.' It is something we `decide' to do.'' Let us each learn to love, according to God's word, and also look into the Scriptures that we may better know of what Spirit we are to be. For how we are to act and react must be learned from a much deeper source than merely our own whim or impulse; rather, we must turn to the Gospel; for therein lies the greatest instruction on how to make our lives complete and in harmony with the Divine. ___________________________________________ Even the Media See that ``Love'' is More Than Emotion by Lewis Willis About anytime I hear that Dick Feagler, local news broadcaster for Channel 3, is going to comment on something, I quickly change the channel! There is something about his way of commenting that just ``turns me off.'' Having said that, you can imagine my surprise when my wife Joyce called my attention to his Beacon Journal column (2/14/92), and I found some of his thinking worth considering here. He was commenting on Valentine's Day, and its custom of expressing ``love'' for our families and friends. He made an excellent point about how carelessly and incorrectly we use the word ``love'' on this special day. Even our ``love songs'' are not about ``love,'' according to Feagler, but ``they are usually about either lust or ego.'' How true that is! He said most of them ``aren't very romantic.'' He likened some of them to jingles about certain cars. He observed, ``Most young men and women know a lot more about the car they pick than they do about the lover they pick. That's why the divorce rate is over 50 percent.'' And, he is right about that, too. He wrote about people ``falling in love,...I just couldn't help it. It just happened.'' He said it made love sound like some kind of rash, that people catch. Feagler said, ``You're smart to stay away from somebody who claims that love is something he caught from you like stomach flu. Next week he may catch it from somebody else.'' Young people, make a note of that! He proceeded in his article to give a definition of ``love'' which he borrowed from the book, The Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck. Peck says this: ``Love is the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.'' Feagler added, ``Love, in other words, is not a feeling. It's a decision. An act of the will. It has a goal--to become better and make the loved one better. It has a price--the work of extending yourself.'' I like that. I think he has a grasp of biblical love, whether he realizes it or not. Before turning to some other sources on the subject of love, the Feagler quote with which I shall close is ``They ought to start teaching love in school, but they're too busy teaching sex...Draw a heart around this column and send it to your special someone. Before you load a gun (for a crime of ``passion,'' LW). Or have a baby. Or buy a ring.'' How did this guy learn all of this? It seems out of place with him. Notice these definitions of the Greek word, agape, translated ``love'' in the New Testament. ``Love can be known only from the actions it prompts...Christian love...is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered. Love seeks the welfare of all,...and works no ill to any'' (Vine, 21). Thayer (p. 3) defines love in this way, ''...to be full of good-will and exhibit the same...to have a preference for, wish well to, regard the welfare of.'' The Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 989), says of agapao: ``denotes a love founded on admiration, veneration, and esteem. It means to have a preference for, wish well to, regard the welfare of (Matt. 5:43f.). It is to be full of good will both in thought and deed.'' Clearly the feeble excuses for ``love'' which men frequently discuss fall far short of what the Bible word means. We hear people describe what the Bible calls ``fornication'' as ``making love.'' The baby born out of this act of fornication is called a ``love child'' in the media. Feagler talked of men who shoot women because they ``love'' them. Is it any wonder that people do not know what Bible love is? Bible love is not just an emotion. It is not just something that a person catches. It is not a warm response to something or someone because of what they have done for us. It goes farther than that. It is an act of the ``will.'' It is something we ``decide'' to do; it is a ``deliberate'' act. It is the product of a thought-out matter or circumstance. We ``will'' to ``love'' somebody. This is why ``love'' can be commanded. The apostle John wrote, ``And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another'' (2 Jn. 5). He adds, ``For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another'' (1 Jn. 3:11). Bible love can exist--even love for our enemies--because we ``will'' to obey the ``command'' to ``love.'' Finally, notice that in all the definitions of love, there is the element of ``action.'' Love demands that we ``act'' to the good, and in the interest, of the one that we love. Jesus said, ``If ye love me, keep my commandments'' (Jn. 14:15). We can ``will'' to keep his commandments, and we will be ``actively doing something'' when we obey him. In like manner, when we love someone on this earth, we will ``act'' in a way that promotes their good, seeks their welfare, and does no ill to them. That is why love for the brethren is such a precious thing. It builds others up. It strengthens and encourages them. It does them no harm. As we think of those whom we ``love,'' is it possible to see true, Bible-based love in action? Or, is it some shallow something that will not survive the smallest disturbance? The Lord's church can be built on Bible love. It will be destroyed by the other kind! ___________________________________________ When Military Despots Spoke The Truth Once when Frederick the Great was about to declare war, he instructed his secretary to write the proclamation. The secretary began, "Whereas in the providence of God," etc., etc. "Stop that lying," Frederick thundered; "simply say, "Frederick wants more land." ________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________