____________________________________________________ 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 21, 1993 ____________________________________________________ A Nightmare I Had Last Week by Tom Edwards Though I have them very seldom, I shared with the brethren last Sunday night of a nightmare I had prior to waking up that morning which I remembered very vividly. If you are not a Christian, however, it will probably not seem as one to you; but being a child of God, it certainly was disturbing to me. I had dreamed I was going to a church in Catlettsburg to try out as their preacher. At this particular time, I was to meet on a Thursday night with just a few of the members--but you know how dreams can go. What started out with a few people next evolved into a couple hundred. I remember how I shuddered when I saw a piano toward the front of the auditorium--before it changed into merely organ pipes, semi-embedded in the wall. The pulpit was up on a large dais, on which were also about 20 or 30 couches--some of them Victorian--placed in an oblong circle behind the pulpit. By some of these were small, three-legged tables with ashtrays resting on top. I heard one man say to his wife something such as, ``Be sure to use the ashtray, dear.'' When I glanced over at one, there was a half-burnt cigarette smoking away. By this time the crowd had grown to several hundred individuals. The place was packed. I had to sit on carpeted-covered steps beside a couple other people near the front of the auditorium for all the seats appeared to have been taken. Now they were going to observe the Lord's Supper, but keep in mind it was on a Thursday night. The reoccurring thought that kept prodding me was, ``What am I doing here?'' I felt this way when I saw the piano, when I saw the ashtrays and the smoking cigarette, and now when they were going to observe the communion on the wrong day; and then to top it off, while I was expecting someone to soon be passing to me the unleavened bread that is used to represent the Lord's body when taking the communion, I was handed a plate of mashed potatoes instead, stacked about eight inches high, along with another vegetable (I think, green beans). This was all too much. I finally fled the building and went running down a street in Catlettsburg to clear my mind. As I ran, I thought how thankful I was to be a part of a sound congregation--regardless of its size--who is concerned about doing Bible things in Bible ways. I hope this will always be all of our concern. Would it be a nightmare to you to be a part of a congregation that you suddenly discover is not even teaching the plan of salvation? You might think that this could not be, but most denominations today are not teaching God's full plan of redemption! Look into your Bible. The prevalent message of salvation by ``faith only'' is not to be found in the Scriptures. Rather, what is found about ``faith only'' is that a man is justified by works ``and not by faith only'' (Jms. 2:24). This is the only passage in which the Bible uses this phrase; and, obviously, if ``faith only'' is all that one has, that person is greatly lacking. Most denominations today are teaching that water baptism is irrelevant to one's salvation; but again, when we look into the Scriptures we find water baptism to be just as essential as believing (Mark 16:16) and repenting (Acts 2:38), for it is part of how one is to call on the Lord (Acts 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:21); and what one must do in order to be born again (John 3:3-5) and receive that new life in Jesus (Rom. 6:3,4), that one may truly "put on Christ" (Gal. 3:26,27). Four of the things that I remember seeing in my nightmare are practiced regularly by many religious groups today: instrumental music is so common that many people are under the assumption that it has been used from the first church on down through the centuries, but a study of the use of instrumental music in worship to God from secular and religious history verify that it was not so used in the early church; and even in the not too distant past, various well-known men took a strong stand against its use in worship to God. Men such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley, John Girardeau, Adam Clarke, and Andrew Fuller, to name a few, were adamantly opposed to the use of such. In turning to the Scriptures, we are given the authority to sing (Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16, James 5:13), but are given no authority for using the instrument in worship to God. This might seem very insignificant to some, but read the Old Testament and see how much leeway God gave to His people then. Though he was merely trying to protect it from falling out of the ox-cart, Uzzah was destroyed for having touched the ark of the covenant (2 Sam. 6). Nadab and Abihu were consumed by fire from God when they took fire from a source which God had not authorized for their use in service to Him (Lev. 10:1-2). In Numbers 15:32-36 is the account of the man whom the Lord sentenced to death for having gathered wood on the sabbath day. The Old Testament is replete with such examples that should instill within us a deep, holy reverence for the word of God--and in realizing that the New Covenant is exceedingly greater than the Old, should we not revere it even more and realize the need we have to live according to it without tampering with it? Many religious bodies today see nothing wrong whatsoever with eating in the meeting house or in their ``fellowship halls'' or in other places that are maintained by the treasury of the church. But is the Lord's money to be used in this way? Paul says, ``What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink?'' (1 Cor. 11:22); and ``If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you may not come together for judgment...'' (1 Cor. 11:34). Many religious groups today partake of the Lord's Supper on other days than Sunday, but the only day in which the New Testament authorizes for this is Sunday--the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). Though Paul had been in Troas for seven days, he waited until the first day of the week in order to partake of the communion with his brethren. Historians also show that the early Christians broke bread (took the Lord's supper) every Sunday--not just a few times a year. Why have so many gotten away from this? Lastly, I remember that smoking cigarette in my nightmare. How blatantly out of place it was--especially there--but how closely this symbolized the truth in many areas. I have been to congregations before where one of the first things a few of the people do when they leave the meeting house is to light up a cigarette--and even before they're off the grounds. I have even been to a congregation where a fellow often goes into the bathroom during the preacher's sermon and has a cigarette, in which the smoke then begins creeping into the auditorium itself. Even in those matters in which the apostle Paul had the liberty to do, he said he would not be brought under the power of anything (1 Cor. 6:12). It is sad when people today are brought under the power of something as small as a cigarette--that can not only deplete their health, but detract from their pocketbook as well. The church is to be a light in the community that shines a message of hope to all the world. But is our light becoming dim by worldly involvements in the church that God's word forbids or by man-made doctrines that set aside the Law of the Lord (Matt. 15:1-9; 2 Jn. 9)? We must each be concerned with learning God's truth and practicing it, lest our greatest nightmare becomes far surpassed by the reality of an eternal existence in that terrible abode that has been prepared for the Devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). Now is the time to accept God's love by our faith and obedience that we may be saved from the wrath to come--and so that our previous destination for the worst, living nightmare of all may be exchanged for that which will be a reality more peaceful, more beautiful and more glorious than any we could possibly dream, imagine, or create on our own. ___________________________________________ A Lesson from a Can Opener by Tom Edwards A few weeks ago I picked up a used can opener for a quarter--just the very small, hand-held type with an orange casing that covers most of its topside and with a little magnet on its underside to conveniently keep it on places such as a refrigerator. Now if it had been a car, a TV, or a stereo, I would have seen a need to check it out prior to buying it to make sure it works, but who would think that a small, simple can opener--with no electrical circuits or mechanical parts and all exposed--would really need to be tested first? Well, mine did, but I didn't, so I ended up with a lemon. Imagine that: a can opener that wouldn't work. Deceptively, it looked no different to me than one that would work. Every bend and curve seemed to be in the right place, but when I tried to use it on certain cans, it couldn't keep a grip and kept slipping off the rim. As I thought about this can opener it reminded me of various other things that might appear genuine, but be nothing more than a sham or impostor. Jesus, for example, spoke about the ``wheat and the tares'' that had been growing together (Matt. 13). Bullinger defines ``tares'' in the New Testament as ``a plant common in Palestine which infests fields of grain and resembles wheat in appearance.'' The big difference, however, is that though it looks like wheat, it is not fit for human consumption. Imagine what would happen to a family who tried to rely upon tares as their exclusive daily sustenance. It might have the appearance of wholesome food, but if that were all they ate, they would soon die of starvation, for there is no nutritional value in it. Sometimes God's people become this way: they appear on the outside to be saints, but inwardly have stronger ties with the Devil. The church in Sardis had a name that they were alive. Apparently, they were viewed as being zealously involved with the cause of the Lord; but, in actuality, they were spiritually dead (Rev. 3:1). The way they appeared to others was not the same way which God viewed them. What we see is not always the full story. Jesus urges us to ''...not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment'' (Jn. 7:24). Many of the scribes and Pharisees were rebuked by the Lord because of their superficial ``righteousness,'' which was nothing more than a veneer of the appearance of godliness. They appeared righteous outwardly, but inwardly they were corrupt. Let us learn the lesson from the can opener that though it looks like one, it might not always work like one; and, in view of this, may it be our desire to be ``the real thing'' and not merely a superficial ``look alike,'' for God sees beyond our external actions into our very hearts and is acquainted with even our inmost thoughts. He above all knows of the genuineness of our lives; so let us, therefore, strive to keep ourselves true to Him, true to others, and true to ourselves, that we be not merely impostors who look the role, but truly God's genuine people who think it, talk it, and live a life for Jesus Christ. "Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God" (1 Peter 1:22,23). ________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________