____________________________________________________ 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 22, 1995 ____________________________________________________ TODAY by E. L. Crozier The beginning of TIME as we know it is recorded in Genesis 1:14-19. In vs. 14 we read, ``And God said, `Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.''' From this beginning, time was divided into days (Gen. 1:19), weeks (Gen. 2:2), and years (Gen. 5:3). In Genesis 1:27 & 28 we read, ``So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, `Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth; and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.''' In Gen. 2:15 we read that man was placed in the garden and given the duty to ``dress it and to keep it.'' With the institution of the Law under Moses, regular occurring observations were observed. The Sabbath: every seventh day (Lev. 23:3); The Passover (Lev. 23:5)--to commemorate deliverance from Egypt; Feast of Pentecost--a harvest of thanksgiving (Lev. 23:9-14); Feast of Trumpets--New Year's Day (Lev. 25:9); Day of Atonement--a national fast day and Atonement for the sins of the nation (Lev. 16); Feast of Tabernacles--commemorating the sojourn in the wilderness, five days after the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:34); The Sabbatical Year--every seventh year (Lev. 25:4); and The Year of Jubilee--every fiftieth year (Lev. 25:8). On three of these occasions ALL MALES were required to appear before the Lord (Deut. 16:16) in a place that the Lord would designate. In Col. 2:14 we are told that Christ, ``blot(ted) out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.'' What therefore then serves the Old Testament to us living in this dispensation? Col. 2:17 speaks of the Law delivered to Moses as a ``shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.'' Gal. 3:24,25, ``Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us into Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.'' In Rom. 15:4 we learn, ``whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.'' An example of how the Old Testament is used in this dispensation is found in Heb. 3:12-15: ``Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation.'' (Psalm 95:7) In Num. 13 & 14, we learn that ``the provocation'' was when the children of Israel refused to enter the ``promised land'' and began the wilderness wanderings. THIS BRINGS US TO THE POINT OF THE TITLE OF THIS ARTICLE--TODAY! This being the first month of the year we call 1995, many persons celebrated the beginning of the year with solemn meditation of the things past and made resolutions concerning their life in the year ahead. There is nothing wrong with a person considering their past life for II Cor. 13:5 tells us, ``Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?'' T O D A Y. Today is yesterday's TOMORROW and tomorrow's YESTERDAY. TODAY is the point in time that we have for certain. James 4:13-15, ``Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow, For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that." TODAY and every day that we dwell in the flesh of this life we should examine ourselves, remembering and resolving to live a life acceptable to God. Memories can tempt us if we look back to sin as the Israelites longed for the ``flesh pots'' of Egypt (Exod. 16:3); they can torture us if they were evil as Joseph's brothers in Gen. 42:21. Memories such as these should lead us to repentance, a resolve that we will turn from such wicked ways, confessing them to the Lord and seeking His forgiveness as He has directed us. When we consider the future direction of our lives there are certain things that we should consider concerning our salvation: 1. Remember thy Creator (Eccl. 12:1) 2. Remember the consequences of disobedience. Jesus in answering the question of the Pharisees as to ``When the kingdom of God should come'' (Luke 17:20) reminded them in Luke 17:32 to ``Remember Lot's wife.'' In 2 Peter 2:5 we are reminded that God ``spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly''; In 2 Peter 2:6 we are told that Sodom and Gomorrah were an ``example unto those that after should live ungodly.'' 3. Fallen Christians should remember how they once lived (Rev. 2:5). Resolutions we need to make DAILY, not just once a year, are: READ: ``Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine'' (1 Tim. 4:13); ENDURE: ``But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry'' (2 Tim. 4:5); SHINE: ``Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven'' (Matt. 5:16). OBEY (Christ our example): ``And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him'' (Heb. 5:9); LOVE: ``Jesus said unto him, `Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, `thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself''' (Matt. 22:37-39); UPHOLD, as Paul our example: ``According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death'' (Phil. 1:20); TEACH: ``Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world'' (Matt. 28:19,20); INCREASE: ``And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more'' (1 Thes. 4:9,10); OBSERVE: (Acts 20:7 and 1 Cor. 16:2) NUMBER: ``So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom'' (Psalm 90:12); and SERVE: ``Then saith Jesus unto him, `Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, ``thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve''''' (Matt. 4:10). ``TODAY IF YE WILL HEAR HIS VOICE'' (Heb. 3:15). ________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________