____________________________________________________ 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 12, 1995 ____________________________________________________ "BELIEVED and TURNED" by Tom Edwards Recently, in our Acts' class, we have considered the phrase in Acts 11:21 which says that ``a large number who believed turned to the Lord.'' This is another one of the many verses in the Scriptures which show that salvation is based on more than merely ``faith alone.'' Not only did these become Christians by having previously believed, but also by having previously ``turned'' to the Lord. ``But how does one turn to the Lord?'' you might ask. ``Is it talking about repentance only?'' In Acts 3:19, Peter exhorted the crowds to ``Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away....'' According to this verse, one must repent and return. Obviously then, repentance is just part of the turning act, for there is still something else one must do to ``return'' even after repenting; and, in view of this, the word ``turned'' in the phrase ``believed and turned'' also means more than merely ``repentance'' coupled with faith. Do you think they understood what he meant by ``return?'' I imagine they did, for Peter and the others had been preaching God's plan of salvation daily; and, as we see in Acts 2:38, this also involved immersion in water for the remission of iniquities: ''...Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins....'' Baptism, therefore, is part of what an alien sinner (a non-Christian) must do to ``return'' to the Lord. Isn't it possible for a person to believe in the deity of Christ and the truthfulness of the Scriptures, while NOT TURNING to Him or while TURNING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION? Surely, we wouldn't think of this person's faith amounting to much. As James writes, ``faith without works is dead'' and ``a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone'' (Jms. 2:26,24). I imagine there are many people who could testify toward believing in the deity of Christ and the Scriptures, but at the same time also acknowledge that they haven't turned to God yet; and that they know they would be lost if they had to stand before Him in the Judgment Day at this very moment. Furthermore, Peter speaks of those who would turn back into the world of sin after having become a Christian as being likened to a dog that returns to its own vomit or to a sow after having been washed to return to wallowing again in the mire (2 Pet. 2:20-22). Yes, it is possible for one to believe in Christ, but at the same time, to not turn to Him. If we want to be saved from our sins, however, we must ``believe and turn,'' by doing all that this phrase involves: Faith in the deity of Christ (Jn. 8:24); Repentance, which is a turning from sin and a turning in a new direction toward God; Confession of faith in the deity of Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38); and baptism (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:3,4; 1 Pet. 3:21). Just as one must always believe, one must also always keep turning in the right direction throughout life, for this is how we are to follow after Jesus; and we do this by keeping the commandments of the Lord. Have you believed and turned to the Lord? And are you still believing and still turning to Him daily? Let us each continually strive to do these things, for in this way, heaven will one day be our eternal home. ___________________________________________ Your Best Moment by Steve Klein What has been the best moment of your life? Understand me. I'm not asking ``what is the greatest thing you have ever done?'' or ``what is the best thing that ever happened to you?'' The question is, when were YOU at YOUR BEST? I believe the Bible teaches that we are at our best when we realize our littleness before God. It is often only at that point that we self-absorbed humans are willing to give our lives over in submission to God's grand design. Meditate on these words of David found in Psalm 39:4- 5: ``Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days. That I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You. Certainly every man at his best state is vapor.'' At our best, we are as the morning mist that melts away with the rising sun. Knowing our frailty and insignificance makes us realize our complete dependence on the God of heaven. Walk outside some clear winter evening. Look up at the stars. Maybe you can spot the constellation Orion--the Hunter. Three stars lined up in a row form his belt. The distance from us to those stars is almost unimaginable. We can scarcely fathom the power of the One who placed those stars in the heavens and has held them there through the ages. We are SO SMALL. God, His power, His plans and His designs are SO BIG! It causes us to wonder how God could even care about something so small as a single mortal man. ``When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him?'' (Psalm 8:3-4a). Long ago the Lord asked Job if Job was able to ``loose the belt of Orion'' (Job 38:31). After being asked many such unanswerable questions from the mouth of the Lord, Job had perhaps his very best moment when he said to God, ``I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from you. I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes'' (Job 42:2,6). When we fully realize the greatness of God and the smallness of man, there is nothing left to do but turn and render ourselves to Him in complete obedience. When we see ourselves as we are, there will be nothing left in us that could be called pride. There will be no aspirations for fame and acclaim. There will be no desire to claim superiority over other humans. We will surely see such activities for what they are--comparable to one speck of house dust making itself out to be more important than all the other specks of house dust. May God help us be at our smallest, for then we are at our best. -- Via The Exhorter, February 5, 1995 ___________________________________________ ``Kinds of Faith?'' by John D. Berlin Much is said about the importance of faith in the Word of God. ``Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen'' (Hebrews 11:1). ``But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him'' (Hebrews 11:6). Paul said, ``For we walk by faith and not by sight'' (2 Cor. 5:7). Let's note a few KINDS of FAITH outlined for us in James chapter two. What KIND of FAITH is the kind of faith that SAVES? 1). AN UNMERCIFUL FAITH? ``What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?'' (James 2:14-16). Jesus said, ``Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy'' (Matt. 5:7). ``But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion form him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?'' (1 John 3:17). 2). A DEVILISH FAITH ``Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble'' (James 2:19). Felix had this kind of faith but he didn't obey! See Acts 24:25. Is this the KIND of FAITH that saves!! 3). A DEAD FAITH ``Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone'' (James 2:17). ``But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also'' (James 2:20,26). Some folks get real upset when they hear the word ``works!'' To be sure we can't ``merit'' our own salvation or be saved by ``works of the Law of Moses,'' but faith and works do go together! Please read Ephesians 2:8-10. 4). AN UNJUSTIFIED FAITH? ``Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only'' (James 2:21-24). Do you see that an UNJUSTIFIED faith cannot save? 5). AN IMPERFECT FAITH? ``Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect'' (James 2:22). A faith that pleases God is the faith that moves one to do what God has commanded. Thus perfect or complete. Note the action of Abraham in Hebrews chapter eleven verse eight: ``By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.'' Will an UNMERCIFUL, DEVILISH, DEAD, UNJUSTIFIED or IMPERFECT FAITH save?? What KIND of faith hath ye? -- Via The Harvester, November 13, 1994 ___________________________________________ "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7;21). ________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________