____________________________________________________ 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 7, 1996 ____________________________________________________ Did Jesus Die For Only A Certain Few? by Tom Edwards There are many people today who believe in what has been called ``the limited atonement.'' What this means is that to them the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross was not made for everyone, but only for those certain few who make up God's elect. Is this, however, what the Bible teaches? In 1 John 2:2, God's word is very clear in this matter. The passage reads: ``and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.'' The term ``propitiation'' is referring to the ``atoning sacrifice'' of Christ; and, as this passage shows, it was made for the WHOLE world. Yes, the Lord's atonement was made for EVERY sinner and not just for 50%, 75%, or even 95% of those who have transgressed God's laws --but for ALL who have ever fallen short of the glory of God because of their sin. John 3:16 so graciously states, ``For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.'' Again, we are made aware of the momentous truth that God does care for ALL and sent His Son so that EVERY transgressor may be redeemed from the bondage of iniquity. Furthermore, if for only certain persons Jesus made the atonement and for the rest God were not concerned with saving, then why do we read in 2 Peter 3:9 that ``The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance''? Paul also manifests a similar thought in 1 Timothy 2:4 by speaking of God as being One ``who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.'' In view of these verses, it is clearly evident that Jesus did die for EVERY sinner, and it is His desire that each one will benefit from this great sacrifice He made. However, there are certain conditions that one needs to meet first in order to become a child of God and enjoy the blessings of Christ's atonement. What are those conditions we must meet to be saved? 1) Hear the Gospel--for that's how faith comes! (Rom. 10:17; 1:16). 2) Believe in the deity of Christ (Jn. 8:24). 3) Repent of your sins (Acts 17:30). 4) Confess your faith in Christ's deity (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-39). 5) Submit to water baptism for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; 1 Peter 3:21). 6) Remain faithful unto God throughout your life (Heb. 10:36-39). No one will ever be lost in the Judgment Day on the basis that God merely did not choose to save that one, but rather one will be lost because he had not chosen the Lord's way. As Jesus states concerning Jerusalem and its inevitable destruction, ''...How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling'' (Matt. 23:37). Christ wanted to save them--but they did not want to be saved! Here we are again made aware of the FREE WILL of man. Man must determine to submit himself to the way of the Lord, for God will never cause one to go against his own will. If you will do the above to become a Christian, THEN you will have the cleansing blood of Jesus to wash away your every sin! If this is something you have not done, then why not obey the Lord this very day! He waits for you to come. ___________________________________________ That Cornbread Habit by A. G. Hobbs, Jr. There is a man who has the ``cornbread habit.'' He just has to have a piece of cornbread every twenty or thirty minutes. Every morning as soon as he awakens, the first thing he thinks about is his cornbread. He eats a piece before he dresses, and sometimes he even wakes up in the night craving cornbread. After breakfast he eats another piece and goes off to work with his pockets full of cornbread, which he eats every few minutes all day. On the way home, he stops at the store for more cornbread for fear his wife has forgotten to get any. Once she did forget and he got so ill-tempered that he had to drive five miles before bedtime in order to get some. Otherwise he was so irritable that he just yelled at her and the children. This man attends worship, but the last thing he does before he enters the church building is to stand on the curb and eat another hunk of cornbread. Then he throws the crust and the sack on the sidewalk and goes in. Between class and worship he rushes outside and eats another piece of cornbread. After the ``amen'' he joins the other cornbread eaters on the sidewalk and the crumbs fly! Poor man! He is really a SLAVE to cornbread! 1 Corinthians 6:12 ``All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.'' ___________________________________________ Beyond a Million by Tom Edwards I vaguely remember a time in my early youth, of just a few years old, when after having been introduced to the number ``one million,'' a needlessness I felt toward knowing such an incredibly large number. To my thinking at that time, it was almost inconceivable that I would ever have much need for a number this big in my adulthood. Now in today's world (of about 6 billion people), we speak of our national debt amassing to trillions of dollars; and the closest star other than our sun, Proxima Centauri, being 4.26 light years away--a distance of about 25,043,025,147,400 miles (simpler put: more than 25 trillion miles). Now that I'm older, a million, a billion, and even a trillion has often been brought to my attention in regard to one thing or another; but here are some additional numbers that I ran into not long ago that seem almost unfathomable (The ``^'' sign means ``to the power of.'' 10^15 being 1 with 15 zeros trailing it): Quadrillion (10^15) Ten Quadrillion (10^16) Hundred Quadrillion (10^17) Quintillion (10^18) Sextillion (10^21) Septillion (10^24) Octillion (10^27) Nonillion (10^30) Decillion (10^33) Undecillion (10^36) Duodecillion (10^39) Tredecillion (10^42) Quattuordecillion (10^45) Quindecillion (10^48) Sexdecillion (10^51) Septendecillion (10^54) Octodecillion (10^57) Novemdecillion (10^60) Vigintillion (10^63) Googal (10^100) Quintoquadagintillion (10^138) Asankhyeya (10^140) Millimillimillion (10^6000000000) Skew (10^10^10^3) If we use these numbers to represent years, at this point, the ``Energizer Bunny'' bit the dust many, many, many eons ago; but God is the One who keeps on going. Actually, with the Lord, tomorrow won't make Him one day older--for He is already an ``eternity.'' For since He had no beginning, due to His always having been, His eternity stretches in what we would consider a ``backward direction'' (through the past) as well. In other words, since He always has been, trying to go back through His ``years'' to trace His ``origen'' would be an endless quest. While we live in our little realm of time, with its yesterdays, todays, and tommorows, God lives in a realm called eternity. As vastly different as the infinite is to the finite, even so is God's time to ours. The longevity of all of creation can be likened to a small grain of sand in contrast to the infinite universe that endlessly surrounds it. Though we don't know exactly what heaven will be like, we do know--because of our trust in the Lord--that it is an everlasting place of ultimate bliss, where there is no pain, suffering, death, or any of the adversities of this earth-life. For that is what God tells us about it. Perhaps something else that we won't find there will be calendars, clocks, watches, or any other means of determining time. Even all these numbers above--though many are very astronomical--would fall far short of defining the number of ``earth-day equivalents'' the Christian will spend in heaven. And even a ``skew'' number of days to revel in sin, therefore, would not make an eternity without God worthwhile. Don't miss out on heaven! To do so, is to miss out on all the best God has to offer you. In addition, it is not really so much the time that makes heaven such a wonderful place--for hell is also eternal!--but it is the magnificent quality and grandeur of it, along with the undying love and overwhelming blessings of God for those who will be there. A place of such bliss will far exceed your greatest dream; but unlike a dream, heaven will be a beautiful, never-ending reality. To be saved from your sins... * Hear the gospel (Rom. 10:17; 1:16) * Believe in the deity of Jesus (John 8:24) * Repent of your sins (Acts 17:30) * Confess your faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38) * Be baptized into Christ through water baptism (Gal. 3:26,27) so that you may obtain forgiveness of your sins (Acts 2:38) and, thus, be saved from them (Mark 16:16; 1 Pet. 3:21) and rise up to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3,4) as a ``new creature'' (2 Cor. 5:17). * Finally, be faithful until (and even ``unto'') death (Rev. 2:10; Heb. 10:36-39) in order that your hope of eternal salvation will become an actuality when heaven becomes your everlasting home (Titus 1:2; Heb. 5:9). ___________________________________________ Who Am I? by Cletis Beach My subjects are so very loyal to me, more so, than to politics, presidents or kings beyond the sea. I am first in their lives - before all or any thing. I am sought out first in any sorrow or happiness that sings. Some of my subjects will argue with me, yea - even lie. But they are loyal to me until the day they die. They put me first before their gift to the Lord and also before the necessities of life, that they can or cannot afford. I am never slighted nor left behind. In any social function you may call to mind. I do not make my subjects beautiful, healthy, wealthy or wise. Still, they will not leave me as you may surmise. But when the time comes that they can't breathe ``good-air'' then they call the preacher and the Elders for prayer. Who am I? I'm not a President or King or Deity - yet - I'm just a tiny, short - regular - or long, Cigarette. Addendum: And if I think that the sniffers, the dippers, and the ``chewy,'' are much better than ``they'' that is a lot of hooey. Brother, sister, get angry, fume, fuss, shout, wiggle and squirm. Have you joined up with the only animal that eats Tobacco, the worm? ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 713 13th Street, 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 ________________________________________